Draconic Karma Dungeon

Chapter 27: A Newborn, A Drunken Captain and A Dungeon Rescue Team

5 days passed. Chief Nerok's Party had stopped visiting after having gotten the needed BO's to tier up with. Nerok still came by daily but Molgroor and Gazkak didn't join him anymore. However, the children of the Tribe often joined him as he walked through the Dungeon and informed me of ongoing events in the Tribe.

It was a nice routine.

On this day Emerald's Party hadn't visited me at all and I had gotten quite worried. Their 1st trip of the day normally began around 2 hours after sunrise, and I hadn't heard from them 4 hours after sunrise.

What's happening?! Did the elves come back?

No… they can't have… It's too early! They're just delayed! Distracted by something!

Then Chief Nerok showed up. "I wish to apologize on Emerald's Party's behalf." Nerok said he walked through The Great Tree Room. "Morghar's mate Minzca has gone into labor, you see. Morghar has to stay with his mate the next while and his Party wishes to… refrain from gaining any EXP while Morghar doesn't gain any."

The Chief looked up at the ceiling of The Rainbow Forest and gave an adoring smile. "They didn't want to out level him. Isn't that sweet?"

Nerok finished collecting the loot into Lionheart's saddle bags. Due to Lionheart being an already existing species and having a longer base lifespan than both beastkin, dragonets and Forest dragons, he leveled up slower than the rest of the Tribe.

As a mimic Champ wouldn't age as long as he was staying still but otherwise had a base lifespan of 25 years. And as Champ was also considered a new species he actually leveled up only slightly slower than Emerald and Sprout.

That being said, Champ was now level 20 and had become a karmic mini mimic. While this meant he could only mimic things with a maximum volume of 3 liters, he had in turn gotten smarter.

Which meant he no longer talked like a toddler but like a young adult.

I both missed it and not at the same time.

The current treasure chest mimic of the 2nd Floor was much less talkative than Champ.

So a mimic's lifespan is considered to be 25 years for the purpose of calculating how much EXP they need to level up. A kirin's base lifespan, on the other hand, was 65 years, so leveling up was much slower for Lionheart.

However, Nerok and Lionheart had worked hard on gaining levels and the kirin was now level 15. At the Chief's previous visit he had informed me that Lionheart had gotten strong enough to carry him around for an hour or so at a time before needing to rest.

The Chief started talking again once the loot had been collected. "In the meantime the young adults of the Tribe have volunteered to replace them as the Tribe's miners." He rolled his eyes. "And by that, I mean they egged each other on about not being traumatized by having been forced into a deathly Dungeon multiple times a day by the elves. No, no, no! They are brave juveniles!"

The Chief laughed for a bit as he gathered more loot into the saddle bags. When done, he started walking and talking again. "I demanded someone a bit more responsible came with them, to keep them out of trouble. And guess who volunteered! None other than Vanek! He has really come a long way! And this will surely help his self esteem! Keeping an eye on the rowdy 'Party of the Brave' as they call themselves!"

Then his face turned serious and… embarrassed? "Of course, the Tribe appreciates all you have done for us. But… well…" Nerok gave a deep sigh as he collected more loot. "We have all just had a really bad experience with other Dungeons. The Tribe loves you! Most just can't deal with the memories that come with entering a Dungeon. Not well enough for daily visits at least. Once in a while seems to be fine, if a bit uncomfortable."

Nerok said nothing for a while, clearly the topic had made him feel down. Then, just before he left, he added.

"I suppose it's easier for the youngest of us. They have less bad memories to overcome."

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The next day the whole Tribe came down to The Room of Fallen Heroes to have the newborn bear cub healed by the unicorn bunny. Both as a precaution and as a… well… it really seemed like a form for christening to me.

As the baby wasn't named yet and didn't have any Class or levels, his floating label simply said:

Beastkin - Ursakin Level 0

"Like we all have been healed by the Dungeon of Karma, so will this babe!" Nerok had said. The newborn's parents, siblings and Chief stood on the far side of the Boss Room, while the rest of the Tribe stood packed together on the other side of the stream. Like sardines packed together.

When the Chief started to inform people of where to stand, I tried to move my creatures out of the way the best I could. But as the kirin Boss tried to move to the side of the room, Nerok came and guided it back into the middle, making the Chief stand in between two kirins. Clearly the Boss is meant to be my representative in this. But why didn’t he grab a kobold on the way instead? They can talk on my behalf after all.

…

Clearly the System doesn’t know the answer to all questions. Not that I expected it to read everyone’s minds…

… And now I’m just glad to know it isn’t a mindreader…

"The System blessed this Dungeon! And the Dungeon passes some of this blessing on to us! From this day forward! This child receives blessings from the Dungeon of Karma like the rest of us!" Massive cheers burst forward when the Chief stopped speaking. Nerok gestured to Minzca, the mother, to bring the baby to the unicorn bunny.

The bunny had been sitting in front of one of its burrows but on my command hopped over to the mother and used 'Healing Touch' on the cub. The Skill did nothing but light the baby up, as any problems had already been healed in the womb when his mother had gotten healed.

More cheers and this time the sound made the cub start crying. Minzca and Morghar began trying to calm the baby while Nerok continued the ceremony.

"The Dungeon of Karma has bestowed its first blessing on the child!" The Tribe smiled but kept quiet in order to not further disturb the crying cub. The Chief turned to the parents. "And what shall the boy's name be? The Dungeon wishes to know."

I do? Well, yeah. I do. But… Why are you speaking for me?

'Cause it makes me sound like a god? So, that’s why you didn’t grab a kobold! You want to strengthen the thought that I’m a god!

… I guess I don't really mind, then. It's pretty cool actually!

As long as I actually think the way he says I do, that is. If he says something out of line, I'll have to cut in!

The baby boy had quieted down again. "His name is Daarux." Minzca said and all at once the Tribe began to greet their newest member. This naturally caused the cub to start crying again. Luckily, the ceremony was now over, and the Tribe left my Dungeon.

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Lieutenant Tanithil Alnus walked into the office of inspector general Acer. As he entered the room he noticed how tired the general looked. General Acer was quick to hide his exhaustion once he noticed his guest.

"Uh! Welcome! Take a seat! How may I help you?" The inspector general asked in an excited tone and an honest smile on his lips.

Tanithil blinked a couple of times before deciding to ignore the general's sudden shift in mood. He took the seat in front of the desk and began his complaint. "I believe my captain is unfit as a captain, sir. He cares not for his duties and - from what I can gather - his only interests lie in alcohol."

The general's face turned serious, yet still happy. "Of course! Nothing I haven't dealt with before! I will do all I can to help you! Now! What is the name of your captain?!"

"Captain Gleditsia, sir."

Inspector general Acer made a pained grimace like he had just been shot in the foot. "That… doesn't surprise me…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I've had many complaints about him…"

General Acer opened his eyes again and looked straight into Tanithil's. "Captain Gleditsia is the third and youngest child of brigadier general Gleditsia, who in turn is the firstborn of general Gleditsia. If I only had to go against the will of the father I could - and would! - do so. But his grandfather complicates things…"

The inspector general took another calming breath, leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling before continuing. "I tried once, you know. When the captain was first reported to me. I tried several different things. But each attempt either did very little or was foiled by general Gleditsia or someone acting on his command. The only thing that stuck was that I got him more or less banned from ever getting promoted."

General Acer turned his gaze back to Tanithil's. "But at the same time I can't get him fired or demoted. So unfortunately, the only thing I can do for you is to move you to another captain." Then he gave the lieutenant a crooked smile and added: "Lucky for you, captain Gleditsia's mother is dead and his grandmother refuses to interfere in this or I wouldn't have been able to do even this much for you! His mother was already a 5th tier titanium huntress, when she died and his grandmother is a late 7th tier mithral huntress!"

"I feared something like this was happening…" Tanithil said with a sigh while closing his eyes and pinching his nose for a short moment. Then he looked up at general Acer again. "So I considered the problem on my way back from my last assignment and I think I have a solution."

The general's face lit up. "Well then, let's hear it!"

"My last assignment included the scouting of a new Dungeon. It had been reported that it was 2 weeks old - the Portal had been spotted as it appeared - and as such it should have been impossible for it to have more than two Floors. Yet it had three. It killed two whole Parties of 4 2nd tiers and half of the 3rd tier Party! How?!"

Now it was the lieutenant's turn to take a calming breath. "I won't go into depth on all the odd things there are going on in that Dungeon, I'm sure you can find my report on it."

"The Dungeon is dangerous." Tanithil continued. "More so than its age suggests it should be. As an unclaimed Dungeon in no man's land the next logical step is to summon a trustworthy, dungeonless dungeon master and tame the Dungeon. As my captain, any mission dealing with this Dungeon is Gleditsia's responsibility. As such, it's expected that Gleditsia leads the mission now that it's existence has been confirmed. If I understand his personality correctly he will come up with some excuse for why he can't, but if we…"

Tanithil turned a bit embarrassed. "...or rather you. I doubt I would be of much help here. But if you could ensure captain Gleditsia is on the team entering the Dungeon there should be a big chance he would end up… injured… enough that he'll have to retire. And then he can't neglect his duties and put more lives in danger."

General Acer looked thoughtful for a while, trying to see how someone might counter this idea. While he found a couple of ways it could fail, he saw no reason why anyone would put any blame on either of them for anything. "Interesting… I'll see what I can do. Does this mean you'll stay under captain Gleditsia's command for now, or do you wish to be moved to another captain anyway?"

Lieutenant Tanithil Alnus gave the inspector general a crooked smirk. "Nooo~. That would just be unfair to the next lieutenant!" The 2 gave a quiet laugh.

"Well then. Thank you for your assistance, inspector general Acer!" Tanithil said as he rose from the chair and clicked his heels together to salute the general.

General Acer rose as well. And despite not needing to, he saluted the lieutenant back. Tanithil had earned his respect and trust.

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Priestess Calorose led her flock towards the location Skau had given them. When Calorose heard that another piece of the shattered goddess had been found she had been quick to summon her flock and inform bishop Marthox of the good news.

As always, time was of the essence! Every day wasted was another day for the monster infection to grow in, making their holy mission to reassemble the goddess that much harder.

At least we caught this one early on. Calorose knew an infection could be almost impossible to win against if the order didn't free the goddess from it early on.

Calorose had indoctrinated her flock personally using the strategy father Marthox had taught her. It was an efficient strategy that most in the order used to convince new members of the reality of Dungeons. Calorose had tried to preach about the goddess' plight before she had gotten the Skill and been taught the technique and her words had gone through to no one. But ever since she had learned it, for almost every time she preached, one person would realize the truth!

She couldn't find it in herself to blame those who wished to ignore the painful truth, though. And most members of The Order had to have their faith renewed daily by listening to a priest preaching. Calorose's own flock was like that, and while it could sometimes get exhausting, she found her duty just as fulfilling!

Calorose was young for a priestess of The Order of The Broken Goddess. It took a lot out of a person to properly preach for the order. This meant potential priests and priestesses had to be at least 4th tier, but more often than not 5th tier to become a fully fletched priest or priestess. Calorose herself had to first become a 5th tier Charmer before she had what it took to properly preach.

Now, barely more than a week after becoming a priestess and being sent out into the world to spread the faith, she had to lead her small flock in a crusade. Her flock was 6 members strong - 7 if counting herself - so unless the infection had grown stronger, they could all enter the Dungeon at once.

Seeing the tents in the distance, Calorose stopped her horse for a moment to speak to her flock. "We're here. The first thing we'll do is locate the Portal. Then, we present ourselves and our sacred mission. That way we might stop the local Tribe from having any bad reactions based on false knowledge. But should the locals turn hostile regardless of having heard the truth, we shall quickly enter the Dungeon and finish our sacred mission."

The priestess didn't wait for a reply from her flock and simply kicked her horse into action. She knew they would follow her lead, like she would follow bishop Marthox's.

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"So… you are saying Dungeon Cores are actually a piece of the System's soulmate, who was crystallized and broken into thousands of pieces eons ago." Chief Nerok began summarizing sceptically. "Now having become broken and vulnerable her pieces became infected with monsters. Monsters, which will do whatever it takes to keep her from being reassembled and reunited with the System. And therefore the monsters keep the pieces 'prisoner' in dimensional Dungeons and try to kill anyone attempting to come near the piece they're guarding…"

"Yes exactly!" The siren priest replied with a smile.

Sirens had two forms: a half dolphin form for when they were under water and a half bird form for when they were above water. The bird form had a human face and torso along with big brown feathered wings on their backs and talon-like arms and legs.

"Breakthrough Orbs are the goddess' way of making people more capable of helping her. And the only known way of completely getting rid of the monster infection is to rescue the piece of the goddess they're guarding!" Calorose ended the Chief's summary.

"Our Dungeon only attacks those who have done evil. How does your religion explain that?" Nerok questioned.

The priestess looked shocked at hearing this but quickly replied. "Really! How marvelous! This must be her heart! She must be using the extra strength in this piece of her to control the behavior of the infection!" Calorose gasped as a thought hit her. "Oh~! Can't you see! She's crying out for help!"

With those words the priestess stormed into the Dungeon Portal beside her. Her acolytes were quick to follow after her but the last one of them - the only human - was shut out as the allowed number of sapients was reached.

"Should we follow them?" Begdar questioned.

"Hmm…" The Chief took a moment to consider their next actions. "Molgroor, Morghar. Escort the acolyte back to their animals and keep an eye on him there." With Morghar having a newborn it seemed better to keep him in the 'village'. When news of visitors had arrived, Sprout and Lionheart had been ordered to guard the newborn and his mother. Both as a precaution and to have the Tribe appear more normal at first glance.

Nerok waited till the human had been escorted away before continuing. "I want the rest of Emerald's Party to follow me and Lionheart into the Dungeon. We are all to be carrying weapons. If the creatures attack the outsiders-" The word was said as if an insult. "-we will attack them as well. If they don't, we will follow them while out of sight till we can ask a mimic or kobold for advice."

"Of course!" and "Good plan!" could be heard from some of those nearby but most simply nodded stoically.

The aforementioned 8 quickly located each other - Zaktak, Emerald and Thenac hadn't been present but were within shouting distance - and gathered their weapons before slowly walking into the completely stone Portal. Like the Chief had assumed the 'Chosen Family' Rule allowed them to enter even though the Portal looked solid.