4 CH4: Deciding Dungeon

Vergil felt his heartache, and he didn't know why. He was looking for a new addition to the Sect to bring money for his disciples. There were plenty of women in Pepper town, but since many of his students weren't selling dope anymore, they couldn't afford to take any girls out. But that couldn't explain why he felt an ache in his heart. His Sect had grown rapidly in only a month, but he cherished every member.

He felt something like a premonition and knew it was his observation Haki. His disciples seemed to get a kick out of beating their sect master with a stick, but it brought them closer together. Shiro could really swing hard. The feeling he felt had no basis; it was only an emotion. Until he knew more, he couldn't respond, only wallow in a feeling of impending misery.

While he couldn't ignore the feeling, he could put it away for the time being and look through a list of available dungeons to connect with his Sect.

The problem was dungeons fed off of humans, but there was an answer to every problem. All Vergil had to do was open the dungeon up to the public. But unfortunately, while he considered every sect member as family, there was little room in his heart for outsiders seeking to benefit from his Sect.

So he had to look through the dungeon seeds in his price range.

215 Sect Disciples

There were new additions, like a weight room next to the training hall, that all disciples enjoyed. In addition, an underground farm appeared that was growing herbs he had purchased from the sect store. Vergil felt it was time for a new addition to toughening up his disciples with some real combat experience; at the same time, he planned to use it to increase their fortunes. Vergil would lead the initial foray into it since it was a part of the Sect.

3175 Sect Points

Soulsborn Abyss Dungeon – One of the darkest, most terrifying dungeons. Dying doesn't kill you; it only takes a piece of your humanity and any benefits you gained that were not consumed. Enemies that spawn all have a human origin and potentially a sliver of the divine. The deeper an adventurer goes, the more powerful the monsters and the harder it will be to leave the dungeon.

3000 Sect Points

Vergil wrote the description on a whiteboard in front of the entry hall. Mark walked up, stared at the first dungeon, and stepped back.

"Not that one, master I think it's the wrong fit for our Sect," Mark said.

Vergil hummed to himself while staring at the dungeon description. The earliest boss was the jailer demon from Dark Souls. There were different modes to the dungeon, like horde mode, along with other features that could be upgraded later.

"Are you sure it's a good one that will make you strong?" Vergil said.

He could see them going in soft and coming out hardened killers ready to fuck shit up. Except with their Ki Armor, the threats in most of the early stages of the Soulsborn Abyss Dungeon wouldn't be much of a challenge. It also had a slower feeding rate than most dungeons. At the same time, he could quickly power up the dungeon with enough greedy people. He would have his disciples tell everyone where they got their spending money. After that, he would quietly add a price to joining the Sect.

"We are strong enough without dying to that thing."

Dead Space Hulk Dungeon – Long ago in the galaxy of 40k, an apocalypse-class battleship picked up an alien artifact on an alien planet called the Marker. At first, the Marker was a sign of the emperor giving the ship nigh-infinite power. Then, the artifact emitted a signal that caused mass hysteria and dementia. Then it animated necrotized flesh. In warp space, their Gellar field generator malfunctioned, and the Marker was transformed into a pseudo dungeon core by Nurgle and sold to the Handsome Hyperion X Corporation; now it is on the market. Unfortunately, few are interested in such a dangerous dungeon despite its ludicrously valuable drops. This dungeon worth upwards of 600,000 Sect Points has been marked down over the last 100 millennia it has been on the market.

3000 Sect Points.

Vergil could feel his dick getting hard over the thought of charging into that monstrosity and reaping the rewards; he made sure to favorite it on his tablet. Even if he didn't buy it today, he would definitely purchase it later. Maybe it would go down in price even further.

"I think we can handle it," Shiro said.

Mark was shaking his head. "I'm not walking into that thing," Mark said.

"Mr. Satan, I will be beside you the whole time." Vergil unleashed some of his strength, causing the suddenly full room the gasp. "Nothing will happen to any of you while I'm around."

"Sensei, it's been on the market forever; we shouldn't settle on the second dungeon we see," Mark said.

Vergil struggled not to buy it on the spot but ultimately decided against it. There wasn't enough money to go around, and if no normal human ever left it, how would the word of the riches contained ever get out. Also, some dumb ass would probably make it out and start building markers in his front lawn; no thanks. He liked the surface of his planet even if he couldn't explore it and sane disciples. When he did buy it, he would have to limit the entry to disciples in the natal realm of mind cultivation.

He put 5 sect points into it and preordered it.

Apocalypse Ponies Dungeon – The four ponies of the apocalypse have awoken in equestrian, turning the once lovable peaceful ponies into vampires, werewolves, and all sorts of crazy monster ponies. This once vibrant world has become dirty and dark, ever waiting for a hero to come and bring back the princess of the sun. Drops are plentiful, and some ponies can be convinced to become familiars. It is a great world for beginners to sink their teeth into dungeon exploration.

1500 Sect Points

"I think that one is probably our winner," Mark said.

Literally, everyone in the room stared at Mark. A long silence stretched until, finally, Shiro seemed to nod his head. "It is all the horse meat we could eat."

"As fun as it would be to shove sapient ponies into a big meat grinder to sell to Pepper town, I would be bored to tears," Vergil said.

Vergil saved the Apocalypse Ponies Dungeon and put another 5 sect points to preorder it. "I thought you didn't like it, Sect Master."

"We will always have juniors; we need a low-ranked dungeon for them to play around in. Just because we don't need it now doesn't mean we will live in the future." Vergil said, playing his role as a wise sect master.

Honestly, the pony dungeon could be considered low tier, the souls born mid-tier, and the dead space 40k crossover wet dream would be high tier. But, unfortunately, his students needed something between low and mid-tier.

The picky little guys needed something less threatening than souls born but more threatening than my little pony. Of course, their ki armor should negate most damage since it doubles their power level defensively. As it refines, the technique should grow even stronger. It isn't capped like a power-up punch.

The premonition from his observation Haki hits him again, but he can't do anything about the vague feeling. It couldn't be about the dungeon because he was going with them. Not to mention they all had observation Haki. Sneak attacks were far less effective against his disciples than the average dark souls player. It wasn't like he would send them into a dungeon naked that was for the normies; he planned to farm to improve the dungeon.

He scrolled down until he found a dungeon that caught his interest.

Black Water Mystery Dungeon – The pokémon in the dungeon have been infected by Garlic Jr.'s Black Water Mist. Garlic Jr. was soul trapped into a dungeon core governed by classic dungeon rules, so he won't boss-rush a newbie. All pokémon have been enhanced through centuries of constant battle with one another while this dungeon sat on the market. Pokemon include all 9 generations with fanmade variations, and all drops excluding local currency are pokémon based, including TMs and abilities that are learnable by adventurers. While it isn't necessarily a beginner dungeon due to the legendaries turned bosses, this dungeon is considered within the level of beginners.

2500 Sect Points

Vergil didn't mind the pun; it also wouldn't break the bank. Pokemon could be taught to cultivate and grow even more powerful. They were spirit beasts in his Sect's hands with convenient control orbs called pokéballs.

He turned back to his disciples, who seemed a lot less confrontational. "What are pokémon?"

"Sapient monsters that range from squirrel-sized to mountainous monstrosities. Due to dungeon rules, we should be able to deal with the first few floors easily." Vergil said.

Vergil was underselling their power to make them a little cautious. Barring a legendary like Mewtwo, his disciples would ransack the dungeon for all its worth. The first couple of floors would be a complete stomp. And there were a few pokémon Vergil held a candle for. The Charizard line would have many more evolutions if he had anything to do with it.

"That doesn't sound so bad, and it will pay us for beating them up," Mark said.

"We can also capture them; they love to fight and would make excellent partners. Once they learn cultivation, they can even gain human form." Vergil said.

"What do you mean, Sect Master?" Shiro asked.

"Shiro, we can have unlimited bitches with this dungeon," Vergil said.

The eyes of every disciple lit up, and their desire for the dungeon increased dramatically. "What are we waiting for. This is clearly the right choice." A disciple shouted.

Vergil quickly purchased the dungeon and didn't feel a premonition of any danger from his action. So it wasn't what he had sensed before. That was frustrating and paradoxically relieving. His action of purchasing a dungeon hadn't doomed his Sect.

…

A beaten, bloody man swung under a tree tied with metal wire and bleeding out. In front of him, a man wearing a pink Chinese men's long coat with the Kanji for killing you written on a patch. The man's lips twitched into a smile spreading his pensile thin mustache. The man's eagle-like nose pointed up as he turned away from the swinging man.

In the background, Satan Castle burned in the distance as Mercenary Tao approached Pepper Town.

"Fuck your hairstyle." The disciple of the Satan Sect grunted between bloody gasps.

"Have you failed to learn your lesson? Don't disrespect your betters, especially when your opinion is wrong. For example, my hairstyle is the pinnacle of fashion. I have already burned your castle and scattered the surviving disciples to the four winds. Do you still doubt my power?"

Tao approached a nearby tree and uprooted it before removing its limbs.

"You dumb ass, that wasn't even related to our Sect. They were a random group that shared our name. If you had attacked our Sect, then Mr. Satan would destroy you and your shit haircut."

Tao glared down at the clearly dying man. "I will let you live until I return from burning down your Sect."

The mercenary heard a croaking sound and turned to see the man was laughing. Tao snorted at the man's foolish pride. He was urged to beat the man more, but he held back. There was no use killing him before Tao laid the head of this, Mr. Satan, before him. When Tao showed the man how wrong he was, he would be satisfied to see his pride crumble. After that, the begging would start.

…

Vergil was itching for some action. He was raring to go, but he couldn't escape his premonition. The Sect Master didn't know when an attack would come, but his observation Haki was clear one was on its way. As much as it pained him, he couldn't go gallivanting into a dungeon while danger was right around the corner.

Fortunately, the dungeon wasn't going anywhere. So it wouldn't do to drain its resources immediately; Vergil needed his disciples to get some money and show it off in town to bring in people. Envy was a powerful motivator, especially when easy money was on the table.

The door to the dungeon had a pitch-black ceiling that grew brighter as it revealed pokémon carved into the gold-plated door. Vergil wanted to be the first one inside to experience everything the dungeon had to offer, but it was an underfed dungeon. As the dungeon's owner, he could open two more doors to the dungeon with a maximum of three. He planned to open the next door in the most populated city on earth, or he could open up a door to somewhere like mass effect and open a door there. Of course, 11.4 billion would really feed a dungeon. But honestly, he was hoping to save that option for the Dead Space Hulk Dungeon.

Vergil handed one of the dungeon keys to Shiro's second-in-command, Sly. "Go to Central City and place the other door in a relatively public place." The man nodded and left immediately.

That left a single key to use, possibly in another universe.