Xu Han’s musing was cut short by Jemma’s words. He looked over at the dungeon fairy and saw the concern on her face.

  “Jemma, what’s the problem?”

  “These adventurers,” Jemma pointed at the screen showing the three exploring adventurers, “I don’t think they are here to beat you. They are here to destroy you!”

  “Why would you say that?” Xu Han calmly asked. He did not dispute Jemma’s assessment as he knew there was something wrong with these adventurers, but he wished to know why Jemma believed that these adventurers were a danger to him.

  “Remember what the archer said when she killed the cat?”

  “She said something along the line of me not being around for much longer. A lot of adventurers say that.”

  Xu Han had lost count of the number of adventurers who cursed and swore eternal vengeance against him. As a former cultivator, Xu Han took such threats seriously at first, but Jemma quickly dissuade him of the notion. The dungeon fairy explained that adventuring is a stressful occupation, and most adventurers were just venting. Jemma explained that adventurers do not destroy dungeons without good reason because without dungeons, it would be harder for adventurers to level. In a way, adventurers need dungeons.

  “Yes, but these adventurers mean it.” Jemma said. “Remember when I said someone must had hired them? Well, this party is very high levelled, so that means they are expensive. Too expensive just to beat the floors of your dungeon. And when the archer said that you would not be around much longer, she didn’t say it in anger. She was stating a fact. She meant what she said. Core, they are here to destroy you.”

  Xu Han turned his focus to the party. Once again, he did not dispute Jemma’s assessment. He also did not wonder why someone would want to kill him. Considering the number of adventurers his dungeon had killed, this was an inevitability.

  “So, what can we do?” Xu Han asked.

  “Not much. Even if you create more monsters and traps, they’ll would probably not be powerful enough to take on this party.”

  Jemma sighed, but Xu Han wasn’t deterred. In his past life, he had been hunted by cultivators more powerful than he was and survived. He refused to believe there wasn’t a way to do so now.

  “How do other dungeon cores handle been hunted by high level adventurers? I can’t be the only one who had face this problem.”

  “They make things hard for the adventurers. Confusing mazes; very difficult puzzles; lethal Bosses. Some try their best to misdirect the adventurers by creating fake cores. Others just called for help.”

  “Help from who?”

  “Anyone! Other cores, the Adventurer Guild, monsters outside the dungeon. When a core is in danger, it’s usually not too prickly.” Jemma said with a bite.

  “Wait! Did you say the Adventurer Guild? Why?” That surprised Xu Han, who always saw the Guild as nothing but an adversary.

  “Yes, remember that adventurers need dungeons. The Adventurer Guild has oversight over adventurers, and they take a very dim view on adventurers who destroy dungeon cores.”

  “How do we send a message to the Guild?” Xu Han quickly asked.

  “You can’t,” Jemma said with a shake of her head. “The Guild won’t believe the words of a dungeon core. They may need dungeons, but they trust you as much as you trust them. You need someone trusted by the Guild to pass the message and that’s almost impossible to find.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Xu Han had to admit that was fair. He would not trust any message the Guild sent to him either. Time ran on and when the two hours was almost up, the adventurers made their way back to the clearing. It was clear the adventurers were frustrated, but they did not let their disappointment affect their preparation.

  “Othor, when the Boss appear, you start with [Oscillation].” The archer ordered the mage, who calmly agreed.

  “Not a problem. Then, you can release your [Blast Arrow].”

  The spells and skills were new to Xu Han, and he quickly asked his resident expert on the matter. “Jemma, what are these skills?”

  “They are high level ones. [Oscillation] is a sound spell with a large area of effect. The attack used high frequency to throw off the balance of people, causing them to fall in extreme cases. You need to be a [Sound Mage] before you can cast it.” Jemma explained.

  “[Sound Mage]? What level is that?”

  “At least 40,” the dungeon core answered quietly, “and it’s almost as bad with [Blast Arrow]. Archers can only get it at level 30.”

  That was terrible news for Xu Han. He couldn’t stop the exploration party send by The Adventurer Guild, and those adventurers were about ten levels below these three.

  Within moments, the adventurers had finalized their attack plan. When the timer ran out, the Panda Boss appeared, walking towards the clearing. It’s strange appearance caused a slight hesitation from the adventurers.

  “Is that a bear? A black-and-white bear? Walking on two legs?” The knight asked disbelievingly.

  “It looks kind of cute. Othor, do it.” The archer said.

  The [Sound Mage] did not need another invitation. He opened his mouth and shouted. A loud blast struck the area, it’s area of effect too wide for the Panda Boss to dodge, and the Boss swayed. For a moment, Xu Han was reminded of a cultivation technique called ‘The Lion’s Roar’ and the similarities between this spell and the technique.

  The spell affected the Panda Boss, but it did not fall on the ground. At least not at first. Before Panda Boss could recover its balance, an arrow struck the ground beside it. The arrow exploded, throwing the Boss off its feet. The Panda Boss immediately tried to stand up, but it was clearly hurt. Great pain slowed it down and that was fatal.

  A second metal arrow flew, hitting the Boss directly in its head, and the knight rushed in for the kill. The knight used a skill to cover the distance and was on the Boss in a moment. He attacked, piercing the Panda Boss with his sword, pinning it to the ground. The Panda Boss struggled a bit and there was a flow of energy coming from it towards the knight. It was as if the vitality of the Boss was being drained. Soon, the Boss stopped moving.

  It was dead.

  Xu Han could not believe how easy it was for the adventurers to kill the Boss. He knew the Panda had no chance of winning, but he had expected it to do better. This was hardly a fight!

  For the first time, Xu Han saw how a well-trained high-levelled party fought and knew he had no chance of surviving this on his own. He needed help.

  Xu Han immediately thought of the other cores in the chat. They would help, but considering how far they were from him, their help would come too late. That left the Adventurer Guild as the only viable option, but how could he convince them to help him? Xu Han needed someone the Guild trust.

  Then, a person came to mind.

  Xu Han quickly located him and felt the connection between them. Xu Han did not know if the adventurer could help, but he was the only one available to the dungeon core. Xu Han was desperate, but he knew better than to beg. Begging implies desperation, and Xu Han was asking the adventurer to risk offending more powerful adventurers. The Dao of the Deal told Xu Han that some incentives and a fear of loss would work better in such a situation. The dungeon core then remembered the lesson Jemma gave on how the Adventurer Guild works. That gave Xu Han an idea. He quickly worded his request and send it out.

  ***

  “I say we go back to town. The quest is a bust. There’s no way the Baggio party is going to fail the Bamboo Forest Room.” Vorma said, pointing at the magical shield blocking the entrance of the room.

  “True, which is why we should enter the second room. The quest is for a first clear, and we can complete it if we complete the second room.” Jes argued.

  “We don’t know what’s in there. No one had ever survived it.” Umdar pointed out.

  “Then, we will be the first. Or do you want to come back in when Maglor tells us-”

  “By the Stones!”

  Cutting through the argument with a shout, Pos suddenly stood up. The other members of his party looked at him, every adventurer waiting their turn on the second floor looked at him. His shout was that loud.

  “The dungeon just gave me a quest! It is in danger. Someone is trying to destroy the dungeon core!” Pos screamed.