Chapter 27

“Holy shit, nope, this isn't happening,” said Vossan.

The Seekers and Voices had just finished floor 13. They had spent a few hours resting on the exit beach, before toweling off, re-gearing up, and teleporting to the 14th floor. Before they had left, however, Dorn had been forced to answer an uncomfortable question.

“Hey Dorn, you lost the bet, time to pay up,” said Jeromy.

Dorn just looked grumpy and uncomfortable.

“What bet?” asked Kiera, curious.

“We bet on who in our team would be the first to rank up to a B-level practitioner, and since Thalia has ranked up, it's time for Dorn to pay up,” said Jeromy.

“Does it have to be here? Around all these people?” said Dorn.

Jeromy just plastered a huge grin on his face, saying, “Yep.”

Dorn sighed. “Kiera had come to my room, asking what I had been busy with, and because she was bored. When I told her I was thinking about joining the Seekers, she ran up and gave me a huge hug, and things sort of took off from there.”

Kiera suddenly blushed bright red. “What the fuck did you wager, Dorn?”

Jeromy laughed, saying, “He promised that he'd tell us how the two of you came to be together.”

Kiera suddenly punched him in the arm, face still red.

Dorn just said, “Well if you had just ranked up before Thalia, this wouldn't have been a problem.”

Kiera looked up at him, “You bet on me?”

Dorn said, “Yes.”

“Okay, okay, get a room you two,” said Vossan, before Dorn and Kiera could get started.

The Voices were just watching all of this, bemused. Kinnard asked, “What did Jeromy wager, by the way?”

“Well at first, I was going to get him to consider other people besides Warley, but that was apparently over the line. So I was going to make him tell us what he saw in the guy,” said Dorn.

Kiera projected her thoughts over to Dorn, thinking, that was nice of you.

Dorn responded back, telepathically, “Meh. And did you see Kinnard's face when I answered his question?”

Kiera said, no, I didn't. You don't think he's prejudiced, do you?

Dorn responded, dryly, “No, he looked interested.”

Kiera suddenly looked excited, “Ooo, we could try to set them up.”

Dorn put his foot down. “No, we will not be that annoying kind of couple that's always trying to set their gay friend up with other guys we know. Just let things happen naturally.”

“Sorenia to Dorn and Kiera. Wake up you two. Seriously, that's so freaking annoying,” said Jeromy.

Dorn looked over at Jeromy, and said, “Alright, alright, let's get to the 14th floor already.”

When the team finally teleported to the 14th floor, the Voices and Seekers found out that Vossan had a thing about heights.

The teleportation glyph was located on a tiny island, floating in the middle of the sky.

“Come on shorty, you can't be holding us all back because you're afraid of heights,” said Dorn.

“Don't fucking call me shorty, you prick, and I'm not afraid of heights, I'm just… nervous,” replied Vossan.

“Well, get your nervous ass onto the glass bridge, or we're leaving you behind,” said Dorn.

They finally managed to coax Vossan into moving onto the bridge, when Dorn finally broke down and promised to retrieve Vossan with Gravity magic if he fell off. Still, Vossan had to be in the center of the group of people moving forward. When they were attacked by a metal-enhanced eagle, Vossan may or may not have made a high-pitched scream. The eagle, incidentally, was hit by the dual combination of Thalia's arrow and Kiera's fireball. The two teams made it safely to the first island.

“Well, this looks just like the first floor of the dungeon proper,” said Jeromy.

“That's weird, I wonder what he's going for?” asked Kiera.

“He?” several people asked.

Vossan answered for her, “Yeah, she calls the dungeon he. She's just weird like that.”

“Maybe it's run out of ideas, and has just fallen back on the old rooms and tunnels look,” said Thalia.

Dorn looked visibly annoyed. He said, “Maybe, he's quoting his previous floors. Like this is the fourth floor island. Let's see what's on the other islands first.”

Kiera grinned at him, knowing how much pride he took in his floors, and how annoyed he was having to keep it to himself, as he was pretending to be human.

When they reached the second island, after a few more episodes involving Vossan not wanting to go on the glass platform, Jeromy said, “Looks like you were right again, Dorn. Seems you're pretty good at guessing what this dungeon is thinking.”

Dorn, a little chagrined, said, “I just thought that this dungeon was too amazing to suddenly become boring on the floor.”

Kiera snorted, and Dorn elbowed her.

“Well, whatever, let's continue on,” said Jeromy.

***

As they were progressing through the dungeon floors, Dorn was also keeping Emelia company and checking out the rest of his dungeon. Currently, many adventurers were enjoying the fights in the Colosseum, and some had begun dying due to overestimation, by picking the level three difficulty. Much to his happiness, the cheering of the crowd was even higher when the warriors were killed, showing a nice streak of blood-thirst running through his residents. The Duke was starting to look concerned about his missing son, so Dorn had Friedrich go talk to him. Mostly, Friedrich told him to shut the fuck up and stop worrying, or he was going to regret it.

“Oh look, Warley's back,” said Emelia.

“Indeed, and he's finally upgraded to a rank S1 warrior. That's good news for the adventurers; he should be able to easily handle whatever the dark elves throw at him. I wonder if he got Kendra to agree to the plans for annexing the dungeon. I'll have Friedrich go talk to him, and I guess my body will 'find out' later. Just need for the Hartjenstein family to show up, and I'll have a full complement of fighters.”

“Have you figured out any more of your plan for them, by the way? They might have children,” Emelia said.

At this thought, Dorn suddenly frowned. Despite being a mostly heartless being (except when it came to Kiera), he still had a soft spot for children, due to what had happened to his parents when he was younger.

“I suppose I'll just enslave the parents of any children and tell them to raise their children in a bigotry-free way. Maybe I can even help the older children overcome any beginnings of racism by introducing them to some elves their own age,” said Dorn.

Emelia, who also loved children, said, “That's nice. Anyways, I have three things I've thought of that I think need some attention.”

“Alright, I'm listening,” answered Dorn.

“First, are you planning on moving the celestial tree down to C-Housing? The further down in the dungeon it is, the more it will benefit the entire dungeon's mana ecosystem,” said Emelia.

“I was planning on it, but I wanted to wait until more Elves had made it to the C-rank, or else how would they get to the tree?” said Dorn.

“Oh you don't need to worry about that, as the celestial mana will percolate up through your floors, allowing them to cultivate as long as they are in your dungeon. You can even filter some of the celestial mana and dump it into their housing quarter, if you're worried,” said Emelia.

“Alright, what's your second idea?”

“What are you go going to do about the children in the D-Housing units when you bring down the shields. I know Kiera already asked you this, but you sort of deflected answering at the time.”

Dorn sighed, “Segregation of the races will ultimately harm everyone. How can there be an effective nation where all races are kept apart? The people will have to learn to get along, or, they will have to become strong enough to remain in segregated housing. Only the S-level housing will always remain segregated. Anyways, that is not my problem. It is a matter for the people to decide themselves, and I hope they choose wisely.”

“Okay, I guess. Hopefully, the children will somehow be spared,” said Emelia, but not quite believing her own words.

“My final thought is, what do you know about flesh magic and soul transference?”

***

Warley walked into the dungeon, glad to be back. He headed towards the king's chambers, determined to get him to leave and prepare for the war with Ilsan. He was stopped on the way by Friedrich, who surprisingly had his cowl down. He was a greasy, blond-haired and blue-eyed man, with a large potbelly and some stubble. His eyes looked somewhat vacant.

Now that Warley was the same rank and level as him, he could tell that this Friedrich was a powerful Soul mage, and yet was dominated as a soul slave. It made for a very frightened Warley, as this meant there must be an SS-level soul mage involved.

Friedrich said, “Come, Warley, let us speak in private.”

Warley looked somewhat scared, and mentally started strengthening the shields around his soul and mind. He said, “Whatever you have to say, you can say it right here.”

Friedrich grinned, saying, “Warley, if I was going to enslave you, would being around any of the pathetic weaklings here help you? I promise not to use my powers on you. I just want to speak in private about my benefactor.”

Warley nervously accepted his invitation.

When they were seated in Friedrich's office (which used to be Warley's office), Friedrich said, I know that you are curious about who the holder of my bond is.”

Warley said, “Indeed, it has definitely aroused my curiosity, as well as my fear.”

“Not to worry; the dungeon itself is the holder of my bond,” said Friedrich.

Warley leaned back and considered the two possibilities. One, that he was telling the truth, and he would now have a way to liaise with the dungeon. Or two, that he had been instructed to lie, and this was a simple obfuscation.

“How do I know you are telling the truth?” Warley asked directly.

“With the gods and the pantheon as my witness, my previous statement was completely true,” said Friedrich. A white cloud opened up over his head, shone a light down on his body, and withdrew. If he had been lying, he would have been cursed with a severe, and usually permanent, weakness and loss of cultivation. The gods really did not like being bothered with the concerns of mortals.

Warley's eyes widened, both at the invocation of the gods' oath, and the knowledge that he was looking at a sentient who had been controlled by a dungeon.

“May I ask why you have enslaved this human?” Warley asked of the dungeon.

Dorn answered through Friedrich's mouth: “He was sent by a Central Fantisan family to enslave me and offer me to the infernal realm.”

Warley paused at this latest revelation. He leaned back and groaned, saying, “So now, we don't just have to worry about Kendra and Ilsan invading, we need to worry about an infernal-worshiping Central Fantisan family as well?”

“Ah, and the dark elves, who are coming to destroy my celestial tree.”

“Gods, what do we do?” asked Warley, no longer able to react to new surprises.

“One thing at a time. First, how did your meeting with Kendra go?” asked Friedrich.

“Not well; the Emperor was completely unreceptive to the idea of lowering taxes on the adventurers. He plans to invade immediately after Ilsan does, and to impose the same tax rates that Ilsan would.”

Friedrich frowned in thought. Warley just paused, letting him come up with the decisions. While he wanted to create The Dragon's Kingdom, he knew that the chances of success would be determined by the words of this soul-bound man sitting in front of him.

“Alright, the King of Khal will abandon the northern border with Ilsan, allowing a straight path to this dungeon; meanwhile, he will gather his troops and attempt to harass and slow the forces of Kendra.”

Warley asked, “To what end?”

“We will attempt to make the Ilsanians and Kendrans fight it out outside the dungeon, without a chance to dig in and cause a siege. This will take a precise information network and strong control of the military. Hopefully, the King can pull it off.”

“Is he under your control?” asked Warley.

“What do you think?” asked Friedrich wryly.

“What about the Central Fantisan family you mentioned? And the dark elves?”

“Hopefully, the family arrives before any of the other three forces, and I will use this body to slowly enslave all but the children. The children will still have a chance for redemption,” said Friedrich.

“Well that's nice of you,” said Warley sarcastically, not enjoying the idea of a dungeon enslaving the souls of a large group of humans.

“Would you prefer that I allow them to take over this dungeon and sacrifice everyone in it to the infernal realm?” asked Friedrich.

“No, I guess not,” said Warley, after frowning.

“I will use the enslaved family to attack the dark elves, and you will coordinate the adventurers to attack along side them. We will then coordinate a second time to deal with whichever human force wins, be it Ilsan or Kendra,” said Friedrich.

“Alright, assuming that everything goes to plan, which I seriously doubt, what do we do afterward?” asked Warley.

“Did you entertain the idea that I heard the human adventurer Dorn mention? About starting a new nation?” asked Friedrich.

Warley finally smiled, saying, “Yes, I did. Are you suggesting that I go ahead and become the king of this new nation?”

Friedrich nodded his head, saying, “Indeed, that was my idea exactly. Now we just need a name.”

Warley said, “I already thought of the name. We shall become The Dragon's Kingdom.”

***

“I know that Flesh magic and Soul transference are taboo subjects and considered both evil and extremely dangerous. Why do you ask?” asked Dorn.

“I wanted to mention this while you still hadn't gotten too far in your chi cultivation. Unfortunately, you upgraded to B-rank faster than expected… and I sort of forgot,” said Emelia meekly.

“Forgot what?” Dorn growled, getting his hackles up. He hated not knowing things about being a dungeon. This was something that hadn't changed since his days as an actual dragon.

“As a Dungeon Avatar, you are more free to play around with Flesh magic and Soul transference than other beings, as any accidents will only result in the destruction of your corporeal body and a need to re-purchase the Avatar.”

Dorn frowned in thought. “Well, it would be problematic if 'Dorn' disappeared and suddenly came back at C-rank. Or if he grew wings. I don't know how much we can hope for, when it comes to Flesh magic. But if I'm understanding you correctly, are you saying that I can become a dragon again? Finally, I would no longer be stuck in this pathetic human body?”

“Indeed, that is what I was referencing,” said Emelia.

“Well, it would have been nice knowing this before I upgraded to B rank,” he said angrily.

“Well, you don't really have the points for it quite yet, anyways. You'll need to create a silver dragon, cultivate it up to B rank, destroy its soul, and then transfer in your own. Then you'll need to shape-shift back to the human form you currently have, all without anyone noticing.”

“Hmm, I'll have to consider this carefully. I'll ask Kiera what she thinks,” said Dorn.

“Oh you pussy, would you really consider giving up a dragon body because your girlfriend might say so?”

“Yes, so fuck off.”

***

“Never. Again,” panted Vossan, as they reached the exit teleportation glyph.

“Oh that wasn't too bad,” said Thalia, enjoying the dwarf's misery.

“Dwarves were not meant to be in the air. That is for dragons and birds, not dwarves.”

Dorn just snorted.

Thornley then asked, “So are we done for the day?”

Kiera glanced at Dorn, remembering his statement that the next floor would make them all dirty, and said, “Let's just check out what the next floor is, before calling it a day.”

Everyone seemed to like this idea, so they all stood on the glyph and thought, Floor 15. When they arrived at an active volcano, with a stele in front of them, they all just stared at the volcano.

Kinnard and Jeromy both groaned, saying, “This is a C-level floor?”

Vossan just grinned, saying, “Ah, now this is much better.”

Thalia, the ever-curious elf, was busy reading the stele. She then suddenly spoke up, “Hey guys, does it seem like the ground is rumbling?”

Dorn, knowing what she was talking about, just smiled greatly. He loved it when a plan came together.

“Why do you ask?” said Kiera.

“Because apparently, this volcano here erupts daily, destroying everything on the floor. And the sign that it's about to erupt, is the ground shaking violently,” said Thalia.

Just as this started to sink into the minds of the Seekers and the Voices, a giant red beam flew out of the top of the volcano. A sound like a bomb going off deafened all the adventurers there, as a wave of air pressure pushed them backwards. The adventurers hurriedly rushed back onto the glyph, thinking, Floor 10, in a mad panic. They managed to escape back to housing just before the flying debris struck them, which would have killed them instantly.

After Kiera and Brook managed to heal everyone's burst ear drums, Kiera grabbed hold of Dorn and started stalking off towards the housing.

“Hey, don't take it out on Dorn,” Jeromy shouted.

“Shut it,” was all she said back, storming off with Dorn in tow.

***

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” screamed Kiera, once they were out of earshot of their parties. “A fucking volcano? That explodes daily?”

“Oh come on, we just happened to pick a bad time to explore the floor. It was bad luck is all,” said Dorn.

Dorn then listened to a massive haranguing about being irresponsible and endangering their lives, and how humans couldn't just come back like a Dungeon Avatar.

Finally, Dorn remembered that Warley had returned, and said desperately, “I know something that will cheer you up. Warley's back.”

Kiera knew that Dorn was just trying to change the subject, so she narrowed her eyes at him.

“Fine,” she said, “let's go say hi to Warley. We'll talk more about this later.”

Dorn then handed over three barrier breaking pills, and Kiera said, “Actually, I think I said everything I needed.”

Kiera finally smiled, and Dorn breathed out a breath of relief. Gods, there are parts that suck to being in a relationship. At least it's easy to distract her with gifts.

He then realized that maybe, their relationship wasn't so different from other people's.