<*Clickclickclickclick*>
Moss was fascinated by the spinning wheel. It kept changing colours, patterns and sigils forming and disappearing as it spun. Red, green, white, blue, purple, yellow, and for only an instant during the spin, pitch black.
<*Click-click-click-click*>
The ticking noise was slowing, but even with the wheels turning gradually decreasing speed, Moss could not make out what any section of the wheel said. The entire thing seemed to be written in a foreign script, all curved, each sigil connecting to the next. "Albert would get a kick out of studying this," he grumbled to himself.
<*click----click----click---clack*>
"Finally. Let's see what my prize is... I can't read it." Moss looked closer. The wheel was glowing a gentle green colour. "Green, green, plants? Is it plants?"
"What?!?!?! What prize? I haven't gotten any prize you lousy piece of--" Moss kicked the wheel in frustration "--junk! I swear I will-"
<45 seconds until traps re-arm...44...43...>
"Shi-it!" Moss screamed as he frantically attempted to unlock the door.
<22...21...20...>
The door seemed to groan as, with a click, Moss managed to open it and immediately sprinted down the hall. "Snakes and spiders, no <*huff*> more snakes <*pant*> and spiders!
<*thud*>
Running head first into a large form in the safe room, Moss fell on his ass. Looking up, he recognized the razor mane of hair, and the short tail with a small tuft on it's end. A faint glint appeared as Porky, once again woken from his nap, turned to see the same person, lacking his favourite red berries.
"Nice piggy! Good piggy! This is a safe room! It's safe for me, right piggy?"
"..."
"..."
<*Snort*>
"...Pi-piggy...?"
-
"Hey, Moss is still alive," remarked Trish from the weavers station.
"How can you tell?" Sylph asked.
"I can hear him screaming in the safe room. I have an inherent skill for perception with my class."
"Ah."
-
A few hours later the party returned to the safe room to rest, bundles of materials and finished goods in their packs. Upon entering, they saw Moss, tears streaming down his face, atop one of the wardrobes. A very angry looking pig was directly below him, snorting and grunting. Every time Moss' balance shifted to one side, the pig let out an angry squeal.
"Oh there you are Moss. Did you make it down the tunnel?" asked Albert nonchalantly.
"GET THIS FUCKING PIG AWAY FROM MEEEEE!" Moss sobbed.
The wisp Sylph floated over, holding a few small, bright red berries. "Here you go Porky. Now you know we can't hurt them in the safe room. Master would be upset if we broke his nice furniture, wouldn't he?"
Happily munching the tiny handful of fruit, Porky turned to give Moss one final, disdaining look. With a snort, and a swish of his tail, he wandered down the Combats entrance to finish his nap.
With the day done, and the party tired from their exertions, the broke out simple rations before heading to bed.
-
'I had forgotten Porky likes to sleep in unused rooms. Might have to give him a raise. That was by far the most entertainment I've gotten out of an adventurer surviving in my dungeon.' Orion frowned for a moment. 'System, what prize did Moss claim?'
'So why doesn't he know he got an ability?'
"Wait, so he can come back and bother me whenever he WANTS?!?!"
-
The following morning, the party awoke and began packing their things. Unless they wanted to challenge another hallway, their day in the Dungeon was up. And Moss was adamant that he was leaving, with or without them.
"So, Moss, what'd you see behind the door?" Burke asked.
"I'm more interested in what kinds of traps made him scream like a little girl during an orc raid," Trish jibed.
"Snakes, spiders and the oversized pig. So many snakes and spiders." Moss shuddered at the memory. "And the door was a bust. Just a wheel you spin that doesn't give you anything. Albert would've liked it. Lots of weird sigils and fancy writing I couldn't understand."
"Wait, so the entire corridor is a trap? You weren't given anything?" Trish was a bit surprised. Normally a Dungeon would give you something for getting through a door.
"Nothing. System notified me I had been given my prize, and tada! Whole lot of nothing. Then I had 60 seconds to unlock that bloody great door again and make it down the hallway before the traps armed again." Moss shuddered again. "No more snakes and spiders for me. Not ever again."
"So Moss?"
"Yeah Trish?"
"There's a quest out for an infestation in Moray Hills. Large numbers of giant spiders-"
"No more spiders!" Grumbling to himself, Moss packed his bags and began walking to the exit. Trish, grinning at the thought of catching small spiders and planting them in his bedroll, began packing at a hurried pace. A small jar filled with spider eggs appeared next to her pack, with a scrap of parchment depicting a man covering his lips with a single finger, going "Shhhh". Trish's eyes sparkled for a moment, and mimed the parchment to herself for a moment.
-
"You ok, Ariel?" Orion had been dividing his attention between the adventurers and the entirety of the dungeon, so he was faintly concerned a night alone, even with the Miner automaton in her room, could cause her to panic.
"Yeah, I'm ok. I spent the day practicing my spells on your Miner, buffs and dispels and that. I wasn't worried. You'll keep me safe." She looked down at the ground for a bit. "I never really thanked you. For before. You spared my brother and me."
"I spared you, Ariel. You're brother was an incidental non-casualty."
"Why?" Her question rang out into the Dungeon. "Why just me? I mean, I'm nobody special. So, why did you do it?"
Orion paused for a moment. Why did he spare her? Did she remind him of someone? No, until her group arrived, he'd never met any females of humanoid species. But that look on her face when she saw that Hairy person hurt. He recognized that.
"You were spared, that's all there is to it. Now, Gareth should be here soon, and the place is still a mess from those annoying trespass- adventurers. Time to clean. Mind the poisonous spiders."
Shaking his head, Orion pondered. Why did I spare her?