As we get closer to the day Belinda plans to have Lilah’s birthday party things start to come together. Scylla ended up getting Lilah a stuffed animal like my original suggestion. Roxy and Zoey got Lilah a few dresses in addition to their plans of taking her for combat training in the dungeon.

Belinda surprised me when she asked to have some xp and summoned something for Lilah herself. She usually leaves things like that to me, but she seems to want to keep it from me as well. I don’t know if she put any thought into it but Sofia got Lilah a dagger. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have a backup weapon…

So far we have seemed to be able to keep it a complete surprise from Lilah, at least she hasn’t made any suggestion that she is on to us yet. Then again it is months past when her birthday should be so even if we told her we were planning a birthday party she probably wouldn’t realize it was for her.

I had Belinda take Lilah shopping in Tobes this evening so I could summon her armor. I spend a bit of time thinking about how it should look as I want to make it different from Roxy’s and having it just plain like Sofia’s seems like it would be a waste.

After finally coming up with an idea I select the [Dark Steel Battle Dress] in the [Menu] and begin to focus on the details after I hit the conformation.

It comes out quite a bit smaller than I anticipated, but that will easily be fixed when she equips it with [Menu], she also probably won’t be happy with the fact it has quite a few more folds and frills then even Roxy’s did.

The cloth of the dress is blue like her favorite dress but it has white folds of a lace like material woven in it. The dark steel breastplate and other segments have intricate designs on it similar to Roxy’s, except there are several caricatures of rabbits in several places giving it a cute appearance…

I can’t help to feel it was quite the failure because she hated the frilly dresses Belinda tried to get her to wear and with the addition of the rabbit caricatures it almost seems like it isn’t actual armor and I am poking fun of her…But with its cost I can’t really afford to go again.

Maybe after facing combat a few times the caricatures will buff out… Now that I think about it though we have never had to repair any of the armor… Even the clothes I used to wore, I just now realized even after receiving wounds though my old clothes the next time I put them on they were back to normal…

Even the times I didn’t equip them with [Menu] because they considered dungeon items do they heal as well? Next time my clothes get torn I will have to watch and see if I can see it mend itself… It’s kind of creepy to think about.

For now I shake the thought from my head and fold the armor up putting it in a box that Belinda prepared for me. After putting the lid on the box I then transfer back to my room where I set the box on the desk.

The girls ask how it went when I head downstairs and I am not sure how to answer so I just say I summoned it and left it at that… All this work for Lilah’s party and we are going to have to turn around and do it again next month for Zoey’s and Scylla’s birthdays as well I am sure…

Speaking of which…”When is your birthday Roxy?”

Roxy: “I don’t know… A few of my old masters celebrated a birthday for me, but it wasn’t a pleasant experience or even necessarily just once a year either… I couldn’t even be certain on how old I am. Don’t tell Belinda though or she would try to throw me a birthday party. I would rather celebrate on the day Zoey and I got married. That is the only date important to me.”

“That just leaves Zoey and Scylla next month, and Bell towards the end of the year.”

Zoey: “Don’t forget yourself boss!”

“You each get me a sack of coffee, and I will be happy.”

The girls laugh. Shortly after Belinda returns with Lilah, after putting things away they join us in the dining room where we have a small dinner before retiring for the night. After heading to the bedroom Belinda wraps the box I put the armor in with a large ribbon and ties it in a big bow at the top.

Belinda: “Well we should be ready for the party tomorrow, I just got to pick up a cake that Susan is making for Lilah. What did the others get Lilah?”

“Well what did you get her?”

Belinda: “I guess it can wait till tomorrow.”

“…”

I can’t go the complete day without going to the office, so I spend the morning making sure everything is taken care of before closing down at noon. I meet up with Belinda and we pick up the cake for Lilah then head to the house.

Lilah is confused when I arrive in the core room while she is dealing with two separate adventurer groups in the dungeon…

Lilah: “What is Master doing here this time of day?”

“I just wanted to come check on you to see how things are going.”

Lilah: “Lilah is busy right now… See they just killed one of the non-rift golems, but don’t worry I will get them.”

“What about the other group?”

Lilah: “Oh they are just milling around on the second floor they aren’t anything to worry about.”

“I won’t bother you then, but mind if I just sit here for a little bit?”

Lilah: “Ok, this group will most likely make it to the next room, Lilah will show Master what those silver slimes of hers can do!”

“You aren’t leaving them at the bottom?”

Lilah: “Lilah did in the beginning the first few times groups made it to that room, but she never got to see what the slimes could do so she brought one up… Well Master will see.”

Sure enough after a few minutes Lilah clicks her tongue when a second golem falls, and I see her position several of the silver slimes clinging to the roof and walls of the next room. When the group enters the next room they ready their weapons beginning to attack the next two golems.

Without any warning one of the silver slimes shoots off the wall like an arrow fired from a bow hitting one of the adventurer in the face and chest almost covering half of the adventurer as soon as it hits. The adventurer loses his balance the slime and adventurer both fall from the platform.

It isn’t a pretty sight when the adventurer gurgles as he tries to scream hitting the ground with a loud thud. Before the remaining adventurers on the platform even realize what just happened the silver slime and 3 more on the bottom of the room swarm the adventurer and within seconds the only thing remaining is the adventurer’s gear…

Lilah rocks back and forth in her chair humming happily while the adventurers finally realize their situation when another slime launches from the roof knocking another adventurer from the platform… Out of the six adventurers that entered the room only two successfully flee the slimes taking the rest.

Lilah: “What did you think Master? I have been saving quite a few of the adventurer’s skeletons that are left behind after the slimes are done, just in case we can learn to summon skeletons that should reduce their cost greatly!”

I am the dungeon core… and even I feel somewhat creeped out at Lilah’s savagery against the adventurers…

“You sure you are not being a little hard on the adventurers? That looked pretty bad…”

Lilah: “I saw them last night while out with Belinda. They were mean to the store owner and wouldn’t settle down until Belinda stepped in. They even made rude comments against Belinda, so I returned the favor.”

“Maybe we should give you some more time off. You might be spending too much time in the dungeon.”

Lilah: “Master, please don’t take Lilah’s job away from her!” –She says quickly hugging me.-

“I am not talking about taking it away from you, but I am just saying you might need to spend more time to do other things you want to do.”

Lilah: “But this is what Lilah wants to do…”

“What about friends? Or maybe even a boyfriend eventually?”

Lilah: “If Lilah needs anything like that Master would summon her one!”

“I thought you wanted to start combat training, maybe you will want to go adventuring someday.”

Lilah: “Never… If it means Lilah won’t get to keep doing her job…”

“Well I am glad you have pride in the dungeon, but I wouldn’t mind watching the dungeon for a little bit if you want to go out sometimes… I would like you to have a chance to see more then these drab walls all the time.”

Lilah: “Master won’t take Lilah’s job away from her?”

“Of course not, I count on you here, I just would like you get out and do things as well.”

…Maybe I have left the dungeon up to Lilah a bit too much lately… I have been taking her for granted since I became mayor she has basically watched the dungeon every day without rest since then…

Lilah: “Lilah doesn’t like talking with humans though…”

“You like Belinda and Sofia right?”

Lilah: “But they are different! They are Master’s monsters.”

“I am sure there are other humans out there you can get along with that aren’t bound to the dungeon… You can’t group all humans together as one. Each is different.”

Lilah: “Lilah will try, as long as Master promises he won’t take her job away.”

“I promise the dungeon needs you. Speaking of which the other group just left the dungeon as well so why don’t we head to the house for now?”

Lilah: “What if more come?”

“We will set [Menu] to warn us, come on I want to show you something.”

Lilah: “Ok…”

I send Belinda a message that we are on the way, and I then take my time transferring us to the entryway.

“Let’s go see where the others are.”

To give the girls a bit more time to prepare I poke my head into the dining room and the living room before leading Lilah into the ballroom.

Girls: “SURPRISE!!!”

The girls startle Lilah for a moment then she just looks confused.

Belinda: “Two-Twelve said you won’t really know when your birthday was, and we didn’t really get a chance to celebrate it, so we decided to throw you a birthday party today!”

Lilah: “But it was back sometime during Belinda’s birthday, why wait this long?”

Belinda: “Well I didn’t know… I only asked Two-Twelve recently if he knew and that was when he told me so I decided to throw it now. If you don’t want the gifts we got you though…”

Lilah: “You got Lilah gifts?” –She says with her eyes sparkling.-

Belinda: “Of course you are just as much family as everyone else! I even had Susan make your favorite type of cake.”

Lilah: “Oh… Cake…” –She says already drooling.-

Lilah walks up to the table the girls set up with the cake and the presents around the table.

Lilah: “Are these all Lilah’s?”

Belinda: “Of course! Do you want to open them?”

Belinda pulls a chair out for Lilah after she nods. Lilah sits in the chair and Zoey rushes forward with an awkwardly wrapped present.

Zoey: “Open one of mine first I got you a few!”

Lilah takes it looking at it… After a moment she rips the packaging off revealing a single solitary boot…

Zoey: “Oh Oh this one next…”

Zoey hands Lilah another poorly wrapped package that looks suspiciously like the other boot… After she unwraps other present, it really is the other boot…

Roxy: “Here is another from both of us.”

Lilah opens it revealing a nice set of traveling clothes.

Zoey: “I told her to wrap each separately so you would get more presents but Roxy didn’t listen…”

Lilah: “…Thanks…”

Sofia drops one on her lap. “I didn’t know what would be good, so well anyway I hope you like it.”

Lilah unwraps the dagger. It looks like a normal steel dagger in a small sheath but you wouldn’t be able to tell by the smile on Lilah’s face. After Belinda takes the dagger setting to the side for Lilah she hands her another package.

Belinda: “This one is from me with a little help from Two-Twelve.”

Lilah tears open the package and it is a little box. She opens the box and Belinda used the xp to summon a pair of gold cuff like earrings with a small blue stone set in them.

Belinda: “I am sure you don’t have any ear piercings, I don’t even know how well it would work as they will probably heal once you take the earrings out, but if you want we can try it out later.”

Lilah: “Ok.”

Roxy hands Lilah another package that is another set of clothes but this time it’s a dress much like the ones she normally wears.

Scylla then awkwardly hands Lilah a package.

Scylla: “I’m sorry, but I just couldn’t think what else to get you…”

Lilah opens package taking out a large stuffed bunny… Lilah hugs it and thanks Scylla.

Bell then hands Lilah the pink box, she didn’t seem to wrap it or anything. Lilah opens the box and looks at it questionably then takes out the whip.

Bell: “Two-Twelve said a sword was too big, and they didn’t have any thin blades, but they said since you have good agility maybe you could use that pretty well.”

Zoey: “That is Roxy and my final present as well. We will take you into the dungeon a few times while Boss watches over us and let you practice a bit.”

Belinda: “And if you go into the dungeon like the normal townsfolk you will need an adventurer’s ID so I will take you to the guild tomorrow and we can get you one!”

“If you are going to be practicing combat you will probably need this as well…”

I hand her the box with the bow. She looks at it pulling the bow, and then takes off the lid pulling it off. Belinda looks over her shoulder trying to peer into the box as well.

“It turned out a bit small, but that shouldn’t matter once you use [Menu]. Why don’t you try it on?”

Lilah quickly jumps up dropping the box on the floor while cradling the armor. She quickly taps a screen in front of her until the armor disappears and then it appears on her. She carefully looks over it while wearing it.

Lilah: “Master really made one for Lilah!”

She runs over hugging me rubbing her face on my chest her long ears tickling my nose.

Zoey: “I got Lilah 4 presents… 5 if you count taking her to train and I didn’t get a hug…”

It surprises Zoey, but with tears in her eyes Lilah lets go of me and quickly gives Zoey a hug as well, she then goes around the room giving everyone else a hug as well.

Lilah: “Thanks…Lilah thanks you all for the gifts.”

Belinda: “Of course. You’re family, and I promise next year we will have your birthday closer to mine around the time it is supposed to be.”

“I also have one last thing for you.”

I use [Menu] to hit accept Lilah’s class that I prepared while she was giving a hug to everyone.

Lilah: “What did Master do? I feel much stronger… Oh and Lilah has spells!”

“It’s not much but if you are going to be training you will need a class won’t you?”

Lilah gives up holding the tears back and hugs me again. Lilah finally calms down and everyone has some cake. We continue the party for a few hours and Lilah messes around with the whip for a while. It doesn’t take her long till she can control it pretty good, but I don’t know if it will work out as a weapon or not yet.

Roxy and Scylla help Belinda pierce Lilah’s ears to put the earrings in clamping them about midway up her ears, but before she can put the second earring the second hole has healed itself so they have to pierce that ear again…

“Isn’t that kind of high up on her ears for the earrings?”

Belinda: “I don’t know… I mean I guess it’s up to Lilah. Do you want us to move him lower?”

Lilah: “Lilah likes them where they are at.”

“Well that is what matters I guess. Have your ears not healed Belinda?”

Belinda: “No, I don’t wear earrings often, but I guess since my ears where pierced before I joined the dungeon it’s like the scar on my stomach.”

Roxy: “Yea my scar is a lot less visible, but it is still nowhere near gone.”

“Yea Dyson has tons of scars as well from the time before he was allowed to start his dungeon.”

Belinda: “Really?”

“Yea I told you about how he let me learn how to copy his armor, well when he took it off his body was covered in scars.”

Belinda: “You would think someone like Dyson would have had healing magic nearby.”

“He said he kept them intentionally kind of like you did for the wolf bite. He said he just used magic on the ones on his face.”

Sofia looks a bit nervous. “You talked to Dyson again?”

“Yea… While you were gone, I guess I didn’t tell you about it…”

Sofia: “Did he ask about me?”

“Yea he was pretty curious about the name you choose, and asked to see you. I told him you were out training and could relay a message but he didn’t give me one.”

Sofia: “He knows I am using this name then…”

“Yea… Is there something wrong?”

Sofia: “Well I guess it doesn’t matter, I am your monster now…”

Belinda: “That’s it!”

Belinda’s sudden outburst startles us.

Belinda: “I thought it sounded familiar, that was Dyson’s wife’s name wasn’t it?”

Sofia: “How do you know…?”

Belinda: “I used to listen to all the stories about Dyson growing up and I just remembered hearing about one that he had a wife that died not many years after they were married, it wasn’t long after that Dyson disappeared.”

“Dyson was married? You wouldn’t think so by the way he acts…”

Sofia: “That was many years ago…”

“You were summoned only the day before he presented you to me, so I don’t see how you fit into any of this…”

Sofia: “I don’t know if it is really my place to say…”

“Well I am curious, but if you don’t want to talk about it. I guess I understand.”

Sofia: “Well he was a pretty crappy husband…He wasn’t much different then as he is now. Sofia was a country girl that he courted. He spent a few months with her and married her, but he neglected her after he went back to adventuring.”

“I don’t understand…”

Sofia: “Of course he didn’t even realize that he actually loved her until after she was killed. She was taken by a band of bandits. They raped her for months until they finally killer her. It was said she never gave up hope that Dyson would come for her. Of course he was off fighting in a dungeon somewhere completely oblivious.”

Belinda: “That’s horrible…”

Sofia: “After he rolled back in the village looking for his wife he learned about her fate. That was the point he went to the elders asking how he could earn his place as a core. Of course by then he had killed quite a few dungeons already so they gave him a list of cores that were being a problem.”

“So that’s what Madam Erin meant by saying most deserved it…”

Sofia: “After taking care of the list the last one they wanted him to kill was the one that took original number but he refused. That’s when they made the rule that to become a core again once failed you can only take your original number so he had no other choice.”

“I see why Bless is going after them now then, if she found that out she thought it was Dyson’s fault…”

Sofia: “Anyway… After getting permission to start his own dungeon he placed his dungeon right in the middle of Mar the city the thieves came from that killed his wife. He spent the first 50 years after forming his dungeon purging the entire city… With the strength he gained from killing so many cores there was no stopping his dungeon.”

“…”

Sofia: “He found the last remaining member of the group that killed his wife of course by then he was an old man. He told Dyson what happened. Soon after that was when Dyson was able to begin to summon humans.”

“I saw Mar during Queen’s training and it doesn’t seem to have changed much though…Other humans even call the area the portal to hell…”

Sofia: “That is the irony of it all, the human males Dyson can summon are all of thief and bandit type classes… Only the women have normal classes.”

“That still doesn’t answer why you choose to take Sofia’s name…”

Sofia: “Well he has been trying to summon a woman that matches her likeness since he first was able to summon human women, but so much time has passed he can’t even remember exactly what she looked like. He was extremely pleased with the way I turned out and I was hoping maybe someday I could be his Sofia…”

Belinda: “Even with Dyson being the way he is you still want that?”

Sofia: “He made me as a gift for Two-Twelve, but he said I was so close that he was thinking of changing his mind… I think in the end he was ashamed because I was so close to Sofia’s appearance that he had trouble looking at me, so he went ahead and gave me away… I owe him my life, and I love him, so of course I still want that… Maybe if I give him time he will eventually come for me. After all he did go back for Sofia it was just already too late.”

Belinda: “I don’t see how you can have that much devotion to him though…”

Sofia: “Wouldn’t you wait forever for Two-Twelve.”

Belinda: “But that’s different! He loves me, and not just because I look like someone else.”

Sofia: “But if he does come for me it might be because I look like his wife, but the one he holds, and cares for would be me.”

“But you said he treated his wife so badly, would you willingly suffer though what she did, just to be with him?”

Sofia: “Every day of my life, if that is what he wanted…Because I love him.”

Belinda & Me: “…”

Zoey: “Well! Who wants more cake?”

Belinda: “That’s right, this is Lilah’s party. We can talk about that some other time, today is Lilah’s day!”

We continue Lilah’s party but it never does regain the lost steam, Lilah seems to have had fun though so it worked out in the end. That night while we are getting ready for bed Belinda asks me.

Belinda: “What are we going to do if Dyson does come for Sofia?”

“There isn’t much we could do…But if that is what Sofia wants I wouldn’t even want to stop her.”

Belinda: “You’re a big softy…” –She says while wrapping her arms around me brushing my chest with her fingers.-

“Actually I think that would be worse for her then staying away, but I think it should be her decision if it comes down to that.”

Belinda: “Well what about Lilah, she seemed too really like how her party turned out, don’t you think?”

“Yea but I hope this gives her a chance to take a bit of a break from the dungeon. I watched her with some of the adventurers and I am starting to get a little worried… Maybe it’s time we summon another monster to help her out so she doesn’t have to do it alone?”

Belinda: “Really? What kind of monster are you thinking?”

“I don’t know about having a male cooped up with her for hours and hours, especially after she made the comment that if she was going to have a boyfriend she wanted me to summon it for her…”

Belinda: “As long as you don’t make her cuter then me.”

Well let’s give it a few weeks to think about and then we can make a decision on what to summon.

Over the course of the next few weeks I cover for Lilah in the dungeon at least two days a week so she can practice, and I have to say she has done pretty good.

Of course she hasn’t gained any levels only practicing against our monsters, but she has actually taken to the whip pretty good. I can’t believe I was even skeptical about it being a weapon, as now I have seen the kind of damage she can inflict against the kobolds…

Belinda has already begun to prepare for Scylla and Zoey’s birthday party, but for once she actually has plenty of time for preparation. Logan said he was busy and couldn’t make it, but he promises that Kline will be there.

We haven’t been building a lot of xp, but it is slowly increasing so that is a good sign, I try not to spend anything more then we have to however. I was hoping Dyson would come calling again with another item for me to copy giving us a bunch more xp but so far I haven’t heard from him.

I have managed to gain another level, but after their last trip I am still trailing behind them by a few levels. If nothing changes with the dungeon I should be able to gain another about the time I finish training the new dungeon core.

It isn’t till a few days before the girl’s birthday party that I receive a message from Dyson, and it simply says.

Dyson: “Check your observation screen. It is going to go down today!”

On the day I receive the message from Dyson it is just Bell and I at the office as Kline arrived for Scylla and Zoey’s birthday and Scylla has been spending time with him. We haven’t been very busy though so I tell Bell I just received a request from Dyson and that I needed to check it out.

I quickly head home. On the way home I try to sort out what Dyson is talking about, but I duck behind one of the buildings as I near the house and once I am hidden I transfer to the core room. I quickly open the observation window then it clicks.

I see a tall white bear like humanoid covered in scars with a suspicious look on its face as it makes its way through some ice covered hallways. I send a message to Dyson.

“Does that mean it is going to try to take out Fredrick today?”

Dyson: “It doesn’t look good, he has already been found out. Fredrick is on his guard, but the idiot is just waiting in his core room hoping the problem is going to fix itself...”

“He isn’t at least raising the protection around the crystal?”

Dyson: “He added a few yetis to protect it, but this yeti of Bless’s is of far higher level… His combat prowess was what got him access to the inter-sanctum of Fredrick’s dungeon to begin with…”

“I am still a little confused, if the Yeti was released from Bless’s dungeon almost a year ago, why is it still trying so hard to take out Fredrick?”

Dyson: “That is the power of an ultimate command… I know of a monster that another dungeon tried the same thing Bless here has, but it waited 20 years even after being accepted by the other dungeon before it made its attack. Bless was too impatient though that is why Fredrick was able to figure it out.”

While watching Bless’s yeti take on two of Fredrick’s I seen what Dyson means the difference in strength is easily apparent. After making short work of Fredrick’s yetis it moves on.

“So the one that waited 20 years did it succeed?”

Dyson: “I am still here aren’t I? But she was great in bed, so it was worth the 20 years in my opinion, I felt kind of sorry having to put her down.”

“…”

We continue to watch Bless’s yeti tear though Fredrick’s as it makes its way through the dungeon, but even after a few hours I don’t know how close it is to his crystal room.

“He has been at it quite a while. Does he have much further to go?”

Dyson: “So you can’t see everything…Good to know, but no he doesn’t have much further to go about another hour and he will reach the crystal room.”

It looks like my question gave out a more information then I intended, but Dyson and I seem to be in pretty good standing at the moment, so I guess it doesn’t hurt…

Since Bless’s yeti isn’t bound to a dungeon you can tell the fatigue is starting to build up with him. The question isn’t if he is going to be stronger then Fredrick’s yetis but will he be able to make it that far before becoming too fatigued to carry on.

Sure enough at almost exactly on the hour mark he reaches what appears to be Fredrick’s Crystal room. Fredrick’s crystal is an aquamarine that blends in with the ice so well it is hard to tell where the crystal ends and the ice begins.

There are 4 yeti much like the others Bless’s yeti has fought, but there is also one quite a bit larger that looks to be about equal in size to Bless’s. They look like large humanoid bears, but they fight more like gorillas as they charge Bless’s yeti.

He grabs one of the smaller ones by the head flinging it to the side like it was little more than a nuisance, but two more manage to begin to bite and claw at him. He manages to kick another but not before the other large one has arrived punches him in the jaw.

The fight takes at least another 30 minutes before Bless’s yeti is the only one left standing. Although he doesn’t look to be in very good shape, he is going to have to take out the crystal before Fredrick has the chance to send in reinforcements.

Fredrick however appears in front of the yeti. The yeti is battered and bleeding, but still towers over Fredrick at least 3 times his size. Fredrick however doesn’t seem afraid. Fredrick begins to speak to the yeti in the yeti’s language.

“What are they saying?”

Dyson: “You don’t understand it? I didn’t understand monster languages when I was an adventurer, but once I got my dungeon then it was like I knew them all along… I thought all cores knew the monsters languages.”

“Well I am not like most cores…”

Dyson: “That becomes more apparent every day… Anyway he is saying about what you would expect. Why are you doing this, who sent you, that kind of thing.”

“Do you think the yeti has a chance now? Fredrick’s level is quite high.”

Dyson: “if he tries to attack Fredrick he doesn’t stand a chance, but if he goes for the crystal he just might win.”

Bless’s yeti barks something out and all I see a message from Dyson that just says “Bad move.” And with that the yeti charges Fredrick. It is over in almost an instant… I am not even quite sure how it happened, but the yeti’s head has been severed from its body and is launched airborne.

Fredrick has in his hand a thin blade covered in the yeti’s blood. As he wipes the swords blade on the yeti’s fur his head finally hits the floor rolling around.

“I guess it’s over then…”

Dyson: “Not quite, Bless made a critical error. The yeti gave her name before he tried to strike down Fredrick. It may take a while, but the fun is just starting.”

We watch as Fredrick begins tapping away on his [Menu].

Dyson: “Here we go! He just sent a message to the elders asking for a meeting.”

The observation screen fades to black and I receive one last message from Dyson.

Dyson: “Well if anything else interesting happens I will let you know, I better go see what the elders are going to do.”

Well it was after noon when I got the message from Dyson, so I shouldn’t be surprised when I notice that the sun has begun to set. Lilah has already left from the core room, so I transfer down to the house and startle Kline and Scylla appearing right in front of them.