After the fight, Serenity finally had his first chance to get a good look at the man they’d rescued. Leroy was at least a decade older than Tom. He was several inches shorter than Serenity, even in his human form, but seemed to be strong as well as sturdy and fit. He was dressed in camo, just like Tom, though it was clear all of his pockets were empty. Although he was blond and pale-skinned, Serenity wouldn’t have been able to place his origin as anything other than “European heritage” based on his appearance.

“That’s not the first time you’ve killed a man.” Leroy’s accent was firmly British. It wasn’t exactly the same as the BBC, but it was close.

Serenity dismissed his blade and checked for anything that needed to be cleaned off the hilt. There was a small smear of blood, so he wiped it off using a paper towel Rissa handed him; he’d want to clean his hilt more thoroughly when he had the chance, but for now this would at least help prevent problems. He looked up at Leroy as he wiped his hands on another paper towel. He didn’t know why Rissa was carrying paper towels, but it was certainly handy; he’d once carried rags for this purpose and should probably pick up that habit again.

“They were dungeon monsters. If I have problems with killing dungeon monsters, I shouldn’t enter a dungeon.” Serenity held his hand out towards Leroy. “Thomas Rothmer. I assume you’re Leroy?”

Leroy seemed to consider Serenity for a moment, then smiled and took Serenity’s hand in a firm handshake. Serenity could almost see him start to say a rank before he bit it back and used only his name. “Leroy French. Doesn’t change what I said. You’ve killed before. Probably in combat.”

Serenity released the handshake and shrugged. He didn’t see much reason to talk about it. “Some people can afford to stay at home and not fight. Others can’t. Do you know what happened to your information on the forces besieging Effra? Tom lost his copy getting away from the scouts, and the more information we can take back to Aval, the better.”

“Should be in my pack.” Leroy didn’t say anything more about Serenity’s past; instead, he headed over to a part of the camp Serenity hadn’t yet explored. After a few minutes’ search, he found one of the many Tutorial backpacks and some weapons. “Looks like it’s all here. I don’t suppose you know a shortcut to Aval? I’m not looking forward to walking another hundred miles or whatever is left.”

Serenity grinned. “Actually, yes, we do. First of all, though, let’s see if we can get you a horse. Hopefully Rissa and Tom didn’t let them all run free.”

The trip back to Aval was quick; all they had to do was get a little ways away from the enemy camp so that Rissa could set up the Mist Gate in “unaltered” forest. Serenity triggered it; while Rissa could have, she’d spent enough of her mana during the fight that she wasn’t certain she had enough left for the item. Serenity had spent relatively little of his and had plenty to spare.

From the Gate, it was another fifteen minutes back to the castle. Serenity couldn’t believe how little time they’d spent in the dungeon so far; they were over five hours in, but that was still far faster than he’d expected.

They were met at the castle gate by Sir Tor; he didn’t explain his presence, and Serenity assumed it was simply a way for the dungeon to keep things simple. “You’re back already? That doesn’t sound like good news; I didn’t expect you to have reached the coast yet.”

“We didn’t. We ran into some messengers from Effra; they say the city’s under siege.” Serenity indicated Tom and Leroy. “Leroy has some papers that detail what they’re facing.”

Sir Tor frowned. “A siege? It’s been only raiders for the past few months. Perhaps they were scouts. Very well; you two, follow me; I want to get all the details I can from what you remember. Lord Rothmer, Lady Rissa, do you remember where the supply room was?”

“I do.” Rissa was far faster to speak than Serenity was, because he was puzzled. He’d expected the next Event to be “planning the relief from the siege” or possibly even “travel to Effra”; it depended on whether or not the dungeon wanted the players involved in the planning. Some did, some didn’t.

He hadn’t expected to be separated from the messengers and he certainly hadn’t expected to be addressed as “Lord” and “Lady”. Hadn’t they introduced themselves as Serenity and Rissa? How did Sir Tor even know his last name?

At the same time, Serenity didn’t really want to ask that question in front of Tom and Leroy. He didn’t distrust them, he simply didn’t know them. Rissa had made her point that people higher up were going to know they’d crashed a dungeon party, so it probably wasn’t a problem if lower-level people knew. He’d have a chance to ask later.

As it turned out, the answer was obvious moments after they walked through the second doorway on their way back to the supply area: Sir Tor was a creature of the dungeon, and he’d been delivering a message from the dungeon core, rather than simply moving them to the next Event.

Serenity floated in a familiar darkness; ahead of him was a softly-glowing crystalline orb, while Rissa floated just to his right. Serenity made sure Rissa seemed okay, then turned his attention to the orb. “You want to talk to us now?”

“Yes.” The dungeon core didn’t seem bothered by Serenity’s annoyance. “You are strong. Too strong for my scenarios. You knew the scenario, that is clear; you could have ridden hard for Effra and gathered what you needed yourself and been back in little more time. Or you could simply have told Sir Tor you knew the Hessi were planning a major raid, aimed at Effra. You would have been fine, and could easily have been an anchor in the battle. Yet you choose choices that align you with those who are weaker. Why?”

The last thing Serenity expected from a dungeon core was questions about ethics.

Well, maybe it wasn’t the last thing. It was at least pretty far down on the list.

Serenity took a moment to gather his thoughts. When he finally spoke, he wasn’t certain his answer was what the core was looking for, but it was the truth. “They’re my people. They’re working towards the same goals I am, with at least similar values. Why wouldn’t I choose to support them? They can still get the experience they need even if I make it a little safer. I certainly don’t want to end up on the opposite side.”

“They are weaker than you. You could simply take what they have of value, then use it for your goals. There is nothing they can do that you can’t.” The dungeon core didn’t seem to agree.

Serenity shook his head. “Individually maybe. As a group? Sure, I could kill them if they came at me one on one. Thirty on one I wouldn’t want to place odds. They might win or I might. The thing is, it doesn’t matter. As long as we’re working at goals that can be accommodated, there’s no reason to fight. We can accomplish more together than separately.”

“You could kill the Hessi army by yourself and take the entire reward. Let the people who didn’t contribute make do with the scraps.” The dungeon core seemed to have taken a different tack, now.

Serenity was starting to get the feeling that the questions weren’t really about the dungeon, at least not in the way they seemed to be. It was still the same answer. “Maybe, but why should I? I’m not here for that reward. I’m here to talk to you, to convince you to work with Gaia. Whatever they get for the completion, they worked for it; it’s theirs.”

“Even if it’s exactly what you need to do what you want to do, and they can’t use it? Shouldn’t you take it then?”

Serenity stared at the dungeon core. It was deliberately being difficult. “There are ways to deal with that. I can talk to them, maybe buy it from them. It can be very situational. I won’t say I’d never take something without agreement. That would be a lie. I simply will say that it’s not my default choice and it’s one I will work to avoid.”

Perhaps he shouldn’t have been so honest, but “no, I would never do that” was a blatant lie.

Serenity stared at the dungeon core, thinking about his answer, then decided to ask his own question. “You’re not really asking about the people in the dungeon, are you?”

The dungeon core didn’t answer directly. “I am an Event dungeon. I have to know how the Events should play out so that I can make them. I could build them based on what people entering the dungeon do in different scenarios, but that is often not true to life. It is obvious from the files, people do not react in a dungeon the way they do in the outside world.”

There was something of an answer in that, but Serenity waited in case it had more to say.

“I have records. Information, extrapolation, history. They all blur together. An individual can make a difference, but often other factors matter more. Sometimes it is true that only a particular person can rise to greatness, but more often it is true that someone will rise and the only thing that can be changed is who it is. A war may be inevitable, but when and where may change. And then there are people with such an outsized impact that even looking back it could not be predicted.” The dungeon core stopped again.

When it continued, it spoke more directly. “I knew why you were here. I could hear the others talking, even if I chose not to speak. So I chose to test you. You could have forced your way in, forced me to talk to you immediately, but you did not.”

Serenity didn’t know how the dungeon core knew that; it was something he himself didn’t know. Even if it was true, Serenity would have chosen not to; that seemed impolite compared to running the dungeon to reach the core when the option wasn’t offered freely.

Words spilled from the dungeon core, faster and faster. “You could have chosen to come in as royalty and ruled the mission; you could have simply sent forces to relieve Effra if you had chosen. You didn’t. That could be good or bad. You instead decided to make choices that led to the fastest reasonable path to that end while still stopping to rescue those you could. You decided not to break the rules and to help instead of win. Your answers now support this.”

The dungeon core paused again. When it resumed, its words were back to its earlier deliberate, unhurried pace. “The answer is yes. Yes, I will help Gaia. And yes, I will accept you. Thank you for letting me ask questions.”

Serenity blinked. What? “Accept me? What do you-”

Serenity was standing outside the dungeon with his hand on the door. Rissa was next to him, also blinking in confusion. Serenity turned to her and asked, “What did I miss? I’m pretty sure I missed something in that conversation. What was he accepting from me?”

Rissa shook her head. “I was going to ask you.”

Serenity thought about trying to go back into the dungeon to ask, but didn’t think it was worth it. The two of them talked about it on the way back to the Tube station; they didn’t reach a satisfactory conclusion.

The situation with the Tube was also unsatisfactory; while they were able to get a little closer to their hotel, it was nearly midnight when they reached the station. They could get closer to their hotel, but not as close as when they left.

Serenity considered calling Mr. Williams for a lift, but it was a nice night for a walk and they both had good company. It wasn’t that far.