It took the party a long time, and drained much mental and physical stamina, but now that they had figured out a way to actually deal with my Mantas they eventually managed to wrangle the final one out of the water and hit it until it turned to smoke. By the time they were done they looked like they were about to collapse where they stood, or rather lay, on the ground. I felt a profound sense of satisfaction at the results. This had been a properly Challenging fight. Difficult, perhaps frustrating even, but not insurmountable. Though depending on how skilled these people were compared to the norm it still might need to be tuned down slightly. Only slightly though, as this was still a room with an extra reward for clearing it. Perhaps I could put in a separate option for opening the doors for those who find dealing with the Manta’s difficult. Like a puzzle they’d have to solve or a series of buttons to hit in the right order while avoiding the attacks from beneath the surface, instead of having to defeat them all. Maybe

…I paused. That was actually a brilliant idea, and one I was a bit ashamed I hadn’t thought of earlier. Puzzles. The whole Floor was missing freaking puzzles! I had traps galore, enemies to fight and secrets to find. But not a single puzzle. This would have to be rectified the moment these people left. I could work it into the traps somehow, maybe make some traps only trigger if the puzzles weren’t solved properly. That way I could enable more traps at once, instead of leaving so many of them deactivated.

I thought about leaving some of the narrative connections locked behind puzzles as well, but decided against it. After all, I wanted as many people as possible to find those connections, so keeping them hidden seemed counterintuitive to that goal. Though I could perhaps create other secrets, such as bonus rewards, and have that hidden by a puzzle. Not on this Floor though. This Floor had plenty of rewards already.

Thinking of that got my distracted mind to return to the present, as the investigatory party was in deep discussion about what to do, and what it meant, to have been given a rewards chest for this room.

…No, now that I was listening closer, it was more the contents of the chest that was the cause of this discussion, rather than the chest itself. I gave it a quick glance.

[Shadowleather Bracers]

Tier 1 Armor - Rare

Seemingly made from magical leather made to imitate that of the Leatherwing “Stalker”, these bracers provide an excellent boost to both health and stealth.

Health: + 50

You can activate the Skill [Meld] up to twice per day.

I frowned mentally, why was this thing causing this sort of reaction? It was a pretty good item I thought, at least compared to what was being offered through the normal rewards chests. The Health it gave was comparatively high, and it even had a cool Skill attached to it, though with some restrictions. So yeah it was cool and all, but I didn’t think it was worth all this. Was it infighting, perhaps? An argument about who was going to get the loot? That could make some sense, though from what I was hearing that didn’t seem to be the case.

“...No, you don’t get it.” Alerio was saying agitatedly. “Additional rewards on a Floor is one thing. Common even. But a rare custom item that’s tier 1…” He shook his head in disbelief. “It’s unheard of.”

“This Dungeon’s been generous from the start, though. We got [Talent Points] for the first Quest after all.” Ceria said.

“That was a special case though.” Alerio said. “A Quest given only once, to the discoverers of the Dungeon. This thing will be accessible by everyone. In the future, everyone will try to get this. All parties. Every. Single. One. Who’s going to want to give up on a rare item, after all? ”

“The Dungeon is generous”, Noracin said. “But it’s also quite deadly. I suppose it sort of makes sense to have greater rewards for a greater Challenge, but this early…” He sighed and shook his head. “A lot of people will die because of this.”

Wait, what?

Alerio paused, then sighed as well. “I wouldn’t have said it quite so bluntly, but yeah. Great rewards always draw in the greedy, even those who aren’t able to meet the Challenge.”

Noracin nodded. “Exactly.”

Everyone fell into silent contemplation. I supposed that what they had said made some sense. I pondered for a moment. Deadly yet with great rewards… How did I feel about that? It seemed negative from the investigators point of view, since I could sort of tell they felt I was luring people to their deaths who normally wouldn’t feel ready to undertake a Challenge. But personally I didn’t see it that way. I had a Story to tell, and it was as deadly as it was supposed to be. And it was only fair to give rewards appropriate to the danger. If I didn’t, I would instead discourage people from even Challenging in the first place.

And besides, it wasn’t my responsibility to manage the Challengers greediness. If they were too ambitious for their own good, that was their own fault.

Yeah, that felt right. I was offering a Challenge, not demanding one. It was an opportunity for growth and to prove yourself, not something everyone had to attempt. It was up to them to decide if they were willing to risk it. After all, they were responsible for their own Story, not me. I was the co-author at most, more likely a backdrop, a scene setter. The stage on which the Story played out.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

After a while the discussion of loot and mortality wound down to a more casual conversation while the party waited to recover, and for once I didn’t even mind. They’d earned a bit of rest. Though at this point they had defeated the last encounter on the Floor apart from the Guardian, which they weren’t going to attempt, so the rest wasn’t really needed. They didn’t know that though, and wanted to be safe rather than sorry.

Which meant they took the remaining part of the Floor the same way they had up to this point. Slow, steady, making notes about what stuff I’d placed where and discussion which parts were difficult, and where they expected to find traps. It was actually a quite interesting discussion to listen to, and I even came away with some ideas for designs for future Floors, once my Quest was completed. Speaking of, I checked that quickly. I was curious if this bonus reward counted towards the rewards portion or not…

Name A Guardian (1/1)

Defeat 10 Challengers (3/10)

Provide Completion or Quest Rewards (4/10)

Finalize five Floors (5/5)

Create a custom Floor Clear condition (1/1)

Create a Custom Creature (1/1)

I guess not. That was a bit annoying, though I supposed the Quest did specifically say what kind of reward it was looking for, so I shouldn’t be that surprised. Still I was done with what I supposed to be the difficult parts, so now all I had to do was wait until the ones outside actually started Challenging me. Once this investigation is over that should hopefully not take too long. Then I could finally complete my level up, and start gaining Experience again. Then I could even start on the sixth Floor, and the second Story. I even had an idea of where to begin, though I wasn’t sure I could pull it off yet. I’d have to wait and see.

While I was pondering about the future the party had finally made their way to Stalker’s chamber, and I readied myself for a conversation. In the end it was Alerio who strode to the front, standing tall and staring in the eye of the creature that impaled him last time they met.

“Veos.” He intoned with gravitas. “We are not here for a Challenge this time, but are instead seekers of answers. Would you do us the honor of answering our questions?”.

A dramatic inspiration struck me, perhaps brought forth by the seriousness in Alerio’s tone of voice, and I made Stalker sing a different response than I’d originally planned.

You may ask two Questions, for two secrets found.

That should be suitably dramatic, right? And it would also force them to think hard about what they wanted to ask, since I wasn’t sure I would be able to give any good answers depending on their questions.

Alerio bowed. “Thank you.” He took a deep breath and turned back towards the group. They nodded towards him, and he once more turned to face Stalker.

“Our first Question…” He held up the letter to Krazad. “What is the purpose of this letter being on this Floor?”

Easy. I’d already thought ahead about how to answer this one.

This missive is a relic of the past. A secret once held, dangerous for its time, yet lost to the ages before being uncovered by coincidence. Now it serves as a warning.

There, that should be cryptic enough, while still sounding important in a vague sort of way. I studied Alerio’s expression as Stalker sang my words, watching as it went through various different incarnations of confusion and befuddlement. He controlled his expression back to neutrality, and even bowed towards Stalker before speaking! It sure paid off to be dramatic!

“Thank you for the answer.” He said. “Our second Question is about the changes to the Floor. What was the purpose of making such drastic changes?”

I almost answered with the simple truth before catching myself. I hadn’t prepared for this specific question, and I’d need the answer to be suitably theatrical to fit in with the mood of the conversation, while not giving away the actual truth that I was designing a narrative rather than revealing one. After a moment I sent my thoughts to Stalker, who sang them aloud.

The first is the gateway. It is a representation and a promise of what is to come. It has to be up to a certain standard.

Again it took Alerio a few seconds to process the answer before he spoke, again with a bow.

“Thank you for providing us with answers. We will return for a proper Challenge when we are able.”

I wanted to respond with agreement and eagerness, but stopped myself. I had to seem grand and mysterious here, after all. Instead Stalker just flew up into the ceiling of her cavern, and the party slowly began their journey back outside. I listened in, curious as to what they thought of the whole experience, and especially the answers I’d given.

“That was certainly something, wasn’t it.” Athilana said after a moment. “I’ve never seen a talking Dungeon before, but are they all that… imposing? I don’t know if it was just me but something about that had a strange weight to it I hadn’t been expecting.”

“We haven’t spoken to any Dungeons before either.” Ceria said, then paused. “Apart from last time we were in here, but I don’t think that should count since I’m not sure we did much actual talking from our end. To answer your second question; yes I felt that same weight.”

“It could be the level difference.” Alerio said. “You know how you can feel the aura of some high Tiers just by being near? It could be something like that, since we were speaking with it in all but name. Though I’m not sure if it works the same with Dungeons as high Tiered humans. We don’t use the same System, after all.” He paused to take a breath, then spoke in a more eager voice. “But never mind that, what do you think about the answers he gave?”

I leaned in. Alright here we go.

“Vague.” Ceria said. “They weren't straight answer, but ones designed to grant more questions.”

Alright, that was fair. It was exactly what I was trying to do, though I had been hoping that it had been a bit more subtle. Guess I went a bit too hard on the obtuse angle? Eh, live and learn.

“True, they were vague.” Alerio said. “But to say they weren’t an answer I think is taking it too far. The one about the letter was especially interesting. A secret of the past? Uncovered? It hints at something from beyond the Dungeon’s borders, does it not? Something it has found while expanding, perhaps?”

“I don’t know…” Noracin said. “I see what you’re saying, Alerio, I do. But it could also just be a riddle or puzzle from within the Dungeon itself.”

“True, but it’s way less interesting that way.” Alerio said with a smile. Ceria chortled and shook her head. I wanted to pump a fist in the air, which was a bit tricky since I didn’t have any. This was almost exactly how I wanted them to think. Though there was definitely still some reticence in their reaction, it was still on the right track. And pretty far along the track too, if I was to be a bit hopeful.

As the party walked through the entrance and vanished from my perception, all I wanted at that moment was some way to learn of their continued discussion beyond my walls. What report would they give to their leaders, and what would those leaders think of my narrative? Since they wouldn’t actually ever go inside and find it themselves, I had no way to know without finding some way to go outside.

I shook myself. No, I was a Dungeon. My place was here. There would be no walking about and galavanting with the humans outside. I’d just have to find some other way of learning what I wanted.

Maybe next time people came I’d be the one to ask them some questions. I smiled internally. Hopefully the Challenges would start again soon.