NOVEL NEXT CH.68 Intruders in my Dungeon
I still need to do something about the seats on Overdrive. They really just aren’t that comfortable. Perhaps I have something I could install onto Overdrive to do that. I need to go over my collection at some point with that in mind. It’s not terrible when on the dirt roads, but off-roading with this thing, not fun. Needs both better suspension and seats.
Guided by Laura, I made my way over to the forest road I cleared. Is it wrong to say I cleared it? Technically it was Slot Machine, but wouldn’t my summon be an extension of me. How does that go? I think my summon’s accomplishments are my accomplishments, so… Yes. It’s my road. To my dungeon. Well the dungeon is mine anyway. I’m the founder, so it’s mine.
My precious. Okay, not to that level.
On the way I passed by a few carriages carrying lumber. I guess they would be a part of the clearing operation. I think Brandon gave that job to the Bakula company. I also think there was a job offer for physical labor at the adventurer’s guild. I probably could have taken it and just used some summons for it, but I’ll leave it to people who need the money more.
After a bit more driving, I arrived at the edge of the forest. There were three carriages there, and people were loading lumber into them. I stopped a fair distance away from them, to avoid spreading fear, got out of Overdrive and unsummoned it. Some of them did notice Overdrive, but I guess the rumors about me have spread to the point where people would know about my mechanical carriage. Or would it be a golem carriage?
“Hello, Sir Brian.” The one who seemed to be in charge came up to me and greeted me. “What brings you here?”
He isn’t the coachman from our dungeon trip. He is someone else. Probably someone from Bakula company.
“I’m just on my way to the dungeon.” I told him. “I hope I’m not getting in your way.”
“Of course not. I thought you would be here for the process report. Sadly, we are behind schedule. The company had to send away carriages to Sawyer city to transport the wyvern materials, so we can’t operate at full speed.” He told me.
“Understandable. I probably should come and help with it, but I have things to do today.” I answered.
“We would never dream of taking your time for something as simple as clearing lumber.” He told me.
“Well it’s something that will benefit myself, so doing it wouldn’t be that strange.” I said to him. “Is there anything I need to know or am I fine to pass?”
“No, you are fine.” The supervisor told me.
“I’ll get on with it then.” I told him and began to walk.
I walked past some workers on the way. They were clearing the branches off of the trees and carrying them out of the forest. So they are not getting carriages right next to the lumber yet. I guess they haven’t gotten an earth mage here yet. I don’t think I have one I can summon either.
(Master doesn’t have any earth attribute spellcaster monsters.) Laura told me.
(What about something else that could do it?) I asked.
(No.) Laura told. Well, can’t be helped then.
Thankfully most of them focused on the work so no one stopped me to thank me or something.
The trip is a lot easier when there are no trees on the way. It might not be a good path yet, but it’s much better than the overgrown forest it used to be. It took me only an hour to make it to the dungeon. On the way I ate one of the burritos I picked up. I still have like eight of them and I probably should eat all of them today. Or give them to someone else.
I made it to the dungeon entrance and then realized something.
“I should probably summon something to keep me safe in the dungeon.” I said out loud.
(You could use Performance of Sword, or perhaps apply some of the sleeves to new monsters.) Laura told me.
(Yeah, how many sleeves do I have in stock?) I asked.
(Eight.)
(So I could even make a toploader. Didn’t I have a spare Dark Magician? Let’s just put a toploader on it now that I lost the other one.)
(Yes, Master. I’ll do that for you.) Laura told me.
(Master, I found out something that you might want to know.) Laura interrupted me as I was going to take out Dark Magician.
(What is it?) I asked.
(I can’t place a toploader onto Performance of Sword. I believe this is because it was summoned without one initially.)
So the free sleeve comes with a caveat that I can’t place a toploader on top of it. Acceptable. Need to keep that in mind. But it doesn’t really matter at the moment. Had I learned that with some other monster, it might have been worse.
(Laura, thank you for recommending I perform that ritual summon. You taught me new things again.)
(I’ll do my best for my Master.)
Well, we’ve stalled enough.
I opened my skill and pulled out my new Dark Magician. I guess losing one isn’t that bad since I had one in stock. And now I can also summon Dark Sage. Well he did ask I let him rest, so I probably shouldn’t summon him for a few days. Or at least not today.
With my DiaDhank active, I summoned my monster.
“I summon Dark Magician.”
Like the previous one, his card appeared vertically and he opened it like a door, and stepped out.
But he looked a little different. He was dressed in a redish robe, instead of the purple one the previous Dark Magician had.
“Master, you have called on me. What can I do for you?” He asked. His voice was identical to the last one.
“Hello. I’m heading to my dungeon and I need you to take care of the monsters on the way to the core.” I told him.
“Simple.” He responded.
Then the two of us made our way inside.
But we didn’t get far when we ran into something unexpected. A group of adventurers was in the first room of the dungeon. They were taking down the skeletons that now lived here. When they had cleared out the room, I spoke to them.
“...so… why are you here?” I asked.
“Are you Brian?” One of them asked.
“I am, but why are you here?”
They weren’t that old. I would guess around seventeen. There were four of them.
“We came to check out the dungeon.” They answered.
“You know it’s not officially opened yet.” I told them.
“But we can get dungeon cards and dungeon points already.” They argued. “Getting a head start can help us get profits.”
“Well, it doesn’t really matter to me. Just be careful.” I told them. “Also make sure you don’t go past the sixth room. The seventh one has a strong monster in it.”
I think they might be able to handle the basic skeletons and imps that now live here, but taking on the bone dinosaur might be too much for them.
“We won’t. Thank you.” They said. “But could we come with you?”
“No, just stay here. I’ll leave the monsters in the second and third room for you guys to hunt.” I told them and made my way forward.
“Dark Magician, are you the same Dark Magician as the one I summoned earlier or a different one?” I asked my summon. This had bothered me since he appeared, as he looks like the one Arcana used in the anime, with a red robe and a darker skin tone.
“I apologize, Master, but I don’t understand your question.” He responded.
“Well I had a Dark Magician I summoned with a different card before you, but he looked completely different from you.” I told him. “Well mostly it was his robe. It was purple whereas yours is red.”
“... I believe he is also me. But a different me.” My summon answered.
“Okay… That doesn’t explain anything.” I told him. “Were you a servant of Pharaoh Atem?” I asked him about the history in the Yugioh anime, and with Dark Magician Girl taking on the name Mana, it’s possible that he is the Dark Magician that was in the anime. The one that was a fusion of a Sacred Guardian and a monster spirit.
“Yes, I was. Until the passing of my previous Master in the ceremonial duel. Now, you are my Master.” He told me.
…Okay, so he did work with Atem. But how does that make sense?
“Who did Pharaoh Atem fight against?” I had to confirm this.
“He fought against the Destruction light Beast and its servants. With the power of the Gentle Darkness he triumphed.” Dark Magician told his story.
Destruction light? Like the light of destruction? And didn’t the gentle darkness have something to do with Jaden? Did they swap adversaries in the world of this Dark Magician? Or is the timeline in that world even more messed up?
“I see…” I responded. “Thank you for telling me.”
“Master seems confused. Was there something strange about my story?” He asked.
“Well yes. It’s just not the story I know. In the story I know the Pharaoh fought against Zorc the Dark One. A being powered by darkness. And he won with the help of a Light God. It’s just different.” I told him.
“I don’t see how light could ever be an ally. All that it touches just turns into sand.” Dark Magician told me.
“That is how you see it, but someone else would ask the same about darkness. Darkness just consumes everything. But that doesn’t matter. Let’s just get a move on.” I told my summon.
With Dark Magician, avoiding monsters was simple. Well we didn’t really avoid them. More like Dark Magician held them down and we just walked past.
(Laura, is it just me or are these rooms larger than they were previously?)
(They are larger. The dungeon is growing larger. We used a powerful core for it, so the dungeon is growing as a result.)
(But wasn’t the rogue core just as large?)
(The dungeon must have been extremely young when Master came and eliminated it.)
So I killed a baby dungeon and then made it my own? That sounds cruel, but I guess dungeon life is. And she (or he) seems to be doing fine now. I guess it's more like I took in a wild dungeon and now I’m taking care of it.
I quickly made my way through the dungeon with Dark Magician eliminating all of the monsters on the way. Well we did leave all that didn’t try attacking, but I still got a ton of Generation points from all the skeletons and imps. Nice.
Even the skeleton dino was no problem for Dark Magician, so we just blew straight through it.
We made it to the last tunnel that led to the core room. It was blocked by a wall that slid to the side as I approached it.
(I made the wall move to the side, Master. It’s there to make sure no one other than Master can make it to the core room.) Laura told me.
(That’s nice. Useful features for the win.)
Now, I’ll just make the items I want. First, I’ll get myself one of those magic flasks. Then the pendant to act as a base for the gift. And if I have points left over, a magic fanny pack to sell to the owner of that one store. I could also just make a fanny pack and take the flask in the trade from him, but I can always find a use for two magic flasks. One for water and the other for, well other liquids. Definitely not alcohol. I wouldn’t do it. I’m not an alcoholic.
