Dakota Krout - Dungeon Born (The Divine Dungeon Book 1)

“At least charge admission! You could triple your earnings in a single move!” Franks was obviously exasperated.

“Not everything is about profit! There are things worth more than money! I would never put a rule in place that might make people not have access to a place of worship!” Father Richard was aghast at the notion.

“Well, but, if you build a church around it, no one will be able to see into the Boss room! The light will be blocked!” Frank decided triumphantly.

“I’ll make the ceiling clear! If I can do it to three feet of solid stone and dirt, I think glass might be manageable!” Father Richard boomed with finality. He turned and noticed Dale, “Oh! Well hello, how is your training going, young Master Dale?”

“Ah, hello Dale, Hans.” Frank coughed, “Aherm, what are you two doing here?”

“Doing well Father! We found a uniquely Runed item in the dungeon, we are here to start an auction for it.” Dale answered them each in turn.

“Really? More inscribed items so soon! This place is a treasure trove!” Frank happily cheered, earning an ‘I-knew-it’ look from Father Richard. “What does it do?”

“We just came from the Spotters, turns out we found an item they had never seen before.” Hans was trying to drive up the price to the bored Guild clerk. “It has a Demonologists Rune in it.”

“ What ? Really?” Father Richard was now fully interested, startling Hans into silence. “Those are jealously guarded, what does it do?”

“Oh, right, your order is comprised of demon hunters.” Dale realized why the interest had suddenly grown, “It is an inverted demon summoning Rune, they promised that if a demon were stabbed with it even a little, the Rune would turn their own power against them and banish them back to the abyss.”

With a groan and sagging shoulders, Father Richard turned distrustful eyes on Frank, “That isn’t funny, Dale. Alright. Who set this up? That kind of Rune doesn’t exist; we would have found it before now. That kind of thing doesn’t just... fall into your lap.”

“It almost went into my throat a while back. The same day you made that huge celestial glass area someone tried to rob me; when they failed, they dropped a dagger accidentally. We lost it in the dungeon, but the inverted version showed up today.” Dale explained quickly. Frank nodded in agreement when Father Richard looked his way for confirmation.

“Dale,” Father Richard slowly announced, “If this is true, I need to have that dagger. Are you splitting the profits of that?”

“No, but we are on a different item, I won this one.” Dale cautiously stated, he hadn’t liked the way Father Richard had said ‘need’.

“What is the asking price on it right now?” Father Richard probed with shining eyes.

“A little over three thousand gold, though likely worth more with that information.” The clerk loudly interrupted, also eying the dagger. She worked based on commission.

Father Richard looked crestfallen for a moment before looking up, his face setting in resolution. “Dale, I don’t have that kind of money, everything I have is going toward building the church. Earth Mages aren’t cheap right now. I can offer you two hundred gold, and another… offer.”

Three thousand gold was exceedingly tempting, but Father Richard's mysterious manner was also intriguing. Dale decided to hear him out. “What might that offer be, Father?”

“If you give me the dagger, I’ll pull you into the D ranks tomorrow .” Father Richard pledged grimly.

“What? No!” Frank shouted, “Absolutely not!”

Hans audibly gasped, “Do it, screw money, do it, Dale. Damn it, do it .”

“He hasn’t even mastered all of his meridians! He can’t use his own affinity yet!” Frank continued shouting, face becoming red.

“It will be just as easy to teach him those things at the next ranks, and will take twenty years off of his breakthrough.” Father Richard’s eyes never leaving Dale.

Dale was just confused. “What do you mean you’ll pull me into the D-ranks? Isn’t that impossible? I can’t cultivate that fast, no one can!”

“It isn’t discussed, but it is possible. It doesn’t happen often, because of what can… go wrong.” Father Richard hedged. “I can do it, but it requires you to trust me absolutely, and me to trust you in turn. I won’t lie, there are risks, but this is all I can offer.”

Dale stopped for a moment, thinking carefully. He enjoyed his life right now, but several months of constant training had only given him a moderate boost to his ranking. He had put on muscle, but nowhere near what most other adventurers accumulated over the years of hard living and fighting. He didn’t want to spend twenty years getting to the next stage in his life, this was the very first time a shortcut had been revealed to him.

What was gold to someone who might be able to live for hundreds of years? “Also pay seventy-five silver on all future amulets you buy from me, and it is a deal.” Dale agreed, to Frank's chagrin and Hans and Father Richard's enthusiasm.

“Can I come?” Hans begged, “I’ve never seen this before, but I hear it is horrif- I mean amazing to see!” He quickly finished with only a quick flash of guilt.

“He can bring anyone he wants to. Those he trusts only, I would suggest.” Father Richard turned to Dale, “May I have the dagger for safekeeping? I swear on my Mana I will honor our agreement.”

“Of course, here.” Dale offered up the dagger.

Father Richard took it with a nod, “Thank you, I would recommend you take the rest of the night off, as well as all day tomorrow. This process can be… taxing.” He turned to Frank, “Please authorize a payment to him from my account.”

Frank shook his head. “Fine. I will also be there, just so you know. You better not let anything happen to him.”

As they parted ways, Hans devolved into excited laughter and slapped Dale on the back. “Good on you lad! Not even twenty-two, and you are going to make it into the D-ranks! Also, this means you are out of debt to the Guild, even with the interest!”

“Wait, there was interest on buying my armor?” Dale’s voice was shocked.

Laughter was his only answer.

I whined petulantly. Dani had been resolute that I focus on the attackers, claiming that they made it through the traps and monsters too easily when I was distracted.

“Sure, sure. Go back to your little hobby.” She dismissively replied. “I’ll be over here, bored and alone.”

I turned my attention away, ignoring her squawk of anger. She had said it was fine, right? Plus, I had been waiting all day to activate this Rune! Fully cognizant only of the small area it encompassed, I fed a small stream of Essence into the activation pattern and watched as Essence flowed through the whorls and swoops of the Rune. At full activation, nothing happened.

I looked around, not seeing her anywhere. She must have left the dungeon if I couldn’t sense her. Well, it would be good for her to get some exercise. She had been sighing a lot lately. I returned to the puzzle represented by this Rune. It was active, I could tell, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything. The Essence level in it was staying constant, which showed that it was neither gaining nor losing Essence.

What was I missing? I pictured the Rune as it originally had been, but saw nothing different from what I was doing. The Rune had been active when I took it, so Craig knew something I did not. I puzzled over the idea for a bit while keeping an eye on the Rune, just in case it did something. Near midnight, Dani flew back in.