Zagaroth

  The final room on the first floor was a slightly frustrating experience for Fuyuko, though more fun than she was quite willing to admit out loud. Matg leaves to figure out whits o be watered, arranging water paths to water all the correts at the same time, figuring out which pixie is supposed to be the correct flower for whit, and coaxing the pixies to be in their flower forms while on the correts, all at the same time. This wasn't easy, but she felt rather satisfied when she was done.

  She was also rewarded with a double handful of small shiny rocks, given by the fairies after the final door opened up. Fuyuko thahem, and then waited until she and Mordecai were halfway dowairwell before asking, “Um, are these actually valuable or just shinies?”

  He shrugged slightly, “They have some value, if mixed, but they would not be sidered particurly rare or valuable unless one judges them by subjective beauty alone. Kazue or I go over them in more detail with you ter if you like.”

  Fuyuko houghtfully, “Um, there was also a slight, I dunno, tuggiion maybe, when I put them in my pouch. It was kind of weird.” It had also been vaguely familiar, but she wasn't sure how.

  That caused Mordecai to smile. “That was you 'g' the items, making the rewards real. It's one of the major things we offer the outside world, we create almost anything we have entered, but they do not truly bee tangible and real until a person who has earhe reward has cimed them.”

  Oh. That gave her something to think about as they tiheir journey down to the sed floor. The stuff she'd collected had been just magic stuff until she had taken them. She frowned slightly, “So, they are really real? Like, they aren't going to turn into leaves or something after a day or whatever?” The stones had been given to her by faeries after all.

  “No, nothing like that,” he replied, “someone could take iron from a dungeon reward and smith it with iron mined iside world, and the resulting sword or other item would be no different than if all the iron was mined or dungeon reward. The minor act of creation is part of our special magic.”

  They'd reached the sed floor, and Fuyuko took his words into sideration as she sidered the rules listed for the first challenge, “So, until I earn the reward, the silver stick isn't real? Is that how ya make it keep shrinkin'?”

  “Exactly,” He said, “Though it be a little more plicated than that. But even with the presumption that you bee our tractor, it's not something you will he details for. I'm always happy to talk about it if you are truly curious, as is Kazue, but I don't want you to feel obligated to learails either.” Mordecai chuckled, “Moriko certainly cuts us off when there's more than she wants to know being said.”

  Fuyuko tossed the rod into a spin and caught it as she sidered it, “Eh, maybe aime.” She was uain if she wao know. It seemed like the sort of thing that might lead to learning magic, but she didn't know if that was something she wao learn. “Let's try this game out.”

  Overall, Fuyuko found this floor to actually be easier. The notes were distinough for her to pick out without really trying, and training with Gil made finding the simpler timing as retively easy. Figuring out what the pantomiming rabbit people wanted was the hardest part of the st two rooms.

  At the very end, the rabbits gathered into a huddle where they seemed to be whispering to each other, and theuro her to present two items: A coil of rope, and a small onyx statue of a rat. “Er, thank you?” Fuyuko said, trying to be polite as she accepted them, though she felt a little fused about the items.

  Mordecai looked mildly surprised as he looked over the items, “Iing, those aren't in our default rewards for this se, but I guess our normal items wouldn't have been ideal for you. Some of it is very orieoward rewarding a team, and the rest would be hard for you to sell if you are staying here. The rope is ented to be animated for a short duration once a day, and it tie itself to objects before the duration runs out. The rat e to life once a day as well, turning into a dire rat panion you and.”

  She gave him a fused look, “Don't you two decide what the rewards are?”

  “Yes and no. We always deliberately choose exactly what to give, and we have a default set of what sort of things to give when we aren't choosing, but within the range of suitable things we create, any automatically given reward be influenced by a number of factors. Kazue and I decided to not interfere, we don't want to show any favoritism, so this was decided by, aha,” Mordecai finished by pointing at the rabbits who had givehe items.

  One of the rabbits spoke up as he rubbed at an ear, startling Fuyuko, “Ya, we know the little miss is doing this solo, with Master Mordecai just keeping you pany, and it assed along that you are dedicated to Li, so we decided we wao make sure you got stuff that you might find useful or at least nice.”

  “Er, um, I didn't realize you guys could speak too,” Fuyuko said awkwardly.

  “Yep! It took a bit for all of us to catch up, since we couldn't talk when the mistress made this puzzle, and pantomime is part of the challenge, so we don't talk during it. But almost everyone talk like this now, and the few who 't have figured out other ways to talk.”

  “Well, thank you again. I really like the little rat.” Knowing that it had been given to her because she followed Li made her happier than just having been given it randomly. And the rope, she really wished she'd had a rope like that before, that would have bee fetting over walls and into all sorts of trouble.

  Then again, maybe it was a good thing she hadn't had it before. “So whatcha got ? Er, and is all this magic stuff really alright? I don't get how it pays off for ya.”

  “You are expending effort, time, and energy by pleting the puzzles," Mordecai expined, "you push yourself to get the timed ones done quickly, and you focus on being precise. When people do this, they are not just spending the physical energy of their bodies, but spend a bit of their mana and life force. Iside world, this would just joiural flows of energy through the world, but here, it bees ours. Even just simply being ihe dungeon means you are leaking a little bit of energy. In addition, your body wants to replenish its mana. Some of that be dohrough the food you e, but your soul instinctively also tries to draw in fresh mana from the world outside. It 't cim the dungeon's mana, but this creates a little bit of a tug, accelerating how much mana flows in across our border. Some of it even reaches you before it bees part of us.”

  Something about the way he described that made her wrinkle her nose, “So wait, you guys are basically eating my leftovers?”

  “If you want to look at it that way. Now, as for what is , this is a different sort of challenge. I give you a bit of advice: it to the part as sincerely as you . I'll be watg from the baly.”

  Baly? Before she could ask Mordecai what he meant, he had disappeared, and the door behind her had already closed. With a bit of trepidation, Fuyuko crept forward until the tunnel opened up into a room that she quickly realized was the backstage of a theater. She'd never seen anything this fanot even when she'd broken into an old abandoned oo see if there was anything useful or fun there, but the basic props and ropes and winches were simir enough to be reized.

  “Alright, everyoo your pces!” A voice shouted, and a bunch of bunkin started rushing around, getting things lined up or toug up their makeup or es. The bunkin who was doing all the shouting poi her. “Get into your e already! Who has her e? Stuff her into it already! Makeup! Where is Makeup?”

  “What? Me, why are you-” she was cut off as the bunkin ers swarmed her and started shoving a tube of fabric over her.

  “Remember,” one of the ers said, “you are a willow tree, so you have to bend a lot.”

  Willow tree? Bend a lot? What? A very fused girl found herself being shuffled onto the stage and herded into a spot with several other 'trees'. There was an audience of bunkin spread out before her, and up on a small baly she could see Mordecai sitting, and Kazue apparently had an illusion ptform up there as well.

  She'd never been in a py before, well, not a real one. She and some of the other kids had dotle skits, but that was just them and the caretakers. Fuyuko barely knew Mordecai and Kazue and didn't know the little rabbit people at all. The thoughts swirling in her head made her miss what was being said, and she only realized she'd missed a cue wheher trees started shaking and swaying, bumping into her in the process.

  “Cut!” yelled the director, “Let's try that again, and pay attention this time!”

  Fuyuko started pullihoughts together and actually listeo what was going on. Part of her wao be angry at being shoved into the part without warning, but she wasn't sure if that was what she should be feeling. This was supposed to be hard, right? It was a dungeon after all. That little knot of emotions remained fused for now, but she shoved it into the back of her head for now.

  This time she caught her cue “… and upon wild winds did the Storm King desd to pay homage to and court the Lady of Lightning, fag off against his rival in love, the River Wolf.” Mordecai had said to it sincerely, so Fuyuko held on to that thought as she focused on her memories of trees battered by a wiorm. It was hard to do it without feeling a little embarrassed, but she swayed and rustled her 'branches' as vingly as she could. This time the director did not call cut, and the short act tinued on with only a couple more times where she and the other trees had to respond to the sudden winds of the Storm King.

  It was surprisingly exhausting, g with the heat trapped ihe tree e with her as she flexed and swayed and shook her arms to make the branches rattle. The ended and she shuffled up to the edge of the stage wheher trees did, copying them as they bowed to the appuding audience along with the rest of the cast, and then shuffled back to let the curtains drop.

  Being out of the e leasant relief as the cooler air washed over her, and when it seemed they were doh her, Fuyuko started heading uainly toward the door that had opened on its own. The director called out before she quite reached the dood job kid, I'm sure you'll do great in the four!”

  four? She had to do four more of these?

  Zagaroth