Worthy Core

With Silva's forewarning, the House Highbranch party was able to take apart the mana slime bosses with only a little more effort than they had spent on Trush's ambush, and so twenty minutes later the five members of the expedition find themselves standing in Worthy Dungeon's core chamber. While Kalin and Randall are both rather taken by the current incarnation of the room's design, the twin sisters for their part keep their focus on the demon guarding the central pillar. As usual, Gilda is the first to speak up.

"Hail, Core Guardian Sincere. We swear that we mean no harm to your dungeon's core - do you recognize our victory?"

Sincere gives the pair a nod. "Indeed we do. Your display with Trush was particularly impressive, I might add. I understand if you won't be explaining how exactly you did it, but I'll certainly be looking forward to attempting to figure it out after you leave."

Silva bows slightly at the compliment. "Feel free - I had fun myself, crafting that particular enchantment with Gilda's help. By the way, might I ask how many other parties have cleared Floor Seven so far? Just to confirm."

The Guardian smirks, knowing what she's getting at. "Yours would be the third, Lady Highbranch."

Gilda's smirk mirrors his own. "That would be the Valleylanders and the fury demon's party, yes? House Perlin has not made the list?"

"I'm sure some rumors have gotten around, but if you're hoping for clarification, I'm afraid we consider the details to be an internal matter. But yes, as far as the dungeon is concerned their clear of the floor is only, shall we say...partial credit."

"I see. While it is a shame we couldn't have been the first overall, I think we can accept at least being the first noble representatives. That said, I would like to open official negotiations between your master and our house - preliminary ones, at least."

Not exactly expecting this turn of events, Sincere raises an eyebrow at the silver-haired half-elf. "Would you? I suppose I have some idea of what this is about...the dungeon currently has no strong interest in negotiations, but we're willing to hear your proposal, at least."

The Enchantress gives him a nod. "Thank you. We would like Worthy Dungeon's official blessing for House Highbranch to claim rule over these lands. We are willing to offer benefits in exchange, provided of course that they do not violate previous standing agreements, like the Challengers Association's anti-feeding regulations."

Sincere gets a rather distracted look on his face before he answers, as if he's attempting to remember a distant memory. "I have to say, this feels rather unorthodox. Your competitors offered no such arrangement, and to the best of my knowledge...I'm not sure I'm aware of any official agreements between Rainlander houses and the dungeons within the lands they administrate. Not that I am exactly in the loop of noble politics, but still. Of course the Domain has its arrangements, but that's a rather different matter."

Silva speaks up to answer that question. "You're correct, but then, Worthy Dungeon as a whole is rather 'unorthodox', wouldn't you agree? The inn, your bosses occasionally making trips to the town - and without having killed a single person while they're there, unless you've been very quiet about it, hehe. Older, more mature dungeons may be more communicative, but by time that happens their territory has already been firmly established for generations. I don't think there's ever been an unadministered dungeon which could have taken part in negotiations before."

"I suppose you do have a point there. So, tell me, just what would you have in mind to offer a dungeon?"

Gilda resumes her semi-prepared statement. "For starters, we are aware of your dungeon's close relationship with Kahlia and the Church of Bounty. We would like to begin by offering a large donation to the Church, which we are aware they are currently seeking in order to fund a larger base of operations in the local town. We would also be willing to offer House Highbranch's assistance in finding...'applicants' for your reincarnated bosses."

Rather than smiling, Sincere answers that proposal with narrowed eyes. "Interesting - but please understand. We went to the Church of Bounty for their assistance in limiting the number of applicants we might get for that particular process. We don't necessarily want more such individuals making their way here."

"I don't mean more, Core Guardian - I mean better. As things stand now, your offer mostly appeals to the desperate, those with little to lose. The overlap of that demographic with those whom have the skills you need? Rather small, wouldn't you say? Meanwhile, House Highbranch has contacts with many of the most skilled Challengers in the land. With the assistance of our house, you might find it far easier to recruit such champions to your staff. I speak not just of Masters, but even potentially Supreme-rank Challengers, in time."

"You don't mind if I ask how you would arrange such things, my lady?"

Gilda nods. "Certainly. For one, while we are aware your offer is limited to those without children, that does not mean many people do not have other family or friends they wish to see taken care of once they're gone. Our house could certainly arrange that. Furthermore, many Challengers are, to be blunt, glory-seekers. While earning a rank as a dungeon's immortal champion is certainly a kind of glory all of its own, House Highbranch could help carve their names in stone. Literally, with statues - or ballads, paintings...orphanages in their name, whatever appeals to their egos the most."

Sincere's narrowed eyes remain. "And this wouldn't be about inserting a representative of your own house into our ranks? No jealousy perhaps that House Perlin managed the feat first?"

The Enchantress can't stop herself from snorting at that question. "Given the current relationship between your dungeon and her House? Whatever occurred, I'm almost glad she did join your ranks - not that I'm glad of any trouble she caused your master, of course."

"Of course." Sincere goes silent for a while, listening to an unheard voice by his side, before eventually resuming. "While the master of the dungeon appreciates your offer, she is not interested in 'glory hounds' flocking to our door. Assistance in the name of Kahlia and her church does have some merit, however, and she's not opposed to continuing negotiations in more detail at a later date. If you wish, you may speak to a representative on Floor Five the next time you come by, rather than making your way back down here."

Gilda seems perhaps a little disappointed that they aren't getting a more solid response right now, but Silva's voice is cheerful enough as she gives the demon a smile. "We're glad you're open to the idea, at least! We'll be back in a few days then, perhaps, to discuss things further?"

"We'll be here. Until then, you're welcome to take your final rewards, and you're also welcome to revisit the inn after you exit - if you can refrain from challenging any more of our guardians to honor duels for the rest of the day, at least."

Silva shoots her sister a look as she nods. "We'll do our best."

Once the party's made their way through the exit portal with their final loot, Sincere turns back to Xenia with a question. "Are you really interested in opening negotiations with them? I was under the impression you were attempting to stay out of their little 'competition'."

The dungeon master shakes her head. "I don't think it's a good idea to stay out of it forever - someone's gonna take over the territory eventually, they would even if we killed off every noble they sent in here. When that happens, I don't want it to be someone who's pissed off that we worked against them when they were fighting for the place. And at the same time, if the family that wins does owe us something, then that's probably ideal."

"I suppose that's true. Do you have anything in mind for when the next round of 'negotiations' begins?"

"Not yet, but we should find some sort of way of getting House Perlin to make their own offer. Maybe the next time someone from the Church or Association swings by, we can have them take a message for us if they don't come up here themselves in the next few days."

That statement manages to confuse the Mage more than a little. "Really? We've been sticking our thumb in their eye of late, what with their tarnished record and all. You're still entertaining the option of assisting them in taking lordship of these lands?"

Xenia grins, baring more than a few teeth. "A negotiation ain't a negotiation if there's no competition, Sin-Man. Even if I was inclined to just throw behind House Highbranch right off - which I ain't - having a counter-offer from House Perlin in our hands would be a major stick to beat them over the head with at the table."

"Ah, I suppose negotiations have never been exactly my strong suit, so I'll defer to your wisdom. In the meanwhile, at least we can brainstorm some requests we'd like to make of them. Would you like to go over that topic now?"

Xenia only briefly considers it before responding with a negative. "...Mmm, nah. Gonna need some time to think on it myself, and besides, Trush just respawned. There's a thing or two about that last fight I want to talk with him about..."

There's a few benefits to being a Wandering Boss in a dungeon, compared to the more typical sort. While the bosses could indeed all 'wander' about the dungeon if they wished to, Trush had the ability to fight at full strength on five different floors, unlike the others who would be notably weakened outside of their home arenas. Furthermore, unlike, say, Taly, who was forced to respawn back in her boss arena after a defeat, Trush had far more options for his revival point. As his eyes open once again, he finds himself staring at the increasingly-familiar look of the bedroom ceiling in his personal apartment. "Agh! At least dying took care of the headache..."

Although he takes a moment to rub his eyes, they quickly snap open again as a voice speaks up from his bedroom door. "So it felt as bad as it looked, huh?"

Sitting up, the Champion quickly recognizes his boss. "Ah, Worthy. Here to chew me out for my performance, are you? I suppose it must have looked rather disgraceful indeed."

Xenia snorts as she crosses her arms. "C'mon, I know you'd never give it less than your best in a deathmatch. I did want to find out what happened, though. That damn bell the lady's sister uses is annoying enough, it's going to suck if they've got two artifacts now that can disable most of our bosses."

The man has to nod at that. "It's definitely not easy to deal with...although I doubt it would be as effective a second time, once you know what it's like. For starters, I believe she required eye contact to activate the effect. I certainly won't be doing that again should we have ourselves a rematch. For another, it wasn't...inherently disorienting like that enchanted bell is. If I'd just been more careful - moved slower, focused more on defensive actions - I probably could have outlasted the effect. Especially now that I know it does seem to have a time limit."

"Good tips to pass around. What was it, though? Something about future-sight, given her class?"

Trush shakes his head. "Not the future, I don't think - or not more than a second or two ahead if it was. But more like...alternate possibilities of how the fight could have gone? I think there was...part of me that was controlling my actual body, and then perhaps part of me that was controlling what my body could have done. The difference is subtle, but with some effort I could have probably kept my actual ass off of the ground."

The dungeon master frowns a little as she thinks it over. "Probably hard to do without having tried it at least once - but if it does only work well against someone once, that's something at least. Wanted to ask you something else, though - what's an Esoteric?"

The Knight actually shudders slightly at the term. "Not something you'd find often on this continent - I don't know where they originally come from, even. But...let me put it like this. Normally if a Mage wants to create a defense against an incoming sword swing, they consider its physical attributes, yes? I'm no Mage, but my general understanding is that you might, say...create a barrier at a certain position, able to withstand a certain amount of force. Or if you have spells that affect metal, you might consider something that works based on the makeup of the sword's blade. Or a kinetic or temporal Mage might consider its speed, yes?"

Xenia nods along. "All sounds like a lot of different ways to handle a sword, yeah. Esoterics do something different?"

"I've never met one before, mind you, and I've only heard it vaguely described. Perhaps Sincere would be a better source of information than myself. But as I understand it, Esoterics think of the world in very different ways, conceptual ways. An...Esoteric Swordmaster for example, if that's the correct term, would consider the incoming blade and focus on its...sword-ness."

That description causes Xenia's brow to furrow more than a little. "And that's...different than its physical attributes?"

"As I understand it, yes. They might consider things like, I don't know - its purpose, its history, the skill with which it's wielded. They might then cause it to be...less of a sword for a time, allowing them to break or defeat it more easily. Sorry if I'm not explaining it well, I don't know that I understand it that well."

"But what about this guy? He makes arrows less of an arrow, or something?"

"More than that, I believe." Trush frowns as he recalls his memory of the fight. "He called himself a 'Problem Solver'. Which means, I believe, that he sees the world in terms of 'problems' and perhaps solutions. It didn't matter what attack we attempted on him while he had that last spell active. If it came in the form of a problem, it would have simply transmuted into being...less of a problem."

At that statement, Xenia's expression turns into a scowl. "Okay, and that sounds like a real problem to try and counter. Where'd those nobles find this guy?"

"I couldn't tell you, but a man with skills like that, doing freelance work for the noble class?" Trush meets Xenia's eyes, and gives her a rueful chuckle. "I'd bet you a chest of coins the man's done his share of dirty deeds."

"Well...let's try and see to it that he doesn't do too many more of them down here..."