Somewhere in ‘Aryan Empire’.

“So you came, Huh. You are a bit late, though. Did anything unexpected happen? “

A shadowy figure slowly solidified in a corner of the room. It walked out from the shadow of the curtains and courtly bowed in front of the person sitting on the chair.

"Good evening my liege. How are you today? It’s such an exceptionally bright day, but you are still not enjoying yourself. You need to give sometime to yourself and enjoy living a bit."

"You know how it is and still ask me those useless questions! If you have so much free time then use some of it and find out the one who tried to assassinate me.”

"Ah, my liege about that, you shouldn’t concern yourself with such trifling matters, we have already caught the perpetrator and it seems like it is the usual play of ‘kill the king to gain the kingdom’. So, please don’t worry over such trifling matters. I will soon make their heads roll in your feet."

"I believe you Meredith, I believe you. So, what happened to that other matter? Did you find out anything?"

The shadowy figure muttered an, ’Oh!’ when he hard is master asking him about that, but he also swiftly answered and gave his reason.

"You also know my liege, the commotion which ‘that’ incident created. All the great powers are trying to get hold of thing that caused it or to at least find the reason.”

”So, you couldn’t find out anything?”

“No, my liege, we managed to find out everything that is needed to know."

“Hahahha. Good Meredith, very good. So, what caused it? Any good news for me to partake”

“Yes, my lord there is. We found the site where the explosion occurred. It was surreal; destruction everywhere. I am sure even the highest tier spell that magicians can use could not have done that.” Meredith told the news with an excited face.

“Ho! Then what lead to such said destruction? Do you have any clue?”

“It was a meteorite my liege, but not a simple or regular one. It destroyed 3 villages, destroyed 10es of acres of fields and mutilated 10 miles of our land in its rage.”

“So, a simple rock it was; must have been a bit bigger than the previous ones to create destruction of such range and magnitude. Huh, nothing note worthy it is then. ” he said while sighing.

When Meredith saw his liege’s face becoming expressionless and his excitement dwindling, he added,

“If it was only a rock, then I guess it really wouldn’t have been worth mentioning, but we found something, something that even I could not identify!”

“What is it? Do you have it with you? You are getting better at keeping surprises huh Meredith. Something that even you the greatest spy of our empire couldn’t identify! It must be a ‘legendary grade’ item or maybe even ‘Ancient’ one! GO on, don’t keep it to yourself, tell me, don’t keep me waiting” he got so excited that he was almost screaming.

“Please sire, control your excitement it is not good for you health. You already have so many enemies don’t add another one in the list. And about the item it is a bracelet.”

“Show me.”

“I’m sorry my liege but I don’t have it with me. I didn’t actually visit the site. It was informed to me by my underlings and I was also informed that one of them is bringing it here.”

“Oh! So you don’t have it with you. Forget that, you didn’t even go there and now you are telling me someone else is bringing it here!”

The atmosphere got heavy and a heart churning silence took the place of their ongoing normal conversation. But Meredith didn’t look away and stare straight into his eyes and finally spoke,

“Don’t worry my liege! He’ll be here. I was informed that he is coming via the barren lands near ‘The Devil pass’ mountains. Nothing resides there, so there is no way any mishap would happen.”

“You better be right Meredith! You better be.”

------------------------------------------------------------------

(Minie’s P.O.V :----)

When living beings ends up depleting all of their mana, they suffer a backlash from it.

Some people blacks out completely, but wake back up after some time like nothing happened. Some need’s immediate attention, while some really die.

There are cases where people with very spirit or strong mana restoration ability only acts tired and suffer no backlashes from their extensive mana usage.

In case of dungeon cores, they just sleep it off.

But it’s not like they don’t face any backlash from rapidly or completely depleting their mana. They don’t die like poor humans, but they still go into a deep slumber.

And during this time they siege to function properly.

And most need some kind of stimulation to wake back up. Well, most of the time this is done by their dungeons fairy guides.

But in some cases where the core don’t wake up after being In hibernation for a long time it becomes dangerous for dungeon fairies to continue living because hibernating cores don’t release any mana their dungeon also goes off to sleep mode. Well, that is the term given to unresponsive dungeons.

Fairies can’t break their contract with dungeon cores. So they get stronger and die with their dungeons. But there is also a cache where fairies get a little control over the dungeons, by losing their freedom.

I mean it’s not like we can actively change any room and grow monsters, but we atleast have some bind over the monsters, so they don’t end up eating us considering we are also a monster race.

Gaining this ability is only so much fun because when a core in sleeping, the mana that is stored in the dungeon starts to seep out into the world.

So we fairies have to Control this mana and help protect the surroundings.

If fairies become negligent in their work and the surroundings changes, then it mostly ends up angering intelligent life forms living in the area near the dungeon. As any danger to one’s habitat can endanger their survival. Therefore most of the dungeons are hunted down frivolously without giving them any time to get stronger.

Because the stronger a dungeon is, the stronger becomes its monsters.

Therefore when people die in a dungeon they make the core stronger, monsters get stronger, and this continuous cycle of people dying and dungeon absorbing their power make the situation very dangerous.

Well, dangerous for them and a haven for us.

Because Dungeons are considered as abominations, they are condemned everywhere. Even in savage lands where demons live.

The number of dungeons left in the world is already in single digits. The only dungeons that have not been destroyed yet are those, which are either very strong or those which are considered as child’s play and are treated as treasure troves by most of the intelligent life forms.

Those dungeons which are not considered dangerous end up having towns and cities established near them.

These cities develop over time, becoming centre of trade and a hub for people of different kingdoms to meet. These dungeons then get a free permit to develop and get stronger while being protected from destruction, as no one want to destroy a whole city with it.

So we have to try not to become like some other corrupted one’s and also need to become friendly with our neighbors. Even though they are present in the billions, but they are cowards. A little poke in the wrong place and they hunt down everything that could hurt their species using their always increasing number advantage.

But Worrying about things that are yet to occur is not good. I can talk about it with rock, when he wakes up and we’ll come up with some kind of a solution for it.

But why is he still not waking up it has already been 2 days a. He is slumbering so hard that I can’t even connect to him mentally.

I know it takes a lot of time for depleted mana reserves to recover on their own without user influence, but still, it’s been a little too long.

What if he never wakes up again! I’ll never be allowed to become partner with another sentient dungeon.

Should I use my fairy dust on him, but it takes a lot of time for it to recover and I’ll be too weak to do anything during that time.

*sighs*

What should I do then!

 Ok! I have decided. If he doesn’t wake up in a day,

*Gulp* then I’ll use fairy dust on him. But if he still didn’t wake up!

Then what??

Then I’ll ask mistress for her help. She might get mad at me, but it’s still better than breaking my connection with such an unusual core so easily.

While I was thinking about what to do, a human walked dangerously close to the dungeon. He walked with caution, trying not to disturb his surroundings. But the way he was moving, and cautiously taking steps, it was clear that he was not just passing by, but was here clearly to investigate. Probably about the commotion rock created with his mana burst.

Ah! What should I do?? This is the worst possible outcome we could have hoped for. Rock is still unconscious. We don’t have any monsters for protection… Scratch that!!

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

It’s not even a proper dungeon yet!

OH!

That’s it! This place is still not considered a dungeon. There are so many unusual things happening in the world that something like an explosion near ‘Devils Pass’ is not impossible.

Yes, so let’s make it look like an explosion. Like someone fought with something here.

Now that I think about it, there’s nothing I need to do. I just need to bury Rocky deep underground and hope that this scout is not a high leveled one or he would probably find out my tinkering and that won’t be good.

So I prayed and got to work.

It became a race with time. I had to bury him deep, clean all the clues and I also needed to find a place to hide.

 Burying him was easy. I used Earth magic and moved him deep and covered him properly with dust. I removed all the traces, but just as I was going to hide myself, the scout came in.

-------------------------------------

(Scout’s P.O.V):-----

 My name is ******* and I’m a scout.

Because of recession there are no jobs available in the imperial city anymore, and even if there are, they are all taken by them more dignified scumba... I mean noble people.

 I also want to work in the imperial corps but… *sigh*... It’s not easy.

Why I want to work in the imperial corps you ask?

Well, for most people it’s about dignity, pride and whatnot, but for me… It’s about money.

I have been an adventurer all my life, and it’s a poor line of work. Especially for those who are not strong enough for Monster hunting, most of us E, F and D ranker.

Well most paid jobs are all related to monsters or those which demands you to fight with your life on the line.

There is always the danger of dying while fighting monsters, and even if you don’t die from monster attack, there is also the danger of being back stabbed by your own colleagues over some stupid loot. Then there are wars, protests and all the shit dragging low level adventurers into it, making their life nothing less than misery and nothing more than a mess.

An Adventurers life is like a magnet, a magnet attracting all of the shit toward itself.

Today, my luck shined. I saw a job for scouting an area somewhere near ‘The Devil’s Pass’.

Well, it looked quite easy, so I picked it. I mean, no fighting with monsters, no spying, no dangerous work, just need to scout the area and give the information back to the guild.

And if someway or somehow I come in contact with a monster, I just need to run away and inform the guild about the monster for a little extra on the reward.

Though this area is a bit dangerous, but the danger here does not come from the monsters, but from the name of this place itself. ‘The Devils Pass’ it sounds literally like the entrance to hell after all.

Climbing these mountains is dangerous, and nowadays no one tries to cross this gate to hell anymore.

There are many myths connected with the other side. Like, how there is an ancient dungeon on the other side of the mountains and like a dragon ancestor is the dungeon guardian protecting its core.

Well, all heresy and whatnot.

But the place I am going to is not that dangerous, as there are no monsters here. According to rumors, it used to be a lush green place, but some calamity destroyed everything and made It barren. No greenery, no monsters, and also no profit.

*Sigh*

I’m here to investigate, find anomalies, run back and inform the guild. See, not dangerous at all.

The story for this job goes something like this,

Some days ago a giant explosion occurred somewhere here. Although it caused no commotion or disturbance, but still, one should know what grows in his backyard.

Now the thing, don’t just blow up for no reason. I know this job might not be as easy as I am making it to be, but it’s still better than having to fight monsters for some petty silvers. At the very least that I will get out of this job is a gold coin and I just need to provide some information for it.

********

I can see it. It’s in front of me; the aftermath of that explosion. Well, I don’t see any crater, though there are Dirt and stones everywhere.

‘Oh! Maybe, it got covered by all the debris and stuff, though it sounds a bit impossible. Let’s move a bit closer, maybe I’ll find something to show off with after going back.’ I thought.

Slowly but surely I walked closer to the area of impact, then I understood why I could not see the crater. It really is hidden behind a shit load of dirt and stones covering it like a crown and in the center, there is a wide and black hole, going who knows how deep into the land.

I might not know how deep or what is inside it, but I know that I don’t want to go inside there without anyone protecting my arse.

It’s like an ant mound, an opening at the center and sand and stones everywhere around it. If this really is an ant mound then I don’t think I have any work left here, because if I went down there then it will only result in a quick death for me.

I think it’s an ant mound, but I don’t see any signs indicating ants walking out from there or even anyone moving at all. Also ants don’t create explosions to open a hole to the surface, they just work it out quietly and live happily, enjoying their hunt, eating their prey and increasing population. They are not free like us humans; they have got work to do.

Ants are strong. How strong? They are an adversary given ‘F rank’ by our leaders.

Hahaa…

Ok, an alone ant is not strong. Alone, it is one of the lowest ‘F rank’ monsters, but in their home, where there are thousands, if not millions of them, it becomes another story altogether.

I their home they become a ‘C Rank’ level threat, not so easy then. But if there is a fire mage in your party, then it’s a done deal. After all fire is the bane of most if not all the insect type monsters.

Well, my job here is done. Even if there is something down there in the tunnels, it’s not the work of a single low level scout.

Okay, then, let’s go back to guild and enjoy the gold earned after such hard work.

*********

 (Minie’s P.O.V):-

He didn’t come in.

And went back just after looking inside for a bit.

*Rage Monster*

WHY DID I HAVE TO WORK SO HARD, IF THAT HUMAN WAS NOT EVEN GOING TO COME IN!!

Ahhhh. I need to calm down.

This is frustrating. Here I was thinking up ideas to handle him and there he returned just after taking a cursory glance.

What the hell kind of an adventurer is he? He didn’t even have the guts to jump down into a tunnel.

Now, I don’t know what I am angry about; for him coming here or for him to not enter…Ahhh.

Whatever, I should probably bring rocky out of his coffin before he wakes up inside and create another explosion.

Half an hour latter……

Phew, it was more tiring than I thought it would be. I ended up using more mana then I thought I would.

‘But still, getting so tired only after using earth magic, which I have affinity with... It’s really embarrassing. I need to work hard from now onwards or they will laugh at me agai…’ While I was thinking to myself, the whole cave started vibrating.

Huh?

Wh.a…..t is. .ha…p.pen...i.ng… h.ere.

I started looking everywhere to see what was going on, but then my vision fell on Rock. His core was vibrating like it was going to burst, and just when I was about to move near him to see what was wrong with him,

A blackish, purple aura seeped out from inside the core. An aura so baleful that shivers ran down my spine.

My heart started pounding like it was the end of the world. I mentally tried to call him, but nothing happened. I couldn’t get a hold of him.

The aura seeping out of him started moving around, touching everywhere. I had never seen anything like that before.

It formed tentacles and started pushing into the walls, drilling holes like it was in some kind of prison trying to break free and just when that happened, some of the tentacle started moving towards me.

It was so scary that I could not help but close my eyes, my terror stricken heart started pumping blood like a madman, shooting all my senses to a whole another level.

I could clearly hear them coming toward me with a speed so fast that I knew, even if my eyes were not closed I wouldn’t have been able to see them coming.

I don’t know why but I called out to Rocky with all my power and spirit, like my only hope lied with him. And I knew that he would be able to save me from my current predicament. Just when those tentacle were about to touch me, they stopped.

That menacing aura redressed back into the core. Those tentacles vanished into thin air, all the vibrations stopped and…

He woke up.