《A Dungeon Core》


 Chapter One - Death and Rebirth

    So I died.


    Not the best start to my story, if I do say so myself, but I didn¡¯t do too much of interest before I died. Grew up, went to school, got hit by a car at twenty-two. Now here I am, sitting in this pitch black space.


    Now to be honest, I was an atheist. So the fact that I was aware after death was quite a surprise to me. Honestly, if there was a god you¡¯d think it would do a better job. Really, the whole world was ill designed.


    Oh so you think you could do a better job?


    So I meet god and he is a whisper in a dark space? Makes as much sense as anything else I suppose. The short answer to that question is, no I could not do better as I am now. I don¡¯t have the requisite knowledge, so even if I had the power I wouldn¡¯t be able to use it. Which does not mean you didn¡¯t do a bad job.


    This is why I hate human souls from worlds with science¡­ Such a pain¡­


    Well, I suppose the idea of an omnipotent and omniscient god is based on the Christian view. So if this god is not those two things I suppose it could be forgiven, but the real question is what happens now?


    The worst thing about atheists is that they tend to be atheist for moral reasons. Those various twisted myths and legends you humans pass between each other as ¡®religion¡¯ generally don¡¯t satisfy your desire for ethics and morals. So almost every atheist ends up speaking to me to be allowed something of a choice for their next life.


    My apologies, I guess? I never expected to meet a god, but if I ever did I would never have expected their biggest complaint about me to be that I was too good. Mostly because I wasn¡¯t that good at all, I mean, I died on my way home from a party that involved a drunk hookup. Not exactly the paragon of moral perfection¡­


    The bar is real low for humans. The multiverse does not expect much from you guys.


    Well shit, good thing the gods apparently grade on a curve huh? So how does this choice thing work?This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    There is an element of luck and randomness in reincarnation, depending on your first life you can have more or less options. You will have less options than most, however you will be allowed to keep your memories.


    Huh. Well that is pleasant, nice to know I will still be me. Odd thought, but does that mean that most souls are reincarnated?


    Not really. Generally souls are sent to some form of spirit realm. Reincarnation requires a lot of factors to align. You lack the capacity to understand.


    If you weren¡¯t a deity I would take offence to that. So what are my options?


    Mortal or Immortal.


    Wow. Thanks. Very descriptive. I know precisely what awaits me for either path I choose.


    You are quite welcome.


    Returning my sarcasm back to me huh? Well obviously the choice of immortal is a trap, but I will pick it anyway. No matter how I end up, I will have eternity to figure out how to return to how I am now. So bring on the catch, I bet it''s a doozie.


    Enjoy your new life¡­ As a Dungeon Core.


    ***


    Well now, this is strange.


    I am overlooking a wide stretch of terrain from high in the sky and I have a window open in front of me. A game menu¡­ Cliche, but useful enough. I won¡¯t complain since the alternative is having to grope around in the dark until I understand.


    I have a choice of where to place my dungeon, because yeah, I am a Dungeon Core now. If I ever have a chance to talk to that god again I would like to explain to him that being an inanimate object does not really qualify as alive. As I examine the terrain the window informs me that each area has its own benefits and effects. The most obvious one is the initial choice of monsters apparently. Forests get all kinds of wild creatures and/or goblins, marshes have amphibians and slimes, and mountains have goblins, orcs, and undead.


    None of those sound appealing, but if I have to choose one for all of eternity I will go with the mountains and the undead. I would imagine the higher forms of undead will have reason after all, whereas goblins are likely to always be around the same level of intelligence. This is all based on my memories of fantasy settings, but I don¡¯t exactly have anything else to base my decisions on.


    After I make my choice I find myself in a room in a cave. I can finally see me, a crystal orb set atop a rough pedestal. A quick experiment proves I can no longer leave the dungeon, but a helpful screen pops up to inform me that I can spawn creatures to send out into the world.


    I guess I should create something then...

 Chapter Two - Creating

    Well I guess the first thing is to check and see what I can make.  These menus seem to react to my thoughts, since I don''t really have a body to press buttons with.  There are three options before me; construction, monsters, and special.  A number in the top right corner informs me that I have twenty-five out of twenty-five mana.  Presumably this is the resource I will be using for everything¡­


    So let''s take a look¡­  I open the ¡®monsters¡¯ menu and take a look at my options.  All of the monsters listed before are available, but it seems that by choosing mountains as my location I get a discount on undead, goblins, and orcs.  The skeletons are eight mana apiece, so I purchase two of them and watch as a blue mist leaves my orb- or rather, my body- and coalesce into two skeletons.


    [Weak Skeleton Lv.1] x2 acquired.


    They have their own menus, so I open them up to take a look.  Without context I have no idea what these numbers mean, but the name and cost obviously indicate that they are incredibly weak.  I have options to arm them, add drops, or even send them out into the world.  It seems that aside from people coming to me this will be my main way of interacting with the world.


    On a whim, I check my own status.  Most of the stats are N/A, but there is an experience meter.  As my monsters kill, or things die in my dungeon, this will increase and I will become stronger.  Fair enough, I suppose.  Interestingly, both myself and the skeletons have an option labeled ¡°evolution¡± that is locked for both of us.  I presume that that leads to tougher kinds of undead, but I wonder what it would do with me?


    I suppose I will lead that for later.  For now I will send one of these skeletons out into the world, hopefully I will be able to communicate with it somehow and learn something.  But if not, it will either kill or be killed.  If it kills, my experience goes up, if it dies it will just respawn eventually.  Perfectly expendable.


    Having taken care of that, I open the construction menu and look at my options- or lack thereof because of my level.  Basically all I can do is carve out rooms at this point, so I create a four meter by four meter room between my core and the entrance and set the remaining skeleton to guard it, leaving me with a measly one mana.


    I have a mere two mana regeneration a day, so I suspect this going to get really boring, really quick.  Except I feel a bit of a tug¡­  Following the feeling I find myself looking through the eyes of the skeleton I sent out at a wounded man crawling away from the bottom of a cliff edge.  He must have fallen from further up, and with that arrow in his shoulder it was likely because of some kind of attack.  Bandits, perhaps?


    I can¡¯t actually command the skeleton, a menu informs me that that requires a higher level core and a higher level minion.  So that is something to work towards I suppose, a first step in the process of screwing over the god who sent me here.  Not that I disliked the guy, but surely it wouldn''t expect me to just accept being an orb for all eternity.


    I make a mental note to remember to give very specific orders to skeletons from now on, because I would rather have not killed the man, but it is what it is.  Actually¡­  That thought really bothers me, or rather, the fact that I am not bothered by it bothers me.  Clearly in this transition some part of my morals and ethics have been changed, I will have to watch out for that change and correct for it to prevent myself from becoming some sort of sociopath¡­


    Still, I can¡¯t stop the skeleton, so unless the man is in better shape than he seems¡­


    Nope, skely tore out his throat.  Sucks to be him, I guess.  I, however, am thrown out of the skeleton and back to my dungeon by a rush of energy.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    [5,000 XP received!  Reached level 3! Mana raised to 40!  New options are available for purchase!]


    Ho¡­  It appears my skeleton finished off a rather strong person, looks like I lucked out and got far more than I would expect to start off with.  It would be nice if someone hadn¡¯t had to die for it, but it isn¡¯t like death matters too much right?  I mean, they will either be reincarnated or end up in some spirit realm¡­  There I go with dangerous thoughts again, already I have to remind myself of conventional morals¡­


    Well then, what to do next¡­  I should check my options before spending anything I think¡­  Under monsters there are new types available; spirits and zombies, though even with the discount the spirits are quite expensive at fifteen mana apiece.


    [Spirits are incredibly weak, but incorporeal.  They cannot be hurt without silver, holy, or magical weapons.  Unlocked by having Tier 1 Undead created]


    Well that is a useful property, probably far more useful than the zombies poison talons.  I will have to consider getting a few of those¡­


    Under the construction tab I now have access to the ¡®rooms¡¯ feature.  Though the only thing that is available is ¡®tomb entrance.¡¯


    [Tomb Entrance:  20 Mana  Unlocked by having a room connected to the entrance and tier 1 Undead created.  Special Rooms may be required for certain evolutions.]


    Interesting, definitely something I should get if I plan to continue down the undead path¡­  But for now I think it is better to have a bit of safety, it would suck to die so soon into my new- not sure I can call this life, so let''s go with existence.


    [Weak Skeleton Lv. 1] acquired.


    [Weak Spirit Lv. 1] x2 acquired.


    And I spent the extra two mana to lengthen the hallway between me and the entrance room.  After a bit of thought, I recall my Skeleton and prepare to send out one of my spirits instead.  Makes far more sense to send out the creature that is difficult to hurt and can fly, right?


    Also, I am curious if my skeleton has leveled up as well...


    A few hours later it turns out I was right, my [Weak Skeleton] was now level five.  For whatever that is worth, his stats are decently improved and it seems he has two evolution options.


    I have a choice between [Skeleton Soldier] and [Skeleton Archer] but neither of those choices seem like they would lead towards something I could talk to¡­  On the other hand, it doesn¡¯t cost mana, well its not like I don¡¯t have skeletons to spare I guess, [Skeleton Archer] it is.  That the other skeletons and spirits can attack intruders while the archer shoots them full of holes from afar.  Or as far as you can get in my tiny little dungeon.


    The skeleton glows for a second, but nothing really changes besides a bow and quiver being added to it.  It is a little anticlimactic, but it makes me feel safer at least.


    Once again though, I feel a tug on my mind and follow it to find my spirit observing a group of men walking alone a mountain path.  Judging by the ragged and beat up people being dragged along behind them, they are either bandits or slavers.  Possibly both, and I can hear them talking about the weather¡­


    ¡°Chief, we should find some place to hunker down in, weather looks bad.¡±


    ¡°There was a small cave not too far away if I remember, we can stop there and finally have some fun with those girls.¡±


    Ok, now I am starting to think that the god arranged this.  From above this place had seemed like the middle of fucking nowhere, and now I have half a dozen bandits and three captives being dragged towards me?  Fuck¡­


    Well, as long as they lack the ability to fight the spirits I should be ok¡­  Spirits are just a fraction smarter than skeletons, and this one won¡¯t attack such a large group, so I recall it back to the dungeon.


    If this is a housewarming gift from god I really should provide a welcome party to be polite after all.

 Chapter Three - Bandits

    So how should I handle this?  Ideally, I would like not to lose my undead, or to be more accurate, I don¡¯t want to die.  If I win, the mana I gain should be more than enough to pay for replacements.  Ah, no I am being an idiot¡­   They will respawn, so aside from risk to me there isn¡¯t any risk to losing units.  At least none that I am aware of, I will keep an eye on any that die to make sure.


    I sent the skeletons to the back of the room and had them crouch in the corners, and sent the spirits to the corners closer to the entrance.  I am not sure how much control I will have over the battle, but I do know I have more control here than I would outside.  Hopefully, they will obey my commands to let the bandits wander into the center of the room before pouncing on them.


    Ah, here they are.  I can see them better now that they are entering my dungeon, and I must admit that if they were any more stereotypical I might have died laughing.  Well, if i had lungs to laugh with I would have.  The women behind them, seemingly a mother and her two daughters, were haggard looking and fearful.  Hopefully I could let them escape, I am not particularly interested in killing innocents, and frankly they don¡¯t look appetizing.


    ¡°Huh, this cave looks a bit different than I remember.¡±  One of them remarked, to which another laughed and said.


    ¡°With how much you drink I am surprised you remember your own name,¡± the whole group laughed at that.  ¡°I am just glad to be out of the rain!¡±


    Well they are idiots, I thought.  I mean, they actually had some warning that things had changed and they simply ignored it.  Well it was too late now.


    ¡°What the-¡±  A bandit exclaimed before an arrow slammed into his chest, then he swore and stumbled.  I wonder how damage works in a world like this, if he was shot in the eye would he die immediately or would it just be considered health damage?  I will explore that later though.


    ¡°Fuck, skeletons!¡±  The bandit chief roared and pulled out his axe, only to be ambushed by the spirits from the back.  The other bandits focused on the skeletons at the front, and the archer they protected.


    ¡°Where the hell did these things come from!¡±


    ¡°How the hell should I know?  There hasn¡¯t been a dungeon around here since they cleared and demolished that one in the forest miles away!¡±


    ¡°Fuck, this place became a dungeon!¡±


    ¡°Straighten up, if we can conquer it we will be rich!¡±


    Unfortunately, none of you seem to be able to hurt my spirits.  I thought as I watched the bandit leader succumb, he had lasted quite a while because the spirits were quite weak, but since he couldn''t hurt them it didn¡¯t matter.  The skeletons had fared much worse, one skeleton was destroyed and the other was being finished off now.  The archer had managed to kill two bandits, leaving a three on three fight.


    ¡°Fuck, does anyone have silver?¡±


    ¡°Aside from coins?  No!¡±


    ¡°Shit, shit, shit!  We need to run!¡±


    You can try, in fact, please do.  I don¡¯t actually enjoy this.


    Sadly, they were not capable of running and my spirits and skeleton finished them off.  They then approached the captives, who were huddling fearfully against the wall.  I hoped they would run, but apparently they were too afraid.  A pity, I am not sure if I can control my minions that well¡­  But I might as well give it a try.


    They are screaming and huddling together as a spirit approaches them and its claws slice down- on the rope that binds them and then floats away.  They stand their gaping for a moment and I wish I could hurry them out.  The focus this is requiring of me is more than I expected.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Finally, they run and I can relax.


    [10,000 XP received!  Reached level 6!  Mana raised to 80!  New options available for purchase!  Special unlocked from Dungeon actions!]


    Interesting.  Very interesting.  I wonder how the experience is broken down?


    [Bandit Killed in Dungeon! x5 1,600 XP each!  Bandit Chief killed in Dungeon! 2,000 XP gained!]


    So the system reacts to me?  Even more interesting, and that person I had killed before seemed to be more valuable than any of these individuals.  Well whatever, the real question is how I should spend this.


    I guess I will wait for the skeletons to respawn and see what my various options are.


    *Susan*


    I followed my mother and my older sister and we ran.  Thankfully, we were able to recover our wagon that the bandits had stolen, and we tried to put as much distance between the dungeon and us as possible.  But that dungeon was nothing like what I had heard about.


    ¡°Mother¡­¡±  I said tentatively, ¡°the dungeon let us go¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, it did Susan.¡±  Mother responded, not looking away from the road, ¡°the real question is why.¡±


    Mother had adventured back in the day, and so had father¡­  But then mother was cursed and they retired to our little village to raise my sister and I.  If dad had not been ambushed-  he was strong¡­  But I can¡¯t think of that, or I will start to cry.


    ¡°No, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡±  My mother shook her head, ¡°we need to report this.  An undead dungeon is a terrible danger, regardless of whether it let us go or not.¡±


    Mother had told me that not all dungeons were equally dangerous.  Some dungeons would be left alone for their drops and training value, others were not worth the effort and cost to wipe out, but some dungeons were too dangerous to let be.


    Demon and undead dungeons were at the top of that list, and undead was the more terrifying of the two.  Undead dungeons would spawn zombies and vampires who would spread their curses throughout the land.  A single dungeon could wipe out an entire nation if left alone to grow!


    I shivered at the thought, still, it feels ungrateful when the dungeon save me and my family.


    *Dungeon Core*


    So that is the penalty for death with my minions, those that die gain no experience from the battle, even from the bandits who died before they fell.  I see, that is a fair cost I suppose.


    In that case, I am just going to leave this alone for now.  In the construction menu I noticed an interesting new feature, a ghost trap.  The description was interesting, by sacrificing a spirit I would be able to assign skeletons to an area.  When enemies entered the skeletons would form from bones and attack.  The benefit to this was a change in how they respawned.


    Instead of respawning based on an individual timer, they would respawn one at a time, but 60% faster.  On the surface, it didn¡¯t seem like it would be too useful, but I realized its potential.


    Since it appears that I am going to have more visitors than I expected, I need to spend more time worrying about my own safety.  So I will build a labyrinth, and I will trap the intersections with these so that every bad turn my visitors make will force them to fight at least one skeleton again.


    To start with, I purchase the Tomb Entrance, which additionally gave a 10% bonus to respawn speed, a welcome surprise to be sure, and I also decided to perform a quick experiment.


    No matter how hard I tried, I could not create a room that did not connect to the entrance, which was a pity, but expected.  However, I was able to create two rooms on either side of the entrance and connect them to the hallway at the end.  Then, much to my happiness, and as I suspected, I was able to change the walls between the rooms to bars.


    I used some more mana to purchase another skeleton and a skeleton archer and attached all my skeletons to a ghost trap for this area, sacrificing one of my spirits to do so.  The other spirit I decided to use for another experiment.


    Skeletons are souless bones animated by magic, and spirits are weak souls that did not pass on.  So I ordered the remaining spirit to possess one of the skeletons out of curiosity.


    [Spectral Warrior unlocked!]


    Interesting¡­


    ¡°My¡­  Lord¡­¡±


    The new spectral warrior bowed to me and spoke.  Very interesting.

 Chapter Four - Specy

    So, it can speak?


    ¡°Yes¡­  Lord¡­¡±


    And it appears that even though I cannot speak, my creation can hear my thoughts.  Good, this should be useful.


    ¡°Will¡­  Serve¡­¡±


    A pity that it is so slow, though it will undoubtedly level up and upgrade so I can put up with it for now.  I will ignore it for now and create another spirit to send out into the world, and with that finished I should decide how I am going to construct my labyrinth.


    I was not one for playing dungeon building games, though I might have enjoyed them if there were more of them.  It was a fairly small genre, I suppose.  For that matter, I haven¡¯t thought about mazes or labyrinths since I was filling out those papers that restaurants give kids so that they will shut up.


    According to the menu, I have a limit of four rooms, not including an entrance and boss room.  That second part interested me though, a boss room sounds nice to be sure, but for now I should design a tricky maze and then trap it.  I will worry about the rooms, and my additional creature purchases, later.


    Though, for the record, I have no interest in creating zombies, despite their interesting passives.  Maybe on another floor, one that I don¡¯t have to visit much¡­


    *Susan*


    Mother was talking to the guild master, who seemed to be reacting with a mixture of fear and disbelief to her words.


    ¡°An undead dungeon?¡±  Guild Master Soros groaned and put his head in his hands, ¡°that is not something I need on my plate!¡±


    ¡°It is a very young dungeon,¡± Mother replied firmly.  ¡°If not for my curse and my husbands sickness we could have taken it ourselves.¡±


    ¡°But now it has eaten all of those bandits- who knows how it has grown?¡±


    ¡°It will only get worse if you wait, do you want vampires and zombies to begin turning innocent civilians?¡±  Undead dungeons were incredibly dangerous because of their propensity to cause disaster.  Zombies could create other zombies, but in the dungeon the created zombies would eventually collapse and be absorbed by the dungeon.  Outside the dungeon, they did not collapse.


    So once a dungeon spawned zombies, it could spiral out of control into a full blown zombie infestation and destroy entire cities.  After consuming those bandits the dungeon might have the ability to start spawning them now, so this was a top priority.


    ¡°I guess I have no choice,¡± Soros sighed and slumped in defeat.  ¡°I will put the request out.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Guild Master.¡±  Mother bowed slightly and got up to leave.  ¡°Come on Susan.¡±


    ¡°Yes Mother,¡± I said and hurried after her.  We left the guild and walked back to the inn, but I had to ask.  ¡°Mother, what if the dungeon is a good one?  The monsters did not attack us¡­¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Undead dungeons do not attack everyone usually.¡±  Mother responded absentmindedly, ¡°Likely, we are distant descendants of the people buried there who transformed into a dungeon.  In other words, they saw us as family and let us go.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it was like that Mother- but I can¡¯t think what else it could be.¡±


    We entered the inn and opened the door to our roo-


    A sword tip came out of my Mother¡¯s back and she coughed blood.


    ¡°Mother!¡±  I scream as a man shoves my Mother away and withdraws his blade from her chest.


    ¡°Ha!¡±  The man laughed, ¡°That curse really did weaken her!  She died in a single stab.¡±


    Another man laughed as well, ¡°And look, she left us another present.  Even younger and prettier!¡±


    ¡°Oi, oi!¡±  The first man glared at the second, ¡°you don¡¯t get a turn this time, you killed the last one.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have time to think about what they were saying, I just turned and ran.


    ¡°She is getting away!¡±


    ¡°Running won¡¯t help you girl,¡± one of them shouted.  ¡°It will just make me angry, and that just means you will be hurt more!¡±


    *Dungeon Core*


    If it was not for the spirit I had hunting down living creatures outside there would be no way I would have gotten this far.  Twisting hallways, a couple of turns, and of course, only one solution that allows you to make it to the next room.  This room I had filled with a poison trap in addition to the ghost traps with skeletons and a spectral warrior.


    Why not exploit the fact that undead don¡¯t breathe?  Maybe a poison marsh floor with zombies might be a good idea.  Though it wouldn¡¯t be a floor I would linger on, I am not a fan of rotting flesh and plants.


    Still, the bigger issue was my lack of mana!


    I had considered creating more spirits to send outside, but I want to have as little impact as possible.  And I don¡¯t want to accidentally hurt innocent people, I need smarter  servants.  Might as well go talk to the spectral warrior and see if it might be able to help.


    ¡°Greetings¡­  Lord¡­¡±


    Hello there, do you have a name?


    ¡°No¡­  Lord¡­¡±


    Hmmm, naming you would possibly make you unique and I don¡¯t know the consequences of that.  So I won¡¯t name you, but I will give you a nickname.  When I say, or think I suppose, ¡®Specy¡¯ that refers to you.


    ¡°Understood¡­  Lord¡­¡±


    So Specy, do you know much about this world?


    ¡°Once¡­  Ago¡­¡±


    Which means you were alive and are now my minion.


    ¡°Yes¡­  Happy¡­  Serve¡­¡±


    Well I am glad that you are happy to serve, it makes my life easier.  What can you tell me about this world?


    ¡°Long¡­  Ago¡­  Time¡­¡±


    Ah, you have been dead too long to be reliable then?


    ¡°Yes¡­  Lord¡­¡±


    I see.  How unfortunate, still since you can speak Specy you can at least understand more complex orders than your skeleton brothers.  So listen up.


    ¡°Hear¡­  Obey¡­¡±


    You are to greet people who enter the dungeon, and advise them to turn back.  Any who do not, you may kill, but do not kill those who are unarmed or children.


    ¡°Danger¡­  Lord¡­¡±


    I will assess whether or not any visitors are dangerous, you will simply obey and make certain that your brethren do the same.


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±

 Chapter Five - Welcome to the dungeon

    If I could sigh, I would.  I feel it is too much of a risk for me to send more spirits outside, I can not control them well enough to prevent them from killing people after all.  Not that I care, but I am aware I would have cared, so I will act on that line of thought.  Becoming a Core is messing with my mind, how frustrating.


    Still, this work is so slow.


    I guess I will have to accept that my mind will be corrupted, and then spend my time after I get a body back restoring my mind.  Whatever, I have eternity to do this work after all.  Does time actually matter to me?


    I feel a tug on my mind and look through my spirit¡¯s eyes again.  That girl is back?  ...Is she stupid?  My minions nearly killed her after all.


    Well, at least I can tell her to get out now.


    *Susan*


    My horse had died miles back, but I could not stop- it was only luck that I had not been caught.  I haven¡¯t slept or eaten in two days, the world is starting to blur together.  I trip over my own feet and rocks, but I barely stop myself from falling.  The dungeon is just ahead and I stumble in.


    ¡°Why¡­  Here¡­¡±


    I nearly jump out of my skin, a glowing skeleton has stepped forward to meet me- it spoke!  I am leaning against the wall, gasping for breath, trying to think of how to respond.


    ¡°Why¡­  Here¡­¡±


    The skeleton took forward and spoke more forcefully, and I do not want to push my luck.


    ¡°There are people chasing me.  They-  they killed my mother and sister¡­¡±  I don¡¯t know what to say, I don¡¯t even want to think- especially about that.  I am still watching the skeleton warily, it might be more violent than I thought or hoped¡­


    The skeleton did not move or speak for a while, and then started moving towards me.  I tried to scramble back but trip over myself- I guess I die here.  Sorry, mother.


    ¡°Master¡­  Welcomes¡­  You¡­¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Master?  Dungeons are not supposed to be sentient this young- no, mother mentioned that undead dungeons are sometimes formed by the death of strong spirits and they would sometimes not attack their descendants.  I suppose I am lucky, and I follow the creature deeper into the dungeon.


    *Core*


    I have to admit to myself- I agreed to shelter the girl mostly because I did not care if she lived or died.  Clearly, that is an effect of my transformation and thus I should act as if I cared at the least.  When I do recover my personality this will prevent me from feeling guilt for my actions- I am not idiotic enough to do terrible things only to be crushed by my sins when I recover my true personality.


    Now having said- thought?  That.  If people are trying to kill this girl so much there must be a reason for it, and that might be a profitable avenue to explore.  She doesn¡¯t look very well though, I would hate for her to die on me.


    Well, my spirit did just kill some animal or another, I will order it to drag it back I suppose and then I will have to figure out how to cook the fucking thing.  The girl was taken to the second chamber and Specy returned to the entrance, with my second spectral warrior taking over for translating for me.


    Tell her that I am bringing her food, but it might be a while- she should rest.


    ¡°Food¡­  Time¡­  Sleep¡­¡±


    Well¡­  That is better than nothing, I guess.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± the girl murmured and she curled up in a corner.  Or to be more accurate, collapsed.


    I checked on my spirits progress, and it wasn¡¯t very good.  Spirits are terrible at interacting with physical objects, which is normally fine, but is frustrating now.  It is especially annoying because the only way I can think to cook the meat will essentially mean that I will need to buy something I don¡¯t want to.


    I hope this girl is worth the effort- she will be more useful than Specy for knowledge of this world at least.


    A couple of hours later, the spirit dragged a small creature, some kind of deer like thing, into the dungeon.  I created a new spirit to send outside and took the one that returned and evolved it.


    The evolution choice for spirits right now was [Wraith], [Icy Spirit], and [Fiery Spirit].  Obviously, I need the third one to use its fire to cook with, but I wish I could let my minions that I send outside become stronger.  That is next on my to do list, collateral damage be damned.


    No, can¡¯t let myself think like that.  Fuck this is frustrating!


    [Fiery Spirits are fragile, and cannot attack normally.  Instead, they rush at opponents and explode.  Has the same immunities and weaknesses of a Weak Spirit.  Unlocked by a Weak Spirit gaining experience.]


    Ugh, I¡¯ll just make it into a trap after this.  I had the fiery spirit hug the body of the animal, which will cook it I hope?  How the hell should I know?  I am cooking an unknown creature with an undead creature as a dungeon core in another world.  This will probably be disgusting, but after a few minutes it looks cooked to me, so I will just give it to the girl and hope it doesn¡¯t kill her.

 Chapter Six - Skirmish and surprises

    *Susan*


    I didn¡¯t sleep for very long, I don¡¯t think.  The dungeon is filled with magical light, so there is no way to tell time, but it certainly doesn¡¯t feel like it has been long.  I woke up to a burning smell, and opening my eyes I scream.


    How else should I react to a glowing skeleton holding a torn and burned corpse of a peryton?  The weird bird-deer hybrids were already strange enough without this to set the stage.


    ¡°Food¡­  Eat¡­¡±


    By the gods, they had tried to cook me a meal- and failed horribly at it by the looks of things.  Still, I was too hungry to be picky right now.  Still, a knife and fork would have been appreciated.


    The meal was¡­ Disgusting, but I at least appreciated the thought.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    It was the thought that counts, right?  I should at least try to be polite.  The skeleton does not respond, which is incredibly awkward¡­  But I am not dead.


    ¡°Who¡­  Chase¡­¡±


    I guess it was asking about the people after me, but I don¡¯t know anything about them¡­


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, they seemed to know my mother, and they- they¡­¡±


    I can¡¯t continue, I just start crying- I should be stronger, but I can¡¯t be.  My whole family is dead, one week ago we were all happy together looking forward to a new life in a new town.  Now here I am, in a cave with a skeleton, with men coming to rape and kill me.  It is surreal.


    ¡°Will¡­  Ask¡­ Later¡­  Rest¡­¡±


    It seemed a struggle for the skeleton to speak, but I understood it at least.  I am grateful- perhaps they really are my ancestors, why else would they be so kind to me?


    *Core*


    I watched the girl grimace, but she still thanked me- or rather my skeleton, for the meal.  So despite its obviously awful taste, she must have some manners.  The question of when I can actually get useful information out of her is a hard one though.


    That said, I am quite happy that she has people pursuing her.  Assuming they don¡¯t kill me and my minions they will fuel the growth of this labyrinth floor, and that most assuredly makes me happy.  It is quite interesting to note that thoughts of growth and power do seem to be the motivations I have as a core, but fortunately I am smarter than those instincts.


    Probably.  I mean, if cores are like humans then they are really good at rationalizing, which means that I might just be making up reasons for my actions that are not actually related to the real reasons.  But that is a rabbit hole I am not going to go down, it never fucking ends.


    It will be interesting to see how well my preparations work.  Ah, here they are.


    ¡°Oi, the tracking spell shows that she ran in here!¡±


    ¡°A dungeon?  Unless she is tougher than they told us, she probably is dead in the entrance.¡±


    ¡°Nah, the spell would fade then.  She is still alive.¡±


    ¡°I hope she is in good enough condition to fuck!¡±


    The group laughed at that as they stepped into my dungeon, well Specy these ones you can kill.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Yes¡­  Lord¡­¡±


    Four men, equipped leather armor and heavily armed and one in the middle with a staff.  Well, if the stereotypes of my world still work, that one is a mage of some description.  That would explain the whole ¡®tracking spell¡¯ thing.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s clear this place and add the drops and crystal to our profit for this job!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if she can make it through this dungeon it must be real easy!¡±


    ¡°Trespassers..!¡±


    Oh, now that is a nice voice for intimidating people!  Good job Specy.  The skeletons formed and pushed forward and the archers attacked.  Let us see how it goes¡­


    ¡°Fuck, undead!¡±


    ¡°Archers at the side, watch for them and don¡¯t get shot!¡±


    ¡°Son of a bitch this fucker is tough!¡±


    The mage stepped back behind the other fighters and pointed his staff at Specy.  ¡°It is a Spectral Warrior, its resistant to normal weapons- let me take this!¡±


    Would you call that a fireball?  It didn¡¯t really explode, but it did burn through Specy.  Probably a lesser magic then, again assuming this follows the ideas from my own world.


    All in all, they only managed to bring down one of the invaders before they were taken down.  Well, all except the archers, the mage blew one of them apart and they just left the other behind.  Annoying, I had expected to do better than that.


    The good news is that my trap at the intersection worked well enough, and they even took the wrong route and ended up fighting a respawned skeleton on the way back!  Well, if I survive this it is a decent proof of concept.


    ¡°Fuck this place,¡± I listened to the soldiers, perhaps assassins?  Talk.  ¡°I have never heard of a dungeon here before, and since the bitch made it through I thought this would be easy.¡±


    ¡°It must be some ancestor of hers, she just lucked out.¡±


    Now that is funny, they think I am related to her?  How funny.  Still, it has certain implications about other dungeons.  Clearly I am odd compared to others, but then I was odd compared to people to I suppose.  Makes sense I¡¯d be an odd dungeon  Unfortunately, my dungeon was not very large yet.


    Wake the girl and tell her to move into the core room.


    *Susan*


    I wake up when I hear the clacking of the skeleton approach, my heart nearly jumps out of my throat until I remember where I am.


    ¡°Danger¡­  Go¡­¡±


    The skeleton was pointing deeper into the dungeon, the danger probably meant those people chasing me¡­  I think the core room is after this one- if this room falls both the core and I die.


    ¡°No, let me help.¡±


    I want to kill these bastards myself.  I was still terrified, but now that I was allowed to eat and rest, I was also furious.  I hate them, I want to feel them die by my own hands!


    ¡°I can fight too!¡±


    ¡°How¡­?¡±


    Well the skeleton was not outrighting refusing at least.


    ¡°I am a bard,¡± Not a good one, but the skeleton didn¡¯t need to know that.  ¡°My songs can increase the strength and defense of your forces.¡±


    The skeleton said nothing at first, I guess if you don¡¯t have a brain it takes a while to think.


    ¡°Lord¡­  Accepts¡­¡±


    ¡°Then I will be supporting from the back.¡±


    I scramble to the back of the room and clear my throat.  Some bards can rend the flesh off their enemies with their voices alone like banshees, but I am not nearly so skilled.  But I can buff their resistances and strength¡­


    ¡°Well lookie here,¡± the men were here.  ¡°Looks like we found the little bitch.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think because Nemmy died we are gonna take any less time with you, we all will take an extra turn!¡±


    ¡°Should take a few, didn¡¯t get any time with her dear mom after all!¡±


    They laughed, and I did my best to ignore them and started to sing.  Skeletons swirled up from bones and they stepped forward to fight.


    I could hardly watch the fight, I was focused on my songs¡­  But things were not going so well- they were injured but not dead.


    The skeleton¡¯s glow faded as its skull was crushed and my voice faltered.  I guess this was the end.


    ¡°You made this harder for us than it had to be, so you don¡¯t mind if we give it to you harder as payback right?¡±


    Oh gods, maybe I could somehow kill myself¡­


    But there was an orange glow that came from the corridor behind them and then an explosion.  I flew back and slammed into the wall, before slumping to the floor and things went dark.

 Chapter Seven - An invitation

    *Susan*


    I woke up, I don¡¯t think I was out for long¡­  The chamber was empty, the skeletons had not respawned yet.  I was not sure how the dungeon had won, but we had.  I was safe, if a bit hurt.  I was able to stand, even if I was unsteady.


    If I wanted to, I could walk to the core room now and take this dungeon¡­  The experience I would gain from that would be tremendous- but how I could do that after the help it gave me?  Maybe the skeletons at the entrance respawned?


    I limp out, just barely able to remember the route I took.  The dungeon was taking the form of a labyrinth, and it would undoubtedly grow after that battle.  Hopefully, this battle would not cause the dungeon to spread its minions on the outside more.  I would hate to be responsible for those deaths¡­


    I made it to the entrance, but the skeletons who I met were not like the glowing one, they didn¡¯t speak.  I guess I will just sit against the wall and wait, a few hours later I watched mist coalesce into a humanoid form, and then into the glowing skeleton I had talked to.


    ¡°I¡­  Back¡­¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I stand up and bow to the skeleton.  I owe them more than respect, but respect is all I really have to give.  ¡°You saved my life.¡±


    ¡°Lord¡­  Says¡­  Welcome¡­¡±


    ¡°Lord?¡±  I ask, I heard the skeletons mention that before.  It must be the spirit controlling this dungeon, an ancestor of hers.  ¡°Well let me thank you again Lord Ancestor.¡±


    ¡°Not¡­  Ancestor¡­¡±


    Now that is a surprise, I probably shouldn¡¯t, but I have to ask, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Must¡­  Keep¡­  Morality¡­¡±


    Talking to the skeleton was not easy, clearly it was translating for something else and not doing a very good job.  If I had to guess, the dungeon was simply saying it was the right thing to do, but I feel like I am missing something¡­


    ¡°Well, if there is anything I can do for you before I go¡­  Please tell me.¡±


    I do worry that an undead dungeon might have some odd requests, but I had risked its life and it had helped save mine.


    ¡°Why¡­  Leave¡­?¡±


    *Core*


    Oh for fucks sake, how the hell am I supposed to carry on a conversation like this?  I had experience and mana to burn and the power to summon the dead but I can¡¯t talk to a seventeen year old girl?  Fuck this shit!


    [12,500 XP received!  Reached level 9!  Mana raised to 110!  Hired Thug killed in Dungeon! x4 2,000 XP each!  Mercenary Mage killed in Dungeon! 4,500 XP gained!]If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Maybe I could do something about it, I wonder if my spectral warrior can evolve at all¡­  Ah, two options.  [Guardian Spectre] and [Spirit Warrior].


    [Guardian Spectres have increased resistances over the Spectral Warrior.  They are slow moving, but difficult to kill and have enhanced senses.  Unlocked by defending a non-native creature in the dungeon!]


    [Spirit Warriors are the natural evolution to the Spectral Warrior.  Their attacks ignore most resistances and applies small debuffs by attacking their opponents spirit!  Unlocked by having a Spectral Warrior in battle!]


    Well, the choice is obvious for now, I fucking hope this thing is smarter¡­  The mist coalesces around the Spectral Warrior and it seems to grow, gaining a tower shield and bits of leather and armor strapped to it.  It also has a stronger glow, especially its eyes which now shine with cold blue light.


    So Specy, any smarter?


    ¡°Yes, my Lord.  Thank you for giving me this power!¡±


    Perfect!  Now I don¡¯t have to deal with anymore bullshit conversations.  Introduce yourself as my voice to the woman please.


    ¡°Of course Lord,¡± the skeleton turned to the girl who was staring with open mouthed shock at the Spectre before her.  ¡°Greetings guest, I am the voice of my Lord, the core of this dungeon!¡±


    ¡°I- I am Susan¡­  Did the cor- I mean, the Lord make you to talk to me?¡±


    Yes and no.  I would have done this anyway, this was something I hoped would occur.


    ¡°It was one of the reasons, but not the only reason.  My Lord is beyond our understanding.¡±


    I did not say that last part¡­


    ¡°Could I request your Lord¡¯s name?¡±  Susan asked, she seemed quite wary.  A good attitude to have when speaking to a undead monster in a dungeon miles away from civilization I suppose.  The only issue is that I no longer remember my name, I simply refer to myself as Core.


    ¡°I regret to say that you cannot, for not even my Lord knows.  He is simply the Core.¡±


    ¡°I see, then I shall call you Lord Core for now, if that is fine with you?¡±


    Sure.  I don¡¯t care.


    ¡°That is acceptable.¡±


    ¡°Then Lord Core, what did it mean when it said ¡®why leave?¡¯¡±


    From what I have been able to gather, you have nowhere to go.  Why not simply stay here?  I feel I will be able to make my next floor soon, I could make a residence for you there.


    ¡°My Lord invites you to stay and live here,¡± Specy does paraphrase rather well, it is quite appreciated.  ¡°My Lord offers to build you a residence when the second floor is built.¡±


    ¡°Why would you offer that to me?¡±  Well, it does seem fantastical I suppose, but I do have reasoning here.


    I need information, you need safety, and frankly, why not?  Do you have a place to go?  I want to build a necropolis floor as my second anyway, just because another labyrinth would be boring, and that would have houses as a matter of course.


    ¡°My Lord proposes to shelter you for the information you have,¡± Specy speaks for me.  ¡°He also says he plans to build a necropolis anyway, so setting aside a place for you would be simple.¡±


    ¡°I¡­  I really can''t refuse¡­¡±


    It will be a bit before the next floor is ready to be built, as a gesture of trust I will allow you to stay in my Core room until then.  Understand just how dangerous this is to me, attempt to violate my trust and I will make those thugs seem merciful!


    ¡°My Lord very generously offers to let you stay in his Core room until your house is made.  Do not dare spit on that generosity or you will wish you had died today!¡±


    As I watch her cringe all I can think is, close enough.

 Chapter Eight - An Old Friend

    *Susan*


    Core had changed the dungeon greatly, the first floor now consisted of six total rooms.  The entrance, four halls, and the core room itself. In between those was a maze of corridors full of dead ends and traps.  However, most of the dungeon was empty of monsters. Core had said that he would fill it as time went on, and he was making plans for a boss room.  After which he had promised to make a place for me on the second floor.


    Honestly, I was more surprised that Core expressly told me that he was a ¡®he.¡¯  It does make talking to and about him easier though.


    ¡°So this area does not belong to any kingdom?¡±


    I was used to talking to Core through his minions now, Core essentially was the dungeon after all and his minions rarely left their posts, so the minion who served as his voice box would change as I moved through the place.  This did have some awkward implications though, but I would think about that later.


    ¡°No Lord Core,¡± I didn¡¯t know all that much about politics, but my parents had taught me a great deal about geography.  A holdover from their years as adventurers and mercenaries. ¡°This area is in between several great powers, but none of them can actually take and hold the area.¡±


    ¡°My Lord says that is interesting indeed,¡± I did know this minion was called Specy and that he guarded the entrance.  I have to say, the idea that the powerful dungeon core wielding such magnificent dark power created a powerful skeleton warrior with incredible powers- and named it Specy.  ¡°My Lord requests information about those countries.¡±


    ¡°Well to the south are the elves,¡± I thought back to when my parents took me to visit the Elvish Empire.  Cities made of gigantic trees molded with magic into castles and beautiful works of art, it was amazing. ¡°and to the east is the Amero Republic, a human country.  North, through the mountains is the Mortal Empire, a human theocracy and also the Dwarvish Deepkingdom under the mountains themselves.¡±


    ¡°And west of here?¡±


    ¡°The Legera Alliance,¡± where I was born.  ¡°It is a kingdom with many species all living together.¡±


    I do have some questions of my own too, ¡°So if you are not an ancestor of mine Lord Core, who were you?¡±


    ¡°My Lord responded with¡­¡±  Specy stopped, I was surprised.  I have never seen these undead at a loss for words.


    ¡°My Lord I could not say- But¡­  If my Lord insists¡­¡±


    Specy was having a conversation with the Core, apparently that answer would be more interesting than I thought.


    ¡°My Lord says he was essentially no one, simply a normal human for the world and the region of that world he was in.¡±


    There is a lot to unpack in that statement, and I don¡¯t really think I have the capacity to have that kind of discussion after all the recent shocks I have had¡­  I guess I will leave it for now, there is always later.


    ¡°Well, leaving that aside¡­  Is there anything I can do to help?¡±  I owe the dungeon my life after all.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°My Lord would appreciate your help, but he wonders if you will be ok with helping him.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Lord Core will ask me to do anything I would have a problem with¡­¡±  I hope.


    A few hours later I was outside the dungeon accompanied by several spirits.  Lord Core had asked me to lead his minions in their hunts, because after experimentation he was able to order them to obey me and they would do so outside of the dungeon.  According to the Core, he could not control them directly outside the dungeon- so he would hand it over to me.


    I had eight spirits behind me, and keeping them in line was a pain in the ass.  They listened to me, but they had a short attention span and seemed to forget the things I say not that long after I say them!


    ¡°Ugh, if he wants me to do this again he had better give me some smarter minions!¡±


    ¡°Susan?¡±  A voice called out from the side and I am not proud that I screamed out in surprise.


    *Hailey*


    Poor Susan!  Sometimes I forget that as a Ranger I have passive stealth in the wilderness,  but I had heard that she was dead- I am so relieved to see my friend that I can¡¯t believe it¡­  But what are those things behind her?


    ¡°No, don¡¯t attack,¡± Susan was saying to the things, some kind of spirit by the looks of it, ¡°she is a friend of mine.¡±


    ¡°Since when did you become a necromancer?¡±  My friend was a bard after all!


    ¡°I am not- what are you doing here Hailey?¡±


    That hurt¡­  Wasn¡¯t she glad to see me?  Then again, I don¡¯t know what had happened to her mother, father, and sister.  The deaths of those three had sent shockwaves through the border community, and Susan herself was presumed dead.


    ¡°The guild master put out a request for a dungeon subjugation,¡± I reply honestly, my friend was going through some tough times after all.  ¡°And I heard that you had fled out this way, so I had hoped I would run into you as well.¡±


    And I had, my Luck stat always came through in a pinch!


    ¡°A dungeon subjugation¡­¡±  Susa frowned, ¡°Hailey you guys need to turn back, the dungeon isn¡¯t dangerous if you leave it alone.¡±


    I am missing a lot of context here I think, but I can piece some things together.


    ¡°Susan- those spirits are from the dungeon, aren¡¯t they?¡±


    She doesn¡¯t reply, which is as good as a yes.  There are not a whole lot of reasons that dungeon monsters would listen to a person.  Unless Susan had the extremely rare Dungeon Master class the only other two options were that the dungeon had agreed or that the dungeon had subjugated Susan herself!  But this was supposed to be a young dungeon¡­ It shouldn¡¯t be so smart yet, and if it is¡­ Undead dungeons are not known for their kindness towards other people, even their descendants.


    The spirits don¡¯t look very strong, but if Susan is possessed she will fight with them against me and I don¡¯t have very many good options against incorporeal creatures.  So I guess I will fall back to the team and inform them that this was no a rescue mission.


    ¡°Hailey, I can see what you are thinking,¡± Susan spoke out suddenly.  ¡°I am not possessed, I agreed to help the dungeon in payment for it saving my life and giving me a place to stay.¡±


    I can¡¯t take that at face value, she could have agreed under duress to be a puppet after all.  It changes nothing.


    ¡°I will see you soon, friend.¡±  I whisper and slip away by activating the ¡°forest stalker¡± skill.  I have to report to back, and I will rescue my friend!


    *Susan*


    Shit, she ran away.  I had forgotten about the guild¡¯s request, and they would think I was possessed to.  I am fairly sure that I am not, though I do sometimes worry that I am and just don¡¯t know it.  I guess there is nothing to do but return- maybe I can talk to them before they attempt to attack the dungeon.  Undoubtedly, Core already knows this¡­ He was probably watching through his minion¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± I order the spirits and they fall in line behind me.  I am rather annoyed that I was not able to fulfill the Core¡¯s mission though.  I wished that I had been able to help, I was actually looking forward to having a place of my own- and I certainly don¡¯t want the dungeon to die!

 Chapter Nine - Negotiations and Surprises

    *Core*


    Dungeon subjugation?  I had my minions relay my words to Susan- though they thankfully did not convey my worry.  How could I not be worried? You did not send a team to do something that they were unable to do, so logically the team could kill him.  Damnit.


    ¡°Dungeons are dangerous,¡± Susan replied and then added quickly.  ¡°However, you are less so than most- dungeons this young rarely can talk, and if they could they would not want to reduce the amount of people killed.¡±


    And I do not suppose they would take your word for it that I prefer not to kill people?


    ¡°They think I am possessed.¡±  Susan grimaced at the thought, however I was quite surprised.


    I was unaware that was an option- something to consider later, I suppose.


    ¡°I would rather you not, thanks.¡±


    Why would I posses you?  But it would a non-lethal way to deal with intruders until I could figure out what to do with them.  Regardless, it seems like my only option here is negotiation- I would be quite happy if you and Specy would help with that.


    ¡°Of course, but I do not think it will help much¡­¡±  She suddenly spun around towards the entrance, and I saw a woman tentatively cross the threshold of my dungeon.


    ¡°Hailey¡­¡±


    ¡°Susan, we will get you out of here.¡±  The woman replied firmly. Personally, if I was not in danger, I would be amused by her clothing.  This was Susan¡¯s ranger friend- but her equipment was similar to what you might find for the class in fantasy settings in my world.  Which, for women, was often more impractical than not.


    She escaped that for the most part- but her clothes were tight and form fitting to the point I wondered how she got them on.  For that matter, it was a good thing I was a core instead of a man because the cleavage she displayed was beyond impressive.


    Not very practical though.


    Her other party members entered the dungeon behind her, and I immediately knew I was correct to assume that negotiation was my only option.  Two warriors in full plate- templars of some kind if the engravings on the armor were anything to go by- a man in a robe who was definitely some kind of magic user, and another robed man who was undoubtedly a priest of some kind.  A stacked deck against an undead dungeon- I will need to think of countermeasures or diversify my creations.


    Welcome, I would rather not fight if at all possible.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°He really does not want to fight!¡±  Susan added after Specy spoke for me, ¡°Core is not a bad person!¡±


    ¡°He is not a person at all!¡±  One of the templars stepped forward, clearly the leader of this group.  ¡°But I do not blame you, we shall cleanse the evil spirit from you and eliminate this blight on the world!¡±


    I have not possessed her, you are welcome to check for yourself.  If you would be so kind Susan?


    Susan walked over to the other group nervously, was inspected by the priest- who then chanted for a while and cast a complex spell.  Specy shivered, clearly disliking it- interesting that he was able to feel it.


    ¡°I detected no possession,¡± the priest said.  ¡°But I cast a Greater Cleansing anyway, I believe she is speaking her own words.¡±


    ¡°And I am still saying the same thing!¡±  Susan was quick to add, ¡°Lord Core is not a bad person!¡±


    ¡°He is not a person!¡±  The first templar growled again, ¡°all this means is that it is you who is corrupt!¡±


    ¡°How, precisely, is Master corrupt?¡±  Specy spoke for me, ¡°Master has done everything he can to avoid taking innocent lives and says that the bandits who died here were outside the jurisdiction of any country so there was no way for them to stand trial for their crimes.  Master is far more moral than the beings who come to his domain!¡±


    ...I had not said that last part, but Specy can not help but editorialize.


    The other templar put his hand on his companions shoulder before the man exploded and stepped forward to speak.  ¡°It is the right of the accused to know what they are accused of and why, and while you are not a person, you are intelligent and deserve those answers.¡±


    ¡°My Master argues that he is, in fact, a person- but bids you to continue.¡±


    ¡°Undead dungeons are dangerous to a fault.  Many of the creatures here can create more undead from the bodies of the living and undeath will spread like a plague- wiping out entire cities, if not countries.¡±  The templar explained, ¡°All undead dungeons have done this- even if you were the one to buck that trend, we could not take that risk.¡±


    That is, unfortunately, quite understandable.  I must admit that I have struggled to retain my morality in this form and I can immediately see why doing that would be tempting.  I can only imagine how an entire country could fuel my growth- but that is not something I would want to do. However, your fear is reasonable.


    ¡°What are you saying?¡±  Susan shouted at Specy, ¡°you sound like you are giving up!¡±


    I found myself unable to explain the situation that occured after I had died, presumably that ass had blocked me from speaking about it directly- though I was not forbidden from talking about my past life oddly enough¡­  Regardless, I was able to get Specy to say a few things.


    ¡°Master says he is aware of what happens after death,¡± Specy said proudly.  ¡°My Lord knows what has occured when a soul goes beyond the reach of reincarnation or undeath- and he claims that he is more likely to benefit from dying now than dying after committing an atrocity.¡±


    ¡°You can not do this!¡±  Susan shouted, trying to rush towards Specy but being restrained by her friend Hailey.  ¡°Core, you can¡¯t!¡±


    The first templar seemed to have calmed a bit, even if he was quite suspicious of the undead standing down and dropping their weapon, and said.  ¡°If this is not a trick, I will admit to having misjudged you. I will make certain that your self-sacrifice is not forgotten.¡±


    ¡°No!¡±  Susan shouted, and I felt something strange wash over me.  ¡°I refuse to allow you to do this!¡±


    What the hell is this?  Even my minions were shaking and the walls of the dungeon were glowing!  No, my minions are not shaking- my whole dungeon is vibrating!

 Chapter Ten - Dungeon Master

    *Susan*


    I would not stand by while my savior died, especially not when he gave up his life so easily!  I would not let him turn over his life so easily!


    [Conditions Cleared: Succeeded to conquer Dungeon and make it submit via surrendering!  Class Unlocked: Dungeon Master! Dungeon Master class is now level one!]


    What..?  This is a Menu, only powerful diviners were able to see and interact with this!  And this class- The Dungeon Master class is so rare as to be mythic. It was popular in stories and was well known, but I had never heard of anyone actually possessing it¡­


    ¡°Susan!¡±  Hailey called out to me as the tremors died down, ¡°Are you alright?  You need to leave the dungeon before something happens!¡±


    ¡°I should have known that it was a trick,¡± the templar sounded disappointed as he addressed Specy.  ¡°Regardless, you will be cleared.¡±


    ¡°I had nothing to do with that!  I hardly know what is going on!¡±


    Wait, whose voice just responded?  No one else seemed to hear it- because it was Core!  I could hear him now!


    ¡°Hailey, no.¡±  I had to struggle against my friend as she tried to pull me out- to my surprise, I was easily able to break her grip though she had always been stronger than me.  ¡°Templar, sir, Core had nothing to do with that! I- I think it was me¡­¡±


    Specy had relayed what Core had said, it was odd hearing Core talk and then Specy say the same thing after him- or, almost the same thing.  It seemed Specy editorialized a bit, it was actually quite amusing. I could even see Core somewhat now- no, new knowledge flowed into my head, I was not seeing him, the flickering light and shadow that I was seeing was merely where his attention was.  After all, Core was all around me- he was the dungeon itself.


    ¡°Templar, sir-¡±  I began.


    ¡°Please, call me Taric.¡±  The templar replied, still at the ready after the latest surprise.


    ¡°Sir Taric,¡± I hesitated for a second.  ¡°It seems- it seems I gained a new class¡­¡±


    The templar frowned, ¡°explain.¡±


    ¡°Specy, I command you to defend Core if he is attacked- even if he does not want you to.¡±


    To the surprise of everyone around me, Specy bent to pick his sword back up- even as he was demanding to know how I could make him do it.


    ¡°Wh- what is this?¡±  Specy¡¯s teeth chattered, the skeleton version of a stutter I suppose.  ¡°How dare you coopt my Master!¡±


    ¡°What are you doing young lady?¡±  Taric frowned at me, shifting his stance to respond to me as if I was a threat- but I want this to end peacefully, I need it to.


    ¡°I just unlocked the class Dungeon Master.¡±  I spoke calmly, even if I did not feel it. ¡°I do not know quite how- I saw a Menu, and it said that the dungeon had surrendered, that Core had surrendered and so I became the Dungeon Master.¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Impossible,¡± Taric breathed, than I felt a wave of divination magic wash over me.  ¡°Repeat that.¡±


    A truth spell, Taric must be an extremely high level templar, perhaps on the verge of the Justicar class.  However, I had spoken the truth- and this spell proved it as I repeated myself.


    ¡°So I am to be your slave now?¡±  I could sense Core¡¯s displeasure, and merely responded.


    ¡°No, but I was right to step in when you were trying to kill yourself.¡±


    ¡°You do not know that this will even help- they might just kill you too!¡±


    ¡°I guess it would all depend on my next few sentences,¡± I said, feeling more confident and ready than I had in years.  I had heard rumors that some Classes could affect their users personalities- it was part of the reason templars had such similar attitudes apparently- and it was definitely occurring here.  This was my domain, why should I not be confident here?


    ¡°You are speaking to the Core.¡±  Taric stated, I had forgotten that he could only hear my half of the conversation.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I said, and took the opportunity to declare, ¡°As Dungeon Master of this dungeon, with my words proven by your spell, I promise that this dungeon will never be evil and act always for good and morality.¡±


    The templar studied me for a second, and then sheathed his sword.


    ¡°I will come back to test your words,¡± he said.  ¡°But you are speaking the truth now, and while evil must be purged this dungeon was already odd to begin with- and with your influence it may end up a force for good.  However, know that I will be watching- and that I will not be alone.¡±


    The group left, but Hailey stayed behind for a bit.


    ¡°Susan¡­¡±  She seemed lost for words.


    ¡°Come back for a visit sometime,¡± I smiled at her.  ¡°Next time under better circumstances.¡±


    ¡°I will do that, take care Susan.¡±  And with that, the group had left, but that had not ended my problems.


    ¡°What have you done to me?¡±  Core¡¯s presence floated around me, and I even found I was able to read the emotions in his tone and movements- even though he was little more than the barest light and shadow.  Right now, Core was agitated- angry and afraid, afraid of what I could do to him. But I would not be so ungrateful as to turn on my savior, a person- and I truly thought of him as a person- who was even good enough to surrender to the templar for others sake.


    ¡°Honestly, I do not know.¡±  I replied truthfully. ¡°There are many myths about Dungeon Masters, but very few have ever actually existed.¡±


    ¡°If I had known my admission of defeat and surrender would lead to this, there would not be one now.¡±  Core replied unhappily, ¡°But how was I supposed to know that someone could assert their will over me in that situation?¡±


    I was not sure how to answer that, but I was distracted by something when I looked at Specy.  I had an idle thought about what his Menu was like, and it had appeared in front of me! Listing stats of all sorts.


    ¡°So this is a Menu¡­¡±  I was amazed to see it, to think that Dungeon Masters had such power.


    ¡°What, you could not see them before?¡±  Core seemed surprised by this. ¡°Just by thinking about it menus for anything in the dungeon will appear to me- and now apparently for you.  But shouldn¡¯t you be able to see your own normally?¡±


    I shook my head, ¡°long ago the legends say that people could, but these days it requires visiting a very powerful diviner who has the necessary magic to inspect your Menu.  With enough money or fame they can even tell you how to gain really rare classes and guide people to them- but the cost is so exoberiant that never happens.¡±


    ¡°So where does this leave us, Susan?¡±  The Core seemed tired as he spoke. ¡°I had planned to give you one of the houses in the necropolis when it was built, but should it be a palace now?  Apparently, I cannot do anything about this situation, so the question falls to you- what do you want?¡±


    I had an answer to that question, and I was glad the templar was not going to be here to hear it.

 Chapter Eleven - Partners

    *Core*


    Well fuck me, I did not expect this.  I suppose it is pretty obvious why the Dungeon Master class is rare- how many other core¡¯s would gamble that virtuously sacrificing themselves would give them another shot at reincarnation, and thus, find surrendering a reasonable option?  For that matter, nice as Susan seemed, her hesitancy to answer my question and tell me what she wanted was not a good sign.


    Fortunately, she could not read my mind- that would just be unpleasant.  There was a difference between me ¡®thinking¡¯ and me ¡®talking,¡¯ and I am grateful for small mercies there.  Also, I did have to admit that I could actually talk to someone now. Speaking through my minions was serviceable, but it was also isolating.  I could actually interact with a person directly now, and I was going to keep looking at the bright side to distract myself from the fact I had accidentally turned myself into a slave.


    How the hell was I supposed to know about that anyways?  It is not like I was given a manual!


    ¡°Core¡­¡±  Susan¡¯s voice was trembling and she look directly at me- the very fact that she could see me was a little off putting actually.  ¡°I- I do not know how to answer your question¡­ What I want, and what is right, are two different things- and with everything that has happened lately¡­  My mother, father, and sister dying¡­ I am scared of what I might do!¡±


    ¡°You may as well tell me what you want,¡± I gave the mental equivalent of a sigh.  ¡°If I had to guess, you want revenge on whomever sent those men after you.¡±


    Susan simply nodded, she appeared to be crying- and I am honestly unsure how to respond.  In my previous life, seeing a crying girl would make me want to comfort her. However, my previous life experiences did not cover magical enslavement.  Regardless, I suppose I have to make the best of it- actually, upon consideration, for me nothing has changed. My entire goal was to eventually recover my body and ditch this dungeon, and if I am not a dungeon then her class would no longer affect me- I hope.  So long as she does not do anything that interferes with that goal, and I have no intention of telling her about it, then this situation is workable. Not ideal, but workable.


    ¡°Unfortunately,¡± I spoke to Susan after thinking for a bit.  ¡°That is something I cannot help you with as I currently am. Killing some assassins is one thing- I would presume that in this kind of world they were simply a poor match against an undead dungeon.  But actually going after them, it would be unlikely that they would not have stronger people with more diverse classes- and you just saw what would occur if I was faced by templar.¡±


    ¡°So really, you do not need to worry about that now.¡±  Why do I feel like a manipulative bastard right now? I should not be feeling bad considering I was the one enslaved!  ¡°And if you are going to help me grow stronger, than it does not particularly bother me if you want help wiping the masterminds out eventually.¡±


    It does bother me that you can override my control of my own dungeon, but I do not plan to talk about that.


    ¡°You are too kind Core¡­¡±  Susan whispered, and if she was not in such severe emotional shock- I would have considered her an idiot.  It is not kindness to give someone what they already have, even if they are not precisely aware they have it.  ¡°Aren¡¯t you mad at me?¡±


    Yes.  I thought, and then answered, ¡°Honestly, I am not sure what to think.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    I am unsure if she can tell if I lie or not, so I have been twisting my words a bit- clearly I am not compelled to answer or tell the truth, but I am unsure of the breadth of her abilities to sense me.  Regardless, it is simple enough to give her answers to different questions than she asked.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a rest?¡±  I suggested to Susan, ¡°there are some things I need to check anyway.¡±


    She agreed, and wandered away to a random corner and curled up.  Again, I should not feel so bad for her- perhaps it has something to do with our connection?  Regardless, I need to check if that connection has limited me, and to my relief, it has not. All my options are still present, I still have total control over my dungeon- the only question is how much control Susan has over me.


    As much as I may wish to know the limits of her power, which there must be if her class has levels- presumably those limits will fade as she gains experience- I would rather that she also be unaware of what she can to do stop me.  If she is not aware that she can do something, hopefully she simply will not try.


    There were other things to consider about this encounter as well, the dungeons weakness to holy spells for one.  To be honest, I do not think there is much I can do on this floor. I need to finish this floor and have a Floor Boss and begin my next floor, and hopefully I will be able to find some kind of option that does not involve buying goblins.


    Susan will probably be able to command spirits outside the dungeon much easier now- although to be honest, I briefly considered killing her in her sleep right now.  However, that seems far to easy. Surely the class would have some defense against that precise action, and honestly, I was unsure I wanted to.


    From a certain point of view, she had prevented me from commiting suicide.  A great deal of ethicists would argue that she was doing a good thing, regardless of how it interfered with my free will.  She had not intentionally enslaved me, and, despite her own problems and desires, had not immediately commanded me to take part.  In short, as of right now, Susan was a good person- and I was keenly aware that moral choices had consequences.


    What a fucking mess.


    *Susan*


    I woke up not too long after I had fallen asleep- I had not so much been tired as I had simply been overwhelmed by everything that had happened.  To be honest, I rather wished I had not woken up at all. Now that I was awake and aware, the problems I had abandoned were right back in my face.  As I was getting up, I saw the ¡®presence¡¯ that was Core appear before me.


    Come to think about it, the blur of light and shadow was not Core, he was the entire dungeon after all.  It was merely where his attention was right now. Honestly, Susan was still not sure what to say to him, Core was simply too kind and Susan felt bad for her own selfish thoughts.


    For now, she would put that aside.  Core was right, even borrowing his strength she could not bring down, or even track down, the people responsible.  There was another point, one that she had not really needed to consider before now.


    ¡°Core, you asked me what I wanted,¡± I said carefully.  ¡°And I have realized something, for all that you have done for me- even when I asked to give something back to you, I have never asked what you want.¡±


    ¡°Power and magical knowledge.¡±  Core replied simply, ¡°I cannot move, cannot run from anyone who wants to kill me.  I need power to prevent situations like the one just now- as for magical knowledge, I have many uses for it.¡±


    Core¡¯s voice was interesting, it sounded like a human man but at the same time made me think of gust blowing through a cave.  A rather fitting sound, actually.


    ¡°Core, I did not mean to end up in this situation- but, I am here now, we are here now.¡±  I thought for a moment and decided my course of action. ¡°I do not want to lord over you, but work with you.  We both want strength, we both want knowledge, we can both work together towards that goal as partners.¡±


    Core seemed to think for a second and then said, ¡°That is agreeable, I am happy to see you are a reasonable person.¡±


    I hope this partnership works out, no- for the sake of my family, I will make certain it does!

 Chapter Twelve - Accidental Palace

    *Susan*


    After a great deal of effort, it was finally time to create the Floor Boss for the first floor and begin work on the second floor.  As I had thought, the Dungeon Master class made it very easy to control Core¡¯s monsters outside the dungeon and the work went relatively fast.  I was still unsure how to feel about my new class, but I felt less bad about it when I was using it to help Core.


    Core was operating the ¡®menu,¡¯ something that I still had not gotten used to, and was creating the boss as I looked on.  It was not anything too special, just an enhanced version of the Spectral Guardians that were placed in each of the previous rooms.  However, it would be a far more powerful opponent and a difficult foe for most adventurers due to its resistance to normal weapons. More importantly, after this I would be able to have my own house and bed!


    Core did what he could, but I was essentially sleeping on the bare rock floor of a cave with minimal supplies- and it showed.  At this point a bed and a bath would be absolute heaven, let alone other furniture like tables and chairs!


    However, my daydream was broken by a chiming sound and I jumped as a menu popped up before me.


    ¡°Hey, Core.¡±  I called out, and felt Core¡¯s attention turn to me.  It was still a little awkward between us, but there was nothing to be done but press forward and hope for the best at this point.  ¡°Take a look at this!¡±


    [Dungeon Master Class Unique Ability: Mastermind Activated, options unlocked.]


    In front of me was a small list of options that seemed to have been activated when Core had confirmed his decision regarding the Floor Boss.  The list contained things like, [Boss Possession Special] or [Vengeful Bodyguard Special] and I had no idea what they meant!


    ¡°What do you think Core?¡±  Despite having little knowledge about the world in most areas, in some Core seemed to know almost everything.  I gambled he would understand this and was not disappointed.


    ¡°It appears to be one of your Classes special abilities,¡± he said with interest.  ¡°You appear to be able to confer special abilities onto Floor Bosses, though I must confess it worries me.¡±


    ¡°Why is that?¡±  I could not see how it would be anything but a good thing to have a stronger minion at our disposal.


    ¡°Hmmm, well since there are game mechanics it would logically follow that there is game balance,¡± Core was speaking words I knew, but the order he said them in made no sense.  ¡°To simplify it for you, the world itself would not allow you or I to create a dungeon that cannot be cleared- at least under normal circumstances. Depending on who set up those mechanics, and whether or not they are currently present and overlooking their creation, there may be exploits, but I doubt we will see any of those holes until far in the future.¡±


    ¡°Core¡­¡±  I could not help but sigh, ¡°that does not simplify the explanation at all¡­¡±


    ¡°Your ability is likely to either have a downside or create some sort of reward that will attract stronger people to try and challenge the dungeon to obtain it.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just say that in the first place!?¡±  I smacked him (the wall) playfully, ¡°so should I just ignore it then?¡±


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    *Core*


    I get what she means by slapping the wall- but isn¡¯t that unproductive?  It is not like I can feel it, but I will not say anything because she might actually try to slap me and I do not know whether or not she can touch me.  If I were a betting sentient magical object, I would put my money on the line that she probably could.


    ¡°No, we might as well use what we can.¡±  I reply, ¡°overall, the benefit should outweigh any disadvantage- otherwise there would be no point to the ability.¡±


    ¡°Which should I choose¡­¡±


    Even a small list can seem daunting when you have no idea what the impact of your choices are- the list did not come with an explanation.  Of course, I was able to get a bit of an idea as to their function based on my previous knowledge. For example, [Boss Possession Special] probably allowed either Susan or myself to take direct control of the boss- useful for a melee focused Dungeon Master, but useless for Susan and I right now.


    [Vengeful Bodyguards Special] would likely add minions to fight with the boss, but I would wager there was more to it than that.  What that ¡®more¡¯ was I had no clue.


    Other than those two, there was also [Mini Boss Encounter Special] and [No Boss Special].  Which did not seem useful on the surface, but by my prior reasoning must have some use or they would not be there.


    ¡°Hmmm, well if we work backwards,¡± I was thinking out loud, glad to have someone to bounce ideas off of.  ¡°[No Boss Special] obviously removes the boss entirely, which is a disadvantage. However, because it almost certainly has an overall positive affect, I would wager it improves the strength of minions on the floor.¡±  Probably. If that option turns out to be a hard mode points multiplier option I will strangle the being that made this world with my bare hands the second I get a body to do so!


    ¡°As for [Mini Boss Encounter Special] it probably changes the battle from a single boss fight to an encounter with multiple bosses throughout the dungeon, culminating into a final battle here- but all of the creatures would be individually weaker than the usual boss.¡±


    Actually, I wonder if these abilities are like my own and unlocked based on conditions?  No, they almost certainly are- which would mean¡­


    ¡°If you would be so kind, please choose that option.¡±  I ask, because the reality is I actually have no choice in this.  ...Wow that sounds passive aggressive, by the time I get out of this predicament I am going to need a shrink.


    Susan did so and in front of us a larger than normal skeleton began to form- a Spectral Guardian Mini Boss named¡­  Specy.


    ¡°My Lord!¡±  Specy exclaimed in shock, and the belatedly added, ¡°My Lady.¡± Before continuing on, ¡°What has happened to me?  We feel¡­ I feel? Strange¡­¡±


    I briefly checked the dungeon and as I suspected, the Spectral Guardians in each room had changed into mini bosses- each getting progressively stronger until the one in front of him in the boss room, and all of them appeared to be Specy.


    ¡°Hmmm, well skipping the unimportant parts, you have become the boss of this floor and all of you are the same being now.¡±  I said lightly, ¡°how does it feel?¡±


    ¡°This must be a fraction of what it is like to be my Lord!¡±  Specy said in awe, ¡°to be multiple places in the dungeon at once, I am in awe¡­¡±


    ¡°Wow,¡± Susan seemed a little stunned, but came back to herself.  ¡°That is incredible.¡±


    ¡°And now, finally, we can start on the next floor.¡±


    Fortunately, the staircase down to the next floor was free and surprisingly, the floor came with theme options- one of which was necropolis.  How convenient, well might as well use it then, I thought. It was a good reminder to think before I act, I would later say.


    My first floor was a maze, a labyrinth and even though a necropolis would, by design, be more open, I had planned to continue down that vein as much as possible.


    Instead, I got a more or less completely open floor- to the point where it was annoyingly creepy- and a palace at one end.  The necropolis floor functioned vastly differently than normal dungeon floors, rather than purchase hallways to dig through the rock, I would have to purchase buildings to fill the cavernous space!


    ¡°Well,¡± I sighed as I turned to Susan. ¡°I guess you get a palace after all.¡±

 Chapter Thirteen - A New Resident

    *Susan*


    I have changed my mind about the Dungeon Master class- it is most evidently the greatest class in existence.  Why? Because it allowed me to take the decorational necropolis palace suite and make it fully functional. It stands to reason that the master of a dungeon would need a place to sleep after all!  Plus, a few suggestions from Core had allowed me to turn the place into a lap of luxury that would not shame any noble!


    When asked how he knew about these things, being a Dungeon Core and having no real need for them, Core did not elaborate- but did say he was mostly asking about these options out of curiosity and was very surprised so many had been possible.  The room was lit by magical crystals- and due to Core¡¯s suggestions I could control them with a convenient switch. By creating a mattress filled with down and a mix of other materials Core mentioned, I had ended up with a bed so amazing I never wanted to leave it.  And when Core had, seemingly jokingly, suggested I try and produce a ¡®jacuzzi tub-¡¯ the resulting creation was clearly a gift from the Gods.


    Relaxing in it right now, all I could say was that it was worth the effort to help Core get to the second floor.  Who would have thought heaven could be found in the second floor of an undead dungeon?


    ¡°Hey, Susan-¡±


    I screamed, and covered myself under the water, ¡°What the hell are you doing!?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you are in the bath, sorr-¡±


    ¡°Get out you perverted bastard!¡±  I threw a brush at Core, but it obviously just passed right through him.  Nevertheless, his presence disappeared from the bathroom and I could feel it outside the door.  I was generally aware of the structure of the dungeon and where Core was focusing at any one moment, but he still snuck up on me because his focus could shift instantly and without warning!


    ¡°That girl, the ranger Hailey, wanted to speak with you and asked me to let you know.¡±  The voice came through the door, ¡°also, for the record, while I am male, I am basically a magical rock- and even if I had a human body, I would still tell you to come back in two or three years regardless.  You do not need to scream- I don¡¯t even have ears and I feel like they are bleeding. That said, I will attempt to not interrupt you in this kind of situation again- so do give me a warning, ok?¡±


    With that, he disappeared to the first floor, and I have to admit he is probably right about the last part.  From what Core has told me, moving through the dungeon for him is as easy as deciding where he wants to be- so if he needs to find me, he just goes to where I am, but he will not necessarily be aware of what I am doing until he focuses there.  In short, unless I warn him he is not going to knock.


    Having had that reasonable thought, I swear I am going to find a way to kick his ass for the rest of his comments!


    *Core*


    Well that was uncomfortable, but how precisely was I supposed to know better?  I am not quite omniscient and omnipresent, and if I was I would be essentially watching anyways.  So the only way I could know not to look would have been to already be looking and to be honest, who cares?  I mean, obviously when I get my body back I will, but right now I am more or less a magical rock inside a magical cave and care about as much about a naked woman as the walls of a house would.  For that matter, while I am not entirely sure of her age, I doubt it is above seventeen so even if I had a body I wouldn¡¯t want to look regardless!


    Through the new and improved [Mini Boss Specy] I told Hailey that I had informed Susan and that she was on her way.  I also invited Hailey in, but she declined to come further than the entrance- well I would not trust the magical talking boss skeleton either, so I am not insulted.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Though as I waited, I did have to wonder how this world functioned.  The world needed, and evidently had, farmers, blacksmiths, cooks and other peasant level jobs- but why would anyone do that when they could throw fireballs?  Susan and Hailey are roughly the same age and are a Bard and Ranger respectively, which are not beginner classes. The requirements to unlock Ranger are well known, requiring level five in both the Scout and Archer Classes- but how does that line up with a world where most people do not reach level five in a single combat oriented class?


    Hailey seemed a bit confused why I would ask, since it was likely similar to asking how to breath- though again, I had no lungs, so a normal dungeon core might actually ask that kind of question.  She did answer the question, and the answer was quite interesting.


    ¡°Classes have certain requirements, and getting experience is not easy.¡±  Hailey explained, ¡°Susan and I were both power-leveled by our families, and even then it was incredibly intense and exhausting.  Most people never get the opportunity to meet those requirements, or if they do, they cannot really level efficiently. In addition, it is simply not cost effective.  Unless someone is hiring soldiers, a level one soldier does not have many employment prospects and even if they have something like the farmer class as well, they will no longer gain experience through farming for it when the soldier class is active.¡±


    That makes sense, but I cannot help but feel this is a system ripe for abuse, I will have to think more about that later.  At least Susan is finally here, this conversation has been uncomfortable on multiple levels, though it was informative.


    ¡°Susan!¡±  Hailey cried in relief and ran over and hugged Susan, ¡°I am so glad you are ok!¡±


    ¡°Hailey,¡± Susan laughed, ¡°it has only been a few days, and I told you I am not in any danger!¡±


    Yeah, I am in danger from you.  Though I do have to admit you are not a bad person, which only makes this worse.  If Susan was a villain than I could hate her and plot without consequence. With her current personality?  Not so much. Whatever, I won¡¯t speak for now.


    ¡°But you are out in this cave all alone!¡±  Hailey exclaimed, ¡°I could not stop worrying with you out here by yourself!¡±


    Susan laughed and said, ¡°well the woods you love so much is right out there, why not stay here with me?¡±


    Wait, what?


    ¡°No offence Su,¡± Hailey did not look like she was taking that as a joke!  ¡°But I can make a nicer home out in the forest than you would find in a cave!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Susan had a sly smile, and I had just got done saying she was not a villain!  ¡°Want to make a bet?¡±


    ¡°A moment Susan,¡± I interjected, speaking to Susan and having Specy translate for Hailey.  ¡°How serious are you about this?¡±


    ¡°Well, if Hailey wants to, why not?¡±  Susan said, ¡°it is most efficient for her to gain experience in a forest, and this wilderness is a good place for that and this is a safe place for her to return to.  And we could benefit from her scouting and knowledge of the terrain.¡±


    Well, I cannot fault her logic.  ¡°I understand.¡± I do not particularly like having a person who clearly does not like me anywhere near my core room, but I think it would be a bad idea to try and argue.  Well, she is a ranger, hopefully she won¡¯t be in here very much.


    *Susan*


    ¡°So, what do you think?¡±


    I probably had a smug look on my face as I showed off my suite of rooms to Hailey¡¯s amazement.  Ha! Let¡¯s see you make a better camp than this with your sticks!


    ¡°This is incredible,¡± Hailey was playing with the magical light switch.  ¡°You made this?¡±


    ¡°Core helped,¡± I admitted.  ¡°He is a pretty nice guy.¡±


    Not that I have forgotten what happened earlier, but he was still a decent guy.  Now that I can talk to him, I honestly find a lot of his thoughts pretty fascinating- and his dedication to morality is honestly more serious than most templar!


    ¡°I don¡¯t trust it,¡± Hailey muttered, and then her voice strengthened.  ¡°If you won¡¯t leave, I will take you up on your offer and stay with you.  You need someone watching your back Su.¡±


    ¡°You say that now,¡± I laughed, even though I was honestly quite touched by my friends sentiment.  ¡°But once you see the jacuzzi tub, you will never want to leave!¡±

 Chapter Fourteen - Goblins

    *Core*


    ¡°So what do you plan to do for your next class?¡±  I asked, through Specy, Hailey who had managed to settle in despite her distaste for me and the undead.  Between her and Susan I was getting a better picture of how this world worked, it was quite interesting honestly.


    ¡°Honestly I am not really sure.¡±  Hailey said, without looking at Specy, still she was otherwise quite polite.  ¡°It will be a bit of a pain, but I will probably go for the soldier class for its utility.  Honestly, I think you underestimate the difficulty to level and gain classes. Even with my parents power leveling, it took twelve years to reach where I am now.  Each level took a whole year, and Su had it even harder with her rare class!¡±


    ¡°Its true,¡± Susan agreed.  ¡°You can gain experience by combat and killing for any class, but you only get a tiny portion if you are not utilizing your class correctly.  A mage can gain experience by killing with a sword, but it will be far less than if he used magic to do it- and classes like Bards do not even gain experience directly, but based on their supporting of others.¡±


    Wow, that is rough.  And this was with help and training.  Still, I do wonder¡­


    ¡°If you can gain experience from dungeon monsters,¡± I spoke my thoughts out loud.  Well, at least as ¡®out loud¡¯ as I can. ¡°Why could I not just let you kill the respawning monsters and gain experience?¡±


    ¡°I would not gain much,¡± Hailey shrugged.  ¡°It just would not be worth it, not unless you had really powerful monsters.  I do not think that Specy here would be enough to really matter.¡±


    ¡°But a soldier could gain experience via that method?¡±


    ¡°Possibly?¡±  Susan thought about it for a bit, ¡°I doubt it.  I cannot say for certain, but I heard that if you repeat actions too much you get less experience for them.  Can¡¯t say if it is true though.¡±


    Of course, another example of game balancing.  Well, I will have to put that idea away for now, but I am not giving it up.  These kids do not know what real power leveling is. In a lot of popular multiplayer games a lot of gamers become experts at doing that and can max their friends in hours!  If I could do something similar, considering the state of this world I would have incalculable value.


    Ah, well, it would just be too easy.  That said-


    ¡°A piece of advice,¡± I was speaking to Hailey.  ¡°If such a thing exists, you should go for a thief class instead.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡±  Hailey turned angrily to Specy, ¡°why would I do something so shameless?¡±


    What is with that reaction?  Well, I suppose a thief is a thief- it would be odd if people just accepted that class in normal society.  Nevertheless-


    ¡°A Ranger is essentially a ranged warrior that focuses on stealth and mobility in a natural environment,¡± gaming logic finally has a use, all the mothers in my world would die of shock.  ¡°A soldier is someone who fights on the front line, which has little crossover with what you have. A thief will likely have skills and abilities that focus on stealth and will help you in urban environments as well.  And I presume that the thief class will eventually lead to the assassin class, correct?¡±


    ¡°You would ask me to become an assassin!?¡±  Wow Hailey hates me now, which is not really a loss.


    ¡°Well you do not have to kill innocent people,¡± I said, wishing Hailey could hear my sarcastic tone.  Susan could, and she was frowning at me slightly. ¡°The point is that it would work well with the skills you already have- but hey, that is just my advice.¡±


    ¡°I can see why you would say that,¡± Susan sighed.  ¡°But I do not think you understand- those are both illegal classes, just having them is enough to be punished.  Thieves by branding and assassins by execution, wanting those classes is terrible- no good person would.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°Whatever, I am going hunting.¡±  Hailey said suddenly, stood up and left.


    ¡°I will be back later Core,¡± Susan got up and followed Hailey out, the spirits accompanying her.  ¡°She will come around, I think.¡±


    Well, if she does or does not it really is not my problem- so whatever¡­


    *Susan*


    ¡°Hailey slow down!¡±


    Keeping up with that woman in the forest was a lost cause if she did not want to be caught.  Thankfully, Hailey slowed down and let me get close, I had to take a second to catch my breath!


    ¡°Why did you leave so suddenly?¡±  I asked as I managed to recover, ¡°he really is not a bad guy- he just does not know anything about the world outside his dungeon.¡±


    ¡°I know that!¡±  Hailey snapped angrily, ¡°but look, it is clearly suspicious that he is suggesting things like that!¡±


    ¡°You are overthinking things,¡± I could not help but laugh.  ¡°He will grow on you!¡±


    ¡°Maybe, maybe not,¡± Hailey said noncommittally.  ¡°But I do not thi-¡±


    She stopped suddenly, straightening up and listening.  I could not hear anything, but the ranger class was an advanced version of the scout class- it really was not surprising that Hailey had better sense than me.


    In a blink, she drew an arrow and fired it into a seemingly random direction in the forest.  Seemingly random until a muffled grunt in the distance sounded instead of the thunk of an arrow hitting a tree trunk.  Hailey moved quickly through the forest in that direction, and I struggled to follow behind her. Actually, I am really envious of the spirits who can just float through things and over others- I do not have many clothes to ruin you know!


    Regardless, I reach Hailey to find her crouching over a dead goblin- no, that is a goblin scout.  Hailey looked at me, and I was already frowning. Goblins might be a common nuisance, only a danger to people without a combat class, but a goblin scout would only appear under certain conditions.  Those conditions were, first, a large enough tribe and second, a leader for that tribe. And out here in the wilderness, a group like that could grow to become a problem.


    My frown turned to a smile, ¡°want to go take a look Hailey?¡±


    Hailey chuckled quietly, ¡°I thought you would never ask.¡±


    Goblins are not much of an issue after all, or they wouldn¡¯t be- except that my prediction was wrong.  I thought they could grow to be a problem, but looking at the camp in the valley below me I had to admit they were already there.


    ¡°Shit!¡±  Hailey breathed, ¡°the guild is not going to want to send another force out here so soon, especially not for shitty goblins!¡±


    It was basic economics after all.  Dungeon cores were valuable and that offset the cost of the subjugating force- but goblins never had anything worth looking at twice.  Out in the middle of nowhere, no one would want to deal with them until they had to- until they had grown large enough to hurt people before they finally were brought down!  However¡­


    ¡°I do not really see a problem Hailey,¡± I smiled.  ¡°Surely you are not afraid of a few goblins, right?¡±


    ¡°The two of us cannot face that many Su.¡±


    ¡°Two?¡±  A mental command had the spirits float behind me.  ¡°They are just goblins, if you take out the occasional goblin shaman I do not think we will have anything to worry about.¡±


    Hailey did not want to work with the undead, but she did not want to leave the goblins alone either.  In the end, she agreed.


    I walked openly towards the goblin camp, and the goblin guards reacted exactly as I expected.  Goblins and goblinkin are not kind to women, regardless of race, but unlike the larger goblinkin they were not often strong enough to follow through on their desire.  But with their seeming advantage, they left their posts and rushed for their chance without thinking- and were attacked by the spirits who struck them from the shadows and undergrowth.


    No alarm was sounded, and I sent my spirits to sweep into the camp.  Eventually, cries of alarm were raised, but it did not matter. The goblin¡¯s crude clubs could do nothing against the spirits and to make matters worse, I was singing.  All the spirits were buffed in strength and speed, and the normally weak spirits were now far stronger than before and easily slaughtered the goblins before them.


    A goblin shaman, with a large gnarled staff topped with an animal skull that was taller than the goblin itself, appeared and began to cast- but an arrow through the throat put an end to that.  The goblins saw that happen and threw down their weapons and ran- much to my suprise.


    A few minutes later Hailey and I were staring at the empty camp, where was the leader?

 Chapter Fifteen - Names

    *Core*


    [2,000 XP Received!]  -what?


    [3,000 XP Received!]  Ok, so Susan must be killing something¡­  I wonder what? When I take a look at the specifics, wow that is a lot of goblins.  Taking a look through the spirits eyes, and it looks like Susan is slaughtering some goblin village?  Well that raises some questions. Well, I cannot do anything about it now- might as well use the resources provided to me.


    Filling the space on the second floor is far cheaper than I thought it would, but it looks like the houses I was purchasing could be upgraded quite a bit.  Interesting, but still so drab. Perhaps if I add a garden? Maybe a park of some kind? Should have a fountain too, and I see it has trapping options- but if I accidentally trap Hailey that would be an issue- so no traps.


    The whole place is starting to look like a town!  A shitty town, but a town. I will upgrade it later, I guess.  But I have better things to do with this mana right now, first, one of the new options that has become available with my new floor!


    [Lesser Lich Lv. 1] acquired.


    ¡°Oh, my Lord!¡±  The Lich announced as he took form, a floating skeleton in a ragged robe. ¡°How may I serve you?¡±


    ¡°Just guard the Core room for now,¡± I said, moving on.  ¡°I will talk to you later, wait for me until then.¡±


    ¡°As you command my Lord!¡±


    It is really easy to be dismissive of my minions, I will have to be careful- that lich is sentient after all.  Maybe I should be nicer? Whatever, the first thing I have to do is take care of a practical thing.


    [Sheekol Buri Lv. 1] acquired.


    Not sure how I unlocked a spirit that is supposed to be created from young women being drowned, but I am not going to think about it too much right now.  Maybe it has to do with Susan¡¯s family somehow? Not exactly something I can really ask¡­


    ¡°Hello my Lord,¡± the beautiful young woman with slightly damp hair bowed lightly.  ¡°What may I do for you today?¡±


    ¡°Well, to be honest,¡± as awkward as this is¡­  ¡°I needed a maid, and someone to keep an eye on the human visitors to the dungeon.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°My Lord has human visitors?¡±  The Buri seemed surprised, but covered it up quickly.  ¡°As my Lord says, so shall I obey.¡±


    ¡°The next thing, your species name is simply too unwieldy.  I shall name you¡­ Xiangling¡± Bengal is close enough to China to name a Bengali ghost that right?  Does it even matter? Why am I thinking about where a name comes from in another world? Well, I do not know any famous Bengali maids or attendants, and as even in this other world I am going to protest David Hawkes naming sense in this case.


    Maybe having people here is a good thing- clearly, my sanity slips a bit in my isolation.


    ¡°My Lord!¡±  Xiangling said, ¡°I do not deserve such a thing!¡±


    ¡°It is not about deserving or not, it is a matter of convenience for me and others.¡±


    [Unique monster unlocked: Xiangling, The Palace Maid!]


    ¡°Perfect,¡± that was unexpected, but not unwanted.  ¡°Your service will be appreciated, Xiangling.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, my Lord.¡±  Xiangling¡¯s voice was full of emotion- is a name really that important?  I have forgotten mine after all...


    I left back to go talk to the lich, maybe I should give him a name too?  If I have a town, it needs a mayor right? Part administrator, part commader- a creature to control the others on this floor and direct them against invaders.  Well, might as well.


    ¡°Ah, Master you have returned.¡±  The Lich bowed deeply to me, ¡°how may I serve you?¡±


    ¡°A lich seems like a useful creature to have as a commander, so I am going to give you a name and give you command over this floor.  I do not want to have to do it myself after all.¡±


    ¡°My Lord honors me,¡± the lich bowed again.  ¡°But are you sure that you would have a lowly being like me have such a high position?¡±


    Holy shit, the unending humility is infuriating!  ¡°I have said as much, no? You are now Sima- command over the necropolis is yours.¡±


    [Unique monster unlocked: Sima, The Palace Strategist!]


    And as long as I am at it, I move myself to the first floor boss room.  Specy, or one part of him anyways, was inside. A boss named ¡®Specy¡¯ is just idiotic I think, so what should I choose?


    ¡°Lord Core.¡±  Specy bowed slightly and returned to his post, now this is how a minion should be!  If only he was like this when translating and did not editorialize everything!


    Hmmmm¡­  This is a bit harder than the others¡­  I rather want to name him after the Spartans somehow, but I feel it would be too cheesy and according to Susan there already is a dungeon somewhere that tells bad jokes, so I would rather not be another joke dungeon¡­


    ¡°Your name shall be Ajax.¡±  I said suddenly as the idea came upon me.


    ¡°My Lord!?¡±  This took Ajax by surprise, but I was satisfied with my choice.


    [Unique monster unlocked: Ajax, The Stalwart Defender!  Max unique monsters created for floor number!]


    Wait, what?  I have a limit on the amount of minions I can name?  I probably should have asked what the effect of gaining a name was for my minions¡­  Whoops.

 Chapter Sixteen - Rescuing a Caravan

    *Susan*


    ¡°That¡­  Is a lot of goblins¡­¡±  I said as I looked out over the gigantic camp.  I would call it a city, but the goblins tents and shacks and muddy paths did not really give that impression.  It was more like a giant camp, or perhaps a giant dump. Considering it was goblins, perhaps both.


    ¡°I have never seen, no-¡± Hailey shook her head, ¡°I have never even heard of something like this.¡±


    ¡°This is going to take more than a subjugation force,¡± Susan muttered.  ¡°This needs an army, and it is sitting so close to one of the main roads through this area¡­¡±


    Susan could only imagine how many people had fallen prey to these goblins, but at the same time if many people had gone missing someone would have been sent out to investigate.  It was basically impossible that goblins could have gone unnoticed for so long unless they had an incredibly powerful leader or leaders.


    Goblins were little more than a nuisance, but that was only alone.  All goblinkin breed quickly, and actual goblins breed so quickly that if they stopped killing each other they could rise to numbers that would be an actual threat.  And now it appears they have¡­


    ¡°We should head back, we will need to get a message out as soon as possible.¡±


    Hailey and I carefully made our way back the way we had came to sneak up on the camp.  Hailey¡¯s skills as a ranger were absolutely necessary for us to make it through the scouts, even though the goblins were not that skilled.  They were quite numerous though.


    ¡°Something is wrong,¡± Hailey frowned suddenly.  ¡°The scouts are missing¡­¡±


    From the distance, I hear shouting- human shouting.


    ¡°Shit.¡±  I swore, and Hailey and I moved quickly through the forest to the road, where the goblins were chasing a large merchant caravan.  A very large merchant caravan, but this was not the place for that question now.


    ¡°I have never even seen goblins using steeds before!¡±  I quickly exited the forest and began to sing a fatigue recovery song.  The haggard merchants perked up a bit as they heard my song, and next to me Hailey sent arrow after arrow into the goblins behind them.


    ¡°Normally only orcs ride orcs,¡± Hailey hissed, ¡°but goblin riders do exist!  Be careful, because they are dual class warriors and mages, they are former tamers!¡±


    As if to drive the point home, one of the riders threw a small fireball at the caravan guards that were desperately trying to hold them off.  Another of the guards fell dead, but thankfully, the spirits entered the fray. The goblin riders could use magic, and could hurt the spirits, but the influx of new fighters confused the goblins and they pulled back.


    ¡°Thank you so much!¡±  The leader of the merchants greeted and thanked them, but he still had a despairing look on his face.  This was only a temporary stay of death, there was no way to make it back to a safe place from here¡­ Unless¡­


    ¡°Quickly,¡± I gestured.  ¡°We have to move, there is a place we can hide in not too far from here!¡±


    ¡°Really?  Thank the gods!¡±  The merchant exclaimed, ¡°bless you young lady!  Please lead the way!¡±


    Moving by the roads was slower than following Hailey through the wilderness, but that only applied to a small group.  As I looked, this group was anything but. There were a couple of merchants and guards, but the rest seemed like common peasants?  Why would they be here?


    Also¡­  ¡°Hailey, they have already encountered the spirits I left.¡±


    For that matter, one of them had already been defeated.  Those goblin riders were definitely stronger monsters than them, and they would not be able to hold them off for long.  At the very least, the caravan was able to move much more quickly under the effects of my song- but it would still be close.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    ¡°I hate to question our saviors,¡± the captain of the guards was speaking to Hailey because it was hard for me to speak and keep up my song at the same time.  ¡°But where are we going?¡±


    ¡°You will hardly believe it,¡± Hailey said grimly as they run.  ¡°But a friendly dungeon.¡±


    Friendly might be a bit of a stretch, I am honestly not sure how Core is going to react to this- or where they are all going to stay¡­  But I will talk to him about that when we arrive, undoubtedly he already has some ideas due to the spirits. Honestly, I am also worried about what will happen if the goblins try to push their way in regardless, but I could hardly leave these people to fend for themselves.


    ¡°A what?¡±  The guard was surprised, ¡°Well if any other option is death anyways, we might as well take this gamble.¡±


    ¡°Hailey,¡± I did not speak many words because it was difficult to do mid song.  ¡°The spirits fell.¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡±  Hailey cursed, ¡°the entrance is in sight, hurry!¡±


    The only problem with ¡°in sight¡± is that the entrance to a mountain cave can be visible hours before it is possible to reach it.  I estimate that we have about an hour and a half of running, even with my songs- not all of us are going to make it.


    A little bit later, ¡°Monsters on the road!¡±  An unpleasent shout came out. If we are caught from the front, no, those are-


    ¡°Ignore them,¡± Hailey shouted.  ¡°They are our allies!¡±


    Spectral Warriors stood aside and let the caravan pass, and moved to block the road behind us.  The sound of battle rose not far behind us as the vanguard of the goblin riders met our new escort.  I could hug Core right now.


    I released my song as we reached the entrance and called out, ¡°Core!¡±


    ¡°Susan, what the hell is this!?¡±  Core sounded quite displeased, and I cringed.


    ¡°There is a whole army of goblins, I could not just leave them!¡±


    Core sighed, ¡°fine.  Fine! But we are having a talk about this Susan.  You cannot just make decisions and expect me to accept them without complaint!¡±


    I really do put too much pressure on Core, I will have to see if there is something I can do for him.  In the meantime¡­


    ¡°Ok, everybody follow me!¡±  I led the caravan through the labyrinth to the second floor.  I really cannot blame them for being terrified, walking past powerful undead like that would have been difficult for me in the past too.


    On reaching the second floor, I blinked and laughed.  ¡°You have been busy Core!¡±


    ¡°Well, you did slaughter a fair amount of goblins for me.¡±  Core appeared next to me as I said that, ¡°and on that note, keep these people out of the palace- I do not want them near me.¡±


    Well, I can do that much.  Having people near his core room is like me allowing someone to hold a knife to my throat.


    ¡°For the time being,¡± I spoke to the crowd.  ¡°All of these houses are empty and you can live anywhere besides the palace itself.  In the meantime, would you mind having your leaders come and talk to me please?¡±


    The guard captain, the merchant, and one of the peasants came forward and the others milled around, unsure of what to do.  I suppose it would be a bit much to expect them to accept it so soon and so easily.


    ¡°Well, allow me to introduce myself,¡± I said.  ¡°I am Susan, a Bard and Dungeon Master and this is my friend, Hailey, a Ranger.  Hopefully we can get along for as long as we are together.¡±


    ¡°A Dungeon Master!?  Impossible!¡± The guard captain shouted, ¡°that class is basically a myth!¡±


    ¡°Well, he we are.¡±  I said, gesturing to the dungeon.  ¡°Unless you have a divination master there is not much I can do to prove it other than the fact you are standing here without being attacked.¡±


    ¡°We do not, I suppose I am being rude to the people who rescued us, so please allow me to apologise.  I am Graegus, a Veteran Soldier and the leader of the soldiers hired by Marus here.¡±


    ¡°As he said,¡± Marus held his hand out for me to shake.  ¡°I am Marus, a Merchant and this disaster of a excursion is funded by me, for what that is worth.¡±


    I took and shook his hand, ¡°well I would not be able to say anything about that, but at least you are alive, right?¡±


    ¡°At least I am alive,¡± Marus agreed with a laugh.


    ¡°And I am Heimelson, a Farmer and I suppose a refugee.¡±


    ¡°A refugee?¡±  Hailey said questioningly.


    ¡°The civil war gave me little choice.¡±

 Chapter Seventeen - Siege (Part I)

    *Core*


    The goblins were surging into the dungeon in an unending flood, and being cut down just as quickly. While individually weak, the sheer numbers would overwhelm most opponents- or at the very least exhaust them as they fought for hours and hours or even days. Except, the narrow entrance of the dungeon and the winding mountain path prevented the goblins from using their numbers well, and the undead never tire. Even if the goblins did manage to succeed, the undead would just respawn anyway.


    Although one of my mobs being spawned in the middle of a room full of goblins would probably fall quite quickly, depending on what mob it was. Regardless, they had yet to get past the first incarnation of Ajax and it did not seem they were going to get close to beating him for a long while yet. So I decided that I could let this invasion be for now and go back to the second floor- where my real headache was.


    I materialized near Susan, who was talking to and comforting the various villagers who now inhabited my necropolis. Honestly, given how many goblins there were, I was confused how they failed to notice the things. Goblins were not precisely subtle creatures after all¡­


    Though based on what I was hearing, they may have had good reason to be distracted. Even if it had almost gotten them killed.


    ¡°The Legera Alliance is in the middle of a civil war?¡± Susan was saying with disbelief, clearly shocked by the information.


    ¡°The human majority city states in the northern part of the Alliance declared themselves independent and attacked the other states.¡± The guard, Graegus, explained wearily. ¡°Worse still, they have all joined up with the Mortal Kingdom¡¯s ¡®religion¡¯ and are enslaving all non-humans and non-human sympathisers.¡±


    Considering that a good chunk of the villagers were beast-people of various kinds, the humans here must be from the latter group. They must have traveled quite a bit to have come this close to the eastern side of the central wilderness, so it is also likely that much has changed from what they knew when they left. Still, although it is conjecture, I would imagine what is going on should be obvious- the Mortal Kingdom to the north was almost undoubtedly the cause and likely the backer for the rebelling city-states.


    Still¡­ ¡°As informative as they might be, I really do not like having these people here Susan.¡±


    ¡°I was not about to let them die Core,¡± Susan replied to me, leaving her audience confused as she seemed to talk to the air. ¡°I will make certain they behave, and I will keep them out of the palace.¡±


    ¡°But you will not change your mind- is what you are saying?¡± I sighed, ¡°I realize I literally have no choice, but this does not make you much different from the people they are running from, you know?¡±


    Susan had a bitter expression come over face and I could hear guilt and shame in her voice, ¡°I know that! But there was no good solution Core- either I let these people die, or I impose on you. Can you say that your comfort is worth more than their lives?¡±


    I could not say that, no. But that was presupposing that the goblins did not make their way to this floor and kill everyone here. While the defences are holding up quite well against the poorly armed and overall rather weak goblins, according to all I had seen and heard the horde was large enough that neither I nor Susan could actually be sure that the goblins would not win.


    In short, Susan was gambling here and betting my life in the process.


    ¡°Your logic is not faultless Susan,¡± I did not explain my thoughts to her, people rarely appreciate being told that they are, and how they are, wrong during the moment. It would be easier to bring up later as a warning not to do something like this again. ¡°However, I will leave that aside and ask a more pertinent question- now what?¡±


    No one, not even things as dumb as goblins, raise an army and do not use it. Given the location of the goblins, it was crystal clear to me and anyone with half of a working brain that they would like swarm into the Amero Republic. I admit that if I was in charge of the horde, rather invade our eastern neighbor, Amero, I would march to Legera and attack the distracted and weakened country. However, I highly doubt the goblins would be smart enough to do that. So unless the goblins did leave for the west, the place these refugees were fleeing towards was now just as dangerous as where they had left.


    ¡°That is a good question,¡± Susan agreed, and she turned to the confused villagers and repeated it to them. As they deliberated, she was quiet for a second and then seemed to have a sudden revelation and asked the three to wait while she talked to me in private.


    What she was going to ask was fairly obvious, and I was already preparing myself to fiercely argue against it.


    ¡°Core¡­¡± Susan sighed and then seemed to resolve herself and push forward, ¡°why not let them live here?¡±


    ¡°Aside from the obvious, you mean?¡± I let a little sarcasm drip into my words, ¡°leaving aside my approval- which does not ultimately matter- how would we feed them? Can they turn the parks within the necropolis into farms? And let us say that they can, considering that the dungeon is permeated with magic it might work, would they be comfortable in a city that will be filled with undead guardians? And further, are you not just letting your emotions run away with you? I am want to be a ¡®good¡¯ person, but I am not going out of my way to be a saint! How does this advance either of our causes?¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Rather than withering under my words, Susan hardened and stood up straight and argued back.


    ¡°I will admit that I let my feelings take charge for a while,¡± Susan agreed. ¡°But that is not the case now. You are being short sighted, this is the best way to meet both of our desires! We need power and strength, but those things are more than just levels and classes. These people can help us, provide us with things we cannot provide ourselves- give us numbers, organization, reputation. For me, those things can help me find the people I want to take revenge on- for you, they provide a shield against claims of your ¡®evil¡¯ and will help you survive. This can only benefit us!¡±


    Yeah, when she puts it like that, I can understand what she means. It does seem like a logical choice, and one that I feel I would have considered if not for the influence of being a Dungeon Core on my personality. Having said that, while I have not known Susan for very long, I am not certain that the girl in front of me is the same girl I met at first, and I do not think the change has been entirely healthy for her.


    ¡°I see the merits of what you are saying,¡± I am forced to admit this fact, however¡­ ¡°But it still makes me uncomfortable to have them so close to myself, if they enter the palace I will have them killed. And one other thing¡­ You said you wanted me to be a partner, not a slave. Your actions and words are not really matching- you consult me for advice, not approval. Even if your actions have so far been correct, your method of simply pushing past my thoughts is not.¡±


    I spoke sternly, almost angrily, I have to admit I was feeling slightly betrayed after all. Only slightly mind, the reality is that I did not have the greatest expectations to begin with- just a vague idea of this girl¡¯s personality. Considering the death of her family, her sudden acquirement of a rare class, and the chaotic situation the world appeared to be heading to- should I really be surprised that her personality was changing? It would be more strange if it did not. At the very least, the fact that she is functioning despite her grief and without really showing that grief is likely not evidence that she is handling it well. More likely, those feelings are shaping her every action currently¡­ What a mess, I am not a psychologist!


    Susan replied with a sigh, ¡°I know Core, I know. I will make it up to you, and I will keep my word- you are my partner, not my possession. Things are just a bit rough right now.¡±


    Yeah, I figured. I would not mind so much if I was not bound to you though, is what I thought. What I said was, ¡°and I will do my best to help- just run things by me before you just do things, ok?¡±


    Again, I am unsure why I feel slightly guilty about the gap between my thoughts and words. Just like before when I twisted my words to hide my eventual goal, I am uncomfortable acting deceptive towards Susan. Considering that it is not a compulsion, I doubt it is an effect of the Dungeon Master class. I probably feel bad because she is such an honest person, Susan simply does not hide things from me. While on the other hand, I was not entirely truthful to her. Well, I did not feel bad enough to change anything I was doing though.


    After Susan agreed and went to deliver the offer of settling in my dungeon to the peasants, I returned to the first floor to oversee the battle. From what I am seeing, choosing undead over goblins in the beginning was one of the best choices I had ever made. The goblins were nearly incapable of hurting my forces, whereas they were more than capable of hurting the goblins. The first Ajax incarnation was flinging the goblins aside with his shield and laying about himself with his spear. It had reached a point where the only thing that kept the cowardly creatures coming towards him was the pressure from their comrades behind them.


    ¡°This cannot be all they have,¡± I spoke aloud. ¡°Right? Admittedly, the hallways and chokepoints, combined with my undead¡¯s natural resistance to normal weapons, helps. But surely in the grand scheme of things I am on the weaker side of this world¡­¡±


    ¡°My Lord forgets that we do not suffer from fatigue,¡± Ajax laughed in response as he skewered two goblins in one thrust. ¡°Throw enough numbers at a living creature and they will fall eventually!¡±


    ¡°I am not so certain of that.¡± After all, this world has quite a few game mechanics so ¡®fatigue¡¯ is probably reduced to a number at its essence. The only thing that needs to happen for a human to be able to match the undead is for their recovery of stamina to be equal or greater than the cost of their actions.


    As I was thinking about this, a larger goblin came forward to face Ajax. For the first time in this battle, Ajax was unable to kill his foe in a single strike. Instead, he was matched by his opponent, and I frowned. It seems my hypothesis that the goblins had stronger types was proven correct, but the creature still could not really hurt Ajax.


    This goblin was far better outfitted than the others. Rather than running hunched with naught but a loincloth and club, it was outfitted in metal armor and brandished a steel longsword. It stood up straight and its technique was enough to land blows on Ajax, though Ajax¡¯s resistances rendered them ineffective.


    The larger issue was another rare goblin class that was waiting behind this armored goblin. Dressed in a robe and clutching a gnarled staff topped with an animal skull, this magic using goblin struck out at Ajax.


    It was immediately clear that Ajax would not win this fight- or at least this Ajax would not. The further these goblins went in, the stronger the ¡®Ajax¡¯ they would face. If it was just this much, I did not really need to worry much.


    Unfortunately, it was not just that much. The regular goblins stopped entering my dungeon, but more armored goblins marched in. They were escorting goblins with colorful robes adorned by trinkets, and they had numbers enough to fully replace the flood of regular goblins that had been fighting, and dying, here before.


    Anyone could see that they would eventually clear this floor, the question became what I could do about it. To be honest, I do not think there is much I can do on this floor, however, the slaughter of the goblins had flooded me with xp and mana. So while the goblins worked their way through the first floor, I would have to create forces on the second floor and use the time bought by my forces here to prepare them and crush the goblins.


    It was either that or die.

 Chapter Eighteen - Siege (Part II)

    *Core*


    I had a decent idea of how I would handle the goblins when they reached the second floor.  The staircase from the first floor to the second floor would serve as a chokepoint that could be held by some of my new heavy melee creations and bombarded by liches from the back line.  Even though they are individually weaker than Ajax, collectively I cannot see how the goblins would be able to force their way through that setup.


    I certainly had the resources to spare, and I had not explored all the options that had been unlocked yet.  Though having noted that, I was still concerned with how things would look and work after this siege. Do I really have the leeway to think like that?  Probably not, but I will chalk it up to the changes in my mental state after having become a dungeon core.


    The dozen spectral warriors I placed at first I divided into four separate ¡®traps¡¯ to make use of the respawn bonuses and to each of those I added one lesser lich.  Leaving aside the current siege, this would be the first line of defense for the second floor under more normal circumstances. To supplement the front line, which was arguably the most important aspect of the defence, I chose to place one of the new monsters available to me.  Gigantic humanoid freaks that could only be described of as Doctor Frankenstein¡¯s Monster after getting into bodybuilding, steroid abuse and botched plastic surgery.


    Which is to say, I created [Flesh Golems].


    Incidentally, flesh golems were not eligible to be added to the traps like the skeletal and spirit type undead- and I quickly ran into issues I had not yet noticed because of my constant use of traps.  See, flesh golems are stupid. No, that is not correct, they are not intelligent enough to be described as stupid, it would be better to say that they are a bit below the level of a regular skeleton. As a result, at first I was unable to get the golems to remain by the stairway- they tried to wander off around the second floor.


    Fortunately, but disturbingly for me, Susan was able to provide a solution.  While I was unable to directly command the golems, with her class, she was able to do so.  I have to admit that it is especially concerning to realize that she not only can usurp my authority in my own dungeon- she actually is able to exercise that authority better than me!


    The four lesser liches I created after the golems- an additional four besides the ones attached to the traps with the spectral warriors- I could simply talk to and they understood my orders without me having to rely on Susan, but they could not command the flesh golems.  Sima, my unique lich might be able to, but otherwise I would need a [Greater Lich] or equivalent to serve as a liaison between me and the lesser undead that were incapable of rational thought.


    Something that did pique my interest, however, was that in addition to being able to use necromantic spells to provide limited healing to the golems, the [Lesser Liches] had some rudimentary knowledge on how to create the things.  I was limited to a certain amount per floor, apparently based on both the floor depth and the floor theme, but if my liches could create them, and Sima command them¡­


    I would not only be able to exceed that limit, as my number of advanced undead increased, I would have access to a very strong and durable army that would normally be impossible for me to obtain.  The goblins were certainly providing enough bodies to do some experiments, and my instincts told me that there was something to exploit in this- perhaps a lot of things to exploit.


    Just off the top of my head, I could think of a few experiments that I would definitely have to perform later.  Flesh golems did have skeletons and then they had musculature and other parts of its body added, so what would happen if a spectral warrior was used as the base?  Or what about a lich? Honestly, I am quite excited to give those a try- and that is only scratching the surface of the ideas I was starting to have.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    With those pleasant thoughts going through my head, I put traps with [skeleton archers] on top of nearby houses.  Later, I would likely be well served to place such groups throughout the floor just in case. Inside the houses below the archers, I placed [fire spirits] to give any goblin that made it through and thought to start looting a nasty surprise.  After a moment''s thought, I placed a couple of those traps at the base of the stairs too. Every time the spirits would respawn, they would disrupt any attempt to organize the goblin forces attacking the defensive undead.


    Where some goblin might reasonably try to climb up the houses or bypass the main road towards the palace I placed a few more mundane traps.  Simple pressure plates that would trigger poison darts to fly out from nearby walls, but I was unsure how effective they would be. Well, preferably they would never be used.


    If push comes to shove, Susan could back up the front lines with her bard songs and Hailey could provide provision sniping from the rooftops with the skeletal archers.  And, if absolutely necessary, I created similar defences at the palace entrance- those defences would be spearheaded by Sima and so were even more potent.


    In short, it would take an incredible amount of effort for the goblins to break through the first defensive line- and all it would gain them is a city full of undead dedicated to harassing them followed by a palace with even sturdier defenses.


    For that matter, they could only overwhelm the first floor defences as much as they had because of the weight of their numbers.  And as those numbers died they provided the resources that I was using to harden my defenses further. Undead do not tire, dungeon monsters respawn, and having reached this point I was certain I could endure the horde far more easily than I had initially thought.


    And the first thought that comes to my mind is that I am quite glad I did not choose goblins to begin with!


    ¡°Hey Core, how are things going on your end?¡±  Susan asked me, having been looking over the formations after she had arrived to give orders to the golems.  She sounded a bit worried when she continued, ¡°How would you describe our chances of surviving this?¡±


    ¡°To the first question, things are going well- as is only expected given the amount of resources the goblins are so kindly donating.¡±  I reply jokingly, feeling quite good despite the squatters that Susan is letting live here now. ¡°As for the second question, due to those same ¡®donations¡¯ I believe our chances are quite good.  The goal is not to kill all the goblins, but make them feel like this dungeon is too much trouble to be worth the blood they would spend, after all.¡±


    Both Susan and I straightened suddenly as we both received what could only be described as a ¡®notification.¡¯  The goblins had managed to fight their way to the final Ajax and when I went to take a look, I could not help but wonder if that would be as far as they would go.  This Ajax was killing these armored goblins as easy as the first Ajax had killed the regular ones! In fact, he was performing better than what I would have expected from a Spectral Warrior type Floor Boss.  Could this be a result of my giving him a name?


    Ajax¡¯s incredible defense shrugged off both the blades of the warrior goblins and the spells of the goblin shamans!  In particular, Ajax¡¯s excellent use of his shield even while heavily outnumbered meant that it was rare for a blow to even hit his body- much less pierce the magical defenses that were imbued into his very bones.


    As I went to check on the rest of the first floor, I realise they had not even killed all of the Ajax¡¯s before the last.  The second to last one was still standing firm as well, some of the goblins had just slipped past while it was busy skewering their friends.  Seeing this, I cannot help but think I owe Susan an apology. I vastly overestimated the threat that faced us.


    At least, that is what I thought as I traced my way to the dungeon entrance, and witnessed a gigantic creature that rivaled the flesh golems in ugliness enter the dungeon.  It seems the goblins brought an [ogre] with them, and seeing it smash one of the armored goblins into a pancake with one strike just because it was in the larger creatures way- I was not so sure about my previous confidence anymore.

 Chapter Nineteen - Siege (Part III)

    *Susan*


    ¡°An ogre!?  Are you sure?¡±  I ask Core, more than a little surprised at the fact that the goblins were able to get one of those brutes to work with them.  Ogres do not generally serve anything other than even stronger ogres- and even then it was unwillingly and with only when under direct threat of force.


    ¡°Its status came up,¡± Core replied.  ¡°Which was somewhat surprise in itself, I did not even prompt it.  I could tell it was somewhat of a threat by looking at it, but is it really so serious?¡±


    I cannot help but frown, it is not so simple an answer.  The short answer is, it is for us and the long answer is something along the lines of an explanation regarding the varying skill levels of adventurers.  My late father and mother, had they been able to use their full ability, could handle such a beast alone. However, if Hailey and I worked with all of the people who we had rescued to fight it as a group I would say that the smart wager would be on the ogre.


    While, on the whole, most ogres were less intelligent than goblins and not known for speed or agility, their brute strength could rival some giants.  Furthermore, their generally lethargic movements and massive bulk belied their ability to have sudden bursts of speed when it suited them- though they lacked endurance.  Combined with their thick, tough, hides and layers of fat that made them difficult to damage, ogres were some of the most dangerous monsters a person could run into. They had a reputation for killing the inexperienced, especially when utilizing those sudden bursts of speed.  To make matters worse, the ogre was not alone, but working with the goblin horde- which already had several advanced goblin species in it! Though by the same token, I had the support of the dungeon¡¯s undead.


    I relayed this information to Core, who seemed rather unsurprised by my analysis.  I could never really be sure what Core did and did not know, even with my new class his way of thinking and thoughts were not something I could see or understand.


    ¡°Having heard what you said,¡± Core seemed almost happy with your reply.  ¡°I am actually pretty relieved. It lined up with what I expected, for the most part anyway.  If you would be so kind to bring Hailey over, I think we can deal with the beast with too much trouble.¡±


    ¡°I will bring her over, but what are you basing your conclusions on?¡±  I had to admit I was a little surprised at how fast Core had dismissed the threat of the ogre.  Based on what he had told me, I expected it to break through to the second floor sooner rather than later.


    ¡°It is quite simple really,¡± Core chuckled quietly.  ¡°For the most part, the undead do not do so well in a straight up fight against opponents.  Their selling points are their ability to debuff their opponents and avoid many types of damage altogether.  If we were to compare, a basic [flesh golem] is not a match for the average [ogre], though I do have some tests to run later regarding that¡­  But I will leave that for now, the main point is that if we eliminate the supporting [goblin shamans] the ogre will not be able to do all that much damage to the [spectral warriors] or [spirits].  Plus, the liches can weaken it and then we can drag it down with sheer numbers.¡±


    And Hailey¡¯s expertise with the bow would allow us to take down the shamans easier.  Core did not say that part, but I was able to understand it well enough. Honestly, it was a well thought out plan and I was impressed that Core had come up with it so quickly.  Despite having a lack of common knowledge and sense, when given the appropriate information, he was able to come up with plans and ideas with the speed of a highly experienced adventurer!


    Core suddenly seemed distracted and then started laughing hysterically.  I gave him a quizical look and he eventually calmed down enough to explain.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°You said they are even less intelligent than goblins right?  And further that they do not work well under others?¡± He was referring to ogres, of course.  ¡°Well I can confirm both of those as fact, the [ogre] is wandering around in circles in the labyrinth.  It is entering the area for the third time now, even though the goblins are trying to guide it. At this rate we will not even need to fight it!¡±


    Well that was a bit of good news, but I was not nearly as jovial as Core was.  There was an unspoken flaw in Core¡¯s plan after all, one that I knew he and I were aware of even without mentioning it directly.  Simply put, even if the [ogre] is defeated, if it does enough damage to our defenses before it falls the [goblins] might be able to push through with their overwhelming numbers!


    Still, there was nothing to do about it except to trust in Core¡¯s defensive placements.  Just looking around, I could feel that he had placed monsters and traps throughout the second floor already.  If I focused, I could even see descriptions of what he had done. Using the roofs of houses as elevated ground for the undead archers, almost like watchtowers, was a very good idea and there were places that would spawn melee troops to block roads and chokepoints as well.  Hell, there were even dungeon traps placed in certain areas to prevent the goblins from climbing up to bother the archers!


    Hailey had been gathering what arrows she could and had been able to refill her quiver- albeit at the expense of most of the caravan¡¯s guard¡¯s remaining arrows.  We both hurried back to the stairs and made it back just in time for Core to say that the goblins had finally managed to guide the ogre to the first floor boss room where it was fighting Ajax now.  Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, it did not seem likely that Ajax would be able to win that battle.


    Preparing for the inevitable battle that was going to occur, I realized that, aside from their infinite stamina, there was another massive advantage that undead had over mortal troops.  They lacked the ability to feel fear or be nervous. Even though I would be in the back line, I was afraid.


    Core disappeared up to the first floor to watch, and waiting with no idea of what was going on made me feel even worse.  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and nearly fell over when an image appeared in my mind when my eyes were closed! Of course, the undead also lacked curiosity, so they did not ask me about why I stumbled- so at least I did not worry anyone else, I suppose.


    Closing my eyes again, there was nothing but darkness this time.  Come to think of it, last time I was wondering what was happening on the first floor.  As that thought entered my mind, the image returned. I was seeing the boss room from a position floating above¡­  Could this be Core¡¯s point of view?


    Ajax was fighting the [ogre] furiously while the goblins attempted to exploit the openings that the ogre created, though they often simply were crushed on accident by their careless ¡®ally.¡¯  But they still managed to deal some damage and limit Ajax¡¯s movements.


    The ogre roared, swinging its club overhand to take advantage of Ajax¡¯s inability to dodge.  He raised his shield to intercept, but the difference in strength was evident and Ajax was blasted backwards.  It was amazing that the shield arm was not broken, and he was still able to bash away a [goblin warrior] that attempted to pounce on the off balance boss.


    The shamans in the back line sent waves of magic missiles, so many that the streaks of silver-blue light could almost be described as beautiful.  However, the combination of pressure from the ogre and warriors meant that Ajax was unable to move his shield in time to intercept them. The ogre rushed forward with another powerful strike and crushed Ajax¡¯s skull.  The first floor boss was defeated.


    The image suddenly changed and the next thing I saw was¡­  Myself? Core had shifted himself to right in front of me, and wow- I kind of looked like a mess.


    ¡°Ajax was defeated,¡± Core said.  ¡°They should be coming down the stairs soon.  Remember, if push comes to shove, you can simply retreat to the palace.  All we absolutely need to do is to bring the [ogre] down.¡±


    I could hear the loud thumps from each of the monsters heavy footsteps as it made its way down the stairs.  I took a deep breath and opened my eyes, resolving to talk to Core about this new discovery later. For now, I would have to focus my all on supporting the defenses.


    The form of the [ogre] emerges from the stairs, and the battle on the second floor begins.