Chapter 18

Kiera and her teammates were glad to see the D-Housing floor, again. It was strange, Kiera thought, how much this dungeon was starting to feel like 'home'. For the previous eight years, she had been a migrant farm worker, always moving from place to place. And before that, she had been living at the mercy of her younger brother. In fact, it had been a total of ten years since she had last had a place she could comfortably call home.

“Gods, I'll never get tired of that strong scent of pine. Always reminds me of home,” said Jeromy.

“I agree; it reminds me of the scent of gin. A great smell this floor has,” said Vossan.

Kiera said, “I haven't had a home in a decade. This place really is like my home.”

Heading towards the village, Kiera saw something she had thought she would never see in a dungeon. Children. There were children running around, chasing after bunnies. Many of the D-ranked adventurers had begun bringing their families to the dungeon to live with them. It made it convenient for the adventurers not to have to leave the dungeon to see their families.

“Who would ever think to see children in a dungeon? It makes me hope that this isn't an elaborate scheme by the dungeon to make us lower our guards before consuming us all,” worried Vossan.

“Oh come on, by this point, the dungeon has bent over backwards accommodating people. Why would it waste all that time and energy, just to play an elaborate trick?” asked Kiera.

“I also agree that this dungeon is not temporarily tricking us,” said Thalia.

“Why do the two of you seem so sure?” asked Vossan.

Kiera just smiled, saying “Woman's intuition.”

Kiera was happy when she saw the children; they were always able to raise her mood. It made her think about Therese, all the way back on the okra farm. She had asked when Kiera would settle down and have children of her own. Now, seeing children in front of her, she had basically received all that she wanted of life. While she was currently busy being an adventurer, once she had achieved her vengeance, she might just settle down and have children. Anyways, she would have plenty of time, as she was now going to become at least an A-level chi practitioner. With her new style book and her talent, this was all but guaranteed. And A-level practitioners could live to be 300 years old. When she returned to the village, the grim-looking Warley returned her mood to a more normal level. She knew that whatever news he had was not going to be good. “What's up?” she asked.

“A Duke from Khal, named Duke Doscue Hallowedlash, has arrived in our village along with his son, Earl Anatole Hallowedlash. And the Duke wants to speak to you about purchasing the land that this dungeon is on.”

Kiera's face darkened. This was not a name she had thought about in a number of months. It brought back memories of Coyne and Therese, both now dead. Then, she had another thought, “Do you think he's the one who sent the assassins after me?”

“Knowing his character, he very well could be. I know that you would like to get retribution on whoever sent assassins after you, but let me counsel you here. This will be an opportunity to wash your hands of the hassles of owning this dungeon, and to forever get the assassins off your back.”

Glowering, Kiera was pissed, because she knew that he was right. She would have to grit her teeth, look that murdering fuck in the eyes, and give away the only thing she owned that was special.”

Dorn, still at the auction, managed to feel her distress, and temporarily sent over some thoughts. “What's the big deal with this Duke Hallowedlash? He doesn't seem any worse than any other noble human. Which is to say, he's a huge dick, but did he do something personal to you?”

Kiera thought back, his son murdered a friend of mine, causing his mother, another friend of mine, to commit suicide.

Dorn said, “Well, that sucks, but you will need to get over this. Try to remember that this is just a way to earn a large amount of coin while simultaneously getting the assassins to back off. If you're lucky, it wasn't him sending those killers, and now he'll be the one targeted.”

Kiera thought about that, and agreed. “Very well. I will overlook his transgressions, and sell the writ to him,” said Kiera. “But if he so much as blinks at me wrong, I will cancel the deal. You go and tell him, that I will return soon to discuss the deal, and that he had better be polite if he doesn't want me ceding the deed to this land back to the monarchy.”

Warley looked troubled, saying, “I will tell him that he must be polite, but I don't expect it to go over too well, telling nobility to be polite to a commoner.”

“Whatever, I don't care about his delicate sensibilities,” said Kiera as she headed away from the village. She was heading to a secluded pond off the river. This was her favorite place to bathe, away from all the prying eyes in the village. Once again, she really wished they had built a bath house. As she began to undress, she heard Dorn's voice in her head.

“Stop,” said Dorn.

What, Dorn, are you watching me bathe? Kiera asked furiously, pulling her clothes more tightly against herself.

“No, I'm watching the person who is watching you bathe from the trees,” said Dorn.

Where? asked Kiera furiously.

“At your four o'clock, behind the bushes,” answered Dorn.

Kiera stood up and shouted, “Come out; I know you're there.”

Out sauntered Earl Anatole Hallowedlash. He had that same malicious grin on his face that he had had when he murdered Coyne.

“Well, good, this skips a few of the more boring steps. All that waiting and hiding. Such a waste of time. Why don't you go ahead and finish undressing; it'll make things considerably easier.”

Kiera saw red. Dorn didn't help: “Kill him; do it now.” She was almost surprised at how angry Dorn sounded. It actually was able to calm her down.

She said, “On account of the fact that your father wishes to purchase this land from me, I'll allow you to leave, but one more comment like that, and I'll roast your face off.”

“Hehe, you'll sell the land for a pittance, whether you want to or not. None of that changes what is about to happen, though. First, you must pay for forcing me to come this gods-awful hole in the earth.”

The Earl started walking towards her, licking his lips.

As Kiera backed away, she thought, “Dorn, what's his cultivation level?”

Dorn answered, “C2. This pretty boy has probably never practiced real martial techniques. It should be easy for you to take him.”

Kiera pulled out a black gold dagger, and got into stance.

“Oh, nice, a new dagger, just what I needed,” said Anatole. He continued, “I like it when they struggle. This will be fun.” He then pulled out his sword.

“Careful, Kiera, that sword is enchanted for swiftness,” said Dorn.

As Anatole took a wide swing at her legs, trying to hamstring her, she just lightly jumped towards him. Anatole's weight was thrown off balance, allowing Kiera to get a small cut in his side, before he danced away. Suddenly, the grin was gone from his face.

“You'll pay for that one, bitch. No one fucking touches me,” spat Anatole.

Suddenly having had enough, Kiera created a fireball and sent it towards his face. Anatole just grinned as the magic broke on an invisible shield. She thought, fucker has an enchanted shield. Anatole then swung and hit her legs with his sword.

He was stunned when the sword pierced about half an inch and stopped, becoming stuck. Kiera's work at Defensive Form and her practices with Jeromy were paying dividends. She punched him as hard as she could in the face, and he went flying back into a tree. Getting up, he looked a little dazed. Kiera flash stepped (a move from her Evasive Steps manual) over to him and punched him again. She said, “Let's see how much your little enchanted shield can take.”

She then started pouring fire into his shield as fast and as hard as she could. Quickly, the shield started to show signs of being overpowered, flaring dangerously purple. Anatole got up and ran away as fast as he could.

Kiera stood there, breathing heavily. She was both happy, that she had won, and pissed that she still had so much trouble with such a low-ranked opponent. Thinking for a moment, Kiera realized she was mostly pissed; this fucker had just tried to rape her, and somehow, she knew she was going to be the one in trouble.

Trying to put it out of her mind, she just went and had a relaxing bath. It always made her feel better.

***

“You tried to murder my son,” screamed Duke Hallowedlash.

“Your son,” Kiera spat, “tried to rape me.”

“It would be your honor to be fucked by my son,” replied the Duke.

“You know what, go fuck yourself. If you want the dungeon's land, you can go fuck off; I'm selling it back to the crown,” said Kiera.

“Insolence, you will die for how you have spoken to me,” said the Duke, trying to pull out his sword. As the sword was half out of its scabbard, his arm was suddenly stopped by an iron grip.

Warley said, “You will not attack anyone in this dungeon.”

“I am a Duke,” screamed Doscue. “Release my hand at once.”

Warley said, “If you want one of my adventurers to sell you this dungeon's land, you will calm yourself and speak to her civilly.”

The Duke visibly shuddered with anger, before taking a few deep breaths. “I will make this quick, commoner. I wish to purchase your writ of ownership for this land.”

Warley turned to Kiera, “Adventurer Kiera, what price would you accept for the writ of ownership.”

With a hostile stare, Kiera said, “5,000 gold.”

Warley glared and her, saying “Kiera! You will answer the question properly, or you will leave this dungeon.”

Kiera muttered angrily, eventually saying, “I want 1,500 gold.”

The Duke just gave an angry laugh, saying, “You must be out of your mind, commoner.”

Warley tightened his grip on the Duke, saying, “You will make a counteroffer.”

“500 gold”

“1,250”

“750”

“1,000 and not a penny less,” said Kiera.

“Fine, but you had best never let me see you again, wench.”

Before Kiera could respond, Warley waved a hand and cast the Air magic spell, Silence, over her. She glared hatefully at both of them, before reaching into her bag of holding and taking out the writ of ownership. When she held it out, the Duke brought out a bag of gold and they both exchanged items.

Warley firmly stated, “You will now both go your separate ways. As I understand it, you have no desire to stay in this dungeon. Please take your son and staff and be on your way.”

The Duke, strangely, did not seem offended at Warley's statement. Although he put on an angry face and said, “I wouldn't want to spend another minute in this hellhole,” he seemed undeniably relieved, as if all the tension melted out of him when he got his hands on the writ.

Kiera, still silenced, glared at Warley as the Duke walked towards his horses. His son was sitting there in one of the horse carriages, staring at her with a sadistic smile on his face. Warley released Kiera from her spell as the Duke's procession left the village.

“The next time I see either of them, I'll kill them,” said Kiera.

Warley just sighed, “Don't say things like that; it's still technically sedition. And the Ilsanians will probably allow him to keep his land as an official in their empire.”

“In what way was I wrong in anything I said?” asked Kiera

Warley simply replied, “When you deal with nobility, you must either have power or learn to keep your head down. Since you have no power, you should keep your head down.”

“And so what? Should I have just allowed his son to rape me, then?”

Warley flinched, saying, “No, you were right to defend yourself. I am sorry for what you went through, and I am very glad that you are safe. However, you must be more careful when you are speaking with nobility.”

Kiera just angrily stomped off towards her room in the inn, ready to practice Dragon Cultivation as long as she could manage. She had upgraded to C6 in the last month and a half, and she felt like she was on the cusp of upgrading again.

Slamming her door, she sat down on her bed. She had a great deal of trouble calming down, her heart racing in rage. She kept reliving the moment when Anatole had come sauntering out of the bushes and came towards her with that fucking grin on his face.

She took deep breaths, forcefully calming herself. She reached out to the mana and focused on it flowing through her channels. As the particles accumulated in her dantian, she felt the mana burst outwards to the next level, upgrading her to C7.

Finally smiling again, Kiera went down to the tavern to celebrate with her team. She hurriedly got Jeromy, Vossan, and Thalia together.

“Here's to Kiera finally making it to another breakthrough. It almost took two months for her to level up again,” Jeromy said sarcastically.

“What, is that unusual?” said Kiera with a shit-eating grin.

The rest of her party just grumbled.

***

“This is the last item for the day, lot #4,000,” said Jarerre the auctioneer. “Simply put, this is 3 ounces of pure mithril, presented as ten ingots. Absorbed, it is worth two million DP's,” he said with a grin. The audience politely laughed, despite the massive tension in the air.

“Of course, no one would absorb more than a tiny portion of the metal, leaving the rest to be used in crafting, as the cost of making it is completely disproportional to the profits from absorbing it. Although, once you have the pattern, with enough DP's, you can always make some more. I won't say too much, as the properties of this legendary metal are well known to us all. Lightweight and harder than high steel, it is the world's second best metal for enchanting,” said Jarerre.

As the auctioneer paused, the feeling in the air became even more electric. Dorn turned and glared at Emelia, thinking, you said we couldn't sell this. Are you sure? Who would know that it was us, if there was already mithril in the auction?

Emelia, in a slightly panicky tone, thought, it's probably an item from the gods and not from the dungeons. If a pattern of the metal showed up, however, they would all know that a dungeon had it. Every dungeon in Sorenia would come hunting the dungeon that owned it. I was still correct. Until you're at least an S-level dungeon, you should not sell your mithril pattern. If you really want the DP's, spend the DP's needed to grow the actual metal and sell units of it next auction. You can pretend that it was another item presented by the gods.

Dorn, mollified by Emelia's answer, said, fine, you're probably right.

Jarerre said, “We will begin the bidding at 500 million DP's, and each bid must increase by 10 million DP's.”

Dorn almost lost his mind. Why would they spend so much on a piece of metal?

Emelia rolled her eyes, saying, duh, it's to equip their Dungeon Avatar to fight in the virtual wars they are forced to participate in.

Wouldn't they be better off spending the DP's upgrading to SS class? asked Dorn.

Anyone who buys this metal will have already reached the SS level, and they will be desperately looking for any edge they can get over the enemies they will be fighting at their same level.

The bids were being called in by whoever was in the third story of the auction hall, sitting within the boxes. No one could see into the boxes, and this was the only item the box owners had bid on all night. Jarerre dutifully announced their bids as the price climbed ever higher, first towards and then past one billion DP's.

Finally, one box owner became exasperated, saying, “Why are we wasting all this time? I bid 1.74 billion points.”

Complete silence descended. Jarerre cleared his throat, before saying, “1.74 billion points has been offered. Are there any higher bids?”

After waiting ten seconds in complete silence, Jarerre said, “Then I must declare that the winner of Lot #4,000 is the dungeon in box #3. Thank you all for attending and participating in tonight's auction. You will now be returned to your dungeons, where you will soon receive your prizes and any DP's from your items that sold. Thank you all; see you next year.”

Dorn's virtual self cut off, and he was fully back in his dungeon. The first thing he did was to check on Kiera, who was partying in the inn. He said to her, “Sorry about earlier, I was truly busy with dungeon business. Is everything alright now?”

Kiera thought, yeah, it turned out okay. Can you let me know if that Duke or Earl ever enter the dungeon again?

Dorn said, “Sure, no problem. I'll keep an eye out for them.”

Dorn then turned towards Emelia, saying, “I must make some mithril. As soon as possible.”

Emelia laughed a little and said, “Why don't you wait until next year, closer to the date of the next auction? Who knows what will happen the rest of the year?”

“Good point,” said Dorn.

At that point, another white portal showed up in his core room, letting in the same god who had taken Dorn's items from before. He tossed over a small bag towards Dorn's core, saying, “Here are the items you purchased. Your DP's have already been sent over, minus the 10% commission the gods take.” He then turned around and left.

Dorn frowned at that last part, but then he shrugged. He was still rich, anyway. Dorn looked in the bag to find his five medicinal pills. He quickly absorbed all five to gain their pattern. He then absorbed the three alchemical recipes that he had bought after getting the pills, learning the process for making three of the medicinal pills he had just absorbed. Then, he said, “Status”

Status

Name: Dorn'axial

Dungeon Name: A Dragon's Dungeon

Dungeon Level: 20

+1 for 21,000 DP's

Floors: 11/15

Dungeon Points: 26,558,237

Dungeon Rating: C1 – Your dungeon

has progressed to the level of a

nationally recognized dungeon

Dorn just laughed, loudly. I'm rich, he screamed in his head.