Raz stared at Serenity. He had to know more than he was saying. Why had he emphasized “dungeon” in that sentence?

Any ideas, Aki?

:None. There has to be a primary core somewhere, and anyone who can conquer a dungeon should know what dungeon they’re bonded to. He doesn’t seem to know anything. Play along for now.:

Yes oh grand Aki.

:One of these days, Raz, one of these days…:

Raz turned his attention back to Serenity. “So. Initial dungeon setup. There are two things that can be done first. The normal one is monster type selection, since that can affect the layout and where you want the core, but this is a field dungeon; we can’t affect the basic shape. I’m not sure if we’ll even be able to add walls. We should start with placing the core.”

Serenity turned towards the back of the room. He seemed to be looking at what was there.

“This is a field dungeon, so there’s not much we can do about the shape, but it should generally be away from the door. Hidden and protected are both fine, as long as it can be seen from somewhere. Wild dungeons are more likely to hide them, because they are much more likely to have something enter that will kill or steal the core. We won’t be here, so this is basically wild. What’s the monster type, by the way?”

Serenity walked towards the far left corner. “I’m not sure there is one. What sort of monsters would be safe?”

“Safe? Monsters aren’t safe. Maybe ones that are too weak to hurt anyone, but that would defeat the point of a dungeon.”

“That’s why I’m not sure there is a monster type. One of this dungeon’s characteristics is Safety.” Serenity looked up and down the corner before he turned back to Raz. “There’s a point to dungeons other than combat training, XP, and loot?”

:At least he included combat training. So many people ignore that.:

Don’t distract me, Aki. He’ll notice.

:Are you sure? He’s pretty oblivious. He hasn’t even noticed you’re keeping your hand in the pouch all the time.:

Shhh.

Raz hoped the delay wasn’t too long. What was the question again? Oh, right, the point of dungeons. “The point of dungeons from the dungeon’s perspective, not the adventurer’s.”

“It can’t be to kill people. At least, not if dungeons are any good at what they do. They’re too predictable. Changing and mixing up the encounters more would be a lot more dangerous. It sounds like you know what it is?” Serenity sat down as a chair appeared beneath him and set the subsidiary linked core on his lap.

Raz envied how easily he seemed to interact with the dungeon. The interface was easier than any of the three he’d worked with on Asihanya, but it wasn’t good enough to let him just have something appear as he sat down. “Monsters and treasure - loot - that’s there to get people to go into the dungeon and spend time. Well, that’s why the treasures are there. The monsters would be there anyway, or some would. They’re useful because they slow people down and get them to spend mana.”

“I don’t completely understand it, but - most dungeons sit on natural raw mana ley lines. They draw from them when no one’s in the dungeon, and use that to make monsters and treasures. Apparently killing monsters and taking treasure and crystallized mana out of the dungeon is a safety valve on the ley lines. I don’t know why they’d get unruly, but they do, and when they do, dungeons start to produce extra monsters and treasure.”

Raz heard Serenity whisper “Dungeon surges,” before he spoke louder. “What’s crystallized mana?”

“Monster cores.”

“Oh right. I forgot that term. It’s not right, they’re more like-” Serenity stopped.

Raz was curious what Serenity had been about to say. “More like?”

Serenity shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Please, go on. Dungeons want adventurers to kill monsters and take treasure out so they can better regulate the ley lines. Why do they want adventurers to take time and spend mana?”

Raz wasn’t entirely clear on that part, but he’d try. “There are supposed to be two reasons. First, using mana puts something into the dungeon. The mana residue is useful for something. I know it’s one of the ways dungeons can get more stuff they can make, but it’s supposed to also be something that gets put into the ley lines themselves, something about letting the world know who belongs. It always seemed kinda mysterious.”

:Raz, you have to explain it better than that!:

I don’t understand it better than that.

:It’s about flow and oneness with the World Spirit. I know I’ve explained them both repeatedly. Letting the world know who belongs is a terribly crude way of saying it!:

Is it wrong?

Aki didn’t reply, which meant that Raz was correct even if he was inelegant.

“Two reasons?”

Raz hadn’t realized he’d been silent all that long, but it must have been long enough if Serenity was reminding him. “Oh, yeah. The second reason makes even less sense. I’ve never heard it from anyone else, but apparently one of the things dungeons can do is help adventurers advance. I don’t just mean with XP, it’s apparently directly connected to the time they spend in the dungeon and how much they interact with it. The reason that’s good for dungeons is that a better world population means a stronger world and stronger ley lines. A- My teacher always said that good dungeons help the people they should, while bad dungeons help either everyone or no one. I don’t know what that means.”

Raz could hear Serenity muttering again. He couldn’t make out all of it. “Mana to essence, stale essence removed to the world … are dungeon items made of essence? And helping adventurers … all the same? ...spent a lot of time in … really a change or a merge?”

Raz didn’t think Serenity realized he was speaking out loud, so he didn’t ask what essence was. When he seemed done, Raz continued. “That’s what I know about the purpose of dungeons. It’s - I guess if you’re not a dungeon keeper yourself, you don’t really need to know.” Raz felt happy to be the teacher for once, instead of the student. It wasn’t an experience he got very often.

“That’s interesting. Some things make more sense. Maybe I can talk to your teacher someday, but for now we should probably go back to getting this done.” Serenity stood up, stepped around the chair, and put the dungeon core in a hollow in the corner that Raz would have sworn wasn’t there a moment before.

Serenity then swayed on his feet. “Oof. That felt really odd. Why didn’t you warn me?”

“You felt something?” Raz had never heard that placing a core of any type was something that could be felt. On the other hand, Serenity was interacting with the dungeon completely differently.

:He still shouldn’t have felt anything worth mentioning. I can’t think of any Path that’s that closely tied to a dungeon. Maybe he actually is a Wanderer. That could explain the ignorance, but he doesn’t act like any Wanderer I’ve seen. And being a half-dragon … no, can’t be.:

:Maybe … huh. Now, that is possible. Dragons can have all sorts of weird bloodline Affinities. I’ve never heard of one for dungeons, but alcohol dragons were fairly famous, back in the day. Popular at parties. And if he was raised by his human family, he might not even know what his bloodline Affinity is. I wonder if that has anything to do with why the subsidiary core is so weird.:

It’s weird?

:It’s low Tier but Pure Grade. You can’t upgrade to that Grade, it has to start there. I’ve always wanted to get a Pure core, either to move to or use as a subsidiary. They’re supposed to be easy to work with.:

Should we try to get this one?

:No. There’s no point until I have a new home. Plus, if he actually is the reason the core is Pure Grade … we should stay with him. Keep teaching him.:

So you’ve figured out how he was able to conquer a core without knowing what he’s doing?

:Figured out a possibility that works that I don’t hate. We’ll have to keep watching.:

“What do Linking and Binding mean as dungeon characteristics?” Serenity was still standing next to where he’d put the dungeon core in the wall.

“What?” Raz was still thinking about how Serenity was able to conquer a dungeon while not knowing anything about them, and his question seemed to come out of nowhere.

“It’s asking what I want the last characteristic to be. I’m definitely not taking Undeath or Possessive. I’m not sure about which one to take, though. Pure sounds good, but I’m not sure what it would do. Void sounds like a bad idea. The other two options are Linking and Binding.”

Raz understood what Serenity was talking about now. Unfortunately, he didn’t know the complete answer. “Binding as a characteristic is under the control of the dungeon, it’s rare but it’s usually used by wild dungeons to find someone or often something to act as their hands. Kept dungeons can use it, but since there’s a Keeper it’s less important. I think it can be used to let someone act as a deputy with the Core when the Keeper is away?”

What’s Linking? I don’t remember Linking. And Pure?

:It’s probably Purify. Very rare, but Purify dungeons generally create rewards that can separate things. Some work against rot, disease, or poison but others can separate metals from ore. It depends a lot on the dungeon. In a Death dungeon, maybe it would help with your hand?:

Raz figured he’d better ask first. “Did you mean Purify?”

And Linking?

:Long distance, more shallow version of Binding. Doesn’t work on everyone, mostly works on higher Tier people, especially ones who’ve spent a lot of time in dungeons. It’s supposed to be more reliable on monsters.:

Serenity shook his head. “No, it says Pure, like the core’s Grade.”

“I’d say go with Linking or Binding then, since we’ll be leaving. The Core will probably want someone to act as hands for it. Linking’s similar to Binding, just less invasive and longer distance. It doesn’t work on everyone, while Binding does.” Raz hoped he’d relayed the information accurately.

“Can people unlink or unbind? If Linking is longer distance, does that mean it’s harder to get out of?”.

:Tell him to go with Linking if he’s worried about that. Either can be undone by the core when the person is in the dungeon, but Binding sometimes restricts the Bound person to staying near the dungeon.:

Raz nodded. Aki’s idea made sense. “The details always vary on characteristics, but usually the core decides to bind or link and also to unbind or unlink. The person has to be in the dungeon - may have to be touching the core, I’m not sure. Binding is tighter, and without the extra range from Linking, sometimes the person can’t go too far from it.”

“Linking it is.” Serenity stepped away from the Core and sat back down in the chair he’d summoned earlier. “Now that that’s done, how much more do we need to do? I figure whoever tries to take over the dungeon can link to it and do whatever else needs doing?”

“You want to be lazy?” Raz tilted his head. He’d always been taught to complete the setup as quickly as possible.

“Only if there’s no reason to work. Fine, what’s the next step?”

“Monsters. We really need to pick a type. You said it’s Death, and Safety? Can you find anything on what Safety means?”

Serenity looked away. Raz could hear him muttering again. “...help here? It doesn’t… ...you’re sure? That’s useful… Yeah...Pure...Safety, hmm...” Serenity muttered for several minutes, then seemed to flick something at Raz and a small display appeared.

[Field Dungeon: A Rest from Death (Death (*), Safety (**), Linked(***)) - Unrated Special]

[*Death mana production overridden, Death-based monster production overriden]

[**Safety: This dungeon does not produce monsters. Instead, it provides an area where Death mana concentration is significantly reduced. Additionally, it may occasionally produce items which protect against Death magic or Death magic influence]

[***Linked: Touch the core to request access to dungeon customization]

Raz stared at the description. It was unlike any dungeon he’d ever seen. “How can that even work?”

“The Linked core apparently lets it send the stuff it can’t use elsewhere. The Voice wasn’t very clear on that.” Serenity shrugged. “Does that mean we’re done here?”

“I guess we are. Maybe put up a sign so people know what they’re looking at?” Raz really wanted to do the rest of dungeon setup, since he’d never had the chance to actually set one up. It seemed kind of pointless for this dungeon.

Maybe he’d have a chance in the future. No, he definitely would. He’d do it with Aki once he found her a new home!