The Flying Emporium

What did those words mean? Were they a warning? Maybe a threat?

The moment they heard them, the entire room was silently ruminating on their meaning; only the dampened sounds of battle escaping from one of the many crystals sitting on the table in front of them provided some background noise.

But while they only raised further questions for everyone else, in Magda they evoked a vague sense of understanding.

What if her previous assumption about the dungeon had been wrong?

What if those words were actually to be taken at face value?

Maybe they weren’t a challenge but more of an instruction.

Under that assumption, things slowly fell into place. It was almost suspicious.

But the more Magda considered the matter from this angle, the more convinced she became.

Still, she realized she was being hasty in her judgement.

The currently exploring group was only the third to ever set foot into the dungeon and only a single day had passed since its sudden, out of nowhere, inception.

But even then, she felt confident in her assumption.

Despite this short timeframe, she had already thoroughly studied the corresponding recordings and was way more familiar with them than she cared for.

The words explained too much for her to not further investigate.

Like, for example, how an utterly inexperienced group of newbies with all their shortcomings had made it out alive of this deathtrap simply by being aware of them, by being cautions, and by not giving up. Despite everything, they had always given it their all. Even when they were desperate.

Which was more than could be said for the group of her own employees who ventured to map out the dungeon after this first group, and who should have known better. They had been overconfident and subsequently succumbed to the dangers of the dungeon.

It was, of course, true that the dungeon had become considerably more deadly in the meantime. But it should have still been well within the group’s capabilities; no one was clearer on this than Magda herself.

Like how the trap that had taken out their tank, which had been entirely avoidable.

As painful as it was to admit, they had brought it onto themselves.

They thought they knew exactly what awaited them and, therefore, became complacent.

Even after the tank had died, which should have been a wake-up call, the remaining group members had still stood a chance to make it out alive.

But most didn’t.

They didn’t manage to adjust their mindset and continued to assume the boss would remain the same as before. As had Magda herself, admittedly.

But the fact remained. Had they treated this dungeon like a total unknown, similar to the group of newbies before them, they would have made it outside.

Instead, only a single person did.

Now, thinking about it, in both instances, it somehow felt that whatever the dungeon threw at either of the parties, it had always been within their respective capabilities; if just barely. Of course, this was only Magda’s conjecture, with no means to actually confirm this new theory of hers any more than she could prove or disprove her original one of a rapidly evolving dungeon.

But while Magda personally thought those were her best explanatory approaches, she still realized how ridiculous her assumptions would sound to others.

And with that realization came the doubts.

Had she become too desperate for answers? That would certainly be one of the accusations people would throw at her.

‘Maybe,’ she admitted to herself. Because how else was it possible for her to so easily believe those words likely fabricated by the dungeon itself?

Wasn’t she being naïve and reckless?

And still, even after consciously reminding herself of those facts, Magda’s nagging suspicion didn’t wane, a feeling which, over the years, she had learned to trust. After all, it was those instincts which had gotten her this far in the first place.

But just a gut feeling and a good track-record wasn’t good enough to convince anyone. She needed something more tangible. Some solid proof to support her new theory of a dungeon actively adjusting its danger level.

“But that’s the crux of the matter. That’s even more impossible to verify than the theory of a dungeon with a vastly accelerated growth rate. Unless…”

Suddenly, her mind was racing. Several seemingly unconnected thoughts popped into her mind.

Thoughts about certain loopholes that existed within the Society’s guidelines.

How she didn’t have to immediately dispatch the remaining group of helpers sent by Mr. Lee.

And how eager the crowd outside was to risk life and limb at the prospect of earning fame and riches in a newly borne dungeon.

Slowly but surely, a vague plan was forming.

And then she snapped out of it.

She had been lost in her thoughts for too long and had forgotten about her immediate surroundings and the current situation.

What would all of this mean for the group currently fighting for their lives?

They had made it farther than any other group before them. With more ease and less damage taken.

So had she been wrong? Wasn’t that in itself already counter-evidence to her theory?

For a moment, she relaxed.

‘I’ve been silly,” she breathed a sigh of relief; despite all, she didn’t actually cherish the thought of a dangerous anomaly of a dungeon in her immediate area of administration.

But then she paused.

They had truly performed flawlessly. Until they didn’t. And now they were far from operating at their best. They certainly didn’t manage to overcome themselves when it mattered the most.

‘In that case…,’ what if she was right after all?

As if to prove her right, a bone-chilling scream suddenly filled the entire room.

***

“Okay, and that’s that,” Severin quickly decided. In a matter of just seconds after the bite connected, he had turned off the transmission. But by this time, the entire affected limb had already turned black.

What? Noo. Whyyy?!” Em cried out.

Severin’s sudden interference just when things were getting exciting, visibly annoyed Bandur just as much, but knowing why he did it, the dwarf didn’t actually complain out loud.

“It’s a forgone conclusion, anyway. If they pull themselves together, maybe two of them still have a chance of getting of there alive, but that’s about it, I reckon. And even that is only if there aren’t any other nasty surprises waiting for them after the fight. Oh, well.” Mylana tried to appease the two while shaking her head, but her words had the opposite effect, instead making everyone, even Severin himself, only more curious as to the outcome of the fight.

But the latter didn’t waver in his decision. “We have little time and still much to do. Sometime later in the evening, I’ll have to crown the winner of our event. I’ll still have to prepare for that and catch up on some of the latest entries.” He didn’t hide his annoyance, but didn’t dwell on this matter. “More importantly, however, we have to get ready for business again. Maybe we can get away with staying closed tomorrow as well, but after that we have to be fully stocked again and be ready for business. You understand?”

“But...”

“No buts! This is far from everything,” he chastised. “After we’ve been closed for so long, everyone will want to come restocking their consumables, all at once. Including some entirely new customers we have attracted these last couple of days, I am sure. Demand will be surging and we will have much more work on our hands than on a regular day.

Also, aside from our regular stock, we’ll also have to start producing more of those damned [Heating Spheres].

You can thank Jasmine and that meddling group of adventurers for that.

Furthermore,-”

“There is more?!”

This time Severin ignored Emily’s insertion and continued unperturbed, “while, based on what we’ve just seen, it certainly doesn’t look like we have to worry about it anytime soon, we still have to be prepared for when Magda and her crew will allow access to our dungeon. Which, I guess, it depends somewhat on whether they get the hint or not.

Either way, I’d like to get your feedback on a new business opportunity regarding the dungeon. Its loot, to be precise.

“So, as you can see, we will be busy in the upcoming days.

That said, there is also a silver lining. We are close to some level ups. If we’re lucky, we might just get something useful out of all this.”

“You say that, but don’t level-ups only ever mean more work for us?”

“...”