Worthy Core

 

DAY 363

 

In some ways, Xenia was almost disappointed that she never felt physically tired anymore. Sure, being tired mostly sucked, but sometimes it served as proof of hard work well done. And Xenia had been working hard this week. On one hand, it was perhaps a little unfair that she had to throw what was essentially her own birthday party...but as the dungeon master, there was really no one else who could do it. It wasn't just a party for her anyhow, but a literal public event, or at least partially so, and so she needed things to go off well.

It wouldn't be the first public event the dungeon had thrown since the dungeon had opened its Floor Five inn and lounge. Two major spring festivals had come and gone - one of them marking the anniversary of the coronation of the current king, which was a minor event in Xenia's eyes but worth the excuse of putting on a small party in the inn for. The other had been much larger, as it was the traditional spring fertility festival. Such an event would also be relatively minor in some locales, but it was one of two massive annual events for the Church of Bounty, the other being the fall harvest festival. While the church had put on some festivities in Grassbrook for those locals not interested in the dungeon, they had reserved most of their efforts towards celebrating in the dungeon blessed by Kahlia herself. The shrine had been packed full for hours, free drinks and fertility potions were on offer in the inn, and the lounge had been...well, Xenia wouldn't be telling Alizz about everything that had gone on in the lounge that particular evening.

Xenia had passed out three more congratulatory cards the next morning alone.

There'd also been a number of private dungeon parties, as a few guardians and dungeon friends had springtime birthdays. Part of Xenia wanted to make those public events as well, but after some discussion it was felt that it might be pushing things a bit far. Most of the Challengers were okay with sharing the occasional drink in the inn with the dungeon's floor bosses, but not all of them. There was a rather sizable minority even who tended to avoid the monsters when they came around. Asking the Challengers to celebrate the bosses who had slain many of their acquaintances would probably be a step too far for some.

The coming anniversary however would be both a private and a public event. According to Guy and the best guesses of the Association, the one year mark was one of the major milestones for a young dungeon, and like with the Day Two Hundred celebration Xenia wanted to throw a party to mark the occasion. The nitty-gritty details of dungeon unlocks was not a topic suitable for the general public though, and so a separate public event would be held the day after. It would be slightly bothersome as it could potentially interfere with Xenia's ability to actually apply any new upgrades she received, but at least the Challengers would be all in one place rather than running through all of her floors.

And what a place it would be, too. Xenia had already carved out additional space in case it was required, enough to triple the capacity of the inn and double the size of the lounge. While the lounge was still being restricted to people who had cleared Floor Four, a general invite had been sent to all of the people of Grassbrook to enjoy themselves in the inn, if they so desired. Of course, many people wouldn't be interested in the hike through a forest and up and down a mountain just for a few free drinks, and many of the locals were perhaps a bit hesitant to even try stepping foot within a dungeon, even if it was already the pride of the town by this point. Still, Xenia was expecting a crowd of over a hundred people at least, and was prepared for several times more than that.

Leading to the incredible amounts of effort she had been putting into the event. Carving out the additional space had been the easy part - Xenia had the ability to copy and paste rooms more or less, and had only done a few minor tweaks from there. The food, though...gods, the food. Drinks were simple enough, as Xenia had long since discovered she could create magical beer taps the same way she could create water ones. A simple overhead cost on her mana cap allowed her to produce pretty much as much booze as she wanted, with the only limitation being that if someone tried to bottle it up and walk out with it, it would evaporate almost immediately upon stepping outside. Food taps were, unfortunately, not a thing. Every meal that someone ordered from the inn had to be mana-infused into being a 'loot item' in order to be actually edible, which meant that virtually the entire menu for hundreds of people had to be created by Xenia herself. Cheese, meat, bread, stews, sandwiches, sweets, and more. She'd even resorted to inventing an oven through the use of trap enchantments so that base ingredients could be turned into meal items that her tier unlocks still didn't allow her to spawn directly. From there, everything went into the dungeon's inventory where it would remain fresh - and hot, or cold - until the moment it was served.

Then there were the game and reward items...but those would come later. For now, Xenia needed a mental break if not a physical one, and the dungeon master found herself sitting in the dungeon's open doorway, watching the stars come out even as her two first companions watch her. The view of Grassbrook itself was mostly blocked from where her current avatar was seated, but her dungeon senses pushed a little further than that, allowing her to see the lights in the town come on as darkness falls. "Y'know, Doorman, Guy, it occurs to me that there's another first for me, down there."

The sapient door raises a wooden eyebrow. "Oh? And what's that?"

"I've had people gather around me for a lot of different reasons in my time. I was a guild mistress for an adventurer's guild once, that was a big one. Had a heroic party or two. Been a soldier a few times, and even had enough rank to have some troops under my command, though I've sure never been a general or anything like that. But I've never had anyone build a whole damn town in my honor before. How big would you say it is now? Started with maybe a hundred or so people, now it's probably over four hundred? And growing faster all the time."

Guy chuckles amiably. "Oh, this is nothing yet. A few decades and this could well become an entire city in its own right."

Xenia shakes her head, unable to really believe it. "Just for a dungeon? I mean, I get it, we're pretty great. But I don't see myself as being able to support the like, economic needs of tens of thousands of people and all that, y'know?"

Doorman smiles. "Oh, I don't know. Did you know that the most popular place for Challengers to review their loot is out here on the mountain, not far from where you sit?"

The dungeon master reviews her memories. "I've noticed people spending some time out here after a run before they come back into the inn, but I figured they were mostly just catching some fresh air and healing up or stuff like that. What's the loot have to do with it, though?"

"Well, I suppose it's a bit of eavesdropping, but I often overhear their reviews and excitement over what it is they find. Of course I'm sure much of that happens down within the dungeon as well, when they first recover their prizes, but it seems most Challengers prefer to analyze their findings in a...rather safer environment, I suppose."

Xenia snorts. "Or they don't want to offend me by saying how shit something is where I can hear it. I have noticed people not saying a few things when they hang out in the inn, unless they get really drunk."

The door continues. "Well, there's an occasional bit of that I suppose, but for the most part they seem quite pleased. And you know, over the months I've gotten a bit of an idea for the, ah...local economics of dungeon loot? An amateur's view, at least."

Even the hovering guide seems intrigued by where Doorman may be going with this, now. "Oh? While I may know how much mana an item costs, monetary value is not something within my records. What do you hear?"

"The lucky rabbit's feet charms are, perhaps, a local staple. It seems that the value of them within Grassbrook itself is rather low, given how many of them there are here - we consistently reward them on Floor One to virtually everyone, while the other floors are much more varied, from my understanding. Not to mention they can't actually be used in the dungeon itself these days."

Xenia nods. "It's sort of our brand now, I think, so yeah, we've been sticking with handing them out. They're not worth anything now, though?"

"Oh, not locally - but they're still very highly valued everywhere else, to the point where it's worth shipping them out to be sold elsewhere. From what I've gathered, a single luck charm will earn a Challenger the equivalent of a month's earnings for an average peasant."

Both the dungeon master and guide pause at that to do a bit of mental math, and Guy comes up with an analysis first. "For those parties who exclusively do Floor One, each Challenger is thus earning a year's wages in...about three weeks, give or take? Not including the minor currency or potion rewards we often include there as well. Of course, most parties who stay here that long do deeper floors, and thus earn rewards that are worth quite a bit more, or so I would expect."

"Aye." Doorman nods. "Now, a peasant's wages still aren't much to a Challenger, who has to pay Association fees, equipment maintenance and all that. But my impression is that most of our regulars manage to earn a respectable annual wage within about a month or so of effort."

Xenia nods along, but it eventually transitions into a shrug. "Good for them, but a few magical items still isn't enough to support tens of thousands of people, yeah?"

Guy bobs back and forth. "I think I can imagine how it plays out. The flood of money draws in people who specifically provide services to Challengers. Craftsmen, healers, trainers, innskeepers, and so on. But those people will also need additional services of their own. An expanded trade network to bring materials in. A banking system to secure all of the physical currency and other investments. Noble estates, as we've seen. Eventually other local resources that weren't worth exploiting before, like more farming, fishing, or forestry products, are now worth investing in. After all, food grown locally is far cheaper than having to import it all, not to mention the lumber and stone for construction. And from there it just keeps growing and growing...I've been aware that older dungeons often have cities around them or nearby, although I've never put much thought into the exact process of it."

"Damn..." The dungeon master thinks that over for a bit, before eventually scoffing. "As if I didn't have enough shit to worry about. If I get core-cracked here, not only do I get moved on and all of my people die, but now I gotta worry about a whole economy crashing at the same time."

The riddle door frowns at that. "That's hardly on you if such a thing happens. Obviously the villains who perpetrate the act would be at fault! Not that I imagine such a thing is even much of a concern, at this point. Even the angriest Challengers I've seen never seem to seriously consider going after your core, and if both the Rainlands and the Domain currently see us as useful, it would appear that our position is quite secure. We even have divine protection!"

"Yeah..." Xenia trails off, as she rests her arm on one knee. "I don't know, though. I mean, people have definitely noticed how weird we are by now. How fast we're growing, even if I've been putting off grabbing a Floor Nine for a while. Having bosses wandering the town, how many divine favors we seem to have...and yet, somehow everything seems to be going really fuckin' smoothly lately, ain't it?"

The floating screen tilts. "You sound...displeased by that fact?"

"You know my deal, Guy. I'm cursed to be attracted to danger, remember? And I don't think I get a free escape cause here I am the danger or any shit like that. It's gonna go wrong eventually, Guy. It's just a matter of time."

"Ah, I see the problem." Doorman grins. "You're thinking too much! Big mistake. I sometimes start doing that too when I watch the stars, it's a real hazard to watch out for. My recommendation would be to go back inside, and stop thinking for the rest of the evening."

Despite herself, Xenia has to chuckle at the advice. "Okay, yeah, good advice." She groans as she climbs to her feet, despite her inability to actually grow stiff or sore. "C'mon Guy, let's go watch someone spin around a pole for a while and turn off our brains, yeah? Doctor Doorman's orders."

"...If you say so, ma'am." With that said the two flash out, and a moment later Doorman swings himself closed, locking up for the night.

And neither he, nor the dungeon's somewhat distracted senses, notice when a brief flash of blue light goes off in the distant forest.