Chapter 15

Red Sands Deserts, Contested Border Region

Old World Ruins of "Angel Fall"

"Are you sure about this?"

Allya looked to her side, seeing Pyn's worried expression, and sighed internally.

"Yes, I'm sure. We need to do this. If only to prevent...misunderstandings later."

Pyn winced, and Allya nodded slightly. Right now Starvak, or anyone else for that matter, had no idea that their former teammates had tried to steal the dungeon core...or that Allya might have stabbed her own party leader in the back (well, neck, technically). And she would rather keep it that way, at least until Pyn and her were firmly in control of the dungeon town.

She looked forward once more, and winced as the sand saturated wind made her cape flutter. Being in a bunch of mesas meant that they were mostly safe against the desert wind, with it's abrasive sand, but it also created some fairly nasty wind corridors, and one of them scoured the dungeon's entrance. She adjusted her hood so it protected her eyes better.

She was still perplexed as to quite how Pyn had managed to convince her to go shopping before leaving, but she was becoming more and more grateful for it. She'd stocked up on a few things (unfortunately she didn't have the contacts to acquire more poisons or neurotoxin), including getting this cape of shielding. She'd been dubious at first when the merchant had explained what it did, but given the quantity of middle to high ranking adventurers that came to his shop, Allya had decided to take a chance. And she was very glad she did as well. Essentially, the cape had been enchanted and engraved with a protection ward. It couldn't take many hits, but it was powerful enough to completely stop a crossbow bolt or sword slashes (thanks to a little experimentation courtesy of some very nervous marines), and the cape had been made to be relatively easy to mend, especially since it had been originally manufactured for people delving into the Eternia Crystallis dungeon, one of the largest dungeon of the Elkis Republic. It had an infamous floor inhabited by frogmen, that had skirmishers dispersed throughout their native jungle, taking potshots at adventurers daring to invade their homes. Thus, the cape was sold as a cheap way to avoid getting murdered or wounded by the annoying harassing fire, and made to be easy to repair between dungeon delves.

Coincidentally, it not only made it very practical for adventurers in general (hence why it had made it's way through the wasteland), but it was also a superb, albeit against low level attacks, anti-assassination garnment. True, it wasn't up to the fashion standards of the Asarian nobility (or the Republic's elite), but Allya didn't really care what it looked like as long as it kept her alive.

Plus, it matched her clothes. Her black...assassin clothes.

She was probably going to need a wardrobe change if she wanted at least other nobles to take her seriously.

She shook herself, and refocused on the task at hand. After a few more seconds of walking, they stopped in front of the guards who were deployed to guard the entrance to the dungeon, and Starvak ordered them to step aside with a simple sweep of his arm. He then stopped, and gestured them forward.

Allya nodded, and then looked at Pyn.

The elf met her gaze for a second, and slowly nodded. Allya nodded back, and started up the steps towards the dungeon's entrance. Their guards stopped, and stayed with Starvak. They needed to do this alone. Valker and Rogard's expressions were unreadable, but Éclair's seemingly perpetual scowl deepened ever so slightly. The baroness shrugged mentally, they didn't really have any choice about this, so she'd just have to endure her bodyguard's disapproval. She gave Pyn one last look, before refocusing on the entrance.

It was...odd, to say the least.

When they had passed here less than 3 weeks ago, the dungeon's entrance had been nothing more than a hole in the mesa, with the twin sentinel pillars flanking it.

Now...Now it was a massive doorway, encrusted with gems and inactive crystal screens. A massive staircase lead to it, flanked by 6 tall stone pillars, inlaid with the same gems and screens. And on it's top part, surmounting a massive crystal, was a simple inscription.

Dungeon Factory

There was little doubt that it was the name of the dungeon. Allya had to admit that whatever else might be true for the dungeon core, she definitely had a sense of grandeur.

She looked ahead, at the darkness beyond the door. According to the assessment team, there had been lights farther into the dungeon, but it seemed a bit strange to her that the core wouldn't have expanded them to the entrance, especially since it so obviously was within her influence now.

They arrived at the foot of the entrance, and Allya stopped for a second. The golem that had guarded the entrance had retreated as they had walked towards the stair, so staying outside wasn't an option, unfortunately.

She squared her shoulders, and dived into the darkness, turning on her light orb, quickly followed by Pyn.

The hall, unsurprisingly, wasn't at all like she remembered. It looked like it had been broadened, and the massive....door thing that used to block access to the deeper parts of the ruins removed. Instead a gigantic door of what looked to be wrought iron towered over them, their lights casting shadows on the massive engravings all over it.

It was...beautiful. Golems and adventurers were represented, with the golems on her right and the adventurers on her left. There were depictions of adventurers brewing potions, smithing swords, making armors, and then marching to the middle. While on their side, golems forged weapons, built each other, and were being sent forward by an engraved version of the dungeon's boss. In the middle of the door, where both engravings of golems and adventurers met and fought, a seam appeared, where the door would most probably split open into a double door.

There was no hiding that the engravings were somewhat crude. But still, it was beautiful, in it's own way.

"Uuuuh, Allya?"

The baroness turned around, and froze as she saw the crystal screen. Unlike all the others, which had been relatively small and more importantly shut down, this one was massive, almost running from the ceiling to the floor, and was starting to activate. Light began to pour from it's amethyst like material, and Allya stepped forward, and softly pushed Pyn behind her, her old reflexes taking over.

Then the screen stopped brightening, and a few words popped up.

HELLO WORLD

Allya tilted her head, and looked at Pyn, who simply shrugged, confusion plain on her face.

"Hello?"

INITIALIZING SYSTEMS...

ACTIVATING LIGHTS...

ACTIVATING DOORS...

ACTIVATING DEFENSES...

ALL SYSTEMS ONLINE.

DUNGEON ACTIVE.

Allya unsheathed her daggers as the lights around them flickered to life and more screens activated, then she turned around as the door emitted a loud clank, and started to ponderously swing open. A voice emerged from the other side.

"Well, look who's back. I'm going to be honest, I didn't expect to see you two on my front door."

Allya's eyes narrowed. She recognized that voice...then her eyes flew wide as the opening door revealed the dungeon's boss, with one hand on her waist, and her sword sheathed at her side. The boss rose an eyebrow, and gave their weapons a pointed look, and Allya suddenly remembered Starvak's words about the dungeon core controlling the boss the last time they had spoken.

"Oh. Uh. Hello there. Crystal, right?" Said the baroness as she sheepishly stowed her daggers away, and gestured for Pyn to do the same. "We're here to talk."

"I already guessed that much." Said the dungeon core-possessed boss as she walked forward, before stopping a respectful distance away, and crossed her arms. "So, here I am, talk."

Allya took a deep breath. It looked like the dungeon core wasn't exactly thrilled at seeing them again. Fair was fair, Allya wouldn't be very happy to meet the companions of her would-be-kidnappers either.

"My friend and I have bought the lands surrounding you. As such, we are the ladies of the area." She put her hand on her chest. "I am baroness Allya Aubétoile. And this" She gestured towards her companion. "is my knight, Pyn Windwrath."

She waited for a second, but the dungeon stayed silent, her expression unreadable. Although she saw a spark of...something in her eyes. Like pain. She blinked, and then continued on.

"We would like to smooth any potential....rough edges left over from our first encounter. As well as discuss our policy, and that of the guild, concerning dungeon delves."

That seemed to elict some reaction from the dungeon, who straightened up.

"Ah. Dungeon delves, you say? Do go on."

Allya hid a smile. She had her hooked.

"I talked with the guildmaster. Together, we decided to put the minimum time between parties entering you...r depths at 1 hours." She winced slightly, despite herself, at her slip-up. It was kind of weird addressing a being that was a place and an entity at the same time...especially since she had no idea what the dungeon could take offense to. "With an additional rule that if they end up encountering another team in the dungeon, because of challenges, or they were resting up, and they opted not the team up, they would have to wait 15 minutes after the other party had gone before following them, to give you time to reset your defenses."

The dungeon slowly nodded.

"That's fair...Although you'll understand if I require more time to reset the boss room."

Allya nodded slightly.

"Of course. How much time would you need?"

"An hour would be a minimum I'm afraid...Oh, and do pass the word: the rooms beyond the boss room are private, and not to be entered uninvited. I can, and will, kill any and all trespassers, and they will NOT be brought back. I will incinerate their bodies if I have to, understood?"

Allya met the dungeon's icy gaze, and gave her a single curt nod.

"Got it. Lastly, we wanted to warn you that later today the assault guild would do their delve."

"Yes, I expected as much. Will you be accompanying them."

"Ah, they offered, but we chose to decline. There is much to do, and, well..."

"You were afraid that I might kill you out of some misguided sense of revenge?"

Allya and Pyn winced. The baroness stayed silent for a full second, before deciding that honesty would be better path in this case.

"...Yes."

"Well, don't worry." The dungeon smiled. "Look, I'll admit, I don't like you. But I can't really hold you responsible for what the people you were with were planning on doing." She sighed. "Plus, the fact that you took care of them is definitely proof that you weren't in aggreement with their plans. Still, I hope you'll understand that if there is some....lingering animosity, it is only temporary."

"Of course."

"Well, in that case, was there anything else you desired?"

"No. That's it. For now at least. Do you have anything in particular you would like to bring up?"

The dungeon stopped, and stroked her chin, before tapping her cheek with a finger.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. The thing is that I like watching the stars. As such, I might bring up my boss from time to time to look at the night sky. I will try to avoid doing it while you have adventurers going through my rooms, although I won't make any promises on that. I trust the guards outside won't react...poorly?"

"I can definitely arrange it so that they do not...overreact. Oh, it reminds me, to control the flow of adventurers coming in and out" As well as taxing them, although that was scarcely the dungeon's problem. "we'll establish a small guard post and administrative office near your entrance. If that is alright?"

"Absolutely. Although they might have to relocate if I decided to remodel my entrance."

"That's more than fair. Well, if there's nothing else?" The dungeon shook her head. "In that case, I think we're done here. Oh, and a small present for you. Call it an apology if you wish."

Allya carefully reached out in her pouches, and pulled out several diminutive metal ingots. She saw the dungeon's eyes suddenly become more alert, and she hid a smile as she set down the ingots of the floor, then stepped back. The dungeon took a step forward, and Allya cleared her throat.

"I trust you'll keep the details of what happened in our previous encounter...private?"

The baroness almost took a step back (and Pyn most definitely did) as anger flared in the dungeon's eyes...then Crystal seemed to think for a second, and her gaze mellowed. She slowly nodded.

"Yes, you can trust in that." She smiled. "Still, thank you."

Allya smiled back, and after a few platitudes and goodbyes, left the entrance, with Pyn in tow.

Well, that was...interesting, she thought as she looked to the side to Pyn.

"That was kind of close Allya."

"Yes. But it did work out in the end, didn't it?"

"I suppose so....How do you know she's going to keep her word?"

Allya looked forward at the small group waiting for them down the stairs, and started climbing down. Fortunately they were far enough that anyone overhearing them, even with enhanced abilities was....unlikely. Still, better safe than sorry.

"I could say it's because of a sense of honor, or something like that, but no. Simply, it's more profitable for her to have a cordial relationship with us than to try...something else. Plus, she does seem like the type to keep her word, if only for her own ego."

"Right. Well, now that's done with, it's time for me to talk city planning with Myskaros."

Allya laughed as her friend rubbed her hands together. She wasn't sure if she should be happy for her or pity the poor dark elf that was going to have to deal with her. She'd found out that the knight could be...enthusiastic when she started talking about city construction. Or any type of building for that matter. She had an almost unhealthy fascination with fortresses (wood elves were surprisingly proficient in building them when it came to protecting their forests), especially with the massive stronghold of Lavascio, the home of the Golden Curators. Allya had never truly believed the stories of that place, but then again she had seen weirder things with her own eyes.

And that fascination is going to come in handy soon enough, she thought darkly. She'd been through the annexed eastern provinces of the Elkis Republic when getting to Erakis, and she was under no illusion of how expansionist the Republic truly was. Their claims of 'bringing civilization' and 'the rule of law' to these 'wild, dangerous provinces' had about as much truth to them as anything the Erisian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ever said concerning the outer provinces of the Empire.

She sighed internally as they reached Starvak and their bodyguards. For now, there were more immediate things to worry about. Like the undoubtedly mountainous amounts of paperwork she'd have to deal with to formally take over this place and then even more to turn it into a dungeon town. She'd had enough of it for several lifetimes just being a knight valiant of the Erisian Empire, and she had noncoms to throw at the bureaucracy back then.

She'd rather take on the entire Republican Army with a rusty spoon. At least then her death would be quick and honorable, and not simply slowly wither away signing paperwork.

*****

Alexandra looked at the metal ingots in her hand, then at the entrance of her dungeon, and she sighed.

She should have asked for more. She knew she should have. Yet, the assassin's name had put her off balance. Aubétoile meant Dawnstar in French, and it's mention had brought some...unwelcome memories back to the surface. Unfortunately, that meant she hadn't been able to push as hard as she could have.

Well, maybe it'll turn out okay in the end. Better to build up a good relationship with them than to fleece them once and never get anything afterwards, she told herself.

The thought of backstabbing the two nobles didn't even cross her mind. There was, after all, very little use to making deals if people knew you wouldn't abide by them. That and she had her own personal honor.

She looked at the ingots in the palm of her hand again, then consumed them.

She plunged into dungeon mode, and saw that copper, tin and silver had been added to the materials available for creation. She stared at her interface for a second, before thrusting her fist into the air (and jumping like an overexcited schoolgirl, although she'd never willingly admit it).

"YES!"

The tin she had no idea what she was supposed to do with it (well, she could make bronze, but until she started making cannons she didn't really have a use for it), but she had some pretty big plans for that copper. And while silver usually had limited industrial applications on Earth (at least until you tried making semi-conductors or supra-conductors), she had a sneaking suspicion that it might have some other uses on this world as well. She'd have to ask Emilia, but there was a fair chance it would serve well as a magic conductor.

She froze. She really hoped some of the famed weaknesses of vampires in Earth tales didn't carry over into this world, otherwise she'd have to be very careful where she used silver to avoid poisoning her advisor. That would be a very dumb way to harm her friend.

The Earth-born jumped out of CQ's body, giving her boss a quick order to move back to her boss room, and hopped back into her body.

She stretched languorously.

"Aaaahhh! Much better! Man, I never thought I'd think 1 meters 80 was too small, but I'm really getting used to this body." She put her right hand on her hip, and looked at her advisor, who had been patiently waiting by the main screen, which showed an image of the entrance. Emilia's raised eyebrow said volumes about Alexandra's effusiveness when she had absorbed the metals. "Oh you, uh, saw that, didn't you?"

"...Yes. I assume whatever the ingots were made of was good?"

"Yeah! I got tin, no idea what to do with it, copper, that one I have plans for, and silver! Which brings me to something I'd like to ask-"

"No, silver isn't toxic to vampires." Said Emilia, interrupting Alexandra. "Well, it's not a good idea to ingest it, obviously, but it won't do me much harm." She sighed. "The legend comes from the fact that before much technology had returned, and people didn't know how to refine the high metals, like mythril, they used silver to make magic weapons." She smiled. "And since magic weapons were the only things that had any real effectiveness against my kind....well, you get the idea. But I can assure you, it's no more toxic to me than it would be to a standard human. Less, actually, since I'd regenerate any damage done in fairly short order."

Alexandra smiled, and took a seat right next to her advisor.

"Nice! Well, in that case, if silver can be used for magic items....wait, is it better than onyx for that?" Emilia nodded, and Alexandra's smile got even bigger. "Perfect! Now, I have a few ideas I had shelved due to the...magical fragility of onyx." Emilia snorted, and the Earth-born winced. She might have...pushed the limits a bit too hard when designing her power beam traps. But hey, that was what the test room was for. Although rebuilding it constantly was starting to get a bit old. "Yeah, well I'd like to give them a look at them, and since you know way more about magic than I do..."

Emilia nodded, looking remarkably smug while somehow managing to stay regal.

"Of course! I'd be happy to help."

"Excellent! Before we get to that however, I wanted to show you something."

Emilia looked at her, her expression suddenly wary.

"What kind of 'something'?"

"Something interesting. And fun!"

If anything, Emilia looked even more worried, and Alexandra sighed.

"I promise, it's nothing dangerous."

"Ah...Alright then." Said her advisor as she got up. "Lead the way then."

"Awesome! Come on!"

She grabbed the vampire girl's hand, and quickly lead her to the tunnel leading to the forges. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived in one of the chambers that had originally been set aside after they had remodeled the dungeon, and hadn't touched since.

Or weren't supposed to have touched, thought Alexandra.

She stopped in front of the door, waited for a second for dramatic effect...Then ordered it to open.

"Ta-da!" She took an exagerated presenting pose, with both her arms extended. "What do you think?"

Emilia looked, then her mouth and eyes went wide.

"What-How-Is that a...?"

Alexandra smiled.

"Yep! It is!" She looked into the room, at the massive spider golem resting inside. "Since we were done with the small prototypes, I decided to upscale it while you were monitoring the adventurers." And fuming about them not venturing into the dungeon, although she was tactful enough not to mention it. "I made it as a replacement for CQ, as the first floor boss, since I want to use her as the final dungeon boss."

Emilia slowly looked at the massive construct, and back to Alexandra.

"Are you sure it isn't a bit...much?"

Alexandra looked at the golem.

"You think?"

"I mean...It's supposed to be beatable by steel ranked adventurers."

Alexandra gave the golem a thoughtful look. At 3 meters of height, 3 of width and 6 of length, not including the legs, it was essentially a spider legs-propelled tank. Especially since she had created another wrought iron production chain, and made them assemble armor plating for it. She hadn't been able to fully armor it up yet, but when it was completed it would compare in toughness with an early WW2 light tank. Of course the fact that it was bigger than a medium tank of the same era said something about the inferiority of wrought iron when compared to steel or other alloys for armor. Still, it did it's job well enough for now. And it wasn't like she had any economically viable alternative, especially given how expensive a golem of this size was to begin with.

Still, given the stuff she had seen some adventurers pull off.

"I mean, it's a boss, not a walk in the park. They might have to assemble a raid group, you know a bunch of parties teaming up, but that's about it. Plus, it should be very sensitive to magic, particularly lightning and fire." Which reminded her that she really needed to up the thermal and electric resistance of her constructs.

TO-DO LIST UPDATED

Thank you, magitech.

"I know what a raid group is. I see...Well, I'm not sure it's a great idea for the first floor, so you might want to tone it down a bit, but you're the core."

Alexandra nodded.

"Sure, if adventurers get their asses kicked too hard I'll try to downgrade it a bit. Now that this is done with, the silver. I was thinking about retrying some of the prototypes..."