My Dungeon Life: Rise of the Slave Harem

“Another dungeon, huh?”@@novelbin@@

I couldn’t bring myself to be that excited. I had encountered so many dungeons already, why not an island? No, not just an island, and archipelago. We had relocated to her chambers where we both sat down comfortably and drank tea. Neither the loli guard nor the maid were willing to sit, even though I offered.

“If this is a dungeon, isn’t it dangerous?” I asked.

That’s the special thing about the Tearfall Isles.” Mary explained. “They do not inhibit people from being resurrected.”

“Really?”

She nodded. “There are ten islands in all. The first island is free of monsters. There is an entire village built on this island, which is where visitors are free to challenge the other islands. Each subsequent island is more difficult than the last. The 9th island has never been beaten.”

“Beaten? What does that mean?”

“Well, every island is a thick tropical forest filled with monsters for leveling. If you’re able to fight to the center, you’ll reach a shrine. Each shrine contains a safe room and teleportation array and passed that is a boss room. If you defeat the boss, you gain a mark.”

“A mark?”

“I think you’re familiar with the marks. It’s 1/9th of a complete blessing. Once you collect all 9 marks, you complete the blessing. Of course, no one had defeated the dungeon master, so no one has claimed the blessing.”

“Blessings are usually more complicated…”

“Yeah, well this dungeon formed allegedly from the death of an undefeated hero. He was very clear that he desired to pass on his strength to another, so the dungeon only exists to test a person and make sure they are powerful enough. Each mark will grant someone a power boost, but if it isn’t complete, they fad after a month. Some people will go challenge the Blessings, but then leave and use the temporary status boosts to help them out in other combat situations. This dungeon is at least part of the reason the Osterians had such a fighting spirit. They claim the undefeated hero was an Osterian, although no one knows if that is true.”

“Couldn’t they tell by seeing the dungeon master?”

“The Dungeon Master resides in the final dungeon, but unlike with every other challenge, you can only battle him once. Death is permanent.”

“It still seems surprising that a group couldn’t defeat him.”

“That’s just it, the way the dungeon is built, only one person can challenge him at a time. You can use normal boss tactics to wear him down and defeat him. The only way is for someone confident in their abilities to go challenge him. Many Osterians were lost challenging him, and it was eventually declared unwinnable.”

“And you sent Carmine there?”

“Well, the final battle is a bit much, but it’s a great location for earning experience. There are a lot of monsters, and you can start at any difficulty. Of course, you need all 8 marks to challenge the final boss, but otherwise, you can earn them in any order.

In other words, the Tearfall Isles were a massive whetting stone where you had to defeat eight bosses within a month to earn the right to face the final boss. Only by defeating him would you gain the blessing. The temptation to get a True hero must have been great. Few dungeons had a clear pass toward completing them. Traditionally, a dungeon diver would destroy the dungeon rather than complete it. I had been strangely lucky with my ability to complete the lore, but I knew my case was a rarity. To have such a clear directive felt nice, but I had no intention of risking my life fighting another boss. I’d leave this blessing for someone else.