Chapter 141: Hardly Nu Ya
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Chapter 141: Hardly Nu Ya
The sound of a branch snapping underfoot disturbed the dark forest. The way around Durence was long and more than once they had to cut down old spiderwebs, but the creepy thing was there were no spiders big enough to make the webs to be found anywhere. It was like they all got up and died or ran away.
“You sure they were heading here,” a gruff man asked over one shoulder.
“Definitely. My contact in the Capital Bank told me they’re opening a special account for this backwards place. That only happens when there’s profit to be had. That means Dungeon or some new god,” a thinner man in leathers with a red bandanna around his neck said with a smile.
“And this place is what? A farming village, cattle... candlemakers?” the third member of their group asked with disdain.
“It was just listed as ‘village’ in the local records. It was likely some old Baron’s villa that got fobbed over to the local peasants to keep them happy and they built shacks around it or something,” the first man snorted, a massive battle axe slung over his back with his arms rippling muscles. His bald head has a nasty burn scar going down one ear.
“Great, another shitty place getting the red carpet treatment because some hellhole Dungeon spawned under it,” the third person, a woman with a staff that had three snakes intertwined together until they all led up to a red orb at the top. The woman wore a shimmering purple robe that had a massive slit going up the side and her heels should be unsuited for the forest, but little magical platforms appeared under her feet every time she took a step.
Their last member didn’t speak at all, but their form was hidden under a cloak, their bulk bulging at the seams while the book they held had yellowing pages with the symbol of two eyes on the front. One blue, the other yellow.
“Halt,” the first man said abruptly, causing the group to come to a dead stop as they listened. Far ahead of them, a man walked around with a jar, picking up mushrooms. His dress-robe was expensive and he looked to be some scholar.
“Hazhur... remove or ignore,” the man in leather asked, drawing a wicked long curving black blade that began to immediately drip the moment he removed it from his sheath.
“Ignore. We might need the town to use as an inn or info source. No need to burn bridges before we use them. Put your blade down, Karn,” Hazhur instructed and the other man looked massively displeased but did so, the dripping stopping the moment it was back in the sheath. The ground underneath them hissed from where the magic acid ate into the plants and roots in the soil.
“We could just blast down into the Dungeon, make our own entrance and just pretend it was always there?” the woman suggested as she stroked her snake-staff as it glowed with intense energy.
“Don’t bother. Taxman already mapped out the first floor and Dungeon’s don’t make new entrances so soon. Just find the damn entrance and get on with it, Estal,” Hazhur barked as the man in the distance vanished into the trees, his weird jar with him.
Estal sniffed but waved her staff about, creating a dome of light around the orb that showed flowing lines of wisp energy. They all watched it for a moment. Estal frowned, tapping the staff a few times.
“I’m getting strong mana influxes from the village, but that must be those Royal Knights. Those monsters... but the other mana signature is coming from the opposite direction and it's definitely not human,” Estal pointed to a series of streams that she prodded.
The streams moved around her finger, as if she was something unpleasant.
“Follow the orange lines and we find the filthy hole in the ground,” Estal said with smug superiority at her work. Hazhur longed to point out that a twenty-minute search or a marked map could do the same result but she would get into a snit and Estal in a snit was worse than a Flesh-Leech stuck on his family jewels.
The last member of the group merely watched in silence from their shadowed cowl, gloved hands gripping their book tighter. Together, they moved as one through the woods, eventually being led by Estal towards a clearing where the entrance to the Dungeon was hard to miss. It wasn’t the usual skull maw or glittering jewel affair.
“Those... who say forfeit may leave?” Hazhur muttered, reading the carved words in the arch above the door.
“Cute,” Karn said before he walked up the closed stone door, spinning the series of symbols on various rings with a frown.
“I hate puzzles,” he declared abruptly.
“Any guardians or Dungeon Protectors?” Hazhur asked the cloaked figure who shook their head after a moment. They gave Hazhur the creeps, but their ability to perceive things was unquestionable.
Karn pulled his knife out and buried it into the stone where it sank like he was stabbing butter. He slowly moved his hand around the ring as the stone bubbled and black acrid smoke filled the air.
Moments later he shoved with his shoulder and the puzzle slid inwards, letting Karn dig deeper until the whole door groaned, opening with juddering movements.
“Everyone loves a one-trick man who only knows how to penetrate,” Estal yawned, waving the smoke away as she walked down past Karn who scowled at her back. He moved aside to let the cloaked figure down next.
“Estal I can be paid to tolerate, but the creep is setting off every alarm I have,” he muttered to Hazhur who slowed before him.
“They’re not human, but that doesn’t matter,” he said back and nodded for Karn to guard the rear as he went down the next.
Hazhur took the last few steps in time to see Estal kicking tables over in disgust.
“Gifts... tributes? I hate pitiful things,” she scoffed as she slammed the base of her staff down, smashing the round clay bowls into pieces. Hazhur grabbed her wrist before she could use magic to do more damage.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.
“Get a grip. The act was cute when you were in school being taught how to wipe your ass, but down here, you do what I say,” he reminded and she glared at him, her skin crackling, burning his fingertips. Still, Hazhur didn’t let her wrist go or look away.
“Fine,” Estal said finally and wrenched her arm free to sulk over by a wall. If the damn woman wasn’t so talented, so damn useful? Hazhur would have taken someone else.
But blood was thicker and all that.
“Well, you’re all off to a great start,” a voice said, dripping with sarcasm. They all turned to the tunnel leading deeper as something floated there. A demure tiny girl with dragonfly wings.
“What the hell...?” Hazhur said but before there was any more sounds, Karn flashed past them then the next thing they all knew, his knife was buried deep into the floating creature’s stomach, the acid smoking as she croaked in surprise.
“First blood,” he said triumphantly. There was a hacking cough, the sound of someone trying to dislodge something in their throat.
“My first day... no, my first clients and this happens?!” the fairy screeched, her skin melting off in rage as she yanked the knife clean out of her body with annoyance.
“Must be some Rule-Bound creature. Karn, stop being so rude,” Estal said smugly as she walked forward, stepping on the remains of her childish temper-tantrum, spreading the wooden and clay mess.
“It’s a room full of web, mate. It’s a bit obvious it's a trap.” Karn reminded.
He moved slowly, moving carefully around some webs, testing others.
“Only some are sticky, we’re meant to walk the path and I think the webs could be a massive trap. If they go then the ceiling crushes us or maybe we’re locked in here with a dozen eyeball-eating critters!” he said with an annoyingly chipper voice. Hazhur was just glad he sheathed his acid knife before going web diving.
“Wow, afraid of spiders. Yeah, you all will get far,” Mharia said as she took another berry to snack on.
“Don’t you have children to scare and teeth to collect for chump change?” Estal called over with clear annoyance on her face.
“I’ll collect your teeth for free here and now...” Mharia muttered back to her around bites of her rather delicious looking berry. Following Karn’s excitable self, they navigated through the maze of webs. It was awkward passages and Estal accidentally found a real tripwire by falling over it, but nothing happened when she fell into the webs other than some painful screeching on her part.
Mharia was beside herself in gleeful laughter. She had a grudge against Estal rather than Karn which was strange since Karn had stabbed her but Estal was just rude at first. They left the room and Hazhur had the feeling they were a hair’s breadth away from meeting something else in that room...
Mharia was lurking around them, easily avoiding Estal’s swatting or the Silver Order’s almost religious petting. The hallways had the vibe of a natural cavern, the musty smell of water, earth, and something more potent filled the halls.
Hazhur could almost smell... ale.
He chalked that up to his desire to drink as Estal and Mharia bickered.
Mharia floated before a break in the path. A path going left, one going ahead, and one to the right.
The fairy looked darkly amused.
“Now, esteemed ‘guests’,” she said, voice dripping with abrupt noble disdain that made Hazhur uncomfortable and Estal’s cheeks to turn red in anger.
“Your choice is your own, but let me explain before you moan. To the left are humble collections with a merry time,” she held her hand to their left, “but I heard the entertainment is far more sublime,” she grinned suddenly.
“Must you rhyme?” Estal asked, stressing the question.
“Not at all, it’s not needed in the slightest. However it helps explain things to those that are not...” she trailed off, smiling down at Estal.
“The brightest,” she finished.
She pointed directly ahead as Hazhur stopped Estal from trying to clobber the fairy with her expensive staff.
“Under the stars and moon, take a breather, take a rest... you’ll catch a fish soon. Then again, once in a moon so blue... the fish catch you,” Mharia said with a slight twirl.
Then she pointed down the last path.
“That way has mud, it's good for your skin,” she said lightly and kicked her feet up to rest in the air.
“The last one is a trap. I bet it's either a dead end or a Floor Mini-boss,” Estal spat and Karn looked far too excited at that.
The Silver Order was tilting their head and pointed down the other way to ‘sublime times’ in eagerness.
“Which way takes us forward?” Hazhur asked, seeing how much the fairy would spill.
“All of them. Some further than others,” Mharia said breezily.
“Which is the safest?” Estal asked and Mharia opened one eye before her smile grew larger and larger until her face deformed into something demonic.
“Oh... they’re all so safe it's pathetic. But so is fire until you throw fuel on it,” she cackled and vanished. A silence lulled over them, except for the excited ruffles of the Silver Order tugging them to the left.
This Dungeon gave Hazhor an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
That didn’t happen too often.
Something was very off about this place.
Something very wrong.
---
Nu watched as Delta turned in a sort of restful peace. Between defeating Mharia, upgrading the third floor, choosing the fourth-floor theme, and dancing her heart out... Delta was out like a light.
However, Dungeon Cores did not sleep often. The fact Delta could and Nu became... more, meant that, as long as Nu was willing to take on the burden of being the sub-core 一 like some sort of receptionist really for Delta一 then the core could have days off.
Nu would hate to be a bother and wake her up for something as unimportant as fools. No, Delta deserved the sleep and Nu deserved some stress relief.
It all worked out in the end...
Mostly in Nu’s favour, but who was counting?
Please report us if you find any errors so we can fix it asap!
Chapter 141: Hardly Nu Ya
The sound of a branch snapping underfoot disturbed the dark forest. The way around Durence was long and more than once they had to cut down old spiderwebs, but the creepy thing was there were no spiders big enough to make the webs to be found anywhere. It was like they all got up and died or ran away.
“You sure they were heading here,” a gruff man asked over one shoulder.
“Definitely. My contact in the Capital Bank told me they’re opening a special account for this backwards place. That only happens when there’s profit to be had. That means Dungeon or some new god,” a thinner man in leathers with a red bandanna around his neck said with a smile.
“And this place is what? A farming village, cattle... candlemakers?” the third member of their group asked with disdain.
“It was just listed as ‘village’ in the local records. It was likely some old Baron’s villa that got fobbed over to the local peasants to keep them happy and they built shacks around it or something,” the first man snorted, a massive battle axe slung over his back with his arms rippling muscles. His bald head has a nasty burn scar going down one ear.
“Great, another shitty place getting the red carpet treatment because some hellhole Dungeon spawned under it,” the third person, a woman with a staff that had three snakes intertwined together until they all led up to a red orb at the top. The woman wore a shimmering purple robe that had a massive slit going up the side and her heels should be unsuited for the forest, but little magical platforms appeared under her feet every time she took a step.
Their last member didn’t speak at all, but their form was hidden under a cloak, their bulk bulging at the seams while the book they held had yellowing pages with the symbol of two eyes on the front. One blue, the other yellow.
“Halt,” the first man said abruptly, causing the group to come to a dead stop as they listened. Far ahead of them, a man walked around with a jar, picking up mushrooms. His dress-robe was expensive and he looked to be some scholar.
“Hazhur... remove or ignore,” the man in leather asked, drawing a wicked long curving black blade that began to immediately drip the moment he removed it from his sheath.
“Ignore. We might need the town to use as an inn or info source. No need to burn bridges before we use them. Put your blade down, Karn,” Hazhur instructed and the other man looked massively displeased but did so, the dripping stopping the moment it was back in the sheath. The ground underneath them hissed from where the magic acid ate into the plants and roots in the soil.
“We could just blast down into the Dungeon, make our own entrance and just pretend it was always there?” the woman suggested as she stroked her snake-staff as it glowed with intense energy.
“Don’t bother. Taxman already mapped out the first floor and Dungeon’s don’t make new entrances so soon. Just find the damn entrance and get on with it, Estal,” Hazhur barked as the man in the distance vanished into the trees, his weird jar with him.
Estal sniffed but waved her staff about, creating a dome of light around the orb that showed flowing lines of wisp energy. They all watched it for a moment. Estal frowned, tapping the staff a few times.
“I’m getting strong mana influxes from the village, but that must be those Royal Knights. Those monsters... but the other mana signature is coming from the opposite direction and it's definitely not human,” Estal pointed to a series of streams that she prodded.
The streams moved around her finger, as if she was something unpleasant.
“Follow the orange lines and we find the filthy hole in the ground,” Estal said with smug superiority at her work. Hazhur longed to point out that a twenty-minute search or a marked map could do the same result but she would get into a snit and Estal in a snit was worse than a Flesh-Leech stuck on his family jewels.
The last member of the group merely watched in silence from their shadowed cowl, gloved hands gripping their book tighter. Together, they moved as one through the woods, eventually being led by Estal towards a clearing where the entrance to the Dungeon was hard to miss. It wasn’t the usual skull maw or glittering jewel affair.
“Those... who say forfeit may leave?” Hazhur muttered, reading the carved words in the arch above the door.
“Cute,” Karn said before he walked up the closed stone door, spinning the series of symbols on various rings with a frown.
“I hate puzzles,” he declared abruptly.
“Any guardians or Dungeon Protectors?” Hazhur asked the cloaked figure who shook their head after a moment. They gave Hazhur the creeps, but their ability to perceive things was unquestionable.
Karn pulled his knife out and buried it into the stone where it sank like he was stabbing butter. He slowly moved his hand around the ring as the stone bubbled and black acrid smoke filled the air.
Moments later he shoved with his shoulder and the puzzle slid inwards, letting Karn dig deeper until the whole door groaned, opening with juddering movements.
“Everyone loves a one-trick man who only knows how to penetrate,” Estal yawned, waving the smoke away as she walked down past Karn who scowled at her back. He moved aside to let the cloaked figure down next.
“Estal I can be paid to tolerate, but the creep is setting off every alarm I have,” he muttered to Hazhur who slowed before him.
“They’re not human, but that doesn’t matter,” he said back and nodded for Karn to guard the rear as he went down the next.
Hazhur took the last few steps in time to see Estal kicking tables over in disgust.
“Gifts... tributes? I hate pitiful things,” she scoffed as she slammed the base of her staff down, smashing the round clay bowls into pieces. Hazhur grabbed her wrist before she could use magic to do more damage.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Ñøv€lß1n.
“Get a grip. The act was cute when you were in school being taught how to wipe your ass, but down here, you do what I say,” he reminded and she glared at him, her skin crackling, burning his fingertips. Still, Hazhur didn’t let her wrist go or look away.
“Fine,” Estal said finally and wrenched her arm free to sulk over by a wall. If the damn woman wasn’t so talented, so damn useful? Hazhur would have taken someone else.
But blood was thicker and all that.
“Well, you’re all off to a great start,” a voice said, dripping with sarcasm. They all turned to the tunnel leading deeper as something floated there. A demure tiny girl with dragonfly wings.
“What the hell...?” Hazhur said but before there was any more sounds, Karn flashed past them then the next thing they all knew, his knife was buried deep into the floating creature’s stomach, the acid smoking as she croaked in surprise.
“First blood,” he said triumphantly. There was a hacking cough, the sound of someone trying to dislodge something in their throat.
“My first day... no, my first clients and this happens?!” the fairy screeched, her skin melting off in rage as she yanked the knife clean out of her body with annoyance.
“Must be some Rule-Bound creature. Karn, stop being so rude,” Estal said smugly as she walked forward, stepping on the remains of her childish temper-tantrum, spreading the wooden and clay mess.
“It’s a room full of web, mate. It’s a bit obvious it's a trap.” Karn reminded.
He moved slowly, moving carefully around some webs, testing others.
“Only some are sticky, we’re meant to walk the path and I think the webs could be a massive trap. If they go then the ceiling crushes us or maybe we’re locked in here with a dozen eyeball-eating critters!” he said with an annoyingly chipper voice. Hazhur was just glad he sheathed his acid knife before going web diving.
“Wow, afraid of spiders. Yeah, you all will get far,” Mharia said as she took another berry to snack on.
“Don’t you have children to scare and teeth to collect for chump change?” Estal called over with clear annoyance on her face.
“I’ll collect your teeth for free here and now...” Mharia muttered back to her around bites of her rather delicious looking berry. Following Karn’s excitable self, they navigated through the maze of webs. It was awkward passages and Estal accidentally found a real tripwire by falling over it, but nothing happened when she fell into the webs other than some painful screeching on her part.
Mharia was beside herself in gleeful laughter. She had a grudge against Estal rather than Karn which was strange since Karn had stabbed her but Estal was just rude at first. They left the room and Hazhur had the feeling they were a hair’s breadth away from meeting something else in that room...
Mharia was lurking around them, easily avoiding Estal’s swatting or the Silver Order’s almost religious petting. The hallways had the vibe of a natural cavern, the musty smell of water, earth, and something more potent filled the halls.
Hazhur could almost smell... ale.
He chalked that up to his desire to drink as Estal and Mharia bickered.
Mharia floated before a break in the path. A path going left, one going ahead, and one to the right.
The fairy looked darkly amused.
“Now, esteemed ‘guests’,” she said, voice dripping with abrupt noble disdain that made Hazhur uncomfortable and Estal’s cheeks to turn red in anger.
“Your choice is your own, but let me explain before you moan. To the left are humble collections with a merry time,” she held her hand to their left, “but I heard the entertainment is far more sublime,” she grinned suddenly.
“Must you rhyme?” Estal asked, stressing the question.
“Not at all, it’s not needed in the slightest. However it helps explain things to those that are not...” she trailed off, smiling down at Estal.
“The brightest,” she finished.
She pointed directly ahead as Hazhur stopped Estal from trying to clobber the fairy with her expensive staff.
“Under the stars and moon, take a breather, take a rest... you’ll catch a fish soon. Then again, once in a moon so blue... the fish catch you,” Mharia said with a slight twirl.
Then she pointed down the last path.
“That way has mud, it's good for your skin,” she said lightly and kicked her feet up to rest in the air.
“The last one is a trap. I bet it's either a dead end or a Floor Mini-boss,” Estal spat and Karn looked far too excited at that.
The Silver Order was tilting their head and pointed down the other way to ‘sublime times’ in eagerness.
“Which way takes us forward?” Hazhur asked, seeing how much the fairy would spill.
“All of them. Some further than others,” Mharia said breezily.
“Which is the safest?” Estal asked and Mharia opened one eye before her smile grew larger and larger until her face deformed into something demonic.
“Oh... they’re all so safe it's pathetic. But so is fire until you throw fuel on it,” she cackled and vanished. A silence lulled over them, except for the excited ruffles of the Silver Order tugging them to the left.
This Dungeon gave Hazhor an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
That didn’t happen too often.
Something was very off about this place.
Something very wrong.
---
Nu watched as Delta turned in a sort of restful peace. Between defeating Mharia, upgrading the third floor, choosing the fourth-floor theme, and dancing her heart out... Delta was out like a light.
However, Dungeon Cores did not sleep often. The fact Delta could and Nu became... more, meant that, as long as Nu was willing to take on the burden of being the sub-core 一 like some sort of receptionist really for Delta一 then the core could have days off.
Nu would hate to be a bother and wake her up for something as unimportant as fools. No, Delta deserved the sleep and Nu deserved some stress relief.
It all worked out in the end...
Mostly in Nu’s favour, but who was counting?
Chapter 141: Hardly Nu YaThe sound of a branch snapping underfoot disturbed the dark forest. The way around Durence was long and more than once they had to cut down old spiderwebs, but the creepy thing was there were no spiders big enough to make the webs to be found anywhere. It was like they all got up and died or ran away.You sure they were heading here, a gruff man asked over one shoulder.Definitely. My contact in the Capital Bank told me they're opening a special account for this backwards place. That only happens when there's profit to be had. That means Dungeon or some new god, a thinner man in leathers with a red bandanna around his neck said with a smile.And this place is what? A farming village, cattle... candlemakers? the third member of their group asked with disdain.It was just listed as village' in the local records. It was likely some old Baron's villa that got fobbed over to the local peasants to keep them happy and they built shacks around it or something, the first man snorted, a massive battle axe slung over his back with his arms rippling muscles. His bald head has a nasty burn scar going down one ear.Great, another shitty place getting the red carpet treatment because some hellhole Dungeon spawned under it, the third person, a woman with a staff that had three snakes intertwined together until they all led up to a red orb at the top. The woman wore a shimmering purple robe that had a massive slit going up the side and her heels should be unsuited for the forest, but little magical platforms appeared under her feet every time she took a step.Their last member didn't speak at all, but their form was hidden under a cloak, their bulk bulging at the seams while the book they held had yellowing pages with the symbol of two eyes on the front. One blue, the other yellow.Halt, the first man said abruptly, causing the group to come to a dead stop as they listened. Far ahead of them, a man walked around with a jar, picking up mushrooms. His dress-robe was expensive and he looked to be some scholar.Hazhur... remove or ignore, the man in leather asked, drawing a wicked long curving black blade that began to immediately drip the moment he removed it from his sheath.Ignore. We might need the town to use as an inn or info source. No need to burn bridges before we use them. Put your blade down, Karn, Hazhur instructed and the other man looked massively displeased but did so, the dripping stopping the moment it was back in the sheath. The ground underneath them hissed from where the magic acid ate into the plants and roots in the soil.We could just blast down into the Dungeon, make our own entrance and just pretend it was always there? the woman suggested as she stroked her snake-staff as it glowed with intense energy.Don't bother. Taxman already mapped out the first floor and Dungeon's don't make new entrances so soon. Just find the damn entrance and get on with it, Estal, Hazhur barked as the man in the distance vanished into the trees, his weird jar with him.Estal sniffed but waved her staff about, creating a dome of light around the orb that showed flowing lines of wisp energy. They all watched it for a moment. Estal frowned, tapping the staff a few times.I'm getting strong mana influxes from the village, but that must be those Royal Knights. Those monsters... but the other mana signature is coming from the opposite direction and it's definitely not human, Estal pointed to a series of streams that she prodded.The streams moved around her finger, as if she was something unpleasant.Follow the orange lines and we find the filthy hole in the ground, Estal said with smug superiority at her work. Hazhur longed to point out that a twenty-minute search or a marked map could do the same result but she would get into a snit and Estal in a snit was worse than a Flesh-Leech stuck on his family jewels.The last member of the group merely watched in silence from their shadowed cowl, gloved hands gripping their book tighter. Together, they moved as one through the woods, eventually being led by Estal towards a clearing where the entrance to the Dungeon was hard to miss. It wasn't the usual skull maw or glittering jewel affair.Those... who say forfeit may leave? Hazhur muttered, reading the carved words in the arch above the door.Cute, Karn said before he walked up the closed stone door, spinning the series of symbols on various rings with a frown.I hate puzzles, he declared abruptly.Any guardians or Dungeon Protectors? Hazhur asked the cloaked figure who shook their head after a moment. They gave Hazhur the creeps, but their ability to perceive things was unquestionable.Karn pulled his knife out and buried it into the stone where it sank like he was stabbing butter. He slowly moved his hand around the ring as the stone bubbled and black acrid smoke filled the air.Moments later he shoved with his shoulder and the puzzle slid inwards, letting Karn dig deeper until the whole door groaned, opening with juddering movements.Everyone loves a one-trick man who only knows how to penetrate, Estal yawned, waving the smoke away as she walked down past Karn who scowled at her back. He moved aside to let the cloaked figure down next.Estal I can be paid to tolerate, but the creep is setting off every alarm I have, he muttered to Hazhur who slowed before him.They're not human, but that doesn't matter, he said back and nodded for Karn to guard the rear as he went down the next.Hazhur took the last few steps in time to see Estal kicking tables over in disgust.Gifts... tributes? I hate pitiful things, she scoffed as she slammed the base of her staff down, smashing the round clay bowls into pieces. Hazhur grabbed her wrist before she could use magic to do more damage.The original appearance of this chapter can be found at Nvl1n.Get a grip. The act was cute when you were in school being taught how to wipe your ass, but down here, you do what I say, he reminded and she glared at him, her skin crackling, burning his fingertips. Still, Hazhur didn't let her wrist go or look away.Fine, Estal said finally and wrenched her arm free to sulk over by a wall. If the damn woman wasn't so talented, so damn useful? Hazhur would have taken someone else.But blood was thicker and all that.Well, you're all off to a great start, a voice said, dripping with sarcasm. They all turned to the tunnel leading deeper as something floated there. A demure tiny girl with dragonfly wings.What the hell...? Hazhur said but before there was any more sounds, Karn flashed past them then the next thing they all knew, his knife was buried deep into the floating creature's stomach, the acid smoking as she croaked in surprise.First blood, he said triumphantly. There was a hacking cough, the sound of someone trying to dislodge something in their throat.My first day... no, my first clients and this happens?! the fairy screeched, her skin melting off in rage as she yanked the knife clean out of her body with annoyance.Must be some Rule-Bound creature. Karn, stop being so rude, Estal said smugly as she walked forward, stepping on the remains of her childish temper-tantrum, spreading the wooden and clay mess.It's a room full of web, mate. It's a bit obvious it's a trap. Karn reminded.He moved slowly, moving carefully around some webs, testing others.Only some are sticky, we're meant to walk the path and I think the webs could be a massive trap. If they go then the ceiling crushes us or maybe we're locked in here with a dozen eyeball-eating critters! he said with an annoyingly chipper voice. Hazhur was just glad he sheathed his acid knife before going web diving.Wow, afraid of spiders. Yeah, you all will get far, Mharia said as she took another berry to snack on.Don't you have children to scare and teeth to collect for chump change? Estal called over with clear annoyance on her face.I'll collect your teeth for free here and now... Mharia muttered back to her around bites of her rather delicious looking berry. Following Karn's excitable self, they navigated through the maze of webs. It was awkward passages and Estal accidentally found a real tripwire by falling over it, but nothing happened when she fell into the webs other than some painful screeching on her part.Mharia was beside herself in gleeful laughter. She had a grudge against Estal rather than Karn which was strange since Karn had stabbed her but Estal was just rude at first. They left the room and Hazhur had the feeling they were a hair's breadth away from meeting something else in that room...Mharia was lurking around them, easily avoiding Estal's swatting or the Silver Order's almost religious petting. The hallways had the vibe of a natural cavern, the musty smell of water, earth, and something more potent filled the halls.Hazhur could almost smell... ale.He chalked that up to his desire to drink as Estal and Mharia bickered.Mharia floated before a break in the path. A path going left, one going ahead, and one to the right.The fairy looked darkly amused.Now, esteemed guests', she said, voice dripping with abrupt noble disdain that made Hazhur uncomfortable and Estal's cheeks to turn red in anger.Your choice is your own, but let me explain before you moan. To the left are humble collections with a merry time, she held her hand to their left, but I heard the entertainment is far more sublime, she grinned suddenly.Must you rhyme? Estal asked, stressing the question.Not at all, it's not needed in the slightest. However it helps explain things to those that are not... she trailed off, smiling down at Estal.The brightest, she finished.She pointed directly ahead as Hazhur stopped Estal from trying to clobber the fairy with her expensive staff.Under the stars and moon, take a breather, take a rest... you'll catch a fish soon. Then again, once in a moon so blue... the fish catch you, Mharia said with a slight twirl.Then she pointed down the last path.That way has mud, it's good for your skin, she said lightly and kicked her feet up to rest in the air.The last one is a trap. I bet it's either a dead end or a Floor Mini-boss, Estal spat and Karn looked far too excited at that.The Silver Order was tilting their head and pointed down the other way to sublime times' in eagerness.Which way takes us forward? Hazhur asked, seeing how much the fairy would spill.All of them. Some further than others, Mharia said breezily.Which is the safest? Estal asked and Mharia opened one eye before her smile grew larger and larger until her face deformed into something demonic.Oh... they're all so safe it's pathetic. But so is fire until you throw fuel on it, she cackled and vanished. A silence lulled over them, except for the excited ruffles of the Silver Order tugging them to the left.This Dungeon gave Hazhor an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.That didn't happen too often.Something was very off about this place.Something very wrong.---Nu watched as Delta turned in a sort of restful peace. Between defeating Mharia, upgrading the third floor, choosing the fourth-floor theme, and dancing her heart out... Delta was out like a light.However, Dungeon Cores did not sleep often. The fact Delta could and Nu became... more, meant that, as long as Nu was willing to take on the burden of being the sub-core like some sort of receptionist really for Delta then the core could have days off.Nu would hate to be a bother and wake her up for something as unimportant as fools. No, Delta deserved the sleep and Nu deserved some stress relief.It all worked out in the end...Mostly in Nu's favour, but who was counting?
