Chereads / Life as a Dungeon Core / Chapter 15 - Work for me

Chapter 15 - Work for me

"Wow. This is... uh you're not still listening, are you?" Martin asked.

"I'm always listening, you insufferable child. I am listening to you, insulting my home, your friends, weeping over their lost profits. I can even hear that young girl, Aribelle, weeping because her brother Hairy is alive."

"I think you mean Ariel and Barry."

"Whatever. As I said, my job is to help those who enter my Dungeon to gain useful resources and blah blah blah. I'm not allowed to bar the door, and I'm not allowed to kick you out, so feel free to speak your mind, kid."

"Well, it's just, there are no tools. No materials. Just a work bench, some empty planters, and a block of stone."

"Yes. And?"

"Well, what am I supposed to craft with that?"

"You think I can just conjure up materials for you? Tools I've never seen or heard of? Precious metals from inside the earth? You think I can wave my hand, read your mind and go-"

"What?"

"What?"

"You just went silent mid-sentence there, old man. What is it?"

"Nothing. Nevermind. Here." A smiths hammer appeared on the bench. An open-topped box appeared next to it, filled with various metal ores, with a quenching barrel of water to it's right.. Finally, a small blacksmith's hearth and a small anvil appeared where the planters previously stood. "Forge away. Whatever other tools you need, make them yourself. I'm at my limit."

'I can't believe I forgot to scan him. Stupid, Orion, stupid!'

-

Martin spent the afternoon and evening in the newly created forge. He remembered the sign out front. One piece of completed craft for the dungeon, the rest was his to take.

At the end of the day, Martin held up a small piece of brass ornamentation, designed to act as a trim for a piece of furniture.

"And done. And half the ore is left for me to-"

"Can you make more of these things?" the voice sounded by his ear.

"Shit! Don't just creep up on people like that. Scared me half to death."

"Can. You. Make. More?"

"Well, sure. Any smith's apprentice can make basic things like nails and simple ornamentation. Takes a day for me to smelt the ores and then forge it into a working piece, but-"

"Work for me."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Work for me. I can hire you as an employee. You'll become my Dungeon Employee. If slain in the Dungeon, you'll revive. You can advertise, and show me more of these - ornaments - you called them?"

"Uhhhhh, no, I don't think so."

"..."

"..."

"Please?"

-

After agreeing to sleep on it, Martin went back upstairs to the main area. The previously plain, carved furniture now featured brass ornamentation, identical to the one offered by Martin. What was even stranger, an entire raw chicken, plucked of feathers, lay on the top of the stove for Martin to cook. Martin took one look, pulled out his side knife and went to work cooking, and eating, it.

It was strange in the cave. The lighting never changed while the door was sealed shut. The strange patterns on the wall seemed to repeat every so often. Martin spent his last, wakeful moments of the night counting the repeated sigils, that went on and on, and felt like it was a message for a friend.

-

Martin awoke to the sound of the door grating open, the dawns light shining in. Looking around himself, he immediately wondered, 'Is my time up already?'

"You have two hours left within before I ask you to exit. There's nothing for breakfast, but enough water for another shower. Though most people remove their clothes before entering."

'The voice was speaking from a meter or two's distance away this time. Huh. Maybe it listened to me.' thought Martin, as he went into the wash room.

"Have you thought about my offer?" the voice queried. "Free food, free materials, access to all the grounds of the Dungeon?"

"Look, old man-"

"Orion."

"What?"

"My name is Orion. I'm the Dungeon Core. And my name is Orion."

"Look, Orion," Martin replied, "It's a good offer for someone wanting to retire alone, but I am just starting my life. I want to travel, see the world, marry a nice girl, all of it. So I can't stay and be your employee. I'm sorry."

The voice went silent. Martin sighed, picked up his pack and exited the cave.

Orion sat, alone in his blue-lit cave for a moment. "People are such a nuisance. Always coming and going as they please. Breaking my furniture. Picking my crops. They only come to collect what they want and leave." Water slowly formed and dripped from the ceiling above the spring. "I'm better off, anyways. No one to bother me, this way."