The Whimsical Dungeon

The table, once littered with rotten, stained, and illegible maps, now only contained three. One was the map of Null which Crystal had previously found, while the other two were of the ship, both before and after becoming a dungeon.

They, however, were not what the group was currently discussing.

"Are you sure you don"t mind?" Crystal questioned Daisy.

"I am," replied the lich, "the "Navigator" position is useless to me anyway."

This conversation was courtesy of Alex, as well as the Ashen Maiden currently being lost as sea, and the two new crew-mates who required dungeon positions of their own.

Apparently, according to Alexa, some positions in the dungeon were not compatible with others, and would only offer their various skills and bonuses when the conflicting position was inactive. The positions, captain, and navigator were two of such conflicting positions.

Also according to Alexa, the position of captain would normally offer a similar bonus to the warden position, If not for the navigator position conflicting with it.

"Alright then," said Crystal.

[Notice! "Daisy Jones" has lost the position of "Navigator"!

Lost: "Navigator" t.i.tle, +300% Perception, Mapping(Skill), Navigation(Skill), Foresight(Unique skill).

Captain position enabled.]

Following the message, the cups held by both Tina and the elf shattered under the sudden change in the strength of their grips.

Crystal looked off into the empty s.p.a.ce above them.

"...Alexa, what exactly is the bonus offered by daisy being captain?" She inquired.

The dungeon a.s.sistant snickered in reply.

"it"s a lesser version of the bonus granted by her name," she explained, "a large boost while on or near the ship, and an equally large downside when not on or near it."

"...I see,��� commented Crystal, unsure of whether it was actually a good thing or not.

She then turned to face Tina and the elf.

"So, now that that"s out of the way, which one of you wants to be navigator?" She inquired.

While the elf thoughtfully weighed her options, Tina asked a question.

"What else is there?" She asked.

"Hmm?" Exclaimed Crystal.

"You know, Position-wise?" Elaborated Tina.

Crystal thought for a moment, only to realize she had no idea. Thankfully, Daisy realized this, and thus chose to answer in her mistress" place.

"If you exclude the simpler positions, then roughly three," She began, "four if you count the warden position as being available."

She then continued.

"There"s the "Lead chef," for the galley. It grants a cooking-related bonus. There"s the "Quartermaster," for the cargo storage area." It grants a bonus to spatial control. Lastly, there"s the "Barrelman" position for the crow"s nest. I believe it gives a similar bonus to the navigator position."

Crystal stared at Daisy with wide eyes, wondering when she found the time to learn those things.

Someone else was impressed as well, though in a slightly less genuine way.

"How nice of you to do my only job for me," commented Alexa sarcastically, "how great it feels for my existence to no longer be necessary. Thank you for that, really."

"However!" Continued Alexa before the lich could speak, "you actually missed one thing! Hidden menu items!"

Crystal raised an eyebrow.

"Like at fast-food places?" She thought. "dungeons have those as well?"

She remembered a certain burger from her world. An entire chicken burger sandwiched between the patties of a double cheeseburger. It had a rather risqué name for a fast-food place.

Alexa then, noticing that she was losing Crystal"s attention, quickly elaborated on what she was talking about.

"Hidden menu items are things on the menu that, by default, don"t show up," she explained, ��basically, they are alternatives to other things you can purchase."

Following her rather simple explanation, was the appearance of a menu box so large that it took up an entire wall of the map room. It had a font so small that it was nearly impossible to read without straining your eyes. Covering the entirety of it was various dungeon positions. Some such jobs were variants of current ones, like "Lead butcher" or "Head pastry chef," instead of chef. Others were just stupid, like "Food taster," or "Chamber pot technician."

All of the room"s occupants just stared at it...

Alexa sighed at the group"s lukewarm reaction, though she said nothing more, as it would be unprofessional of her if she did. She decided to just disappear into silence, like she always had.

However, the dungeon core spoke before she could.

"Good girl, Alexa," she said with a smile, "that really helps."

Alexa faltered a bit under the praise which she had desired.

"J-just... whatever. I-I"m going to take a rest!" She declared in a fl.u.s.tered voice, before then going silent.

Crystal waited a moment before turning once again to Tina and the elf.

"So any positions jump out at you?" She inquired, "just ask if you want more details about any of them, and Alexa will probably open them for you.

One hour later...

While the two former prisoners had been reading through potential jobs, and seeing which were comparable with which, Daisy and Crystal had silently exited the room to watch the ocean for potential troubles... or opportunities.

The monkey was there as well, laying lazily on Crystal"s chest, as the imp lay lazily on the observation deck, both staring upwards at the clouds.

As Crystal pet the monkey, provisionally named Squiggles, a blue notification box suddenly appeared before her.

[Notice! "Nameless" "Inferior" "capuchin" would like to permanently bind itself to your core as a minion! Accept? Y/N]

"Huh?" Exclaimed Crystal "really?"

The monkey just stared at her with eyes filled with expectation.

"Of course you can join!" The imp declared happily as she gave the monkey a hug.

They then continued to lay there together watching the clouds.

"Hmm..." exclaimed Crystal quietly, after a few minutes of silence, "at this rate I don"t think either of them will pick the navigator position..."

"I mean, we already know the direction of the mainland, but it"d still be a useful position to have filled," she added absent-minded.

The elf had been drawn towards jobs of a more natural or spiritual nature, while Tina, had seemingly been fairly interested in the positions related to the galley.

A few seconds later she felt a small hand tap her on her chin, and another blue box appeared.

[Notice! "Nameless" "Inferior" "Capuchin" would like to acquire the position of "navigator!" Accept? Y/N]

"Eh? You? You can understand me?" Asked the imp, "Wait, that"s not really-."

The monkey stared at her.

"I mean you can"t even speak, so how could you-?"

The stare intensified.

"Ugh... Alexa... is there a job that allows monkeys to speak?" She inquired, "one which is also compatible with the navigator position?"

The omnipresent Alexa thought for a moment before replying.

"No," she concluded.

"But there is one which can allow it to write," she said happily, "the translator position."

Crystal held the monkey in her arms as she got to her feet. She then sat it on her shoulder.

The imp crossed her arms as she thought it over.

In the meantime, the monkey continued to stare at her.

"Ugh, fine," she relented, "give it to her, Alexa."

"Along with whatever other jobs are compatible with the positions," she added.

Evidently, there were several jobs that were compatible.

Minutes later...

Crystal walked into the map room with Squiggles sitting proudly on her shoulder. The monkey now wore an adorable little tan-coloured backpack and a black tricorn hat like that of a certain pirate captain. It also had a single bra.s.s skeleton key hanging from its neck via a necklace of black string.

Tina and the elf both looked at the monkey.

"Um, just so you know," Crystal began awkwardly, "the jobs, navigator, negotiator, diplomat, translator, transcriber, barrel-man, quartermaster, store-room keeper, key-master, astronomer, record keeper, messenger, pigeoneer, and cabin boy are no longer available."

The monkey pulled a small sign out of her backpack which simply said "sup."

"That is all. Sorry about that," said the imp with a light bow.

Crystal then turned and left the room, with her strongest minion, the ship"s secret roaming boss sitting happily on her shoulder. The dungeon core fed it a grape as she petted it.