I knew my Fake Core would come in handy one day!

Just as I had hoped, no one had thought to look twice at the Core in the middle of the Core Room, so the Fake Core was the one caged. The 'Fake or Real Core' Rule had originally been worded so it would also work against golems, but now this wording ensured that even the Cage itself believed the Fake Core to be the real one.

And if the Cage kept telling the Lightning Mage that everything was fine then…

Well… She'll still notice at some point…

It would buy me some time at least! Maybe even a lot of time as the Cage would probably be blamed as faulty at first before anyone thinks I did something…

From my perspective the rune-covered Cage had been placed around the Fake Core, the Lightning Mage cast some form of spell to activate it, and for 40 seconds it shrunk and reshaped its form till it fit tightly around my Fake Core.

But on the mental scale, nothing had happened nor changed.

Hmm… Let's just check out my new status for now…

Personal Status Level: 20 EXP needed for level up: 29,600/29,600 Additional EXP: 1,652,876 Mana payment for level up: 0/5,250 Mana: 750.5/1,750 Mana regeneration: 612.5 per hour Floors: 8/11 Allowed number of sapients in each Floor: Disabled Floor Details Achievements Mission Dungeon Rules

Well… It's nice. I've tiered up. Love it. Lots of EXP.

Really not much to say about it though.

Back to the serious stuff then. The whole army wasn't killed, which means the elven kingdom knows many of my tricks by now.

No wait… Elves are matriarchal, so it would be a queendom then?

Still. What can I do to protect myself? And the Tribe too?

For a couple of seconds I simply observed the mouselady push. The baby's head was getting pushed out and a pair of silver-striped cat ears could be seen with a tuft of similar colored hair in between them.

They think they have me caged, so they must intend to use me. That makes it very likely that all or part of the army here is going to stay and guard my Portal till someone comes to relieve them. And those people will start building a town around me and visit me daily and…

Well… As long as no one actually finds my real Core, all of this is good for me. Just not for the Tribe…

So, can I… drive them away somehow?

Uhh… Nooo… I can't act outside my Dungeon after all.

But… Maybe I can help the Tribe deal with the elves somehow…

Hmm…

First question: Ideally, what do I want to happen to the elves?

The queendom? Don't know. Maybe for them to leave me alone. At least for now. Otherwise I just don't know enough unbiased things about them.

The army, which just left? I… Honestly - and this might just be my instinct speaking - I wouldn't mind killing the last 17 elves with low karma. I might even prefer it!

But the other 15?

I don't know. I don't want them dead. And I don't want them to cause me or the Tribe any problems.

So, second question: What can I do to make this happen?

As I can't directly do anything myself, I'll have to settle for aiding the Tribe.

…

And how do I want the Tribe to handle the elves?

Uhm… The Tribe can't kill them. Even with Lionheart being overpowered right now it won't be enough to let them win, just like I hadn't been able to.

That and I don't want to kill the elves.

Diplomacy?

…

I doubt it… What do we have to offer them, after all?

My secrets, I suppose. But not much else.

Maybe it's possible with enough Charisma, but without knowing how Charismatic the highest ranking elves are in comparison, it's not something I want to test.

…

Maybe the Tribe will just have to hide…

But they would never get out again! They can only get EXP from my Dungeon once per action per run, so being unable to leave would make them unable to get strong enough to defeat the elves! And even if I were to change this by making a Rule, they would simply get stuck before the next tier up!

But… Could a different Rule maybe help?

Ahh! No! They only affect my Dungeon! Not the Surface World!

My mind was filled with angry words and sounds I could not verbalize.

Wait! What was the wording of Chosen Family?!

Dungeon Rule: Chosen Family: The Dungeon Core may choose to see certain sapients as a part of its Dungeon just like its creatures are. The sapient then stops counting as a sapient to the Dungeon's allowed number of sapients per Floor. This includes allowing children inside in Dungeon, though those children can not earn EXP from the Dungeon. Creatures will only attack them in self-defense, and traps will not be activated by them. Adult sapients can still earn EXP and loot like normal but can choose to bypass any puzzle in their way but won’t then earn EXP for the puzzle. No sapient with a karma level of 25% or lower can be seen as a part of the Dungeon nor any with evil intentions towards the Dungeon Core. Currently chosen sapients: The Tribe of The Dungeon of Karma.

Okay. Okay. It might work!

But what do I want it to do?

Hmm…

… Tribe of The Dungeon of Karma? Wasn't it called Nerok's Tribe before?

…

Is it 'cause they started worshiping me?

…

Probably…

…

Back on topic: I should be able to make a Rule, which empowers the Tribe, and help them that way. As I've just tested, even several Rules working together aren't enough to make even a whole horde of creatures powerful enough to defeat the most powerful of the elves, so that is still not an option.

Maybe I could give the Tribe their own Mana Form, so they can negotiate with the elves with no fear of getting killed or harmed or trapped or enslaved or anything else…

We still don't have anything to negotiate with though…

There is a possibility that the sight of the Mana Form will scare the elves away as if they had seen a ghost!

… On the other hand, the Lightning Mage seemed to be very knowledgeable about magic, and thus mana. It seems very likely that she could simply wave her hand and kill any being in Mana Form… So, I don't really want to risk it.

I was shaken from my thoughts by a sudden wail from the newborn.

You're right, baby! I should ask the Tribe for their opinion! It affects them more than me, after all!

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Sarzina Acacia had just finished talking to her older brother, Braern, using her Multiconnected Communication Orb. The Multiconnected Communication Orb, more commonly known as an emco, was a more expensive version of a Communication Orb but came with the ability to connect to any other Communication Orb - Multiconnected or otherwise - instead of just the other one of the pair. However, emcos did come with the caveat that you had to have enough Intelligence or suitable Skills to be able to use them.

As a 5th tier Apprentice Noble Blacksmith, Braern didn't have the most Intelligence. The Blacksmith part of his Class meant he had a focus on Strength, while Classes with the word 'Noble' in them indicated a secondary or tertiary focus on Charisma and/or Awareness - it varied from person to person and whether the other part of their Class already had a secondary focus. Zina’s own Class ‘Noble Elemental Mage - Lightning’ had a primary focus in Intelligence due to being a Mage Class and a secondary focus in Awareness due to it being a Noble variant. Though of course, plenty of people had secondary or tertiary focuses which had no correlation to their Class.

But all of that was to say: Braern had a normal Communication Orb, as he couldn't control an emco. This meant Zina had to be the one to call him.

And she would. Whenever she was away from home, she would make sure to call her brother at least once every two weeks.

Which, to elves, was considered quite often.

Braern was happy for her - she finally had her own Dungeon! -, and Zina had thanked him again for making her acutium plate armor - even though no creature had gotten close enough to touch her, it had still been really sweet of him.

Zina had walked a bit away from the bustle of activity happening around the Dungeon Portal, so she could update her brother undisturbed. Having finished said call, she began slowly walking back to the others.

As the dungeon mistress of the town getting built, all her duties surrounded the administration of the Dungeon. Things like tax control and/or fees for entering the Dungeon, what potential requirements one had to fulfill to enter the Dungeon and making sure people fulfilled it, and selling information on the Dungeon to potential miners.

Whenever a town was built around the Dungeon Portal of a tamed Dungeon, the dungeon master would have first pick of where their Dungeon Guild would be located. As the terrain was pretty flat and the ground was suitable for building - or so Zina had been told -, she had naturally picked the plot right in front of the Portal.

Many dungeon masters chose to also buy and sell loot from their Dungeon, which both earned them extra money and helped keep prices stable. Whenever one type of loot got really low, the Dungeon Guild would issue a request for it and offer extra money for it. Zina liked this system and intended to implement it herself. While her Dungeon was an odd one, it didn't seem odd in ways that would make her think it extended to its loot.

Of course, she couldn't be sure of that till the next time she went into the Dungeon.

Still, her Dungeon really was an odd one. Much more dangerous than it should be and different from other Dungeons in so many ways it might just be easier to count the similarities instead!

But that just made Zina love her Dungeon even more!

It's so unique it won't just be mentioned in records as one Dungeon among others, only slightly different from the rest. Instead it would have a whole chapter to itself! No! A whole book!

And I'll be right there! As its dungeon mistress!

The elven noblewoman smiled to herself as she walked.

I had only expected to really be known and remembered in the local area of my Dungeon. This has gone way past even my wildest dreams!

Zina took a moment to focus on her link to the Dungeon Core Cage. It was still there. Quietly telling her the Dungeon didn't want to change a thing.

That's okay. At some point it will.

Once the Dungeon requested a change, she could gain extra info from the System. For instance, should the Dungeon wish to add a monster to a room in the currently unfinished Floor, she would be able to get a description of it. Said description would be added to the booklet of the Dungeon sold at the Dungeon Guild and was quite important to get as quickly as possible, so miners could mine better prepared.

As soon as Zina arrived at the meadow around the Dungeon Portal she was called over by a group of soldiers, who wanted to know what her plans were for the Dungeon now that she had actually been in it. Most of the small group had lost limbs in the Dungeon - something Miss Pinckneya couldn't heal, only stabilize.

Their questions were easy to answer. Even with how unusual her Dungeon was, she had still spent her whole life preparing for this moment.

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While the Tribe wanted to take the fight to the elves, they didn't have any confidence in winning.

Chief Nerok had the highest Charisma Score of the Tribe and if the conflict should turn to diplomacy, he would be the one who would have to talk to the elves. Something he admitted he would be unable to do without at least insulting someone, regardless of how the elves would react to the attempt.

The Tribe found my idea of giving them a Mana Form fascinating, but they didn't like the odds of surviving the Lightning Mage should they try.

A couple more ideas were thrown around, all of which were rejected in the end.

The only plan we concluded to have few enough risks to want to attempt was barely a plan at all. It was simply 'wait and see what happens'. The only plan part of it was for me to try and find a way to spy on the elves, so we could make more informed decisions once the waiting was over with.

I really don't like this plan! I feel so… so…

…useless…

… and trapped…

While the Dungeon Core Cage hadn't actually trapped me, the situation somehow had.

Speaking of the Cage. Right now it was doing the same thing it would have done if it had been placed on my actual Core. Namely nothing. I wanted to level up and needed more mana for it, so I wasn't doing anything the Cage would react to.

But at some point I would, and the Cage wouldn't react to it.

It might take quite a while before the Lightning Mage would realize something was wrong. After having killed 43 people at once, she would likely - and correctly - assume, that my first priority would be leveling up. And as leveling up happened automatically once the criteria had been fulfilled, the Cage wouldn't react to it.

Still, finding a way to stop or delay her from realizing I wasn't under her control was one of my goals, though not the most urgent one.

The faster I could figure out how to spy on the elves, the more information I would get out of it. Then I would do a couple of level ups, before focusing on what to do about my 'Cage problem'.

My Dungeon Rules only worked inside my Dungeon, so while making a new Rule seemed like the way to go, it would be a challenge to word, so it could work while the elves were on the Surface World.

With the whole Tribe hiding in my Dungeon I don't even have a link to the Surface World I can exploit.

I mentally snorted, before a thought struck me.

The Portal! It anchors me to the Surface World! I should be able to make a Rule connected to the Portal itself!

Soon after, a new Rule was in place.

New Dungeon Rule: Portal Observation: The Dungeon Portal sees and hears all that is going on around it. This can be overcome by related Abilities or Skills of the same tier as the Core or higher.

The Rule hadn’t been particularly expensive. It covered a small area and didn’t offer any offensive or defensive properties, so I also hadn’t expected it to.

It did take me long to realize I would have to be lucky to get anything worthwhile this way. While the area around the Portal got plenty of traffic, it wasn't a place one would discuss anything important.

For now I simply learned the elven army had brought civilians with them, who were building a town around my Portal.

Humf…

Do I have any other links to the Surface I can exploit?

Unable to think of anything else, I went to think about how to deal with my 'Cage problem'. I didn't intend to use any mana to fix it just yet, but getting an idea of how to do it beforehand would only be helpful.

I suppose I need to have the Cage send fake requests to the Lightning Mage, so she keeps thinking it's still working as intended. Oh! And what her answers are, will give me a better understanding of what she wants from me. I mean I can probably guess, but confirmation would be nice.

…

… The Cage has a link to the Surface World, doesn't it? To the Lightning Mage specifically?

…

… And I'm guessing that's not 'general information', which means you won't tell me the answer…

Fair enough! I don't need to be babied. I can just make a Rule to test it. Let there be a Rule which lets me see and hear what the Noble Lightning Mage sees and hears through the connection she has with the Enchanted Dungeon Core Cage she left in my Dungeon.

The link between an Enchanted Dungeon Core Cage and its activator is not strong enough for both sight and sound to pass through.

Huh… Give me sound then.

New Dungeon Rule: Eavesdropping on the Warden: Everything the activator of the Enchanted Dungeon Core Cage around the Fake Core hears will be heard by the Dungeon Core as well. This can be overcome by related Abilities or Skills of the same tier as the Core or higher.

Immediately I could hear the Lightning Mage talk. She was stating she wished to test 'something' before figuring out if there would be a level requirement for entering my Dungeon, and that she would test that 'something' tomorrow morning.

Which gave me the feeling that no one would enter my Dungeon before then. Good to know. It gives me more time to plan my next move and enough mana for a couple of level ups.

She mentioned she wanted her Dungeon to be challenging but rewarding, but didn't mention how she wanted me to change or grow.

Every question anyone asked her after that - while still being about me - didn't tell me about her intentions toward me or how she intended to achieve it. It seemed more geared towards regulations around future miners and how her 'Dungeon Guild' would be run. Several times she would have two or three answers to a question, where her eventual action would depend on my loot, the danger of my creatures outside of the 'allow-all-tool' or other details of my Dungeon which weren't completely clear to the elves.

And apparently some of the answers depended on the experiment she would do in my Dungeon tomorrow.