Chapter 138 Dungeon Core: “The Eternal Training Ground”

Pov Adventurer Guild Master

It didn't take us long to reach the entrance, only to find it barricaded. They were impressive enough, but I kind of had the urge to simply make them disappear along with everyone inside the entrance hall. It was a nice morning, and then all of a sudden, things had to go off the cliff.

Looking up, I was still surprised at how uninterrupted the operations of the airship port were. No matter who you were, absolutely everyone knew that messing with its operations would mean that almost every nation of the world would fall upon you and tear you to pieces.

As I continued to look at the people in the entrance hall ready to defend it, I was actually surprised to see that I recognized almost no one. So many were not a part of the Adventurer Guild. That was good news in a way, as I wouldn’t be blamed that much for the mess that was currently getting larger.

I remember every adventurer registered here, and over the years, as I have watched this entrance hall, I came to the conclusion that I recognize fewer and fewer people.

Normally, I would have already been replaced as I would have let the Adventurer Guild monopoly be broken here. In truth, this dungeon was now more closely related to the wild dungeons than belonging to the true powers.

Still, I can't believe that the pixies gave up on this place. Or perhaps they didn’t. All of this had their stink on it, which unfortunately meant that I couldn’t act, even a little bit. Just thinking about that war made me shiver in fright. "Ace, sorry my lord, we have a few options. None of them are pretty. It is, however, a fact that we need a connection into the dungeon and fast."

I looked at the young brat. My opinion of him constantly shifts. He has done some questionable things, especially in regard to the dungeon, but so far, it hasn’t blown up in his face, so I guess he's doing a good enough job. He should also be focusing more on his own strength and not be so focused on the monetary gains, especially his latest spending.

Doing so much just to please one singular individual seemed like a true waste. Yet, I did not see her here. I had expected her family to want him wrapped around her finger, to get another Trade Centre, but since she's not here, perhaps the brat still has some brains.

I continued to look at him as he deliberated on their next action. It also reminded me that I knew too little. I had been running this place like I would have any other guild office. That was another one of my mistakes.

Time to get some proper support and make sure that nothing happens here without my knowledge. That, however, meant that I would need to contact him, and I did not enjoy talking to him.

"We will not be assaulting," I heard them say, which actually surprised me and everyone else here as well. That's curious.

"I want them behind the negotiation table, and I want to know their demands. In the meantime, you will continue to reinforce this place, and I want everyone ready to attack," his words were final, and while many wanted to discourage him, Ace seemed resolute.

Slowly, I watched as both sides continued to reinforce their defenses while a tentative communication line was established. Ace was braver than I gave him credit for, but if the rumors were right about how many assassinations he had survived, perhaps there's nothing to worry about.

I would still be on full readiness. My eyes landed on a specific location up the mountain where three other individuals, fully geared up, waited. It was a scary sight to see three masters fully ready for battle. We would defend this place if things escalated. This dungeon simply had too much potential to reach the end.

It took a bit more time before the table was set up halfway between the barricades of both sides. Some really strong individuals walked out from the other side. I wondered if they would truly try to escalate, and it seemed like the general was worried about that as well.

"I will bring the Red Squad, so don’t worry," that made the general nod in acceptance. Once again, I cursed my lack of information.

Ace and his guards walked to the table. The atmosphere was very dense. Papers were exchanged and they started to read each other's demands. Only a few moments later, the opposition simply ripped apart the demands Ace gave them.

Ace didn't seem to notice or react, simply continuing to read. Then he asked in seemingly complete confusion, "What is the point of this?"

That was a curious question. While most of us here were confused, for a brief moment I saw panic in the people sitting opposite Ace. "You can read, can't you, City Lord?" Those last two words were spoken with such venom that I was surprised that Ace wasn’t poisoned.

"You cannot be serious, can you? These demands literally amount to nothing. You haven't even stated the beneficiary who would get the dungeon contract, although someone will get it. Which is curious because didn't you want the dungeon set free? That's what a lot of your followers have demanded."

As soon as he finished saying that, it was like a switch was flipped, and I saw a knife heading straight for Ace’s head. Fortunately, I didn’t need to do anything as I could already see that Ace could protect himself from this attack.

That was still quite curious because the person opposite him was black gold, and it felt like that person was hiding something. I tried to look closer, but then things escalated, and I almost jumped in.

Almost all of the opposition tried to kill Ace, and some of them were platinum rank, which meant they were willing to escalate the war. That meant that I would have some more freedom, but it seems like I didn’t need to act as Ace was prepared. As soon as his guards used their true power, their amulets that they used to disguise themselves broke, revealing platinum ranks.

The scuffle was brief as the people employed were a lot stronger. Only Ace and his people were still alive behind the table. The difference between someone who has just broken into the gold rank and someone at the end of that rank was vast. The same was with the next rank.

While there were some really strong individuals who could fight a fresh platinum rank while being at the end of their gold rank journey, they were the true monsters and only one in a billion individuals who have reached gold-rank.

Going up a rank is a qualitative change that is hard to overcome, especially if you get a good talent. It seems that Ace had not wasted money here and had gotten some actually truly good platinum ranks.

"You have brought untold misery for your false goals. Not only are you already responsible for over 10,000 deaths of your fellow adventurers, but we also have reports of dead civilians. This is unacceptable."

"You seemed to want to escalate things. I urge you not to. So, count this as your last warning. With this attack, you have already lost the last of your already low legitimacy. If you break the rank engagement rules once again, or even the rules of war, I will bring down upon you every platinum-rank mercenary company in the world. I already have the coin set aside. All of you will die. It’s your choice how miserable your end will be."

With that speech, Ace turned around and walked back to join us. I was impressed, but did he really have that much coin? I thought back on some of the reports I had seen and came to the conclusion that yes, he had.

It would be unfortunate if that happened as that would escalate things a lot, and it seems like he knows something about who is backing whoever this group is that is trying to take control of the dungeon.

Now, I was even more certain that it was the Pixies. Still, how did they manage to do all of this? One thing that I didn’t mess about with was keeping an eye out for Pixies. It seems like they showed one of their trump cards this time, and I was going to make sure that I would get the knowledge of how they were able to get past our detections.

"We will still not assault, but I want that entrance hole to be a no man's land where no one is alive. Use only ranged attacks," Ace commanded.

A moment later the bombardment started. The opposition started to fight back. Both sides deployed shields to defend their positions. The attacks were fierce, but it will take a while to wear down the shield and barricades.

"But we still need to get into the dungeon to supply and reinforce," someone objected. Ace nodded to that. "We will discuss this in a more private setting," he said while pointing the way for the general and a few others to follow. I was not one of the people chosen to follow.

So, he was holding even more secrets. It looks like there's no way around it. In just a few leaps, I was next to the other masters. "The boy is holding up well." one of them said, and I had to agree.

"Things, however, have spiraled out of control. We’re all quite certain that it’s the Pixies. They're most likely trying to assert control of the dungeon," another master said.

"It seems that they have outplayed us. There is no way we can get our people here and to the dungeon core faster than they could," I said to the other masters, who all agreed.

"What should our next move be?" I asked, as I really didn’t want the Pixies to take this dungeon. "We could always go in ourselves," we all heard a fifth voice say beside us.

We all reacted to the new voice, getting ready to defend ourselves. Then I recognized the voice. It was another master, and fortunately, on our side. The unfortunate part was who it actually was.

"Good day to you, Assassin Guild Master," we all greeted the newcomer. He was probably one of the strongest masters simply because you wouldn't know before you would have a knife in your heart.

"It is not, in fact, a good day. I came here because 7 people broke my guild rule today. Now that's an uncommon occurrence, but it still happens. The fact that the target survived, now that's interesting."

For a moment, my brain ground to a halt. Did that brat survive upper-rank assassinations? "Yes, he did, although he had help. And one of those could be argued against. They were all also working for the Pixies, so I was even more curious, but it seems like they truly want to take this dungeon."

I hated talking to him. It’s like he can read your mind. "We are quite certain of that, yes. We’re currently trying to figure out what we can do to disrupt their plans without driving the dungeon to madness. Perhaps seekers or..."

Before I could continue, he interrupted me. "Something happened to you. I can sense it." Shit, that's bad. He took a step closer and I took a step back. There should be a plant in my third ring that should help.

"Someone stole from you?" My eye started twitching—damn it. I really didn’t want him to find out. "Wait, that was quite a while ago." As soon as I said it, he got a wistful look.

"I didn’t start out as an assassin. My true passion has always been stealing, but when there was nothing left to steal, I chose the assassin business. As that seemed harder. The one who stole from you was quite young, I can sense it. That's really fun. How I wish I could experience that once again." He then looked downwards.

"I can feel so much potential down there, so many thieves and assassins getting properly trained. You know what, you don't have to worry about the dungeon. When the pixies take it, I will simply take it from them."

There was a moment's pause as we all started to realize what that would mean. That would be bad; we need to do something now. "What about the boy who stole from me? Do you know what he stole?"

He immediately focused back on me and squinted. Damn, those eyes were scary, but now that he was out in the open, I was at least confident that he couldn’t kill me. "It's hard to pinpoint, but something important."

Before he could focus back on him wanting to control a dungeon, I set out the true bait. "For a brief moment, he stole my skill crystal." Not only him, but everyone else refocused entirely on me.

"Oh boy, you know what? I haven’t had an apprentice for a really long time. He’s down there right now, fighting; I can sense it. He won’t perish, I’m sure of it. Don’t worry, I will make the pixies pay for daring to break my rules."

The next moment, he disappeared. Well, if the pixies get the dungeon, things will get political afterwards. Now they won't be able to keep it. At least that was some good news.