The Heart Grows

Spoiler

Mana Shrine Depleted!

It was the last thing Travis wanted to see. His mana regeneration was already tiny compared to his total, and he could appreciate that he was going to need to gear up to a lot more mana regeneration. So, with that in mind, he needed to get Fife integrated, he needed to dig her out a boss room, and he then needed to make a lizard village to sniff out resources.

Penelope and Tannyr had been digging most of the day, preparing the new entrance tunnel, and he'd gotten Katelyn to melt down another gold vein.

"Change of plans everyone. My mana shrines are depleting and with how many I've created we need to find them. That means I need to get Fife her boss room so we can start poking around down here, or at least get the stairs built so things can be channeled to the top floor. Then, if we can get a lizard village, I can get an upgrade that lets them find these resources."

Stepping back from the rockface, Tannyr tilted her head. "I think I follow that. You got the gold for your stairs, right?"

"Right, and with the timber that we just got from the forest, that should cover all its requirements. Thanks for that, Pen." Travis started mapping out what he wanted. The stairs would be able to be switched so that they either led from the inner dungeon of the bottom floor to the residences on the top floor or, with a quick change to a few walls, the entrance to the dungeon and the latest digging project.

"You're welcome. So, where are these stairs going?" Penelope asked.

When Travis was done guiding everyone into place, Tannyr had adjusted the tunnel down to the second floor from the main entrance a little and Penelope had gotten her own tunnel work done around the stairs coming down to the bottom floor from the second. He prepared the cost and activated it. "Okay, set yourselves up where you want the stairs. Pen, Tannyr…" He paid the cost, with extra gold of course, and targeted Tannyr and Penelope.

"Right here," both said at the same time, causing an entirely new staircase to burrow its way through the rock up and down—to meet in the middle and create the link.

"That feels weird. Anyway, now we have a set of stairs going all the way back up to the top. Pen, can you break the link to the twists down there, and we can see about doing some new digging." Travis was already queuing up a new loop around the bottom floor to connect to the stairs so anyone digging could escape and lead potential monsters to all the traps.

"Okay. Trav, do you want me digging up here or down the bottom?" Tannyr asked.

"Down the bottom. Katelyn, could I bother you to get me six thousand iron or so?" Switching between listeners had become a fine skill for Travis. He'd honed it—and avoided full broadcasting—so he wouldn't interrupt sleepers and couples who were otherwise engaged.

"Trav, I tried getting iron. It takes me forever and uses tons of mana, I—"

"I'll give you a mana field." Travis had forgotten how much harder it was for Katelyn to melt iron than gold. Her sigh, ending in a chuckle, reassured Travis that he hadn't overstepped. "Thanks, Kate."

"Like I'd turn you down for this kind of thing. I guess I'll work on the one in the residential area. Do we know what's happening with all that now you plan to move residences upstairs? Are we removing it?"

"I think I'll make rooms for them up there and offer it. Though, there's something to be said for having your quarters near to the action. Sort of like a garrison."

Tilting her head to the side, Katelyn nodded. "Yeah, I get that."

Dungeons, in Kelvin Silversong's estimation, were never this close to a small city. He paused, which earned a huff from his kin, and looked back at the wall of the city behind them. It was still in sight, for which his old muscles were particularly thankful. "You didn't have to follow me, Portentia."

"Just. Call. Me. Potia. Ugh, you're so terrible, granddad." It wasn't exactly the worst thing caring for her great grandfather, he had so many stories that it kept her from getting bored, but he wouldn't remember to use her name. Portentia "Potia" Silversong let out a groan (she deemed it the seventh for the day—but it was actually the ninth). "They said this dungeon was tame. Maybe they dug this out?"

"No dungeon is tame, Portentia. Not even those insipid verdant ones. This, from what people said, is a dragon dungeon. When things go wrong, you get back to the town and don't you dare try to come back for me."

"'When'? Granddad…" She let the words trail off, her own silence the disapproval she hadn't the words to voice.

"It's a dungeon. Dungeons don't play games, Portentia. We're here to get you the gold you need to set up a forge in Northridge—or whatever other end of the kingdom you could bear to call home—and that's all. Folks say it will make a deal for those willing to pay the ultimate price. That deal will be your gold." Marching closer to the dungeon, Kelvin spotted a fat lizard sitting by the entrance.

Walking over to the creature, Kelvin crouched down and reached a hand out to pet the lizard on the head.

"They like being stroked under the chin."

"Really? I—" Kelvin froze as he looked from the lizard and noticed the legs of who'd spoken. Ice gripped his chest as his eyes traced up from there, spying the form of what had to be the dungeon's boss. Wings, claws, two swords, and a decidedly almost-a-dragon muzzle gave it away. Standing, he very carefully didn't reach for the spear on his back. "To whom do I owe the pleasure of meeting?"

Penelope was wary. The elf before her looked positively ancient, but the spear and light armor he wore marked him as a lancer—a martial warrior capable of dealing high damage without getting close. The equipment was both ornate and well-used, a combination she knew meant she could be in trouble if there was a fight. Dipping her head a little, she said, "Penelope, just call me Pen. I'm the boss of the dungeon."

Kelvin nodded at that, given the sense of strength and assurance about her, but the name seemed strange. "I am Kelvin Silversong, and this is my great granddaughter, Portentia Silversong—though she gets rather upset if you call her that. You took a human name?"

"Was human, so I kept my name. We do things a bit different from normal dungeons here." Jerking her thumb back toward the dungeon, she asked, "Wanna go somewhere safer? We have a tavern on the second floor that's great, and I will vouch for your safety."

"You'll forgive my doubting you, but I have yet to meet a dungeon boss that wasn't trying to kill me." Flashing his best apologetic smile, Kelvin didn't unwind a single muscle that was ready to draw his spear. "I am an elf of his word, though, and I can assure you that nothing out here short of a bullet will harm us while we talk."

"Lucky that I've met my share of adventurers who didn't try to kill me. Okay, then." Safe with the knowledge that at worst she'd have to respawn, Penelope sat down on the ground and stretched her wings out. "So, what business do you have here?"

It was getting harder to listen to his distrust. Kelvin noted the way Penelope sat, giving him advantage over her should a fight start. He had seen how resilient a boss could be, though he was sure he had her number should push come to shove. "Well—"

"Granddad is being an idiot." When the dragon looked at her, Portentia wasn't sure if she should be terrified or if Penelope was going to break out laughing. "Well, you are! I've tried to talk him out of it, but—"

"But you don't have a say in what an adventurer does with their life." Judging his kin as being a bigger threat right now than the dungeon boss, Kelvin took his eyes off the dragon and looked at Portentia. "I said you didn't have to follow me. I could have hired anyone to take their gold and give it to you. You decided to come with me."

"Of course I did! Mom even tried to talk me out of it, but I guess—" Freezing a moment before she gave voice to her thought, Portentia sighed and said it anyway. "I guess I'm as pig-headed as you are."

Glancing back at Penelope, Kelvin was again surprised by her, this time when he recognized real mirth on her face. "You see what an old man has to put up with? A man I trust told me a woman he trusted had made contact with a dungeon that wanted fresh blood. I'm an old elf, too old by half, but I know I will be worth something to the likes of your home. So I'm here to negotiate a price, in gold, to be paid to my most annoying great granddaughter."

"Fresh blood…" It took Penelope a few seconds to put the meaning together. Her eyes widened and she held up both her talons—palm out—trying to ward off the impression that Kelvin had. "They—we—don't mean blood literally! We have a way to turn people into kobolds. How do you think I got like this?"

Portentia caught on faster than her great grandfather. She started to giggle, then laugh, then she had to sit down because her mirth was getting too much. "Granddad! You've been so focused on this trip as—as being your last! They don't want to kill you, just put you to work!"

Glaring at Portentia, Kelvin managed to be angry for nearly a second before he laughed too. "I set myself up for this." The dragon, he noticed, wasn't laughing. She was looking intently at him. "You'll still pay, right?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Penelope asked, "How much gold do you want?" She recognized Kelvin as more than just another pair of hands to work—he was a skilled fighter. "Tell me a number."

"Just like that?" Kelvin asked.

"Just like that. Why don't I give you a number and we can work from there?" When Kelvin nodded, Penelope held up a clawed finger. "One thousand gold."

Shaking his head, Kelvin chuckled. "I could sell my spear for more than that. Ten thousand for these old bones."

"Steph should be doing this," Penelope muttered. "Four thousand. I'm not absolutely sure, but from what I've noticed you will not have old bones anymore. The oldest kobold in the dungeon, Brayden, looks the same age as everyone else."

"Yes, but I'd be a kobold, correct?"

"Right. We are recruiting for boss cohorts, though. Several members of the dungeon are significantly greater in stature than the average kobold."

"Dungeon boss or floor boss?"

"As a matter of fact, I need to pick my own cohort. Five thousand and you'll be my first pick." Perhaps, Penelope mused, she would make herself an arena after all. With a fighter like Kelvin backing her up, they'd be insanely powerful. "We need a second healer, if I'm honest. Maybe I'll ask Felna if she wants to make our deal a little more permanent."

At the curious look she got from Kelvin, Penelope elaborated, "There are seven adventurers currently living in the dungeon. Five of them are being paid per day for their work, the other two have made their own deals. Felna is a cleric of the Sandwalker."

"Six," Kelvin said. "Err, thousand gold."

"Deal." Penelope stood up and approached the old elf. Holding out a talon, she offered to shake. When he did, she glanced over at Portentia. "And you're here to make a similar deal?"

Spoiler

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This story is released under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. If you are paying money to see this or the original creator, Damaged, is not credited, you are viewing a plagiarized copy of the story.