《Dungeon Core Online: Loremaster (fan fic)》DCO: Loremaster ch 21
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After the dev left, Terrance went to the other room to clean up a little and decided to add all the new raid quests and tasks before he logs into the game the next day. Amy decided to snoop on the workshop and discovered the painting station and was playing around with designs when he came back in. To his surprise the pink painted dino actually looked not too bad.
“Impressive, I would have used a darker purple to highlight some of the features, but that's just me.”
Amy blushes as she looks at him before turning back to the console.
“Believe it or not, I am an artist IRL. It's just...”
Terrance nods understanding. Technology has made such skills less special. Still that gave him an idea.
“How would you like a job. Not much, but say ten gold per pattern. You can use all the tools I already got and we can split custom jobs you do on others mounts. I mean, this IS a garage.”
Amy blinks and blushes some more as she turns away.
“I would like that.”
Terrance smiled to that and took a look at Sargent.
“First job is Sargent there. He has the same pattern as the other elites, but he is not like the others. He is special. Not quite a boss or mid-boss, but something special none the less. So he needs a special look. Something that says, I am NOT some run of the mill carbon copy elite.”
Amy smiles at that and instantly gets a few ideas but quickly shakes her head from her day dreaming.
“Not right now. You promised me the third floor and new info.”
Terrance smiled toward her and extended his hand toward her. Which she walked onto and shortly after to his shoulder when he raised it to there.
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“First we have to get past, ‘the boss’.”
Amy sighs remembering what the previous boss said.
“ Well better now than never I suppose. Are you walking or are you going to ride Sargent?”
Sargent merely taps a button to open the garage door.
“ It will be safer for him to ride me, guest of the creator. Scouts have spotted several patrols of trolls about. A patrol escort is already gathered.
-----
In the arena of the second floor boss, it and two individuals were having tea. BLU and another blue painted steampunk dinosaur were having a staring contest. Sargent was calculating in his head who had the better paint job as the other seemed mildly offended by the thief of her color.
“ Some more tea my dear?”
Amy shook her head as she nibbled on a biscuit that was almost as bit as her.
“ No, thank you. This has been a most pleasant afternoon however.”
The giant dino boss bows his head to tip his hat in approval.
“ Indeed, it is rare to get visitors who do not wish to fight. But I fear the pleasantries must end. You see, I know why you came here. Oh, it is quite obvious you see. I am a gatekeeper for the next floor and it was only a matter of time till you wish to come here.”
Terrance laxes his shoulders a moment and looks at Amy.
“ Is there a way for her to go down like you let me?”
The boss gently set it’s proportional sized tea cup down on the ground and looked at the two velociraptors looking at each other.
“ The one above has deemed a task to be performed and a position fulfilled. Oh, they are well aware of you and your ilk lady fae, and I speak not of your species. An interesting fact, you may not know, is that you infobrokers have already forced four dungeons to shut down. Since the young dragon gentleman first set foot in the dungeon that is how many dungeons have failed because they were mined of all they were by those like you lady fae. Oh, and do not get me completely wrong. A large part of it falls on the masters as well. Noone is perfect. Not I or the other bosses nor our makers. So in short it is not in the dungeons best interest to allow her through without earning it the normal way.”
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Terrance sighs figured that was coming. He had been given a free pass because he benefited the dungeon in some way, and pay to win, but Amy however seeks to break the core of the game, or any part within her range, for her own profit. Amy however notices the first part of that comment.
“ What do you mean a task and role?”
The boss seemed pleased she asked and his monocle spun in place to create a hologram of the station. Not the garage on the second floor but the police station.
“ Well, this interesting building serves as a bounty office and police force outside the dungeon. With the influx of trolls many people have become bounty hunters, but what only a very few have discovered is that you can be hired as part of the police force itself. There are two routes for this. Peacekeeper and detective.”
Amy looked at Terrance for confirmation and he just shrugs his shoulders.
“ I let the dungeon have control of that. I was more concerned with building the elites.”
The boss nods with a gleeful look on it’s metal face.
“ Indeed, still, you retain the rank of sheriff. As peacekeepers have a different rank allotment to normal bots made by the dungeon. Normally the ranks go by military. Private, corporal, sergeant, lieutenant, captain, major and such. With the exception of the top rank being commissioner instead of general.
Player peacekeepers follow the ranks of bounty hunter, deputy, sheriff, ranger then marshal. A marshal is equivalent to a captain in the mob's ranks. If you do not know, bounty hunters roam as they please, deputies patrol part of a floor, sheriffs link with deputies to patrol a whole floor, rangers use sheriffs to coordinate multiple floors, usually two or three, and marshals work the entire dungeon.
Anyways, detectives have a similar role, except they do not hunt for criminals, they look for clues to track them down. Finding patterns to their ambush points and tactics. For the lady fae, a job that should not be too hard.”
“ Wait, so you want me to be some kind of P.I.? Take a magnifying glass and look at peoples footprints in the dirt?
The boss chucked at that.
“ Oh dear me, if that is how you wish to conduct yourself. I will leave the details to you, but that is only the job portion of the deal. No, what is needed is for Lorewright to participate in the next dungeon skirmish.”
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Transposition
Please note: the Sexual Content tag is there due to a single brief plot-relevant scene, which has a warning at the beginning. For other details, read the full description below. Rating breakdown, since that should be public info: 5 x 5*, 2 x 4.5*, 1 x 0.5* During a blackout, a frail and ragged old woman stops to ask for a glass of water from a backyard barbecue party. Given a good supper instead, she looks around the group, and tells them, "Be who and what you truly are." Days later, seven of the people from the barbecue find themselves drawn into a trap laid by a pair of wizards and their accomplices, who kidnap them into a bubble reality. All seven, who have known each other all their lives, are informed that they are not in fact entirely human: they have active fae blood, due to a series of conditions culminating with the blessing of the elderly fae woman. The transformation into fae form comes as a shock: all seven, whether originally female or male, find themselves now unreasonably beautiful women. More urgent even than that, though, is their captivity. Getting back to the real world is a higher priority than this metamorphosis that rapidly begins to feel natural... but this is only the first step, as the diverse types of fae blood they carry begin to surface. With no resources except themselves, how can they escape this prison? If they succeed, how can they possibly reclaim their lives? Just how many other faelings have been kidnapped, anyway, and what happened to them? And is there a way to make sure that their captors never put anyone else through this? Back in the real world, Kayla, who learned long ago to trust her gut instincts, is absolutely certain that something is very wrong. The pattern in the list of missing friends is easy to spot, but makes no sense at all. Then a young woman turns up at the backyard gate who knows more than she should, and even though her explanation makes even less sense, every instinct tells Kayla that Riley is her only way to get them back. If they're not quite what they were, well, that's a bridge to cross later... Just a little note: I'm a big believer in endings that are upbeat but not candy-coated, and not a fan of grim-and-gritty or of glamorized violence. These are adults in a difficult situation. However, no one gets raped, and the physical violence is, all things considered, fairly minimal. There is some harassment, sexual and otherwise, and also some mild restraint and mild verbal abuse. Complicating factors are generally wizardly or fae in nature. If I need to warn you about gender in this being all over the map, some of it reality-based rather than fantasy-based, highly diverse sexuality, or that there is (especially later) some indirect fetish/BDSM imagery and honest character discussion, then you probably should just avoid everything I write. :-) Also available on Scribble Hub.
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