Dungeon Chapter 29 (Patreon)

Everyone left the room in a hurry except Crimson, Fayeth, and her father.

I hadn’t been in that room of the Visitor’s Center before, but it had several plush couches circling a quaint low table currently covered with barely touched food.

“Please, Fayeth. Head outside. I would like to have this discussion without you.” He tried to scoot his daughter out.

“You’ll not bully him?” She pouted.

“Oh, I will absolutely do that. But I want to solidify a few things first.” He gave her another gentle shove and Fayeth frowned, but she left.

After a moment, he snapped his finger, and there was a shimmer of mana before he spoke again.

“Everything we say will be within a cone of silence. Let me introduce myself more formally. I am Adeane Lyntean, second cousin to the sitting Emperor.” He made a more formal bow with a sweep of his hand to the side.

“I’m Ken, uh… grandson of Uzamaki Nagato and protégé of Crimson.” I tried to embellish it for some reason. It just felt like the right thing to do in their custom.

Adeane just nodded. “Let us sit and discuss some matters.”

Crimson had the dictionary app open and was snickering, no doubt having looked up at the same word that floored me. “Please. I would love to hear how Ken managed to ask your daughter to marry him in, what was it, a half an hour of interaction?”

“Actually, it was within seconds.” Adeane replied, and I swore I saw a small smirk on his face.

“She’s pretty, Ken, but damn, you haven’t even acted on all the letters yet. But you move on the elf in seconds? You must like the exotic ones.” Crimson shook her head with a smile tugging at her lips, and I was starting to go from shock and fear to annoyance. They were enjoying the situation far too much.

Crimson saw my face, and she lost it. She laughed harder than I’d ever seen her laugh before.

“I don’t…” Pausing, I thought back to how I met Fayeth. “Wait. Was it the ring?” At the time, I had been so focused on not messing up any elven customs that I wasn’t thinking they would be trying to meet me with human customs.

“And the kneeling, I believe.” Adeane chuckled. “Some of your world’s romance novels have been filtering into the bookshelves in my home lately. I allowed it because she was practicing her English, but I will be the first to admit she’s quite sheltered and more than a little frustrated at being with the Saintesses.”

“You kneeled and offered her a ring?” Crimson sputtered into another bout of laughter. “Wow, you don’t do anything halfway, do you?”

“I was picking it up off the ground when the high level elfs snuck up on me. They—” I started to try to explain myself, but the two of them seemed far too calm about my mistake. In fact, they seemed to enjoy it.

“Wait, you said you thought it might be a misunderstanding. You knew and you let it happen?” I frowned at Adeane.

He tapped his chin. “Courting still happens for us, but the parents still make the final arrangements. It is less common for the parents to make engagements without the bride and groom to be’s agreement, but it happens. I thought there was a chance that Crimson had wanted to establish this relationship, and I didn’t see any reason to challenge it at that moment.”

“Oh, they would have my blessing.” Crimson replied quickly. “Ken is my protege for a reason. I can feel his potential.”

“Yes, I am sorry that I couldn’t see it when we first met. I had thought him something to help keep Fayeth focused on diving.” Adeane leaned forward. “But now he has become a keystone to any negotiations we have with you and the rest of the humans.”

Crimson crossed her legs and leaned back. “That important?” She tamped down her laughter and became serious quickly.

Adeane smiled. It was the smile of a master negotiator.

I knew that given his job, he was likely an expert negotiator. He wouldn’t often give up his end goal typically. Based on his smile, he clearly thought he already had a winning offer.

“I can give you what data we have on the class for you to give to the United Guilds to update your CID.” Adeane laid out a carrot. “But in return, my daughter joins Ken’s party, dives the dungeon with him, and we arrange a marriage.”

I nearly choked, but held it in.

“That’s not enough.” Crimson sighed. “If we come out of this with just personal benefits, it does nothing for the overall negotiations we’ve been having.”

I wasn’t a big fan of being personally involved in the deal, but I also couldn’t risk causing more tension between the elves and humans. “For our engagement to continue, you’d need to stick around. And that means there has to be reason to continue negotiating.” I swallowed at the thought of telling Charlotte I was now engaged to the elf.

“Oh. I’ll stay, negotiate and give on some of the terms. But your UG wants too much. But…” He tapped at his chin. “You and Fayeth would become symbolic in some regards. Your relationship with her would be a first.”

I frowned. Here at Haylong, I was already enough of a unicorn. I wasn’t sure I needed more targets.

Crimson put a hand on my shoulder, focusing on Adeane. “Your daughter is already as good as gone. We all saw her earlier clinging to Ken here. Now that she’s learned he’s the Tre… Tre… the Emperor class, she wants this arrangement as much as you do.” Crimson gave up on trying to say the elvish word and just adopted the mistranslation. “Besides, if you do anything to Ken, I’ll just go slaughter elves on the 50th floor until I grow bored.” She waited to make sure the threat sank in.

The elf’s smile twitched at Crimson’s brazen disregard for propriety.

“And we all know there’s something more you want, or you wouldn’t have come to negotiate in the first place.” Crimson crossed her arms with a satisfied smirk.

Adeane scowled at Crimson. I wasn’t sure if it was the threats, or the break in protocol that really upset him.

“You said that the elven Emperor heir has this class, and now me. But you talked about omens.” My mind started to put the pieces together. “There’s a conflict that the elves are facing, or at least see in the near future.”

It wasn’t a question. It fit together too perfectly to be wrong. Otherwise, why would they put so much significance on this?

Crimson looked at me for a moment with curiosity before facing Adeane again. “He’s right, isn’t he?”

Adeane’s face was an impassive mask. He was hiding something. “That is not what we are discussing at the moment.”

“You need Ken or my strength. And I want to know why. Tell me or this ends now.” Crimson’s leather armor creaked as she crossed her legs.

Adeane eyed her, but he knew she wasn’t bluffing. Leaning forward, he looked her in the eye. “We call them Naga. We’ve encountered them past the 60th floor, and have drawn all of our people back as a result.” Adeane didn’t give us much information, but the elves’ actions indicated quite a lot.

“They are aggressive?” Crimson asked.

“Highly, and to make matters worse, the 61st floor is largely aquatic. We have been at a disadvantage in the several times we came into conflict.” He explained.

Nagas were a type of monster in the dungeon, but the dungeon also produced humans at times too. It wasn’t impossible that elsewhere in the massive branching system of the dungeon was an entrance from a world with intelligent naga.

Though, the large half fish half man monsters would be a formidable race, making them smarter and giving them classes would only make things worse.

“Then what is your goal here?” Crimson asked.

“This is not how negotiations work.” Adeane sighed and rubbed at his forehead.

Crimson frowned. “If you want my help, then don’t waste my time.” The pressure she emitted made me swallow.

“I would like to open relations with the humans. I’ll provide some concessions so that when you are strong enough to breach into the 60th floor, discussions can be made about the naga.” He eyed Crimson as he spoke.

I felt like I was getting information I had no right to be having, so I sat there quietly as awkward silence continued.

Finally feeling too uncomfortable to keep sitting there, I spoke up. “What are you going to do Crimson?”

“Nothing.” She stared at Adeane. “If the naga are that much of a problem, then we need to wait to do anything. All of us need to get stronger.”

He nodded. “They are troublesome. I hope that while we are here, you can help my daughter grow. I will give you my full support in details regarding Ken’s… Emperor class.” He paused before adopting Crimson’s use of the translation.

“What do you want?” Crimson turned to me. “I won’t pretend you have full choice, but you should have some sort of say.”

While a large part of the deal affected me directly, the discussion about the naga past the 60th floor was something far larger than myself.

Humanity was diving deeper each generation, and at our current rate, my classmates and I would be the ones to face off against the naga in our future.

If I were to really go through with pursuing Fayeth, I’d be drawing myself right into the conflict, but if I wanted to achieve all I had planned, that would happen anyway. There was no downside for me, except the tank situation.

“There’s a slight problem with my party. We don’t have a tank. I can’t continue down as far as we’ll need to without one.” I said.

Adeane frowned. “Of course you do. My daughter is a tank class.” Then he cuckled. “Just wait and see. She’s a Saintess of the Great Holy Tree. Whatever you think of her appearance, I can guarantee that she’s a capable tank.”

I froze, surprised at that information. “Fine. I will accept this arranged marriage on the condition that if Fayeth is unhappy about it in the future, we will break it off. I won’t force anything on her. But I am happy to continue getting to know her.”

Adeane smiled. “I like him better and better, now let me see ‘Absorb’.”

Holding out my hand, I waited until it had his focus. “Absorb.”

“Marvelous.” Adeane clapped. “Have you explored using it yet?”

I shook my head. “Fayeth and I were just going through her CID to figure out what class I might be, based on discovering my Earth Stomp skill. Learning more about my class would greatly interest me.” I tried to be as polite as I could.

He nodded. “The absorb skill is famous among my people. Long ago our first Emperor grew tired of the infighting among the elves. It was detracting from the dungeon, which posed a much greater threat. He inserted himself in elven conflicts, decimating those who participated. The survivors rallied them behind him as he slowly, but surely, forced our world to bend a knee to a single ruler.” There was a dreamy look on the elf’s face. They more than just knew this Emperor’s history, they respected him.

I was more than a little excited to hear about the power of another adventurer with a class like mine. “What role does the class fill?”

“Absorb is a big part of the class' power. You can absorb magical attacks. Doing so gives short increases in your stats, and according to our guesses, it puts pressure on the mana network within the body. Absorbing too much can be deadly, but it also seems to help with your long-term stat growth significantly.” Adeane explained.

Crimson nodded along. “It exercises his magical capability and the mana networks in his body. That also means that the class specializes in defeating casters.”

“Precisely. Our first Emperor fought with an ability-imbued trident in melee and ripped apart the battle lines by devastating the casters. His real power came though in his ability to tie those that he defeated to him. It is said he often killed all but the female heirs to the clans that he fought. Then after a night with them, they rallied behind him. Never once to betray him, even with hundreds of them by the time he finished his empire.” Adeane had a wry grin on his face.

I snorted. “Are you telling me he was just that good in bed?” It was starting to sound like a fairy tale.

“No.” Adeane shook his head. “There was a skill he used on them. I’m unsure what it was or how he used it, but the women that joined him gained access to his absorb ability. And he absorbed a portion of their power. Though much of it is just tales.”

Crimson sighed. “You don’t know the full details. You got us to agree, knowing you didn’t have all the information.” She seemed a little upset.

“I will work to get more information. Technically, if I put one of our CIDs on him, it would tell him his class. But then it would lock him out and send a message to the Emperor’s palace. The class is significant enough to our people that the information from it isn’t public. But, I can read through the old texts. The battles were quite well documented, and I should be able to glean a large amount of information from them. I’m sure I can find enough to be helpful.” Adeane had a slightly apologetic smile for Crimson.

He had misled us at least in part. There was no instant funneling of all the information they had.

“Do you have the data for the mana pathways?” I realized one problem he could solve.

“Yes, I do. I can happily share that with Crimson, as I said before. Unfortunately, the skills you’ll gain as you level aren’t available, even to me.”

I leaned back and realized I hadn’t gotten everything, but I finally had a starting point. “Fine. We’ll just have to work with what we can get. I assume you will continue negotiations?”

“Yes. But I have one final ask of both of you. What we’ve discussed must remain between us. I’m trusting you with my daughter and the negotiations between our people.” He made a slight bow at his waist as he dipped his head.

Crimson clicked her tongue. “Don’t be like that. We are going to be family.”

I paused. Did Crimson consider me like family?

There was a lot of information, and I needed to have a moment to myself.

“Okay. Well, I’ll get the UG representative and Headmistress Marlow.” I stood and stiffly bowed to both of them before leaving.

Neither of them stopped me as they began chatting amicably. I heard bits and pieces. It sounded like they were recounting stories from lower dungeon floors.

Pushing on the door, I stepped out, only to be met by more UG guards.

“I need to talk to the negotiators. The elven ambassador wants to resume conversations.” I blurted.

“We’ll go get them.” The guard grunted and hurried off.

Feeling overwhelmed, I headed to my room, noticing the door ajar.

Stepping in, I found Fayeth facing away from me, looking at something on my desk.

“What are you doing?” I closed the door behind me.

“I found this comic. It is very interesting.” She held up the smut comic of Crimson. “Is this one of Crimson’s adventure stories? The art is wonderful.”

Never before had I moved so fast.

I was across the room, snatching it up and rubbing my forehead. “You shouldn’t be snooping in my room.”

“It was just laying out.” She looked confused, and I replayed how it could have ended up out in the room.

But when I saw my bed, with rubber bumpers to keep it from smacking the wall. Crimson soundproof my room like she said she would.

I froze, wondering if she’d seen the comic. If it was laying out, then she must have set it out. Oh no.

She saw it and wanted me to know.

“But you are my Fieore.” Fayeth smiled at me with complete innocence. “Your room is my room. I must familiarize myself with your space. If we are to be one soul eventually, then I need to understand you. This must be precious to you. I’ll make sure to take special care of it.” She took the comic out of my limp hands.

I had no idea what to say to that, my eyes wandering around the room as I realized that it looked different.

It was spotless.

I wasn’t a messy person, but I didn’t fold my sheets, nor fluff my pillow. Yet my bed was made immaculately with a blanket folded at the foot.

I looked more closely around. My closet was organized, each of the hanging articles perfectly aligned.

“Did you clean my room?” I asked her.

“Of course.” She continued to smile at me. “I’m your Fieore.” She said it like it was a given that she’d clean my room.

I felt like a deer in headlights for a moment, but then I decided to just take it at face value. She wanted to get to know me, and I should do the same.

“What do you mean one soul?” I asked her, walking over and sitting on the bed. I remembered the second translation of the word.

“Oh. Elves believe that two people that spend enough time together harmonize their souls.” She nodded excitedly. “I hoped that one day my soul would begin to harmonize with a great man.” The way she looked at me, I knew that I had become that great man in her eyes.

“What about relationships in elven culture? Do they have multiple partners?” I probed, knowing that might be a deal breaker.

Fayeth had a sympathetic smile and moved over to me, sitting down next to me on the bed. “Yes we do. There are often polyamorous families from those who adventure together. The long sustained contact no doubt makes their souls harmonize as one. Thus, I will be picky as to who you dive with. Your current party seems suitable, but as you dive deeper, your raid will have many more women, I’m sure.”

I nodded, not wanting to get too deep into that conversation. Raids were far in the future. But I had many more questions for her. “Fayeth, are you a tank?” It was still hard for me to believe.

She nodded. “Of course, I’m a Saintess.”

“Uh, could I see your abilities?” I tried to put as much confidence into my tone as I could, but I’m pretty sure I failed.

It didn’t matter to her. She was all smiles. “Of course you can.” She got fired up. “As your Fieore, I need to prove my worth.” She jumped to her feet and moved several feet away from me. “Draw your weapon and attack me as hard as you can.”

“I don’t know if that’s the smartest move.” I hesitated. Fayeth was a thin, delicate looking woman.

Her face paled, and it made my heart sink a little as she asked me, “You don’t see me as an equal?”

I had apparently just stepped on a cultural landmine, and I could tell that I needed to follow through on her ask.

I drew my sword and swung a simple chop at her.

“You don’t think I’m worthy?” She wasn’t reacting to my sword as I moved, but right before I hit her, she threw up her arm to block.

I didn’t have time to slow my strike, horror filling me as my sword descended on her arm.

But then my sword stopped dead as a kite shield woven together of tree limbs grew out of her arm.

Fayeth didn’t even budge under my attack. She was too busy fretting over my questioning her worth.

Stepping into her and twisting my body, I spun. “Dark Strike.”

The shield disappeared from her one arm, only to appear on the other as she blocked my attack once more.

“I will show you that I’m worthy.” She nodded to herself as a glaive with a gigantic head appeared in her hands. She swung, scraping my ceiling.

“Stop it.” I shouted, blocking her attack with my sword and knife, straining against the weight of the weapon she swung around so easily.

If I had dodged, I would have lost my bed to that huge blade.

She put the weapon back into her CID, and the plant growth retreated back into her. “I need you to understand my worth.” She raised her head, her lip quivering ever so slightly.

Quickly, I put away my weapons and strode to her, wrapping her in a hug. “I do. I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect that sort of strength from such a delicate and beautiful elf.”

Her strength had genuinely surprised me.

“Of course I’m strong. I put a lot of my stats into strength so I can hold my shield up against strong opponents. And a glaive is a splendid weapon to control the area around me, but it is heavy.” She looked up at me.

“I underestimated you.” I nuzzled into the top of her head, still holding her against me.

That made her grin. “Let me see your stats.” She asked.

I pulled out my CID and showed her.

“Wow, that stamina.” She looked at my stats and was properly impressed. “Mine isn’t even that high.”

Then she showed me hers.

Fayeth Lyntean

Class: Saintess of the Holy Tree

Level: 4

Experience: 689/800

Strength: 22

Dexterity: 8

Stamina: 18

Magic: 9

Mana: 10

Skills: Fibrous Shield, Agitating Spores, Cleave

I let out a soft whistle. She really was a tank. “What are the Spores?”

“They cause general irritation and maybe a rash. I can blow them out in an area, and they work really well to get monsters in the dungeon to focus on me. The starting skills for a Saintess are often considered among the strongest tanks among the elves. As I level, I’ll eventually get a full set of Fibrous Armor that will greatly increase my defense. It is made up of the limbs and roots of the Holy Tree itself.” She bowed her head slightly at invoking their holy symbol’s name.

Looking at her character page, I couldn’t deny it. She really was a tank. Which also made our dungeon party more well rounded.

“Well, I was wrong. You’ll be the perfect addition to our dungeon party.” I replied.

“Of course. I am your Feiore.” Fayeth looked confused, and I realized I quickly needed to smooth everything over.

“Yes, my Feiore.” I replied, making her jump up and down, her blonde hair fluttering as she said something excitedly in elvish.

“Say it again!” She clung to my arm.