Readying my team, I stepped into the portal. With the information in the guild booklet, I didn’t expect too many surprises. The boss was an undead half orc with the second half of his ancestry being from an ogre. There wasn’t any mention of abilities or spells, but the guides weren’t there to babysit adventurers, just give them a heads up on anything unusually deadly. A boss was always expected to be deadly, so the danger I was about to face wasn’t considered unusual.
The drone and Elida led the way, and I exited the portal right behind them. It was a throne room, one that was in ruins like the rest of the structures above ground. Sitting on a worn stone throne, a dozen yards ahead of us, was the namesake of this dungeon, the Shunned Emperor. He was dressed in heavy, black iron plate armor. A sword that was over six feet in length was propped up on the throne next to him.
With the heavy armor completely encasing him, all I could see of the emperor’s body was through the small slit in his helm. Cold, white bone was revealed, and empty eye sockets glowed with a faint red light. This was the final encounter, so I silently ordered my drone and Elida to go all out on our foe.
Attached to my left arm was my shield, and in my right, I held the javelin. Before I could order the attack, the emperor stood and spoke. He raised one hand as if asking for a moment, which I granted him out of courtesy for the dungeon core.
“Hold a moment before we begin and indulge me in conversation. It’s rare I get to speak with the challengers that enter here, and most just attack on sight. Tell me, human known as Rico Kline, what were the circumstances of your direct encounter with a dungeon core before?” the undead creature asked, though it was obvious to me that the dungeon core itself was speaking through its creation.
Remaining behind my two minions, I ordered them to protect me if this were some kind of trick, but I had the feeling that the core was genuinely interested in what I had to say. I began to tell my story to the dungeon boss, and my story wasn’t all that complicated. I had accepted a contract from a broker in Somhagen, which was my first introduction to a dungeon core.
On that first contract I acted as the defender for the dungeon. We fought off a team of adventurers that were seeking to destroy the core and take the shards of the core for themselves. The emperor seemed especially interested that I had used my Fitzfazzle figurine to assist, and that I was willing to expend my personal resources to aid in completing my task.
The second dungeon core I worked with was the one that I had directly contracted with, the Ruins of the Forbidden Glade. I had accepted the task of defending the dungeon from a wizard that was starving the core by sending too many teams of students inside the place. Thankfully, both my dungeon core adventures were successful ones, and I was happy to say both cores survived the experience.
“Would you be willing to broker a contract with me should I ever have the need of your services?” the dungeon asked through the emperor.
“I would, though it seems doubtful the guild and the academy would abuse you the way the other core was being abused. There’s not much I can do currently as my travel options are more limited now,” I explained, not wanting to give too many details about my previous status as a summoned being.
“Understood, it is not an urgent request, but something I would be interested in for the future, and I hoped that you might be willing to act as my agent in the matter,” the core asked.
“Sure, I can at least try to come back and negotiate a contract with you once my advisor is freed up from his other duties,” I offered. Tzes’zod’s expertise was useful for a contract like this, and I had no desire to distract him from his current efforts. After the deal with Gary was resolved, and if I survived, I would do what I could to return here and help.
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“That is acceptable,” the core replied. A system prompt appeared after that. It looked like the system wanted to take the training wheels off and force me to use the Negotiate Contract skill the system had granted me.
The dungeon core known as the Grotto of the Shunned Emperor has requested your assistance in negotiating a defensive contract. As your first negotiated contract, some predetermined options have been selected for you, but in the future, you may craft your own contract offerings.
Select one of the following offers.
- Consult the dungeon core for a short time on preparing to defend itself against hostile adventurers and to prevent mana starvation. You will be required to spend at least 4 hours in active consultation.
- Agree to be summoned as a defender should the dungeon core be directly threatened. The duration of the summoning is to be until the threat has ended or 1 week has passed, whichever comes first.
- Agree to allow 1 of your minions to be summoned by the dungeon should it be directly threatened. Your minion will not be available to you during the time of the contract, which will be until the threat is ended, or 1 week has passed.
The offer you select will influence the amount of compensation your potential client is willing to offer.
Woah, the system had added something new to the mix. I could offer one of my minions as a means to fulfill the contract, and not even be required to risk myself in the defense of the core. Thinking about it, offering a minion would generate its own set of potential problems.
If I had another contract going, it could make things dangerous to have one of my minions absent. It might also affect my reputation if I took a contract and then showed up weaker than expected. Something like the teaching assignment I had now would be perfect for cutting a minion loose for a bit, but I couldn’t predict the future and what I might be doing when the dungeon finally had need to call on my services.
It would be better to contract for myself and the whole team. My Early Cancellation skill was there to save me if the dungeon called me into an impossible situation. Once I got a better feel for how my class and the contracts it generated worked, I could explore giving up a minion for a time.
You have offered to be summoned as a defender should the dungeon core be threatened. This summoning contract is situational, and the dungeon core known as the Grotto of the Shunned Emperor cannot affect your Reputation if you are on another assignment at the time it tries to activate your contract.
The potential client is offering the following as compensation for the successful completion of your contract.
- A magic item crafted by the dungeon core to enhance your class. Please note that the power of this item is limited by the dungeon core’s Tier and Rank.
- 100 gold.
- The option to call upon the dungeon core’s limited aid 1 time.
“I’m inclined to accept your offered compensation, but can you explain what the aid you’ve included entails?” I asked. The overall deal was one of limited risk to me, and though the dungeon wasn’t that high of a tier, a magic item crafted specifically for my class was an interesting reward.
“I can use my mana to open a portal to your location and send some of my minions to assist you. Of course, the number and power of those minions will be limited, as the mana costs will be substantial. You must also know that your call may not be answered should my mana reserves prove insufficient at the time of your call,” the core replied.
“That sounds fair, after all, the contract for my aid is also restricted if I’m otherwise occupied when you call. I agree to the terms,” I said, accepting the final system generated contract that appeared before me.
“Excellent, this has proven to be a most interesting encounter with an adventurer. Though there is still one problem,” the core said.
“Oh, what’s that?” I asked.
“For our contract to ever be valid, you have to survive this delve,” the core said through the boss minion. The orc emperor grabbed its sword and began to charge toward us.
“I don’t think your final boss is going to be an issue,” I replied as I ordered my minions to strike.
The drone began firing its plasma generator and Elida cast Deadly Beam. Elida’s spell burned into the armor of the undead emperor, but the plasma beam was even more effective. It cut through the magically enhanced steel plate like it was made of paper, and the undead body that the armor protected fared no better. In less than two seconds, the boss of the dungeon was destroyed and turned into mana vapor.
You have entered into a contract with the dungeon core known as the Grotto of the Shunned Emperor.
This run was over, and the contract was in place. All I had to do now was collect my rewards for the successful completion of the dungeon run. Behind the emperor’s battered throne, a glowing wooden chest appeared, and I was about to get my first peek at rewards outside of my time as a summoned being.