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Somewhere in the Dungeon, Medea Island

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Kataren stopped calling out eventually when she got bored. She hadn't exactly counted how long she'd been talking, but she knew it had been a decent amount of time. She hadn't been delivered any more food since she saw the skeleton, and she was starting to get hungry. It should be about the right time for... dinner? Breakfast? Eh, a meal, at least.

It wasn't long after she heard the distinctive sound of claws on stone. A lizard's delivering food today, huh? As expected, it was a lizard. Unlike the previous lizard monsters she had seen, this one was shorter, slender, and had a slightly elaborate headdress. While the monsters clearly made the headdress, the robe it was wearing was decidedly man-made. The robe had a decidedly feminine cut, and the monster fitted it well.

Honestly, it's kind of weird to think of monsters as male and female, but if she had to guess, she'd say this one was female. The voice that issued from its maw sent shivers running up and down her spine. It was not smooth, more sibilant than anything else. Speaking Phenocian with a snout and teeth like that must not be easy, though.

"Sssssspeak, human. You havesss the Dungeonsss attention..." Suddenly, Kataren felt a little out of her depth. She had wanted this, yes, but... How to even start?

"Uh... I'm not sure where to begin." She admitted. The monster seemed to sneer at her, and she quickly continued. "I guess the first thing I wanted to ask is would it be okay if I could have something to do? Even a block of wood would do. Secondly... do you plan on releasing me? At any point?" Kataren cringed a little on the inside. This was already going poorly. There was a moment of silence as she assumed the monster communed with the dungeon.

"The Dungeonsss will provides amusssment with your nexxt meal. Release? Ifsss the Dungeonss once thought they mightsss, they won'tsss now. You knowsss too much." The lizard answered after the moment passed.

"Ah." There wasn't much she could say to that. She expected that, but to hear it confirmed hit harder than she thought it would. "Second, then... If you aren't going to release me, what are you going to do with me?"

"The Dungeon isss still not sssure." The lizard answers. "Ssso far, you havesss proven usssful asss a prissoner. You are worthss more to them alivess than deadss." Her heart fluttered a little, reliving the terror of the fruit for a moment.

"Then... If I am to remain a prisoner... it would be fine for me to ask questions about you?" The lizard frowned at her, blinked, then answered.

"Assk. You have three questionss. Every meal from now, you may assk one moress."

"Okay. Then... my questions are; what are the lizard monsters, why do they have pointed cores, and what's up with the skeletons."

There was a period of silence before the lizard spoke again. It was then that Kataren realized she'd made a mistake with her questions.

"I ams a Kobold. It is somethings the Dungeon is observing and monitoring. They are a failed product of the Dungeon's experiments." With that, the liz-kobold turned and left.

Nothing she shouted after the Kobold made it turn back.

Kataren huffed and sat down against the wall once again. Okay. Time to think.

The Lizar-Kobolds are intelligent. She realized that beyond that, she didn't learn much. She frowned, frustrated with herself. It was a dumb question. She should have asked something more specific. As for the core thing... The Dungeon didn't answer that either. It didn't say if it was the cause of the change or guiding it. Just that it was observing, involuntary or not, it might be able to raise monsters to become sapients.

The skeleton thing was a bit more concerning. Failed experiments? It was attempting to create undead and failed?! It certainly didn't look like it failed. But if it succeeded in creating an undead, what made it a failed experiment?

Well. She'll need to wait till... tomorrow? Should probably ask how long she's been here, to be honest.

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Guildmistress's Office, The Guild Hall, Medea Island

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Layla was relieved when her aunt and uncle returned from their delve unharmed. She quickly had them, and their party brought to her office for a more in-depth debriefing. When they arrived, she smiled and looked them over. They didn't look too disheveled, beyond a slight sweat from the humidity of the third floor.

"I'm glad this delve seems to have gone better than the last, auntie." Layla said with a sad smile, "Though much has changed with the dungeon since your last delve." Jerrad and Isid both nodded, the rest of the party choosing to remain silent. "Would you start with the new addition to the first floor, please?" Isid nodded.

"The message on the first floor is cryptic but understandable." Isid began, "From what I gathered before the delve and during, this is a move by the dungeon to weed out those guilders who wish to collect on the bounty." A few nods showed her party agreed with her.

"If its claim that those who wish it dead will be taken more seriously is true... then I fear many will die." she continued, obviously saddened.

"It's true," Layla answered. "From what the reports say, monster encounters have been tripled. Never-before encountered traps have activated, and traps across the board activate faster, with greater precision and less mercy." She pushes a few pages across to her aunt. These were just a few reports detailing the dungeon's newest change.

Harald sighs. "It's saddening that so many wish the dungeon dead. It's a fascinating place! It has monsters I've never seen before, and I'm particularly interested in whatever seems to be happening to the lizards." He admitted.

"You'll get your turn., Harald. Aunt Isid, please continue." Layla interrupted. Harald didn't seem bothered and sat back quietly with a nod.

"We encountered a few crabs. Of course, the numbers don't match up to the hundreds we once faced, but that's neither here nor there. I couldn't say whether we encountered more than is normal or not. The Guardian was trivial, though it did seem more intelligent or perhaps more aware of our tactics. The second floor..." Isid narrowed her eyes and leaned forwards.

"The second floor is where things got weird." She shared, her blindfolded eyes locking with Layla's likewise blindfolded eyes.

"We encountered the fish in far fewer numbers than we once did, but decent enough to give us a challenge. Quickly into our exploration, the party was split; Jerrad and I were stuck on one side of a closing hallway, while the rest were on the other. After the split, we encountered far fewer monsters, the few traps that did go off were trivial, and we found the exit quite easily."

"In comparison," Lione took over. The man looked better, though his face had a somewhat more severe cast to it than it once did. "We were inundated with monsters and set off a trap in every hallway we passed through." Layla frowned at the news and glanced across the four guilders not related to her.

"Well, I think that is rather clear. The dungeon believes Isid and Jerrad hold no desire to destroy it, while one of you do so." Their eyes flick between each other, but thankfully no one shouts or draws their weapons.

"Moving on," Isid said, probably hoping to pre-empt any conflict. "The boss was middling in difficulty, if only due to our lack of experience fighting such a creature. Afterward, we attempted to rest in the room leading to the third floor, but the back wall began moving after a few minutes. We continued before it would have forced us out. The third floor... I have visited the jungle before. The third floor takes everything I despise about jungles and makes them worse." Layla blinked at Isid's sudden intensity.

"Too hot and humid. The insects were irritating enough before it made them bigger. Fighting the monsters was almost a relief, a distraction from the environment." She continued, her vehemence fading into contemplation as she spoke. "The fights with the lizards were interesting. It's quite the novel experience fighting bipedal, armed monsters. We retreated from the dungeon when 'night' fell."

Layla nodded and turned to Felin. He met her gaze and nodded, his hand still taking down her aunt's words.

"Then let's move on to the monsters. Harald, I believe this is your area of expertise?"

As she took in the excited twinkle in his eye, Layla realized she probably wasn't getting much sleep tonight.

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The Dungeon, Medea Island

The Next Day

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A new dawn brings a new day. Much like the dawns before it, this day brought another bevy of guilders who would attempt to get to my core, shatter it, and turn in the bounty.

I watched impassively as groups of Golds struggled with the traps of the labyrinth, as raids of Silvers pushed through the first and into the second floors. Some Gold raid groups were cohesive enough by now. They didn't immediately split up on the third floor, and one managed to clear all but one of the mini-boss locations before night fell.

I was once again impressed by my multi-tasking capabilities. When I didn't focus on any particular point, my awareness of the dungeon became more all-encompassing, though with less 'resolution.' More like looking at a slightly blurred picture. I could recognize the strength of a group, but picking out individual guilders I knew was a bit harder.

At first glance, it didn't look like much had changed from the day before. Despite the increased difficulty and having a literal warning pasted on my entrance, the line was still full of crazy people who wanted to run headfirst into the by now probably well-known grindstone.

Then again, perhaps people who want to use me as a grindstone will end up becoming the majority. After all, those who want to collect will eventually die off.

The next day, the cracks began to show. Previously cohesive raid groups began splintering as they blamed each other for the increased difficulty.

'We'd have been on the fourth by now if not for you!' was one of the more used phrases I'd overheard.

Meanwhile, some parties had decided it was better not to pursue the bounty. Parties that were once set off trap after trap were having a smoother time. They spread the word to their drinking buddies, basically confirming that honestly and wholeheartedly giving up on the bounty made the delve easier.

I assume a few attempted to 'fake' giving up, but my enchantments were more robust than that.

On the morning of the fourth day since the change, Neo came out with a new announcement and restriction. She stood up on a platform near the dungeon entrance, where most of the guilders on the island hung out even if they weren't delving that day.

"In response to the warnings given by the dungeon and in anticipation of a new wave of gold and platinum guilders, As a result of this, I am placing a new restriction on entrance to the dungeon. To be allowed entrance, every guilder in a party must be of at least Gold rank." She was interrupted by a bevy of enraged silvers shouting her down, angry at being denied entrance just because they weren't as strong as others were. When order was reestablished, she continued.

"This restriction has not been placed only due to the difficulty of the Medea Island Dungeon, a guild-recognized Grindstone, but also concerning the local colony. The town can barely support housing, feeding, and supporting its current guilder population. In the future, when the town is more developed or if you manage a breakthrough to Gold rank, we will once again welcome you to Medea Island. In the meantime, the Kaal and Haventon Dungeons have more established dungeon towns and will easily support you in your future growth. Thank you."

Huh. So that's a thing.

Well. I guess I'll need to prepare then. With the silvers no longer taking up slots, the golds will get more and more familiar with my dungeon and monsters. Those incoming guilders are a worry. If Neo is trying to get rid of the silvers...

I spotted the Gorge Twins intercepting Neo in the corner of Gull's eye as she walked back to the guildhall. After a brief conversation I was too far away from to hear, they all headed off to the guild. Well, I want a rat in the rafters for that conversation.

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