Worthy Core - Chapter 147

Xenia cheers as she reads over her new unlock. "Nice! C tier, that's higher than any of our sprites, or our bugs. Though...those were the swordsmen, right, not the cute lil flying dudes? Ugh...guess we should go back to spending some time singing up some bees to smash, again."

Sincere nods along. "That is an interesting new monster type...perhaps an inspiration for a Floor Seven theme? That said however, I believe Floor Seven is not really our primary concern for the evening. It sounded like your mission was a success?"

"Sure was! Give me one minute to write this down and pass it out." Summoning a number of pieces of paper, Xenia magically imprints them with the list of gods from her former world, and hands out a copy to each of her council members. "So, the names might not mean anything since they sometimes go by multiple even in a single realm. Still, I don't suppose we're getting lucky and having any of these look familiar to anyone as-is?"

The full group eyes the listings, but one by one they all shake their heads or respond negatively. Trush gives Xenia a pitying look. "Does this mean the lead is a bust, then? Maybe we could get a copy to the Church of Bounty, perhaps a high-level Cleric would know a god's secret names."

"Let's call that Plan B, but I think we got a more authoritative source on call. Guy, is Kahlia still accessible to us now that we've used up our Favor? Or do we have to earn that second Favor first? Or...I dunno, get on our knees and pray like some kinda schmucks?"

"We do indeed still have a line to the Goddess, ma'am...although I imagine we're not expected to use it lightly. Shall I...request her attentions?"

The dungeon master sighs and frowns. "...I don't know if gods really keep to business hours, but let's be safe and assume they do. I'll hit her up tomorrow morning. In which case I suppose we're done for tonight then, so - good work! Feel free to take a day off tomorrow everyone, unless someone needs stabbing."

Trush quickly raises one of his hands before motioning for Xenia to stay in her seat. "Hold on, now. What was that other business you mentioned, about someone waiting - inside your own soul, if I understand this all right - to find you and punch you in the jaw?"

Xenia sighs again. "Right, that. To be clear, I don't think they were waiting in my soul - I know the Dragonlord can tap into these trips somehow, so I'm guessing others can too. I don't think they were there the whole time, either. But...I don't know man, what can I say? I could try and come up with a list of my possible enemies...I have a handful here, maybe, though none really scary. Maybe some low-level Challenger we killed has some big, bad relative with a grudge?"

Taly seems unconvinced by the idea. "Even if they did, no other dungeon has these soul flashbacks or whatever like you do. How would they even know to try and break into one?"

"Well, the other option is someone's tracking me down like Beatrice did. From another realm, I mean. But in that case...I'm gonna level with you guys, here. That list of possible enemies would cover this entire fuckin' mountain and then some."

Sincere spends a moment in thought but doesn't seem to come up with much. "Do we wait and see if it happens again, then? If we have what we wished for, however, I don't see any reason to rush into another dungeon expedition anytime soon."

"Yeah, I ain't giving someone a second shot at me if they are using those to track me down, or something. For the moment that's a matter for Tomorrow Me to worry about, I think. So...anything else to cover tonight, or can I tell you to get the fuck out of my bedroom yet?" She scans the table, and none seem opposed. "Alright then, get the fuck out of my bedroom. If I'm gonna be ringing up a goddess tomorrow, I need to get some serious meditation in tonight..."

The next morning was not much of a day off for the dungeon, or at least for the upper three floors. The Miserables finally made their full return, sans any luck charms, and rampaged through the first two floors with even more ease than they had on their first visit. The third floor only slowed them down somewhat thanks to the tediousness of some of the traps, with Tank and Dips actually having a number of friendly-fire incidents thanks to the party's cursed luck. Fortunately they stopped there rather than proceed on to Floor Four, sparing Trush the matter of deciding whether or not to mark his debut with an ambush on a low-level party. Taly theorized that the party might not go further than that for some time - for their level, clearing three floors was worth quite a bit of Association level credit, and they wouldn't need to risk having to rely on their reversed luck for the truly dangerous lower floors.

Several other parties did come by later in the day, but without any indications that they might actually be able to make a break for the core chamber Xenia felt safe enough to spend some time in...consultations with her patron goddess. Her meditations the night before had managed to calm her mood somewhat, and she knew she would have to be at her most charming to win any favors from a divinity. Finally, with a last set of deep breaths, she had Guy open their connection and sent forward a request for an audience. Nothing happened for several minutes after that, but just as she was wondering if she ought to just start going about her usual daily routine again, a white flash envelops the dungeon master and takes her...elsewhere.

When she arrives, a quick look around tells Xenia she's back in the Garden. Yet...very definitely not the same clearing where she'd had her first audience with Kahlia. She's higher up on a mountaintop now, with a view of forests spreading before her in every direction she can see, clear out to the horizon. In the other direction sits a large crack in the mountain stone, creating a space filled with steaming geothermal pools. And in one of those pools sits the massive Goddess of Fertility, her modesty preserved only by the water level just barely covering her chest. Immediately, the dungeon master begins to worry if she's suddenly facing a divine test. Oh, fuck! Is this a test of humility, where I gotta look away? Or does she want me to stroke her ego by staring? Okay, middle road, middle road...

Turning away, Xenia opens with a complimentary greeting. "Ah, my goddess, thank you for receiving me! This, ah, mountain is even more lovely when graced by your presence..."

Any further words are interrupted by a piece of soap flung at her head. "Please, my little reincarnator. I can tell you want something from me, but let's not get into the groveling so quickly, hrmm? You are one of my favored servants, after all!"

"Ah! Well, glad to hear it, and thank you, your fertileness. I hope I wasn't interrupting your private time when I called you."

"Not at all - I actually set this up specifically for this meeting. Would you care to join me?" Xenia's eyes grow wide at the request, as they rotate back in the direction of the divine display in front of her, and it takes her a few moments to get her mouth working again.

"Yes. Yes I would like to do that very much thank you." Even before she's finished speaking her hands are already at work removing her outfit - a more formal affair she'd put together just for this audience, a fact which complicates her sudden need to get quickly naked. She manages it in record time though, and is soon soaking in the hot waters opposite the goddess. Fortunately, the pool is shaped so that she can find a place to comfortably sit at without needing to be ten feet tall herself. "This is nice. I have a few springs in my own place but maybe they could use some improvements..."

"Well, this is a divine hot springs, it ought to be a little special." Kahlia shoots the woman a smirk, clearly somewhat amused by her behavior ever since she arrived. "Tell me, reincarnator, is your business urgent? Or would you like to spend a moment in pleasure before we get to serious matters?"

Xenia's voice almost squeaks as she responds. "...Pleasure!?"

"Not of that kind, of course. I do still require a little more before I allow a mortal to feel my embrace. It does require so much effort on my part to prevent pregnancy from occurring, you know, and we are trying to keep this realm demigod-free for an era or two."

"But you're - and I'm..." Xenia's protests fade under the goddess' smirk.

"That would probably be enough for most deities, I'm sure, but with me? Trust me, if it's at all possible to get a dungeon pregnant, I would probably make it happen." Kahlia chuckles before changing the topic. "Ah, forgive me for teasing. Tell me, what weighs on your mind?"

Thankful for the lifeline, Xenia refocuses. "Right, that's a good way of putting it. Ah, without getting into the gritty details...I kind of did a lot of awful shit back in my past lives, and there's one in particular that, well...if I could do something to make up for it, I'd like to. But different realms, blah blah etc, means I think my options are limited to like...divine intervention. Would you mind telling me if any of these names are familiar to you?" Reaching back to her clothes, Xenia recovers her list of gods and passes it over to the goddess, who reads through it with a serious look.

"Hrmmm...vaguely familiar, perhaps, in a friends-of-friends sort of way. None occupy this realm, if that's your hope. ...I see one of my direct competitors on this list, here. I hope you realize that gods of a type do not get along? Even for the more benign cases of divine aspects, it's like trying to push together magnets of a type...who can create lightning bolts and meteor storms when in a bad mood."

"Well, can probably ignore that one, at least. But do you think there's any chance you could get me in touch with anyone else on there? I don't honestly know what I could do to make up for past sins, but I'd like to at least make the effort."

Kahlia sets the list aside and sighs. "'Sins' have never been a particular concern of mine, you know. I believe in aiding and protecting my worshipers, yes, but I am a representative of one of the core aspects of nature. And nature is not always...courteous and polite. Still, I do respect your desire to improve yourself. Even so, this is not something easily done. Contact between pantheons...even the most minor interactions can often trigger a realm-war, some of us are so territorial. Also, I would need to spend time investigating even how to locate this particular pantheon. In other words, this is not something a god does for free, even for a favored servant."

Xenia's not exactly thrilled, but neither is she surprised. "Is this something I can use that next Divine Favor on, once we get it? We're only one out of five pregnancies so far, but I'm feeling confident given how much time we have left."

"Divine Favors of that sort...they are intended to be rewards and bonuses for dungeons, built within the dungeon system. This is a project for you personally, yes? So no, something like this...we will need to resort to a more personal, traditional sort of divine challenge."

The dungeon master gulps. While many a legend has been made of heroes who once completed such a challenge, she's pretty sure there's a hundred corpses out there for every successful hero. "I'll, uh...give it a shot, if I can. What did you have in mind?"

Kahlia doesn't answer at first, instead closing her eyes and spending some time in thought. When she does re-open them and meet Xenia's gaze once again, there's a new sense of authority behind them, one that locks on to Xenia and doesn't let her go. "XENIA WORTHY. IN EXCHANGE FOR THIS BOON YOU ASK, I PLACE UPON YOU THE FOLLOWING CHALLENGE. SUCCESSFULLY IMPREGNATE A MORTAL WITH A DUNGEON MONSTER, GUARDIAN, OR AVATAR."

Xenia's jaw drops. Somehow she expected it would be something along these lines, given who it was she was talking to, but that sure doesn't make hearing the challenge any easier. "...Y'know, maybe living with my sins ain't so tough after all."

------------------------TRIPLE CURSED DUNGEON: YOU HAVE SUBDUED THE ENERGIES OF THE LOST GREAT DUNGEON OF MOUNT FARALIS, CENTER OF THE WORLD: EXPERIMENTAL FLOOR 18. ADDITIONAL FLOOR UNLOCKED. UNIQUE MONSTER CROSSBREED UNLOCKED: FAE GEMSTONE KNIGHT EARTH SPRITE/INSECTS - C------------------------ Xenia cheers as she reads over her new unlock. "Nice! C tier, that's higher than any of our sprites, or our bugs. Though...those were the swordsmen, right, not the cute lil flying dudes? Ugh...guess we should go back to spending some time singing up some bees to smash, again." Sincere nods along. "That is an interesting new monster type...perhaps an inspiration for a Floor Seven theme? That said however, I believe Floor Seven is not really our primary concern for the evening. It sounded like your mission was a success?" "Sure was! Give me one minute to write this down and pass it out." Summoning a number of pieces of paper, Xenia magically imprints them with the list of gods from her former world, and hands out a copy to each of her council members. "So, the names might not mean anything since they sometimes go by multiple even in a single realm. Still, I don't suppose we're getting lucky and having any of these look familiar to anyone as-is?" The full group eyes the listings, but one by one they all shake their heads or respond negatively. Trush gives Xenia a pitying look. "Does this mean the lead is a bust, then? Maybe we could get a copy to the Church of Bounty, perhaps a high-level Cleric would know a god's secret names." "Let's call that Plan B, but I think we got a more authoritative source on call. Guy, is Kahlia still accessible to us now that we've used up our Favor? Or do we have to earn that second Favor first? Or...I dunno, get on our knees and pray like some kinda schmucks?" "We do indeed still have a line to the Goddess, ma'am...although I imagine we're not expected to use it lightly. Shall I...request her attentions?" The dungeon master sighs and frowns. "...I don't know if gods really keep to business hours, but let's be safe and assume they do. I'll hit her up tomorrow morning. In which case I suppose we're done for tonight then, so - good work! Feel free to take a day off tomorrow everyone, unless someone needs stabbing." Trush quickly raises one of his hands before motioning for Xenia to stay in her seat. "Hold on, now. What was that other business you mentioned, about someone waiting - inside your own soul, if I understand this all right - to find you and punch you in the jaw?" Xenia sighs again. "Right, that. To be clear, I don't think they were waiting in my soul - I know the Dragonlord can tap into these trips somehow, so I'm guessing others can too. I don't think they were there the whole time, either. But...I don't know man, what can I say? I could try and come up with a list of my possible enemies...I have a handful here, maybe, though none really scary. Maybe some low-level Challenger we killed has some big, bad relative with a grudge?" Taly seems unconvinced by the idea. "Even if they did, no other dungeon has these soul flashbacks or whatever like you do. How would they even know to try and break into one?" "Well, the other option is someone's tracking me down like Beatrice did. From another realm, I mean. But in that case...I'm gonna level with you guys, here. That list of possible enemies would cover this entire fuckin' mountain and then some." Sincere spends a moment in thought but doesn't seem to come up with much. "Do we wait and see if it happens again, then? If we have what we wished for, however, I don't see any reason to rush into another dungeon expedition anytime soon." "Yeah, I ain't giving someone a second shot at me if they are using those to track me down, or something. For the moment that's a matter for Tomorrow Me to worry about, I think. So...anything else to cover tonight, or can I tell you to get the fuck out of my bedroom yet?" She scans the table, and none seem opposed. "Alright then, get the fuck out of my bedroom. If I'm gonna be ringing up a goddess tomorrow, I need to get some serious meditation in tonight..." The next morning was not much of a day off for the dungeon, or at least for the upper three floors. The Miserables finally made their full return, sans any luck charms, and rampaged through the first two floors with even more ease than they had on their first visit. The third floor only slowed them down somewhat thanks to the tediousness of some of the traps, with Tank and Dips actually having a number of friendly-fire incidents thanks to the party's cursed luck. Fortunately they stopped there rather than proceed on to Floor Four, sparing Trush the matter of deciding whether or not to mark his debut with an ambush on a low-level party. Taly theorized that the party might not go further than that for some time - for their level, clearing three floors was worth quite a bit of Association level credit, and they wouldn't need to risk having to rely on their reversed luck for the truly dangerous lower floors. Several other parties did come by later in the day, but without any indications that they might actually be able to make a break for the core chamber Xenia felt safe enough to spend some time in...consultations with her patron goddess. Her meditations the night before had managed to calm her mood somewhat, and she knew she would have to be at her most charming to win any favors from a divinity. Finally, with a last set of deep breaths, she had Guy open their connection and sent forward a request for an audience. Nothing happened for several minutes after that, but just as she was wondering if she ought to just start going about her usual daily routine again, a white flash envelops the dungeon master and takes her...elsewhere. When she arrives, a quick look around tells Xenia she's back in the Garden. Yet...very definitely not the same clearing where she'd had her first audience with Kahlia. She's higher up on a mountaintop now, with a view of forests spreading before her in every direction she can see, clear out to the horizon. In the other direction sits a large crack in the mountain stone, creating a space filled with steaming geothermal pools. And in one of those pools sits the massive Goddess of Fertility, her modesty preserved only by the water level just barely covering her chest. Immediately, the dungeon master begins to worry if she's suddenly facing a divine test. Oh, fuck! Is this a test of humility, where I gotta look away? Or does she want me to stroke her ego by staring? Okay, middle road, middle road... Turning away, Xenia opens with a complimentary greeting. "Ah, my goddess, thank you for receiving me! This, ah, mountain is even more lovely when graced by your presence..." Any further words are interrupted by a piece of soap flung at her head. "Please, my little reincarnator. I can tell you want something from me, but let's not get into the groveling so quickly, hrmm? You are one of my favored servants, after all!" "Ah! Well, glad to hear it, and thank you, your fertileness. I hope I wasn't interrupting your private time when I called you." "Not at all - I actually set this up specifically for this meeting. Would you care to join me?" Xenia's eyes grow wide at the request, as they rotate back in the direction of the divine display in front of her, and it takes her a few moments to get her mouth working again. "Yes. Yes I would like to do that very much thank you." Even before she's finished speaking her hands are already at work removing her outfit - a more formal affair she'd put together just for this audience, a fact which complicates her sudden need to get quickly naked. She manages it in record time though, and is soon soaking in the hot waters opposite the goddess. Fortunately, the pool is shaped so that she can find a place to comfortably sit at without needing to be ten feet tall herself. "This is nice. I have a few springs in my own place but maybe they could use some improvements..." "Well, this is a divine hot springs, it ought to be a little special." Kahlia shoots the woman a smirk, clearly somewhat amused by her behavior ever since she arrived. "Tell me, reincarnator, is your business urgent? Or would you like to spend a moment in pleasure before we get to serious matters?" Xenia's voice almost squeaks as she responds. "...Pleasure!?" "Not of that kind, of course. I do still require a little more before I allow a mortal to feel my embrace. It does require so much effort on my part to prevent pregnancy from occurring, you know, and we are trying to keep this realm demigod-free for an era or two." "But you're - and I'm..." Xenia's protests fade under the goddess' smirk. "That would probably be enough for most deities, I'm sure, but with me? Trust me, if it's at all possible to get a dungeon pregnant, I would probably make it happen." Kahlia chuckles before changing the topic. "Ah, forgive me for teasing. Tell me, what weighs on your mind?" Thankful for the lifeline, Xenia refocuses. "Right, that's a good way of putting it. Ah, without getting into the gritty details...I kind of did a lot of awful shit back in my past lives, and there's one in particular that, well...if I could do something to make up for it, I'd like to. But different realms, blah blah etc, means I think my options are limited to like...divine intervention. Would you mind telling me if any of these names are familiar to you?" Reaching back to her clothes, Xenia recovers her list of gods and passes it over to the goddess, who reads through it with a serious look. "Hrmmm...vaguely familiar, perhaps, in a friends-of-friends sort of way. None occupy this realm, if that's your hope. ...I see one of my direct competitors on this list, here. I hope you realize that gods of a type do not get along? Even for the more benign cases of divine aspects, it's like trying to push together magnets of a type...who can create lightning bolts and meteor storms when in a bad mood." "Well, can probably ignore that one, at least. But do you think there's any chance you could get me in touch with anyone else on there? I don't honestly know what I could do to make up for past sins, but I'd like to at least make the effort." Kahlia sets the list aside and sighs. "'Sins' have never been a particular concern of mine, you know. I believe in aiding and protecting my worshipers, yes, but I am a representative of one of the core aspects of nature. And nature is not always...courteous and polite. Still, I do respect your desire to improve yourself. Even so, this is not something easily done. Contact between pantheons...even the most minor interactions can often trigger a realm-war, some of us are so territorial. Also, I would need to spend time investigating even how to locate this particular pantheon. In other words, this is not something a god does for free, even for a favored servant." Xenia's not exactly thrilled, but neither is she surprised. "Is this something I can use that next Divine Favor on, once we get it? We're only one out of five pregnancies so far, but I'm feeling confident given how much time we have left." "Divine Favors of that sort...they are intended to be rewards and bonuses for dungeons, built within the dungeon system. This is a project for you personally, yes? So no, something like this...we will need to resort to a more personal, traditional sort of divine challenge." The dungeon master gulps. While many a legend has been made of heroes who once completed such a challenge, she's pretty sure there's a hundred corpses out there for every successful hero. "I'll, uh...give it a shot, if I can. What did you have in mind?" Kahlia doesn't answer at first, instead closing her eyes and spending some time in thought. When she does re-open them and meet Xenia's gaze once again, there's a new sense of authority behind them, one that locks on to Xenia and doesn't let her go. "XENIA WORTHY. IN EXCHANGE FOR THIS BOON YOU ASK, I PLACE UPON YOU THE FOLLOWING CHALLENGE. SUCCESSFULLY IMPREGNATE A MORTAL WITH A DUNGEON MONSTER, GUARDIAN, OR AVATAR." Xenia's jaw drops. Somehow she expected it would be something along these lines, given who it was she was talking to, but that sure doesn't make hearing the challenge any easier. "...Y'know, maybe living with my sins ain't so tough after all."