Dungeon Tour Guide: A LitRPG Adventure, page 18
The other, more important part was that we’d established a rapport. It’d only been through one meeting, yes, and it had come out of a relationship fraught with tension, but it was a rapport nonetheless.
“Hey Lisa,” I said, having made it to the passageway between the safe zone and the first room.
She waved back. “Lucas. Glad to see you safe.”
That was another part of what I’d sought with my second chance at life—well, third now, technically. In my past life, I’d undervalued the power of the connections we humans could make between each other, and in this one, I’d sought to embrace others and bring out the best humanity had to offer. There was something beautiful about our ability to bond—when I could casually greet someone who’d threatened to kill me not too long ago and get a friendly wave in return, it was proof enough that many of us were kind at heart.
“What’s up?” I asked the [Spellblade]. “Guild business, I assume?”
“No rest for the wicked.” She chuckled. “Yep. The law requires that all sapient dungeonbound be informed of major events involving their dungeon, and you definitely pass the sapience test.”
“I’d hope so,” I said. “What’s new?”
“Here,” she said, handing me a sheaf of papers thick enough to be a PhD thesis. “I’ll spare you the pain of reading through that, but I’ll have you know that every page in there has my handwriting in it.”
I winced. “Yikes. That sounds… irritating.”
“Like you wouldn’t believe,” she said. “Anyway, would you like the shortened version of events?”
“Please.”
“The investigators came back rather beaten, which raised eyebrows.” As if to illustrate her point, she raised her own. “For a team of investigators that strong to come back that damaged is exceptionally unusual, but they claimed it to be unrelated to the dungeon. I was hoping you would clarify.”
“That’s… it might be harmful to them if it gets out.” I grimaced. “Suffice it to say that there was unplanned Kingsguard involvement.”
“Understood,” the [Spellblade] said, nodding seriously. “Kingsguard activity has been increasing all across the kingdom these past few months. I’ll keep an eye out.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” I said.
“Anyway. Their ultimate report can be summarized as the following: the dungeon is exceptionally durable and has the potential to be scaled up to allow high-level adventurers to delve it if there’s a demand for it. Also, the variable difficulty proved to be functional, so you did pass on that. Overall, you passed with flying colors. It’s rare to see a recommendation from an investigative team, but you did receive one. Five out of five stars.”
I breathed out heavily, the sigh relieving a pressure that I’d barely been aware of. “That’s great to hear. Did we get an estimate on when I’ll be open to the public?”
“That’s what I’m here for,” Lisa said. “Now, I should note that because Ketz is not quite what one would call an adventuring town, we are a little lacking in terms of Guild resources.”
“Makes sense,” I said. “So it’ll be a long time, then?”
That would suck, but I supposed it would give me more time to build the dungeon.
“Not terribly long, as a matter of fact,” the [Spellblade] said. “Two weeks for working functionality, perhaps? We can open you for adventurers earlier than that, though.”
“Oh! That’s way sooner than I’d expected.”
“Most of the time is just to get an official crew for the dungeon and bring an office to the area,” Lisa said. “It’ll take a month or two to get the Guild outpost here fully set up, but we can make the sign in a few days.”
Right. The Guild’s signs were indications that a dungeon, mountain, or other monster-populated area was an officially sanctioned adventuring region. They had a list of magical effects applied on them that could’ve filled a book, but the important parts were that they designated the levels of adventurers that were expected to clear it and declared that a given region was officially overseen by the Guild. Having one of them would mean legitimacy.
“So you’re just here to tell me this?” I asked.
“Well, not just…” she trailed off.
I raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate.”
The [Spellblade] scratched at the back of her neck, sheepish. “Truth be told, I was interested in clearing the dungeon once myself.”
“Huh.” I hadn’t been expecting that. Some extra work or new obstacle for me, maybe, but not that. “I mean, sure? Haven’t you already seen it once?”
“Observing is different from experiencing,” she said. “Taking notes, ensuring that you miss nothing, thinking about the paperwork. Compare that to the freedom of flying through an adventure, and they’re nowhere near the same.”
“That’s… fair, actually,” I said.
“You used to adventure?”
“Yes, but not for that long. Got a couple quests in before I became dungeonbound, but it was enough for me to know that it’s pretty damn fun.”
“It is indeed,” Lisa said. “I only get to do one every couple of months now. Leadership positions are irritating like that. So… do you mind?”
“Go ahead,” I said, and she practically lit up.
“Yes!”
“Would you like the tour guide as is standard?”
“Please.”
Power scaled exponentially in this world, so the level 10 [Spellblade] was significantly stronger than, say, a four-man team of level 3 adventurers—though with how stupidly broken they were, the trio might give her a run for her money—so she’d be pretty safe running through it on her own.
Still, having company was nice for anything, and being a tour guide was basically my entire job description right now.
Well, that and setting up the dungeon, but Lisa didn’t know that part. Did she?
I put those thoughts aside for the time being and led the [Spellblade] through the first tunnel.
“Welcome to the first room,” I said. “After a brief skirmish recently, it necessitated rebuilding, so you may notice some differences in its aesthetics and presentation.”
“Wow, the dungeon’s done some remodeling,” Lisa said, looking around the room.
The sculptures on either side of the room were illuminated by torchlight, and I had to give myself credit for the effect.
“Snake sculptures,” Lisa noted. “An interesting touch.”
“Snake sculptures aren’t the only thing you’ll find in this room,” I said. “Once you take a few more steps in, you may find that the door on the other side isn’t as easy to get to as you might think.”
“Is that a challenge?” Lisa asked. “That sounds like a challenge.”
She stepped forth, and the room activated. In front of her, the earth itself rose to meet her, one of my constructs obstructing her path. Behind and around it, eight others activated, rumbling out of the ground as the wall torches flickered.
“Ah,” she said, shifting into a fighting stance and drawing her blade. “This’ll be fun.”
“Beware the snake statues on the walls,” I said. “They have a nasty blasting effect if you get too close to them.”
“Noted.”
As we spoke, I opened connections for the freshly spawned snakes to crawl out of the ground and slither down from the ceiling. As the first of them started to wrap themselves on and around the earth constructs, I triggered more [Spawn Snake]s, placing them in front of some of the weaker air vents.
A pop-pop-pop sent a dozen snakes flying across the room, and the [Spellblade] moved. She started with an [Agility Boost], one that sent her speeding off far faster than Ryan could manage at his level. It was only my dungeon senses that let me keep up with her movements.
An instant after popping her first spell, she activated a [Shattering Blow]a spell that I recognized as one that the [Astral Monk] had had. She concentrated it in her sword, and the combination of the magical blade and the extra effect was more than enough to shatter her target to pieces. It was at a lower power than Sarah’s had been, at least, which in practice just meant that the pieces of the construct didn’t turn to dust after being reduced to pebbles.
A moment after she killed the first construct, she sliced through the air twice, two clean strikes slaying all five snakes that had managed to make it to the construct and survive her [Shattering Blow].
She wasn’t done with just one, though—immediately afterwards, I felt her sword activate a spell within itself. [Enemy Attunement], apparently. What did that do?
[Enemy Attunement]
Rank: 5
Proficiency Level: 6
Effect: After killing a creature, temporarily gain increased effectiveness against creatures of the same species.
Owner: Lisa Seastrider
Damn. That was a solid spell to have, and she’d gained pretty solid proficiency in it too.
It made sense for her style of fighting. Less than two seconds after she activated the spell, she’d blitzed her way through four more constructs and at least thrice that in snakes. As far as I could tell, she hadn’t even taken a single hit yet.
In a matter of heartbeats, all of the constructs were down. Most of the snakes were gone as well, although there was still—
Without even turning towards it, Lisa swung her blade out, bisecting the snake that had been sent flying at her.
“That was fun,” she said, using a low-level [Cleanse] to wipe the blood and dust off her blade. “For an introductory room, I think the difficulty’s great. Not too hard, but it introduces the concepts fairly well.”
“Yeah, I’ve been communicating with the dungeon,” I said. “It’s been listening to my suggestions, so far.”
The second room was the unchanged parkour room, where Lisa didn’t even bother waiting for my guidance before taking off. She was wearing pretty heavy armor, but she made it look like she was carrying nothing at all, her comically large blade not even impeding her progress as she rolled and jumped around the course.
“Okay, just show me up like that, thanks!” I shouted.
Lisa laughed as I followed, clearing the parkour route easily.
“Sometimes we need a challenge,” she told me as I arrived on the other side. “Thanks.”
“I mean, it’s the same as it was last time,” I said. “The next room is new, though.”
“Oh, is it really? I look forward to that.”
“Don’t spoil it for the adventurers,” I said. “It’s a pretty simple puzzle, but I want them to figure it out without previous help.”
“Got it,” she said. “The three adventurers that cleared this dungeon first did end up settling on a name, by the way.”
“Did they now?” I’d been mentally calling them “the trio” for a bit now, so a new name would be a bit of an adjustment.
“It’s not completely official yet,” Lisa noted. “It’s subject to change, but they do like it. They’re calling themselves Minus One.”
“Huh,” I said. That didn’t really sound like an adventuring party name to me, but it wasn’t the worst I’d ever heard. Being able to shorten their name in my head would also be welcome. “Any reason why?”
“I asked that too,” she said. “Apparently, you told them on their first day that their party was missing a healer—which you were right, it absolutely is—but they have yet to find a suitable healer that lives in the area and is willing to join their party, so they claimed that they’re a proper full adventuring party minus one person. Hence the name.”
I chuckled. “I guess that makes sense.”
“It is still a work-in-progress, so it’s possible they’ll change it.”
“Got it.” Minus One, huh? That would probably get shortened to M-One or just straight-up -1 by others in the future if they chose to stick with it. I didn’t hate it.
“Would you mind showing me the rest of the dungeon?”
“Of course.”
“This has been really fun so far,” Lisa said, preparing her blade. “Mind if I swing around again sometime after I clear this?”
“Anytime,” I said, meaning it.
“Great,” she said. “I’ll see you again then, hopefully. Well, who knows? Maybe you’ll be too busy.”
“Why would I be busy? The—er, Minus One is the only adventuring party around these parts.”
“Word from the investigators is getting out. They’re well known, you know?”
“Is it? What does that mean?”
“It’s early days yet,” Lisa said, smiling wide, “but you may have just earned your spot as one of the most popular new dungeons this side of the kingdom.”
Chapter 25
“Most… popular?” I asked. “In the kingdom? How would that work? So far as I know, Minus One—ergh, that’s a bit awkward to say out loud, shortening that to M-1 really rolls off the tongue better—well, anyway, I think they’re the only adventurers in this area, right?”
“They are,” Lisa said. “As far as I know, they’re the only three adventurers in a five-mile radius. That, however, will not be the state of affairs for long.”
“Really? You’re saying that more adventurers will come? Just because a few others recommended it?”
“They’re powerful adventurers,” she said. “Well-known ones around these parts. Their recommendation goes a long way.”
“It’s still just a recommendation, right? I get that it might mean a lot to the people they spread it to, but I doubt it’s like, in the news. Is it?”
“Didn’t you used to adventure before?” the [Spellblade] asked, wiping down her blade with a cloth. “Haven’t you heard of the ARI?”
“ARI? Can’t say that I have.” I frowned. “Wait, hold that thought. The name sounds familiar. I think there was some discussion about it in the Guild a few times, but there weren’t any books on it and I don’t think I ever saw it get implemented.”
“There probably weren’t books on it there because they didn’t exist then, depending on how long ago you became bound,” Lisa said. “Given the time to discovery, I’d estimate… two to four months in this dungeon, perhaps?”
“Somewhere around that, yeah,” I said. “Was something new happening when I was bound?”
“You must have adventured far away from here,” she commented. “The ARI system came out of Ketz around then, and since its release it has become fairly popular across the kingdom.”
“I guess so,” I said dubiously.
“I assume the binding process took you here from elsewhere,” Lisa said. “That’s not terribly unusual, from what little we know about the dungeonbound.”
“Yeah, maybe,” I said. The goddess had had a few choice words to pass to me through the interface that had indicated I was being relocated, at least, but I wasn’t any ordinary dungeonbound. “So what’s this ARI?”
“ARI stands for Adventure Rating Interface,” Lisa said, enunciating the words with a degree of reverence. “An innovation from a branch of the Alder Corporation, if you know what that is.”
“I do, actually.” Rose’s mother had dipped her fingers into more pies than I’d thought, then.
“The system was the result of a significant period of research done into modifying the Will of the Goddess in a way that we could use it for our own purposes. Although it began as a proof of concept, it’s become widely used.”
“Modifying the Will of the Goddess? That’s not sacrilege?” I had to admit that I had thought of modifying the interface a time or two myself, but I’d never quite figured out how.
“Not quite,” she replied. “The [Cleric]s and their like that consulted with the corporation came back claiming the goddess was amused, actually.”
“Huh. What does it do?”
“It’s an interface to rate adventures,” Lisa said, smiling. “Mostly dungeons. The researchers found an implementation of the Will that allows adventurers to share information about their adventures as well as difficulty and loot quality ratings. It’s mostly used as an advertising tool by the Alder Corporation, but it does do wonders for discovering worthwhile delves in the area. Most use it to find the dungeons with the best rewards.”
“So magical TripAdvisor, basically,” I mused. “You said it’s been propagating throughout the kingdom?”
“One moment,” Lisa said. “My blade needs to meet a minimum threshold when it’s active, and it’s bothering me about it.”
She stepped forward, peering over the edge, and she pointed her overlong greatsword down towards the snake-infested waters. A glowing silver [Blade Shot] ended the lives of a handful of snakes within.
Lisa stepped back, her sword calming down. “Apologies. Anyway, TripAdvisor? Haven’t heard of that. Is that an otherworlder term?”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Sure. I won’t bother reporting it—there are enough otherworlders out there that a dungeonbound being one is not quite notable. Anyway, the level of propagation I speak of is on a truly massive scale. A rating and recommendation from someone so influential and well-known as the party who investigated here will reach anyone who has integrated the ARI into their use of the Will, which includes most adventurers these days. I speak of tens of thousands of people, perhaps even hundreds of thousands who might see this recommendation.”
Now wasn’t that a prospect? It was a little mind-boggling to think of, but with those numbers, I could understand why Rose’s mother thought this place would be a good opportunity.
“I see you understand,” Lisa said.
“How do I gain access to it?” I asked. “This seems… kind of relevant to my job as a tour guide, honestly.”
“It might be,” Lisa agreed amiably. “I can give you access to it. Anyone with the modification can spread the changes to the Will, but it needs a significant amount of time. Would you be alright waiting until later to do so?”
