Chapter 27

Note: Thanks to Alex for beta reading this!

“What makes you different?” asked Halia as we followed the river south.

“Different?” I asked, glancing at the warrior. Her big boobs jiggled in her metal bikini.

“Yes. From the other dungeon builders. They all are evil.”

“Are they?” I considered that. Fuegin hadn’t attacked me. He had come and introduced himself and asked some big questions. Like why were we brought here? I really didn’t know.

“Of course.”

“It makes me wonder what being a dungeon builder does to a person. We’re not from this world. We come from a completely different place. A lot of us probably never had any real power. We’re young men, barely with any responsibilities, and we’re thrust into this place where we get magic. Sexy monster girls that want to fuck us.”

“And sexy succubus-sisters,” Garnet added.

“That goes under monster girls,” I said, grinning at her. “It’s a rush. You’re playing god when you build your dungeon. What does that do to a person?”

“What did it do to you?” Halia asked.

I blinked. “It made me feel ... responsible. I was suddenly thrust with these monster girls to protect. Lana Fulmine and my will o’ wisps. Plus Souleen, the heart of the Void Crystal. I had to protect her. I was barely even figuring things out when I was attacked by Mthunzi. He battered through my defenses and reached my room. I had to fight for the first time.

“I won. Barely.”

“Yes, you dungeon builders are aggressive like that. Look at you. You’re about to attack one.”

“True.” I glanced down the trail. “The one we’re about to face has two elements. Water or Life was his original. He killed another dungeon builder to advance. That’s the thing, isn’t it? The ones who are willing to be aggressive are the ones who gain power. How many dungeon builders were like me? Who didn’t want to fight? Didn’t want to do anything but exist and were killed. And what does that do to the ones who survive? Who don’t want to die? It has to warp you. There’s a part of me that will do anything to protect what I got.” I swallowed. “Part of me wonders if I’m doing this not to rescue those girls but to destroy a rival who could hurt me.”

Halia stared at me for some time. “You do seem to want to help. You tried to capture me.”

“I felt bad.” I sighed. “Adventurers died in my dungeon before your party. You all are just trying to protect your world, and here I am a threat to it. Somehow. I don’t even really know how.”

“You devour mana,” she said. “It’s bad.”

“Why?”

Halia opened her mouth and then frowned. “I really don’t know. They say it causes problems, but it’s always vague. That’s why we have to put you down. There are places in this world ruled by powerful dungeon builders. Men who have most if not all the runes. Who ruled entire kingdoms. Places of fear where words hold sway. Like the tyrant who killed my father!”

I sighed. “And that’s the real thing. Power corrupts. How many sent here even consider the harm they’re doing. What if they don’t think this is real. It almost feels like a video game. Some base builder RPG or RTS game or something.”

“Ar tee ess? Video game? Ar pee gee? What are these?”

“Things from my world.”

“Things Leo spent too much time playing, and not enough time showering me in attention,” Garnet said.

“I’m just saying. What if they don’t even think of this place as real. As this anything more than a game. What does that do to your outlook? Your view on what you can or can’t do in this world? It has to skew it. So, no, I don’t think dungeon builders are inherently evil. There’s just a lot of pressures that select them towards doing bad things.

“It’s why I have to make a stand. Show people I’m different. I want to make something peaceful. I want people to be happy and live their lives and don’t have to worry about oozes or satyrs or other monster girls raiding their villages.”