~ Chapter 5: The Heroes ~

[Tuberculus’ point of view]

This was going to be the first time since teleporting to Yandrea's dungeon when I was going to see how the inhabitants of the surface world looked like. I was thinking of humans at first when I heard the word 'Adventurers' from the automaton, but thinking about it, this wouldn't have made any sense seeing how Yandrea reacted when she saw me. She quite literally behaved like I was some strange creature she quickly became fascinated with.

What I still hadn't managed to figure out was why she proposed to me?

I was a stranger. I was an unknown old geezer with no actual value if I were to be compared with her Guardians...

Something told me, however, that she didn't even try to compare me with anyone or anything. She just saved me out of sheer curiosity or... maybe I sparked something inside of her even I was unaware off?

Or maybe I was just her pet... husband?

It was kind of hard to figure out the exact reason, and I didn't know how much I was going to find out by simply asking her. Chances were even she was unsure of why she did it.

Finding out why she made me her husband and saved me was just my own curiosity at play. Right now, I was looking forward with a smile on my lips to the idea of starting my life anew, to understanding what my relationship with Yandrea meant and how it could flourish. After all, there was no need for me to head back to Fellyore. Tuberculus, the old principle was now dead, and I was just the weakly human husband of this Godlike Dungeon.

If I wanted my life to be peaceful, I had to accept this truth and learn to coexist with her and all the monsters here who more or less worshiped her. Who knew? Maybe I actually fell in love with Yandrea as well and didn't even know it myself?

Not even once have I asked myself if maybe, just maybe, I was giving up too fast on Fellyore and my old life?

No, I wasn't...

I was an old man by human standards, past his prime in life and with enough accomplishments to die with a smile on my lips. I lived my life as I desired. I did all I could back at Fellyore and probably my only regret was the fact that I never got married.

In a way, a feeling of happiness popped up in my heart whenever I thought that Yandrea was my wife. Chances were she didn't feel the same way, but for now, I didn't mind striving to obtain a place at her side.

I wonder if this Temple of Heroes will grant me a little bit of insight on Yandrea? I thought as I looked at the big entrance.

The moment I stepped in, the light cast down from the Power Crystals lit up the whole place. At a first glance, my first impression was that rather than a Temple, this place looked more like a museum. The exponents here were impressive: granite statues of the fallen heroes who fought and lost against Yandrea. Their armors and weapons decorated the statues, which were placed on tall pedestals. It made those who gazed upon them feel small, weak, and insignificant.

If this sensation I was getting from them was a natural one or if it was because of a hidden enchantment, I had no idea. Seeing these statues presented like this also made me wonder if maybe Yandrea was holding these fallen souls in high regard.

“Imposing looking fellows, aren't they?” I asked.

“From your point of view, yes.” the automaton replied.

“What do you mean?” I asked surprised.

The reply wasn't instant. It was almost as of if he was hesitating to answer.

“Judging by ability alone, these heroes could have been easily defeated by the current generation of Guardians of the Core. They appear strong in order to force those who weren't able to see the actual fight overestimate them and their kind in general.” he replied in the end.

“Make the weak look strong so that when you battle them, this side will achieve a crushing victory by using its full might from the start.” I said as I remembered the scheme a Shorayan general once used against his enemy.

In that war story, the enemy army of weakly trained peasants highly outnumbered that of the general's force by 20 to 1. However, in regard to actual combat power, the enemy had at most a couple of Master Ranks leading his force. Right after them were the Advanced Ranks, while most of his soldiers Beginners scrapping the bottom of Intermediary. The general's force, however, had only Master Ranks with Emperor Rank commanders, and the general himself being a Godlike. However, the sheer number of his enemy dropped the morale of the general's troops and many were wondering if they will be able to win.

Seeing this, the general ordered several of his men to spread rumors of how the enemy force was of unparalleled power. Then, when the time for battle came, half of the general's men were tempted to flee in fear of their unknown enemy, while the other already made peace with the idea of dying on this battlefield.

From an ordinary person's point of view, what the general did was one of the most foolish things possible, however, before they set out to battle, he gave them a speech. With his words, he was able to touch their hearts and gather their courage. The troops regained their morale and became determined to crush their foes with everything they had. Thus, when the horns of battle sounded, the well trained soldiers of the general used all of their might to completely destroy their foes. The battle was won by the cunning general.

Although, many historians do claim that if his soldiers began to flee from the battlefield, no speech would have been able to bring them back. There was also the chance that they wouldn't listen or understand the general's speech.

I for one was of the belief that training your soldiers with the idea of one day facing a strong enemy would result in them performing better and not slacking off. What the general did right before the battle could be called both foolish and excessive, but in the end, he succeeded in stirring up his soldiers and having them be more aware of their foes.

“Indeed, that is the purpose of these temples. Rather than a way to brag about her victories, it is a means through which our Master forces all those living within this dungeon to see her as the most powerful undefeated being here. It also forces them indirectly to battle all incoming adventurers with all of their might.” the automaton explained.

“Hm? What species is this? I haven't seen it before.” I asked as I pointed at one of the said heroes.

“This one is called Maskea. She was a Reiss who used the spear and bow. Her armor is made out of woven iron thread enchanted to resist against magic. The tip of her weapon was enchanted with a spell capable of ignoring up to 36.5% of an enemy's Magic Armor.” he explained as he pointed at the items the statue wore.

“What about that one?” I asked pointing at another statue.

“That one is called Boruq. He was a Forglore who wore heavy armor covered with enchanted steel plates capable of repelling attacks from foes with a level up to 400. His weapon of choice was the mace, which just like Maskea's spear could ignore up to 34.3% of the enemy's Magic Armor. He also carried a shield, but during his battle with our Master, it was shattered to pieces. What you see there is an exact replica.” he explained.

“Hm. Is that so?” I said absentminded as I looked at the two.

Reiss and Forglores were the two native species most commonly found on the surface. The first looked like an oversized humanoid rodent with large pointy ears, a snout, and a row of sharp fangs designed to rip and rend the meat off an animal's body. They had a long hairless tail and four fingers on each hand.

When I went around the statue of a Reiss, I saw that it had spikes coming out of its back. They were small and popped up only around the spine.

The Forglores, on the other hand, looked like massive bears who walked on their back feet, but unlike those I knew from Allasn or Sorone, this species had four jaws that opened diagonally and a reptilian tail. Their eyes were big and three in number, with one right in the middle of their foreheads.

The armors and weapons of these Reiss and Forglore adventurers were impressive. They weren't the type you would expect to find on an ordinary adventurer. I would even dare to be bold enough to say that some of them were looking good enough to find them on Emperor, Godlike, and Supreme Rank Adventurers back on the Allasn Continent. However, it was a shame I couldn't use any of their equipment. They were simply far too big for a scrawny human like me to use.

Letting out a sigh, I began to walk among these statues and see what else piqued my interest.

At one point, I stopped and turned to look back at the automaton.

“Why do these adventurers keep attacking Yandrea to the point where their entire party is wiped out? Why don't they retreat?” I asked.

By nature, those who lived by the laws of quest and adventure were a cowardly bunch. If they deemed there was no profit to be made from an expedition, the big majority of them would refuse to venture further inside, no matter how powerful they were when compared to the nearby monsters.

Even I had my moments of adventure when instead of going deeper inside a dungeon or some monster infested forest, I turned around as soon as I achieved my objective.

For this reason, there were even some people who claimed we were far worse than mercenaries. We couldn't blame them, but we were adventurers not knights or heroes appointed by the kingdom to solve an unprecedented crisis. We had to pay for our bills from the money we earned while completing quests. There was no reason to increase our repair bill for our gear if we had nothing to gain.

As I said... Adventurers weren't heroes.

“Mistress Yandrea made sure to bait them with treasure and then she would block their way back. If they wanted to leave this dungeon, they had to reach the core, which was at this level.” the automaton replied.

“So she baited them inside and then marked them as invaders to kill them when they got too close...” I said and looked down for a second.

That's rather deceptive and sadistic of her, but I can't say unexpected. She is a Dungeon... For her, Adventurers are both her enemies and food source... I thought and then scratched the back of my head.

I may have been an old geezer on the inside, but it still felt rather weird to be married with my own predator. Then again, Nanya was a demoness, and I found her to be rather attractive.

“Sigh... Maybe I am the crazy one?” I wondered as I looked up at one of the hero statues.

“I apologize, but I do not have any reliable information based on which I can either approve or deny your statement.” said the automaton.

I looked back at him and showed him a soft smile.

“Let's hope that when you do, all the data will point at the fact that I am sane.”

“Currently, it's inconclusive.” stated the automaton.

Scratching the back of my head, I decided to end this subject here and speak no further of it.

There were other heroes around here who looked pretty similar to the el'doraw. Actually, there was a chance they were elves. When looking at them like this, it was a bit hard to tell. Their physical appearance was quite similar to each other in the idea that they were both quite beautiful and appealing to humans. The only difference between me and these statues was the pointy ears they had.

“What's the species called?” I asked just to be sure.

“Negvar Elf or Elf from the Negvar Forest.” replied the automaton.

“Negvar Elf? I never heard of them, but they look remarkably similar to the el'doraw and elves I am aware off. Is there a connection between them, I wonder?” I said as I looked a the statue and analyzed its features.

The hero in question was quite handsome even from my point of view. The women, however, of both el'doraw and the elf species were a good sight to behold. Even the ones considered by them to be ugly or unappealing could easily charm the average human man. It was for this reason why some nobles from Thorya Continent preferred to sleep with them instead of human ones. Their life expectancy was also in the hundreds of years, which for a brothel, it would mean that they could use the same prostitutes for several generations without worry of them loosing their charm to old age.

The big difference and the most important one between elves and el'doraw was the fact that the latter would typically have dark shade skins which changed colors all over their body depending on their emotions. Elves weren't like that, their skin was just of a light shade, similarly to the white variant of the human species.

Because of this unique feature of their species, the el'doraw were usually taught from a young age how to control the color of their skin to the point that some individuals could keep it unchanged no matter what they went through on the inside.

Speaking of which, Shanteya was a rare albino variant of the el'doraw species. Her skin was the same as a human's. I remembered the beautiful former assassin who became Illsyore's first slave and companion.

Although she was enslaved by the Dungeon Lord, even when she was granted her freedom back, she stubbornly refused it. Shanteya certainly wouldn't have declined such an opportunity unless she held her master, Illsyore, in high regard.

While thinking about such things, I noticed how one of the statues had no weapons on it, yet it held out its hands with its palms facing the ceiling.

“Wasn't there supposed to be a weapon over there?” I asked as I pointed at it.

The automaton approached at a calm pace and analyzed it carefully for about a minute or so.

“I can't remember.” he replied as he turned around to look at me.

That's odd... I told myself.

With a shrug, I continued to look around to see if I could find anything of interest, but in the end, nothing stood out. All of these so-called heroes had more or less the same story behind them. They started out as weak adventurers, they grew strong, and in the end got in over their heads when they tried to conquer the deeper floors.

None of these fallen individuals were remembered for acts of bravery or standing up for what they believed in. Yandrea gave them the label of 'hero' just because they were strong enough to venture past a certain floor.

Even so, while looking at them and hearing their almost identical tales, there were certain questions which popped up in my mind and which could only be answered by my Godlike Dungeon wife. Our conversation, however, would have to wait for when I was back inside her Inner Mind, where there was only the two of us.

After we left the temple, the automaton brought me to one of the ornak settlements to grab a bite to eat. By now, my empty stomach was growling loud enough to disturb my concentration.

The food I was offered was good, but definitely not one of the best I had. It consisted of monster meat steak, a salad, and some fruits for desert. While I ate, I kept looking around at my surroundings and more specifically at how the ornaks interacted with one another. To be honest, just by glancing at them, it felt like their way of life was restrained. No, it would be better to say that it felt enchained, but maybe it was just me?

Either way, I couldn't feel the same joy or enthusiasm from them as I did from the people living in a village or small town in Shoraya. There was a strange pressure in the air, and although I was a rather strange sight to find in this place, none of them came over to ask me who I was or why I was there. The automaton was the only one who talked with them. He exchanged a few words with the ornaks guarding the gate and then I was led to a tavern. Once I finished eating, I got up and left. Nothing else happened and because of this, I felt like the whole thing was strange, wrong even...

As such, there were a lot of things on my mind when I returned to Yandrea's room early in the evening. After a short greeting, she absorbed me inside her Inner Mind, and I got to greet the enchanting pink-haired elf once more.

Before I got to my questions, we had a small talk about how we spent our time today. While I was off visiting the temples, Yandrea went and repaired the damage done by some of the adventurers on the upper floors. She summoned a few monsters in the areas where their numbers were lacking, and she also made a few random items for the curious adventurers. The Dungeon finished her day by going to absorb the minerals gathered by the ornak and ellyarian miners.

“Ellyarian?” I asked tilting my head to the the left when I heard the strange name.

“Yes.” she replied, then crossing her arms at her chest, she began to explain “Erm, you called them reptilians and dragons before, which isn't wrong, I think, however, they prefer to be called ellyarian. Maybe they first two which you know of are related to them? You know, those you call dragons and the ellyarian?” she asked.

“I wonder... They certainly don't look like the draconians I know, but I said reptilians because they resemble ordinary reptiles.” I scratched my head.

“Maybe. Anyway, how did you spend your day, Tuby?” she asked.

With a smile on my lips, I began to tell her about my visit to the Temple of Heroes. I told her only those things I thought to be interesting, like the two species, the Forglores and the Reiss.

When I told her about the possible missing artifact of the Negvar Elf, she told me that he certainly should have had one. It was a strange crystal of some sort, but she couldn't remember if he had the chance to activate it or not. In fact, she wiped out his party so fast, she became troubled by their lack of strength and worried that the next group would be even weaker. That was why she never bothered to check their artifacts and see if they were dangerous or not.

In the end, our conversation went astray and somehow we ended up talking about irrelevant things like why were the cubs of certain species cute and others scary.

“Well, this was a fun conversation, I have to admit.” I said with a smile as she came close and embraced me.

It was time to go to bed.

“Yes, it was.” Yandrea nodded and snuggled closer to me.

“Before we go to sleep though, I have one last thing I wish to ask you and which has been on my mind ever since I left the Temple of Heroes.” I told her.

“Hm? What is it, Tuby?” she asked.

“Yandrea, what did you feel when you killed those Adventurers? Why did you bait them?” I squinted my eyes at her.

She remained quiet for a moment while resting her head on my chest. I had my arms wrapped around her and was listening to the sound of her soft breath. After she gathered her thoughts, she looked up into my eyes.

“I was afraid... at first.” she said.

“Afraid?” I blinked surprised.

I did not see that one coming. I thought.

Lowering her eyes, she continued “The first Adventurers I encountered was when I was quite young. They tried to kill me... I was a big crystal, a shiny object in their eyes. In order to defend myself, I killed them, but the battle was rather tough. I barely came out unscathed. Even though I won... Even though I won, I was still afraid of the possibility that they weren't alone, that somewhere outside they had friends or family waiting for them and that they would come seeking revenge.” she clenched the shirt on my chest. “I was afraid, Tuby... I was really really afraid!” she said.

Remembering this stuff was scary for her, and I could hardly imagine what it was like to live down here, alone, wondering when the next hunter would come after me. At one point or another, all the Dungeons in the world had to go through something this, and maybe this was the main reason why most of them ended up becoming monsters who tried to do everything they could to kill any intruder.

“For a while... I was safe...” she continued. With sad eyes, she looked at me “But it didn't last long... Groups of adventurers came one after another. They entered my dungeon, they destroyed my traps, and they killed my monsters... Instead of facing them, I dug deeper and made more floors... I made my floors as dangerous as I possibly could. But then...” her hand trembled.

She's shivering? I thought and instinctively pulled her closer to my chest as if wanting to protect her.

“A group of adventurers came... they were powerful... too powerful...” she shook her head.

“What happened?” I asked.

“They destroyed all of my traps and killed all of my monsters... Nothing seemed to be able to stop them. I thought I was going to die... I really did...” she shook her head and clenched my shirt in her hands. “They stopped at my body and pointed their swords at me. I fought desperately against them... but... I lost...” she told me and tears ran down her cheeks.

“You lost?” I asked.

She nodded.

“But they let you live...” I said.

“Yes... on the condition that I made items for them, enchanted ones... Once a month, I was supposed to give them several items. If I failed to do so, they were going to come after me and destroy me.” she said.

It sounds like something veteran dungeon-crawling adventurers do... Depending on the country it's actually against the law to attack a Dungeon's Crystal Core once they reached the last room. Even I did this a couple of times, although... Nanya destroyed them no question asked. I thought.

Looking at how frightened Yandrea was when she remembered those moments made me wonder if maybe those Dungeons I hunted down felt the same as her. That was a strange time in my life... Never did I thought I was going to end up as the husband of one.

“I did as they told me, but meanwhile, I kept digging deeper and deeper, gathering more and more material and growing stronger with each passing day. The adventurers who came after them didn't even bother to go too far down. They even raised a sign saying: Dungeon. Rank Emperor.” she said.

“Rank Emperor? So they use the same ranking system as we do? But does this mean those Adventurers who made you agree to their deal were actually Godlike Rank or even Supreme?” I asked.

“They were Godlike... I think...” she said and then let out a sigh.

After taking a deep breath, she regained her composure. She wasn't shivering anymore, and she wasn't clenching my sword either. Maybe the fact that I remained calm and embraced her helped her out?

“Thank you, Tuby...” she said with a gentle smile on her lips.

“You're welcome, but I'm guessing you eventually grew strong enough not to listen to them anymore?” I asked.

She nodded and then laid her head on my chest “But until then... I kept abiding by their deal. Once I was powerful enough, I turned the tables and lured adventurers deeper and deeper within my dungeon... I killed off all the promising ones before they grew too powerful and became like that party of adventurers. When I stopped supplying them with items, they sent a subjugation force and tried to get me to comply again, but this time... I was ready...” she showed me an innocent smile “I killed every last one of them and turned their remains into Magic Energy.”

A shiver went down my spine.

Yandrea looked like an innocent frightened woman now, but I had to keep in mind that she was Godlike Dungeon who stayed alive by hunting down adventurers. She never was the passive type to let them die off in her traps... She lured, she planned, she schemed, and then she killed...

“So...” I gulped “it was all in order to protect yourself and your people from them?” I asked.

“Yes...” she nodded and then snuggled closer to me.

“Self-defense...” I muttered as I wrapped my arms around her.

At this point I was stepping into a very dangerous territory. On one hand, I had a sweet and charming Yandrea in my arms, but on the other, I became conscious of the fact that she had lived through a traumatizing past and reached the conclusion that it was far better for her to do the hunting and keep matters silent than to have the adventurers come after her while all she did was hide in her room.

I honestly didn't knew what to do in this situation, how to react. A part of me told me that this was wrong, but the other warned me that she might kill me if I questioned her too much...

Troublesome... I thought.

“I made the first one hundred floors in my dungeon to be quite profitable for the adventurers, but they scale quite fast in difficulty, up to the point where around the 90th floor, the Godlike Ranks are starting to struggle a bit. After the 100th floor, I built giant mazes filled only with monsters who vanish after being defeated. They have no chests, no light, nothing profitable for them... It goes like this up until the 300th floor... They are meant to deplete the resources of even the most stubborn adventurers and force them to return. But once in a while, a strong enough and well prepared group manages to push through.” she let out a sigh.

“The heroes?” I asked.

She nods “I lure them deeper on paths with small, insignificant chests and weak monsters. Then, when the time is right, I push them onto the hard paths where I attack them directly with my spells. There's always at least one who dies in the first attack. I don't show them mercy, and I make sure not to let even one of them return to tell the tale.” she says.

For the first time since we began talking about this, I could feel the hatred she held for these people. It wasn't nice, but it still felt like one fueled by the desire to survive and the law of the jungle. It was either them or her, there was no middle way.

At the very least, I highly doubt she added lava on the first floor... I thought as I remembered the wretched dungeon built by Illsyore.

If Yandrea built something like he did, then by the 100th floor, the Supremes would have been cursing her.

Letting out a small sigh, I ask her “Do you think it was alright to lie to your people about these adventurers? I mean, you are treating them as heroes?” I showed her a wry smile.

“I don't really mind. It's my choice how I label those monsters. And why should I care about what those under my protection think? The ellyarian and ornaks are only there to serve me. Without me, they wouldn't have even been born. As for the automatons, I am their maker, what they say doesn't matter. I really don't understand why it should.” she tilted her head to the left as if I had said something strange.

That's a very harsh way of putting it... I thought.

In other words, because Yandrea summoned them or built them as well as gave them a place to live, their will was not their own, and naturally, it was demanded of them to blindly obey her every command.

Yes, there's definitely no way this could EVER go wrong... I thought in a rather sarcastic tone of voice.

“Tuby, as long as I'm around and they are well aware of my power, the truth will only turn them soft. Like this, they live with the fear of not knowing when the next wave of adventurers might come. They know that I granted them the title of hero for being able to reach this far, but they also live with the belief that if I'm not around, these heroes will kill them. My followers must live with this belief and continue to grow strong and more powerful so that when they will meet for real, their might will be unmatched by that of their enemy. As for the adventurers, it's simple: if they want to survive and live another day, all they have to do is not go past the 300th floor.” she replied with a smile.

“I honestly don't know what to say...” I said and shook my head.

“Do you think I'm wrong?” she asked tilting her head.

“I don't know... it's just that... living in lies... It's never good.” I said these words as I gently touched her left cheek. “But what I do know is that I'm glad you survived...” I showed her a smile.

With her cheeks turning pink she nodded and then snuggled in my arms.

“Let's go to sleep. This talk made me tired, Tuby...” she said as she closed her eyes.

“Alright... Good night, Yandrea.” I said.

“Good night, Tuby...” she replied.

Yandrea fell asleep right away, but I didn't... I kept thinking about what she said and how she viewed things. While it didn't feel right for me, I had no idea how to explain my point of view to her. What she did and how she treated her people was definitely wrong, but I was not in a position where I could just brashly state this.

Although highly unlikely, it was quite possible that the ellyarians, the ornaks, and the automatons both accepted and approved of this way of treatment. As such, who was I to claim otherwise?

What I lacked was information and proof as well as a better understanding of my wife. As the former principal of Fellyore Academy and a teacher in magic there, I found it hard for me to ignore Yandrea's misguided view of the world.

But, the question I had to answer was: How could I teach Yandrea the right way without her thinking that I'm trying to conspire against her or trick her?

Then again, even if I did... did it matter or was it too late to change anything?