Dungeon Master (Karma System)

Max studied the girl while her grandfather waited for an answer.

The gray lines beneath her skin were easiest to see around her wrists and throat. They were thin enough to resemble veins, but no healthy person had veins that color. Her breathing was shallow, and she leaned slightly toward the old man even though she was trying to sit upright without his help.

”People who die inside my dungeon are normally revived. That does not mean the protection applies to every possible situation.” Max explained.

The grandfather’s expression fell.

”I said normally. Give me a chance to check.”

”Of course.” The man bowed again. ”Forgive me. We have traveled a long way.”

Anna sat across from the girl. ”What are your names?”

”I am Garrick Vale. This is my granddaughter, Mira.”

Mira lifted one hand and gave a small smile. ”Hello.”

Her grandfather immediately supported her arm as if the movement might exhaust her. Mira gave him an irritated look, but she did not pull away.

”What happened to her?” Max asked.

”A wasting curse.” Garrick said. ”No one knows who placed it or why. The first mark appeared beneath her hand five years ago. Since then, it has spread.”

”It causes my body to degrade and fall apart.”

Garrick looked pained by how casually she described it. ”We have visited temples in four kingdoms. Healers have cleansed poisons, repaired damaged organs, and removed portions of the curse. It always returns.”

”How long does she have?” Anna asked.

”The last priest said she might survive another month. The one before him said three.”

”They have been saying that for almost a year.” Mira said. ”They are not very good at guessing.” She added with a huff.

Garrick squeezed her shoulder. ”The episodes are coming more frequently.”

Max opened his dungeon menu and focused on the two visitors. Garrick appeared as an ordinary unregistered guest. Mira’s information took longer to form.

[Mira Vale]

[Level: 1]

[Class: None]

[Condition: Wasting Curse]

[Sanctuary Resurrection Protection: Active]

He expanded the final entry.

[Living creatures protected by the Sanctuary will be revived following death from injury, illness, poison, curse, or other natural and unnatural causes, provided death occurs within the dungeon’s protected territory.]

[Existing persistent conditions are not removed unless the resurrection process specifically identifies them as the cause of damage to the restored body.]

The wording required Max to read it twice.

”DC, explain the last part.”

[Mira Vale’s body will be restored to a stable physical condition following death. The Wasting Curse will remain attached to her. Damage already caused by the curse will be repaired. The curse will begin damaging the restored body again.]

Mira could still die. In fact, she might die many times. But each death inside the dungeon would reset what the curse had done to her body.

Anna asked Mira for permission before taking her hand. A faint golden light moved between their fingers. In her past life, the church had taught Anna to recognize curses even when she could not remove them.

The gray lines darkened beneath the light and then faded back to their previous color.

”It is bound deeply. Healing her body will not remove it. it is likely attached deeply to her soul.”

Garrick nodded. ”The high priest in Ellian said something similar. He burned the marks from her left arm. They returned three days later and spread farther than before.”

Mira pulled back her sleeve. A circular scar surrounded one of the gray lines. ”That was one of the more painful cures.”

”Were they all painful?” Max asked.

”The honest healers warned me first.”

Garrick looked down. ”Every time someone offered even a small chance, I asked her to endure it.”

”I agreed.” Mira said. ”I wanted to live too.”

Max had no miracle that would destroy the curse. What his dungeon offered was less complete and, in some ways, stranger. Mira would remain cursed. The condition could continue winning, but it would never be allowed to keep its victory.

”It applies.” Max said, referring to the resurrection.

Garrick stared at him. ”You are certain?”

”The Dungeon Core recognizes her as protected right now. If the curse kills her while she is inside my dungeon, she will revive in the hospital.”

The old man’s legs seemed to lose their strength. He lowered himself back into the chair.

Mira remained very still. ”Will the curse be gone?”

”No. The damage it caused will be healed, but the curse will start again. I do not know how long you will have between deaths.”

”But I will wake up.” She asked.

”As long as you die inside the dungeon.”

Mira released a breath and closed her eyes. Garrick covered his face with both hands.

”Will it hurt every time?” Mira asked without opening her eyes.

”I do not know.” Max answered. ”The resurrection itself does not hurt. I cannot promise anything about what happens before it.”

”Thank you for not lying.”

Max could have told her not to worry. It would have sounded comforting and meant nothing. She had heard enough promises from people who could not keep them.

For several seconds, nobody spoke. Then Garrick stood again. He reached beneath his coat and removed a small leather pouch. Coins struck one another inside.

”This is everything I brought with us. I own a home and several acres outside Bellford. I can sell them. I was once a competent carpenter, and I can still work. If that is not enough, I will find more.”

Max did not reach for the pouch. ”Put it away.”

”Please. I understand that such protection cannot be free.”

”Everyone inside the Sanctuary receives it. I do not have to purchase a separate blessing for her.”

”Then charge us for living here.”

”We can discuss housing later. Right now, I need to make sure both of you understand the restriction.”

Garrick nodded quickly. ”She cannot leave.”

”I did not say that.” Max turned toward Mira. ”You can walk out of the dungeon whenever you want. I will not imprison you. The protection ends once you cross the boundary. If the curse kills you outside, I cannot bring you back.”

”How far does the boundary extend?” Garrick asked.

”Across the Sanctuary, its buildings, and the other dungeon levels. The levels are dangerous, so living here is the safest choice.”

”What about the entrance?”

”The protection reaches the inside of the archway. It does not extend into the mountain forest outside.”

Garrick nodded as if memorizing every word.

Max looked at Mira. Her grandfather had done most of the talking, but she was the one who would have to live with the choice.

”Do you understand?” he asked.

”Yes.”

”Your grandfather wants you to stay. What do you want?”

Garrick looked startled. ”She is fourteen.”

”And she is the one who cannot safely leave.”

Mira stared down at the gray marks on her hands. ”If I stay, I will still get sick.”

”Yes.”

”I might die again and again.”

”Yes.”

”But I will keep waking up.”

”That is what the Dungeon Core says.”

Mira looked toward the window. From the manor, she could see part of the village and the upper half of the newly formed Skyyard tower.

”Then I want to stay.”

Garrick’s eyes closed in relief.

”That answer came quickly.” Anna said gently while holding Mira’s hand.

”Everyone has spent five years telling me what I cannot do because it might make me worse.” Mira lifted one hand and began counting on her fingers. ”I cannot run. I cannot travel unless I am lying down. I cannot eat anything interesting. I cannot stay outside after sunset. I cannot become upset. I cannot become excited. I cannot be left alone.”

Garrick opened his mouth.

”You say all of those things.” She told him, silencing her grandfather.

”Because I am trying to keep you alive.”

”I know.” Her voice softened. ”But if dying here is not the end, I want to find out what I can do.”

Max understood that reasoning. He had spent much of his previous life earning Karma and taking risks because the system offered him rewards that made those risks worth taking. Mira was not asking to become reckless. She wanted the chance to stop treating survival as her only purpose.

Anna looked at Garrick. ”You brought her here to live.”

The old man slowly nodded. ”I did.”

”Then give her a chance to begin.”

Max registered both of them as temporary residents. A pair of guest rooms near the hospital would be prepared while they decided their future arrangements.

He sent a message to the hospital staff explaining Mira’s condition. If she died, they would know that her appearance was expected rather than the result of an attack somewhere in the Sanctuary.

”Do I have to stay in the hospital tonight?” Mira asked.

”No.”

”Can I walk through the village?”

”Yes.”

”Can I go up that tower?” She pointed through the window.

”The lifts are safe.”

”What about the ships?”

”You need a crew of five to fly one.”

”Can people who are not adventurers use them?”

Max checked. ”The training ships do not have a level requirement.”

Mira smiled for the first time. ”Good.”

Garrick moved to help her stand. She accepted his hand but pushed herself upright without letting him lift her.

They left the manor slowly. Mira paused outside and stared at the village. Humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, Orcs, and creatures she could not identify moved along the streets. Portals opened and closed in the square. Mini-airships circled the distant tower while people watched from below.

”Where is the hospital?” Garrick asked.

Anna pointed toward a white stone building a short distance away. ”Right there. The guest rooms are beside it.”

Garrick relaxed slightly.

”Where is the library?” Mira asked.

”On the other side of the square.” Anna answered.

”And the lake?”

”Farther west.”

”Can we see both before dinner?”

”You should rest.” Garrick said automatically.

Mira looked at him. The old man hesitated. His gaze moved toward the hospital and then back to his granddaughter.

”The library first.” he compromised.

Mira walked toward it with Anna beside her. Garrick remained close enough to catch her if she stumbled, but he did not take her arm again.

Max followed more slowly.

At the edge of the square, Garrick glanced back toward the entrance leading out of the dungeon.

The expression lasted only a moment. Then he turned toward his granddaughter and smiled when she called for him to hurry.