Chapter 617: Dungeon Of Infinite Feasts.

“Sheeeeeeeeesshhhhhh.” My mouth went agape as the air blasted against my face and horns, though what could I do when the view up in the sky was that good?

Another trip on Air Mom, and the service sure didn’t disappoint. We were traveling to Quake Nest again, but I wouldn’t be visiting Father at the Black Citadel like last time. The reason and location for this meeting were different. So very different that it happened exactly a day after Mom’s birthday. It was important enough that Father decided to delay his work for today.

And just for me? Yes, just for me.

After all, Father’s punishment was still ongoing, even after I passed the trial. To be exact, I was not allowed to leave Frozen Nest unless I came of age, but I could be excused if Father wanted it. Why? ‘Cause he did promise that he would oversee my [Battle Frenzy] training even before my punishment happened. After all, for the father to train their children was tradition. Not a birthday present, as my moms reminded him, ehe.

I couldn’t leave his side, but “weekend custody change” didn’t sound too bad. Usually, the father would pick up the kids from the mother, right? And not the other way around. Well, it didn’t matter, since Mom would visit here and then, even if she was supposed to protect Frozen Nest, preparing it for the future conflict with Caedhul.

Still, even if I could meet her in my subspace, that one month we spent every single day together was so much fun. We ate together and could even tell each other goodnight, like what a real family should look like. Sure, the training schedule made everything feel so fast, and whatever slow moment we got was displayed on a stream, but it felt good to spend time with her.

Now, though, instead of an icy landscape or a snowy tundra that made me chilly even in a thick coat, I felt like I was in my element as the weather was starting to warm up. The further south we went, the better my body felt, and Hikari could finally give me full control over our bodies. I was away from home. The trip only lasted like a bell with Mom flying slowly, but I was already missing Frozen Nest while thinking about spending the rest of my time with Father.

Homesickness, seriously?

[“This is the Dungeon of Infinite Feast, my whelpling,”] Mom announced as she hovered right above a wide, open field, pointing at a small town built right underneath a single giant mountain top.

There was a small curve in the field, making it look like a crater, where the giant mountain sat lonely. Mom explained that when the Dungeon of Infinite Feast was first formed, the ground caved in, creating a large fissure before the mountain shot right up, making itself comfortable as if it was always there. Inside that large, gaping entrance, all on Miononbolax may enter to feast and train to their heart’s desire.

Where there was profit, people would follow, and that was why a small dungeon town was established to facilitate the management of the dungeon and its delvers. Dragonewts, wyverns, and true dragonkin could rest here before they entered the dungeon, and the town could process whatever they obtained inside, including the various game they hunted.

[“That last part is quite important, since, unlike me, most who visit the dungeon only do it to hunt in droves to please their bloodthirst. Nothing is finer to celebrate a successful hunt than a meal, and what better way to indulge in it even further than to watch your relatives and friends salivate in front of a cavern full of food?”] Mom explained, making me remember yesterday’s birthday meal and how full the dining room was. The ancients who joined got drunk on the food and drinks with Mom. [“That personal chef I hired came from Marsh Nest. His employment with us was short, but you can find many with his skills in this town we simply call ‘Feastgiving.’ Hunt and enjoy the meals. Good food is imperative for a healthy, long life, after all.”]

[“Nothing makes you want to jump on your feet more than a good meal after a full day of training,”] Vifi chimed in, licking her lips. [“They’ll also serve to non-dragonkin, right? You didn’t specify it, Your Majesty.”]

[“Calm yourself. They will. Don’t forget the payment, but Hestia should have the personal wealth now that the Digital Media Guild is thriving even without her input.”]

[“I’d rather not spend Donut’s funds on my own food, unless it’s a party dinner. No, as long as there is a hunters’ guild in the city, I’ll do some bounty Quests for money. Did the same on Frozen Nest, after all.”]

[“Then you should have no issue. Plenty of clients go through Feastgivings to order certain monsters they cannot handle or find themselves. That is how many dragoons and wyverns earn their keep outside of their duties to their nest’s wings. It is money and experience. Simply treat it as any other dungeon city.”]

In other words, Feastgivings should be like Cedaraille, but entirely devoted to sustaining the dungeon delvers instead of being treated like a major fief by the ruling lord. Fortunately, the town was directly managed by the imperial family, with Gaistrus personally overseeing it to ensure the economy’s stability. Naturally, from what I heard, without restrictions, this dungeon alone could destroy the world’s economy with its unfettered entry permission.

The more I think through an economist’s view, the more Miononbolax must seem like a bomb waiting to blow. Probably won’t happen with how strict Gaistrus is, but still.

If Miononbolax’s economy were a true free market, it wouldn’t be sustainable, even if other dungeon cities could make it work. After all, unlike theirs, we had so many ancients powerful enough to nuke an entire city from the map that hunting monsters must seem trivial.

The Dungeon of Infinite Feasts essentially eliminated the possibility of famine and ensured a constant supply of materials for people to produce goods. Kramps’s gift to Miononbolax was an extreme blessing, now that I thought about it, but it also required the dragon empire to regulate themselves to not harm the world’s economy.

The state had such an iron-clad control over everybody’s wealth, as Mom explained yesterday. “State capitalism,” if I wasn’t wrong. To be honest, I couldn’t fault the various ancients for feeling like their wealth didn’t mean anything with Gaistrus’s laws and red tape, but their wealth would probably lose more value if the imperial family didn’t isolate them from the rest of the world.

… Okay, now it sounds like I’m just making excuses. Sheesh, the world’s economy feels so difficult beyond Altrust. I guess that’s why Miononbolax was kept outside the bubble, so as not to make it pop.

As Mom descended, the sight of all these true dragonkin surrounding the dungeon, resting on the soft, grassy meadows, made it feel like this was some vacation spot for them. Some were roughhousing, while others chatted over meals delivered by wyverns. Even the dragonewts and wyverns were celebrating here and there on the meadows, although the majority still stayed in the town. Crimes must be extremely low if people could act this leisurely outside of the town’s walls.

However, as lackadaisical as they were, there were plenty of people taking it seriously. Mostly black-scaled dragonkin, Clan Kargryxmor members, and the dungeon delvers who were about to enter the dungeon.

With Tasianna, Vifi, the twins, and Mom, we landed in a forest away from the crater to keep our arrival time uncertain, even if people should have already noticed Mom’s scent. Grimnir couldn’t come with us directly, but he was inside the subspace, working on updating the runes on our equipment with Karhalantheel’s blood, with Daichi’s and Haruka’s help. If needed, I could help him in the afternoon, after meeting with Father.

After a pretty uneventful trip, since the path to the dungeon town was so safe you could sleepwalk over, we made it to Feastgivings. Instead of visiting the hunters’ guild, we went to the town hall to gain our dungeon entry permission. Ignoring the super celebratory greetings, with the employees also congratulating Mom on her birthday, one of the receptionists guided us upstairs, as somebody was waiting for us there.

As the door to the guest room opened up, we saw a Father was already waiting for us in his [Elvenize (Moderate)] form, sipping on some tea like an aged sage. When he saw us, my party all greeted him with a slight bow, while Mom waved her hand with a wide smile. Seeing him nod, he acknowledged that we should maintain our informal approach for now.

“Come here for a moment. Sit, and drink. It was freshly brewed, so it was well timed,” he said, pointing at the sofas.

Mom giggled as she dropped right next to him. “Inferno Nest leaves today? I think you predicted our arrival a bit too well, my love. Almost seemed like you had a spy attached to us.”

“If I had, you would have smelled them before they could even look at you, Love,” Father joked, looking into Mom’s eyes with a suppressed smile, while Mom growled, looking like she wanted to pounce on him even in front of her own daughter, knowing the trauma would scar me forever.

As long as they stay happy.

Erasing that sight from my memory, Father and Mom drank the tea by themselves without acknowledging me. Ah, a chance to reunite for a moment before both parties had to depart for their business, and it didn’t seem my parents wanted me to interrupt them even for one second, so my friends and I could only awkwardly divert our eyes as the two flirted like crazy.

Once they were done, they shared a kiss before Mom came to embrace me, caressing my head while saying, “Don’t worry about Frozen Nest. I can handle it.” In other words, even if an attack happened while I was away, I should finish my training before then. However, could I even obtain a stable [Battle Frenzy (Major)] in a month? No, was it even possible in half a year, if Neill needed multiple years to finish the sixth stage?

Speaking of Neill, she would arrive in the Dungeon in two days, as she had to deal with a few things with her clan.

“Remember, Hestia, do not leave the dungeon city without my permission, understood? You may visit Frozen Nest if needed, but otherwise, you are to remain in Feastgiving for your training,” Father ordered.

He might have calmed down from when he lectured me, but I could tell from his tone that he still held it against me for defying his laws. Well, I couldn’t sympathize. I nearly died after doing so.

“Yes, Sir.” I nodded obediently. “Oh, right, a few of my retainers had already arrived. Are they doing well?”

“Why do you expect me to know about the situation of your retainers, Hestia? You do understand that I am busy, right?” Father said, but I kept looking at him in silence, eventually cajoling him into sighing. “They are doing fine.”

I smiled, happy to see that my impression of him after our therapy session was correct. He really did care. Also, it meant he wasn’t angry-angry. More like frustrated-angry.

Seeing me smile, he shooed Mom away after we said our goodbyes to her, bringing the room to a full-on silence as all of us watched Father close his eyes for a moment. He was thinking, and it was taking quite a while, to the point I could hear everybody awkwardly tapping or shaking their feet.

“Let us speak about your training until now on our way to the dungeon, yes? The more important information has to come after we enter the dungeon,” Father said, causing me to stiffen up at the word “important.” The reason he took so long to think was probably to find a way to explain everything in a digestible manner.

After all, we weren’t in a presentation room. It was an emperor speaking to one of his princesses about the state of the empire. It was a chance to bond, sure, but it was also a lesson on how the empire functioned.

My main question for this talk was how he perceived the result of the preliminary polling. What did he think about me doing well with three nests, instead of the expected two?

“So, Mom was going crazy with the training schedule! A whole month, and she was expecting me to spend almost 18 bells of a day for training alone! Crazy, right?” And just as Father wanted, I started vomiting a quick but dramatic recollection of what had happened during my one-month training with Mom. Even with people around, gazing at both Father and me, I kept the mood up, acting very much as the explosive youngest child. “Like she wasn’t even trying to hold back whenever we sparred. I thought some of those hits would hit me outright! Sheesh, and she did all that knowing my regenerative abilities are crazy fast.”

Father didn’t smile much, merely nodding along and saying, “I see” here and there. However, whenever he did respond, I could see a glimmer of interest.

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“Ah, my brother-in-law’s technique, you say? Huh, you shouldn’t have the body structure to perform it correctly, but she still told you to practice it?” Father asked when I explained the “Nordor Silver Blade” training.

“It’s part of creating silver scale weapons. Honestly, I found it more like a novelty when she taught me about it before she came back to Frozen Nest, but Hikari has actually been using it well. The switch in tactics depending on who is in control of the body mattered a lot.”

“Your stats are the same, though.”

“That’s the funny part, yeah. Hikari isn’t faster or stronger than me, but the silver powder gives her such an edge in melee combat that it makes her almost reckless. The extra confidence in ignoring smaller to medium wounds really helps her decisiveness.”

“You glide along the ice you create with the gas you expel, right?”

“Don’t say it like that, Father!” I argued, feeling a bit embarrassed at how he described my solar ice gas. “But, yeah, that’s the trick. You guessed it correctly.”

He looked like he didn’t care what I said, but he was a good listener.

“And how about your training? Did it go well?” he asked my companions, causing Shay and Beth to tense up. Their confident stride whenever they spoke with a true dragonkin disappeared whenever an imperial member spoke with them.

“It was invaluable training time, Your Majesty. Her Majesty has been a spectacular mentor, not to mention extremely supportive of the ice elementals living underneath her lair. It will take a while, but the animosity between dragonkin and ice elementals might disappear if we give it more time,” Tasianna explained, prompting him to nod. He then looked at Vifi, causing her to straighten her back.

“Training was undertaken with no issues, Your Majesty. I, personally, did not grow as much as Her Highness or Tasianna, but I have been able to refine my house’s rapier technique.”

“You are at a high level for a humanoid, correct?”

“I only recently made it to level 158. Leveling, even with Her Highness’s blessings, has slowed down a bit. My skills are growing well, not to mention my unique Job. My stats are the issue.”

“So you went over the basics of your swordmanship? It is not a terrible idea. Fighting comes naturally to us dragons, as our bodies are living weapons, but learning how to fight with restraint is difficult. Why show refinement when power can break through everything? A false idea. Refined power is just as much of a destructive force. The dwarf’s mana cannons, after all, are exactly that. Mana refined into a projectile without an elemental alignment, similar in technique to the kirins of Clan Gueillxar.” He then tilted his head to the side, eyeing the twins. “I will not teach you. You must teach yourself, as our goal is the deepest depths, where only the dungeon master and his guests may step into.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Shay and Beth bowed with their tails tucked under their legs.

Old man, you’re totally interested in my life, so stop it with that long face. I giggled to myself. Learning that his cold side hid his care for others was probably the hardest hurdle for us to act like a family… though it didn’t help that he practically cursed my birth, so whatever.

As we continued this talk, we eventually arrived at the dungeon entrance. Surprisingly, despite it being on Miononbolax, it wasn’t as special as I had thought it would be when it came to the people waiting in line. It was just like Cedaraille.

However, what caught my eye was the entrance itself. The size of the mountain was already large enough to tower over even humongous S-ranks, while the entrance was large enough to accommodate anything below Mom’s and Father’s size. Speaking of this entrance, instead of being covered by a building like all the other dungeons I’ve visited, this one was completely exposed, showing you had to dive right into a large gaping hole, like a free fall into the abyss or world of shadows.

“This entrance has perfectly protected the entrance from dungeon breaks since its creation. Even if we neglected purging specific monsters and they tried to escape, this hole is effectively one-way, even if you could fly,” Father explained after we passed the entrance inspection.

“Because we can simply breathe fire, or other elemental breaths, down, right?” I answered.

He nodded. “It also prevents the weak from entering. It’s dark, and that makes it hard for first-time delvers to understand where the bottom is. You must have the stamina for a long flight down, or, if you are a drake, have the stamina to wall walk to the bottom. Younglings do not need to hunt here. This is a place reserved for us ancients who require large quantities of nourishment to stay sated, and a training space for those striving to evolve into a higher being.”

“Mom must have spent every non-sleeping moment here, right?” I said, prompting Father to chuckle.

“Every sleeping moment, as well. She can hunt even while she sleeps simply because of her freezing aura, Hestia. She reserved an entire floor for each level milestone and used it as a playground for her Territory to run wild.”

… Mom activated the auto-grinding button?

“Come. It isn’t far,” Father said before stepping into the hole, descending into the pitch-black abyss like a heavy stone. Watching him disappear into the nothingness almost looked comical if I hadn’t lost sight of him, even with [Night Vision Lv. 10] activated.

“The space-time is contorted, I suspect,” Tasianna suggested. “It is the same for every dungeon. The entrance is simply a passage to a space-time portal, correct?”

I nodded. “The question is, where is this portal?”

Entering a dungeon was seamless, to the point that even a powerful mage wouldn’t catch onto the space-time portal. It wouldn’t feel like you were teleported into a subspace, but unless a dungeon was a subspace, dungeons couldn’t exist with how much space they took. The ecosystem-like dungeon in Cedaraille would be a pipe dream, not to mention how it bent the limits of nature.

With this in mind, the five of us dropped into the darkness using our respective methods of flying. Even as we dove into the pitch darkness, we couldn’t feel or sense any disturbances in the mana, almost as if this actually was one super deep hole. Endless, never-ending, eternal fall… the adjectives you could use to describe this would make anybody feel ill. Your stomach would be dropping even harder than riding a rollercoaster or flying on a descending airplane.

Thankfully, my party had me, the moving light bulb, so we didn’t have to deal with the annoying darkness for long. And so, the bleakness was replaced by the rocky walls’ brown, yet the feeling of hopelessness kept creeping up. The further down we fell, the further away the ceiling of this mountain went for us, until we couldn’t even properly delineate between the wall and the entrance.

This could make people go mad. Why was it designed this way?

<To scare those unworthy of it,> Kramps suddenly answered. <This is a space-time creation, Granddaughter. Remember how the dungeons in Elyonda and Inkor-Nazta ejected you outside once the conditions were fulfilled. I used this space-time spell for the Dungeon. If you cannot brave the endless darkness, you will be ejected outside. To use my gift to dragonkind, I require you to be ready, both physically and mentally, to face the difficulties within. After all, outside of food, what do ancients also have to consume?>

Soul-enticing memories.

<Exactly. What better way to agitate the soul than a heart-racing challenge? ‘Dungeon of Infinite Feast.’ Your soul feasts with the body. Battling and hunting are simply our nature, and that is why I had to feed that aggression to satisfy those unable to control themselves from raining down flames.>

Your care for Miononbolax is second to none, Kramps. You only needed to learn how to speak with others. Kargryx could have developed so much differently if you hadn’t left your children to fend for themselves.

<… It is too late, yes.>

Not too late to at least oversee it change now, though.

“Yes! I see the ground!” Beth cheered, spraying ice through her mouth like a victory cry, before flapping her wings even harder. With a loud impact, she crashed on the ground before she started hugging it, acting like a drake who hadn’t touched the ground in years.

Ehe… pretty sure we’ve flown for longer than this. Guess the dull sight doesn’t help.

Once all of us landed, we gave the cavern we landed in a quick look, though there wasn’t anything special about it outside of its size. A perfect landing spot for large dragons to recover from the fall, and for delvers to regroup with their parties. Though maybe the fact that this empty area wasn’t used for that reason, despite the lengthy queue at the entrance, made it actually special. A lack thereof, when the space should be filled.

Leaving the entrance, I noticed we were on the cliffside of a large mountain. As my party walked over to the edge, we stopped in our tracks as we watched the expanse of the floor, unable to see the horizon despite our elevated position.

Everything, from the vegetation and monsters to special landmarks, was in our view, yet there was even more beyond that? I could see more than just simple forests, hills, and prairies, as the elements infested this scenery like a messily organized imitation of Miononbolax’s various nests.

Fire, dark, mud, and so on. It was like a theme park of sorts, where you could visit different locals, each possessing its own ecosystem and assortment of goodies. It was like mixing a buncha dungeon ecosystems and putting them into one giant floor, each visitable by simply going over.

“This is the bottom floor. The dungeon master’s ‘room.’” We turned around after hearing Father speaking behind us. “The Dungeon of Infinite Feasts is split into twenty floors, with all of them looking somewhat like this fusion atrocity. The reason for that is obvious: it is here to act as a hunting ground for the various dragonkin. There are twenty of these large floors available, allowing the delvers to separate, obtaining sole rights to a hunting ground on each level. Naturally, the deeper the floor, the more powerful the monster would appear, which creates a sense of competition to fight over a hunting spot. It’s good. Conflict helps the soul.”

“As long as it doesn’t go too far,” I said.

He nodded. “The fatality rate is rather low for a dungeon. Most who come here do not die to the environment or monsters, but rather fall due to conflict between two competing hunters. Just like outside. Even here, the laws must be upheld… in any case, I have talked enough. Younglings, I wish for you to go and hunt for tonight’s meal. Hunt enough for me to eat.”

“Eh?” All of them stared at him in bafflement before he reciprocated my gaze.

“Hestia remains here. I will start her training. Go.”

Understanding he was essentially asking for some privacy, my party accepted the request and departed, with Vifi challenging Shay to a hunting contest. “Prepare to be defeated!” that sassy ice wyvern stated. I guess they were finally letting loose since it didn’t matter how many monsters they killed inside a dungeon.

Once they were gone, Father bade me to follow him into the cavern.

“The exit is simple. Ask the dungeon to leave, and it will teleport you outside. A very simple manner to escape death in here,” he explained as we walked. Once we were inside, he stopped and inspected the empty space. “We shall use this space as our housing while inside.”

“You said this is a bottom floor, right? How’d you do that? This is the only bottom I’ve seen as I fell.”

“The trick is simple: this dungeon allows you to go to a specific floor you wish, but only I may designate the last floor for people. If you wish to leave the dungeon and enter the town, you may. If you wish to enter the dungeon, though, you may only come here. I must watch over you,” he said, prompting me to nod. He nodded back. “I have two pieces of news for you. First, the alliance is now formally recognized.”

“Oooh! Seriously!” I cheered, rocking my hand as the Shakaie-Narn alliance now also included Kargryx in the mix, not just myself.

“Yes. The report for everything will be given to you during dinner. I had Gaistrus ready it for you inside your subspace, so don’t worry. The gist of it is that Kargryx will guarantee Artorias and Yeos before other human countries, just to be sure they do not betray our trust again. A war will most likely happen, anyway, but it will be between Artorias and Atadoro, which Saelariel and Ankor-Nazta have agreed to participate in,” he explained. “In return, Artorias and Yeos have agreed to send their knight orders to train with our dragoon and wyvern orders for joint training, and vice versa in return.”

“You’re expanding our influence? That’s Wendriosa’s idea!”

“Your eldest sister is right, and yes, Kargryx is finally breaking free from its political isolation. That is the decision I have come to agree on. However, there is a large restriction placed on this military alliance, and that is that true dragonkin cannot be compelled to join any offensive wars.”

“… Effectively, this means the alliance is used as a deterrent. It’s defensive, not a military one, though. Dragonewts and wyverns will never join an offensive war, unless a true dragonkin leads them.”

However, he shook his head. “No, it is military, because if we led the offense, then that means it is serious enough that the entire alliance must join hands together.”

… Father was telling me that the Shakaie-Narn alliance would be joining our battle against Caedhul. Even if the two leviathans wouldn’t attack us, he was saying we would bring the conflict to them.

“… I caused you a bit of trouble, huh?”

He sighed before patting my shoulder, making me feel a bit awkward. He was trying to console me, but this probably wasn’t the correct choice since I didn’t think we were that close, just yet. There still seems to be a wall between us, even if we were both trying to overcome it.

Probably thinking the same thing, he retracted his hand and cleared his thoughts. “The choice remains with the people, but if they wish to wage war, I will have the support ready. I do not wish for war, but I can’t say that I am not invested in this matter since you and Hikari nearly died. I can’t stick with my principles here and look into Melloxtressa’s eyes without trying something. You weren’t the child I wa—”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s for Mom. We gotta think about her.”

He nodded, a smile creeping up on his face. “Verily. Your maturity is something I do appreciate, given your birth circumstances.”

“Haha, don’t say it like that. Sounds a bit cringy coming from you… Though I can’t say I didn’t like it,” I smiled gently, realizing Father was still fighting with his own feelings. “So, if that is the first news, then what is the second? Oh, wait, almost forgot. Did you talk about Estralia as well?”

“Trading routes are open, yes. That will mean Loatryxian, Saelari, and dwarven goods will start entering Estralia and Artorian markets before they are shipped to Yeos. Caedhul will also participate properly, meaning Artorian sailors may now enter Caedhulen harbors.”

“Feels weird to talk about a war with Caedhul, when Caedhul is also part of the alliance.”

“Learn it well. Never forget that the sea has more sides to it than a coin, with shallow shores and abyss layers differing in fish and vegetation. The leviathans are Caedhulens, but they aren’t the Caedhulens we will fight against. Which brings me to the second piece of news: The Abyssal Warden wishes to make a request, Translator of the Gods. As a princess who has the support of nearly three nests, I think you might do well to help the empire politically by speaking with Plesia, Hestia.”

Ah, I see. So he sees my popularity and instantly thinks of putting me to work like a newly hired office worker. Dammit! He’s just like Sieg: a damn bureaucrat!