Worthy Core

"One moment...the Master of the dungeon is considering your request."

As Alizz looks up at the carved face set into the massive dungeon door, she does her best to hide her nervousness. She's gone into dozens of dungeons over the years, and is likely in a fairly high percentile of Challengers who have set such a record. But she's never gone into one solo before, not once in her thirty years in the field. And while she has communicated with dungeon spirits on a few occasions, this is the first time she's ever explicitly sought out a meeting. It's been done before, of course. Some dungeon spirits are nearly feral animals, but most can at least be bribed into a chat if you're lucky, and of course the Dragonlord has a notoriously complex set of 'dungeon diplomatic relations' running under their rule. But sometimes dungeons will take the bribe and just kill the adventurer anyways, so it's not exactly without risk.

These thoughts are interrupted when the door speaks again. "The Master of Worthy Dungeon is willing to allow a one-time special safe passage, given the unique situation. The traps and monsters have been made safe, and...the Boss of Floor Two has promised to be less dramatic today. Your gifts will be appreciated, of course."

Alizz bows respectfully as the door begins to open. "Of course, thank you." The drider makes her way into the first room, eyeing the monstrous birds perched above, and carefully poking a pressure plate with one leg just to ensure it's been disabled. She's been in 'safed' dungeons before, down south in the Domain, but again this is her first time doing so alone, and it's difficult to not be a little paranoid. She doesn't take any risks as she proceeds through the dungeon, avoiding traps as much as possible and giving the monsters wide berth. The Rabbit Boss of Floor One sits atop the cave façade in its boss arena, making creepy laughing noises as she makes her way through and sharpening the blades on its gauntlets, but otherwise makes no moves as she reaches the Floor Two elevator.

The ride down is calm at least, if still not particularly quiet. With the traps and ambushes disabled the shaft appears entirely peaceful, and Alizz is even able to make the entire trip without needing to search out additional trigger buttons at each stop. She takes the time to prepare the questions in her mind, though she knows ultimately there's only really one or two she truly needs to know the answers to. Finally the elevator comes to a stop, and only a single door remains between her and the next boss arena. Taking a deep breath, Alizz opens the door and steps through.

The slime woman stands on the opposite side of the room, once again wearing her vest and pointy hat, although her wand seems to be hidden away for the moment. The two lock eyes for a while, neither able to speak, but ultimately it's Alizz who breaks the silence. "Lollyp...is...is it really you?"

The woman takes a deep breath before nodding. "It...it's really me. And...I'm sorry! For the other day! I just...in my head that felt like it'd be really cool and mysterious, and I wasn't ready to answer any questions or anything, so, y'know...quick way out! But I didn't really think about what it would look like from the outside. I've promised the boss I wouldn't do it anymore..."

With that brief statement, Alizz's first question at least is answered without any doubt in her mind. The follow-ups however slip from her thoughts as almost on her own the drider feels herself crossing the arena and taking the slime woman into her arms. "Oh, Lollyp! I didn't know what to think! I was sure even you wouldn't be so crazy to do something like that without, without a plan or something, but I worried so much!"

Lollyp accepts the hug, her arms wrapping around Alizz in turn. "Yeah, it's...I work for the dungeon, now. I guess it's been a week now?"

The drider pulls back, looking into Lollyp's eyes. "So the spell said, but...can we talk? Are we...alone...?"

"Uh, one minute." Lollyp turns to her right and tilts her head towards the door, before turning back to Alizz. "Boss is heading back to her core chamber now, yeah. She's a pretty chill boss, really, but...yeah, we can talk." She points the way to a few nearby rocks that can serve as seats. "I'd invite you to my room, but uh, it's not really designed for company. Especially for driders, you know how it is."

Alizz forces a small laugh. "I'm used to it. So um...is this one of the Dragonlord's programs? It didn't even occur to me until afterwards...I'd been meaning to pay you a visit, but it wasn't until the other day that I realized how long it'd been since last time."

Lollyp makes a sort-of nod. "Kind of? And, don't worry about it...I actually sent you out a letter before coming here, but y'know, given international mail times and you not having a fixed address, it could still be a couple weeks away. Feel free to toss it if you want, heh, I was uh...really not expecting a conversation like this to ever be possible."

Alizz leans forward. "And...how is this possible? I double-checked everything I had, but I've never heard of anything like this. At best there's illusions, pulling thoughts from a Challenger's mind, but I'm confident enough in my ability to see through that."

"Yeah. This isn't anything the Dragonlord cooked up. We didn't even know until after the, uh, ambassador team left, so they still probably don't know either. It's just this dungeon, Alizz. It's special."

Alizz's eyes narrow. "Special how, Lollyp?"

Lollyp considers her words. "It's, how'd I wanna say it...a reincarnator dungeon? There's a special rule here. If someone dies in the dungeon and willingly gives their soul to it, they stay intact. There's still a question of like, getting a good body to put them back into, but I'm chilling out in a monster slime body right now and feelin' pretty good, to be honest."

The mage's head spins at the revelation. Grasping for a more immediate question to put forward, Alizz asks the first that comes to mind. "So you did actually...die then? That's...wow, I don't know what to say."

Lollyp chuckles. "Died two more times since then, so I'm already on life four now. Gets easier every time, haha..."

"Lollyp! Don't joke...I mean, sorry, this is probably a weird situation for you too, I suppose." Her mind catches up and supplies her with her next question. "...Lollyp, not that I'd blame you for anything, but...the Challenger party that vanished in here some days ago. Was that you?"

The slime sucks in a breath, apparently not ready for this one. "Oof! Uh, yeah. I mean, not all of em. Three though, all that made it this far."

Alizz considers the confession. "...Lollyp, I'm...I'm really, really glad you're alright. But when you asked me the other day not to tell anyone about this...you know I can't do that. You know what a new dungeon means to Challengers. Initiates are going to be arriving soon from all over the continent, and you're clearly in...well, top form. I can't just let them come in here to get slaughtered. I have a responsibility to them too."

The slime nods. "I've been thinking about that a bit too. We're definitely not aiming to kill everybody, of course. I mean, hells, that DF team came in here the other day and from what I hear had a pretty good time of it, though I missed the show myself."

Alizz snorts. "Don't mention it. One of them was talking in the camp this morning, saying they didn't just...do it in

the dungeon, but that they did it with the dungeon. Like their reputation isn't bad enough already." She laughs, but Lollyp's eyes go wide before she turns and shouts to the door at the back of the chamber.

"...BOSS, YOU DIDN'T!? YOU DIDN'T MENTION THAT PART!" She pauses, as if to an inaudible response. "...INSATIABLE THIRST MONSTER!" Suddenly remembering her company, Lollyp turns back and gives an awkward chuckle. "Aha...the uh...the boss here's kinda free-spirited, you could say."

The drider stares for a moment, looking down at Lollyp over her glass frames, before apparently deciding not to get put off track. "...So, as I was saying. I...I don't think I'll tell people about the 'reincarnator' part. Oh gods, I can't even imagine the chaos that might cause. A lot of people view dungeons as divine instruments, you know, the faithful could end up lining up here to take part. Not to mention the old, the infirm...is that all it takes? Someone walks through the door, says 'I give myself to the dungeon' and steps on the first trap, and they become part of the dungeon?"

Lollyp grimaces. "Oh gods, I didn't even think that far ahead. It's not like an immediate thing, souls go into storage until they get a body...and it might be possible to release souls, I'm not sure on that part. But yeah, I don't think we'd be happy with a bunch of god-botherers trying to move in here."

"Right, so...I will have to at least put a solid danger warning on the place, though. I talked to one of the local scouts earlier, he said they'd even warned the party not to try the second floor, and apparently they did anyways. Perhaps now at least others will take it more seriously. I'm sorry if I'm ruining any...schemes or anything, but the life of a Challenger is meant to be risky, not suicidal."

The slime sighs. "I guess that's to be expected, whether you recognized me or not. I am glad I got to see you again, though. That reincarnator thing is supposed to be a curse or something, but it doesn't feel like it to me." Lollyp wraps an arm around Alizz in a hug, which the drider returns.

"Me too. I ah...promised gifts for safe passage, but the fact is I brought gifts for you, not the dungeon, if it really was you here. One moment." She reaches into a bottomless bag at her waist, and pulls out a small stack of half a dozen tomes. "I brought some of your favorite books. And...one of Bullyp's old wands. It might be stupid, bringing sentimental items to give to a dungeon, but..." She trails off as Lollyp's eyes go wide.

"No, they're great! I mean, we have an inventory now, so we can hold on to stuff...and I can't really use the wand to fight with, or some asshole will just loot it from me, but...it means a lot to me that you'd be willing to share one."

Alizz smirks. "Hey, family's got to stick together, right?"

 

---

 

The two continue on for another few hours, catching up on the gossip and stories they'd missed from their too-long-delayed reunion, but eventually it's time for Alizz to go. After another round of hugs she makes her way to the core chamber, but she pauses for a moment before stepping onto the exit portal.

"...Dungeon Master. I know the relationship between Challengers and dungeons can be...complex. Some see you as enemies, some as necessary tools, some as partners. For me, my first responsibility is to the Challengers who come to me for safety and advice. I don't want any harm to come to Lollyp, but I can't neglect that either. So...we'll both do the best we can, shall we? To protect those we care about?"

A message is marked on the floor before her, and the drider reads it and nods. As she steps through the portal and exits, the words remain for a short while before being wiped away.

I PROMISE.