Chapter 5: Ch 5 – Negotiation

I woke up the next day in a room not that different from the first. I was honestly surprised! Not by the room, but by the fact that I woke up at all.

“You don’t follow directions well.” The voice spoke to me.

I nodded, and rather then reply in my mind I just spoke out loud, “I suppose... I didn’t want to just kill him.”

“Curious…” the dungeon replied.

“What is?” I asked back.

“The goblins follow my commands easily. They don’t question me, they simply act.”

“Is it because this is just some woman’s body?” I asked not really sure how to think about that.

“I do not believe so. I believe its you.”

“Are you going to punish me?” I asked.

There was an obvious pause, but after a moment it replied, “No. You did complete your task, if using unorthodox methods. I’ve also had some time to consider your utility.”

“My utility?” I asked.

“I believe there is a reason you don’t have any abilities.”

“I’m listening…”

“I thought placing your soul in that body would create a succubus. However, this is not the case. You are simply a ‘possessed tiger kin’.”

“Ah…” I said more or less seeing how that could be accurate.

“There are multiple problems with this.”

I tilted my head as I sat on the blankets.

“Your body like the goblins will require food.”

I nodded, that seemed obvious, I was really hungry at this point it was practically painful.

“Your body is also not magical in nature. This means you can leave the dungeon, but it also means you are weak.”

I shrugged the words made some sense, and I didn’t have anything to add.

“There is one small bit of hope however.” The dungeon continued. “You are experiencing something called ‘corruption’ which appeared upon your return to the dungeon.”

“That sounds like a bad thing.” I offered.

“Curious…”

In my mind the idea of being corrupted sounded like being damaged, made weaker or evil? “But you think it might be a good thing because I’m a monster?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“But we don’t know if it actually good or bad?” I clarified.

“Yes. Though if it is a bad thing and you die I can recover your soul. The body is valuable only for its usefulness.”

“Its not a sacrifice?” I asked recalling what the elf man had said.

“I have no god to sacrifice to.”

I didn’t quite understand that, “So there are actual gods?”

“Of course, perhaps if I continue to grow in strength I may attract the attention of one. There could be potential in that.”

“How do you know?” I asked feeling that concrete knowledge about such a thing was at odds with what I felt.

“I was created by a god, my knowledge and abilities designed and bestowed by one.”

“Ah…” I said still not quite certain.

“For now I believe it makes the most sense to attempt to complete your corruption. Good or bad we’ll learn something.”

“Alright… but how do I do that?” I asked.

“Uncertain. Do you not know how you gained it in the first place?”

I shook my head, “No… how would I?”

“True, you lack my abilities.”

“What sort of abilities?” I asked.

“A dungeons fundamental property is the ability to manipulate the magical fabric of reality. To that end I am able to perceive simple quantifiable information about you, or other creatures.”

That sounded oddly familiar to me, “Numbers? You can see numbers about me?”

“Yes, though not all are particularly useful. For instance your body is nineteen years old. You are severely malnutrition and you have reached thirteen percent corruption.”

“Not strength? And hit points?” I asked not quite sure what those were, but they just flowed from my lips as though I had said them countless times before.

“Your body had various strength metrics, however I’d only confuse you with the abundance of details. I don’t know what a hit point is.” The dungeon replied.

“Alright. I’ll rely on what guidance you can offer then.”

“For now I can only suggest you follow your instincts, you have a high affinity with a succubus, which is what I want, so given time I believe it should happen naturally much like how I naturally absorb mana from the surrounding area. The more I focus on that task, the more efficient I can be at it.”

“What about food? And water?” I asked.

“Yes, you’ll need those. There is a stream in my depths, I can guide you there. However for food you’ll need to hunt.”

“How… would I do that?” I asked.

“You don’t know how to hunt?”

I shook my head, “No idea…”

“Curious…”

“Why is it curious?”

“That beast kin should know how to hunt, and should actually be exceptional at capturing small prey. It is a tiger kin after all. But if you lack the knowledge that means you’ve gained no knowledge from the body.”

“Is that strange?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t know. While I said I received knowledge from a god, that isn’t to say I am all knowing. Rather its a basis on which I can build. Still your not stupid, you seem to have knowledge about other things.”

“Its awkward, sometimes I don’t know if I know something until I realize I do.” I pointed out.

“Curious…”

“Should I just try and figure it out?” I asked, “I’m really hungry.”

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“I’ll have the goblins hunt for you for the moment. I’d tried that previously, however the woman refused to eat, thus the body has only grown weaker since I captured it.”

“Who’s body was it?” I asked.

“Who? A local resident that strayed from their tribe?”

“So no one important after all? What about the elf woman that the man was looking for?” I asked.

“Shes not here.”

“Then why was he here?” I asked perplexed by that.

“You should have asked him.”

“Well too late for that…” I sighed.

“Yes.”

“Alright… So what should I do?” I asked.

“Have I not been clear? Corrupt yourself.”

“How?” I asked.

“Figure it out.” The dungeon commanded.

I sighed, “I’ll do my best…” I offered weakly. My enthusiasm had diminished significantly since my arrival, maybe this body was starting to have an effect on me after all?

The only thing I could think of was sex. I mean as it related to the corruption… not just in general! That was what a succubus was after all right? I had wanted that man and taken him. If it was that simple it shouldn’t be so hard? Then again there were no men either. There were goblins I suppose, though thinking back on them from the day prior I wouldn’t say that prospect excited me. It wasn’t just that they were monsters, but rather that they were short, a bit scrawny, and I wasn’t expecting much down below. It wasn’t like I demanded perfection or anything! But my first taste of a men since I woke wasn’t too shabby either. Maybe I was being a little demanding with my standards, but I didn’t care!

I had aspirations of my own regarding men, If only I could have kept that elf, he was quite nice.

“Do you have any other humans? A man perhaps?” I asked.

“Humans? I have no humans at all.”

“Oh… right I’m a beast kin… You said a tiger kin?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Alright… do you have elves? Or beast kin?” I asked trying to communicate my preference.

“Just you. The goblins that moved into the cave joined me as well. Why?”

“Ideally I need more men.” I explained.

“For corruption?”

“Yes. My basic theory is that since a succubus is inherently a sex demon. I should fuck to get more.” I explained.

“A reasonable theory. You may borrow the goblins.”

I recoiled instantly, “I’d rather not…” I grimaced. Why did it have to immediately suggest the one thing I’d already dismissed!

“Why not? Prior to your occupation of that body they did many things with her. Though I suppose the net positive was only in my favor.”

“Uhh… what do you mean?” I asked skeptically.

“Their actions resulted in her will to live depleting.”

I frowned, “...Her will to live?”

“Yes. I was only able to insert your soul once her soul had sufficiently weakened to the point where it no longer felt attachment.”

“So when the elf man asked me if I’d been used by the monsters… I had been.” I sighed.

“Yes, or at least your body had. Is there a problem with the goblins?” the dungeon asked.

“Interest…” I replied.

“I don’t care about your interest. You must understand that if you don’t become a succubus we might lack the abilities to survive.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you somehow think that I am here to protect you? That's backwards, you are here to protect me.”

“But I can leave.” I interjected casually.

There was a long pause from the dungeon, as though it had never even considered the possibility.

I supposed that it was used to dealing with goblins who just did what it asked. I did feel some small interest in helping the dungeon. But in my estimation that was entirely because it had given me a second chance. But all the same I could certainly leave. But would that serve me well? I doubted it, I knew very little of this world. By comparison the dungeon had considerable knowledge. I also couldn’t protect myself, and the dungeon had goblins that could do that. Perhaps had I been rescued things would be different? Maybe helping kill that elf was a bad move? No turning back now, I’d gone along with the dungeon’s scheme and where that led. Why had I done that? Perhaps the dungeon had some influence over me after all and I just didn’t quite understand the full scope of it. It likely made more sense to try and work with it rather than antagonize it though, at least for the moment.

“How about we be partners.” I offered a compromise.

“Partners? You are my servant.”

“See you say that, but I can still mostly ignore what you say.”

“Curious…”

“If you really want me to stick around and help you, then you should try to at least give me what I want.”

“I knew that a succubus would be more difficult to tame… But you may be too difficult, it might make more sense for me to reconsider you as part of my plans.”

I’d perhaps pressed too hard, I tried to reel it back in, “I’m not trying to be unreasonable. You say that I should be stronger, I think that makes sense. If I can use powers to protect you, you can use powers that benefit me. Right?”

“What benefits are you seeking?”

“For now food and water are a good start, longer term comfort and men, some knowledge? Its hard for me to really know everything at this point since I’m just beginning.” I explained.

“Curious…”

“I’ll try your goblin plan for now, as a token to show that I want to work with you.” Even if it wasn’t desirable, there could at least be physical pleasure right? Even without any real attraction it could work, and I’d give it a try. I had to at least try to show I was willing to work with the dungeon, unless I wanted to risk wandering the fields alone...

“Alright. For now I’ll go along with you, if you work for me then we have a greater combined potential. The stronger you grow the stronger I can grow. Over time this will naturally lead to more advantageous situations where I have more abilities and I can expend more mana on other things, such as comforts. I must press however, that this is long term. Unless you make your own comforts I have none to offer you at this point.”

“I understand.” I said taking a breath, “For now I’ll make do with what the goblins can provide. But I do want you to at least consider recruiting stronger men. If not simply for me, but for you.”

“You want me to recruit more elf, beast kin, or humans?” The dungeon said almost incredulous.

“Yes, those are desirable for me, I imagine they would be stronger and more useful then goblins as well.”

“Also more difficult to control.” The dungeon insisted.

It came back to that didn’t it! “Well perhaps its a longer term goal, but we should always consider our options right?”

“Yes, for now I should focus on my task, I’ve wasted enough time. I’ll send the goblins with food when they return, ask them to show you where the water is.”

“Okay.” I said feeling like that had gone alright, not perfect, but alright.

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