"This...this...this is IMPOSSIBLE!!" - Runitos
"I beg to differ~." - Garami
Ahh, picking on the losers always heals my wounded heart~. Yeah, I'm a bad person. Even if I'm one that got their heart broken into tiny pieces just cause she was left out from the EXP rewards after a vicious battle between Dungeons. I'm a complicated gal.
"*Cough*, Garami? Could you not irritate the giant, fire-breathing dragon after he generously agreed on not turning us, or his original target, aka Flint, to ashes?" - Alf
"SAY WHAT!? Do I look like a shameless bag of scales that would go back on their word!?" - Runitos
"Yup, you sure do." - Mira
"WHA-!?" - Runitos (Shocked)
"At least call him impatient and short-fused. His pursuit after Flint is prime evidence." - Alf
"GUH-!?" - Runitos (Hurt)
"In short, he's a jerk. The dragon princess must hate him." - Noire
"GAH-!?" - Runitos (Mortally wounded)
Yikes, he's coughing out blood with that last one. Now I'm starting to feel bad for the big oaf. And I'm so glad I decided to host this "post-Dungeon Battle meeting" outside Damavand. All that blood, snot, and tears would leave impossible stains on the floor.
"Okay, okay, that's enough fooling around. Runitos, you're serious about not telling people about our connection to this Dungeon, nor planning on getting Flint into any more trouble?" I asked while secretly casting a healing spell on him, just to be safe. It's kinda funny that these are my second-best type of spells, after Necromancy ones, but they are handy.
"That...that's alright. I am just going to return home, with nothing to show except for empty effort and wasted time..." - Runitos
"Is it that bad? You're a freaking dragon! Wasting a month or two doing stupid stuff shouldn't cost you too much." - Garami
"Maybe, but it's a matter of principles! Blasted Bomborogs, why did I have to lose!?" - Runitos
Because you did a meathead job out of customizing your Dungeon. Enhancing the monsters living there isn't a bad thing on its own, but when it's at the expense of the Dungeon's self-defense infrastructure, the story is different. He's probably never realized that cause he never got attacked by a huge army like in the Dungeon Battle, or he's just gone out and crushed any invaders that got too cocky and too close to his Dungeon's Core.
"I'd be more concerned about the resources you spent on making that underground bank." - Noire
"That? Ptt, no biggie. I hunt Treasure-themed Chaos Dungeons in my free time. The amount I spent here is pocket change." - Runitos
"Okay, are you trying to pick a fight!?" asked Mira, who loves treasures more than anything else, except for swords and cute girls.
"I'm all out of juice now, thanks to this mess. I wonder if I could score another Core somewhere in this sandbox..." - Runitos
"If you did, that alone would be good enough spoils for leaving the country for so long. Why did you not just return with that?" - Noire
Hearing our residence fallen angel's question, the Fire Dragon got silent for a short moment before face-palming himself. It seems the idea never struck him.
"A-anyway, a Core wouldn't be a great gift to her Highness. Her interest does not lie in those directions. ...And when we're on the subject..." started Runitos carefully while eying me for any reactions. Well, asking you shall receive, or something like that.
"What is it? If you ask if I can let that princess of yours raid Damavand, then you better go and check that brain of yours, cause it's malfunctioning." - Garami
"Of course not! If that would be enough to satisfy her Highness, I would give her my Ruby Coffer and be done with this region!" - Runitos
Hey, fair point. And the next suggestion from Runitos made me see him in a new light. Did his INT value go up during the Dungeon Battle?
---
"So...sweets, huh?" I asked no one specific after we had returned to the Forgotten Royal Hotel on the 1st floor.
That's what Runitos asked for. Sweets produced by the Damavand's facilities. In short, modern stuff like cake, chocolate, and gummies.
"Who's going to make them sweets?" - Mira
"Not me," said Revi, who had been absent from meeting Runitos cause she and Iron had to look after Flint. The doofus pushed the evolution "button" the moment it appeared in front of him, not knowing that doing so would knock him out cold. "Too large demand."
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"If the receiver is to be a princess of a dragon country, then even Revi's culinary abilities, not to mention stamina, will not be enough," said Noire, the last member of our tea party. Iron's still looking after Flint while Alf's snoozing in his bed.
"A dragon-sized cake... I sort of wanna try one myself." - Garami
"-! I will do my best!" - Revi
"Stop it. Your stomach will burst." - Noire
"My tidbit is to add a sweet shop to this underground city." - Mira
"Mhm. A candy store would be a good idea overall." - Noire
"...Sweets...*drooling*." - Revi
"Oki-doki, no need to convince me anymore. We got a landfall from the last battle, so adding a whole new floor even wouldn't be a problem." - Garami
"Why the extra land? Do we need to cultivate chocolate trees?" - Mira
"Nah. We're just empty for space to place any new facilities. ...But let's keep that cultivation idea in the memory bank, okay?" - Garami
Adding the number 6 floor costs a whooping 1.500 DP, but even then, we still have quite a lot left after the Dungeon Battle. Enough to add a Glutton Stand on the new floor for the monsters there, plus the all-important..., here. "Sweets Gallery". Hmm? It's not one of those "Seven Sin" stores? Lame, but I can live with it. Even if the price is a steep 700 DP! Still, it's sweets. That's a justified excuse if there ever was.
"Okay, it's done," I told the girls after the Dungeon's rumbling faded, "but it will need a master chef to teach the patissiers there. Revi, you're on."
"Roger-doger~," she said along with a cute salute before heading down to the Dungeon's new 5th floor (the previous one now being the 6th floor).
"How is that any different from the Glutton Kitchen?" - Noire
"There are no 'sweets stands' nor can you upgrade the store to increase the products' quality. The Dungeon's natural DP limit is increased by 35 points, oh, and you can only make sweets here" - Bloom
The little fairy, who had been busy stuffing her tiny mouth with whipped cream earlier, came to my rescue and explained the downsides of the Sweets Gallery. Then again, not being able to upgrade means you also don't need to upgrade it anyway. Also, the Glutton Kitchen, when developed, seems to have the ability to up other food-related facilities, essentially turning the Sweets Gallery into something like a fancy Glutton Stand in the long run.
"Whatever. As long as we obtain our share of the deliciousness." - Noire
"Sweets are a girl's best friend~. In moderation, of course." - Mira
Ehm, Mira? I think you don't need to worry about that. Looking at you, I can only imagine the extra weight going to the right places.
"Sure, desserts in the desert are cool, but getting paid is even better. I was starting to wish getting my hands on some extra pocket money." - Garami
"More like getting any money at all. The Guild is essentially broke when you ignore the Damavand." - Noire
"Don't remind me..." - Mira
"Why are you two so gloomy about? There's nothing to buy here in the middle of the desert. Unless there's something in Oasis Town you wanna buy." - Garami
"Money is money, regardless of the location!" - Mira
"The dunderhead is onto something for once. The location doe not matter, only the wares." - Noire
"Wares?" I asked, sensing trouble in that statement.
"Funnily enough, a caravan from Solomar is traveling through the various settlements in the Sekarot Desert on its way to the Loitan region. And let me tell you, the 'Scorched Silk' from Solomar is to die for." - Noire
"Hmm~? Silk, you say~." - Garami
For a Weaver like me, those words are too alluring.
"That large caravan? I remember it being a big deal in the other districts, but I never saw it for myself." - Mira
"Now's a good time as any. Let's ask Runitos for early payment and get going." - Garami
Hmm, I'm never going to get a chance to just laze around in my Dungeon, am I? No matter. This caravan seems too tempting to me. I've got that weird Oil attribute skill I wanna throw onto my Nightmare Item set's skill slots ASAP and I'm not about to start using low-quality stuff just to get rid of it.
---
So, yeah. It took a few days to get hold of him again, but we managed to haggle half the payment from Runitos (he didn't inch on not paying us the full price until he got the sweets), gathered some members willing to go on a shopping trip, took the Marauder, and set off. The members for today's trip are me, Noire, Mira, Revi, and Iron. I was kinda surprised that Iron volunteered to come along, but hey, more luggage carriers. I can't leave everything to my Skeletons, can I?
Alf is staying behind to take care of the Damavand and the sweets production. Flint, on the other hand, is marveled over his evolution into a "Fire Lizardman". Those guys don't have much in the evolution selection, do they? In any case, the man's all "fired up" about testing out his new abilities, which includes hammering on that anvil in his forge. If that "burning" enthusiasm of his is giving us new and powerful gear, why stop him?
"Where are we going again?" I asked Noire, who had taken the role of map reader for today's trip. The driver is Mira, by the way.
"The city of cloth, Shaharin. It is one of the greatest settlements in the Sekarot Desert region." - Noire
"And quite the distance from us," I said, looking over Noire's shoulder to take a look at the map. It's twice the distance to Grey Park, meaning it will take almost two days to reach this city of cloth.
"No worries there. We will take the Stone Highway. That will cut our travel time by a lot." - Noire
"The stone what-now?" - Garami
"Allow me," started Bloom, "the Stone Highway..., is right in front of us!"
Bloom's outburst shifted my attention to the front of the Marauder, which had just finished climbing up one of the larger dunes. Finally revealed from its cover behind the sand was a gigantic rock bridge. No need to guess three times what this rock formation is, nor how it got its name.
"I might be wrong, but we're traveling on top of that thing?" - Garami
"A perfect answer. 100 points." - Noire
"*Cough*, the Stone Highway is a natural world wonder, or at least a Sekarot Desert wonder, that allows travelers a safe passage through most of the desert. Not only is its height making it difficult for the desert-dwelling monsters to reach whoever travels across it. the stones themselves seem to be emitting some sort of smell, aura, or something else unidentified that the local monstrosities find displeasing." - Bloom
"Nobody knows exactly why?" - Garami
"That's probably one of the reasons why it is referred to as a 'wonder'." - Bloom
"Wonderful. And sarcasm aside, this is helpful." - Garami
No need to worry about monster attacks, there's a solid road to drive on... I don't know about the others, but I'm sold. There might even be rest stops built on top of this thing. I could see myself making some good business running a shop there.
"There's only one thing I wanna know... Why wasn't I told about this 'wonder' before today?" - Garami
"Hmm? You never asked?" - Bloom
AW, COME ON!! Is she really the material result of one of my highest-leveled skills!? Sure, we never needed to use this Highway until today, but still!
"Mira, please get us to one of the Highway's entrances." - Noire
"I see it, but there seems to be trouble going on down there." - Mira
When isn't it? But to be honest, I've been feeling left out of all the action lately, so come at me, pal!
Netherworld Royal]