Leon

"This dungeon really is a mystery," Damien says after I finish explaining what we found in the dungeon. "I mean, really! When I first came here, I was just using it as an excuse to get out of Rockfall!"

Wait, did he just admit that to me?

"But now? Now the dungeon is-" Damien suddenly stops talking as a look of surprise shows on his face.

He falls silent for a few minutes before looking towards the office door.

Is he talking to someone through telepathy?

I turn to look at the door before hearing a knock.

"Come in," Damien says instantly.

Okay, what's going on?

The door opens to reveal a man wearing leather armor and a cloak, with a bow strung over his shoulder.

I think I recognize this man...

Wasn't he a member of Arthur's party?

Although I think he was wearing something else when I last saw him.

"I see that you have finally revealed your identity, Sir Nokar," Damien says with a smile.

Wait a second, this guy is a Knight?!

"Yes, Guildmaster. I didn't have a choice, as if I didn't, then the dungeon wouldn't exist anymore," Sir Nokar says in a monotonous tone of voice.

"Excuse me, what?!" I shout in surprise.

The Knight glances at me with indifference before a spark of emotion shows on his face as he realizes who I am.

Damien explains to me what he meant, "Soon after you left the dungeon and came here, Arthur and his party entered the dungeon. When they reached the third floor, the dungeon communicated with them through a slate."

I turn to him in surprise as I ask, "What did it say?"

"It asked for help dealing with an infestation of Spawn that was attacking the dungeon," Damien says with a grimace.

Spawn...?

There were Spawn attacking the dungeon?!

"How did the Spawn get in past the city walls?" I ask as I shoot up from my chair.

Sure they are by no means complete yet, but someone should still have noticed it if Spawn were breaking through or even passing over them!

Damien glances at Sir Nokar and nods his head for him to explain.

I turn to him as he says, "They were Arachnids who dug into the dungeon from their hive underground."

Arachnids?

If I remember correctly, I think those were a type of spider monster.

"If Sir Nokar wasn't there, then the dungeon's core would most likely have been destroyed," Damien says with a grim look on his face.

Seriously?!

"Thank you, Sir Nokar," I say in appreciation.

He just nods his head without a word.

Okay...?

What's up with this guy?

"What would you like as a reward? I will try to accommodate you, as long as you don't ask for too much," I ask him in an attempt to square away this debt as quickly as possible.

He just stares at me for a second before saying, "I did it for the dungeon. Not for this city."

The heck?

Is he saying that the doesn't need a reward?

Sir Nokar appears to hesitate for a second before he adds, "However, the extra intel that I have provided Damien will require a reward. For that, I only ask for all of Arthur's dungeon dives within the next three years to be exempted from taxes."

"Extra... intel?" I ask him in bewilderment before turning to Damien.

"Oh, I haven't mentioned this part yet, but while he dealt with the Spawn, Sir Nokar found what was most likely the fifth floor boss," Damien explains to me with a smirk, "and it was intelligent enough to talk."

It... spoke?

So, not only did the dungeon itself reach out to communicate, but one of its monsters actually spoke?

If that's the case, then this dungeon is extremely intelligent!

Even more so than we had thought!

I glance at Sir Nokar and say, "Arthur can have his tax exemption as you requested."

The Knight nods his head in appreciation before turning to leave.

"Now," Damien says before Sir Nokar can leave, "on to the next matter at hand."

I turn back to him and ask, "What next matter?"

Damien smiles and says, "Why, the matter of your promotion to Three Star Mercenary, of course!"

I stare at him for a few seconds in silence.

"Excuse me, what?" I ask, unsure as to whether I heard him right or not.

Sir Nokar

I walk out of the office, leaving the City Lord and Guildmaster to talk alone.

That was a surprise.

I didn't expect to speak with the man Lady Fox is interested in so soon.

Although, I am not really sure what she sees in him.

Especially considering that she ordered me to protect him when I am not with her son.

I make my way through the guild and out the exit before stepping around the corner and attempting to connect to Lady Fox.

'I was forced to reveal my Tier in order to save the dungeon from an infestation of Arachnid Spawn. After that, I met with the City Lord and got your son exempt from taxes in the dungeon for the next three years in exchange for intel about the fifth floor boss,' I say as soon as I connect.

'Oh? What did you think of him?' Lady Fox replies after a few seconds of silence, focusing entirely on the part of my message about the City Lord.

I ignore the fact that she completely ignored the rest of my report as I say, 'I don't understand what you see in him. Sure he may be a decent City Lord, but he is still just a Tier 1 mercenary.'

Lady Fox chuckles over the link before saying, 'You will understand eventually. For now, just keep an eye on him while you are protecting Arthur, and make sure he doesn't die.'

She then closes the link before I can respond.

"Just what does she see in him anyways?" I mutter before walking towards the inn Arthur is staying at.

Fenrir

Dawn doesn't say much to me over the next few hours – obviously still upset with my previous actions.

Despite that, I don't regret them one bit.

Even if I can't escape in a situation like that, she could.

Anyways, that may have been a very close call, but I did come out with several benefits through it.

'Status.'

Name: Fenrir

Race: Dungeon Core

Element: Void

EXP Level: 7

EXP: 24/80

Cultivation Level: 4

Cultivation to next Level: 7%

Mana: 3/65

Secondary Tabs: Dungeon Status, Skills List, Talents List, Achievements List

First and foremost being all of the EXP that the spiders gave me.

Too bad it didn't give me any cultivation progress...

I glance at the arachnid as it crawls around my core room.

That thing is another plus.

Actually, now that I think about it...

"Hey, Dawn?" I ask her. "Do you think that there might be anything in the Arachnids' hive?"

Dawn freezes before turning yellow in surprise.

"I didn't think about that..." she mutters before turning to me for the first time in hours.

"I will go check it out for you, but just in case an Arachnid or two is still alive in there, leave a few monsters outside of the hole," she says before teleporting in front of the hole.

Wait a second, what?

Before I can say anything in regards to her comment about possible survivors, she shrinks as much as she can before rushing through the hole towards the spiders' nest.

Shit!

She better not get hurt while she is in there!

I watch the dim light of her blue flame slowly fade away as she gets further into the hole before I sense someone enter my dungeon alone.

When I focus my attention on the entrance, I find some shady looking person wearing a black cloak standing at my entrance, already surrounded by a pile of wolf corpses that quickly disappear.

Um, who is this person?