Jack's POV

  "You lied," I yelled at Jensen, as he stood with his back to the wall of our home. A ten by ten room, while mom and the others were downstairs.

  "I told you I was a liar and a thief," he said, while having his arms crossed, and shoulders shrugged.

  I stared at him in disbelief.

  "I told you about me being a liar after the whole Benzo situation," he moved his hand around as to separate the timeline of events for me. "And if I had told you about you becoming a dungeon lord by killing the older one. Benzo would have panicked. Him thinking that we were still having faith in his exploration record was in our best interest."

  I glared at him.

  "You would have still saved me and yourself," said Jensen. "And did what you had to do to survive—"

  "You can just say murder," I said, seeing him walk around the eggshells around that topic. "And why did you come back?" I asked him next. "I thought you were going your way and I was going my way."

  "I didn't lie about that," he said, raising a finger. "It's still far too dangerous for you—"

  "I'm a dungeon lord—"

  "You're weak," he said. "Going down the floors would mean killing more goblins and in some instances even people who will get in our way. So you don't have what it takes to do what I'm about to do," he said.

  "Then why even come back?" I asked.

  He reached into his pocket and tossed me a device. It was a thick, white circular disk, tapered at the ends, and was the size of my hand.

  "What's this?" I asked him.

  "I found it on the system store," he said, with his arms still crossed, and a foot resting on the wall. "It's not medieval like the one you were using. But it would have helped you carry out your work and help your family—"

  "You didn't know that I was the dungeon lord?" I asked, eyeing that device and then him.

  "I did," he said. "When you woke up inside that tunnel and called my name. The ping from the system addressed you as a dungeon lord."

  "And you still don't want to take me down the floors with you?"

  He pushed himself off the wall and eyed me.

  "No," he said. "You may be a dungeon lord. But if the previous one can be killed. Then…" he didn't say it out loud. But I understood that I could be killed too.

  "So your plan was to stick me with this?" I showed him the white disk. "And for me to do what I have been doing for the rest of my life?"

  "You have hidden yourself well enough all these years," he said. "Now that you have a system. You can do it even better."

  "Then why are you even here?" I asked next.

  "I just wanted to give you that disk," he admitted. "But things have changed with the shrinking of safe zone," he said. "There is no way for me to predict how this would make other dungen creatures react." He paused. "So I want to make a contract with you."

  I didn't respond to that.

  "It will be a system oath," he said. "Where I wouldn't lie to you, and will protect you against any danger that may come our way." He paused. "In return, I need your assistance in helping me avoid unnecessary danger, and take me to the thirteenth floor boss as soon as possible."

  "You won't be able to one shot the boss," I said.

  "I know," he said. "But that's like a secondary condition that I have taken on to make extra money." He paused. "I would rather just break the secondary condition of one shoting the boss than the primary one of having a handicap. Me completing this quest with the handicap would still fetch me half a million credits. Double if I were to one shot the boss."

  My ears rang at those numbers. It was more credits than what was circulating inside the dungeon. I had no clue that the system rewarded such insanity. But that being said. The downside of breaking those conditions must be heavy as well.

  "What happens when you break a condition?" I asked him.

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  "Penalty," he said.

  "Of what kind?"

  "Anything and everything from level drops, to losing spells, to reducing exp gain, or having my entire account emptied." He shrugged. "It's like spinning a wheel for the worse case scenarios. Even I don't know what the system will choose."

  "If you are willing to risk all that," I said, eyeing him. "You must be sure you can complete this quest even with a handicap on."

  He nodded with a grin. "I can make a million credits from the system," he said. "And I'm willing to split that with you."

  "But weren't you here to clear it and claim this dungeon as your own?" I asked him.

  "I will tell you the truth and nothing but the truth," he said. "But first, I need us to agree on a system oath."

  Ping!

  "Scratch my back, and I scratch yours"

  Jensen wants to forge a pact with you. In return for you guiding him down the floors in the shortest time possible. Jensen is willing to protect you and split the system restriction reward with you. Fifty-Fifty.

  Addition Conditions: Truth and nothing but the truth.

  Every time Jensen lies, the system will knock him off his feet and throw him against a wall. If a wall doesn't exist. Then the ceiling it is!

  "Is the system always this extreme?" I asked Jensen after reading the screen that popped in front of me.

  "You don't know the half of it," he said.

  I eyed him for a long moment.

  "I want something additional in this contract," I said.

  "More credits?" he asked.

  "No," I shook my head. "I want you to help me become stronger."

  He squinted his eyes at that and made a face.

  "I won't slow you down," I said to him. "But I'm seventeen now, and the others have had that long to gain on me—"

  "In this dump?" he chuckled. "There are barely any strong fighters here except for those Tumas."

  "I'm not talking about in here," I said. "I don't plan on being here forever."

  That caught his interest.

  "I want to travel," I said. "I want to visit other dungeons. I want to see the surface. I want to know what's it's like to be in the sun, and what's it's like to see the ocean. I want—"

  "Freedom," he said, condensing my entire spectrum of emotions into a single word.

  "Freedom," I said, recalling the way I looked up the dungeon ceiling from the kitchen's basement, and had that sinking feeling of being trapped. "Plus, if I'm at level thirty at least. Then I can help you fight the minotaur, and you won't have to break any restrictions. Just help me get out—"

  "The world out there, in a way, is more dangerous than that minotaur," he said. "Your family—"

  "I will relocate them to wherever you are from," I said.

  "Where do you think I'm from?" he arched an eyebrow.

  "I know that you aren't from a dungeon," I said, and the smugness of his face vanished. "I have seen other travelers from other dungeons all my life. And none," I paused. "None were like you. So I know you come from someplace else. Someplace safe. Someplace where my parents and my sister can have a future."

  "Jack," he stopped me. "Leaving the dungeon lord title. May revoke your access to the system, and you may lose all the levels and the spells that you gain—"

  "With my family safe, I will go through the traditional route," I said. "I want them and the Tuma's out of here." I took a step towards him. "It's only a matter of time before the population issue turns into a massacre. We may be able to stop it for now. But who is to say what will not happen again in about ten years or even a hundred?" I asked him. "Moreover, if I were to believe the prompts. Then this dungeon is dying."

  "So you want to leave this dungeon, and you want me to take you to my place?" he asked me.

  "Will the credits I earn from the split be enough for that?" I asked.

  "It will get you a decent place," he said. "But do you really want to go to a place you don't even know anything about?" he asked.

  "I have seen you fight," I said. "Whatever that place may be. It will make Karaa and mom stronger. And allow my dad to run his business with people who aren't crooks or scumbags."

  "Fair enough," he said. "Let's make the deal."

  Ping!

  "Scratch my back, and I scratch yours"

  Jensen wants to forge a pact with you. In return for you guiding him down the floors in the shortest time possible. Jensen is willing to protect you and split the system restriction reward with you. Fifty-Fifty.

  Addition Condition:

  "Truth and nothing but the truth"

  Every time Jensen lies, the system will knock him off his feet and throw him against a wall. If a wall doesn't exist. Then the ceiling it is!

  Counter Conditions 1:

  "Catch me if you can"

  Help the baby dungeon lord grow some fangs. Help Jack reach level thirty even if it all would end being a big waste of time.

  Counter Conditions 2:

  "Save me from myself"

  Jack will help you clear the dungeon, and hand over the reins to you when the final floor boss is defeated.

  In return, you will take Jack, his family, and the Tumas to your home place, safe and sound.

  Agree:

  Yes/No

  "Yes," Jensen and I said in unison.

  The screen closed.

  Nothing else happened like the way they had illustrated in comics. There was no blinding light, and no screaming. It just accepted our condition, and that's it.

  "You look disappointed," he said.

  "Am I that easy to read?" I looked at him.

  Jensen laughed at that. "Yeah," he said. "And now that we have a contract in place," he said in a bit to cheer me up. "How about you ask me something?"

  "I can ask you anything?" My eyebrows raised.

  "Anything," he said, with his arms held wide open.

  "Where are you from?" I asked.

  He was taken aback by that question. But then smiled.

  "I'm not from a dungeon," he admitted. "Was never born in one, and was never raised in one."

  My eyebrows furrowed at that. The entire human civilization was surviving in the underground dungeons as the surface was run over by the monsters.

  "Then where are you from?" I asked.

  "The city with the tower," he said.

  *****