Hashira returned to consciousness slowly. She was warm and somewhat comfortable. She tried to think of where she was and why her muscles ached. Her memory felt fuzzy. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up and looked around the room.

The room was square, 2 wooden doors not quite opposite each other, a fireplace on the wall opposite her bed. There’s a second bed with a person shaped lump in it, a round table with 3 chairs in the corner between her bed and one of the doors. In the opposite corner between the fireplace and the other door, stands a stone statue of a robed figure with a large scythe that has a purple blade.

Staring at the still figure made it feel like her brain was itching. As if something was there that she wasn’t quite grasping.

Daze Resistance: Level 49

You have slept in [Safe Zone]. Health Regeneration increases by 5% for 2 hours or until you leave [Safe Zone].

Luck increased by 1 for 5 hours

Hashira shook her head as the Daze effect lifted. The last 2 weeks coming back to her all at once.

Leaving Lineon with the 3 males and her sister. The half giant nearly drowned in the swap they had crossed. Being attacked by slimes, an ooze and poisonous fungi in said swamp.

She and Remina had a bad feeling the minute they entered the trees. They were old, towering and filled with mischief. It didn’t take them long to realize none of their magical skills worked properly and stamina skills were only half as effective as they should be. Having Remina and her healing magic had made them complacent and cheap. No one had packed enough healing potions.

The half human, Iruwhip, vanished during his watch on the second night in the forest. Bouzaglo, the drow, fell to a brain hound 4 days later. That's the kind of creature you only encounter near necromancers and places tainted by evil. The legionary and the sisters decided to cut their losses and leave these cursed trees, only to find they had no clue which way to go.

They traveled for 3 days before Ixamul stopped them and gave the haunting news. They were going in circles. Cutting branches and limbs to make a smoke signal allerted goblin scouts instead. They were nearly overwhelmed by the number of little beasts.

At level 151 she had the strength of an average B rank warrior but being able to crush their heads with a kick didn’t help when there were over 200 goblins, 50 bugbears and a dozen hobgoblins. Goblins couldn’t break her or Remina’s natural armor but slogging through them takes stamina. At zero stamina, natural armor drops by half and movement speed drops to 10%.

Ixamul was the only reason they had gotten out of there alive. And he was the only reason they were still alive.

Once they had run as far as they could from the goblins, the 3 collapsed. They only noticed Remina was poisoned after they caught their breath. Examining her wounds they found a small dart had pierced her shoulder. It had only just pierced the skin but with poison, that's all it takes. None of them could identify the poison, it had to be something found only in this area. All it seemed to do was slow her natural recovery. In a few days her resistances and blessings would have cured it.

That night a strange purple fog started to move out of the South West. It put them on edge. As it grew thicker and covered their whole camp they started to panic. Looking back at her log Hashira found almost 50 identical messages.

[Panic] Resisted

[Daze] Resisted

[Fear] Resisted

[Confusion] Resisted

At the time she hadn’t even known she was under mental attack. They must have cascaded in. [Fear] then [Panic] were the first to set in. She’d grabbed Remina and ran. The status effects made it almost impossible to know where she was running and she didn’t have a clue what she was running from.

Sometime later as she was panting and [Panic] faded to [Fear], Hashira crashed into something.

She had barreled over a demon. Normally something as weak as an imp wouldn’t be a concern but with unreliable magic and a brain hound sighting it was terrifying. Her first thought had been what other demons were in these trees. Followed by the fear that instead of a dungeon opening, a planar rift may have opened.

Ixamul must have seen them and followed them as they crashed headlong through the forest. As Hashira once more fell into a panic and drug her sister on another mad dash, Ixamul swung his massive battle axe at the imp.

She hadn’t seen or heard from him after that but each time Hashira slowed down, tripped, or Remina tripped, she could hear the taunting laughter. Hashira had sent a prayer of thanks to Octor and Vasteria when she felt dungeon magic in the grass under her boots. She turned to the obvious entrance and half dragged, half carried Remina to relative safety.

Taking a deep settling breath after reliving that. She stood and checked the other bed. A quick [Analyze] and a tight smile formed on her face. Remina was at 75% health with only [Asleep] as her status effect.

“Thank you dungeon.” She spoke aloud knowing the creature could hear. Hashira stroked her sisters hair. “I don’t know how I will ever repay you. Remina means more to me than my own life.”

She looked to the door nearer the other bed when there was a knock. Hashira was a bit confused but called out for them to come in. 2 Kobolds entered. 1 had a sword and shield and the other had a pair of daggers and a saw of all things. The second kobold was also carrying a chest.

On instinct she identified them.

Una

Level 3

Kobold

Level 2

Kobold

Una watched her as the other kobold placed the chest she was carrying on the table. It was easy to tell these were female as they don’t have horns on the end of their snout. The kobold opened the chest and stepped back beside Una.

Hashira looked from the pair to the chest and back. When Una motioned her to it she stood and walked over. Inside were fruit and a slab of something white. [Analyze] told her it was a raw mushroom steak.

“Uh… thank you?” She was so confused by this interaction.

After a moment Una nodded and the pair left.

Shaking her head Hashira took a big bite out of one of the pears and waited for her sister to wake. After pulling one of the chairs over from the table she sat and started meditating.

Hashira was broken out of meditation by a small groan. She looked at the bed. A soft smile came to her face as Remina blinked her eyes open.

“What happened?” Her voice was thick with sleep.

“To be honest I haven’t a clue.” She let out a big sigh. “That fog threw me into a panic and I ran.”

“Last thing I remember was dozing off after we ran from the goblins.” Remina looked around. “Where are we? How did we get out of the forest?”

“We haven’t. We’re inside the baby dungeon.”

“How? Why? What?????” Hashira couldn’t help chuckling at her sister's confusion.

“In my panic I bowled over an imp. Which increased my panic. After who knows how long dragging you around the forest I found the dungeon. Between a baby dungeon and an imp the choice was obvious. When I heard the imp following me I begged the dungeon for protection. The golem in the corner brought me here where I fell asleep.”

Remina was silent thinking over what she had learned. “How did a fog make you panic?”

“Another mystery of this gods forsaken forest. I have over 50 messages resisting [Panic], [Fear], [Daze] and [Confusion]. The last time I saw a cascade of effects like that was when I fell into that poison pit in Jinlu.”

As she’d hoped, that made her sister smile. “That dungeon is something else. Maybe we should go visit the Masser Kingdom again after this mess.”

“The dungeon offered us food.” She changed the subject.

Once they were eating while sitting at the table Remina asked. “What do we do now?”

Hashira sighed. “I’m hoping the dungeon lets us stay here until someone comes that can escort us out of the forest. I’d also like to explore this baby dungeon.”

Remina nodded. “It did shelter us when we were in trouble. I would be glad to stay and let it get whatever dungeons get from invaders. We will also need to decide what we can offer as payment.”

“I plan to lay all our items out and let Una pick what the dungeon wants into the chest they sent food in.”

“If we knew what plants the dungeon has access to, you could show it how to make potions and poisons.”

Hashira smiled. “That I can. And I will be sure to make us as many healing potions as the dungeon will allow. As soon as I can I will be taking your advice and learning more healing spells. And carrying more health potions. Relying on spells is a rookie mistake.”

“We were both excited to find a young dungeon and the males swept us up in their dreams. I wonder if Iruwhip or Ixamul is still alive?”

“I will pray for their safety but I have little hope. They are less than 1/3 of our level.”

The sisters fell into a solemn silence.

~ Dungeon POV ~

Listening to the sisters talk as I watched over my dungeon I wasn’t sure what to do. After explaining what they had said I asked my companion her opinion.

“I see your dilemma.” The little fairy replied, perched on the shoulder of the shadow that lived in our core room. “We could take all the items they offer but that would put them in a bind and be rather rude. We’re already getting experience and mana from them staying in the dungeon. Having them teach one of our residents to make potions would be a boon. But I’m not sure how well that will work if you have to act as translator for every lesson. Also how long will they be stuck here? You can’t alter anything on the second floor while they stay there.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “I wish that sound helped as much as it did when I had a humanoid body. I was thinking the same things. Having someone watch and copy their potion making shouldn’t be a problem. Once they have the skill we can let them practice for the rest of our lives and get better and better. But who do we send? I plan to make more Kobolds for the 4th floor and move Una and her tribe down there. Replacing them with a group of goblins. Do I make one of the kobolds a potion maker or use a goblin or even a hobgoblin?”

“We’ll have to see what they offer before we can choose what to take as payment. Just watching will make learning the skill take longer. Kobolds are loyal and intelligent more so than goblin grunts but goblins have more dexterity in their fingers. Hobgoblins are intelligent but would have less evolutionary options than goblins.”

The 2 of us fell silent as we thought over the problem.

“Let me ask Una and the bosses what they think.”

“Una, The elves have offered to teach someone potions.” Once I had her attention I explained the pros and cons of the 3 species.

The kobold was silent for a long moment thinking about the options. “Kobolds are brave and sure. If other goblins are like the 1 we have they would run from a dangerous potion.”

“You make a valid point. Thank you for your input.”

“Creator.” She put her hand to her chest.

I turned my attention to the Titan Rat Snake. I haven’t interacted with her very much.

“Creator, how may I serve you?” She answered as soon as she felt my full attention.

After outlining the issue I asked her opinion.

“Hobgoblins have innate magic. Potions are magic. That would be my choice.”

“Thank you.”

“I live and serve by your will.” She dipped her head toward where my core room had been.

Lastly I turned to the Dryad Matriarch. She was petting one of the goats I had made sitting on a large mushroom.

“Greetings Creator. Have you decided to fill out the rest of my domain?”

“Not just yet. Though I’ll probably ask for your help with that. Many of the creatures I plan to put on this floor have a low DP and I don’t want it to feel crowded or choked.”

“That is wise. There is no shame in asking for help. And though I am just over a day old, I have instinctual knowledge and skills that may be useful to you.”

For the 4th time in an hour I explained the issue.

“Why not have all 3 try?”

“…… I hadn’t thought of that.” I sent her a wave of happiness and gratitude. “Thank you. That is an excellent suggestion.”

My focus turned back to my core room. After I explained what the matriarch suggested I asked, “Do you know if I can make creatures smarter or more magical?”

Her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it. “I don’t. There is so much that dungeons do that even we can’t see and don’t understand. I’m not sure if making their brains bigger would help or infusing the blueprint with a magical substance.”

Happiness bloomed. “So it’s time to experiment.”

Arizo chuckled. “I’m glad you’re excited. I wonder what you’ll end up making?”

“Me too.”