Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 402

Chapter 402 – Info Sharing

Peter Franks was calm as he led the group of Atlanteans to the two-story building that was the Adventurers Guild office here in Swamptown. The building wasn’t really anything special. Cement slab, cinder block walls, basic roof. It did have enchantments to keep wind and rain off it, though, as well as general durability, so it ought to weather a hurricane decently. Reception area, with a desk staffed 24/7, and a small lounge with a couple chairs, and a digital quest board on the wall, showing different requests from local crafters and other such types. Most, naturally, involved getting materials from the dungeon, but there were also a few requests for creatures from the surrounding swamps, as well.

Past the reception area was a small library. Most of the books were [Skill Primers] purchased from the System Shop. These were like the more expensive [Skill Tomes], but there were differences. A [Skill Tome (Basic)] would give you the skill immediately, but if you didn’t have free skill points to spare, they were automatically deducted next time you leveled up. Good for something you needed Right Now, but not the smartest play overall. The [Skill Tome (Advanced)], however, gave you the skill without requiring you to pay points, but it was far more expensive.

Worse, both versions of the [Skill Tome] were single-use. They literally disappeared when you used them. The [Skill Primer], on the other hand, was reusable indefinitely, so long as you didn’t damage the book. This was because it only unlocked the skill as a General Skill, rather than giving it to you right away. Still, as a reusable resource, they were invaluable boons to those who came to Swamptown and didn’t have some core skills that might be needed to get through the dungeon.

Aside from that, there were some [Basic Grimoires] for different classes. Each one held a good number of spells for different classes or magic types within a class. Like the [Skill Primers], these books were reusable. However, they were useless unless you had the magic type unlocked, either as a class skill or a general skill. More importantly, you had to actually study the grimoire to learn the different spells, which put them in the ‘useful, but not world-breaking’ category.

A staircase in the reception area led to the second floor. This was primarily devoted to a meeting room where Guild members could hold discussions, and offices for himself and his second in command, Zoe Fletcher. As it happened, Zoe was just stepping out of the library as Peter led the aliens in. “Oh, hey Chief. We just got that shipment of Tier 2 [Skill Primers] in from the National Guild. I have them set up in the Library. Who are your friends?”

“Ah, Zoe Fletcher, meet Rhys Lunaleaf and his companions. They’re Adventurers from Bluemountain, and were looking to gather information on the dungeon before heading in. Want to come along as I give them the rundown?”

“Sure! With all the information coming from the City level, alone, it is obvious that there’s a lot of ground to go over.” She turned to the stairs, and said, “Why don’t we go sit in the meeting room? That will be more comfortable than anything else.”

Once everyone was seated, and introductions were made, Peter said, “So, before we begin with the basics of the dungeon, is there anything specific you wanted to know? You mentioned having a quest in the dungeon, so I assume there’s a specific item or something that you’re looking for?”

Rhys, the True Dominator who was the obvious leader of the group, nodded. “Yes, we received a request directly from a mysterious man who wanted a sword from the eighteenth floor of the dungeon, called the [Silver Sword of Soulbreaking].”

Peter frowned. “I have not heard of an item by that name. And the eighteenth floor is the one we’re currently calling the Lower City. And, yes, there is a good-sized city on that floor, with the name Khav-Srokzas, populated mostly by a race called the Dogik. Spider-type aliens the size of a large cart. Is there anything you can tell us about the quest, and the man wo offered it? I don’t mind telling you that the whole thing seems quite shady.”

Rhys chuckled, and nodded. “Yes, we thought the same. However, he offered a bag with twenty-four Tier 2 diamonds, worth a total of twenty-four thousand gold, and promised a second bag just as valuable when we got the sword. That kind of pay, plus whatever else we pull from the dungeon on our way there, is no small thing, even at our level. Plus, it allows us to make the pilgrimage here, and see the dungeon Lord Kuronoth manages, so there are extra benefits.

“As for the quest-giver? It was strange. He looked a normal Atlantean, clad all in black, though it is rare to see people with pure black hair in the Anfelon Confederacy, where we hail from. He also had a peculiar way of speaking. He always did his best to not say anything directly. The only direct statements he made, actually, were on the pay, and some of the particulars of the job. Even when giving his name, he said that ‘we could call him’ Abel Blacksoul.”

Peter shared a look with Zoe. They’d both heard that kind of talk before. Zoe took a breath, and said, “Would you say that the person who gave you the quest was trying to lie to you, without saying anything that was actually untrue?”

Merewen, the High Priestess for the party, nodded. “Yes, I got that exact impression when he was speaking. I have the Wise One title, and the [Truthsense] skill from being a priestess of Selphie, Goddess of Truth, Justice, and Prosperity. Everything the man said was true, but I had the sense that he was using one truth to hide another.”

Zoe nodded slowly. “We’ve got a few figures like that here on Earth. Most of them are different types of demons, fey, or trickster gods. Some are under a magical restriction preventing them from lying, and some see it as a challenge and sign of their wit to always tell the truth, lying either by omission or by saying something in a way that is factually true, but is wholly different from the implied truth that most people would hear with those words. One of the most pertinent examples for this would be your Lord Kuronoth.”

The adventurers frowned at that. Rhys was the one that spoke first. “But why would He do something like that? He could just show up, and ask, and we would have gone on the quest.”

Peter took a breath, and said, “We don’t know for sure it was him. And if we asked, he’d probably find some way to answer without actually saying yes or no, just for fun. But why don’t you tell us everything that happened. That will give us some idea of what the man, whoever he is, wanted.”

Teffany, the Stalwart Shieldmaiden, frowned. “Well, it started when Merewen mentioned she could feel us being watched, but couldn’t see anyone, even with her Blessed Sight title. Which means they had to be above her level, or using something greater than a normal invisibility spell. Then, he revealed himself, and said he had a job offer for us. But, before he would say anything about the job, he asked if any of us had owned slaves before. When we said no, he said we met the minimum requirements for the mission.”

Danyll, the party’s Shadowblade, nodded. “And when Master asked why he didn’t pick a team from Earth, since they’d be closer, he said that most of the teams had slaveowners of some form in their parties, which wouldn’t work. His exact words were ‘My information suggests that one cannot gain access to the path leading to the sword without first interacting with a group of dungeon creatures that attack Slave owners on sight.’ That struck me as odd, when he said it, so it stuck in my memory.”

Peter looked over to Zoe. “The other side of the cave network on the seventeenth floor, with that Dogik outpost, Khav-Szarol? What was the name of the place with the freed slaves? Shatterchain?”

“Yes, that was it,” Zoe nodded. “There were mentions of it, in hidden writing that only those who had never been slave owners could read, but no one bothered checking on it, even if they were in a party with no slave owners. The Khav-Szarol side was already found, and the basics of the floor’s mechanics on that side laid out. Most groups went on to try and get enough favor in the next floor to unlock the Raid.”

Peter nodded. “So, a mysterious man goes to Bluemountain, and finds a group of adventurers who fits the criteria and gives them a wildly profitable job off-world. He would have to know that they would come to the Guild, and ask for the most recent information about the dungeon.”

“We did mention that we would do just that when he first mentioned the job,” Rhys commented, “and he said that was fine, since he didn’t need incompetent or overconfident adventurers on the job.”

“How long ago did you get the quest?” Zoe asked.

Emblema, the Mystic Spelldancer, quickly did the calculations. “Three months, Bluemountain time. Which, apparently, is approximately three and a half months of Earth time. Days are thirty hours long, but there are seven days in a week and four weeks to the month, with each month having twenty-eight days.”

Zoe nodded. “That would have put it at just after the Azure Flames completed their first run of the Khav-Szarol missions, then, and got to the Khav-Szrokzas floor. Too early for it to be a response to everyone else going that way.”

Peter shook his head. “He knows the adventurers here at least as well as we do, Zoe. Probably better, if we’re limiting things to how they act in his dungeon. And he’s no idiot. He had to have figured that most people would take that route, once someone showed the way.”

“So, you definitely believe that it was Lord Kuronoth who put us on this mission?” Rhys asked. “But why go through all that, and not just tell us?”

“Because apparently even gods have limits on what they can do. Or, at least, what they can do without consequences. Apparently, one of those limits for gods involves how much they can actually influence their followers directly. If they start messing with people’s free will, then it can apparently cause trouble. Which is why, during the recent Divine Trial hitting three of the big religions here on Earth simultaneously, apparently none of the gods could set things up directly, according to what rumors have been saying. However, an adventurer taking a quest of their own free will, without any divine mandate or the like, to unleash a Tier 4 Dragon in the middle of a city of Tier 1 and 2 people? That’s not against the rules.”

The offworlders winced. “A Tier 4 dragon, and a Divine Trial on top of that?” Merewen gasped. “The area must have been devastated! How many died? And is the dragon still there?”

“Seven hundred million, at least,” Peter said, gravely. “All of them the more ‘militant’ members of the three faiths in the Trials. The ones that took more extreme views. Everyone looking at it could see that it was a purge of the ranks.”

“As for the dragon,” Zoe added, “a divine being known as the Monkey King stepped in, once the Trial was complete, and killed the dragon. Fairly handily, too, since he was known for fighting dragons in the myths that formed him.”

Rhys nodded slowly. “So, Lord Kuronoth wanted the other side of the seventeenth floor of the dungeon tested, but could not interfere directly without causing trouble for himself. However, appearing in what must have been an avatar form, and offering a quest without reveling who or what he was skirted the rules enough that, even if we put things together on our own, it would not alter the fact that he had played within the rules of ‘free will’? I’ll admit, that does sound like a stratagem the Lord would use.”

Peter nodded. “So, given all that, I think you can safely conclude everything he told you directly about the job is true, since he doesn’t lie. Now, about the rest of the dungeon. There are a few things you’re going to need, if you’re going to make it through. The first floor is two gauntlets of traps, with a swamp in between. The biggest threats are a Lewd Lizardfolk that strikes from surprise to try and abduct one of the women in a party to ravish them, Lewd Assassin Vines which target men and attempt to penetrate and then drain them, and Captain Hentai, a Slime Lord that will paralyze and violate one of your party members, if you let it. And it gets worse from there.”