After arriving at the strange building that is supposed to be the dungeon that belongs to Dungeon Core Tom. I along with the patchwork woman move over to the door in front of us opening it up and say. “Hello…?”

The patchwork woman and I are quickly swarmed, but not by monsters…They are children… An older woman in a robe makes her way down the hall to us.

Robed woman: “Alright children, that’s enough, back to your rooms now.”

“I’m sorry… Are we in the right place?”

The robed woman laughs. “Don’t worry dears, they just get excited when we have guest. Please come in and I will take you to the director.”

I look at the patchwork woman and she has as much of a confused expression on her face as I do as she shrugs her shoulders and we follow the robed woman. As we are led through the halls we discover this building is full of children, every room is like a barracks with rows of beds.

We are lead through several corridors till the robed woman opens a door and ushers us inside. The room looks to be a small office with a desk, several stacks of paperwork, and the back wall is lined with cabinets.

Robed woman: “Have a seat and the director will be with you momentarily.”

The woman walks out of the room closing the door behind her.

Patchwork woman: “Master, do you have any idea what is going on?”

“Not a clue…”

Patchwork woman: “We are in the right place right?”

“Well this is where Dyson brought us…”

As we are looking around the room the door opens again and a portly balding man enters closing the door behind him.

Man: “Please have seat, have a seat! We usually get older couples, but it’s nice to see a younger couple thinking about adopting.”

“Adopt…As in a child? I think there has been a misunderstanding… We are here to see Tom?”

The man stops where he stands, his eye twitches, his body jerks a few times, and he then just hunches over where he stands.

“Are you alright…?”

A young boy in shorts crawls out from behind the desk, he jumps on top of it and sits on its edge.

Boy: “Don’t mind the dummy, what could I possibly do for the Archjusticar of the Elders?”

“You’re Tom?”

Tom: “So that memory thing was no joke? Yes, I am Tom, now why are you here?”

“I had some questions about my friend here…”

Tom jumps off the desk walking over to the patchwork woman circling her a few times looking her over. With his young appearance his ogling of her is even creepier then that of Dyson…

Tom: “Not a bad build, I could have done far better, but not bad.”

The patchwork woman looks nervous as Tom takes her hand but she quickly panics and jerks away when he licks her from the top of her hand almost all the way to her elbow before she can pull away.

Patchwork Woman: “What are you doing?!”

Tom becomes angry. “This is my Ferox Marionette’s creation!”

Patchwork Woman: “Master, he is scaring me…”

Tom: “Master? What of your real master? Have you no loyalty!” –He says as he grabs her wrist.-

Patchwork Woman: “Master he is hurting me!”

“Tom that’s enough let her go.”

Tom has a horrified look on his confused face as he releases her.

Tom: “What do you mean hurts? Undead cannot feel pain.”

“After Marion’s death, I acquired the body of her boss monster, but by using a cursed ring what is inside of it is no longer Marion’s. That is why we needed an expert on undead to find out what is going on.”

Tom: “So it is just a sentient item then?”

“I am not sure how sentient items works but the ring held a soul, and now it’s in that body, and if the ring is removed or destroyed she will die.”

Tom: “This is an interesting case indeed… I will even forgive you for stealing Ferox Marionette’s creation if you trade her to me. I will give you 10, no, make that 20 of the children in exchange.”

“I am not trading her… Especially for human children…”

Tom: “They are actually quite profitable, and if their neediness is too much you could always trade them to a human slaver. They will give you plenty of old slaves that are worth a decent amount of xp in exchange for a single fresh human child. You could also use them for spare parts.”

“That is horrible…”

Tom: “What is 10 to 20 kids among the hundreds here? If it wasn’t for me every single one would end up a slave, and we both know how cruel humans are. With me more than half make it to adulthood, and those are far better odds then if they were slaves.”

“Regardless, I am not going to trade her off. I just need to know how to take care of her.”

Tom: “Necromancy spells, replacing her damaged parts with new ones, or just use xp and restore her with you dungeon. Of course none of this is 100% because her unique nature might prove to make the task a bit harder. If you would let me take her apart I would be able to give you a better answer.”

Patchwork Woman: “Please Master, don’t let him take me apart…”

Tom: “I’ll put you back together afterwards. Hell I will even do a better job of it when I do.”

“With the ring we don’t even know if that is possible. Using the dungeon’s xp to repair her would be a bit of a problem, replacing her with spare parts is a no go especially if it has to do with the hand the ring is on, and I don’t have any necromancy spells.”

Tom: “Well trading you a necromancer would be simple, that is if you have anything worth trading.”

“We can’t even be sure that will work or not, if a necromancer really is that simple, then if you bring one to repair the damage she already has on her hand, then we can talk.”

Tom: “Hey fatty!” –He says as the hunched over balding man stands up straight again.- “Go get me number 23… No better make it number 25.”

Without a word the balding man turns walking out the door.

Tom: “Now, while he does that we might as well start talking about what you have that I may want.”

“Well I surely won’t trade any sentient monsters to you, and I am even not too keen on trading non-sentient ones either…”

Tom: “What you don’t use monsters in your dungeon?”

“Of course I do, but I don’t take them apart…”

Tom: “You still send them to die without a second thought.”

“It just doesn’t feel right…”

Tom: “Well do you want a necromancer or not?”

I look over to the patchwork woman who has a worried look on her face, and I let out a deep sigh. “Fine, what might I have that would interest you?”

Tom: “Actually what I want from you isn’t a monster at all. I heard an odd rumor about your dungeon. Is it true you are capable of reproducing rare or one of a kind items?”

“I don’t know about all that, but I have been known to acquire some hard to find items a time or two.”

Tom: “Well even Elder Dyson was only able to find me one in a set of this particular item.”

“Many of the items I have acquired were for Dyson.”

Tom accesses his [Menu] and says. “If you can acquire another one of these for me I will be willing to give you a dozen necromancers.” He then holds out his hand and in it is a large eyeball that fills his entire childlike hand.

The Patchwork Woman looks disgusted. “Master, that’s an eyeball…”

Tom: “Not just any eyeball, but legend has it comes from one of the old gods.”

“You are saying that eye belongs to a god?”

Tom: “If you believe such tales. Legend says it was a lecherous god that peeked into somewhere he shouldn’t have and another god plucked his eyes from his skull. Legend or not, the eye possesses a great power, and if I put the pair into one of my creations it would be truly spectacular.”

“I would have no way of knowing if I could get another, and even if I could I would have to take the eye back to my dungeon briefly to be able to find out if I could use it to find the other.”

Tom: “The eye is far from worthless, but unless I get the other I have no use for it on its own, but I will hold on to our little friend here until you return just in case you decide to skip out on me.”

I sigh and take the eye from Tom’s hand. “I’ll be back before the portal even closes.” I then cast [Gate] heading back to the dungeon. When I add the eye to the dungeon I receive a message.

New Items Available

Left Eye of Belphegor Cost: 1,500,000xp*

*Item must be created with Godly Quality. Item cost does not include quality.

Godly Quality items can now be created at the items base cost x100, and must be made from legendary materials

It clearly says it’s the left eye, so even if the cost wasn’t the most expensive item I have ever seen summoning another would surely not produce the results Tom wants… I am a little worried about someone like Tom having something that powerful though.

I find the eye in my dungeon’s inventory.

Left Eye of Belphegor: Plucked from Belphegor, his left eye on its own possesses a great power. If used as an alchemy ingredient or in the creation of an item it will however only grant a small portion of its immense power. If both of Belphegor’s eyes are used together the resulting item will receive all of the pair’s combined strength and immense power. However using the left eye alone or along with the right eye will cause a great curse to befall any who try to harness power meant only for gods.

Well even Dyson can’t find the second eye and the item is highly cursed so it does seem rather useless for its cost. I take the item and return back to Tom’s dungeon through the still open portal.

Tom: “You really did return before the closure of the portal.”

I return the eye to Tom and say. “I’m sorry, the ability to acquire the other eye is beyond me, and even if I could, no amount of necromancers would cover its cost.”

Tom clicks his tongue. “It was worth a shot. What about a beastkin? I heard you can summon them isn’t that right?”

“I can summon several types of beastkin, but I already said I will not trade a sentient monster.”

Tom: “A non-sentient beastkin would be fine. I don’t often have the ability to get ahold of beastkin parts here in Dalian. The cost of non-sentient beastkin would be a drop in the bucket, so say 100 of them of various subspecies should work.”

“100?!”

Tom: “At level 1 that would just be the cost of a single sentient one, so you are by far getting the better end of this deal.”

“Do you know how much a pain that would be? Giving them all names, ultimate commands, and transporting them?”

Tom: “Open your portal, summon one, give it a number 1-100, they are non-sentient so they can’t give any information about your dungeon so an ultimate command is not necessary, and just send them through. I am sure it would take minimal time, and depending on the number of subspecies available to you, you could even do 5 or 10 at a time.”

I look over at the patchwork woman and sigh. “Fine, but not till we make sure this works.”

We wait for a few more minutes before the door opens again the balding man walks in the room leading in a small girl. The small girl can’t be no more than 6 years old and she is very cute in her little flower dress that even the patchwork woman says. “How adorable!”

After closing the door the balding man returns to the corner and twitches a few times before hunching back over. The little girl walks up to us, curtsies, blushes, and in a sweet voice says.

Little girl: “Greetings Master, you called for me?”

Tom: “I need you to fix her hand if you can.”

Little girl: “Did the zombie-wombie get a booboo?”

“This is your necromancer?”

Tom: “This is how you make a perfect undead. Flawless seams from one part to the next that would almost be impossible to tell her from a living human just by sight.”

The little girl grabs her cheeks and blushes. “Thank you master.”

The patchwork woman kneels down petting the girls head with a concerned expression on her face. “She is undead?”

While the patchwork woman pets the little girl’s head the girl takes her hand that was damaged by the healing spell. Her hair starts to flutter as a dark circle appears around her as she casts a spell. It startles the patchwork woman causing her to fall back onto her butt, but by the time she does her hand has been completely repaired.

Little girl: “I did it master!~ Some dummy-head also let the zombie-wombie drink something, so I took care of that as well. She should be all better now, but she seems weird.”

“How do you mean?”

Little girl: “She is clearly a zombie-wombie, but even though her insides have been removed and the skin preserved, for some reason I still detect life in her.”

“So she isn’t an undead?”

Little girl: “She is not, not undead, but maybe re-dead? No that’s not right either… Maybe re-alive, or un-undead. It’s very confusing…”

“But the necromancy spells will work to heal her?”

Little girl: “Yes, she not as good as master made me, but if you take good care of her with spells, and clean her after she munchy-wanchys on humans then she should last at least 20 years before you have to start changing out her party-wartys.”

It is kind of disturbing for this cute little girl to be talking about eating a human with a bright smile and cutesy voice…

Little girl: “Master, number 25 was a good girl right? Can number 25 have her present?”

Tom kisses her forehead and pats her head and the little girl looks positively elated.

Tom: “Now go back to your room and make sure to take the dummy along with you.”

Little girl: “Thank you master! ~ It was nice meeting you all.” –She then curtseys again and after the balding man in the corner stands back up they walk out of the room together.-

The patchwork woman has a bright smile on her face as she waves at the little girl as she leaves. I am not sure if she just doesn’t it get it or what, but if that little girl was a undead made from parts that means she could be any number of small children that Tom chopped up, so I find the little girl more than a bit unsettling…

Tom: “So, now that it is confirmed that it will work, what do you say we get down to the trade?”

“Very well, but I am not really sure I want to summon this many monsters at my dungeon, but I have an idea if you don’t mind a bit of a trip.”

I don’t want Belinda or the others seeing me summon all these monsters to give to someone like Tom even if they are non-sentient… I have left there with [Gate] plenty of times but never arrived there that way. I did learn about its location after becoming the Archjusticar so it should work. After I get Tom to agree I use [Gate] and we arrive at the neutral zone.

Tom: “I understand, this should work fine, I guess you really are the elder’s little pet now.”

I send a message to the bunnies letting them know I am going to use a bit of xp and then say. “So you said various subspecies of beastkin, any other preferences?”

Tom: “I like soft, fresh skin so don’t make any of them over 10 years old in appearance, other than that it should be fine.”

I summon them in batches of 10 a piece choosing random subspecies and their ages between 5 and 10 other then that I let [Menu] do the rest of the work sending them through the portal back to Tom’s dungeon. With 50 beastkin and 50 feral beastkin I unlock quite a few more subspecies of beastkin.

I feel quite deplorable after sending the last of the 100 small naked beastkin children to Tom’s dungeon. I know they aren’t sentient but that doesn’t make me feel any less vile…

“Now if you please I will take a monster that can use necromancy spells, and our trade will be complete.”

Tom: “Let’s see for with what you paid I got… A hag necromancer, just your plan old skeletal necromancer, or… Oh it cost a little bit more but the parts you provided looked well worth it, how about a puppeteer spider?”

“I’m afraid to ask, what is a puppeteer spider?”

Tom: “Just a simple spider monster, it uses its web and necromancy spells to attack. Further down their evolutionary line they can get quite powerful, but less you want to give me a couple hundred more beastkin I think we will just stick with this one.”

“As tempting as that sounds… I better just stick to a plain old skeletal necromancer.”

Tom shrugs his shoulders. “Your loss.”

After summoning a robed skeleton Tom says. “That should work for you, and if you get tired of that monster there, I will gladly take her off your hands.”

Tom then disappears into the portal. I then summon one last [Gate] to take the three of us back home.

Skeleton Bob has changed ownership from Dungeon Core #521 [Tom] to Dungeon Core #212 [Archjusticar ------ Gowen]. Would you like to change Skeleton Bob’s name?

Skeleton Bob…? Oh well it doesn’t matter. “No”

New Monsters Available

Skeleton Necromancer Cost: 2700xp*

*Elemental type monsters are granted a discount of 1/4 due to [Uniquely Gifted] skill.

New Spells Available

Animate Skeleton Cost: 500xp Necromantic Touch Cost: 500xp Necromantic Healing Cost: 500xp

It’s only an entry level spell, but as cheap as it is I should be able to teach it to all of the boss monsters to help the patchwork woman… We still need to come up with a name for her. For now I just store Skeleton Bob in the dungeon’s crystal.

“I don’t know if you sleep or anything, but I am going on two days and want to grab a few hours if nothing else. I will take you to your room for now and we can figure everything else out afterwards.”

Patchwork Woman: “I understand Master…”

I lead her to one of the spare bedrooms and then head up to my room. The sun was already starting to rise when Belinda went to sleep, but it is only around noon yet she isn’t in bed. I quickly find her however soaking in the bath.

Belinda: “You made it back. You get everything worked out?”

“For the most part I think. Have you gotten any sleep?”

Belinda: “I got a bit, but I was a little worried with you gone. I know you are probably tired, but think how good that bed will feel after a nice warm bath.”

She doesn’t have to tell me twice. I remember getting in the bath… But the next thing I remember is waking up with Belinda in my arms and it’s the middle of the night. She is sleeping soundly and I don’t want to disturb her so after going through [Menu] and teaching myself and my boss monsters the [Necromantic Healing] spell I just continue to lay there till I manage to drift back off to sleep.

The next few days pass easy enough. Leave it to Belinda to quickly name the patchwork woman Vetala. Vetala is as we find rather clumsy, but it could be the fact she was just a ring so now she has to get used to having a body, but I am not sure.

[Necromantic Healing] takes care of most problems with Vetala, but [Clean] also has to be used when we catch her trying to eat or drink something.

Vetala: “But it tastes so good!”

“You don’t have a stomach! What are you going to do if something rots inside of you?”

Vetala: “I’m sorry master…” –She says while pouting.-

Vetala is really quite unusual, I have done a little looking research into undead and it’s almost like she is completely alive on the outside but she doesn’t even have any internal organs. I guess that is sort of a like a dungeon core except we have internal organs but they only work if in use.

Same with pain, she feels the pain if you prick her skin, but then there is nothing. You could stab her with a sword and she would feel the initial stab but as long as you don’t tear the wound more she would not feel any additional pain.

She does seem to have some sort of sensation of what is happening inside her as well to some degree, but how much we can’t really tell. It is mainly apparent when we catch her eating or drinking something she says it just feel icky…

After the initial shock of an undead in the house Doug and Aria have seem to become quick friends and if they are not working on commissions they visit with her quite often. We have also started to train Vetala to work at the mayor’s office to help out Scylla.

She seems like a bit of an oddity to the townspeople, with her multi-colored hair and eyes, but with her disposition they quickly accept her without even realizing she is an undead. She does try to avoid direct contact with people though as he skin is rather cool and clammy to the touch.

Things in the dungeon have seemed to finally start to settle down. We have managed to finally add enough rifts that we are finally getting back on track. We can’t rest yet though because they are still killing everything in the elemental wings except the three boss like monsters.

We did however almost loose the griffon one day before we were able to put him back in one of the larger rooms as he didn’t have much room to move around in, but afterwards we moved him back and he should be in better shape in the future.

The construction of the mage’s guild has been going at lighting speed, but even still with its massive size it is estimated to take another two months before it is completed.

After Logan’s time was up he returned back to the capital, it seems like Logan and Queen are dating again, but they completely started their relationship back over from the beginning. Only took them dating for 3 years to get to the point that Logan was going to propose to Queen, so maybe they will get back to that point before he turns 40…

Leila is only a month or two old, but Belinda has a small birthday party for all 4 of the bunnies together. I find it a little redundant, but it seems to make Belinda happy so I keep my mouth shut, and the day after their birthday party I get a message from Madam Erin.

Madam Erin: (Pup if you got some time on your hands I could use your help, and you might want to bring your boss monsters along.)

“That’s rather strange. Madam Erin just asked for help.”

Belinda: “That isn’t strange they are asking you to do things for them all the time.”

“No she actually asked for my help.”

Belinda: “You think she is in trouble?”

“She did say to bring you and the girls and well, but if it was something she couldn’t handle the five of us aren’t going to make a difference.”

Belinda: “What do you think we should do?”

“Well as the Archjusticar if an elder asks I think I am supposed to help, but she did actually ask for once. Although that is making me all that much more curious…”

Belinda: “Alright let’s get the girls ready.”

I send a message back to Madam Erin telling her we are on our way, and Belinda and I then go to pick up Zoey and Roxy.

Roxy: “Zoey went out real quick, she usually goofs off all day when I sent her to pick something up, so you might want to message her to tell her to hurry back.”

“It will probably be quicker to just go get her, I will leave you and Belinda here to get your stuff together and will make sure she hurries.”

Roxy: “Thanks…”

I quickly find Zoey at the Denova’s general store buying a mound of food items.

“Is that really necessary?”

Zoey: “Oh boss! Perfect timing you can help me carry all this home.”

“You didn’t get anything that spoils did you? Madam Erin asked for us to give her a hand, and who knows how long that will take.”

Zoey: “If you would teach me [Shadow Pocket] I could store it all in there and not have to worry about it.”

“You are always with Roxy, and the spell was one of the more expensive ones to teach, so I didn’t think it was all that necessary, but if it’s something you want we can see about getting it for you. If we are able to make a bit of xp of this task for Madam Erin”

Zoey: “You’re the best! So… Will you help me carry this stuff back home?”

I sigh. “I guess but hurry up, we still have to go get Azami as well.”

As we are heading back to the house Zoey askes me.

Zoey: “You really helped Roxy and me out with that ring boss, but it leaves me with a question I was curious about.”

“I don’t think I like where this is going…”

Zoey: “Well have you ever had Belinda wear one of the rings?”

“No, of course not!”

Zoey: “Oh… Not even one of them you use?”

“Then she would look like me.”

Zoey: “I know! I had Roxy try on the ring you gave us, and it was weirdly satisfying.”

This girl… I pick up the pace back to Roxy and Zoey’s house. Once we drop off the things Zoey bought I send a message to Azami to make sure it safe before we transfer up to the forest.

Azami seems to be working on her crafting while Moss patiently watches. When we arrive the item she is crafting floats to the ground. Moss quickly grabs it up and dusts it off setting it on a cloth and folds it up.

“Sorry to bother you when you are busy, but we might have some work to do for Madam Erin.”

Azami: “I am not busy, crafting is work I do when I have nothing else.”

“I don’t know how long we will be gone, so are you sure you have everything you need?”

Azami: “I just need to make sure Moss understands what he must do while I am gone.”

Moss: “I know… Keep practicing until I am out of magic, and once it returns practice some more.”

“You’re having him practice magic?”

Azami: “Of course, I told you one of my requirements for purchasing him was his magical ability, I have started teaching him the ways of elven crafting.”

“Well I guess it can’t hurt.”

Azami: “In fact I had him make an item especially for you.”

She takes out a small piece of wood shaped like a dagger.

Azami: “He is only in the starting stages, so he can only make things from wood and cloth.”

I take the dagger and get down on Moss’s level.

“Thank you I will take good care of it.”

Moss: “I hope you get a splinter.”

“Well alright then… We all ready? “

I tuck the wooden dagger into my belt and then we set off from Madam Erin’s dungeon.

Madam Erin: “Oh good you have arrived, no time to lose I don’t know how long she can hold her position. Oh just one more thing.”

Madam Erin accesses her [Menu] and an xp bead appears in her hand.

Madam Erin: “Alright now we are ready.”

She then finishes a rune on a portal she has set up and ushers us through quickly.

A salty ocean breeze quickly hits my face as I notice we are standing next to a familiar ruined building. With clouds all around I realize we are on Maeve’s dungeon.

Madam Erin: “Good we made it… hitting a moving target with a rune portal is by no means an easy task.”

Belinda: “Maeve!” –She quickly shouts running over to Maeve, who is leaning against the wall apparently waiting on us, and gives her a hug.-

Maeve: “Hey mom… I wasn’t expecting you and papa.”

Madam Erin: “Yes sorry about that, it was a last minute addition. Is your dungeon ok here?”

Maeve: “Yea the breeze is pretty stable here, I could probably hold for a few more hours.”

Madam Erin: “If we don’t make it back before you have to move let us know, and then try to circle back around.”

Maeve: “I got it. You got what you promised?”

Madam Erin: “Of course.” –She says dropping the xp bead into Maeve’s hand.-

Maeve whistles holding the xp bead between her fingers and kisses it. “You keep these coming and I will go anywhere you want me to.”

“What’s going on?”

Madam Erin: “We don’t have much time, so I will explain when we arrive. Come on one more jump.”

Madam Erin then quickly starts drawing runes on the stone wall faster than I have ever recall seeings her do before. When she gets to the end she hesitates for a second looking back over it then finishes the last line.

Madam Erin: “Alright hurry.” –She says shoving us back through before even giving a chance to say bye to Maeve.-

Maeve however is still leaning against the wall and waves as we disappear. Once I hit the ground I hear a loud screech and a giant red goblin comes charging right at me. I quickly draw my sword and fend it off, but it isn’t a few seconds later, that more giant red goblins come pouring from the trees.

We quickly start attacking the goblins in turn and once Madam Erin arrives she starts to smash them as well. They just keep coming but we are able to deal with them relatively easy, and with Madam Erin smashing two or three at a time we start making progress.

“What is going on?!”

Madam Erin: “Welcome to Shima pup!”

“Shima?!”

Madam Erin: “Just behind you through the trees there should be some steps, they will lead up to Inari’s dungeon, start working your way in that direction.”

“We can’t take all these things to Inari’s dungeon! She has a village in it doesn’t she?”

Madam Erin: “They can’t get in, and besides they are waiting on us.”

We keep fighting off the giant red goblins as we retreat back. Once we find the stairs we quickly start making our way up them. The giant red goblins are right on top of us all the way until we see a large group of various fox beastkin all armed with shiny crimson armor and weapons like that of which Inari brought to the dungeon so we could recreate.

They don’t move until we pass them and as a muscular fox punches on of the giant red goblins hard enough it flings him back 10 feet into a tree he says. “The Mistress is waiting for you just inside. We will hold them off until you make it into the dungeon.”

The giant red goblins continue to chase us completely ignoring the foxes, but that gives the foxes plenty of chances to bring them down.

Once we pass the last step onto the large square are the large red goblins quickly turn heading after Madam Erin as she screeches to a halt.

Madam Erin: “Just as I thought. Alright pups I leave it to you!”

Without another word Madam quickly dashes back down the stairs using several of the giant red goblins as spring boards.

Belinda: “Inari!”

Inari looks around and says. “Alright, come downstairs and I will explain everything.”

As we are quickly ushered away by Inari I watch the fox beastkin step up from the stairs and the giant red goblins seem to lose interest wandering off. There is another large muscular man with Inari, he looks identical to the dungeon core she trained with the expectation of the large fox ears on top of his head and bushy tail.

After passing several flights of stairs and passing some very interesting rooms we pass through to large wooden gates that the other foxes behind us close. Inari then slows down and lets out a sigh of relief. She then quickly turns, giving Belinda a hug and then me as well.

Inari: “I am so glad this worked… Come have a seat inside and I will tell you what is going on.”

Inari is far less rushed as we then enter the house. She sits down at a small table on the floor and the large muscular fox sits next to her. The others then gather around the table as well sitting down. Belinda sits down to the other side of Inari so I sit next to her.

After scoping out the room Zoey flops down next to a fox beastkin with the largest breasts and then Roxy squeezes in between them. Azami doesn’t sit at the table taking a spot back against the wall.

Inari: “Thank you all for coming… Madam Erin didn’t tell me you were coming until about an hour ago, so I apologize if everything is a bit hectic.”

“She kind of just sprung it on us as well. We don’t even know why we are here.”

Belinda: “Not that we are not happy to get to see you!”

Inari: “Alright I will explain, but it’s going to take a bit of a long story.”

She then takes a deep breath and starts.

Inari: “I guess a little over a year ago when Daddy first disappeared I begged Madam Erin to take me to the mainland to help me search. She of course refused, but told me if I did her a favor that she would put more resources into finding him. Of course we know how that all turned out with Daddy popping up all on his own…”

Inari sighs then continues.

Inari: “Anyway… Madam Erin wanted us to investigate what she heard were rumors of the source of the Oni. The Oni are those monsters you were fighting that look like giant red goblins. It took us quite a bit of effort but we finally found the dungeon.”

“Dungeon, but I thought you were the only dungeon in Shima?”

Inari: “Daddy please… Anyway the dungeon like you said wasn’t one of the 799 known to the elders and there were quite a few strange things about it. Monsters spawning from rifts that could leave the dungeon, Item rifts that never quit spawning, and not to mention the fact that they were even outside what we later determined to be edge of the dungeon.”

“Item rifts? I have a few questions, but most importantly how is this all possible?”

Inari: “When we finally reached the dungeon crystal it was already dead. There was some kind of plant wrapped around the broken crystal holding it together causing it to do all these strange things. When the plant activated the crystal it didn’t seem to be bound by the usual rules of a dungeon and even resulted in monsters that where not complete to be summoned.”

Yuji the silver eared fox with black hair that Inari brought with her during her last visit says. “It was quite disgusting.”

Inari: “Yes, anyway once I managed to hit the crystal it broke the proper way and I absorbed it power granting me the [Heroic] skill. The plant then shriveled up but not before two vines that looked to be coming into the dungeon from elsewhere retreated into the wall.”

Belinda: “That was what happened to you that you couldn’t tell us?”

Inari: “Yes, and after all that the Oni in the forest didn’t even miss a beat, so there has to be more dungeons like that in Shima. I heavily rely on the Oni so if things stayed that way I would have been fine leaving well enough alone, but that’s what led us to what is happening now.”