Chapter 58

“What’s your name?” Michael asked.

“I am called Johanne of the Roses,” the woman said. Far from meek, now that she knew Michael would not abandon her it was like she was living for the first time. She was energetic, studying even the dull room they were in with interest.

“An lovely name. I’m Michael. How did you end up here? Did you come from Earth?”

“What’s Earth?” she asked, full of curiosity. “I have not heard of such a name for a place before. Is it perhaps related to an element?”

“It’s not,” chuckled Michael. “It’s my home planet.” I never asked Theobond what his planet was called.

“Planet? What is a planet, my lord?”

“Please call me Michael. There’s no need for formalities.”

“I shall not!” she said vehemently, “it would be a great disrespect to not address you properly.”

“Why?” Michael asked, “who taught you that?”

“I… do not know. I simply know that showing respect to you is the right thing to do. Will you allow me to?”

Seeing her face, he could not say no. It seemed that Michael was weak to cute girls with pleading eyes.

“Alright, but you will find that the outside world is different than what you might expect. Perhaps only call me that in private?”

“If that’s your wish, my lord.”

“Good. Now, what do you remember from before you were imprisoned?”

“Nothing. All I have is vague memories. There are some I am fond of: me doing magic, me laughing at the joy of leaning a new spell, me studying from dusty old tomes far above the sea, on a floating tower. But they feel so far away, like clouds in the sky.”

She looks human, though. Could she be from earth from before magic went away? Or is there another place with humans in the wider universe?

There was another possibility, he knew. That perhaps she had been created by this place, that perhaps she did not come from anywhere.

“It’s alright. You don’t need to struggle to remember.”

“Will you truly keep me?”

“There’s no keeping. You’re your own person.”

“Please. Don’t throw me aside. I don’t want to go back there.”

“You could be free. Outside of this place.”

“I don’t want to. I want to help you, my lord.”

“Why? Did the dungeon force you?”

“I know not of this dungeon you talk about. But rest assured: my mind is my own. You are my saviour, and I think I have a good read of your character. Even though my offer was out of desperation before, I can see that you are earnest in wanting to free me, and thus I no longer ask out of desperation. Alone, I am lost. You are the only person I know.”

“I can help you settle. I might be the only person you know now, but it doesn’t have to remain that way.”

“That would take care of my immediate needs, perhaps. My lord… consider me selfish, if you want, but I would not be fulfilled unless I settled my debts. And I owe you my life and freedom.”

“Speaking of freedom, how about we leave this cramped room behind?”

Right as he said so, the room vanished, and they were back on the second floor. Something had changed since he left, he could feel it in the air. Even though the reformed unity was nowhere to be seen, and the legendary skill was still in his pocket, it was like the very nature of the floor had been changed. Now it felt peaceful, welcoming.

But, most of all, it felt his. Like he really was the king of all the creatures he had conquered. He knew that if he wanted, he could bring all others under his command too—all of them save the castle and its king and people. His oath would not allow him.

“My lord, you are back!”

“Drullkrin?” Michael asked, dumbfounded. “You’re alive?”

“I am, my lord. We shall speak of it later. Who is this woman?”

“My name is Johanne of the Roses,” she said, “I am Lord Michael’s new companion and helper.”

The goblin general took it in stride, as if it was completely normal. He studied the woman for a moment, then spoke: “we shall converse later, in private. I wish to test your loyalty before I allow you to be around my Lord alone.”

“There is no need,” she said, turning to face Michael with a slight bow and determination on her face. Gone was the frail, meek and frightened woman Michael had freed from the amber. “I, Johanne of the Roses, hereby swear to always be loyal to my Lord Michael, the one who freed me from my amber prison now and always, until the end of time.”

Michael could only watch in shock as the oath was recognized by his skill, and magic settled on Johanne like an unbreakable shackle. A part of his mind noticed that the oath settled somewhere different inside her body than it had for him and Theobond, probably due to her different way of using magic. Another part of his mind was shocked.

“Until the end of time?” he cried out. “That was not our agreement.”

“My lord,” she swept her gaze over the monster camp. “Upon seeing so many powerful races under your banner and witnessing the fire burning in this one’s eyes when he speaks to you, I knew what I wanted. Please forgive me for acting rashly, for it was a selfish move to make sure I could have what I wanted. Should you order me to, I will leave.”

Suppressing a sigh, Michael shook his head. “There’s no need for that.”

***

Michael’s conversation with Drullkrin revealed many interesting things about the second floor now that the challenge was completed. For once, monsters could now respawn after being slain. They were weaker than they were when the died, but being under Michael’s command meant that they could grow in power again. That’s how the goblin general had managed to return to life. His return had also told him that Michael had beat the challenge, a momentous feat that made the goblin respect the human he served even more than he did before.

What followed was yet another vow of eternal servitude from the goblin. Even though unilateral vows were much lighter on the soul than vows such as the one Michael swore with Theobond, he was getting near capacity already. His concert was somewhat mollified, however, when Johanne told him that there were ways for a soul to grow in strength, and indeed his had already grown a little bit from the strain of having to contain three oaths. Already, Johanne was proving to be of great help.

“I remember, now,” said Drullkrin. “I know what this place is. A dungeon, just like you tried to tell me many times. A truly wretched place, responsible for the destruction of my world. But, my lord, why can I not find it in me to hate it? What has been done to me?”

There was no sadness in his voice. There was fear.

On a whim, Michael tried his newly upgraded [Candle Light] flames on the goblin. He ordered the flames to burn away the influence of the dungeon from the monster’s mind, restoring it to how it should be. It seemed to work for a moment, but the influence of the dungeon was too great.

There was a moment of lucidity to the goblin’s eyes. During which, Drullkrin simply bowed to Michael, uttering only two words: “Thank you.”

Then, he was back to his old self. “My lord, we have secured all the lands under your command,” he said, and Michael tried his best to clamp down on the sadness of seeing his… friend? Of seeing Drullkrin like this evoked. “We will soon move to bring all other creatures of this valley under your control. Save for the castle and its people: I have been informed that we have a treaty.”

“That we do,” Michael said.

They talked some more about what to do with the floor, and then Michael and Johanne left the goblin to his work. He was going to be rather busy, trying to secure the more difficult areas of the valley that were still not under Michael’s control. Especially the places Theobond’s men had conquered and subsequently abandoned to their own devices.

While Drullkrin was working hard, however, Michael could finally rest. Unlike last time, the floor was truly peaceful: if he stayed away from conflict, it would not come looking for him. The forest was pleasant and soothing.

Here, Fae of all kinds lived together in harmony, all previous conflict forgotten. The budding city in the forest that was once the forest Fae’s camp was the centre of all life in the floor, full of lights and strange creatures. Monsters of all kinds trained together during the day, while others went out hunting and foraging and building. At night, they ate and drank and danced under the light of the fireflies and glowing magical plants until the night was late and dark.

Michael soon found that a whole week had passed, and his soul felt lighter than it had ever been. Not the literal soul, of course, even though even it had become slightly lighter as it grew to accommodate his oaths better. But he felt rested and tranquil for perhaps the first time since he came to know of the dungeon, knowing that he could take as much time as he needed to rest and decompress. Truly, having the second floor for himself was a boon like no other, and he truly hoped the dungeon would not take it away from him once he left. He didn’t think it likely, but he never knew with the dungeon.

Johanne had been with him at times, but mostly left him alone once she realized how much he needed his rest. Time did not pass outside the dungeon while he rested here, after all, making this place his only sanctuary away from the stressful life he now lived. To taint the peace of this place with training would be to take away the only safe place he had managed to carve for himself.

It did not mean that he did not train at all. Now that the floor had been beaten, he discovered that stairs now led up and down: to floor one and to floor three. Going up had him finding the first floor once again full of monsters, alongside a welcome message.

 

Possessor of a Passkey.

You have cleared the challenge version of the second floor, and you possess the unique key needed to access it. The floor is now a rest area you can access after beating any odd-numbered floor

 

Beating the first floor was much easier. Not because the floor itself was easier, but because knowing that he could just head down below and have a feast with the Fae afterwards made the experience all that more rewarding.

In the next few days they tested some other things as well. They found that Drullkrin and the other Fae could access other floors if Michael was with them, as if they were a party. Johanne too.

This led to the goblin general, and the Johanne as well, training with Michael on the first floor. Not the third, not yet. They got used to working together: the goblin being the front line, Johanne surprising Michael with her wide repertoire of magic spells she could cast from a distance, and Michael doing what he always did. He tried his best not to forget to use his less-used skills.

A hard feat in the heat of battle, but he was getting better. Drullkrin and Johanne were also getting stronger by fighting together with him. Like Theobond said: monsters could grow in power if they were under the banner of an adventurer. Michael did not know whether Johanne counted as a monster or an adventurer. There was no way to test this either, since she was oath-bound to him until—he grimaced—the end of time.

The last test was them leaving the dungeon altogether, although only long enough to confirm that Drullkrin could do it only as long as he was with Michael when he left. Johanne could leave at any time.

Even while outside, however, the influence of the dungeon on their minds lingered. It did not weaken as the mana lessened either, drawing from their own supplies to renew itself. He could theoretically make them live in a mana-deprived state at all times, but it would be swapping one kind of torture for another. At least right now they were oblivious to their condition.

It was a sad discovery, but not an unexpected one, and they were back in the forest of the second floor before any of the security guards roaming Michael’s land in the material world could spot them. One did anyway, but Michael flashed his all-pass and was left alone without question. It was as if the guard did not even find the sudden appearance of other people strange at all.

Jennifer and Trevor sure did a good job here.

Re-entering the dungeon meant going through the first floor once again, but they had absolutely no problems with it even though the dungeon scaled the difficulty to account for the larger party.

Drullkrin, even though a goblin himself, had no issues fighting the lesser goblins and killing them. He even gained an ability mid-fight to summon ice similar to that of the Ice King who killed him. He used it to make gauntlets that increased his unarmed strength considerably.

They also learned that Drullkrin got his own rewards in the dungeon, but they followed Michael’s own magic system. Sadly, the goblin could not interact with the coins and skill stones even if they were his reward. The only way for him to grow, it seemed, was through battle itself.

Johanne, instead, got more spells to increase her arsenal as a reward for her fights and could use both them and the mana coins. She could use the skill stones, but refused to do so.

It was finally time to leave. Michael felt rested, and ready to go back to real world problems. He left Drullkrin instructions, while he would take Johanne with him.

The instructions he left Drullkrin would have two benefits. One was to deal with the restless monsters under Michael’s control. He gave them access to the first floor, learning that even if they completed a run of it, its difficulty was left unchanged. He did not know why, and it tied together with the discovery that the difficulty increases were plateauing. He asked Theobond and according to the alien, it was because the floor was reaching maximum mana capacity for its shallow depth.

It was good news. The first floor was now a place where the Fae under Michael’s command could vent their need to fight and grow stronger. It had the added benefit of being able to farm coins and rewards for Michael while he was not there. The second benefit was that this process would create strong soldiers he could take with him to the harder, deeper floors, by all means making his own delving party. Something to look forward to.

The last thing he wanted to do before leaving, now that his Intent mists in the Skill Sanctum were at the strongest, was to finally absorb the legendary skill stone.