Chapter 3: Planning

"Aha!" Chavu pulled out the slab in the pond and uncovered his bottomless bag. It was where he had placed it. Filled with two hundred years' worth of paychecks.

"What? No! The adventurers that couldn't find the dungeon core would throw the coppers in the pond. For luck. You paid me in silver," now that Chavu was thinking about it, he felt exploited.

The system snapped. This sum was bigger than the five coins the last dungeon core had had.

"I converted the silver and some coppers. The bank doesn't allow for me to set a foot in it, anymore. So, that is no longer possible," Chavu lamented. It was such a shame that the bank tellers were too lazy to count a couple of hundreds of copper coins at a time.

the system warned; Chavu snorted.

"You need me," he argued back. "How do I turn the money into mana?"

Chavu did not want to do that, yet, he had no choice. It was either that, or he would become a crystal.

Chavu slithered to the core room. He found Marcellus sitting by the pedestal and snoring softly. Chavu made sure he was quiet, so he wouldn't wake the vampire, and he placed the bottomless bag on top of the pedestal.

With a heavy heart, the Naga watched as his savings melted from the bag. Gone were his dreams of a house on a tropical island. Gone was his plan to go back to his tribe and invite everyone to a feast that will last a month.

He felt his mana levels rise, but not by much.

"System, how many points did I get?" Chavu whispered.

she said, sounding happy, for once.

 Chavu was shocked. Just a thousand points? With how many had he started, even?

the system told him in a sing-song voice.

Chavu's right eye twitched.

Marcellus shifted in his sleep and took a hold of Chavu's tail. He hugged it and nuzzled his face against the scales. Then, he realized what he was hugging, and cracked an eye open.

"Did you get the money?" Marcellus still didn't let go of Chavu's tail. The Naga lowered his body, making the vampire let go of him. That prompted Marcellus to just wrap an arm around Chavu's middle.

"I got just a thousand points for them," Chavu whined. Marcellus chuckled.

"The former core had grand plans back when he was a simple werewolf. I didn't like the flea bag, if you can't tell," Marcellus informed him.

"I also have grand plans. The spikes need to go. Come on, we can't take naps until they are all removed," Chavu raised his tail, and Marcellus was forced to let go of him again.

The vampire stood and followed the Naga out. They worked diligently, not stopping for even a second. When they were done, the dungeon looked empty. Sure, there was the tar pit, and a couple of other small things, but nothing else.

"We need to dig a moat before the entrance," Chavu told the vampire, already with a shovel in his hands.

"You dig, I'll take a nap," Marcellus was tired. He had not worked this hard in centuries.

"System, what would you do to Marcellus if I die, and you are left without a dungeon core?" Chavu asked, a smirk on his lips. Marcellus glared and began to shake his head, but the system answered, regardless.

the system was dead serious, her tone ice-cold.

 Marcellus took Chavu's shovel and headed towards the entrance.

That surprised Chavu. Just what did the system have over Marcellus? A secret? Blackmail material? A dark spell that forced the vampire into unexplainable servitude?

Chavu did not need to be told twice. He took his spare shovel and began to dig.

They were done with the moat by the sunrise, and the two then proceeded to fill it with water. It was like a small pond. Not too deep, not too shallow.

Marcellus yawned when they observed their handiwork.

"What are you going to fill it with?" Marcellus asked, sounding tired and ready to fall asleep on the stone ground by the moat.

"Two words: poisonous frogs," Chavu said with a bright smile. "System, place the most dangerous frog species you have a schema for. Make sure they won't attack either me or Marcellus."

Chavu heard the sound of hands rubbing together, and he had to grin.

This was the most exciting thing that had happened in the dungeon ever since he got here. Judging by the look on Marcellus's face, it might have been the most interesting thing to have ever happened.

"Go wild. Do make them extra jumpy," frogs began to appear in the pond. They were green, with red spots. For a moment, they eyed the two, dungeon core and boss mob, with hunger.

Then, there was another light, and they hid in the water.

The two shared a look.

"She doesn't care about us in the slightest, does she?" Chavu asked.

"And you realized that now?" Marcellus retorted.

 They went back inside to go and take a break in the core room. Both knowing full well that they could not trust the system.

Only each other.