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The Dungeon, Medea Island

Two Days Later

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As the final party of the day teleported out of the dungeon, it was with no small amount of relief on my part.

These guilders are relentless. Again and again they delve my first and second floors, despite losing an average of three of their number a day. Mostly Silver, but one Gold was lost to the fish. He was a swordsman, and his core seemed to lack an elemental inclination. I put it to the side with the rest, for later experimentation.

They haven't wavered in their resolve. At first I thought that I must have miscalculated the value of the bounty placed on me. Ten thousand gold coins certainly sounds like a lot, considering these people use the standard fantasy copper, silver and gold coin currency.

But it's more than that, and it took me a few days and a half-dozen more sets of memories to understand why.

I'm a challenge to these people.

Being a Guilder isn't a safe and easy life. They jeopardize life and limb every day in pursuit of personal strength, wealth, or even something as nebulous as fame. All of them, to a one, are made aware of the statistics of their occupation before joining, yet they join anyway.

There's something about the people here, or maybe it's the magic literally floating around in the air. Perhaps it's narrative causality. Either way, Guilders are just built different, beyond their physical abilities. In pursuit of their goals, anything considered obstacle is conceptualized as a challenge. Something to overcome, to beat into the dirt and take it's lunch money.

Conquered dungeons are normally safe options for increasing their experience and skills; an environment controlled by a dungeon master and where the difficulty curve is carefully considered. It works, to a point. With their lives never truly in danger, guilders can only grow so fast. After reaching Silver rank, their growth slows. At this point some grow lax, often leading to early graves when they come up against an unexpected threat. Golds who push their limits by seeking tests of skill and strength are the ones who grow the fastest.

Wild dungeons are less challenging than I initially expected; pumping out hordes of barely-improved animals that prove little threat in the face of a party of Golds. There was the very real possibility of danger in older wild dungeons, as they gained in sentience and capability, but even their monsters and defenses were laughable in comparison to mine.

In the end, it's the lost dungeons which provide the greatest challenge for an up-and-coming guilder. Intelligent, lethal in their defense and often possessing a true hatred for their previous oppressors. Some were so much so, that they remained free for decades, killing hundreds or thousands of guilders. These were regarded as 'Grindstones'. Yes, a hundred may die in pursuit of glory, but it was often considered worth the loss to get a dozen Platinums in return for those hundred dead Golds.

I can kinda see the reasoning. Platinums are plainly superior in terms of physicality. Magically, they were also far and away better than Golds.

There were currently no active Grindstones on record. At least, until I became well-known and with the number of deaths associated with me growing daily that designation was a foregone conclusion. According to correspondence Neo received today, dozens of parties were expected to begin their trip to the island within a week; drawn by the challenge I represent. The bounty was practically a bonus for them.

So, as Neo began scrambling to have more accommodation built in a short as time as possible, I began excavating the sixth floor. The fifth wasn't yet fully developed, but the caverns were excavated and a couple of my experiments panned out. All that was left was populating the floor.

The sixth, I felt, needed to be a significant departure from the previous five.

Well. I am under a volcanic island perhaps it's time to start digging towards the magma chamber, rather than out under the ocean. It should be safe enough. The volcano is active, its crater lake boiling with toxic gasses is evidence enough of that.

Yes. Lava lakes, rivers and lavafalls. Extreme heat is the name of the game. The layout though... hmmm. This requires thought.

Where did I put all the cores, from the Guilders who died without being cremated by their fellows... I think some experimentation is in order.

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Layla Losat wandered down the main thoroughfare of the little island port. With access to the dungeon cut off for the night she finally had time to relax before needing to retire to her rooms.

The docks had expanded again, she noted. Another warehouse had been erected to shelter their goods from the elements. Another two taverns had been built, to accommodate their large guilder population and their various habits. She turned right at the main square, towards the incline that led to the hill above the dungeon.

As she walked up the dirt path, sounds of nature replaced the quiet bustle of the town. She could hear the stream somewhere to her left, winding down the rocky hill. Most of the trees near the town had been cut down already, for lumber, though larger specimens had been left alone. One, she noticed, had a small altar. Upon the altar lay berries, fruits and edible roots; harvested from the local jungle.

She stopped and placed a handful of nuts from her pocket in a basket. She bowed towards the towering tree, an obvious shrine to the Goddess of Nature, and prayed. Thank you for your bounty, Goddess Kaisha; through your efforts are my people sustained.

A few minutes later she left, continuing her journey. It wasn't long before she reached the small outlook. Though she couldn't appreciate the view in the same way as others might, it was still spectacular to her. The sky was awash with mana, streams and brooks flowing steadily together, meeting at the river that poured straight into the opening below her.

She took a deep breath, finding the cool evening air soothing in her chest. She remained there a time, enjoying the peace and quiet.

Eventually, she heard the heavy footsteps of Felin approaching. He stopped at her side and looked out, though his eyes were unable to perceive the enormous amount of mana passing a dozen meters off the cliff's edge.

Layla sighed.

"News, Felin?" She questioned, turning to face her friend. He grunted in response.

"Should have a couple of bunkhouses up by the end of the week, more in two. Won't be the most desirable places to live, but better than sleeping out in the cold." Felin took a long breath. "I wonder where we'd be if you hadn't taken this job," he mused quietly.

"We'd probably still be here." She stated. "But as delvers, rather than administrators." Felin snorted.

"Those Platinums, the Gorge twins. They don't respect your authority," he informed her. "It's only the threat of your grandfather and the greater guild coming down on them that prevents them from just running roughshod over this place." Layla sighed again.

"I'm not surprised. I'm not a Platinum. Not yet. Maybe a few months delving this dungeon could change that but I don't have the time." It really was a shame, too. Until she could get someone else to take over her position she was stuck with the job. They stayed there a while longer, before turning and wandering back down the path.

There was plenty of work to do tomorrow. They needed the rest.

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The Next Day

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Litan thrust one last time.

Connection.

Exultation.

He'd done it.

It had taken three attempts, but finally the second Guardian was dead. He jerked his sword sideways, slicing the head of the large blood-red fish right off. The other fish in the room paused, then evacuated down the tunnels they'd entered from. Soon the flooded arena was empty of life bar him and his party.

He sheathed his sword and grabbed the monster's body before it could float too far away. A minute later, he wretched the monsters' core from it's remains. The spherical manacore was decently large; half the size of his clenched fist. He thought he saw a faint red tint to the crystal, though that could just be the blood tinting the water around him. His bodyguards remained stoic in the face of their success. His other two party members, his childhood friends swam over to pat his back. He was sure that if they weren't underwater, they'd be praising him.

With a rumble, the door to the next part of the dungeon opened, rolling sideways to reveal a tunnel. The spiral staircase beyond was much like the one after the first floor, though it's flooded nature meant they needed to swim down it rather than walk. At the bottom, they swam through a doorway which led to another staircase, this one leading upwards where they could see light beaming through the water's surface.

The party surfaced, pulling themselves onto the dry ground to spend a few minutes recovering from the fight. The tunnel beyond the room was filled with light, a shade that matched sunlight perfectly. Rested and ready to continue, the group entered the tunnel.

The floor, walls and roof were covered in plants; fruiting vines and grass painted the stone walls green. Litan picked a fruit that looked ripe. It had a reddish and pitted skin. He wasn't willing to take a bite, but he was sure someone on the surface would be willing to test it's edibility for him.

The overgrown tunnel wasn't long. Soon, Litan and his party stood just outside the threshold of the third floor.

It was... breathtaking.

They came out halfway up a cliff, a narrow path winding down the rocky slope before them. The vista was dominated by trees, the same species as the ones on the island above but with their size multiplied significantly. The jungle rustled and shifted in a false wind, accompanied by buzzing, chirping noise produced by what must be an entire ecosystem, all contained within a single cavern. Set into the roof of a cavern, an enormous mana-light larger than those of the first floor sat. It produced enough light to mimic the sun in this small space, Litan could make out a track across the roof it likely followed.

This would be an entirely different experience, compared to the previous floors.

"This dungeon... is truly unique," he stated. His words were echoed by his companions.

"Yeah...", "You got that right.", "Man, I hate the jungle.", "Deal with it, wimp."

They trekked down the rocky path, soon finding themselves deep in the jungle. The noise was almost deafening. The droning insects, the rustling leaves above and the distant roar of a fast-moving river all combining to drown them in noise. There were no set paths through the undergrowth, and Litan found himself using his master-forged sword to clear a path more often than he would prefer.

Much like a jungle on the surface, the climate was hot and sticky. Under his armor Litan began to sweat just to cool off. Perhaps a cooling enchantment was in order...

All members of the party were hyperaware; their enhanced senses focused the slightest disturbances in their surroundings. It would be all to easy for a group of monster to ambush them here.

For ten minutes they traveled like this. The noise only increased.

Litan called the party to a halt as they approached a clearing. He peered through the foliage.

What he saw was astounding and worrying in equal measures.

A huge mound of dirt was piled up in the center of the clearing. At least ten feet tall, and covered in ants.

And not just normal ants. Each ant was ten times the size of their normal cousins, and there were hundreds of thousands of the creatures. He observed half a dozen thick lines spreading out from the anthill, with ants moving in both directions. The returnees carried gathered food; which was often as terrifying a concept as the ants themselves. Enormous wasps, spiders, beetles and bees. Slowly, it dawned on him.

These were the monsters.

He was sure, if they searched, they'd discover enormous hives of bees and wasps. these foot-long spiders likely littered the jungle. They were lucky they hadn't encountered any to be honest.

He turned to his allies, making the hand symbols to signal a quiet retreat. They moved quickly and as silently as possible. After what he judged an appropriate distance, he began to speak.

"We are incredibly unprepared for this floor," he informed them. "We'll do a bit more exploration, but at the slightest hint of danger activate your crystals. I'd prefer you alive to delve another day." He received solemn nods in response.

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The first party to ever make it to my third floor. This is a milestone.

Their attitudes were just as I wanted; paranoid and constantly alert. It's a bit disappointing they discovered the ants and reasoned that the real danger of this floor was it's ecosystem so early, but there wasn't much I could have done about that. It does give the Kobolds a bit more protection in obscurity so I won't complain too much.

Speaking of, the Litan and his party had been shadowed by a group of Kobold Villagers the second they stepped into the jungle. High in the canopy, the kobolds had constructed a series of platforms and ropes, for quick deployment across the floor.

I ordered them to hold back and observe. These are the enemy, I explained, the kobolds greatest weapon is that the humans don't know they exist. If they attack and even a single human escapes, that weapon is lost.

They accepted my orders and reasoning, bowing to my greater wisdom. It was still a little disturbing to be considered the god of a whole species, even if that species was only a few hundred members strong. Thankfully they were quiet and private in their worship, rather than the great celebrations the crabs threw every night.

The Platinums explored the third floor for another half hour. They discovered the river and eradicated a small spider nest in that time. Not that any nest of foot-wide spiders could be considered 'small'. By the time they decided to return to the surface the people there had been concerned, since they'd been down here for more than two hours already.

That they had explored my third floor was the news of the day, spreading at the speed of gossip. Details of the floor spread almost as fast. Arguments on the monsters raged. Most dismissed the claim the insects were the main danger, convinced that they had yet to encounter the floors true monsters. These people seemed to be ones that had less experience with jungle environments.

They'd soon learn not to underestimate insects.

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