They soon found themselves in a circular well lit room with a central pedestal. On the pedestal, a crystalline structure rotated, floating almost restfully in the middle of the air above the pedestal. There did not seem to be any light source in the room, the glow seed to be universally present throughout the entirety of the room. Centered at the foot of the pedestal, a chest of rather beautiful design cradled up against the pedestal, position in a place obviously designed for it and Joe glanced at it as he stepped forward but kept his attention on the crystal.
He stepped around the pedestal, eyes glued to the crystal before glancing around to the back of the room. He dismissed the back of the room rather quickly and returned to looking at the crystal.
While Joe kept fascinated eyes on the crystal, the other three looked up at Joe then returned their eyes to the chest, excited chatter exploding even greater than before and Joe quickly jerked his head away from the crystal to take in what the other three were doing.
"A dungeon chest! We actually have a dungeon chest!" Zilnek crowed excitedly if a bit quietly.
Kilniara replied with a hint of mocking, "It's our second chest. We already got one yesterday!"
"That was a regular chest! This is a dungeon clear chest! A dungeon clear chest!" Zilnek replied dismissively, anger tinging his snarky look that he tossed towards his sister.
Joe grinned a bit at the siblings interaction and looked over at Garnedell, seeing he sa barely controlled excitent quivering through his limbs. Joe guffawed a bit and all three looked up at Joe, a bit embarrassed and Joe waved away their concern.
"Go ahead. Open the chest and see what's inside… well… wait… Garnedell… open it carefully with your staff, first."
Joe turned away from their excited bunny hops and looked back at the crystal but then stopped himself, forcing a return of attention back to Garnedell. Gotta make sure he's OK.
Joe watched carefully and nodded to himself slightly as he watched Garnedell carefully poke the chest a few tis, a slight smile tugging at his lips while he watched. Garnedell then carefully slipped the staff under a protruding edge of one of the decorations on the chest lid and open the chest carefully. Nothing happened, and the chest cracked open slightly before it suddenly rose on its own, opening widely and a burst of light that didn't blind sight at all ford slowly over the top of the open chest.
Almost like it was coming from an infinite distance, a gorgeous staff seed to suddenly co into existence, taking up the space above the chest and coming to rest, floating in front of Garnedell and rotating in space. Huh… that's… how? It seed like it ca from… sowhere… like… it rushed here… but… Joe puzzled over what he had seen, confused as he had been standing on the other side of it, but the staff didn't seem like it ca from the direction of Garnedell, but from an infinitesimally small point centered above the center of the open chest. He'd seen the affect in computer graphics before, but seeing it real life, in real three dinsional space … Joe shook his head, closing his eyes as he tried to parse what he'd seen before he finally sighed and looked away.
He puzzled over it for a few monts before he noticed the silence in the room and saw the three looking at him expectantly, eye's wide in excitent and breaths held in suspense. Joe looked back and forth between the three before shaking his head and waving a hand at Garnedell.
"Well… take it… It's obviously for you. It's a staff. You use a staff!"
Garnedell's eye's widened and a soft cry escaped his lips which was soon overwheld by a shout of joy as he leapt forward and grabbed the staff. The lid of the chest quickly closed and Joe smiled. Huh… looks like we each get a personalized gift? Or… can Garnedell open it again?
"Garnedell. Try opening the chest again."
Garnedell looked to Joe and his eyes opened with shock which then quickly was washed away by fear, Garnedell staring at Joe with a hint of betrayal and fear.
"Woah… woah… what's wrong, Garnedell?"
Garnedell trembled a bit and then glanced to the other two before he looked back at Joe, his face firming as he visibly took control of himself and nodded to Joe, "Yes, master. I'll take another from the chest."
"No… Garnedell. Wait. Why are you afraid. Did I say sothing wrong?"
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Garnedell looked at Joe for a bit, glancing upwards under down turned eyes and dropped head before he seed to understand Joe truly was confused and he looked up with a bit more assurance, "Master. We… one must never attempt to be greedy with a dungeon. One must take what one is given and take no more."
"Huh… so… but… what happens if you try?"
Garnedell quivered a bit but replied a bit more firmly, "Any who have tried are punished greatly."
Joe cocked his head after hearing that, considering carefully but still continuing the questioning, "How?"
Garnedell took a few monts to respond, collecting himself before replying, "There are many punishnts, but so of the most commonly spoken of is being greatly weakened or losing strength, being rendered dumb, losing skills, or even dying."
Joe frowned on hearing that before he nodded, "OK. Didn't know that. Sorry about that Garnedell. I really didn't an to make you scared. Welp… uh… Zilnek, Kilniara… why don't you guys get your rewards," Joe smiled to the two then turned back to the crystal after looking carefully at the two to make sure they didn't panic as well because of another stupid mistake he might have made. Well… ok… looks like that everyone gets at least one prize then… so…
Joe turned away and let the two get their prize, and Joe returned his sight to the crystal. He walked around it a bit, looking at it carefully, noting its irregular crystalline shape, but thought little of it. It wasn't particularly notable, beyond its size, approximately about the size of his head, with a tinge of with a color so subtle that Joe could only call it red because to say it was transparent was not actually factual. There was color, but it was so washed out Joe could barely make it out.
Joe reached out a hand, resting a hand on it when a popup suddenly appeared before him and Joe froze in place, holding his hand on the crystal while taking in the popup.
You have destroyed a dungeon.
This dungeon is already destroyed.
You have conquered a dungeon. This dungeon was previously conquered. It has no current owner. Do you wish to take control of this dungeon?
Joe considered for a few monts, frowning a bit before shrugging and replying in the affirmative. As soon as he said that, he felt a veritable avalanche of information flood his consciousness and Joe shook his head and quickly shut down his mind, rejecting the overwhelming deluge of information, pushing it away. Seriously? Injecting straight into my mind? You can just give an interface like the system?
As soon as Joe thought this, the information stopped, seeming to throb in thought but frozen. It stayed like this for several monts, unchanging and then ultimately seeming like it actually hung, unable to act. Huh… seems like… wait… of course… no written language... but the system? So... this... isn't the system? And… any visual display would likely be… extrely unlikely since they don't even have any written language either! Joe pondered for a few monts, considering before finally coming to an idea, not really wanting to deal with the flood of data shoving its way into his mind but definitely not wanting to alert the city to the fact that they might have lost control of the dungeon. Would they … do they have control? Maybe… doesn't matter… any change will bring in people I don't want to deal with… so… right! Joe pondered what he would do very carefully before finally replying with a simply ntal statent: just leave everything the sa… no changes. Joe felt the acceptance of his statent, and relaxed a little before another popup flashed before his eyes.
You have conquered a dungeon. Do you wish to take the crystal and destroy the dungeon?
Wait… seriously? I said make no… Joe quickly stopped his thoughts, not wanting to irrationally make any quick judgnts or statents without careful thought. He paused, taking a mont to collect himself before replying firmly. No. He waited patiently again, this ti not reacting when another popup appeared, taking care to read and think carefully.
The dungeon will remain. Do you wish to establish a tax?
Current tax: 0%
Current Recipient: _______
Joe blinked at this, then smiled a bit. Well… this is interesting… um.. Sure… and make the recipient… um… wait… right… Tax percentage is… Joe stopped, his thoughts grinding to a halt as he considered carefully. Even as he thought, the popup updated, putting his na in as the current recipient but waited patiently as he thought about what his options were for a subtle enough tax rate that wouldn't make it noticeable that people were getting a bit less than they were used to. He resisted the urge for a higher number and finally settled on what he hoped would be a useful return but still small enough to remain hidden. Ten percent.
His firm response imdiately updated the popup where it hung for another second or two before disappearing. Joe waited, holding his breath just a bit to see if anything new showed up, but then stopped and breathed a sigh as he realized it was done. He took his hand away and looked towards the three kids and noticed that they weren't paying any attention to him, all three too busy handling their new dungeon treasures. All three seed to have received a better version of their weapons. Garnedell received his staff, and the siblings received a much better version of their strange half-staff or elongated fighting stick. Weird… wonder what… wait.
"Zilnek… Kilniara…what are your weapons called?"
"Oh… these are basic weapons… they're called half-staves."
Joe chuckled, laughing, "Yeah… that's what I called them… Good na, I guess, but useless weapon. Let's see if we can't get you sothing better later!"
The two siblings smiled in excitent and Joe turned towards the chest, "Well… guess it's my turn."
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