The extra wonky chance had made the siren's third spell work against her and let my kirin and the Tribesmen kill her without her being able to defend herself.

Weeding the World: 6 beings of karma level 0% killed.

1 level 40 sapient has been killed in your Dungeon.

You have gained 2,000 EXP.

First of Your Kind rewards you 400 EXP.

Weeding the World rewards you 120 EXP.

Good. I mentally sighed in relief. I wasn't truly worried but I couldn't help being a bit worried anyway. Status, please.

Personal Status Level: 19+ Needed number of killed sapients with karma levels of 25% or lower: 19/50 EXP: 127,502 Next mana payment for level up: 0/6,750 Mana: 535.5/1,500 Mana regeneration: 525 per hour Floors: 6/10 Allowed number of sapients in each Floor: 6 Floor Details Achievements Mission Dungeon Rules

I'm still so far from tiering up! I complained to myself. I guess most Dungeons must have a lot more bad people visiting them than I have had.

… And they probably don't level up as quickly as I do either, so they wouldn't get to level 19+ as quickly as I did…

I suppose I don't actually have anything to complain about…

The Tribesmen - except Emerald and Lionheart - had been staring at nothing while I had been looking at my Status.

I wonder what that's about…

One by one they started acting normally again.

Uh! Right! They helped me kill the siren, who's effectively a 0! They must have been reading the 'Weeding the World' Achievement!

The Tribesmen looked at each other as if to confirm that they had all gotten the same System message. They gave each other short nods. Then Nerok started speaking.

"Our enemies have been slain! But these enemies didn't act on their own accord! There are more of them out there! The System even put deathmarks on them! Both in the form of their 'Dungeon Weakness' and their… 0% karma level…" The Chief was visibly distressed but also had never heard of karma levels before the siren and her unwilling followers had appeared. "And while we can now identify them, how would the rest of the Tribe know if a visitor is one of them?"

Oh! Oh! Pick me! I know that one! Kirin! Nuzzle Emerald! The no-longer burning Boss did as I commanded it.

"Emerald?" Zaktak asked in confusion.

Nalir simply nodded like it made perfect sense - which it did of course! -, and the Chief immediately looked more calm, while Begdar took the time to explain it out loud. "The creatures of this Dungeon can somehow detect bad guys. It would make sense if Emerald - and Sprout and Champ too - could do the same. Had any of the three been nearby when these… cult members arrived, we would likely have known of them immediately."

"But wouldn't we then have attacked them immediately and the Tribe would have gotten killed needlessly due to the massive level gap?" Thenac asked cautiously.

Taozcec rolled his eyes at the rhinogirl. "Don't be dramatic, Thenac! The whole Tribe wouldn't have died!" The foxboy then gave a small shake of his head while scrunching his nose a bit. "But yeah… It wouldn't have ended well…"

"Hmm…" The Chief immediately had everyone's attention again. "This calls for a Tribal meeting." The others either nodded or agreed out loud.

As the Tribesmen left I began considering what my own reaction should be to the news of this Dungeon killing cult. Should I even do anything differently? My plan was already to not get killed. Now I just know a bit more about my opponents than before…

Can I use that knowledge for something? What do I even know that I can use?

… Huh…

I really only know that the cult brainwashes their members and wants to collect Dungeon Cores…

Maybe I could make a Rule that stops anyone from entering my Dungeon if they are brainwashed or Charmed or what not…

But I did just complain about not getting enough bad guys to kill, so I can tier up…

But then again. They're not actually bad people. They're under someone else's control. And I don't really want to kill someone like that…

I suppose the elves will come back at some point anyway. System. I want to make it a Rule that no one can enter my Dungeon if they are under someone else's control, such as being Charmed, Hypnotized or Brainwashed. I would prefer if it also included being forced but that might be going too far.

Rules, which stops sapients with karma levels of 25% or lower from entering your Dungeon, go against your Mission and as such can not be made.

Huh… I'm honestly not that surprised. It would have been too easy a solution.

Well then! System! Give me a Rule that lowers the-...

No wait! What about a Rule that no form for mind control works in my Dungeon?

A Dungeon-Wide Rule to forbid mind manipulation costs 58,200 mana.

What?! I've never seen a cost that high! How can it be that expensive?!

Wait! What's the cost for just having the Rule cover the first Floor?

A Floor-Wide Rule to forbid mind manipulation costs 9,700 mana.

Ahh! Still too high! My max is only 8,250! What about just one room?

The cost for a room-wide Rule and a Floor-Wide Rule is the same. In return extra rooms can be added to the Rule with no extra cost if on the same Floor.

Of course! Ahh! I thought in frustration. Back to plan B! A Rule that lowers the Ability Scores of anyone who is in any way mind manipulating anyone or is themselves mind manipulated, please.

A Dungeon-Wide Rule to punish mind manipulation costs 5,238 mana.

Alright. I guess that's what I'm going for then!

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Wait a minute! Can I make a Rule which simply weakens mind manipulation over time?

A Dungeon-Wide Rule to weaken mind manipulation over time costs 4,974 mana.

Yes! Now which one do I want?

… Or… Should I just pick them both?

Well… The first option makes it easier to kill and thus defend myself. The second will eventually give people their mind back.

System? How long would it take for the Rule to free someone’s mind?

A Rule to weaken mind manipulation over time would weaken mind manipulation equling to lowering the Ability Score of the manipulator by 6 points per hour.

The Skill ‘Charm’ triggers a contest between the manipulator’s Awareness or Charisma and the potential maniputated’s Awareness or Charisma. The Ability Score in question will be the individual’s highest between the two. The Skill only succeeds if the manipulator’s chosen Ability Score is at least 150% of the potential manipulated’s chosen Ability Score or more.

The Skill ‘Enthrall’ triggers a contest between the manipulator’s Awareness or Charisma and the potential maniputated’s Awareness or Charisma. The Ability Score in question will be the individual’s highest between the two. The Skill only succeeds if the manipulator’s chosen Ability Score is at least 175% of the potential manipulated’s chosen Ability Score or more.

The Skill ‘Hypnotize’ triggers a contest between the manipulator’s Awareness or Charisma and the potential maniputated’s combined Awareness and Charisma. The Ability Score in question will be the manipulator’s highest between the two. The Skill only succeeds if the manipulator’s chosen Ability Score is higher than the potential manipulated’s combined Awareness and Charisma Ability Scores.

The Skill ‘Brainwash’ triggers a contest between the manipulator’s combined Awareness and Charisma and the potential maniputated’s combined Intelligence, Awareness, and Charisma. The Skill only succeeds if the manipulator’s combined Awareness and Charisma Ability Scores is higher than the potential manipulated’s combined Intelligence, Awareness, and Charisma Ability Scores.

Okaayyy… I wasn’t prepared for this much information. I’ll have to reread this a couple of times.

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Nerok had sent the others out to announce the Tribal meeting while he and Lionheart went to talk with the remaining cult member. The two arrived at the edge of the tent-village where the horses and said cult member were located. Molgroor and Morghar stood nearby and kept a close eye on the human.

"Has there been any change in his behavior?" Nerok asked seriously. The Chief had no time for the usual small talk.

The old rhinokin was the one who answered. "He stopped moving for a minute or two a while back. Clearly pondering something. When he started moving again he began eyeing our weapons and clothes a lot more than before."

Morghar gave a hum and a nod to confirm it.

"Apparently the members of this cult are only a part of it due to Skill forcing them to join it." The Chief informed them. Both impromptu guardsmen widened their eyes at this. "You'll hear the details at the meeting."

Nerok turned his focus away from the two and onto the human. Said human was painfully thin, had clean, yet unhealthy looking, brown hair and was dressed in what appeared to be black clergy robes. The man was looking warily at the old ursakin Chief between wanting glances at Nerok's gear - especially the griffin feather cape - and the kirin standing beside him.

Knowing that his new Ability only let him see the Aura of the truly wicked, Nerok took a quick glance at Lionheart's reaction to the human. As a creature from the Dungeon of Karma he would have a better sense of the man's true nature than the Chief.

Lionheart simply looked warily at the human.

"What do you intend to do now?" Nerok asked.

Silence. For a bit the human simply looked cautiously at the Chief while shifting his weight from one foot to another. Then the human asked in return: "What are you gonna do?"

Nerok raised an eyebrow. "That depends on what you want to do."

More silence and nervous movement.

"You can take a horse and go back where you come from if you want..." The Chief suggested.

"They're not your horses!" The human stated, louder than before but not quite yelling. "This is the Order of the Broken Goddess' crusade horses. If anyone gets to have them it should be me!"

Nerok sighed and shook his head. "As you said. These horses don't belong to either of us. So, you have no claim to even one of them. I, on the other hand, can claim them all as war spoils."

The man opened his mouth frustrated but had to close it again as he had no comeback.

"So, I ask again. What do you intend to do now?"

"Give me a stupid horse!" He said with a scowl. Then he tried to jump on the nearest horse, only to be stopped midjump by Nerok grabbing his arm.

"Not so fast, young man! We have some questions for you before you go!" The human tried to get his arm free but was unsuccessful.

"Fine! Let's just get this over with!"

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So, as I understand it, the time needed really depends on who the victim is, specifically what their level is and what their main two Ability Scores are. The bad guy needs to be at least 5th tier to even use the weakest version of mind control and will have Awareness and Charisma as their main Scores. As such, they naturally have a bigger chance of winning against a random opponent. As the time it takes for the weakening Rule to break the Skill depends on how big the bad guy won against the victim, there really is no solid way to predict when the victim gets their mind back.

So, while being a really nice Rule, which I definitely want… It’s too unpredictable to give me a lot of extra safety.

I’ll just have to make both Rules. Expensive. But necessary!

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7 minutes later I realized how one Rule might affect the other. To confirm my suspicion I asked the System:

If I have a Rule which punishes all mind manipulation by lowering the Ability Scores of even the victims, and a Rule that weakens it over time by effectively lowering the Ability Scores of the manipulator. Wouldn’t the first Rule make it harder for the second to break the mind control?

A being affected by the Skills ‘Charm’, ‘Enthrall’, ‘Hypnotize’ or ‘Brainwash’ will break free from the Skill if their relevant Ability Score(s) get high enough that they would have won the Ability Score contest the Skill triggered. If the manipulator has gotten higher Ability Scores since the Skill was used on the manipulated, the old Ability Scores will still be the ones affecting the Skill. Alternately, certain Skills can be used to mimic this effect.

…

… I don’t think that’s an actual answer…

… But it might be a yes…?

...

I’m just gonna take it as a yes and remember to edit my Rules, so they don’t hinder each other.

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Nerok had started the Tribal meeting by telling the Tribe of all he knew of the cult, which called itself 'The Order of The Broken Goddess'. The news had already spread throughout the Tribe and the Chief knew it had. Still, Nerok knew it would be for the best to insure everyone knew the story. And that they knew the same story too and not a hearsay version.

Then the human was questioned. Unfortunately, he didn't know a lot more than Nerok had just told. The man had tried to resist talking a couple of times, but Nerok's much higher Charisma had him singing time and again.

Emil Great Rat's only additional information was the name of a bishop, how the priestess had gotten in contact with said bishop and the location of the small church the priestess had run for only about a week before her demise.

Having been interrogated and expressed a wish for leaving quickly, Emil was given a horse and excused.

As the facts and problems had been laid bare and with the outsider gone, Nerok then began coming with solutions and inviting his Tribe to do the same.

"While those of us who followed the cult into the Dungeon can now see other members of this wicked cult, the rest of you would only know should they choose to tell you." Nerok began. "Our Dungeon is the Dungeon of Karma! And all its creatures can tell good people from bad! Whether someone has been forced to join an evil cult or simply enjoys violence! I suggest, more of the Tribe forms a bond with a Dungeon creature! Both to better defend against the cult which aims to destroy this peaceful Dungeon! And to help us better detect other threats as well! Our enemy might have loudly proclaimed their wicked goal this time, but that might not always be the case!"

The Tribe quickly agreed to the suggestion and started talking amongst themselves: What creature suited them best or was the most practical one. Which would make for the best defender or most useful in day to day life. And so on.

Nerok simply let them talk for a couple of minutes. It had been quite a scare and they all needed to calm down. Then the Chief noticed the chatter start to die down on its own and got them back on track. "It would seem my suggestion was well received!" Agreements could be heard. "While I do have more suggestions, I would first like to hear if any of you have a suggestion!"

"We should start training too!" The shout had come from Bongoz. Bongoz was a felinekin and had recently discovered a love of woodcarving. His mate was Baaktha, who was a pregnant muskin expected to give birth in about a month or so. Interracial couples like that was just as common amoung beastkin as couples of the same race were. "Not just leveling up in the Dungeon but actually training to fight! Against the cult and the elves! We know they'll come back! The kobolds said the first batch was just the scout, remember?!"

The Tribe once again burst into chatter amongst themselves, though louder than before. Nerok tried to gain a sense of his people's opinion to the suggestion. It had been one he otherwise had intended to suggest himself. At first it seemed like most were against the idea, as the Tribe saw no way for them to become strong enough, fast enough for it to even matter.

But then the idea began to spread that just 'cause they had trained themselves and gotten more levels didn't mean they had to fight next time an enemy came. The Tribe could simply hide in the Dungeon should an enemy seem too powerful for the Tribe to handle.

Seeing that the suggestion had started to gain momentum, Nerok got the Tribe's attention again. "Excellent idea Bongoz! Let's put it to a vote! Hand up, who agrees with the general idea of fight training! We'll decide the details afterwards!" As it was simply the general idea of it, what appeared to be all the Tribe rose their hand.

"All for mandatory weekly trips to the Dungeon?!" Definite majority.

"All those who believe fight training should be for all, including children?!" The Chief continued. Only a few hands rose.

"Those who believe fight training should be mandatory for all adults?!" The vote seemed divided. I could count them up… Nerok thought. … or I could give them a compromise.

"All for having a specific group of adults focusing on fight training and having it be voluntary for everyone else?!" Lots of hands and a definite majority.

Nerok gave a nod and a small proud smile before getting to the next decision to be made. I'm getting pretty good at this Chief business!

Nerok took some time to think before continuing. "Any volunteers who wish to be the ones to train to fight against our enemies?!" Roughly 15 hands rose. Nerok took notice that this included The Party of the Brave, Vanek and Emerald's Party, before resuming. "That seems like a good amount of volunteers! You know who you are, so put your hands back down!"

Nerok took a calming breath before asking the next question. He knew it might lower his Tribe's morale, but he knew it had to be asked. "Is there anyone capable of teaching our volunteers how to fight other people?!" Silence, then worried chatter. The Tribe, as ex-slaves, knew how to fight against mindless Dungeon creatures, but fighting against other people was a different matter.

Luckily, Begdar came to the rescue. "We could ask the kobolds to teach us! They might be too young to know a lot about it, but they've fought against both the elves and the cult before!"

"Excellent idea, Begdar!" Nerok quickly stated, happy for there to have been some form of solution. "I'll ask the Dungeon for permission next time I visit! Any other suggestions to be considered?!" Slight chatter appeared.

"Should we have some form of screening for the merchants?!" Molgroor suggested.

It was quickly agreed that getting a bonded Dungeon creature near the merchants and seeing their reaction would be the only screening. Then the Tribe began to discuss what to do should the creature be aggressive towards one or more merchants.