The misty forest air felt strangely warm after hours inside the dungeon.
Marcus stepped out of the bone archway and stretched his arms high above his head.
His joints cracked loudly.
"Man… I forgot what fresh air felt like."
Behind him, Lyrielle emerged quietly.
The wolves followed.
The arachne stepped through the portal like shadows peeling away from the darkness.
The skeleton priests clattered softly behind them.
Every single one of them had reached Level 20.
Every single one of them had survived.
Marcus grinned.
Not bad for a first dungeon run.
Then he noticed something.
Liliana.
The Goblin Lord had been standing near the dungeon entrance the entire time.
But now she was moving.
Slowly.
Toward them.
Her yellow eyes narrowed slightly.
She stopped a few feet away from Marcus.
Then she did something incredibly strange.
She leaned closer.
And…
She sniffed him.
Marcus froze instantly.
"...Uh."
She sniffed again.
Then another step closer.
Marcus leaned backward slightly.
"Okay that's weird."
The wolves looked confused.
Lyrielle blinked.
The arachne tilted their heads.
Then suddenly—
Liliana burst out laughing.
Not a polite chuckle.
Not a quiet laugh.
She laughed like someone who had completely lost their mind.
Loud.
Sharp.
Wild.
Marcus jumped slightly.
"JESUS—"
He nearly summoned a meteor out of reflex.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
Liliana doubled over laughing.
Her shoulders shook.
Her voice echoed through the forest.
Even the goblin soldiers behind her looked uncomfortable.
Marcus slowly lowered his raised hand.
"...You done?"
She kept laughing.
Marcus looked at Lyrielle.
"Should we be concerned?"
Lyrielle spoke calmly.
"Possibly."
After nearly thirty seconds Liliana finally stopped.
She wiped a tear from her eye.
Then looked up at Marcus.
"So."
Her voice carried amusement.
"You got the dungeon core."
Marcus blinked.
"...How do you know that?"
Liliana crossed her arms.
"The smell."
Marcus stared at her.
"...The smell?"
She nodded.
"Dungeon energy lingers."
Marcus slowly looked down at himself.
Then shrugged.
"Okay."
"Sure."
Liliana shook her head slightly.
Then she said something that made Marcus pause.
"You know that has only a 0.01% drop rate, right?"
Marcus blinked.
"...What?"
Lyrielle's eyes widened.
"A tenth of a percent?"
Liliana nodded.
"Yes."
Marcus stared at her.
Then slowly rubbed his face.
"So let me get this straight."
"I got hit by a meteor."
"I got reincarnated."
"I got a 100% drop rate."
"And now I pulled a one-in-ten-thousand drop."
Liliana nodded calmly.
"Correct."
Marcus sighed.
"Of course I did."
Then she stepped a little closer.
Her expression became serious again.
"If you have the core…"
"I strongly recommend something."
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
Liliana gestured toward his territory in the distance.
"Turn it into a training ground."
Marcus nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
"That was already my plan."
Liliana looked pleased.
"A dungeon inside your territory will allow constant combat training."
She glanced toward his army.
"Wolves."
"Arachne."
"Undead."
"They will grow stronger faster."
Marcus folded his arms.
"Makes sense."
Then she continued.
"And from the smell…"
Marcus sighed.
"What now?"
Liliana smirked slightly.
"You farmed the boss."
Marcus coughed.
"...Maybe."
She laughed softly again.
"I can smell the mana residue."
Marcus shrugged.
"He kept summoning."
"Would have been rude not to."
Liliana shook her head slightly.
"You are strange."
Marcus grinned.
"I hear that a lot."
Then Liliana straightened.
Her expression became formal.
"You completed the dungeon."
"You lost no soldiers."
Marcus nodded.
"Correct."
She extended her hand.
"As promised."
"My tribe will not fight you."
Marcus took her hand and shook it.
"Good."
Then she added something else.
"We are no longer enemies."
Marcus nodded.
"Nice."
Liliana smiled slightly.
"We are partners."
Marcus liked the sound of that.
But then she raised one finger.
"I do have a request."
Marcus groaned dramatically.
"Here it comes."
Liliana gestured toward the dungeon entrance.
"If you build the dungeon inside your territory…"
Marcus nodded.
"Yeah?"
She spoke calmly.
"Allow my tribe to train there as well."
Marcus blinked.
"Oh."
That was actually… reasonable.
Lyrielle leaned slightly toward him.
"My lord, this could strengthen relations."
Marcus nodded slowly.
Then he looked at Liliana.
"You want your goblins to run the dungeon?"
She nodded.
"It will make us stronger."
Marcus thought about it.
More dungeon runs meant stronger allies.
And honestly…
He didn't mind goblins killing skeletons for him.
Marcus grinned.
"Deal."
Liliana nodded in approval.
But then she added something else.
"And there is more."
Marcus sighed.
"Of course there is."
She looked directly at him.
"If you acquire more dungeon cores…"
Marcus blinked.
"You can fuse them."
That caught his attention.
"...Wait."
"Explain."
Liliana crouched and drew a circle in the dirt.
"This is your dungeon."
Then she drew another circle.
"This is another dungeon."
She overlapped them.
"When fused…"
"The dungeon gains floors from both."
Marcus's eyes widened slightly.
"So different environments?"
She nodded.
"Yes."
"Different monsters."
"Different loot."
"Different bosses."
Marcus scratched his chin.
That sounded extremely powerful.
But she wasn't done yet.
"If you fuse cores from the same dungeon…"
She tapped the circle again.
"The dungeon grows deeper."
"More floors."
"More monsters."
Marcus whistled softly.
"So basically."
"Stack the same cores for bigger dungeons."
"Mix different ones for variety."
Liliana nodded.
"Correct."
Marcus grinned slowly.
"Oh."
"Oh that's dangerous."
Lyrielle nodded thoughtfully.
"My lord… this could create an extremely powerful training facility."
Marcus laughed.
"Training facility?"
He looked back toward his territory.
"Lyrielle."
She looked at him.
"Yes?"
Marcus grinned like a madman.
"We're building the most broken dungeon in this world."
And somewhere deep inside the mist-covered forest…
Marcus's new dungeon core pulsed softly with dark purple light.