About an hour went by as I watched the strangers finish their work. They had long gathered all available types of food and drinks they had brought with them, as well as samples of all kinds of materials they could get their hands on. Only the men and women that had been foraging the meadow were still busy doing their thing. They had reached the forest by now and were bringing in wildflowers, medical herbs, and even tree saplings in all kinds and shapes. Most of the plants were familiar to me, and while I wasn’t exactly familiar with the process of turning the various herbs into medicine and potions, I had personally gathered them for the guilds when I was adventuring. This meant I at least knew what they would be resulting in, even if I didn’t know exactly how they were going to be used.
By now, the man had brought everything that was needed to produce basic health and mana potions, antidotes, and even various potions that would give one temporary strength or other weak effects otherwise limited to blessings alone. I even discovered Bleeding Pearls among their selection, a small plant with a yellow blossom and white, berry-like fruits that produced a deep red juice that could help you endure heat, making it a more than valuable find indeed, especially with Kiomi’s dungeon working the way it was right now.
Selecting these types of plants was obviously in the favor of the men who gathered them, but I didn’t mind it, as they couldn’t force Kiomi to simply hand them out for free. If anything, having them growing in a room deep into the dungeon would entice them to delve, thus giving her more mana to work with. This could only help her grow faster.
Naturally, I would need to help her separate them all into their rarities and usefulness, so she could limit the more precious herbs to a future, likely much more challenging floor instead. Only doing it this way would ensure her to not overstep the rules set into place by the deities that were watching over us.
The man who had introduced himself as Aspen was now walking over to me, cutting short my thoughts. He waved to get my attention and, once he was sure he had it, asked me for the next steps.
“About the exploration,” he asked. “How many of us are you willing to take with you?”
This question took me a little off guard, as I had no idea who the important members of his former raid were. I could imagine the ink mage being part of it, as I had been quite impressed by seeing her work during the past hour, and Aspen as the leader, but other than that, I couldn’t say. Maybe three more to fill for odd jobs? That should be more than enough.
Nodding to myself, I showed him five fingers, which he accepted without a fuss. Soon, he was already calling names, which luckily included the ink mage Sarah. Furthermore, he called over the eldest of the men I could see around, a man named Deluc who seemed to carry a large number of artifacts with him. I couldn’t wait to see what he was all about.
As for the last two slots, they were given to people I hadn’t seen in action yet. One of them was a human, brunette woman in her mid-twenties that he called Neka, who carried a bow and arrows together with leather armor that allowed for nimble movements; the other one was a young, black-haired man named Rathal, who wore a similar set of leather armor, only his was entirely painted black. With two short swords attached to his belt and what I assumed were throwing daggers strapped over his chest he looked like some kind of specialist for dealing with high-priority targets such as healers or mages, making him a valuable asset to most parties. As for why Aspen considered bringing him over anybody else, I couldn’t say for sure.
Was he here to fend me off in case I would go back on my words? Or would he force his hands on Kiomi instead should things go south? I couldn’t say. And while I certainly liked my chances of dealing with him, having him anywhere close to Kiomi wasn’t an idea I liked at all.
When I pointed this out to the two men, Rathal readily dropped his weapons on a nearby crate, before presenting his empty hands as a gesture that he now was unarmed. Aspen even explained his purpose for joining the group. The man in question was apparently quite experienced in alchemy and poisons specifically and would thus know exactly what the plants that could be found in Kiomi’s dungeon could be used for. Knowing this, I couldn’t help but allow him to join, knowing it was beneficial for Kiomi’s growth to have the world know about her value and the potential gains delvers would be able to expect upon traveling all the way to her dungeon.
With the group being completed, Aspen then asked me to lead them into the dungeon, before ordering some of his men to carry the crates with the samples with us. All in all, they had gathered three such crates even in this short timeframe, turning the trade heavily in Kiomi’s favor. And they weren’t even finished yet!
My tails swished from one side to the other as I made my way back towards the dungeon, accompanied by a rather large group of strangers. Two of them each carried the boxes with food and materials, with only the plant box still being light enough for a single man to carry it, albeit barely. All in all, they had found seven new trees at last, together with countless smaller plants, which would surely add nicely to Kiomi’s collection. Only shrubs and bushes were still missing, meaning that she would need to wait a little longer before she could add those.
It didn’t matter. With dozens of them now working to improve her dungeon, willingly or unwillingly, it was only a question of time before it became something great. At least it would become a nice home for us before long. As for the delvers? They would need to earn their salary. I would make sure of that.
Before long, we had already entered the tunnels leading towards the prayer room, and while several of the men produced magical lights of their own, it was my blue flame that shone the brightest, casting an ominous blue on the surrounding cave walls that immediately caught their attention. Whispers soon could be heard coming from the men carrying the crates, but it was Aspen himself who directly asked me what my magic was all about.
“Is that the Heart of the Forge?”
I looked at the fireball in confusion. “Heart of the Forge,” I asked. “It’s just fire magic.”
“Just fire magic, you say…”
“I still need to test if it can be used in a forge. But I need to build one first.”
“You’re a smith?”
“I like making things,” I answered with a shrug.
“I see,” he answered with a shrug. “So that is your purpose in this dungeon.”
I nodded, not wanting to explain that it was a mere hobby of mine that I used to have thousands of years ago. It would indeed be a nice way to pass some time between teaching adventurers a lesson and certainly better than sleeping all day like most of the foxes seemed to do. Last but not least, it was a sure-fire way for Kiomi to hand out some rewards for adventurers to find other than summoning them herself. And given that she wasn’t experienced in crafting weapons and artifacts herself, my work would likely feature a much higher quality to boot.
“I am in charge of creating treasure for you to find,” I explained. “As well as keeping you from reaching the core room.”
“I always thought treasure would just… appear?”
“Nothing beats a sword you put your heart into forging.”
Aspen couldn’t help but laugh about my words. “Spoken like a proud dwarf! I am sure you will do well!"
To that, I could only nod, more than a little happy to be compared to the famous smiths of the mountain folk. I would still need to improve my craft to reach their abilities, but I had all the time in the world now to do just that.
“Still, I never thought I would talk to a monster like this,” Aspen continued. “No offense, but I didn’t think I would find a speaking one in such a young dungeon.”
“All of her bosses will be speaking,” I offered. “Better get used to it now.”
“All of them,” he asked, shuddering at the thought. “That means they will be highly intelligent and can learn from their mistakes.”
“You won’t like this dungeon then,” I answered with a chuckle. “All of the foxes are the same.”
“All of them? Then even the black fox?!”
This time I laughed out loud. “That one especially!”
Aspen was not the least amused about this revelation. I hadn’t seen the duel between the two of them myself, but given Kiomi’s words, it had been quite the one-sided affair, with him being unable to put a single scratch on the fox. For such an opponent to improve with each fight they fought was quite the horrifying discovery for any delver.
Naturally, this was more than rare, as usually monsters would return as a clean slate upon being defeated and only those found outside of dungeons would truly learn from experience. But being chosen by our heavenly mother had changed all of Kiomi’s creations, including every single monster she could summon to fight for her, which meant even the weakest among them could become a challenging opponent given the right circumstances and enough time to support their strengths.
There were limits to that, obviously, as becoming more experienced didn’t do anything to improve your actual strength and magic capabilities, but it would still be much tougher to fight them. Luckily, this was not my issue to deal with, as they would all be on my side, supporting me whenever it was needed. Knowing that I couldn’t help but smile.
Before long, our group reached the prayer side, where Kiomi was already awaiting us, surrounded by all of the foxes and more than surprised to see me at Aspen’s side. Seeing this as my chance to explain to her what had happened, I walked up to her and pulled her in for a greeting, before whispering in her ear.
“I made a deal with them,” I explained. “You shouldn’t give away that much food for free. It is against the rules!”
To that, she couldn’t say anything. She probably hadn’t even considered this being an issue. She had rather just tried to be friendly to them, which was a nice trait to have, but thoroughly contra productive if said person was a dungeon's avatar. After a moment of thinking about it, she sniffed at me, ending the greeting and accepting my decision, at least for now. It wasn’t entirely unlikely she or at least Marisa would scold me for overstepping my bounds later on, but that was a price I was willing to take if it meant securing healthy growth for her dungeon and thus the future of our kin.
Aspen, upon seeing us separate, came over to greet Kiomi himself by reaching out for a handshake, a gesture only humans used, only to be stopped by a very eager obsidian fox. The fox sniffed at his hand and even licked it, before beginning to wag with all of its tails, apparently more than happy to see the man again. She was even jumping on the spot, quite obviously inviting him to join him for a few games of chase or play-fighting or whatever it was that obsidian foxes did to pass their boredom. The man who was at the receiving end of this attention was doing his best to look composed, but his restless tail was more than enough to tell me what he really felt. He was terrified.
Kiomi herself didn’t seem to mind or notice this one bit. She nonchalantly wished him a good morning before grabbing his hand and shaking it as a greeting. She then pointed at the nearby, fox-marked barrels, boxes, and crates, forcing me to explain what they were.
“That is the food I told you about,” I told him in her stead. “You might need to reseal the barrels as they aren’t a perfect fit, but they should last you for a while, at least.”
Aspen nodded, still visibly uncomfortable but satisfied by the sheer amount of the goods he saw, before ordering his men to spread out the offerings around the statue in the middle of the room. That much wasn’t needed, as the dungeon could easily absorb the samples even together with the crates, but it was a nice gesture at least. And once they separated the plants from each other, it even looked slightly impressive, as they had found quite a selection of colors and shapes. The main pieces were obviously the new trees, which would likely soon be grown inside of the dungeon.
While Kiomi was openly enjoying seeing so many plants being gifted to her, it was the food and materials that caught my interest instead. I had seen most of them being placed into the crates in front of my own eyes, but only now, that they were spread out, could I really appreciate how many options we had gained. If just these few dozen men and women were capable of providing us with this much, who knew what would happen once the dungeon became known and popular? It was only a matter of time before we got our hands on light crystals, glowing shrooms, and mosses and could make this place a little more homely. And maybe Kiomi’s idea of building a town wasn’t that far-fetched either, given enough time?
When the men had finally finished preparing their offerings, they kneeled down for a quick prayer before making their way outside again, this time carrying Kiomi’s food instead. It would take them some time to transport all the goods and their own, now empty crates, but we wouldn’t be around to see them work anyway, as Aspen was already preparing his chosen few by telling them exactly what their tasks were going to be, having finally found the courage to endure the obsidian fox’s unwavering attention. In the end, all of them presented an offering of their own, before kneeling down for a prayer.
Much to Aspen’s surprise, only the two remaining humans of his group gained the blessing, forcing me to explain that he was indeed not strong enough to carry such a significant blessing, at least not anymore. The man looked quite taken aback upon hearing this, but I comforted him by telling him he would surely grow in strength again, should he put the work behind it. And maybe, just maybe, this very dungeon would be the perfect place to do so, once things changed a little.
With the trade dealt with, I waited to gain the exploration party’s whole attention before telling them I would now lead them through the dungeon and all the way to the dungeon core. Kiomi, upon hearing this, immediately grew restless. She excused herself, before running off with all six foxes in tow, causing Aspen to breathe out a sigh of relief. Needless to say, seeing her make her escape like that was confusing, to say the least.
“What was that about?”
“Looks like she still has something to prepare,” Aspen offered, being a lot calmer now that the black fox was gone. “Maybe it is a bad time?”
“No, it should be fine,” I decided, before making my way over to the tunnel she had disappeared into.
The group soon followed after me, allowing me to lead them through the long tunnel that connected the prayer room to the rest of the dungeon. Aspen didn’t say a single thing as we made our way towards the room with the volcano, only daring to speak up once we could see the artificial sunlight shining into the tunnel and the lake with its bridge that followed soon after.
“Are you sure they will not attack us,” he asked.
“They won’t,” I assured them.
And indeed, when we crossed the bridge and made our way through the island with its remarkable volcano, not a single one of the monsters stopped it. Quite a few came to take a look at us, especially the foxes that seemed to be made out of dirt, but there were no signs of aggression to be seen, only wagging tails and excited yelps. Some of the monsters even walked up to me for a sniff and a few pets each, which was their way of welcoming me into the dungeon, and even Aspen and the others got the chance to greet the monsters, much to their surprise. It was obvious they had expected some kind of fight to break out as soon as they set foot into their home. But I knew that wouldn’t happen.
“You should be safe to explore the room on your own,” I told them. “But I can accompany you if that makes you feel safer.”
Hearing this, the ink mage spoke up. She told me that she had already mapped out most of the room, and only needed to finish drawing the volcano itself to complete her map for this room. So soon, we found ourselves split into two groups, with the hunter and the alchemist foraging for plants and the rest of us making our way up the volcano’s slope using the gravel path Kiomi had built.
Naturally, we soon had the attention of all the foxes living on the mountain’s side. More than a dozen fire foxes showed up to take a look at our group, more than just curious to find out what we were here for. But it was the volcano’s caldera itself that left the group most surprised. Upon reaching the very top of the volcano, we were greeted with a small lake of molten rock that had another dozen or so foxes swimming in it, with two tails each waving behind their backs as they slowly made their way through the lava. Most of the monsters seemed in the process of dozing off even with us being around, others, however, were openly showing their curiosity. Luckily, not a single one of them left their blazing hot home to greet us, as it would be rather hard for me to keep the men and women safe should they try to sniff or even lick them. With how friendly the foxes seemed to be at least with me around, this seemed to be a genuine danger.
Luckily, the ink mage could finish her work without any incident. She pulled her almost finished map out of her oversized backpack, rolled the scroll out by holding it with both of her hands, and, using her thoughts alone, used a stream of colorful ink to paint the missing features right on top of it. It didn’t take longer than seconds for her to draw the lava lake and a missing bridge we could make out in the distance, and a few seconds more for her to dry the ink by forcing the moisture out of it.
I was left in awe. While the magic was weak in strength, her control over it was peerless. It was obvious she had spent years perfecting it. And given that she had been recently turned into a foxkin, she had even adapted to her magic weakening within a matter of hours, a quite remarkable feat on its own.
There were monsters that mages could meet during their adventures that could temporarily influence their magic powers and could render inexperienced mages entirely unable to cast their magic without risking misfires, injury, and death and were thus infamous as ‘Mage Killers’. Kiomi had no access to such powerful monsters yet, but this Sarah woman would surely be ready to face such a foe, if only she managed to regain her strength on time, that was. As for what an ink mage could do in battle, I had basically no idea, as I had never fought side-to-side with one. I only knew they could temporarily improve your strength, speed, or magic powers by painting colorful runes all over your body, or blind their opponents, but this woman seemed to be nowhere strong enough to perform any of these deeds, at least not now. Maybe she would find a way to increase her strength in this dungeon, perhaps after I discussed some important changes for it with Kiomi, but for now, I could only hope for her best. It would be sad to see such a talent be wasted.
Sarah didn’t seem to mind me staring at her. When she packed her map back into her backpack, now finished and filled with lots of colorful details and descriptions, she readily made her way down to the other two, who were still picking herbs and flowers. I could only shrug before following after her, Aspen right on my heels.
The hunter and alchemist were still busy with their work, loudly discussing their finds without a single care in the world. They compared the plants to those outside of the dungeon, finding them to be similar, yet changed by the magic that filled the place. I readily helped them with the little bit I knew about the plants, namely that they had been blessed by Cilia herself, which they, while initially more than just surprised by my words, soon accepted as truth as it seemed to confirm everything they had discovered. As for the effects these plants would have, it would be up to them to test, but I could imagine it would improve the strength of poisons as well as the effects of any potions brewed using their leaves, roots, or blossoms.
With Sarah now helping them out and presenting a full list of plants the exploration raid had discovered, the work of the three quickly finished, allowing us to delve deeper into the dungeon.
It was when we had almost reached the bridge leading towards the second room that Aspen suddenly grew restless. He noted that this was the exact spot where he had made his final stand and challenged the obsidian fox to a duel, loosing not only the fight but also his humanity and pride in the process. I couldn’t say much about that other than saying that he at least got the chance to challenge her again, which was a precious gift in itself. Aspen readily accepted this truth, before loudly proclaiming he would for sure win over that fox in the future.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at his words, but it felt somewhat good to know that he didn’t hold a grudge over being defeated by Kiomi’s supposed new and weak dungeon. As for him trying again? He would be more than welcome doing so, as having him here at least would at least serve to keep his men in line even if he failed to regain his honor.
Before long, we were finally making our way over the bridge leading to the geyser field. The wooden planks creaked under our weight, once again revealing the weak construction of the bridge, but the group did not pay it any mind. Their eyes were glued on the lake, which now had countless foxes frolicking around, chasing fish and each other or playing tricks. Others were simply watching us pass by, every bit as curious as their fiery kin.
Sarah couldn’t help but stop the group to paint the scene, spending a few precious minutes to get the details just right, but soon, she held a far too lifelike image in her hands, one that kings and noblemen would likely pay fortunes to possess. But she didn’t let me explore her work for long, as she soon rolled it back up into a scroll to store it away, before indicating she was ready to go. Reluctantly, I let the group deeper into the dungeon, towards rooms entirely unknown to them. Hopefully they, too, would see the potential I saw in her growing dungeon, even with all the little flaws it still had.
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About an hour went by as I watched the strangers finish their work. They had long gathered all available types of food and drinks they had brought with them, as well as samples of all kinds of materials they could get their hands on. Only the men and women that had been foraging the meadow were still busy doing their thing. They had reached the forest by now and were bringing in wildflowers, medical herbs, and even tree saplings in all kinds and shapes. Most of the plants were familiar to me, and while I wasn’t exactly familiar with the process of turning the various herbs into medicine and potions, I had personally gathered them for the guilds when I was adventuring. This meant I at least knew what they would be resulting in, even if I didn’t know exactly how they were going to be used.
By now, the man had brought everything that was needed to produce basic health and mana potions, antidotes, and even various potions that would give one temporary strength or other weak effects otherwise limited to blessings alone. I even discovered Bleeding Pearls among their selection, a small plant with a yellow blossom and white, berry-like fruits that produced a deep red juice that could help you endure heat, making it a more than valuable find indeed, especially with Kiomi’s dungeon working the way it was right now.
Selecting these types of plants was obviously in the favor of the men who gathered them, but I didn’t mind it, as they couldn’t force Kiomi to simply hand them out for free. If anything, having them growing in a room deep into the dungeon would entice them to delve, thus giving her more mana to work with. This could only help her grow faster.
Naturally, I would need to help her separate them all into their rarities and usefulness, so she could limit the more precious herbs to a future, likely much more challenging floor instead. Only doing it this way would ensure her to not overstep the rules set into place by the deities that were watching over us.
The man who had introduced himself as Aspen was now walking over to me, cutting short my thoughts. He waved to get my attention and, once he was sure he had it, asked me for the next steps.
“About the exploration,” he asked. “How many of us are you willing to take with you?”
This question took me a little off guard, as I had no idea who the important members of his former raid were. I could imagine the ink mage being part of it, as I had been quite impressed by seeing her work during the past hour, and Aspen as the leader, but other than that, I couldn’t say. Maybe three more to fill for odd jobs? That should be more than enough.
Nodding to myself, I showed him five fingers, which he accepted without a fuss. Soon, he was already calling names, which luckily included the ink mage Sarah. Furthermore, he called over the eldest of the men I could see around, a man named Deluc who seemed to carry a large number of artifacts with him. I couldn’t wait to see what he was all about.
As for the last two slots, they were given to people I hadn’t seen in action yet. One of them was a human, brunette woman in her mid-twenties that he called Neka, who carried a bow and arrows together with leather armor that allowed for nimble movements; the other one was a young, black-haired man named Rathal, who wore a similar set of leather armor, only his was entirely painted black. With two short swords attached to his belt and what I assumed were throwing daggers strapped over his chest he looked like some kind of specialist for dealing with high-priority targets such as healers or mages, making him a valuable asset to most parties. As for why Aspen considered bringing him over anybody else, I couldn’t say for sure.
Was he here to fend me off in case I would go back on my words? Or would he force his hands on Kiomi instead should things go south? I couldn’t say. And while I certainly liked my chances of dealing with him, having him anywhere close to Kiomi wasn’t an idea I liked at all.
When I pointed this out to the two men, Rathal readily dropped his weapons on a nearby crate, before presenting his empty hands as a gesture that he now was unarmed. Aspen even explained his purpose for joining the group. The man in question was apparently quite experienced in alchemy and poisons specifically and would thus know exactly what the plants that could be found in Kiomi’s dungeon could be used for. Knowing this, I couldn’t help but allow him to join, knowing it was beneficial for Kiomi’s growth to have the world know about her value and the potential gains delvers would be able to expect upon traveling all the way to her dungeon.
With the group being completed, Aspen then asked me to lead them into the dungeon, before ordering some of his men to carry the crates with the samples with us. All in all, they had gathered three such crates even in this short timeframe, turning the trade heavily in Kiomi’s favor. And they weren’t even finished yet!
My tails swished from one side to the other as I made my way back towards the dungeon, accompanied by a rather large group of strangers. Two of them each carried the boxes with food and materials, with only the plant box still being light enough for a single man to carry it, albeit barely. All in all, they had found seven new trees at last, together with countless smaller plants, which would surely add nicely to Kiomi’s collection. Only shrubs and bushes were still missing, meaning that she would need to wait a little longer before she could add those.
It didn’t matter. With dozens of them now working to improve her dungeon, willingly or unwillingly, it was only a question of time before it became something great. At least it would become a nice home for us before long. As for the delvers? They would need to earn their salary. I would make sure of that.
Before long, we had already entered the tunnels leading towards the prayer room, and while several of the men produced magical lights of their own, it was my blue flame that shone the brightest, casting an ominous blue on the surrounding cave walls that immediately caught their attention. Whispers soon could be heard coming from the men carrying the crates, but it was Aspen himself who directly asked me what my magic was all about.
“Is that the Heart of the Forge?”
I looked at the fireball in confusion. “Heart of the Forge,” I asked. “It’s just fire magic.”
“Just fire magic, you say…”
“I still need to test if it can be used in a forge. But I need to build one first.”
“You’re a smith?”
“I like making things,” I answered with a shrug.
“I see,” he answered with a shrug. “So that is your purpose in this dungeon.”
I nodded, not wanting to explain that it was a mere hobby of mine that I used to have thousands of years ago. It would indeed be a nice way to pass some time between teaching adventurers a lesson and certainly better than sleeping all day like most of the foxes seemed to do. Last but not least, it was a sure-fire way for Kiomi to hand out some rewards for adventurers to find other than summoning them herself. And given that she wasn’t experienced in crafting weapons and artifacts herself, my work would likely feature a much higher quality to boot.
“I am in charge of creating treasure for you to find,” I explained. “As well as keeping you from reaching the core room.”
“I always thought treasure would just… appear?”
“Nothing beats a sword you put your heart into forging.”
Aspen couldn’t help but laugh about my words. “Spoken like a proud dwarf! I am sure you will do well!"
To that, I could only nod, more than a little happy to be compared to the famous smiths of the mountain folk. I would still need to improve my craft to reach their abilities, but I had all the time in the world now to do just that.
“Still, I never thought I would talk to a monster like this,” Aspen continued. “No offense, but I didn’t think I would find a speaking one in such a young dungeon.”
“All of her bosses will be speaking,” I offered. “Better get used to it now.”
“All of them,” he asked, shuddering at the thought. “That means they will be highly intelligent and can learn from their mistakes.”
“You won’t like this dungeon then,” I answered with a chuckle. “All of the foxes are the same.”
“All of them? Then even the black fox?!”
This time I laughed out loud. “That one especially!”
Aspen was not the least amused about this revelation. I hadn’t seen the duel between the two of them myself, but given Kiomi’s words, it had been quite the one-sided affair, with him being unable to put a single scratch on the fox. For such an opponent to improve with each fight they fought was quite the horrifying discovery for any delver.
Naturally, this was more than rare, as usually monsters would return as a clean slate upon being defeated and only those found outside of dungeons would truly learn from experience. But being chosen by our heavenly mother had changed all of Kiomi’s creations, including every single monster she could summon to fight for her, which meant even the weakest among them could become a challenging opponent given the right circumstances and enough time to support their strengths.
There were limits to that, obviously, as becoming more experienced didn’t do anything to improve your actual strength and magic capabilities, but it would still be much tougher to fight them. Luckily, this was not my issue to deal with, as they would all be on my side, supporting me whenever it was needed. Knowing that I couldn’t help but smile.
Before long, our group reached the prayer side, where Kiomi was already awaiting us, surrounded by all of the foxes and more than surprised to see me at Aspen’s side. Seeing this as my chance to explain to her what had happened, I walked up to her and pulled her in for a greeting, before whispering in her ear.
“I made a deal with them,” I explained. “You shouldn’t give away that much food for free. It is against the rules!”
To that, she couldn’t say anything. She probably hadn’t even considered this being an issue. She had rather just tried to be friendly to them, which was a nice trait to have, but thoroughly contra productive if said person was a dungeon's avatar. After a moment of thinking about it, she sniffed at me, ending the greeting and accepting my decision, at least for now. It wasn’t entirely unlikely she or at least Marisa would scold me for overstepping my bounds later on, but that was a price I was willing to take if it meant securing healthy growth for her dungeon and thus the future of our kin.
Aspen, upon seeing us separate, came over to greet Kiomi himself by reaching out for a handshake, a gesture only humans used, only to be stopped by a very eager obsidian fox. The fox sniffed at his hand and even licked it, before beginning to wag with all of its tails, apparently more than happy to see the man again. She was even jumping on the spot, quite obviously inviting him to join him for a few games of chase or play-fighting or whatever it was that obsidian foxes did to pass their boredom. The man who was at the receiving end of this attention was doing his best to look composed, but his restless tail was more than enough to tell me what he really felt. He was terrified.
Kiomi herself didn’t seem to mind or notice this one bit. She nonchalantly wished him a good morning before grabbing his hand and shaking it as a greeting. She then pointed at the nearby, fox-marked barrels, boxes, and crates, forcing me to explain what they were.
“That is the food I told you about,” I told him in her stead. “You might need to reseal the barrels as they aren’t a perfect fit, but they should last you for a while, at least.”
Aspen nodded, still visibly uncomfortable but satisfied by the sheer amount of the goods he saw, before ordering his men to spread out the offerings around the statue in the middle of the room. That much wasn’t needed, as the dungeon could easily absorb the samples even together with the crates, but it was a nice gesture at least. And once they separated the plants from each other, it even looked slightly impressive, as they had found quite a selection of colors and shapes. The main pieces were obviously the new trees, which would likely soon be grown inside of the dungeon.
While Kiomi was openly enjoying seeing so many plants being gifted to her, it was the food and materials that caught my interest instead. I had seen most of them being placed into the crates in front of my own eyes, but only now, that they were spread out, could I really appreciate how many options we had gained. If just these few dozen men and women were capable of providing us with this much, who knew what would happen once the dungeon became known and popular? It was only a matter of time before we got our hands on light crystals, glowing shrooms, and mosses and could make this place a little more homely. And maybe Kiomi’s idea of building a town wasn’t that far-fetched either, given enough time?
When the men had finally finished preparing their offerings, they kneeled down for a quick prayer before making their way outside again, this time carrying Kiomi’s food instead. It would take them some time to transport all the goods and their own, now empty crates, but we wouldn’t be around to see them work anyway, as Aspen was already preparing his chosen few by telling them exactly what their tasks were going to be, having finally found the courage to endure the obsidian fox’s unwavering attention. In the end, all of them presented an offering of their own, before kneeling down for a prayer.
Much to Aspen’s surprise, only the two remaining humans of his group gained the blessing, forcing me to explain that he was indeed not strong enough to carry such a significant blessing, at least not anymore. The man looked quite taken aback upon hearing this, but I comforted him by telling him he would surely grow in strength again, should he put the work behind it. And maybe, just maybe, this very dungeon would be the perfect place to do so, once things changed a little.
With the trade dealt with, I waited to gain the exploration party’s whole attention before telling them I would now lead them through the dungeon and all the way to the dungeon core. Kiomi, upon hearing this, immediately grew restless. She excused herself, before running off with all six foxes in tow, causing Aspen to breathe out a sigh of relief. Needless to say, seeing her make her escape like that was confusing, to say the least.
“What was that about?”
“Looks like she still has something to prepare,” Aspen offered, being a lot calmer now that the black fox was gone. “Maybe it is a bad time?”
“No, it should be fine,” I decided, before making my way over to the tunnel she had disappeared into.
The group soon followed after me, allowing me to lead them through the long tunnel that connected the prayer room to the rest of the dungeon. Aspen didn’t say a single thing as we made our way towards the room with the volcano, only daring to speak up once we could see the artificial sunlight shining into the tunnel and the lake with its bridge that followed soon after.
“Are you sure they will not attack us,” he asked.
“They won’t,” I assured them.
And indeed, when we crossed the bridge and made our way through the island with its remarkable volcano, not a single one of the monsters stopped it. Quite a few came to take a look at us, especially the foxes that seemed to be made out of dirt, but there were no signs of aggression to be seen, only wagging tails and excited yelps. Some of the monsters even walked up to me for a sniff and a few pets each, which was their way of welcoming me into the dungeon, and even Aspen and the others got the chance to greet the monsters, much to their surprise. It was obvious they had expected some kind of fight to break out as soon as they set foot into their home. But I knew that wouldn’t happen.
“You should be safe to explore the room on your own,” I told them. “But I can accompany you if that makes you feel safer.”
Hearing this, the ink mage spoke up. She told me that she had already mapped out most of the room, and only needed to finish drawing the volcano itself to complete her map for this room. So soon, we found ourselves split into two groups, with the hunter and the alchemist foraging for plants and the rest of us making our way up the volcano’s slope using the gravel path Kiomi had built.
Naturally, we soon had the attention of all the foxes living on the mountain’s side. More than a dozen fire foxes showed up to take a look at our group, more than just curious to find out what we were here for. But it was the volcano’s caldera itself that left the group most surprised. Upon reaching the very top of the volcano, we were greeted with a small lake of molten rock that had another dozen or so foxes swimming in it, with two tails each waving behind their backs as they slowly made their way through the lava. Most of the monsters seemed in the process of dozing off even with us being around, others, however, were openly showing their curiosity. Luckily, not a single one of them left their blazing hot home to greet us, as it would be rather hard for me to keep the men and women safe should they try to sniff or even lick them. With how friendly the foxes seemed to be at least with me around, this seemed to be a genuine danger.
Luckily, the ink mage could finish her work without any incident. She pulled her almost finished map out of her oversized backpack, rolled the scroll out by holding it with both of her hands, and, using her thoughts alone, used a stream of colorful ink to paint the missing features right on top of it. It didn’t take longer than seconds for her to draw the lava lake and a missing bridge we could make out in the distance, and a few seconds more for her to dry the ink by forcing the moisture out of it.
I was left in awe. While the magic was weak in strength, her control over it was peerless. It was obvious she had spent years perfecting it. And given that she had been recently turned into a foxkin, she had even adapted to her magic weakening within a matter of hours, a quite remarkable feat on its own.
There were monsters that mages could meet during their adventures that could temporarily influence their magic powers and could render inexperienced mages entirely unable to cast their magic without risking misfires, injury, and death and were thus infamous as ‘Mage Killers’. Kiomi had no access to such powerful monsters yet, but this Sarah woman would surely be ready to face such a foe, if only she managed to regain her strength on time, that was. As for what an ink mage could do in battle, I had basically no idea, as I had never fought side-to-side with one. I only knew they could temporarily improve your strength, speed, or magic powers by painting colorful runes all over your body, or blind their opponents, but this woman seemed to be nowhere strong enough to perform any of these deeds, at least not now. Maybe she would find a way to increase her strength in this dungeon, perhaps after I discussed some important changes for it with Kiomi, but for now, I could only hope for her best. It would be sad to see such a talent be wasted.
Sarah didn’t seem to mind me staring at her. When she packed her map back into her backpack, now finished and filled with lots of colorful details and descriptions, she readily made her way down to the other two, who were still picking herbs and flowers. I could only shrug before following after her, Aspen right on my heels.
The hunter and alchemist were still busy with their work, loudly discussing their finds without a single care in the world. They compared the plants to those outside of the dungeon, finding them to be similar, yet changed by the magic that filled the place. I readily helped them with the little bit I knew about the plants, namely that they had been blessed by Cilia herself, which they, while initially more than just surprised by my words, soon accepted as truth as it seemed to confirm everything they had discovered. As for the effects these plants would have, it would be up to them to test, but I could imagine it would improve the strength of poisons as well as the effects of any potions brewed using their leaves, roots, or blossoms.
With Sarah now helping them out and presenting a full list of plants the exploration raid had discovered, the work of the three quickly finished, allowing us to delve deeper into the dungeon.
It was when we had almost reached the bridge leading towards the second room that Aspen suddenly grew restless. He noted that this was the exact spot where he had made his final stand and challenged the obsidian fox to a duel, loosing not only the fight but also his humanity and pride in the process. I couldn’t say much about that other than saying that he at least got the chance to challenge her again, which was a precious gift in itself. Aspen readily accepted this truth, before loudly proclaiming he would for sure win over that fox in the future.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at his words, but it felt somewhat good to know that he didn’t hold a grudge over being defeated by Kiomi’s supposed new and weak dungeon. As for him trying again? He would be more than welcome doing so, as having him here at least would at least serve to keep his men in line even if he failed to regain his honor.
Before long, we were finally making our way over the bridge leading to the geyser field. The wooden planks creaked under our weight, once again revealing the weak construction of the bridge, but the group did not pay it any mind. Their eyes were glued on the lake, which now had countless foxes frolicking around, chasing fish and each other or playing tricks. Others were simply watching us pass by, every bit as curious as their fiery kin.
Sarah couldn’t help but stop the group to paint the scene, spending a few precious minutes to get the details just right, but soon, she held a far too lifelike image in her hands, one that kings and noblemen would likely pay fortunes to possess. But she didn’t let me explore her work for long, as she soon rolled it back up into a scroll to store it away, before indicating she was ready to go. Reluctantly, I let the group deeper into the dungeon, towards rooms entirely unknown to them. Hopefully they, too, would see the potential I saw in her growing dungeon, even with all the little flaws it still had.
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