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Published at 2nd of February 2024 05:57:47 AM


Chapter 6: Abnormal Dungeon

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Chapter 6: Abnormal Dungeon

I like them. They respect the dragonets and leave their burrows alone as asked to. Asked, hissed at. Same thing really. They got it after all.

The catboy seemed to be the leader but only took charge when needed. The wolfgirl was clearly his mate. The foxboy had successfully charmed my first key-wearing dragonet and gotten the first key. Peaceful solutions! Just how I like it! The foxboy had even risen 1% in karma levels simply petting my dragonet. The mousegirl had done so when they decided to leave the burrows alone in the room before. It was likely only her karma levels getting raised due to her having the lowest karma level of the entire Party. See! I'm making people better people! I love my job! Mousegirl only needs one more percent before she gets extra luck in here like her friends do!

They seem a bit confused by the slightly fire-resistant dragon leather. Maybe they don't know what's special about it...

Uh, well! Status!

Personal Status Level: 1 EXP needed for level up: 52/200 Mana payment needed for level up: 0/100 Mana: 32.75/100 Mana regeneration: 15 per hour Floors: 1/1 Allowed number of sapients in each Floor: 6 Floor Details Achievements Mission Dungeon Rules

Uh! I'll likely get faster regeneration when I level up! Yes! I can't wait!

Or well... I guess I have to...

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The 5th room had plenty of trees and a stream going from the middle of the left wall to the near right corner. Unlike the other streams this one had steppingstones in it.

The stones are right in front of us too. Begdar thought. There're too many details like this for it to be a coincidence. Taking a deep breath she nervously spoke her thoughts out loud. "I know it might sound crazy but this Dungeon is pretty weird anyway so you might just agree with me." She took another calming breath as her Party turned towards her. "This Dungeon has done plenty of unusual things: peaceful monsters, double loot and EXP for not killing said monsters, the trap was perfectly placed to punish people for going near the burrows, something the dragons first give a warning about, they could have... should have just attacked us for it!"

Another calming breath was needed to stop her rambling. Then she turned to look at Taozcec. "It let you pet it! It purred as you pet it!" Another breath. "The key around its neck. You could probably take it by force but it... it seems to me like you were meant to do it peacefully. Like everything else in this Dungeon." The lupinekin turned to look at the steppingstones in the stream. "These stones are clearly here for us to step on so we can get over without getting wet. But just like the trap before the burrows, these steppingstones are meant to teach us something."

Nalir took her hand and gave it a squeeze in support. "What do you think the lesson is?"

Thinking for a bit Begdar suggested: "None of the other streams had steppingstones but we also didn't need to get to the other side to get to the next room. Here we do. I think the Dungeon is telling us to only cross streams with steppingstones." She nervously looked at her Party. "I sound crazy, don't I?"

"Na... I believe you." Taozcec stated. "This Dungeon is weird about no one attacking anyone. It being more intelligent than most and trying to teach us its boundaries seems just up its alley if I'm being honest."

Zaktak and Thenac, being the pessimistic and cautious ones, had some things to add to it. "If it's really smarter than other Dungeons..." Zaktak began "... it might simply be trying to lure us into a false sense of security." Thenac nodded and cautioned them to be more cautious, just in case.The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.

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The steppingstones had gotten them safely across, but it took longer than expected to find the way to the next room. While looking Thenac pointed out that there were 6 dragons in the room rather than the usual 5.

In the end it turned out that instead of the way being located in the middle of a wall this one was next to a corner. In addition this one wasn't a simple 1-meter-long opening like the others had been. Instead it appeared at an angle, curved and was much longer than the others.

It was also partly hidden behind a tree...

Entering the curved corridor two 1st tier BO's, 6 meat, 6 fruits and 26 small aluminum cubes appeared and this time everyone got 6 EXP. As the remaining 1st tiers, Zaktak and Nalir got a BO each and became 2nd tiers. Zaktak got the Toughness Class which while unusual for muskin was kind of expected for her. Nalir on the other hand got the usual felinekin Class of Dexterity. With these Classes came the passive Class skills of Enhanced Stamina and Fast Reflexes.

Additionally Nalir was rewarded with a big kiss from his mate leaving the whole Party smiling.

With no one being 9+ anymore their chances of getting BO's had now halved yet the Party couldn't be happier. They had finally tiered up!

With the corridor only being 1-meter wide, Thenac was put in the front to keep a watch out for traps. After her was Taozcec in case a dragon needed to be charmed.

They all loved The Orchard though. The bearboy in particular seemed excited.

Status. I ordered again. I liked seeing my EXP going up.

Personal Status Level: 1 EXP needed for level up: 86/200 Mana payment needed for level up: 0/100 Mana: 48/100 Mana regeneration: 15 per hour Floors: 1/1 Allowed number of sapients in each Floor: 6 Floor Details Achievements Mission Dungeon Rules

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With new shields in hand the Party entered the 7th room of the Dungeon. A big rock stood in the middle of the room covered in vines carrying fat yellow berries. The next room was located to the right with a dirt route leading there. Between the closest right corner and the route there was a small pond slightly hidden by reeds. Another dirt route sprang from the first going around the vine covered rock. On the other side of this second route stood a bunch of different bushes.

"Hey there little one. Would you like to be petted as well?" Taozcec had noticed a key-carrying dragon on top of the vine rock. As the rock was about 2.5 meters high Taozcec decided to let the dragon come to him.

The dragon looked at him but didn't move towards him. Instead it picked up a berry from the vines and started to eat it.

Zaktak grumbled while looking at the dragon. "That explains why we couldn't find a keyhole earlier. What a waste of time!"

Taozcec kept talking to the key-carrying dragon while the rest of his Party started to walk around, no longer so afraid of spooking the dragons.

"They're berry bushes!" Morghar discovered. He immediately started eating the nearest raspberries. The other 4 went to follow his example.

"Different types of berry bushes. Like the trees in the room before this." Thenac soon added. While eating a handful of blackcurrants the rhinokin decided to try and identify the different berries despite not having a System Skill for it. "Starting from the end closest to where we came from, we appear to have blackberries, raspberries, blackcurrants, redcurrants and two types I'm not familiar with. Do any of you know them?" After taking a look, the other 4 concluded that they didn't know them either. "We probably shouldn't eat them then. Hmm... Let's gather a branch with berries from each and see if someone else knows what they are. And a vine with berries too."

"I got it!" Came it from the vulpinekin. Taozcec had the dragon in his arms and a key in one hand. Holding the dragon up he then tried to convince it to fly up on the rock again. As he had stopped his petting the dragon had no longer a reason to stay in his arms, so it did as it was told.

"How many keys do you think we need?" Taozcec asked.

Begdar thought for a bit while the others shrugged. "Judging by the frequency of them appearing and the number of rooms left, I'll guess probably 3 though it could be 4 or 5. We might have missed one though. Remember the first room? We didn't see the 5th dragon in there. Maybe it had a key too." The others nodded, looking a bit annoyed. "Most likely we need to collect all the keys in order to enter either the last room or the Core Room. But let's keep going."

8 meat, 4 fruits, 22 small aluminum cubes, two 1×1 leather pieces and two pairs of boots made of said leather appeared when the Party left the room. While equipment like the boots didn't bind itself to the first one touching it, it did resize to fit them perfectly. As former slaves none of them had fitting shoes. Morghar and Zaktak had gotten the shields so they said no to also getting the boots. After some discussion Nalir and Thenac ended up with new footwear. Nalir did because his Class, Dexterity, combat wise focused on speed and fast reflexes. New boots would make him run and turn faster. And as the trapfinder Thenac might decide to activate a trap using her foot again. New footwear would naturally protect one's feet better than old ones.

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You're supposed to bribe the dragonet with sunlightberries! It's supposed to keep eating them while on the rock till you call while holding some in your hand! That’s supposed to be an extra challenge for getting one of the keys! That one of them needs to be bribed with food! How was he able to...? Right... They're all tier 2 now. And since the foxboy's the one dealing with the dragonets he's most likely the one with the highest Charisma. Probably even has the Class Charisma.

... No wonder he could charm my poor level 1 dragonet.

Experiencing Peace rewards you 12 EXP.

First of Your Kind rewards you 3 EXP.

Creature Designer rewards you 2 EXP.

That took them barely any time. Status.

Personal Status Level: 1 EXP needed for level up: 103/200 Mana payment needed for level up: 0/100 Mana: 49.5/100 Mana regeneration: 15 per hour Floors: 1/1 Allowed number of sapients in each Floor: 6 Floor Details Achievements Mission Dungeon Rules




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