Trash Mountain Dungeon

Arthur stepped through the doors, accompanied by his brother and two others I didn’t recognize.

” Welcome back my friend, I hope your rest was fruitful.”

I guess, I had the hound nod anyway.

“That is good, now, I believe you wish to discuss the events of the last few days?”

Yup, but not out here.

I had my hound lead them to the merchant, his uniform pristine and bright.

” My master welcomes you, lord Arthur.”

” And I him, representative, and while I would like to discuss each other’s state, I believe we both wish to get to the chase?”

” Indeed, my master wishes to know the state of the enemy, have they arrived, and if so, what steps have been taken against them?”

He seemed to have a contemplative look on his face, neither positive nor negative in his thoughts.

“The situation has turned out more complicated than I anticipated. Two days ago, the bulk of them arrived and have been constructing encampments around the area, close to the fort and your dungeon, but relatively far from each other.”

He took out several pieces of paper from his cloak, each bearing a different symbol.

” Additionally, I have also received multiple requests for access to your domain, each coming with promises of payment and services, most gave some statement of non-hostility. Currently, my brother and I are skeptical of their intentions, however, I would note that several are if not trustworthy, predictable.”

” The master would like to ask why, are they all not our enemies?”

” Well, yes and no, while I would never fully trust them, some sects such as that of Kruul and Bevel are known for their disgust of enslaving dungeons but are not above destroying them, if nothing else, groups such as they are at worse benign if we avoid provoking them.”

Hmm, this does change things, maybe, if they are as he says they are then it could work in our favor, we’ll just need to avoid pissing them off.

If I remember correctly, Kruul was a war god, something something, honor and all that, while Bevel was a god of crafts. Both were supposedly willing to leave me be so long as I didn’t mess with them, and neither was especially invested in collaring me. If these things were true, then it meant our plan had some 'wiggle room'. Instead of using or causing issues between them, we could prioritize propping up these workable sects.

"My master would like to take some time to consider the situation, but he also asks if you could perhaps look into a missing item of ours, the gift you were given was taken during the master's sleep."

"The orb? Hmm, I have a few ideas as to where it could be, let your master know that when I get the chance, I will search for it."

Arthur left, leaving me alone as I floated back down to the core, retreating to the fortress below with his brother.

...

I just had a thought, several actually, am I in over my head?

Like, it's kind of just starting to hit me just what I'm doing, angering gods and trying to trick their followers to hurt or even kill one another. The human part of me was beginning to question WHY I was doing all this. I'm a powerful thing that can create any number of powerful objects, one or two right moves and I could have pushed this problem elsewhere. I'm not even sure that's still an issue I could think on though, they're already there, and unless I could shit out some stupidly long-named weapon or further divine intervention, I'd be stuck juggling these religious idiots forever. Just one good distraction to make them beat it to whatever hill they came from.

A trio of travelers are listening.

Huh, the hell is a 'trio of travelers'?

I couldn't sense anyone in my dungeon, and I certainly didn't feel any magical ones either.

The [Mercurial Traveler], [Tortured Trickster], and [The Moon-lit Falcon]

Wish to know if they can be of service?

I'm still not entirely certain about who or what these things are, the smith seemed fine and the 'war flower' seemed to like how I named Bellona, but just what are they? Besides, what help could three unknowns offer me exactly, life advice?

The Traveler finds a wanderer,

A Trickster finds a lie,

and the Falcon seeks a wounded soul.

They offer a [path], a [trick], and a [balm].

One to walk, one to deceive, and another to heal.

What exactly does that mean, why won't you just say what you want, what you are?!

How could you handle us, when you can barely handle yourself, much less these parasites?

The words felt like a hammer to my heart and mind, I could feel my mind stretch and pull in the face of... something.

The stones and metal began to glow with head, the stray critters melted on the spot, and I could see the metal plants catch fire outside. I looked up and saw my core cracking and breaking all over.

WARNING!

Core Structure heavily damaged, engaging emergency reconstruction.

It felt like a bucket of ice was poured straight into my heart, the melting metal cooling to form harsh ugly patterns.

W-what was that, what the fuck just happened?!

The trio of travelers apologizes.

They state that despite the core's preparation, they are incapable of defending themselves.

They thus offer the opportunity to escape this situation, provided the dungeon can give them something.

What?

They're just, offering some get-out-of-jail card after nearly killing me, that's not even mentioning whether or not I care if they want something now!

The trio repeated their apologies.

They wish to offer the [Redacted] a chance to realize their full potential as a dungeon core.

The interference by [Redacted] is [Redacted].

They are willing to offer their names should the core accept the offer.

This is almost like being at work again, constantly blacked-out sheets of maybes and mights about this or that.

Sigh, I'm not ungrateful that you apparently want me to succeed and are willing to help, but why exactly should I believe a word any of you are saying? I can still barely believe myself each morning that I'm in a different world or that I can make magic monsters and stuff. I get that you might not be able to give me a real solid answer, but some truth, some evidence to tell me what's true and what's not.

The trio offers a saying in response,

In the absence of truth, belief.

With the lack of evidence, faith.

Near the precipice of conflict, trust.

The trio asks for belief in their [path], faith in their [trick], and trust in their [balm].

I-I don't know if I can do that, almost every choice until now has been one of pros and cons, of logic and reason, something I've relied on since I was a kid. What you're asking of me is to just, give in, give up the facts and plans and my trust in you. I barely understand what the others are much less the three of you.

Give me a reason to trust.

There is no reason in faith, young core, only that you believe.

That, wasn't the system, is it one of you, all three?

....

Nothing?

...

Gone I guess, back to wherever these things keep coming from.

Sigh, what the hell is even going on anymore, I'm tempted to say that I'm just going insane, but I doubt the damage would appear just because I went crazy. I could try; to trust that is, it certainly wouldn't be the first time but one of the few so intimately tied to my survival while having no idea what the outcome could be.

I suppose I could give it a try, it would mean abandoning months of preparation and investment, so much would become invalid even if the benefit of most would still be available. It would mean I was free, for the most part, to return to a simpler state where all I have to worry about is stepping on Arthur's toes about something or other. With the departure of the sects, I could invest in my place more, spruce it up a bit, and make it nice.

But that did beg the question, what did they want?

The trio wishes for the dungeon to reassimilate the [Pandora] monster back into [divine ash] and take it as a sacrifice.

The [Clef-Footed Smith] dislikes the price but understands the necessity of the action.

Like so very many times before me, I had a choice before me, I could try trusting them and see where it goes, at least the smith wouldn't get angry. Or I could not, Arthur and I could continue as we were and plan for the chaotic war, we were set on creating.