In Which Marius and Co. Learns Something Very Disturbing

"I can't believe I will see another dungeon in my life."

"Believe it, laddie. De dunjun is real, dat's for shure."

"So, where is the kid?" Kansur asks.

*WHAM!!!*

"He's already here."

"(Bleep) teleporters. What the (bleep) is this? How the (bleep) did this happened."

"Sucks to be yah, me boy. Dunjun teleports be finicky dings."

*Gumbling.* "Anyways, introductions. To anyone who doesn't know me, my name is Henry Thompson. I serve as caretaker and guide to this wonderful dungeon, the... 'DUNGEON OF SALVATION!!!'."

"A bit of grandstanding there. Not embarrassed by the name anymore, huh?"

"There's only so much a man can do while waiting for visitors and adventurers. Come on, I've been waiting here for a month. I've even prepared new surprises for everyone, even you."

"Dungeon of Salvation. What kind of name is that?

"The kind saddled by a vindictive bastard of a (bleep (bleep). YEOWCH!!!."

"AHAHAHAHAH! Got der by yer boss, huh."

"(bleep)."

"Why are there bleeps every time you speak? Are you cursed?"

"He's not cursed. No, it's forbidden to curse or utter a god's name inside the dungeon. And our friend here can't speak a few sentences without cursing."

"Ah, nice one. And language, you man. We have impressionable children here with us." Jakur'xeran replies.

"Speaking of children. Cadix, Sad'erazan..."

"It's Sadie, Master Marius."

"...Sadie, Mereth and Nethrex. Welcome to the dungeon."

"Wow, newbies. You bring the best gift. Oh, what's this? You have Gunslinger and Tinker? Nice. We gonna have so much fun later."

"It is just me or I'm feeling a sense of impending doom when Henry went to talk with the kids?" Kansur asks

"It's just your imagination." Nope, not gonna go there.

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"Firebolt!"

"Power Swing!"

"Thorn Needle!"

"Dual Shot!"

Really now. You drag us all the way here, then leave us to get ambushed by a bunch of Fanged Rabbits and...

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

And fucking Stinger Bees. I hate insects. Especially those that bite or sting you.

*Wham*

And the last of them were dead. Even though we're all LVL1 when we entered the dungeon, Master Marius thought us a lot about them. What to expect. What to do before, during and after a fight. And how to loot monsters.

Just pick what the monsters leave behind when their bodies have decayed. And that happens very fast inside the dungeon.

Two rabbit, one poor and one good quality. Some stingers. And a small pot of honey. Nice.

"Bravo. You're good at this. I can't believe you guys are only LVL1."

"Thank, I think?" Sadie replies.

"Where were you? Why did you left us here?"

"Oh don't be a sourpuss, kid. This is nothing compared to what you will face as adventurers. And don't worry, I and the Dungeon itself won't let anyone you guys die while in here. You can be assured of that. You will get injured, but nothing permanent will remain."

"The dungeon's really nice to us. Why is that?"

"The old dungeons can't be considered as beings like us. Beings that can feel, express emotions or even communicate with others. They are terribly uncreative and can only operate under some conditions. Even they can advance pretty quickly if given a chance, they don't factor in other variable such as the environment and adventurers in their dungeon design. It's like that the has only a hammer, so every thing else are nails."

"But this dungeon it different. I'm linked to the dungeon, allowing it to be different from the others. It can develop new ideas. It can communicate with others, well not really, but I can relay them. It can plan its own design not only to suit its needs but also the needs of others. It learns from the people who explore it. And with me, it learns that it doesn't to kill adventurers to make itself stronger. A safer dungeon, well safer in comparison, will draw more adventurers. More adventurers mean more power for the dungeon to utilize. It's a perspective of scale."

"Huh, what do mean by scale?"Sadie asks.

"It's like this. Adventurers that enter the dungeon provides some kind energy that allows the dungeon to grow faster. And the biggest one is when an adventurer dies inside the dungeon. But consider this, will you enter a dungeon where the risk of death is high."

"No."

"Exactly. So what we came up is that we make a dungeon that will attract more adventurers due to the fact that it's more safer here. We might get less energy per person but more energy in the long run."

"Aaaah. I get it. It's like Akinos, the vegetable vendor at Trevellen. He's cheaper than most but he sells more because more people will buy more affordable stuff."

"Right, you got it. Congrats. Here, have a reward."

"Thanks. Oooh nice, a LVL5 Magic-quality Iron Cleaver. I can't use it yet without getting too many Ability Score penalties but still.... My first magic item to boot."

"You're welcome."

"Hey, how about us? Don't we get something?"

"Hmmm, should have made something like a starter package for new adventurers. Why don't you have five vials of Light healing potion and Scroll of Exit Teleport. This will bring you the entrance room."

"Thank you."

"Well, it's something, I guess. Thanks."

"Be grateful. Do you know how much these potions sell for? I bet we can get at least a Gold Coin for them, if not more?"

"Really? Thanks a lot then... uhm... what's your name again?"

"It's Henry, Henry Thompson. At you service."

"Thanks, Sir Henry."

"Henry will do just fine."

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"Are you sure that the kids will be safe with him?"

"Yes. He won't let anyone come to serious harm. The dungeon is still dangerous, but it won't kill you unlike the other dungeons before."

"Before ye get yer panties in a twist, let's look at de shop. Me seeing some new dings on sale."

"You're right, Grumman. Let's take a look, shall we?"

The Shop is quite a weird experience. It's something that no one I ever knew of has experienced. The dungeons will always try to kill the adventurers that come seeking riches and treasures in its depth.

But not this.

The Shop sells quite a variety of items. From healing items to materials, from weapons to armor. Even artifacts are available in limited amount in this Shop.

But you can only from the Shop with Dungeon Coins, DC, as well as Shop Vouchers, SV. Both can only be found inside the dungeon in limited amounts. Even when we first entered here we only got 149 DC and 2 VS, a LVL3 and a LVL6.

Wait, what's this? Increased drops of DC inside the dungeon. That's great. The Shop has lowered the price some of the items sold, very good. And an addition of a lot more items. The list is now more than double the length than it was before.

Flashlight? MRE? Radio?

"Hey Marius. Got your kiddies in one piece. Exhausted but in one piece."

"I see." Those kids looks like they've been trampled by a herd of Flaming Oxmen. "Anyway can you explain what these are?"

"Flashlight. It's a light source. There are many types of them, but the basic is that it generates a beam of light by using electrical energy generated by batteries. Think of batteries as alchemical devices that generate a very small and controlled amount of lightning. Not enough to shock anyone, but enough to power the flashlight."

"MREs are an abbreviation of the words 'Meal Ready to Eat'. They are precooked or preserved food items packaged in airtight pouches or cans, ready to eat in a moment's notice. Many of them are a set, complete with the appetizer, main course, dessert and beverages. There are even MRE sets that can feed a person for a whole day. You'll only need hot or cold water, depending on what is needed. There even some that have flameless heaters. You can say it's an alchemical item that allows a person to reheat packages included in an MRE. Just follow the instructions and you're good to go."

"Radios can be considered as an enchanted item that allows a person to listen to a signal that is sent from one or more places. Many can even be used to communicate, the distance depending on how powerful the radio. It's powered by electricity, like the batteries I mentioned earlier. A form of elec...."

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*A few minutes (heh, more like a few hours) of explanations and questioning later.*

Henry is not from around here. He's brought here by a deal made with a very powerful being to be the caretaker of the dungeon.

He's not telling me everything, but at least he's not lying.

So.... He came from another world. And the oddities in this dungeon are the effects of him being not form here and the deal he struck with that mysterious "benefactor'.

And there is no magic where he came from. Or monsters.

Or dungeons.

Instead of mastering magic, they learned and mastered the natural world around them. No magic means no spells that can make life easier, cure the sick, and even shape the world. No, what they did is create mundane inventions that will allow them to do that. Inventions that even with magic we cannot fathom, let alone duplicate the feat. Food preservation, manufacturing; we don't even have something that can approach the extent of the long-distance communication capabilities.

Let's not even talk about 'nuclear weapons'. How they didn't end up causing the destruction of their world I'll never know.

And it's all available in the Shop. Well, not all of them, especially those 'atom bombs', but a good sampling nonetheless.

It's enough for someone to replicate that other world's accomplishment.

Oh dear. I looked at my companions.

Grumman stood there unblinking. His mind almost blown out, unable to process the things he learned today. Romul is slacked jaw in awe, all poise and decorum lost. Jakur'xeran just flat-out fainted.

And Kansur is smiling.

It's not even a simple smile. It's not even a smirk. It's full blown, manic grin only seen in madmen. Or bloodthirsty monsters upon seeing their helpless prey.

Then Henry looked to Kansur, locking eyes with him. And that smile also slowly bloomed on Henry's face.

(BLEEP)!