My brief, fleeting hope for a nap evaporated. The crimson-red alert in my consciousness was a stark contrast to the peaceful, post-tourist quiet of the dungeon. A new assassin was here. And this one was different.
FaeLina's psychic voice was a tight, terrified whisper in my mind. 'It's just waiting? What does that mean? Why isn't it attacking?'
The adventurers on the first floor, led by Gilda, had formed a defensive circle, their weapons drawn and their eyes scanning the dark entrance. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
I focused my attention on my Dreamer Sentinels, who were my only eyes and ears for this new kind of threat.
'What do you see, Zazu?' I projected into their shared mental space.
I could feel his focus. In the Dreamscape, he and Pip were standing on the twilight beach, staring up at the single, unblinking red eye that now dominated their sky.
Zazu's reply came back, tinged with a scholarly curiosity that even now overshadowed his fear. 'It's not moving, Core. It's just… watching. The intent feels cold. There's no anger, no greed like the goblins. It's pure, focused patience. It knows we can sense it.'
A shiver went through my non-physical form. This wasn't a brutish thug sent to smash things. This was an intelligent hunter. It was playing a waiting game, trying to wear us down, hoping for a moment of weakness. It was waiting for my Sentinels to get tired, for the adventurers to lower their guard.
'This is a battle of wills,' FaeLina realized, her panic shifting to a grim understanding. 'It's trying to outlast us.'
Then we will have to be more patient than it is, I thought. And a whole lot more comfortable.
I decided to engage in my own brand of psychological warfare. I wasn't going to show tension. I was going to project an aura of complete, unbothered confidence. I began to spend my DP.
[-30 DP. Ambient Effect 'Whispering Chimes' and 'Gentle Lullaby' have been amplified.]
[-5 DP. 'Bottomless Tea Urn' has been enchanted to produce a more fragrant, calming aroma.]
A wave of enhanced tranquility washed through the dungeon. The soft, magical music grew slightly louder, its melody weaving a complex pattern of peace. A rich, warm scent of chamomile and honey began to drift from the lobby.
The adventurers on guard duty looked at each other in confusion, but the tension in their shoulders lessened slightly. I was essentially telling the hidden assassin, "I can do this all day. And I'm going to be comfortable while I do it."
For what felt like hours, nothing happened. The standoff was absolute.
Then, the assassin made its move.
In the Dreamscape, the great red eye in the sky suddenly blinked and vanished. The psychic pressure was gone.
"The presence is gone!" Pip's dream-self shouted with relief.
Zazu confirmed it in the real world. "Core, I can't feel it anymore! The hostile intent has vanished!"
The adventurers visibly relaxed. FaeLina, however, was suspicious. 'It's a trick!' she hissed in my mind. 'It has to be!'
She was right. The Hostile Intent Sensor was now quiet, but the main INTRUSION ALERT still listed the assassin as being within the 1000-meter radius of the dungeon. The assassin hadn't left. It had found a way to shield its thoughts.
My primary warning system was now blind.
'The intruder is still out there,' I projected urgently to Gilda. 'They have masked their mind. They are likely approaching the entrance now, assuming we have lowered our guard. Be ready.'
Gilda's expression hardened. She and her team tightened their defensive formation, their eyes locked on the dark, silent entrance to the dungeon. The quiet was more terrifying than any war cry had been. Every drip of water, every rustle of a sleeping tourist's blanket in the rooms below sounded like a footstep.
They waited. And waited.
Suddenly, a muffled THUMP echoed through the dungeon.
But it didn't come from the entrance in front of them.
It came from above. From the ceiling of the second floor.
FaeLina and I both focused our senses downwards, a shared feeling of dread washing over us.
A new, frantic alert flashed in my consciousness.
[WARNING: Dungeon structural integrity has been compromised on Floor 2!]
[INTRUDER HAS BYPASSED THE MAIN ENTRANCE.]
The assassin hadn't bothered with the front door. He had found a flaw in my design, a vulnerability I had never even considered. My dungeon was built downwards into the side of a small mountain, with the second floor directly beneath the first.
He had simply climbed up the outside of the mountain to a higher elevation.
From there, he had burrowed, tunneling through the soft earth and rock, completely bypassing the well-lit lobby and its guards. He had emerged directly into the softest, least-defended, and most sacred area of my entire dungeon: the Hibernation Hollows.
He hadn't just broken into my dungeon; he had broken into my bedroom.