Locking a Dungeon
The notification hung in the air in front of me. Taunting me with its lack of context or explanation as to its meaning. Dungeon instance? This was a dungeon? Like in a video game? Or anime? If it was this simple and straightforward, I wondered why anyone had problems with this dungeon at all.
Then again, they didn't have the key. I would have to ask questions when I got outside. Questions I didn't want to ask. I was tired. I would rather sleep than deal with the mystery that were these portals. Like why were the dragon's on the verge of a cataclysmic series of dungeon breaks?
These didn't seem that hard. It was fairly obvious to me at least what was happening. Just like in so many anime I had seen before, if a dungeon was not completed within a certain amount of time, something called a "dungeon break" would occur.
The monsters within the dungeon would break out of the portal used to access the dungeon and roam free, killing anyone and anything they came across. That was until someone strong enough showed up to stop them.
I supposed I didn't know how difficult the dungeons that the dragons held were. It is possible they were significantly harder than the one I just did. The key to solving this whole problem was a combination of my system, which could interpret the dimensional messages transmitted by the dungeon, and the actual dungeon key itself. I know I just said the key was the key. But it was!
As for this notification, I could only assume it meant deactivating it until the key holder wanted to reactivate it. Since no one had seemed to figure out how to close portals, I assumed no one had used this key in conjunction with them.
Probably. I didn't know for certain. After getting the rewards from the dungeon, I doubted I could get them again. If others completed the dungeon maybe they could derive rewards from it, but if this functioned like a game, it was one and done for me.
Since monsters had been keeping these dungeons at bay for literal centuries, I figured locking this one wouldn't do any harm. Hell, locking all of the vampire and the dragon portals probably wouldn't do any harm. Since if anyone needed to use it, you could probably open them back up. Locking them just removed the sense of duty and urgency to constantly run the dungeons.
I put the key in the hole and turned it to the right. The distant surrounding environment started visually compacting and compressing and folding up. The portal continued to float nearby as it had done the entire time I was unboxing my prizes. I put the key away and walked through it.
I appeared back where I came from. Underground in a massive cavernous area. Elder Ravenkin, Victoria, and a few core disciples were there waiting for me. When I exited the portal, it closed and in its place was a keyhole in space just floating there. That confirmed to me I could unlock the dungeon if I wanted and that was all I needed to know.
I didn't have to ask anyone any questions. I had my answers. I hugged Victoria and showed her my new sword. I made sure not to unsheathe it so I didn't have to cut anyone.
"Whoa! How did you get that?" She said, looking jealous.
"I used the key Elder Ravenkin gave to me to open the reward boxes after I completed the dungeon," I said.
"There are reward boxes? I never noticed that," she said. "I always just took the portal and left after killing all the enemies."
"It's some kind of special thing that the dungeon is designed to do if you complete the main objectives. The only problem for you and everyone else is you don't have the technology to receive the dungeon's messages. You probably never completed the main objectives, since you didn't know there were any," I said.
"My system however can interpret the dungeons messages and communicate them to me. If I wanted to, I could probably walk people through dungeons and get them rewards for completing the dungeon too, but I'm on a bit of a time crunch. So I locked the dungeon so it can't spit out enemies anymore."
"You did what? You solved our monster problem? That's incredible! I could kiss you! And I will!" She hugged me and kissed me.
"That is most impressive, Dylan, my disciple. Although, I had no doubt you would accomplish great things for us. Great things indeed," Elder Ravenkin said.
"I'm glad you guys are happy I closed the dungeon. I was worried you'd think I was taking something away from you," I said.
"Of course not!" Ravenkin said. "These portals have been a burden on the entire monster community for centuries. Besides, we can open it whenever we want right?"
"Yes, we can. It turns out the key you gave me works with the dungeons. It not only can lock and unlock them, but it also opens reward boxes for whoever completes the dungeon! Without this key you can't get the rewards. Which is a major bummer, I must say," I said.
"A major bummer indeed," he said. "So are you ready to continue your cultivation training?"
"Actually, I'd like a take a day off if you don't mind. I know I'm on a time crunch, but I'd like to spend a day with my girlfriend," I said, putting my arm around Victoria.
"Oh. You two are official? Congratulations," he said. "That is fine. You know where my mansion is when you're ready to resume your training." He walked away with the core disciples, leaving Victoria and I to plan out the rest of our day.
"So what do you want to do?" I said.
"My favorite thing in the world! Monster pit fighting!" She said.