Chapter Three Hundred and Seventy-Nine. Now we really don't have a choice.

Chapter Three Hundred and Seventy-Nine. Now we really don't have a choice.

"Our world is infested with these beasts?" Gualla asked, aghast at the idea.

"Overrun would probably be a better way to describe it," Bob replied.

"And we're not actually in our world?" Gualla continued.

"Nope, you're in a Dungeon, which is a special type of pocket dimension," Bob frowned. "Sort of like my inventory space, but much more complicated, of course, much larger."

"What happens now?" Gualla asked.

"Well, there are eighty-three other Dungeons that we need to clear in order to stop the overflow, at which point the monsters on your world will eventually dissipate, although you'll need to keep the Dungeons cleared so they don't overflow again," Bob explained.

"How? Our bravest protectors weren't able to do more than purchase us a few seconds with their lives," Gualla demanded.

"The System provides," Bob replied grimly. "Dungeons scale. Not only won't you have to fight monsters as powerful as the ones you saw here, but you won't even be allowed to. The monsters you fight will be your own tier and level, or at most, one level higher. You'll kill the monsters to earn the crystals to become more powerful, to fight more powerful monsters, to become more powerful, to protect your people."

"How can we trust this System when it has already claimed so many lives?" Gualla asked.

Bob frowned. "The System, as far as I've been able to determine, is completely amoral. Its only concern is keeping energy circulating to prevent the heat death of the universe. It has determined that sapient beings, such as ourselves, are the best method for doing so. It doesn't care how many people die as long as the energy keeps moving. I may not agree with it, but I have to live with it, as you do you."

"The System says we're going to be stored away until the quest to clear our world is complete," Gualla said. "How long do you think it will take?"

"Can I see that System notification?" Bob asked.

"I don't know how to share it," Gualla shook her head.

"Just will it to display," Bob advised.

A moment later, the notification appeared.

Congratulations!

A group of sapient beings has reached your planet and been tasked to remove the overflow condition from the Dungeons.

Once the overflow condition of the Dungeons has been eliminated, you will be released from stasis. At this point, you will be responsible for keeping the Dungeons from overflowing.

The names of your Saviours will be made available, permanently, to all the users they save.

"The System is going to place you in stasis, which is basically like going to sleep. You'll wake up and have no idea how much time has passed," Bob assured her.

"Can't I come with you?" Gualla asked. "If it's going to take time for you to save my people, it would be time better spent learning about this System so that I can explain what needs to be done when you finish."

"I don't know," Bob said slowly. "I mean, this has never happened to us before. The whole putting people into stasis, when the System activates in a new universe is actually a very recent development. Maybe I could smuggle you out in my inventory?" He mused.

"Please, I'm certain I can be of assistance when you meet with more of my people," Gualla pleaded.

"I'm willing to try it, I just don't know for sure what will happen," Bob hedged. "The System might pull you right out of my inventory and put you into stasis, it might put you in stasis in my inventory, it might not let me leave with you in there," He shook his head. "I just don't know."

"I would like to join you with Laura as well," Lara said quietly, speaking for the first time since they'd sat down. "Lara has just lost her father, as well as the children of Kessen that she cared for. She has been explaining what happened to the Avatar of Kessen, and already her tail droops less."

Bob looked over at Monroe, who was sprawled indolently on a huge shaded cat bed that Bob had summoned to ensure the comfort of his Divine Feline Overlord. Lara was leaning up against the massive Maine-coon, her face and the upper half of her body hidden in his ruff. He squinted but he couldn't have said if her tail was drooping more or less than it had.

"It's entirely possible that this entire experiment will fail, and you'll implode or something when I try to leave with you in my inventory," Bob said.

"Implode?" Gualla asked.

Bob paused. She'd said the word slowly and in English. "Implode is the opposite of explode," he explained. He was paying attention to what he was saying and noticed that explode was translated over by the System. "Imagine an explosion, only stead of going out, it focuses in."

"Oh," Gualla replied. "I've never heard of that."

"It's something my people discovered through the study of fluid dynamics, at least initially," Bob explained.

"Still, I'd rather risk that than lose the chance for Lara to continue healing. It will be hard enough as it is," Laura said.

Bob narrowed his eyes. "How much of this is just not wanting to go back into stasis?" He asked.

"Some of it," Gualla agreed, while Lara nodded.

"Alright," Bob sighed. "I'll try."

Dungeon 4578G8249N98ISS2PM3D.The source of this content nov(el)bi((n))

Capacity 92%

Estimated time until overflow 8 solar cycles.

"Not mine either," Bob protested.

"Sure it's not," Elli said with a grin. "I mean, your not the heroic type, you'd never throw yourself in front of a monster wave to save a family you don't know."

"You certainly wouldn't hand out secret affinity crystals and paths to a bunch of kids you've never met," Eddi agreed.

"Or help your waitress regrow her arm," Bailli added.

"That's just on Thayland," Dave said. "He saved our whole damn planet."

"Let's get back in there," Bob said quickly. "I'm going to try and bring a ritual summons in with me, the one I had summoned in there couldn't come out."

"Yeah, how are you doing that again?" Eddi asked.

"Super special hero powers," Wayna said sagely.

The Dungeon looked the same, but the quest had changed.

New Quest!

Meluben has been overrun by monsters! The rituals that prevent the volcano above the city from erupting are in danger of failing!

Kill the monsters, 0/10,000

Locate the Temples, 0/10

Seal the Ritual Chambers 0/10

Defeat the Elite Monsters that are drawn to the Rituals 0/10

Bob winced as Trebor snapped back into place. 'Well, that apparently didn't work,' Bob mentally projected.

'No, I'm afraid it did not,' Trebor agreed.

"What is an 'Elite' monster?" Eddi asked.

"A bigger, badder version of a normal monster," Dave explained.

"It doesn't look like your summon made it through," Amanda observed.

"Nope," Bob sighed. "Which is disappointing."

"Let's get our effects rolling," Mike said. "We can't assume that we'll be facing the same monsters, not with the quest having changed. Treat this like a brand new Dungeon."

Bob nodded and fought back the urge to wince as he burned another eight mana crystals on his Eternal Servants. 'Rule Six,' he reminded himself. Summoning out Jake as a Defender, he followed the group as they advanced toward the ruined wall.

He felt a touch of deja vu as the monsters flowed over the wall. They appeared, on initial inspection, to be the same ones they had fought before. The auras certainly felt the same. Spells blazed and summons charged as the battle began.

"What if I don't want to go into the big scary temple?" Dave asked. "I've run enough campaigns, hell, I've written enough campaigns to know that this is where things go badly."

"Not really an option, babe," Amanda replied idly.

"We've cleared everything except the temples, and there are only ten monsters left, so I figure they'll basically be mini-bosses," Jack said.

Quest updated!

Meluben has been overrun by monsters! The rituals that prevent the volcano above the city from erupting are in danger of failing!

Kill the monsters, 9,990/10,000

Locate the Temples, 10/10

Seal the Ritual Chambers 0/10

Defeat the Elite Monsters that are drawn to the Rituals 0/10

"How bad can they possibly be?" Eddi asked.

The answer, it turned out, was pretty damn bad. The Elite Monsters were combinations of the mantis and quill beasts. It remained bipedal and kept the exoskeleton but now boasted quills and a venomous stinger, along with a fifty percent increase in size.

They found it in the center of the temple, where a long shaft capped with a crystal at the top allowed light to stream in, showcasing an elaborate, active ritual circle, which the monster was trying to destroy.

The fight was a little disappointing. Jack and Mike took turns acting as the beacon, allowing Erick and Jessica to focus their healing on the active tank while everyone else just poured on the damage. It did explode every so often, sending quills out toward everyone, with an added bonus of venom on the quills, but it wasn't anything that the team couldn't handle. It turned out that there were a set of four levers that needed to be pulled in order to seal the four entrances to the chamber, which they did after they'd won.

"One down, nine to go," Bailli said happily, having been able to fully stack her ability that increased her damage.

"One almost down, eleven to go," Erick corrected. "Clearing this Dungeon down to zero is something we should focus on doing as quickly as possible, especially now that we know the layout."