Veraform watched as an imp emerged from the portal. It was shaking, barely able to heave itself out of the hole in the ground.

“Errg” the creature moaned. “This form,” the creature shivered as it ran a hand across its arm and flesh rolled off like a layer of sunburnt skin, “it is painful.”

“Show me what you can do,” Veraform calmly asked the shambling imp.

Shocked at the casual request of the imp to do something when it was in so much pain, it hesitated. “I- I’m not sur-”

“Just try.” Veraform interrupted.

The creature raised its hand and made a pained face as it began to focus. Energy shot from its fingertips and went toward the wall. Its arm recoiled and the force dislocated the imps shoulder. “Ahh” it hollered before biting its tongue.

Veraform looked to the blast on the wall. Nothing particularly strong. It wasn’t worth keeping the soul in a body like this. The creature let out more pained screams as Veraform channeled mana into it. When it burst Veraform gained 2 KP, as much as the rats provided. It was disappointing that he had no way to use the soul currently. If he slayed Curupira he could gain both another soul and a vessel for it. Long term it would probably be better to take the deal. An endless supply of sacrifices would provide a steady stream of some limited resources.

He had options but Veraform wouldn’t commit to anything until the creature was here. What exactly would he gain from the contract, and what would he be giving? The sacrifice that arrived earlier didn’t really elaborate on the finer details. All there was to do was wait.

In the meantime Veraform decided he would work towards the KP needed for a demon specialization. He was gaining enough mana to spawn and kill a rat every hour and still have mana left over. His KP raised slowly.

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The hours rolled by and Veraform lost himself in thought, wondering what he would gain from everything that was to come. He was so transfixed that the jolt was as bad as it always was.

INTRUDER!

Once he recovered from being thoroughly rattled he saw the guest. It had the legs of a stag but the torso and face of a man, although the face was elongated so that it might resemble a goat, and he had spiraling horns.

“Leo” Veraform called out. “We have a guest.”

The imp took flight and found its way to the entrance. “You’re Curupira?” The imp asked for confirmation. “Indeed, though it is a title more than a name. And you’re here to lead me to the core I presume?” The voice was more haughty than Veraform had expected from a forest guardian.

“We’ve got questions, Leo”

The imp relayed the cores questions as they came. “What exactly will you offer us for the privilege of our cooperation?”

“Every day I will have a follower come here so that you can do what you see fit with them.”

Veraform was skeptical. Could the satyr really afford that? Every single day?

“Ask him how much mana he would take.” The imp hesitated but then spoke. “How much mana would you be taking?” Curupira looked puzzled.

“I’m not really sure how to quantify the amount of mana that would grant me power. I was under the impression you knew what you would give me. Allow me to enter your core room and perhaps things will become more clear.” Veraform felt like he was a child about to be kidnapped. Something was off. He would have Mechamputax ready in case things went awry.

“I will lead you through the dungeon,” Leo informed the guest once Veraform allowed him to. As they progressed through the dungeon Veraform made out voices outside.

A woman spoke, “I’m only performing the ritual and leaving. You all can handle the dungeon itself.”

“Thank you Shumu. I appreciate you doing this. This dungeon likely hasn’t suffered yet and I’d like to teach it to fear.” This came from the long haired man who had failed to save Sam. What was this about a ritual? Veraform was already in the middle of a somewhat delicate situation, this wasn’t a good time for more surprises.

Or maybe it was a blessing. “Leo. Inform him that we may have guests. If he can hold them off we will accept his contract.” Now the situation would be decided for him and he would benefit from any outcome, as long as he wasn’t actually overwhelmed. Leo relayed the message.

“You know, it would be much easier to defend you if we could make the contract before they invaded.” The forest protector seemed rather intent on getting the power. The imp didn’t dignify him with a reply. Leo flew off as if he had more important work to attend to. This left Curupira at the beginning of the second half of floor one.

Meanwhile, outside Veraform could hear more voices picking up. There were over a dozen. It dawned on Veraform what was happening. Was the ritual going to allow more people to enter? How would he defend against a massive group of people? He heard chanting start. It was from the woman, Shumu. As her voice grew, the chatter died down.

Veraform felt a change coming. It was uncomfortable, like a bubble that had been stuck inside him began growing. Suddenly the feeling stopped and Veraform was left feeling violated. The long haired man entered. There was no alert of an intruder. Morello and Thant followed. The barrier didn’t appear. More people streamed in and those that had already entered went to the next room to make space. All together there were 16 of them. There was a mix of mages and warriors along with some more unique characters, a man wielding a scythe and a girl in plate armour who was maybe 4 feet tall at most.

Even if these people were on the same level as Sam or Marcus, the sheer number was going to be a problem, and something was telling Veraform that some would be closer to Rhoam and the White haired man's level. Why had they brought such force? Veraform didn’t contain enough loot that this would be worth it. Was it just revenge? Did all of these people know the girl?

There were men smiling and joking with each other. It wasn’t the look of men out for revenge. Morello, Thant and the man had the look of vengeance as well as a couple others, but not many. Were they being paid? Was it volunteers? It didn’t matter. They clearly weren’t invested. If he could just kill one or two then the rest would be scared and leave right?

He hoped that that would be enough.

“This way.” Thant said as he led the group through the longest possible path. It was familiar though, so why risk going to a new place? Veraform wasn’t about to waste his imps on attacking the group while it was this big. He needed to seperate them. Would Curupira make a move before Veraform? That was a wildcard that he hoped could turn the tide.

As the group moved forward Thant saw that the chest Sam had looted was gone. “The dungeons changed,” Thant said to Morello. “We expected as much,” Morello replied.

“Ready yourself! This is where the beast was last time.” Morello yelled back to the group as he walked into Mechamputax’s old chamber. The candles were no longer lit, and so the only lights came from the adventurers.

Soon the entire raiding party was in the room. “Where’s your boogeyman Richter?” the man with the scythe wielder goaded. It was directed at the long haired man. Now he had a name. Richter.

“The dungeons gotten bigger,” He tried to seem unaffected by the scythe man as he looked through the different paths. “And best bet says this way is where we’ll find the staircase.” He pointed down a hall that led to one of the stone rooms. The room that Curupira had been left in.

They progressed forward and Veraform got everyone into position. Curupira was hiding in a side room. He was wielding a flute.

Mechamputax had one body moving into position behind them when a shout came. “Heads up we’ve got a big one on our tail.” The call came from one of the less armoured people who held smaller blades.

Mechamputax swapped to his other body and opened a portal to a sigil room near them. They all had stopped walking and taken defensive positions as they waited. They knew something was coming. Curupira raised his flute and began playing. The melody was beautiful, but it was cut short when a red haired mage raised and slammed her staff as soon as she heard it. When the staff slammed down a bubble formed around the entire group. It expanded out to other rooms and stopped. No sound was made inside the bubble.

This was as good as any opportunity. Mechamputax entered and lunged at the nearest target that wasn’t fully armoured. Unfortunately a man with a towering greatsword intercepted him with the weapon. Mechamputax pulled himself onto the sword and moved along it towards the man, Mages prepared spells and Warriors stepped forward with their weapons raised, but mechamputax’s bones had spread out along the man and attacking them would endanger the man. Suddenly he flexed and a wave of mana erupted from him, launching Mechamputax off of him. As he did, Mechamputax swapped to his other body.

The imps and fairy dragons rounded the corner that led deeper into the dungeon and they all took shots at the group before retreating again. The man with the scythe saw this and tossed a small ball in the air that exploded into a shimmering wall that blocked the projectiles before disappearing and leaving bent metal on the ground.

Adventurers were on top of mechamputax’s bones attacking and breaking what they could. With all the chaos, the second body launched bones toward the ground near a small cluster of warriors and opened a portal. Two men fell into them and without sound in the room people reacted too slowly to catch the men. They were transported to a deeper sigil room within the dungeon and they emerged with black pustules covering them.

Mechamputax lept at the red haired mage and attempted to wrap around her. As he did she released the zone of silence and the sound of music rushed back to the room. Mechamputax also let out a bellow, “Rhoaaaam” and the mage was paralyzed. Many of the people in the room were momentarily paralyzed but it wasn’t enough of an opening since Morello, Thant and Richtor had moved forward to attack the imps and fairy dragons, who continued to flee.

The rogue who had called out Mechamputax’s position earlier suddenly leapt at the short armoured girl with his dagger flailing wildly. A burst of mana came from her legs and she launched herself into the man, flinging him across the room and into the wall. He was knocked unconscious.When she landed there was another burst and she launched herself into another room, toward the source of the music.

Mechamputax wrestled the red haired mage to the ground and opened a portal. They appeared together in an isolated sigil room where Mechamputax continued to constrict her. She began conjuring an icy wind that created a layer of frost on objects in the room.

When the small armoured girl entered the room with Curupira she looked puzzled. He continued playing but she looked around as if she couldn’t see or hear him. She ran on into the next room which looped back to the room most of the adventurers were in. The body of mechamputax was destroyed and everyone was tending to the wounded. Thant, Morello and Richter returned from chasing the ranged minions.

“3 missing and probably dead, with one knocked unconscious. Meanwhile all we got was one of those things.” Thant said as he looked around the room. “And no one stopped that music yet.” he added as he realized it was playing.

Mechamputax was covered in frost but he was uninjured. Ice meant little to a skeleton. The mage woman was dead and Mechamputax began walking through the dungeon. The imps found their way to the two men who were sent away. They had swords drawn and were prepared to defend themselves. The imps fired a blast at one man and he blocked one, but when the other made contact there was a chain reaction as the swollen bumps on the man exploded, causing the other to meet the same fate. The blast echoed through the dungeon.

“Let’s end the music before it starts affecting more people,” Morello said as he led the way towards it. Thant followed but Richter stayed behind, observing the group.

When Thant and Morello entered the room the Music shifted and a powerful drowsiness overtook them. Thant quickly took his knife to his own flesh and sprinted at the beast. Curupira stopped playing and pulled apart the flute to reveal two blades, neither of which could have actually fit within the flute. When their blades clashed Thant held them against each other while morello began creating a fireball. The satyr saw this and headbutted Thant, knocking him away. Curupira had nowhere run though and decided his best option was to charge the armoured mage. As he did, Morello slammed his hands together and allowed the flames to engulf his arms. He then brought them forward to meet the goat man, punching him with a flaming fist.

Curupira let out a pained bleat as he was knocked back and landed prone. Thant recovered from his blow to the head and threw a dagger at the goatman's throat. It stuck it’s mark and curupira sputtered for a breath that wouldn’t come.

Everyone regrouped to discuss their plan.

“Seeing as some of us are dead, are the rest of us getting their pay?” The question was a mix of playful and serious. It had come from the scythe man. He hadn’t done much in that fight. He blocked projectiles but other than that he mostly just watched.

“Have some respect.” The call came from the short girl. “Those were people's friends. Why are you even here if it’s money you’re after. The pays shit.”

“I’m here for the same reason as you. It’s not often you get to see a dungeon this young and wild.”

“That’s not why I'm here. I’m here because people like you think that just because the dungeon is young it’s not dangerous. Look where that got us. Three people are dead. Richter, I know this meant a lot to you but I’m out. Anyone who wants to leave can join me.”

“Ha, whatever. More loot for me.” The scythe man chortled. Several men looked at each other before joining the girl.

Thant looked to Richtor. “Are we leaving?” he asked through clenched teeth. Richtor shook his head. There were still nine people, including Thant, Morello, Richter and the scythe man.

Veraform would think he had a chance, if it weren’t for a minor problem. As all of this had been happening, he had heard another conversation just outside his entrance.

“Looks like you’re not the only one thats lost someone here Rhoam.” They must have been referring to the graves. “Let's go put this thing in its place before more novices hurt themselves,” a second voice spoke solemnly. “I don’t know whether to hope there’s room for four” A third voice said. It was a woman. Rhoam stepped into the dungeon. Followed by three others.

One was a man that towered above the others at almost 7 feet tall. He was shirtless with only a thin set of trousers on.

Another was an older woman in robes, most likely a mage. She wore countless rings and jewels and her robe had runes all over. The mana radiating off of her was huge.

The last was… Nondescript. Veraform saw that someone was there, but he couldn’t focus on any given feature. He could find anything he was looking for, a cowlick, freckles, dimples but when he wasn’t looking there wasn’t anything to remember.

The whole group seemed strong. Even if it wasn’t Veraform had lost half of Mechamputax.

“There’s room for a fifth.” The mage woman said, and as she did the short girl and a contingent of the adventurer group made it to the entrance. She let out a little “Oh.”

The short girl told them “We were just heading out. Some nasties have already been dealt with but there's bound to be more. You guys seem like you can handle yourselves though.” She eyed the giant of a man.T “And we’ve still got some friends up there. I know it’s none of your business but I'd appreciate it if you could keep them safe if it came down to it.”

“We’ve got no reason to let anyone die. Rest your mind and trust that they’ll come home safe if we can help it” the mage tried to comfort them.

The girl and her entourage left and as they did she let out another surprised ”Oh, this place is the talk of the forest isn’t it,” but there was no reply. Another person entered the dungeon. It was a man in a robe. He was mostly concealed but Veraform could see that the man was in poor health. His skin appeared black in some places and it was loose like it would fall off if he moved too fast.

The party at the bottom of the stairs stared at the man. He dropped his hood and spoke. His voice was stronger and smoother than Veraform expected of someone so old and sick.

“Would you all mind if a leper tagged along?”