More Surprises

After the three adventurers left, there was still quite a bit of time before Seraphina showed up. Unfortunately, two other groups also showed up to the dungeon in that time. That had resulted in even more of her gargoyles dying and having to be replaced. On the bright side, it did allow her to build two new rooms and she made a significant discovery with the last batch.

She, apparently, had a log full of tributes received from the three groups of adventurers, which had resulted in her dungeon points increasing in number. The first group had left her a red mage's robe, bronze dagger, and a lesser stamina potion. The list was further broken down to show the materials each item was made from with her being rewarded 25 DP for each new [Base Resource] and 10 DP for each new [Item]. Thanks to the robe alone, she had been able to earn an entire 85 dungeon points, but the first group's total came out to an even more amazing 225 DP.

Veronica had to wonder why they were leaving their gear in her dungeon, though. Surely they needed their equipment for future dungeon raids? Perhaps this was their old gear, but that still didn't explain the potion. Oh well, it wasn't her job to tell them what to leave as tribute. It was interesting to see that this seemed to be a regular thing that every adventuring party did, though, as the second and third parties also left her things.

She now also had the schematics for a wooden training sword and shield, a lesser health potion, a random wooden button, peppermint, and plantain leaves. With 410 DP, she could easily afford to spend the 100 DP to unlock the 25 MP spawner as well as it's upgrade for an additional 200 DP. While it was a shame to spend all that she had earned so quickly, it was nice to have a spawner. It was just a shame that she had only had enough mana to buy the 50 MP spawner and so she now had zero [Monsters] in her dungeon.

Veronica didn't really have any attachment to her gargoyles. They couldn't communicate with her and they weren't exactly good for companionship in the way a dog might be. Besides, the labels of "summonable" and "contractable" seemed to suggest the gargoyles were being created from seemingly nothing while others, like her will-o'-wisps, would be coming from somewhere outside of the dungeon. If she had to let her [Monsters] die a permanent death, her gargoyles seemed far more suitable for that then anything else might be, not that she'd have to worry about that anymore.

It was a bit worrisome that the next group to visit the dungeon wouldn't have anything to keep them entertained. They'd, hopefully, be reasonable and not try to bother her or go into the dungeon core room. However, it couldn't be helped that she required more mana before she could create new gargoyles for them to destroy. She could only hope she'd get lucky and they'd get lost on the hotel side long enough for her to make some new ones.

However, after a few more hours, Seraphina arrived to the dungeon and Veronica breathed a sigh of relief.

"So, how did things go today?"

The elven woman asked in greeting.

"Well, the dungeon is still standing, so I suppose it could have been worse."

Veronica joked. With a wry smile, Seraphina apologized

"I'm sorry, I probably should have spent some more time helping you adjust to the dungeon. I'm sure you have a lot of questions for me and you'll now have plenty of time to ask them. It seems the council has decided it would be best for me to stay with you in the dungeon until you unlock your second-floor. They want me to observe the situation as well as teach you self-defense and ensure your dungeon can survive, at least, that long."

Veronica rolled her eyes as she complained

"Doesn't seem like they trust me to know what I'm doing. I know I'm not from this world, but I've managed just fine on my own today. I even have three rooms now and a spawner in one of them!"

Seraphina laughed in amusement as she walked through the dungeon side with her. Reassuring her, she said

"It isn't about how capable you are, Lady Veronica. The general rule-of-thumb when it comes to dungeons is to let them grow without too much interference. It's even against the dungeon accords to influence your decisions in regards to how to develop your dungeon too much. It's also against the rules to prevent anyone and anything that wishes to challenge your dungeon from entering it. So, I'm hardly here to take away your free will."

Seraphina frowned, still feeling upset about it as she asked

"Then why?"

Not leaving any room for her to continue questioning it, Seraphina replied

"Your potential to guard yourself against attacks has been cut in half because of your dungeon being physically divided in half. Besides which, the last time we had someone who retained their memories from their old world, they had to have someone to teach them swordsmanship in order for their safety to be ensured. They somehow ended up hard-locked into a cute theme with slimes as their only combat [Monsters] on their first-floor. She ended up suffering quite a bit of trauma from her situation being mishandled and the council doesn't want to see you suffer a similar fate.

Most humans, like yourself, tend to have a history as adventurers before they become dungeon masters. Beasts and [Monsters] that become dungeon masters tend to grow stronger with each new floor they unlock. Since the only case we have to reference suggests you'll have to depend on your own abilities to defend yourself, I've been told to teach you martial arts and help keep people away from the dungeon core room. Otherwise, just look at it as an opportunity to earn extra mana to build your first-floor more quickly."

Well, Veronica couldn't really argue with that sort of logic. It was true that it would be nice to not have to worry about struggling as much in the beginning. Still, that did raise other questions.

"What happens if someone reaches the dungeon core, anyway? It always feels like alarm bells are going off in my head when adventurers enter the dungeon and I feel the need to protect that room, but I don't entirely understand why."

Seraphina frowned, looking rather serious, as she replied

"Now that you are bonded to the dungeon, you can, potentially, live forever. You won't need to eat, drink, sleep, etc. and you will heal very quickly. However, you have to protect the dungeon core or else it could result in you dying with it. It isn't just you either, the whole dungeon will be destroyed and any [Monsters] in it, including the contracted ones, will die in the process. If you have adventurers who can't get out in time, it's also possible they could be harmed in the process.

I usually try to avoid mentioning this for as long as possible, but I think you should know. Dungeon masters often end up getting tired of living such long lives. By the time that happens, they usually have maxed out their dungeon floors with all twenty-five of them built and it's hard for adventurers and free-roaming [Monsters] to make it that far. That was the case for the last dungeon in the area as well, but it is my job, as your assigned dungeon diplomat, to destroy the dungeon core for you when you are ready to move on. That might mean I lose my life in the process, a lot of that comes down to my own skills and luck."

That was a lot to take in... Veronica wasn't sure what to think and could only ask to be given some space. She needed some time to unpack all that she had learned.