Chapter 81 - Monke And Other Dungeon Masters

Forgetting my Dungeon for the moment – since there is probably a reason for separating the Dungeon Masters from their dungeons currently – I made a beeline straight for the food table.

Grabbing a plate, a spoon, and a fork, I instantly filled my plate with a bunch of food that was enough to curb my appetite. Spotting a vacant spot without anyone sitting beside it, I took a spot as the first Dungeon Master to seat on this table. Looking behind me, I saw various other Dungeon Masters scrambling for food, their stomachs now probably guiding their bodies instead of their brains.

Like I'm one to talk, seeing that I'm already devouring the food as the delicacy it is. Like, seriously, the food here could give Gorram Donsay a run for his money back on Earth.

"There a free spot here, Mr…?" A voice piped up from behind me. Looking behind, I saw a slim, petite woman that looked like a cross between a snake and a human carrying a bunch of food piled up on a single plate.

She had silver hair reaching above her neck, and a silver, slithery snake-half. She wore what seemed to be modern clothes on top, and a skirt at her waist, seeing that pants or shorts would not fit.

"Jionni, and yes, there is a free spot, Ms…?" I wiped my mouth before speaking to the lamia with some napkins. I may be a monster, but at least I have some manners and class.

"Prixais." The lamia said as she plopped her scaly butt on a seat opposite to me as she let her snake-half coil around the chair to take up less space. "A wee bit on the small side, but nothin' I can't handle."

Prixais, after taking her seat and making herself comfortable, began eating the food on the plate like there was no tomorrow. Chunks of food quickly go into her mouth, and a few moments later, get swallowed and into her belly to be digested.

'Well, snake-half, a plausible reason as to why she could stuff that much food in her mouth and not destroy her jaws due to how wide her mouth was open.' I sweatdropped as I continued to watch the lamia demolish the stack of food on her plate, before I also went to finish mine. 'No way in hell am I leaving this plate of food here, it's just too delicious!'

A few minutes of eating and silence between us, the two of us managed to finish our meals together. A burp came from my mouth as I sighed contentedly.

"This… was a good meal…"

"Tell me 'bout it." Prixais looked stuffed, her belly slightly protruding due to how much she ate. "Nothin' like a good meal to brighten our days, eh?"

"Heh, right you are on that, Ms. Prixais." I chuckled slightly, amused at the lamia in front of me making some noises of contentment.

"Call me Prix, darlin'." She winked at me with a smile.

"Then call me Jion, dear." I winked back. She looked at me with a shocked face, before she burst out into laughter.

"Y-you… Khahehehah!" The lamia held her sides, her chest heaving as she tried to get her breathing back in order. "Y-you're a strange one, ain't ya, darlin'?"

"Well, I aim to please." I looked into her face, a bit in awe of her pretty face. Her bluish-red eyes make her look even more exotic.

"By the way, ain't ever seen one of your kind before." She looked at my form, not minding how I looked, or how hairy I was, considering that there were a lot of monsters in all shapes and sizes.

I mean, there's a slime Dungeon Master just a few tables away. Hell, there are even humans, elves, and demi-humans as Dungeon Masters.

'Can anybody be a Dungeon Master?' A question that just might have some proof to it, as seen by the number of species decorating the halls.

There's no dragon though, but maybe they're in disguise. A bit reasonable, seeing that this hall may be big enough to fit all of us, but a bunch of dragons?

Yeah, no…

"I'm what you call a gorilla. A sub-species of a race called primates." I said, trying to recall the information about gorillas I had read before in my free time back on Earth. "However, a heavily modified one. Gorillas have stubby legs. I don't."

I state this fact proudly. Ha! Take that Charles Darwin!

"Damn. That's cool!" She spoke excitedly, the tip of her tail shaking slightly due to her excitement. "So, how long ya been a Dungeon Master?"

'Hmm… She's fishing for information. True enough, Chythos and Uius said there was no fighting, but information gathering was a go. Is sabotaging also allowed, though? Bah, better not risk it.' I thought as I tried to decide whether to answer her or not. 'Hmm… I'll ask her a question next, maybe try to get a better understanding of how Dungeon Masters work their own Dungeons.'

"Not long, about a few weeks, give or take."

"Well, that's a short period. I've been managing my Dungeon for a while, though I can't recall how long it's been." She knocked her head with her knuckles.

"Well, I would like to ask you a question, if it isn't any trouble."

"Go ahead, darlin'. Like anythin' here could stop ya from askin'." She snorted, gesturing around us to show me that some Dungeon Masters had formed their own cliques, not unlike schools back at home.

'Hmm… I guess those are the Dungeon Masters who've already been acquainted with each other…' I was a bit nervous due to my disadvantage as a lone competitor without any connections.

"How's your Dungeon like?"

"Eh, nothin' big. A bunch of rooms, a bunch of monsters to guard them, you know, same old, same old." She brushed off the question like it was nothing, shrugging her shoulder as she gave me her answer.

'… I'm getting nowhere…' I mentally sighed. 'It seems like I need to brush up on my conversation skills.'

"Hey, ya theah. Cahah ta give me some of yah time?"  I was brought out of my musings as I focused my gaze on the one who had called me. He was big, he was buff, and most of all, his horns looked pointy.

Garbed in somewhat non-restricting armor, he looked like a gladiator ready to lop off heads. Except that he isn't human.

Instead, he's a 10-foot-tall minotaur.

'What have I gotten myself into now…?