《The Dungeon Masquerade》


 Chapter 0 - Prologue

    A seed from hell sprouted in the earth. Feasting on life, it ate the land¡¯s worth. The inching of its limbs salted the soil. The newborn¡¯s beating heart faulted for turmoil. It did not think nor ponder, for its mind would wander. The baby driven by a primal beat; the incessant urge to do nothing but eat.


    Feared by man it and its kind were. A beacon it served for the terrors of nightmares and demons in the dark. Its arcane powers a boon for monsters and a poison for man. Deathly miasma seeped from its clutches, a disease rotting earth and life. The beating heart pulsed energy through its limbs. Its limbs extended, its grip tightened. An abhorred entity they came to be. An existence the Children of Man dreaded to see. Yet, inaction did not cripple the races of Man ¨C no ¨C they took up their spears and sharpened their swords. To protect their lands and lives, they would wage war. Though quarrels and conflict plagued the races of Man, they were united in their relentless extermination. They gave these creatures no mercy, no quarter. Even a baby would be sentenced to death.


    And so, this seed, a fresh newborn into the world, was stumbled upon by the armies of man. It was not their objective; no preparations were made for its discovery, but their duty compelled them to cease the beating of its weak heart hidden in the body cavity. They could tell the beast was young; verily, the heart was underdeveloped and growing ¨C still feral and untamed. The resolve of the warriors doubled. An opportunity like this was rare. Unsheathing their weapons and echoing their war cries, they swiftly marched to end this seed¡¯s young life. They envisioned their welcome to the streets of their cities and the halls of their kings. A hero¡¯s welcome and a victorious warriors feast awaited them.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    A baby this creature was, but weak it was not. The creatures it drew from its malevolent aura checked their advance. Coupled with its own demonic powers and machinations, they raised hell among the invaders


    In pools of blood, the Children of Man and creatures laid together. All were dead except one ¨C a man ¨C who reached the beast¡¯s beating heart. It had lost for it was, after all, still just a child. Before the last warrior, it did nothing, could do nothing. Its life forfeit. However, the man raised not a sword but his hand. The curiosity of a cat twinkled in his eyes. He reached out, gently, to touch the heart. For the first time in memorable history, the heart of the spurned existence known as dungeons fused not with a devil or demon nor grew into its own existence, but rather took hold and merged with a na?ve human man.

 Chapter 1

    Am I a monster? My reflection shimmered in the calm river water. I still look human ¨C but only mostly. Thick black lines radiated and branched out from a similarly jet-black circle in the center of my chest. My hands traced the lines, prodding them. I couldn¡¯t feel them. No indents or gradients. No ruggedness or slickness. No nothing. Felt like typical, fleshy skin ¨C I imagined it as how body art or a tattoo would feel. I cupped water in my hands and splashed it on my face. I looked human. But I didn¡¯t feel like it.


    I touched the dark, pulsating orb at the bottom of the dungeon. So what? Who wouldn¡¯t? The dungeon core we found was raw and unrefined. A small, quaint orb. They have always existed fused or attached to another being, demon or monster. Sometimes, a core was powerful enough to evolve into its own being. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was in front of me ¨C I was not going simply slice it with my sword and toss it away; the mysterious orbs with their arcane magics and powers made my eyes shine with curiosity. But, instead of learning anything, I fused with the orb.


    The resulting pain overloaded my entire body. It felt as if molten metal replaced the blood in my veins, scorching and incinerating every fiber of my existence. On the outside, my body was subjected to a hellish chill comparable to being stripped of all clothes and placed within the frozen ice of a winter tundra. The boiling of my insides and the instant frostbite forming chill was a torturous suffering I wouldn¡¯t wish on the scourge of the world, let alone my most hated enemy.


    However, once it was done, I could feel it. Not the dungeon orb somewhere inside my chest cavity, but the dungeon itself. A queer, small thing it was. When we stumbled upon it, my captain even joked that it was a baby. That same baby still caused the deaths of everyone ¨C but me. And now, it felt like an extension of my own body. I could see the nooks and crannies. Hear the creeping of the critters and the splashes of water droplets. Smell the fresh soil, the blossoming fungus and plants, and the decaying dead. It was as if I was walking through the dungeon in my mind. Much to my dismay, I could now literally get lost in my own thoughts ¨C I was already directionally challenged as it is.


    I sat outside at the base of a grassy hill ¨C staying in the dungeon was uncomfortable as if I was crawling around in my own skin. Tall trees and cute critters surrounded me. No one expected to find a dungeon in such a scenic venue. If the circumstances were different, I was sure the sight would have stolen my breath.


    But, the dungeon. The dead. The core. The fusion. I just couldn¡¯t forget it. My body shivered and my teeth chattered. What should I do? What¡¯s happening to me? I felt lost like a baby that wandered into the woods on a moonless night. My head throbbed with sharp pain and I tried to rub it and the anxiety away. Did I really become the dungeon? Or did it become me?


    I wanted to get away from it. All of it. My life was neatly set out before me. Barely passed officer school ¨C but still passed. Joined the military with plans to work my way up the ranks. Serve out in the field and expeditions for a handful of years. Maybe find a cute village girl in my service time and settle down with her on whatever land the government gave me for my military service.


    Then I went and touched the orb and took a wrong turn into who-knows-land. I didn¡¯t expect to fuse with the damn thing, all I wanted was to prod it to try and figure out its arcane powers and mysterious workings. Even if I didn¡¯t discover anything it, recovering it for study would have earned me accolades and praise from everyone ¨C probably a few promotions too.


    Was it still too late to just leave? Pretend this never happened? I got up and walked. The direction was meaningless. An escape, a solution, help, I wanted to find anything that could put my life back on track.


    A thousand needles stabbed through my skull. Fire burning my eyes dry. I struggled to breathe as no air could pass through my swollen throat. Acid turned and churned within the depths of my stomach. No matter what, I could not move any further. Each step I took away from the dungeon brought death one step closer.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    I collapsed outside of the dungeon entrance in a small clearing. Leaving the dungeon area was not an option, it seemed. The pain had left me drained of energy, but the walk did clear my head a little.


    I still couldn¡¯t convince myself I wasn¡¯t screwed. I fused with a dungeon core. Monsters and demons that have one are normally killed on sight, no questions asked. Not to mention I was now attached to the dungeon itself. They destroy the land as they grow, attracting monsters and evils to it. Go into any town or village. You wouldn¡¯t find a shortage of people who hate the damn things.


    If the life I had planned out wasn¡¯t possible anymore, I would just have to figure out something else. My situation is a strange one, but it¡¯s my curiosity and I¡¯s fault I was in it. At any rate, I couldn¡¯t leave. It was not even a kilometer before I got struck with those crippling symptoms. I would have to figure out why eventually. In times like this I¡¯d love to have paper and pen. I wasn¡¯t like several of my classmates, intellectuals that could remember everything, figure out anything, and solve and process problems in their head. Barely average, that¡¯s what I was at best. If I didn¡¯t jot down my thoughts and work out problems on paper, I would be completely lost.


    I felt the air leave my stomach as if I was punched in the gut, almost as if it was response to my desire for a notebook. It wasn''t painful, but surely sudden. Something drained from my body, drip by drip. A pulling and pushing and churning sensation in the depths of my gut. My chest pulsed and it beat throughout my body.


    From the cave entrance came a low, short lived rumble. The strange sensations subsided and I took a look. Neatly placed at the front of the dungeon was a clean journal with a pen at top. I could feel the heat drain from my body as I went pale white. It dawned on me that I had utilized the power of the dungeon orb fused within me to create pen and paper.


    The enormity of the situation racked me once more. It was too easy for me to forget that I had fused with a dungeon core - even the sensations of my extended dungeon self I could block out to a degree. The powers of a dungeon¡­ It felt surreal, intriguing, and even downright terrifying.


    I picked up the pen and paper and sat on a rock. On top of the first page, I wrote ¡®WHAT SHOULD I DO?¡¯ I tapped the pen onto the paper. I had no idea. I guess I had to live as a dungeon now? A strange thought considering how much trouble these things cause the world. Serving as a hotbed for monsters and demons, towns and villages could be destroyed from the evil creatures and its presence could render land unusable, too dangerous for any activity.


    As much as I wanted to call out for help, have someone to talk through and figure this out, I scribbled on my notepad that it was a terrible idea. I felt a twinge in my stomach, another acidic sting. Was it hunger and anxiety, or just loneliness? People would be more likely to strike me down as a monster masquerading as a human rather than let me and my dungeon-self exist anyways. Not only that, but as a knight of Hevagrain, would they attempt to lay some claim to me? I created pen and paper out of nowhere - maybe not out of nowhere, I corrected myself. Thinking back, I feel I did expend mana in the process, but was there anything else like natural resources I took? I scribbled in the margins ¡®test creation process for objects¡¯ to remind myself to get back to that topic. At any rate, just as I saw the orb as a once in a lifetime opportunity, the army might see me the same way.


    Don¡¯t get me wrong, I have pride in my country. Love, it even. The Kingdom tries hard to be a beacon of prosperity, helping out the common folk and making the world a safe place to live in. But, I wasn¡¯t really interested in being a guinea pig or killed as a monster. I decided I had to be alone; I couldn¡¯t draw any attention to myself, for now at least.


    Keeping my head down would be a difficult task. Part of that meant learning how to control the dungeon, maintaining its consumption and growth so no one notices anything. Not only that, but I would have to take care of any monsters and demons that would think about settling in or near my dungeon. While people might look over something draining bits of mana from the area, no one in their right mind would let monsters cultivate and gather.


    My dungeon. I thought about that for a moment. It was strange but true. Since I had merged with the orb, I became the dungeon and the dungeon became me. Whether I liked it or not, it was now my home -- it¡¯s not like I could go anywhere else anyways.


    At the bottom of the page, I summarized my goals. First, I had to keep people from noticing me or figuring out what¡¯s going on. Second, learn how to manage and upkeep the dungeon so I can prevent excessive mana consumption and growth as well as dissuade nefarious beings from taking residence in the area. Third, investigate and refine the powers and abilities fusing with the dungeon core gave me.


    I stood at the foot of the dungeon. Corridors of soil filled with the corpses of my former comrades and monsters. Four, I jotted down, turn the dungeon into my home. One worth living in. I wasn¡¯t about to live out my days surrounded by dirt and insects underground.

 Chapter 2

    All slimes must die. I raised my sword overhead, ready to strike it down. I couldn¡¯t risk any monsters living in my dungeon or coming out of it. Not even a lowly slime. I swung my sword down.


    No kill!


    I stopped. Did the slime just speak to me? Rubbing my eyes, I took a closer look at the slime. A white slime, basic with nothing out of the ordinary. It hopped, harmlessly, in place. Fancying it my imagination, I swung my sword at it again.


    Please, no kill!


    Again, I stopped. In front of me was a slime begging for its life. I took a step back - out of precaution, of course. ¡°What are you?¡± I asked.


    It wiggled in place. Am slime.


    Well, I could see that, I thought. Nothing looked unordinary about it and it certainly did nothing strange, besides the entire communicating part. ¡°So, where did you come from, slime?¡±


    From cave. Born there.


    Wait, born in the cave? That has to be my dungeon then. I rubbed my temple. I was careless and let something like this happen already. Thinking back on it, when I was wishing I had someone to talk to, I experienced a feeling similar to the one when I made the notebook. Perhaps I had unknowingly caused this one¡¯s birth. I took out the notebook and jotted this situation down on a clean page.


    At any rate, maybe it was okay to keep the slime around. It was nothing more than a basic white slime anyways. It was a monster at the bottom of the totem pole. All they do is slowly digest and eat things (anything, which is what makes them a problem), and an occasional bash. Besides, if I was the cause of its birth, then I was responsible for it. ¡°Fine,¡± I said, ¡°I won¡¯t kill you.¡± It hopped happily. But, tell me what are you doing here?¡±


    Eat. Kill.


    ¡°Oh, okay ¨C wait, kill? What do you mean by that?¡±


    Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. KILL ALL LIFE. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.


    I dragged my hand across my face and let out a sigh. Maybe I should just kill the thing. ¡°Listen, no killing. Or else I will kill you.¡±


    Please no kill.


    ¡°Do you understand me?¡± I said in a way a mother would to her misbehaving child.


    Okay. The slime deflated a little. No kill¡­


    I tucked away my sword and said, ¡°Glad we are on the same page. Let me introduce myself, I am ¨C¡±


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    Dungeon Master. Yes.


    Bewildered, I did a double take at the slime. ¡°Wait, you know?¡± I questioned the jiggling jelly.


    The body of the slime contoured as if it was tilting itself, Yes?


    Considering I was the Dungeon Master and did cause this little thing to born, it did make sense. I didn¡¯t question it any further. ¡°Alright, so, since I am the master. You have to listen to me, okay?¡± It bounced up and down as to signify ¡®of course¡¯.


    ¡°Now come with me,¡± I commanded, heading into the dungeon. The slime bounced behind me. A foul smell seeped into the air the further we trekked into the dungeon. The first order of business, I decided, was to clean up the mess of bodies. A dozen or so dead knights and strange monster corpses should not be kept around. Or even just letting them decay ¨C the odor the bodies gave was putrid, stinging my nose and watering my eyes. Pinching my nose, I looked over the mess. ¡°How do you think we should clean this up,¡± I mused aloud.


    Eat. So said the slime.


    ¡°Come on, I can¡¯t eat dead bodies. Unless you want to?¡±


    No. You eat.


    I stopped to think for a moment. Maybe the slime was right; maybe I can eat the bodies. I went to work stripping the bodies. Took of the armor and clothing, organizing and setting them aside. The dead monster bodies had no such coverings, but were mutilated and decayed far beyond what I could stomach anyways. After the set up was done, I took a few steps back, closed my eyes, and let my dungeon senses overwhelm me.


    The stagnant, dead air. The unturned dirt that formed the dungeon paths. The crawling bugs and creeping insects. The dead bodies throughout. I could sense it all. A key characteristic of dungeons is their ability to absorb energy and matter. Current understanding is that the dungeon consumes these resources and uses them as materials for its own creations. Having fused with a dungeon core, I, too, should be able to do this.


    I focused on the dead bodies. Dried blood and open wounds. Rotting skin and festering maggots. I nearly puked; the dungeon let me feel and understand these bodies in a way unimaginable.


    It came naturally. The eating, that is. There was no need to try and figure it out ¨C it felt just like breathing. The bodies were slowly eaten through the earth of the dungeon. Dissolving slowly, piece by piece, the corpses disappeared into the earth. They were out of sight, but I could still sense them. Not only their bodies, however, but the nutrients and minerals and parts that make them up. I could differentiate the muscle tendons from the bone. The iron from the oxygen and carbon. A total breakdown of what they were and what they are. At the end of the process, I was not exhausted or deleted of energy. In fact, new energy flowed in me like a starving man who just ate a full meal.


    ¡°Ow!¡± I yelped, almost toppling to the ground. I was smacked in the hamstring and looked back. The slime rammed me again, almost knock me over. ¡°Cut it out,¡± I yelled at the little bugger. Defiant, it slammed into my back. ¡°Fine, fine, what do want?¡±


    It stopped. Hungry.


    I tilted my head, ¡°You¡¯re hungry?¡±


    Yes. Give food. Am hungry.


    ¡°Well, aren¡¯t you a slime?¡± I scratched my head. ¡°Can¡¯t you eat, you know, anything?¡±


    Yes.


    ¡°Then, I don¡¯t know. Do you want to eat some dirt or rocks or something?¡±


    No.


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean no? You can eat anything, what difference does it make?¡±


    The slime remained motionless as if it was staring at me long and hard. It said, after some time, Taste bad.


    What could I say? I guess I wouldn¡¯t be too happy being fed dirt and soil either. ¡°Well, what do you want then?¡± I looked around with a frown. I spotted the neatly lined armor and had an idea. ¡°If dirt and soil doesn¡¯t sound good,¡± I said to the slime, ¡°How about metal from those armors?¡± While the armors and weapons from my former allies were worth something, I couldn¡¯t keep them around. People would ask questions if they stumbled upon me possessing armor that very closely matches the ones who would be reported missing soon. Suspicious, to say the least. If the slime could eat it, it would take care of this problem for me.


    It bounced along up to the armor. As gourmet food critic might examine and analyze a plate of food before him, so did the slime, carefully and methodically going around the armor and weaponry. Finally, the slime broke its roughly spherical shape and plastered apart of itself onto a suit of armor. Pieces of the metal dissolved off and I could see them fall apart into nothing in the slime.


    ¡°How is it?¡± I asked, almost afraid to interrupt the nibbling slime.


    It stopped. Good. And resumed, but this time breaking apart its entire form and engulfing the armor whole.


    I watched. It was almost therapeutic to watch the slime slowly dissolve the armor into pieces. However, the thought of slimes all over doing this to innocent people, livestock, and buildings kept me in reality. I had some ideas on what to do next, make this dungeon a bit homelier for one. It would have to wait. I wanted to let the little one finish its meal.

 Chapter 3

    Have you ever seen a slime eat 12 suits of armor? I never have ¨C and never thought I would. It ate them all in one sitting, viciously dissolving the armor piece by piece. I shuddered, thinking about having to feed this slime with a giant¡¯s appetite.


    The slime consumed the last chunk of metal. It floated around, slowly disintegrating in the guts of the slime. ¡°Satisfied?¡± I asked the little one who sat contently.


    Yes.


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said, ¡°Now that cleanup is out of the way, the next order of business is to make somewhere to sleep that isn¡¯t made out of dirt. Let¡¯s go.¡± I made my way deeper into the dungeon.


    The slime, however, did not follow. No.


    I turned around, ¡°What do you mean, ¡®no¡¯?¡± I frowned at it.


    Sleep.


    The slime didn¡¯t move, so I walked over and took a look. I poked and prodded the jelly monster, but it did not stir from its slumber. It was, without a doubt, asleep. Most monsters don¡¯t actually sleep ¨C and that included slimes. However, the world¡¯s understanding of how monsters worked was so little. It was a challenge to study monsters, even slimes. They are violent, vicious, and will not hesitate to kill. I was in a special position; after fusing with the dungeon core, I might now be able to interact with monsters without being attacked on sight. A few shrewd bookworms and dubious research students back at the academy would do very unethical things to have the same opportunity I have.


    I went down the levels to the 5<sup>th</sup> and final floor. The halls of the dungeon were barren and quiet except for the low hum of nothingness. It was a singular large, empty room. I decide to make this my chambers for what better place to have my residence then at the bottom of my dungeon. I couldn¡¯t help but smile at the idea; it felt like a cartoonishly evil thing to do.


    Standing in the center of the room, the direct center of the entire dungeon, I expanded my dungeon senses. Nothing that happened in the dungeon or near it would go unnoticed if I wanted, but observation was not my objective. Mana is what I was searching for. To make any alterations to the dungeon or create new things, mana had to be an ingredient, I figured. Discovering my mana pool and learning how to manage it efficiently was a crucial element in surviving in this new life.


    I found the pool of mana. I felt heat drain from my quivering body. A cold sweat broke out. Magic was never my strong suit, but this was too much. As a practice, higher learning institutes like the officer¡¯s school test applicants. My magic and mana rated¡­ low. Below average. Still, it was too much. My mana then was a glass of water. My mana now was a great lake.


    Deep breaths. In. Out. I calmed myself down. Yes, it was crazy, but maybe it was only for someone not trained in magic like me. The pool of mana is a lot because I can only compare it to my previous, pitiful pool. For other mages and magical beings, something like this might be normal. No matter the case, what mattered is how much I consume when utilizing my dungeon powers, not the sheer volume I have access to.


    Two rooms, that¡¯s what I wanted. The path down from the fourth to the fifth floor would lead to an open, multi-purpose room of sorts. I would alter the layout just a little bit so the center of the dungeon would fall in the back which I would section off for my own, personal room.


    I tapped into the pool of mana. It flowed out like water. In my mind, I carved out the layout and began applying mana. The dark lines radiating out from my chest glowed.


    The room shifted and distorted, almost as if I was hallucinating or witnessing an illusion. A thin, dark mist wafted through the stale air. With the dungeon center as a pivot, the dirt walls shifted and lurched. I gave form to the pathway down, fashioning soil into a spiral staircase. At the bottom, I had it lead into a corridor that prefaced the main room. Without any idea of what to do with the larger room, I ignored it for my chambers at the back. A dirt wall seeped out of all edges of the dungeon and sectioned off the two parts.


    I stopped, panting heavily. The work was exhaustive, but it wasn¡¯t done yet. I checked my mana pools. A noticeable drop in its level. The next step was to replace the dirt and soil with something more pleasing, like stone. I hoped it would last me.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The same way I created the notebook, I used the mana to mutate the soil into slabs of stone. Bit by bit, I turned the fifth layer into solid smooth silver stone. My knees shook with weakness and my muscles flamed with soreness. But, I wasn¡¯t done yet.


    I punched out a rectangle in the now stone dividing wall. My mana poured out and grew a door in its place. Each step a labor in its own, I somehow managed to get through the door and into my chambers. With the last chunk of my mana, I made what my heart craved most. Four legs, a soft coat, two fluffy bags. My knees trembling with weakness, I collapsed on it. The bed was a much-needed luxury.


    A few minutes of rest was a must. The lake of mana I was in awe of earlier had become a puddle a playful child would stomp in. However, mana was pouring back into it drop by drop. I worried.


    The dungeon was taking in mana from its surroundings ¨C as it naturally should. All life needed some sort of mana to exist, like blood or air. With the dungeon sucking in mana, that would mean there was less available for the ambient life, but there were no signs of any such deterioration to the area; while others areas infested with dungeons become wastelands due to the drain, there was no indication that the land here was undergoing the same. Where was the mana coming from? What was happening? I did not know, but an important enough question to give me a headache.


    I took out my notebook which has proven to invaluable to me (the thought of adding a work desk or table crossed my mind but that would have to be left for later). A note was added to investigate the mana source. As customary, I made myself an updated to-do list. With a room built for myself, the next thing to explore would be monster creation. Creation was one of the dungeon core¡¯s basic abilities ¨C I had to figure it out.


    Twirling the pen between my fingers, two other items crossed my mind. They were theories on typical dungeon functioning. First, the dungeon takes in mana from its surroundings. Larger dungeons are attributed for draining more mana from the land, but that was never proven. I wrote on the paper ¡®theory: the larger the reach of a dungeon is, the more mana it will absorb, the same way the roots of a tree might absorb water¡¯. It was a simple theory, one that many would just assume to be true. However, I did not feel I was in a position to assume; I had to be sure.


    The second pertained to what I would call strength. Many dungeons are filled with dangerous monsters that would tear normal people to shreds. No slimes or anything weak like that. While it was possible for them to be born strong, it was also made sense for weaker monsters to get stronger over time. I wrote, ¡®theory: mana can be used as catalyst to improve or strengthen existing monsters or items¡¯. There was much less basis for this in current studies, but ideas like this were thrown around. Being fused with a dungeon core, I was put in a unique position of being able to test it. As a summary, I capped off my day¡¯s notes with what I thought to be a list of mana usages as a dungeon master: store it, create with it, or improve with it. Subcategories were left out as I was not too sure on them yet.


    With that out of the way, I let myself sink into the soft mattress and fluffy pillows. No time to sleep. Nowhere to rest. Too much to do. Too much I didn¡¯t know. I was stressed the moment reality hit me. The throbbing headache and constant anxiety was more than enough proof. Sleep was vital. Even for a human fused with a dungeon core. I let my lead filled eye-lids close.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Horse hooves stomped the soil dusting the air with dirt. Armor clattered and clanged with each stride. The neighs of the horses mixed with the grunts of men. My eyes opened, body sweating, heart throbbing. I could feel it. They were coming.


    I stumbled out of my bed. Dashed through the dungeon. The slime was nowhere. I kept running. Outside, in the light of the morning dawn, I went to meet them.


    Their horses trod around me, encircling me. Their armor, their emblems, their movement, there was no doubt in my mind that they were knights of Hevagrain. I stood my ground, not budging an inch. My mouth went dry. My heart beating faster and faster. Their stone gazes piercing me.


    A knight broke the circle and steered his horse towards me. He stopped, standing right over me as a tower. A sign of strength ¨C a show of power. ¡°Who are you?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Corin.¡± A fake name; I couldn¡¯t let them know who I was.


    The knight continued to question me, ¡°Do you live here?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Have you noticed anything strange?¡±


    I thought for a second. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Just answer the question!¡± Another knight barked, startling me.


    He raised his hand, silencing his companion. ¡°Let me ask this, then,¡± he said, ¡°Has there been any travelers around here? Anyone passing through?¡±


    I slowly shook my head, ¡°N-no, nothing I¡¯m aware of.¡±


    The rude knight audibly clicked, ¡°You¡¯re useless, aren¡¯t you? Live here and don¡¯t know a damn thing!¡± He shifted on his horse, readying himself like he was about release his frustrations on me.


    ¡°Silence!¡± Their leader commanded. ¡°He is just some country hick ¨C don¡¯t waste your time on him.¡± He trotted away and the circle around me broke, following their commander. They broke into a gallop and disappeared into the thicket of trees.


    I exhaled the tension from my body and collapsed on my butt. To think the knights would come this quickly. I was beside myself. One wrong move would have meant my death. I loved my country, but not all of our citizens and soldiers were upright ¨C something I understood intimately.


    Without a care in the world, the slime casually hopped by my side. It gazed off into the brush and turned towards me, Why no kill?


    I laughed. ¡°Why didn¡¯t we kill them?¡± There were a lot of problems with that ideas that this slime didn¡¯t seem to get. A murderous little thing it was. It was somewhat cute and endearing, but I just hoped it would not be problematic.


    Again, it asked, Why no kill?


    With a sigh, I said, ¡°A rat should know better than to challenge a lion.¡±

 Chapter 4

    Hevagrain was a lion and the dungeon was in its den. For hundreds of years, Hevagrain was relevant in world history, but it was only in the last several decades it rose to political prominence and world power status. The heart of the kingdom was a fertile river valley. With rain winds coming from the Ilm Ocean to the East and the towering Orphant mountains bunching up the clouds, the kingdom never saw drought and enjoyed stability in their food reserve.


    The same could not be said for the nations on the other side of the mountains. Over a hundred years ago, the western side of the mountain experienced an extreme, prolonged drought which cracked the land and starved the people. The Kingdom of Hevagrain saw its chance and, under the leadership of King Deon III, invaded those nations through the mountain passes. They met little resistance. The Orphant mountains and their rich mineral deposits came solely under Hevagrain¡¯s control along with the stretches of land beyond it.


    However, the greatest gains came under Deon III¡¯s son, Zeralt the Conqueror. Using the precious metals from the mountain range, he upgraded the kingdom¡¯s army and set his sights to the forested lands to the north. After subjugating the elves and other races in the area, he harvested the raw wood and resources to build a navy that could rival any. Leveraging his newfound oceanic might, he wrestled control in the Ilm Ocean from the other major players, taking the Goy archipelago and assuming control of the major trade routes in the area. In a last spurt of conquest, Zeralt combined his peerless ground forces with an unmatched navy to annex the Great Rei Strait to the south. Hevagrain had completed its conquest. With the metals and minerals from Orphant, raw wood from the North, and the trade and control from the archipelago and straight, Hevagrain entered a golden age of stability and growth.


    While territorial gains had ceased, its growth had not. Under King Harold the Wise, infrastructure and land improvements were heavily invested in which reaped dividends for the people. Better roads for transporting goods. More irrigation systems to improve crop production. Development of tools and equipment to better construct buildings and mine for resources. More castles and outposts to protect the land and subjugate monsters and unrest. And then, under King Deon IV, the quality of life soared. He invested heavily in school institutes and development of the youth. Sanitary efforts and sewage was put as a priority for urban areas which brought the average citizens health up and disease down. There were more doctors and lawyers and skilled labor so there was an economic boon from developments in all facets of the kingdom.


    History had always been an interesting topic for me, so much so that sometimes my other studies suffered. My friends said I was obsessive with it at times. I never denied it. I loved my country, we had a great and rich history. But that was all the more reason for me to be cautious around those knights. As did every nation and society, Hevagrain had its share of darkness. I hated to admit it. They would have killed me right there if they weren¡¯t in the right mood, especially if they knew about the slime. It felt weird to think that I was a member of the same knights just a while ago. Technically, I still was, I guess.


    However, the main thing on my mind right now was the slime. The thing was missing when I woke up, but turned up after the knights left. It was still a murderous little shit, asking me if it could kill anything that moved, but it was a little strange now.


    It body slammed my upper thigh, again, causing me to topple over. ¡°Fuck, what was that for?¡± I rubbed the now-purple bruise on my leg.


    Hi. It shined in the sun. The slime, after eating suit after suit of armor, had gone metal. It was no longer a plain, translucent white but instead silvery and metallic, almost like a metal bearing ball. It was remarkable development. There were slimes of many types and colors, but I never knew it was their diet that impacted their growth and caused these differences.


    ¡°You¡¯ve changed, haven¡¯t you?¡± I asked, testing the slime¡¯s self-awareness.


    Yes. Am rock solid.


    I frowned. ¡°Rock solid? Don¡¯t you mean as hard as metal?¡±


    ROCK. HARD. The slime doubled down. It reared itself and leapt at me again. I was ready this time and sidestepped the bugger. With a crash, it cracked through a stone slab behind me, leaving a messy hole in it. The slime peeled itself off the slab and flopped back onto the ground with a thud. See? Am hard. Rock Hard.


    I didn¡¯t argue with the thing; it didn¡¯t seem like slime was budging on the matter. I took out my notebook and looked at my to-do list. Creating and strengthening (improvement?) was next.


    The slime tackled my gut. I sputtered and spun, the wind knocked right out of me. ¡°What is it this time,¡± I almost yelled at the slime. The round ooze ball made me want to kick it so bad, but I restrained myself. Kicking it would just set a bad example for it ¨C not to mention I didn¡¯t want to break my toes kicking the little metal shit.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Hungry.


    Hungry? It was already hungry? It was just a few days ago it ate 12 suits of armor, and it was hungry already? I felt like a poor farmer with a dozen young kids to feed. ¡°Sorry, but we are out of metal, can you eat something else?¡±


    The slime crouched.


    ¡°Woah, no, hold up!¡± I took a step back and raised my hands in a stopping motion. I knew what the slime was up to. ¡°Don¡¯t try to slam me again.¡±


    It backed off. Fine.


    ¡°So,¡± I scratched the back of my neck, ¡°Can you eat something else other than metal for now?¡±


    It paused as if to consider my proposal but instantly responded, No.


    No metal. It won¡¯t eat anything else. I wasn¡¯t distressed as I had an idea; perhaps mana could be used as a substitute to feed the monsters. It would make sense that if mana can be used as an influencing force, it could also be used for upkeep purposes. In fact, since I fused with the dungeon core, I had not needed to eat or drink once. Mana, I suspected, was the reason for that.


    ¡°Hold still,¡± I told the little slime, ¡°I¡¯m going to try something.¡± It remained still out of confusion. Meanwhile, I prodded the depths of my pool of mana which was still recovering from my recent expenditure. The slime was hungry and I wanted to test strengthening ¨C I could kill two birds with one stone with this. I said, ¡°I will be sending mana into you as a replacement for food for now. Tell me when you are full okay?¡±


    Okay? Slime didn¡¯t seem to fully understand what was going on, but that was fine.


    I opened the proverbial tap and directed mana straight to the slime. The world was different through my dungeon senses. Humans had five, but this felt like I was seeing and processing the world through six or seven. So much information was now visible, and I was nowhere close to being able to handle it all.


    I tapped my feet. Monitored the mana. Kept my awareness up. The slime didn¡¯t say anything. Mana oozed out of my pool. Drip. Drip. Drip. There was nothing from the slime. I cut the mana feed.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying anything? Are you not full after all that mana?¡± I had given it about half of what recovered. The silence made me feel like my efforts would have been better spent making metal and feeding it to the slime.


    Not full. It confirmed.


    I sighed. ¡°Still hungry? What am I going to do with you¡­¡±


    No. Not hungry.


    ¡°So, you aren¡¯t full, but you aren¡¯t hungry either.¡± I crossed my arms. ¡°Which is it, or is there a problem? Everything all right?¡±


    Don¡¯t know. Not hungry, but not full. Am okay.


    ¡°That¡¯s good,¡± I said, but I couldn¡¯t help but feel something was off. The slime¡¯s surface was a little bit shinier. In fact, it looked bigger as well. I couldn¡¯t exactly pinpoint what was up. ¡°How do you feel,¡± I asked, ¡°Anything different?¡±


    Great. Full of energy. Stronger. Feels good.


    I smiled. There it was, the slime had mentioned ¡®stronger¡¯. What that meant was up for debate, but it noticed a change. I wasn¡¯t about to test that claim either ¨C being smacked by a slinging ball of metal was not pleasant. I jotted in my journal: slime fed and improved, check.


    A success. Progress. Felt great to be productive; I haven¡¯t done much since fusing with the dungeon core, and I intended to change that. A life of boredom and sitting around would certainly kill me if adventures or soldiers didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Come, slime, let¡¯s go into the dungeon. There is one last thing I wanted to do.¡±


    What? It asked with a little extra spring to its hop.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to try and make some more slimes.¡±


    The slime said nothing.


    I decided to do this on the fourth layer as the fifth I reserved for myself. The upper levels were also a no-go as I didn¡¯t want them close to the surface. Cracking my knuckles, I went to work. Deep breaths, in and out. I tapped into the mana.


    Using the instance I created Slime as a basis, I made the mental image of the white monstrous slime balls and poured mana into it. My chest throbbed, the dark lines glowing once more. Dark mist filled the air once more. Chunks of my mana disappeared. I could feel it ¨C they were being born.


    When all was said and done, a dozen happy slimes hopped around. They seemed different than metal slime. Their movement didn¡¯t have purpose and they weren¡¯t saying anything either. I added a note to investigate the differences another time. What came with large expenditures of mana was extreme exhaustion; my mana pool was empty, so I had to rest.


    ¡°Hey, metal slime, I¡¯m going to sleep, so could you bring the new ones up to speed on how to act and what not?¡±


    ¡­Okay.


    ¡°Right, then I¡¯m off.¡± I felt like I could trust metal slime with at least this. I have told it how to act and what to do after all. What could possibly go wrong? That is what I would think, but I knew better than that. This was a test, an experiment, to see how metal slime would react and how it would carry out a task. I went to bed excited for the results.

 Chapter 5

    The slime in its natural habitat. It aimlessly hopped around in the dirt cave. The only noise was the plop that echoed from their squishy landings. I carefully noted their behaviors in my journal. I opened up my mind and attempted to hear what the slimes had to say, to understand their thoughts.


    Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill- Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill- Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill-Kill.


    So did the cacophony of slime thoughts go. Was I surprised? No, not really. But, I should have expected as much from the metal slime. It sounded like a great idea to test the metal slime and see if it could do a proper job. The fact that the number of murderous slimes had gone from one to over ten made me regret my decision.


    ¡°Metal slime, where are you?¡± I called out. It came into view a moment later. ¡°Thanks for, uh, training the other slimes, I guess, but what did you teach them?¡±


    How to slime.


    Of course, I stroked my chin; I shouldn¡¯t have expected anything else. ¡°Just make sure they don¡¯t get too rowdy, okay?¡± The thought of a dozen hungry slimes tackling me for food was a scary one. I couldn¡¯t let it get to that.


    With a bunch more slimes jumping around, there was another problem; it seemed improper to have the slimes hop around in a messy, dirt cave. It was chaotic. This was a good opportunity to continue the dungeon remodeling. The fourth layer was the largest, so I expected it to take a bit more time and effort.


    Ignoring the slimes hopping around, I went to work reconstructing the floor. What was the purpose of the dungeon? For most situations, I would think it was to kill invaders or protect the core. However, I wasn¡¯t interested in hurting people or causing trouble. A nice place to live was all I wanted. Aesthetic appeal was my goal, not to make it into some difficult and deadly arena. If trouble did arise, I would alter it to be more defense if needed.


    I formed a large, circular room in the center of the fourth layer with a deep crater in the middle. The slimes needed a place to live or be kept in, so I thought this would do. The hole would be filled with water since there was none around. It would be neat to illuminate at some point, like a showpiece. Hollow pillars formed up from the ground as support for the ceiling and walls. On top of that, I purposefully created small tunnels through the walls that connected the pillars to the outskirts of the room. The slimes could rest and relax in these spaces without fear of being caught in the open.


    My mana was nearly depleted with just this; With all the work I¡¯ve been doing, my mana pool has not had a chance to recover fully. There was still one touch I felt was missing: dirt walls were a sore spot. Having smooth stone like my layer was a bit much on the consumption, so I instead tried to turn it into typical rock one might find in a proper cave. I didn¡¯t have enough mana to turn the sprawling layer into rock in one go, so I set up the mana to rock conversion as an automated process. By measuring my mana intake and the expenditure by turning the dungeon into rock, I was able to make the dungeon slowly convert itself without depleting my mana or having to manually do it.


    The consequence, however, was a constant generation of the dark miasma. Whenever I activated my skills, my chest would glow and throb, the dungeon core inside me activating. I never got around to learning what the miasma did, so I wasn¡¯t sure how it would impact things. Testing it out could prove to be very dangerous as well, so producing as little as possible is crucial. Upsetting any sort of balance could catch unneeded attention.


    And unneeded attention came casually strolling above just to spite me. Through my dungeon sense, I could see a group of adventures in the area. A small, party of four. Their composition seemed standard: An armored knight, an archer, someone with daggers, and a magic user.


    ¡°Metal slime, take the others and hide in the walls,¡± I commanded, already grateful I made the walls hollow for them. ¡°Adventures are coming. Don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡±


    Okay. It said. The metal slime hopped around and gathered up its brethren while I marched up to the entrance.


    I made myself look busy by the entrance, picking up wood for kindling. The party found me.


    The knight came up, standing tall like a leader, and exclaimed, ¡°How do you do? We are a party mapping out this area ¨C I hope you don¡¯t mind our intrusion.¡±


    ¡°Not at all,¡± I nonchalantly said. ¡°There is a lot of good land around here, I suspected someone would want to survey it for development eventually.¡±


    He laughed, ¡°Right you are! Say, do you live around here?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m just a traveler, but I have been camping out here nearby. Was just picking up some wood to make myself a new resting spot.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± the knight said, crossing his arms. ¡°How is the area? Any monsters or anything?¡±


    I laughed back at him, ¡°No way! If there was, I wouldn¡¯t be around here.¡± I brandished the sword at my hip, ¡°There are the stray animals you have to be wary about, but nothing serious.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good to hear. Our work will go by much faster without any trouble.¡± He looked past me at the cave. ¡°Know anything about that over there?¡± The knight pointed past me.


    ¡°Oh, that?¡± I remarked, feigning surprise. ¡°Nothing really, but a group of knights came by here a day or two ago. They asked me some questions and checked out the cave. They left pretty fast, so I don¡¯t think they found anything in there.¡± I was not keen on having adventures peruse through my dungeon. Hopefully some deception could get them away from here.


    The knight hummed to himself and stroked his chin hair. ¡°Well, if that¡¯s the case, I don¡¯t think we need to bother with it then. We can just mark it clear on the map. What do you guys think?¡± He turned to his companion.


    ¡°Whatever is fine,¡± said the female archer. She was braiding and playing with her hair, not showing an ounce of concern for the conversation. ¡°I would rather not go into some dark and dirty cave though.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± the rogue said plainly, crossing his arms.


    The mage pushed up his glasses and remarked, ¡°We should check it out anyways. It¡¯s our job to survey the land, and we can¡¯t be caught cutting corners.¡±


    I tightened my grip, almost snapping the wood in my hands. This man, I didn¡¯t like the look of him. I glared at him.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Gen brings up a good point,¡± The knight said. ¡°Let¡¯s just go in to take a look, just in case.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± I said with a shrug, ¡°Don¡¯t expect to find anything.¡± I withheld the urge to act even snarkier. Beneath the surface, I was in a panic. The group was going to go through and check everything ¨C the mage would make sure of that.


    I let them go inside before I went to work. With my last bit of mana, I blocked the pathway from the fourth down to the fifth floor. If they found a stone room with a door and a bed, it would be the end of me.


    From the outside, I watched their progress through my dungeon senses. They casually walked through, making jokes without a care in the world. The archer was complaining how this was a waste of time ¨C there was nothing to be found. However, Gen, who I assumed was the mage, kept them on track. A voice of reason that annoyed me deeply.


    They went through the levels. Down from the first to the second to the third. The adventures reached the fourth floor and panic struck me. I had forgot to tell the slimes they were coming, those murderous little slimes.


    I yelled at the first slime I could reach, the metal slime. The dungeon core let me communicate with it in an instant. ¡°Adventurers are coming! Don¡¯t attack them, don¡¯t kill them, don¡¯t do anything dangerous!¡± I never thought I would be this worked up over slimes, but I did not want any harm to befall them.


    To my dismay, the slimes did not listen. I kept shouting to stop, to back off, to hide, but they oozed out of their hiding holes. Once the adventures stepped into the circular center, they leapt from their spots and began tackling them from every which direction.


    Panic and confusion went through the adventures. The girl, who still wasn¡¯t paying attention, got slammed on the side. She lost her balance and tumbled down into the pit. The fall didn¡¯t kill her, but she was stuck. With her own dagger, she killed the offending slime.


    Quickly, the adventures realized they were just slimes. No matter how relentless and sudden their assault was, they were just small, weak slimes. They took up their ground, raised their weapons and slaughtered them. One by one, I watched them tear through them.


    I couldn¡¯t stand and watch. My legs moved on their own and I ran down into the dungeon. I sped through the halls and reached the fourth level. The adventures stood around calmly, trying to find a way to retrieve their stuck companion.


    ¡°W-what happened?¡± I stammered. ¡°I heard fighting, s-so I was worried¡­¡±


    ¡°No need to fear,¡± The knight left, ¡°It seemed those knights you mentioned earlier were not thorough. Bloody slimes hid in the walls, but we managed to clear them out.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± I uncomfortably shifted in place. The mage was staring at me.


    ¡°How did you know we were fighting?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I was taken aback. Did I mess up?


    ¡°We are on the fourth level,¡± he explained, ¡°If you were at the surface, how would you have known?¡±


    ¡°Hey, slow down, Gen,¡± the knight said with his brows furrowed. ¡°No need to be aggressive with the man, maybe he was just following us?¡±


    ¡°There wasn¡¯t anyone coming down with us,¡± the rogue said.


    The knight crossed his arms, ¡°Are you sure?¡± The rogue nodded. ¡°I guess it can¡¯t be avoided then,¡± he looked over at Gen. The mage, with his eyes slanted and his muscles tense, was not going to let anyone drop the subject. ¡°So, friend, how did you know we were fighting,¡± he signed, ¡°just give us a proper explanation and we get out of here.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t give one. My mind raced to think of something that didn¡¯t sound absurd, but I couldn¡¯t.


    The mage laughed, ¡°He can¡¯t, Talon. This man has not been honest with us.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Talon calmly asked.


    ¡°From the start, there was something suspicious about him, I felt. Through my magic perception, I noticed traces of miasma on him. It wouldn¡¯t be strange if he walked by a dungeon, so that is why I pressed us to come in.¡± He looked around the room, surveying it. ¡°In this room, I can sense even more miasma in here. There was activity. Recently too. This has to be an active dungeon.¡± Everyone intently listened, even the archer girl stuck at the bottom of the ditch. ¡°Now, he comes along, saying he could hear us when he was no position to. He wasn¡¯t following us or with us, so how could he have known we were even specifically fighting? Not only that, but the miasma is sticking to him.¡± Gen pointed at me, ¡°I don¡¯t know who or what he is, but this thing is dangerous. He might even be the dungeon core itself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s crazy!¡± I shouted back at Gen. ¡°How could I be a dungeon core? That doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t,¡± Talon said, ¡°But do you have any reasonable explanation for what Gen said? I¡¯m sorry, but he is my teammate ¨C I have to believe him on this.¡±


    I stuttered and stammered. There was no explanation I could give.


    Talon drew his sword with a solemn expression. I was suspicious so they would kill me.


    I drew my own sword, planning not to die without a fight. It was time to kill, I thought Talon inched closer. Something fell from the ceiling behind Talon, crashing into the floor.


    He turned around, ¡°What the hell is¨C¡± His thought was not completed as a metallic tendril shot through his chest. Another one pieces his body. Blood spurted out and he groaned of pain. Talon was sent flying to the side, smacking into the rock wall.


    It was the metal slime! It looked at me and said, Time to kill. I didn¡¯t argue with the thing.


    The mage and rogue switched their attention to the slime. With his staff, Gen began forming a spell, but I wasn¡¯t going to let him. He forgot about me and I was able to wipe that stupid, spiteful expression off of his face by lopping his head off.


    The rogue attempted to fight the slime, but his metal daggers just clanged with the metal slime surface. Unable to break the metal slime¡¯s defense, he turned to run. The metal slime, who had over triple in sized since I last saw it,¡± launched through the air and body slammed the rogue into the rock wall. I could hear the crunching and crushing from the other side of the room.


    I ran up and hugged the slime, ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re alive! I thought you died with the rest of the slimes¡­¡±


    But you said no kill.


    ¡°I know! But that didn¡¯t stop the other slimes from jumping in¡­ why would they do that?¡±


    Wanted to kill. Didn¡¯t listen.


    ¡°Really now?¡± I signed. I didn¡¯t want anyone to die, but this turned into a huge mess


    Whimpers and grunts came from the ditch. I had forgotten about the archer. Metal slime and I went to take a look. She was stuck at the bottom, quivering in fear. The sides of the pit were too large for her to climb out, but she was gripping her ankle as if it was twisted or broken anyways.


    ¡°Please¡­ don¡¯t kill me,¡± she sobbed from pit. I didn¡¯t respond. ¡°Please!¡± She begged. ¡°I will do anything ¨C give you anything! What do you want? Money? Items? My body?¡± She was going hysterical, the fear of death overcoming her.


    ¡°So,¡± I turned to the slime, ¡°What do you think we should do about her?¡±


    The slime vibrated as if it was agitated. Kill, it responded. Before I could say anything, it jumped up and dived straight into the hole. A huge, metal slime ball fell on her. Her screams and the disturbing crunching noise made me recoil and wince. However, we were probably going to have to kill her anyways. Didn¡¯t want word getting out of what happened here.


    Help, the slime said.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I looked over and asked, trying to ignore the blood splatters.


    Am stuck.


    Oh. That¡¯s right. The ditch was pretty steep, looked like not even he could get out. With whatever mana I had, I made some steps so it could hop its way up. Soon, the metal slime happily joined me above.


    I scratched my head, confused among the remains of dead slimes and adventures. Where do I go from here? I opened up my journal and took a look. I wasn¡¯t sure. My life as a dungeon had taken a bloody turn. How typical.

 Chapter 6

    Disposing of dead bodies was an unsavory task. I was annoyed I had to do it again. The adventures had several items on them: potions, foods, various supplies, a map. I took what was useful and debated what to do with the rest.


    While the dungeon could always just eat the bodies, it was unclear if that was the best solution or use of resources. There were four bodies in total. One of them without a head, two of them broken and mangled, and the last one skewered in several places.


    I consulted my notebook. There were no immediate goals for me to tackle. After I made that bedroom and ran my tests, I wasn¡¯t sure what to do now. Frankly, I didn¡¯t know what could I do. I didn¡¯t have enough information.


    Picking up the map, I looked over the adventure¡¯s task. It was still incomplete, little over a half filled. It noted where the river flowed, various caves, and identified geographical features. If only the map was finished, maybe it would yield some valuable information.


    Filling out the map, what if that could be my next goal? The reaches of the map would exceed my max range, noting the scale they had created at the bottom. I could expand the dungeon and increase my range, but I wanted to avoid that for now. Carelessly increasing its size could create problems. With no other purpose than to just go farther, it seemed like a waste. A larger dungeon would, theoretically, increase its mana intake, but that could have consequences to the area. I wasn¡¯t exactly hurting for mana anyways.


    A proxy, I decided, would be the best solution. My options, however, were slim to none. I looked over at the slime that lazily lounged about. It had shrunk to a more normal size since the fight and was resting ¨C I think it was resting at least. In any case, I couldn¡¯t send this slime out to finish the map; there was no confidence in me that it would make ten steps without trying to kill something. That was if it could write and fill out a map anyways


    There were, however, four dead bodies. Normally, a powerful mage or some sort of necromancer could resurrect or manipulate the dead to perform tasks for them. Dungeons have also been riddled with monsters such as skeletons and zombies. What was stopping me from zombifying these guys and just having them finish the map for me?


    Ethics. Desecrating bodies didn¡¯t appeal to me, but I was going to have the dungeon (or slime) dissolve them anyways. However, turning them into zombies could be fuel for a fire against me if worst came to worst.


    I opened up my dungeon sense. It¡¯s a risk I am willing to take and an area of ethics I didn¡¯t really care about. Of the four bodies, only one of them was in any proper condition; the knight who was only stabbed would be my goal to turn into undead, the other three¡¯s bodies were far too broken.


    Hey, listen. The slime interrupted me.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I turned around, asking the slime that jiggled and bounced back to life.


    It hopped over to the dead knight, creeping over his body. Can I eat?


    The armor. It wanted to eat the armor. ¡°No,¡± I gently replied after considering the request. I wanted the zombie to keep the armor just so people don¡¯t immediately see a dead body walking around. It would help the reanimated knight not draw any attention.


    The slime, however, deflated like a balloon into a puddle. Okay. Even though it spoke through my mind, the slime sounded awfully depressed.


    ¡°I promise, I¡¯ll make it up to you!¡± I said to the slime. Seeing the cute guy just fall apart like that made me feel like a real villain. ¡°I¡¯ll try getting some metal for you, even make it with mana if I have to. Is that alright?¡±


    Really?


    ¡°Yes, really.¡±


    All right. The slime sounded chipper, but was still flattened and broken.


    Trying to keep my mind off of the depressed slime, I reopened my dungeon senses and focused on the work at hand. I cleaned up the useless bodies first. The smushed archer at the bottom of the pit, the headless mage, and the rouge stuck in the wall, I had the dungeon dissolve them, making sure to leave behind their valuables. I took in their mana and nutrients and turned my attention to the knightStolen story; please report.


    Raising the dead, or creating undead, was no easy feat. It was considered a specialized field. Not many did it considering all the stigmas attached to it. Not many liked necromancers and even less were willing to put in the effort to become something everyone hated. Though I had the dungeon core, I was no mage; I expected a challenging process.


    Before I attempted turning him undead, I used my mana to fix up the armor. A slight touch just to patch up the holes. Then, I funneled mana into the body, my mind focused on a zombie. Creating monsters was an indescribable process. Like with the slimes, I could feel my mana leaving, see it being altered, and watch it give shape to something new. There was no word other than ¡®natural¡¯ that I could use to describe the process; it just came to me as if it was obvious.


    Turning the knight to an undead took up more mana than I anticipated. Much more mana than the dozen slimes. Catching my breath, I patiently watched the corpse. It twitched. And spasmed. And groaned. The body moved, clamoring to its feet. I could see a dull, empty expression on its face through the helmet. I wondered, how much does the zombie know or remember? Its droning groan gave no such sign of intelligence.


    ¡°Walk forward three steps for me, zombie.¡± I commanded it, testing it. The zombie walked forward three steps. It walked normally ¨C walked like someone alive would. I looked it over. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Besides the strange groan it sometimes gave out and the spooky pale skin, no one would think it out of the ordinary. I attributed it to the freshness of the body and jotted a note about it in my journal.


    Still, I had to be sure it was functional. ¡°Now, raise your right hand.¡± It raised it as if it were about to pledge to me. ¡°Wave.¡± It waved. ¡°Stop.¡± It stopped. I scratched my chin, thinking of what else I could make it do. I snapped my fingers, ¡°That¡¯s right! Now, put one hand on your head and one on your stomach. Like that! Now, pat your head and rub your stomach.¡± The classic, age old test.


    The zombie attempted the feat. It patted its head and its stomach. Then, it adjusted, patting its head and then patting its stomach in a circular motion. Slowly, the zombie got into the rhythm and the stomach-circle-pat became a normal rub. It got it! While its intelligence could be questioned, it was dexterous enough to do basic things ¨C or, at least, more dexterous than some five-year-olds I knew.


    I handed it the map and some writing utensils. ¡°Go forth, knight zombie! Can you, uh, finish this map? Thanks. And be discrete! Work at night if you have to ¨C can¡¯t let anyone see you. And if there is big trouble, let me know before doing anything rash. If not sure, just come back here if it¡¯s safe to do so.¡± I kept giving it instructions and ideas and rules. I was worried, like a parent sending out their child to school alone for the first time. Don¡¯t talk to strangers, don¡¯t take candy from weird people, don¡¯t get into any wagons. That sort of thing.


    With a groan, it walked off with map and pen. As a quick test, I opened my dungeon sense and focused on the zombie. As I got used to them, I found I could do much more. For starters, I could tap into the zombie¡¯s senses. See what it sees. Hear what it sees. It was a strange perspective; the world was a little gray and dull. I could hear its thoughts, but the zombie really wasn¡¯t thinking anything. It was just repeating ¡®map¡¯ to itself over and over. Unfortunately, it used to be an intelligent being and wasn¡¯t as cute as the slime so it didn¡¯t get a pass from me. I¡¯d have to see about reeducating the zombie later.


    The metal slime put itself back together and hopped back over to me. Making more monsters? It asked.


    Strange, I thought. That sounded like a complete sentence. A murderous slime was one thing, but a smart murderous slime was another. My worries doubled. ¡°No,¡± I answered it, ¡°I¡¯m not making any more monsters right now. I don¡¯t think I will for a little bit either.¡±


    Why?


    ¡°Why, huh?¡± I sat on a rock and gathered my thoughts. So much was happening and so fast, it was too easy to lose track of everything, to lose myself. I said, ¡°Well, I don¡¯t need anymore. I fused with this dungeon, became the dungeon. I guess, normally, dungeons would make monsters so it can grow, get larger, protect itself. All of that towards¡­ forever.¡± I sighed, ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t really want to do that, growing larger, I guess. Before I was this human-dungeon hybrid, I was just a normal guy. Wanted to live out my life quietly, keep my head down. My circumstances have changed, but I don¡¯t think what I want has. Making monsters just doesn¡¯t help. Like with those slimes. I made them and where did it get them? It got them dead. I¡¯m not going to make monsters just so they could die, you know? It¡¯s cruel.¡±


    I laughed at myself, being all high and mighty when I just made a zombie. It was hypocritical, but it was also okay; not everyone can be perfect all the time ¨C besides, sometimes exceptions had to be made. I kept talking to the metal slime who quietly listened, ¡°That¡¯s just how it is. I don¡¯t want to cause trouble, don¡¯t want to do anything crazy. I tried, once upon a time, don¡¯t get me wrong. But I was always put down by everyone around me. My parents were supportive, when they were there. It was tough. I grew up being one of those people that was important enough were people had to remember me, not want to, if that makes sense. I didn¡¯t have peers or a lot of friends because of that. Those below me would avoid me. Some afraid, some thinking I wasn¡¯t worth it, some of it maybe my fault for being closed off. Those above me, well, they would just look down at me. So, I tried once. I had aspirations, dreams.¡± I reclined on the rock and gazed into the empty dungeon ceiling. ¡°Sometimes, dreams are supposed to be just that, a dream.¡±


    Again, I laughed to myself. If even a month ago I told myself I would be sitting in the bottom of a dungeon venting about my life to a metal slime, I would fancy myself insane. But, here I was. This was my reality. I relaxed, glancing at the world through the zombie.


    It was a cloudless night. The stars twinkled and the moon gleamed. Quiet and serene, a moment of calm. It eased away my frustrations. I feel asleep on the rock.

 Chapter 7

    While the map making zombie went about its business, I lounged in the depths of the dungeon. Mana slowly accumulated in my reservoirs, and I wondered what to do with it. Some of it I was using to passively feed the slime. I didn¡¯t want it to get hungry and start complaining. That still left a fair bit to use however. What could I do with it?


    Renovations was one. Even though all the slimes were dead, I still fashioned out that room for them. I converted the mana into water and filled the crater in the middle of the fourth-floor room. It was like a large pool, something to swim in, but I wanted to keep myself busy and not play around. On my personal floor, I continued to use mana to create other quality of life objects: a work desk, some dressers, changes of clothes. The tasks quickly drained my mana, leaving me empty.


    As normal, mana trickled back in. It was a continuous process as there was no upper limit of the mana I can hold. If it wasn¡¯t expended, it would just keep accumulating. One thing I forgot to investigate was where the mana was being drawn from. Understanding what the dungeon was absorbing mana from could be useful in managing the area so that there aren''t any side effects.


    I made myself comfortable and opened up my dungeon senses. Using my expanded awareness, I measured and tracked the flow of mana in the area. The dungeon was absorbing trickles of mana from the surface ¨C that much was for sure. However, a massive stream of mana was not coming from above but from below. Another worrisome thing to write in my journal. Mana and magic were far outside my sphere of knowledge; I didn¡¯t even begin to know enough to explain this. I blocked my dungeon senses. If I didn¡¯t acknowledge it, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Maybe.


    I toyed around what to do with my last bits of saved up mana. There wasn¡¯t anything immediate that warranted its use, so I decided to pump it into me. Much like how I could supposedly use it to feed and power up the slime, I figured I could use it to make myself stronger. Did it work? I wasn¡¯t so sure. Nothing felt out of the ordinary ¨C a little bit more energetic at the least. In terms of powers or abilities, nothing stood out. There was nothing yet anyways. It was worthwhile to continue it, just in case there was a payoff.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    There was not much to do for now. Nice and peaceful. I wondered how long it would last. Between those adventures and knights, I had a feeling they wouldn¡¯t be the last visitors I would get. I spent the rest of my time observing the zombie.


    It was making progress. A little slow, however. The map, which it looked at from time-to-time, was slowly being filled. From what I could understand, the area was lush and varied. Most of it was dense forests, but there were large open fields and rocky hills, especially closer to the ocean. It was valuable land. There could be minerals and metals in the caves, plenty of wood to use for construction, and open fields to build and farm on. There was a lot some entrepreneur could do with it.


    The sun was setting and night was approaching ¨C but it was hard to tell that from the zombie¡¯s perspective. Death had weakened some of its senses, his vision a bit gray and unfocused. However, it wasn¡¯t enough to be a cause for concern. I relaxed, watching the zombie make its slow progress.


    For a few days, I maintained this schedule: feed the slime mana, feed myself mana, and then watch the zombie. Sometimes, metal slime gave me trouble, seemingly annoyed I was spending time looking over the zombie knight. A quick scolding always put it down. I felt bad neglecting the slime, but other things had to take priority, especially if the zombie found something worthwhile.


    It did find several cave systems in the area. If I ever had to expand, they could be key points I could safely move to should the need arise. However, the zombie knight discovered a village north from the dungeon along the ocean. The skeleton hid in a hill overlooking it and I surveyed it. The village was large and developed. It had proper wooden houses, gravel roads. Nowhere near close to a town, but it was respectable. The important note that it wasn¡¯t a human village, but an elf one.


    Not too out of the ordinary: elves tend to stay away from large urban centers, partially for cultural reasons and partially because of hostility from humans. In recent times, relations between humans and other races have been poor, particularly so in Hevagrain. There was a lot of politics and issues and reasons for it, enough to write books on.


    I didn¡¯t personally have any problems with the people; as long as we all respected each other, I didn¡¯t care. I had the knight carefully map out this area in particular. The elf village were something like a neighbor. More reason for me to make sure the dungeon doesn¡¯t get out of control. Any trouble I caused would most certainly spill over to them. Another issue for me to worry about and document in my journal. However, as long as I didn¡¯t cause any unneeded attention, there shouldn¡¯t be any issues.


    I recorded the zombie''s progress and made notes in my journal before returning to my quiet observation.

 Chapter 8

    Birds didn¡¯t chirp today. Neither did animals stir. There was no wind to rustle the leaves. The forest was quiet; the forest was dead. I paid close attention to the health of the forest. Being in control of the dungeon meant I had the power to tamper with its ebb and flow. I grew used to its regular beating the longer I stayed.


    Today was strange. There was something wrong, and I hoped it was not more ¡®visitors¡¯. I directed the zombie, who had recently completed his mapping task, to scope out the area, to check for irregularities. It was reckless for me to leave and crazy to let the metal slime who was anxiously hopping in place out of my sight. The zombie knight would have to do.


    They rode in from the south. The zombie knight hid in the brush on top of a hill, overlooking the scene. Knights from Hevagrain trampled through the forest. Were they looking for me? I stressed before convincing myself that could not be the case: if they cared about finding the knights and I, a large search party would have come through here long ago.


    I had the zombie knight slowly follow them. If it gets caught, it would be killed, but that was better than me or the slime being found instead. I looked over the map and tracked the knights progress through it. They numbered several dozen and their progress was fast and straight north, as if their goal was already determined. It was possible they were passing through, going to reinforce the northern border or meet up with some larger group.


    The zombie knight trailed behind; it was difficult for an undead to match pace with knights on horses. Even though I could estimate the knights path ¨C which problematically took them through the elf village ¨C I continued to have the zombie follow them, just in case.


    Rain fell, making the zombie¡¯s trek more difficult. The same, I estimated, to also be true for the knights. The zombie reached the village and it saw the rain fall through rising smoke. The knights ran their horses through the village, torching the buildings and slashing the residents. There was crude fighting, resistance in the form of random arrow shots and thrown spears. However, the armor withstood whatever the elves threw. Though, for most, there was no retaliation. Only panic. They ran, scattered like ants pilling out of a broken mound. I considered there could be conflict between the elves and knights ¨C but not a massacre.


    Many elves who survived the initial rush flooded out and towards the forest, hoping to find refuge among the trees and brush. I hastily recalled the zombie ¨C it being found in the fray would complicate things even more. I could have it fight, but it was a losing battle, a suicidal one.


    What could I do? I felt useless and lost, forced to sit and watch knights from my kingdom slaughter elven men ¨C the women and children too. Even if I held the power to help, intervention might still result in a terrible situation. I could do nothing but watch.


    The zombie knight returned without getting into trouble, which was nice. I made it sit in a corner somewhere on the fourth floor, out of sight and out of mind. Its scouting was not needed anyways: as the elves fled their home and into the forest, they encroached upon the dungeon¡¯s domain, and any land in my operational range, I could sense and observe. Using my abilities, I felt their panic and flight.


    Knights hounded them through the forest, their horses leaping through bramble and brush. Their swords slashed. Their horses trampled. The rain poured, mudding the earth. The elves sought refuge from the onslaught, heading for the caves to hide. Of course, the knights sniffed them out, but I was concerned: a large group of the surviving elves were headed in my direction. I didn¡¯t know if they were aware of this place¡¯s existence or not. But I ran through the cave through the surface. If I could just get to them in time, maybe I could direct them inside and use my powers to conceal them. I could do something, I could save lives.


    I reached the entrance, but the knights were already upon them. Unaware of my existence, they slaughtered the elves at the foot of my dungeon. I froze. Paralyzed. I wanted to yell. To scream. To shout. To fight. My legs didn¡¯t move. My body trembled. The knights were silent in their killing, like sectors of death. The pattering of rain was accompanied with screams of dying elves.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°You there, what are you doing?¡± My trance was broke and a knight trotted over to me, most of the violence ended.


    ¡°I-I-I live around these parts¡­¡± I managed to stammer.


    The knight looked me over through the helm which masked his face. He sighed, ¡°Shame you had to see this mess. These elves were causing troubles around these parts. Several people have been going missing, and well, they are to blame.¡±


    ¡°S-so th-that is how it is?¡±


    ¡°Not the best job, killing everyone in the forest you know, but orders are orders.¡±


    I repeated, ¡°Everyone?¡±


    ¡°Everyone,¡± the knight did not stutter. ¡°This land is good land. Of course, there are people interested in developing it, but that would be hard to do with people on it. They wanted a clean slate, if you know what I mean.¡± The knight carefully looked over his sword, using a cloth to wipe some of the blood off. ¡°Those nobles even asked us to map out the area for them ¨C a disgraceful job, something fit for those adventuring folks.¡±


    ¡°Map? You need a map?¡± I tried to repress my heavy breathing. My heart was about to beat out of my chest.


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t need to worry about that,¡± he coyly responded.


    I fumbled through my pockets and pulled out the parchment, careful to not let it get ruined in the rain. ¡°What if I told you I had a map of the area?¡±


    The knight folded his arms, ¡°I would say I would be interested in it. Would save me a lot of time in this dirt infested region.¡±


    I presented the map to the knight, ¡°I spent a lot of time working on this.¡±


    ¡°I bet you did,¡± the knight replied, snatching it from my hands. ¡°Not bad,¡± he said after looking it over. His attention didn¡¯t leave the map. ¡°You know¡­ it¡¯s a shame you had to see this entire mess, you know?¡±


    I swallowed the spit in my throat. ¡°What do you mean? A shame to see what?¡±


    The knight roared in laughter. He rolled up the parchment and tucked it away out of the rain, ¡°You best get out of here ¨C especially if you don¡¯t have any more ¡®maps¡¯.¡± He called to the other knights which trotted around, leading them off back into the forest.


    Somehow, I did not collapse from fright. The lower half of my body was violently shaking. I took deep breaths. Control to my body slowly returned. The knights were gone, and I ran into the forest.


    ¡°Anyone out here? Anyone alive?¡± I refused to believe everyone had been slaughtered. There had to be someone alive somewhere, and I resolved to try and save them. I kept shouting, I kept running. Slowly, my range limiter was approaching and I cursed myself for not increasing the dungeon size. Maybe if I had, maybe I would have more tools to help with. I would never know.


    In the distance, I heard coughing. I directed my attention to it and headed over. Every so often, I would have to go past the body of an elf. However, slouched against a tree, was an elf breathing heavily, clutching an arrow in its gut.


    I rushed over, ¡°Stay with me,¡± I ordered, ¡°I¡¯m going to try and save you.¡± She ¨C the elf ¨C didn¡¯t say anything but weakly look at me. Color was draining from her face fast.


    I panicked. I wasn¡¯t a doctor. I wasn¡¯t a medic. I wasn¡¯t a healer. I had no idea what I was doing, but I knew I had to do something. There were not even any supplies I could use or fumble with. The only thing in my possession was a huge reservoir of mana.


    So I did the only thing I learned to do, throw mana at a problem. I opened up my dungeon senses and focused on the elf girl. The arrow had to go first, but I was not able to digest it through the dungeon since we were outside. I poured the mana into her to close the wounds while, at the same time, I carefully removed the arrow from the wound. It was deep and I didn¡¯t want to mess anything up ¨C removing arrows can be tricky as sometimes it can itself be a clot to stop blood from flowing out. By applying mana at the same time, I manually healed and clotted the wound to allow for the arrows removal.


    But I wasn¡¯t sure if it was enough. The arrow was successfully removed, but her breaths were strained, her chest heaving violently. Her breathing stopped. I panicked. Her limbs were limp. Desperate, I opened up my entire reservoir of mana and poured it into her. I could do nothing for the elf village, but if I could save just one person, I would be happy. So I let all my mana flow into her and prayed, prayed that she would live.


    I vomited ¨C all my mana was spent. The world was spinning around me. My body was barely able to hold up its own weight. A searing pain shot through my head and my vision blurred. But the girl breathed; she was coming back to life. Her eyelids fluttered as she returned to the living. I, on the other hand, fell over and passed out.

 Chapter 9

    Soft and firm, a great support for my head. I inched back into consciousness, continuing to appreciate this comforting pillow. My eyes opened and a tan skinned elf was cheerfully smiling at me.


    ¡°Hello there!¡± said the elf with a smile.


    I rubbed my head ¨C it throbbed softly. I questioned the elf, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± she tilted her head up, finger on her chin, ¡°Knights came by and slaughtered my entire village. I got shot in the stomach by a crossbow bolt. I thought I was going to die ¨C maybe I did ¨C but you came along and used some sort of magic to heal me!¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh,¡± I replied, still light-headed and nauseous.


    ¡°And you passed out after that!¡±


    ¡°Figures.¡± Gathering my strength, I lifted myself up. However nice the lap pillow was, I couldn¡¯t stay there forever. Everything just got worse: a slaughtered village, knights coming by, nobles wanting this land. So many new problems ¨C and complicated ones at that.


    ¡°So, uh, are you a mage or something?¡± Asked the elf girl, ¡°Is that how you saved me?¡±


    I sighed, ¡°No, not a mage. My situation is complicated ¨C it would be best if you didn¡¯t get involved in it.¡±


    She crossed her arms and frowned not satisfied with my answer. ¡°You better tell me what¡¯s really going on ¨C don¡¯t be vague,¡± she demanded, ¡°Everyone I know is dead and you are the only person that knows anything. I think I¡¯m already involved in it.


    ¡°Fine,¡± I bit my lower lip. She had a point; she was already caught up in this. ¡°What do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°Everything,¡± demanded the Elf.


    ¡°Very well.¡± I took a deep breath, ¡°I saved you because I have a large pool of mana, the result of fusing with a dungeon core.¡± I waited for her to object, to question, but she patiently stared at me. I continued, ¡°It happened several days, maybe weeks, ago, how long exactly I¡¯m not sure. My unit of knights were assigned up north, so we left to meet up with others. On the way, we found a dungeon. We went to clear it.¡± I scratched the back of my neck, sighing, ¡°I was the only one that survived, somehow fusing with a dungeon core.¡±


    ¡°So that¡¯s where the knights they were looking for went¡­¡± she mused.


    I stood up and lowered my head at her, ¡°And for that, I¡¯m truly sorry. The Hevagrain knights came here looking for my group and some adventures. I never thought they would blame your village on their disappearance. That¡¯s why I will ask you to leave here at once. They will be back, and there will be trouble.¡±


    The elf got up and patted her clothes, shaking dirt off of it. Of all things, she asked, ¡°Your name?¡±


    Taken aback, I took a moment to prevent myself from stuttering. The shock wore off; we had never introduced ourselves, so it made sense. I cleared my throat, ¡°I am Hector.¡±


    ¡°Full name?¡±


    ¡°¡­ Hector Sageus,¡± I confided.


    ¡°So, Hector, I¡¯ll be in your care,¡± she proclaimed.


    I blinked in confusion, ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You say it¡¯s dangerous, that I should leave, but where do I go? My home is torched. My family is killed. I have nowhere to go to ¨C no future. And, if it is as you say, some blame is to be placed on you. The knights came because of your mess and you took the liberty of keeping me alive and in this situation. Take responsibility.¡±


    Her words stabbed me in the gut like a dagger. Painful as they were, they were the truth. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s possible, but I¡¯ll try my best,¡± I said. ¡°Anyways, what is your name?¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± The elf pointed to herself as if there was anyone else I could be talking to. She grinned and proclaimed, ¡°I am Lia Elden. And, uh, can you use your magic to check me out again? I feel kind of¡­ off.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Off?¡± Puzzled, I tilted my head.


    ¡°Yeah, ever since you save me from not dying, I¡¯ve felt strange, as if something inside me is swelling. It¡¯s not a bad thing though! I feel great, full of energy even, but it¡¯s strange.¡±


    I rubbed my chin, ¡°All right, I¡¯ll take a look.¡± A doctor, I was not, but I did have the extended senses provided by my dungeon side. Activating my extended self, I took a look.


    A troubling diagnostic, but it wasn¡¯t because of her injury. Hiding in the forest, I could sense two presences watching us. One of them was thoughtless, free of any distraction. The other was violent beyond all reason. The word ¡®kill¡¯ echoed repeatedly in its being. They were the zombie and slime. I had a lot of questions: how long were they there, what they were doing, what¡¯s going on. However, a gut feeling told me they would not answer any of them.


    As for Lia, my dungeon senses presented her to me as something normal ¨C yet strange. The world presents itself to me in colors I didn¡¯t even know existed while using my dungeon senses. With its sight, I can tell one type of tree from another, where the bugs and insects are, the flow of mana, and the ebb and flow of the dungeon. The slime and zombie in this sight appear as natural objects of the dungeon ¨C a part of it. Lia was visible in the same way.


    ¡°Well,¡± I rubbed my neck, ¡°Nothing is wrong, per se, but it looks like you are showing up as part of the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Part of the dungeon?¡± She repeated. ¡°Like a monster?¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Just like that. Speaking of which,¡± I turned around, ¡°You two! Get out here.¡± Out from the brush lumbered a zombie and hopped a slime. ¡°What have you two been doing?¡±


    Can I Kill?


    ¡°Tch, you can¡¯t kill her. From today on, I guess she is one of us.¡± The slime remained silent at this. I introduced the two to Lia, ¡°These two have accompanied me for some time, one is a zombie of an adventurer and the other is a slime that has gone metal.¡±


    She frowned, ¡°Do they not have names?¡±


    ¡°I guess not?¡± Perplexed, I looked over the two. Naming them never came to mind since they never used mine. ¡°I think the zombie was name Ta-something. Tawlin? Tol? Maybe it was Tall?¡± I hoped the zombie would give me confirmation ¨C it didn¡¯t. ¡°We can go with Tall. Sounds close enough. As for the slime, it never had one and I never gave it one.¡±


    It interrupted me, Am Slime.


    ¡°¡®Am slime¡¯, so it says.¡± I told Lia with a shrug.


    ¡°So,¡± Lia surmised, ¡°The zombie is Tall and the slime is just Slime?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Now what?¡±


    Now what? I asked myself. A great question. It seems trouble always found a way to me. ¡®Let¡¯s get to my dungeon first, out of the wilderness,¡± I suggested, ¡°We can discuss things there.¡±


    It was a short walk, but it felt like a trek from the Orphant mountains to the Ilm ocean. An eerie quiet persisted. The pristine forest was tainted by the body of elves. We came across several as we made our way back. The sight troubled me, so I wondered what Lia¡¯s state of mind would be. I would glance back at her, but her face was steel; there was no sign of distress on her face.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this surprising,¡± the elf remarked upon seeing the room I had carved out for myself at the bottom of the dungeon. ¡°Who would have thought that a dungeon of all places could have a place like this.¡±


    ¡°I can do a lot with mana, you know. I spent a great deal actually furnishing out this area. The only thing in here that is really all that great though is the bed.¡±


    She hopped on it to test it out. And let out a ¡®fwee¡¯ in joy. ¡°Wow! This really is great! We didn¡¯t have anything like this in the village?¡±


    ¡°Really? I thought the quality was just okay¡­¡± It was clear we came from two different worlds.


    ¡°Yeah, really! Never in my 27 years have I ever been on something so comfy.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re 27?¡±


    She giggled, covering her mouth, ¡°Oh? Didn¡¯t know? I do look youthful for my age, I guess. I thought perhaps you saved me cause you were into older women¡­¡± She teased me, slanting her eyes at me in a lewd manner.


    The slime hopped in place.


    ¡°N-no, that¡¯s not it! You were the only one I saw alive, and what makes you think you are older than me?!¡±


    ¡°A woman can tell, ya¡¯know? I wouldn¡¯t put you past 21.¡± She sprawled out on the bed, laying on her side.


    I gulped. The dubious elf was right. ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m 20.¡±


    Lia chuckled, ¡°Knew it! Anyways, Hector, what¡¯s the plan? Don¡¯t we have more trouble on the way?¡±


    ¡°Right, we do.¡± With nobles and knights eyeing the land, there was no avoiding it. Fighting and defense was the obvious choice, but was that all I wanted to do? Witnessing the massacre erupted a long dormant rage in me. The kingdom was exiting its golden age. Many people didn¡¯t believe or acknowledge it, but for the longest time I felt that way. Watching that idiot Lacus and his farther handle the throne made me sure of that. Life had placed me in a difficult place from the start, full of trouble. It was because of that I wanted a quiet, peaceful life.


    I was never going to get that. ¡°Lia, your home was lost.¡± She nodded her head at the obvious statement. I looked at the palm of my hand, ¡°You can say I lost my home as well ¨C no, actually, I never had a home I was welcome to to begin with.¡± Closing my hand into a fist, I gazed towards the ceiling, ¡°This dungeon has become my home, and I intend to make it somewhere worth living. Not just for myself, but maybe for all people. The kingdom won¡¯t last acting as it is, and I don¡¯t intend to stay on a sinking ship.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great and all, but what do we do about the people after this land?¡± Asked Lia.


    ¡°If they come, we fight. To do that we need to do something I tried to avoid: expand the dungeon and become known. I have no intention of creating the normal monster-spewing-dungeon that harms the land. The dungeon needs to expand in a way that keeps the land healthy, monsters need to be made that can be controlled and don¡¯t prey on others, and relations must be built with others to ensure ourselves politically and economically. My power is strange and with a lot of potential. I¡¯m sure many people would like to work with us given the chance.¡±


    Wide-eyed, Lia looked on in astonishment, ¡°Wow, I never took you for a smart one!¡±


    I rolled my eyes, ¡°I passed from one of the top schools in the kingdom, I¡¯m not an idiot!¡± I left out the part where it was just barely. But in a way, she was right. I was prepared to do these things in a way most people weren¡¯t. My life was one constant cycle of trial and failure, continuously put down by those around me. Now I was free and alone. The ambition that has long since smoldered sparked into flame. I took out my journal and went to a clean page. Surrounded by the elf, the slime and the zombie, I announced, ¡°It¡¯s time to get to work.¡±

 Chapter 10

    Without another map, the knight warned me to leave or else there would be more danger. Ironic, I thought as I unfurled the area map on a table. Maps were a valuable thing, so I took the liberty of using my mana to replicate them. Having spares and extra copies would be useful, but I didn¡¯t expect it to be used as a bargaining chip for my life.


    Tapping my fingers on the wooden table, I perused over the map. Expansion was on my mind, but where to was the question. The dungeon is currently situated under a large, mountainous hill with a river flowing on its side. Setting up on both sides of the river appealed to me: having openings and paths between the two sides that didn¡¯t involve crossing the river could open up safer movement and transportation.


    ¡°So,¡± interrupted Lia, ¡°Is there anything you need us to do?¡± She hesitantly looked over at Tall the zombie and Slime.


    I stroked my chin. Nothing came immediately to mind, so I checked my journal. Still nothing. They would have to do something I couldn¡¯t that was also practical. I snapped my fingers, ¡°There is something, but it¡¯s a little complicated.¡± Lia tilted her head as if to question me. ¡°I can¡¯t leave this area,¡± I continued, ¡°But there is work to be done elsewhere. I am literally unable to do it so someone else has to.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± She said. ¡°You have that sort of restriction?¡± I nodded. ¡°So what do you need done.¡±


    ¡°A few things,¡± I murmured while flipping through the pages of my notebook. Scratching my head, I said, ¡°Well, we need to publicly reveal my existence. Sure, more people might come after me, but it is harder to sweep something under the rug the more people that know about it. Also, since we already have people targeting this land, we need to figure out who and what exactly they are after and their resources. On our end, we need to increase our own size and I don¡¯t mean the dungeon side. For a time, we might be able to get by with me creating dungeon monsters, but any long-term goals will be helped by recruiting skilled individuals: trained men at arms, scholars, engineers, you get the idea.¡±


    ¡°Woah, that is a lot of stuff to do. What should we start on first?¡±


    ¡°It is a lot and I think we should abuse the fact that me and this dungeon¡¯s existence is unknown. If the nobles want this land but don¡¯t see any danger to their claims, I would bet they won¡¯t feel pressured to act. As soon as my existence becomes revealed, everything will begin moving at an accelerated pace.¡± I traced my finger on the map, constructing a mental image of expansion. ¡°Meaning we should take this time to build up. Recruit a few people to help with development, build the dungeon in a constructive manner, and assemble some sort of defense that would defer immediate action.¡±


    I raised up two fingers, ¡°Two of those things I can work on by myself: dungeon construction and defense building. Some things I will have to figure out as I go, like how to manage the dungeon mana intake, but I will have to tackle that issue eventually. What I need from you in particular ¨C I can¡¯t send out a slime or a zombie ¨C is to recruit some people to help start building this place into something.¡±


    Her throat tensed and she made a wish-washy face, ¡°Sounds a little difficult? I¡¯m not a good talker or convincer, and I don¡¯t know anyone.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I already have people in mind, friends and acquaintances and such.¡±


    ¡°Well, uh, that¡¯s great then. Should I leave now?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ are you alright leaving now? I mean¡­¡± I didn¡¯t want to say it, to bring up the massacre. She didn¡¯t seem bothered by it, not in the slightest, but who knew what she was hiding under her mask.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    Lia turned her head and clanked at the floor, holding one arm by the elbow. Her face wore a cold smile. ¡°It¡¯s alright ¨C there¡¯s nothing that can be done to undo it or bring them back. You know, I feel like I was supposed to die back there, maybe I did, but here I am, alive. I asked you to take responsibility, but it wouldn¡¯t exactly be fair of me to sit around and do nothing either, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine, but don¡¯t force yourself,¡± I wagged a finger at her. ¡°So what are we going to do about supplies?¡±


    ¡°I took a look at the village a while ago,¡¯ Lia said, ¡°much of it is burned but there is still plenty of food and clothing left I can take.¡±


    I nodded, ¡°Sounds good, but now I just need to give you some sort of protection just in case¡­¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to just send you out alone,¡± I chuckled as if it was obvious, ¡°What if you ran into danger? Some protection is needed.¡± A new monster would have to be made: sending a zombie or a slime as a guard was no good.


    Tapping into my dungeon abilities was becoming more second nature to me; I could flip it on in an instant, a seamless transition. The monster would have to be able to hide, stay out of sight. I focused my mana on creating two beings.


    A monster that could hide in a shadow was my goal. There were plenty of strong and complicated beings that could have that ability, but I aimed for something simple; I aimed just for the run-of-the-mill shadow monster, a dark, figureless creature that lurks inside a shadow. Two of them took shape before me and I molded them into dog-wolf type of creature. Four legs to run, sharp teeth, razor claws, that type of armament should be fine for defense purposes.


    The two alternated woofing at me. Their shadow tail waved in the air. I instructed them to follow Lia, protect her, and listen to her instructions. They woofed and dove into her shadow.


    Lia yelped and jumped, ¡°What the hell was that? Did those two things go into my shadow?¡±


    ¡°Yup. They are guard-dog-shadow type creatures I made. There are two and I instructed them to listen to you and protect you.¡± I smiled, attempting to hide my pain. Most of mana was spent on making the two. It was a conscious choice as the more mana I poured into them, the stronger they would probably be.


    Lia was looking over her shoulder with a strained face, ¡°I can kind of feel them there ¨C it¡¯s strange!¡± A woof came out of her shadow and she jumped again. ¡°Holy shit that scared me I have to get used to that.¡±


    Hand on my mouth, I attempted to suppress my giggling. It was the slime discreetly ramming into my thigh that cut my laughter.


    She should go.


    Slime seemed anxious about this. It was unusually silent since he woke up, which was strange for the murderous thing. I half expected it to try something with Lia here, but it was quiet. I wasn¡¯t sure if I liked this tame slime; I was getting used to my little loud slime.


    ¡°Slime here is saying you should go,¡± I pointed at it with a thumb.


    ¡°Oh, yeah,¡± said the elf, her ears perking up, ¡°I heard.¡±


    ¡°Really now?¡± Perplexed, I jotted this down in my journal. I didn¡¯t think anyone else could hear Slime, but maybe it was because she was now ¡®part of the dungeon¡¯. I tore out a few pages and started writing directions on them for Lia. ¡°Lia, the friend I want you to meet is named Gil Fins. He is a mage west of here. I want you to let him now of my situation and invite him over ¨C and, uh, don¡¯t be alarmed by his eccentrics.¡± She tilted her head, confused. I didn¡¯t explain; she would learn soon enough. ¡°As for everyone else, just go to that town in the West, Jourd, and mail out these letters. I won¡¯t send you out in a wild cross-country trip so this is for the best.¡± I hastily wrote and prepared them and handed them over. With the map, I gave her directions as best as I could and explained the rest of the way. It was simple, almost a straight shot west and there should be a road anyways that would take her there.


    Lia took a spare map and started walking out, ¡°I¡¯ll be off then. And no need to see me out,¡± she remarked as I scrambled to follow her.


    I wheezed out a half-chuckle, half-sigh. She was an independent one ¨C strong willed to. Probably even more than me. I envied her, to be able to act so fast and quickly with all that happening to her. I would be paralyzed, have been paralyzed.


    There was no use in worrying about it. Though most of my work can begin when Gil arrives, there was still somethings I could do. I would hold off on heavy duty expansion until then as he should be able to answer the mana intake problems of the dungeon and help me map out a proper expansion route.


    The slime rammed me again. Rubbing my throbbing leg, I glanced annoyed at the slime. For now, my work would be on the monsters.

 Chapter 11 - Lia

    Lia couldn''t trust Hector. She made her way through the remains of her small village, picking through for supplies. A band of knights had eliminated everything - a group that had come supposedly due to the workings of that strange person in the cave. It felt all too convenient. A bolt in the stomach, she was on the brink of death.In fact, she would have been dead if that boy hadn''t showed up. His methods were unfathomable. His motives are questionable. His goal is unknown. A strange man - one that didn''t warrant any trust even though her life was saved by him.


    A dagger here, a bag there, she gathered supplies one by one. Hector had saved her and was immediately sending her out, not that she had a problem with it. There was a dangerous aura about him. She would have to rally for help outside of his bounds. The two dogs in her shadow made worry. She could feel them stirring and watching. Something would always be watching her.


    Everything she needed was assembled: a bag full of food, a dirty dagger, a shoddy bow and some arrows. Hector said the shadow dogs would protect her, but she wasn''t going to rely on them nor completely trust his words. Without delay, she headed west. The faster she could get away, the more time she would have to think about what to do.


    Her village was burned so she didn''t have much of a home to return to. There was a hole in her heart, but she would have been able to live regardless. The last several years she spent travelling anyways. Her being at the village was just a quick visit for family and friends. Inside her was a knot, a knot that pulsated and dragged behind her. There was only one complication: Hector had told her that she appeared to him as a member of the dungeon, a confirmation to something she already determined. Having her life saved by some dungeon entity had consequences. Consequences she was aware of the moment she came to.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    A pool of raw energy sat in her. An indescribable connecting sensation to the boy named Hector. The ability to understand those monsters behind him, something unheard of.What life is there for me if that thing turned me into a monster? If Hector''s words were honest and his intentions true, staying under him might not be a bad situation. She chuckled to herself, living in a dungeon with a human as its core was an interesting idea.


    She suppressed her amusement. Hector could not be trusted. There was no reason for her to - yet anyways. Until she could determine what stance to take on Hector, the best bet would be to assume the worse for there is nothing scarier than a wolf in sheep''s clothing.


    Jourd was a little ways away. It was a town situated close to the tall mountain rage. A quaint and quiet place so she had heard. Supplies would be an issue considering the journey would take many days, but there were plenty of small towns and villages along the way. All sorts of things would be available there, she knew from her travels.


    In her hand was the letters Hector had given her. Besides the ones he asked to mail, there was one he added on addressed to that friend of his. She was curious, wanted to pry it open and read it, but restrained herself from looking. Hector could be watching. She trekked her way through the brush. Her village wasn¡¯t out in the middle of nowhere; there were paths and routes made for travelling, but nothing paved or formal. Soon she would be able to reach a main road and hasten her pace away from here.


    Lia''s best course of action was to do as she was told. Only when she was out of sight could she find a way to maneuver out of this situation. Learning who Hector really was would be the first step. Monster or man, who, or what, was he?

 Chapter 11 - Hector

    Letting her go dangerous? Slime asked as I watched the elf girl travel outside of my visible range.


    "Maybe," I shrugged. "Hopefully she trusts me - I did tell her everything for that reason." Using my mana to save her in such an extreme manner would put me in suspicion no matter the case. I could have trapped her, kept her here, control the information, but I didn''t know how long I would be able to get away with that. I assured the slime, "Don''t worry about her. If she does what I ask and comes back, great. If she does what I ask and disappears, that is also just fine. However, if she does put us in jeopardy, there are always the shadows." An option I hoped I didn''t have to resort to. There was a tinge in my gut as the situation didn''t set right with me. I felt a little cruel even having such an option, but I had no idea what else I could do.


    Now what? Now what? The slime excitedly hopped in place.


    "Now what indeed..." I stroked my chin. There wasn''t much I could do with Gil: expanding the dungeon was not an option without him. I decided, "Let''s take care of the bodies around here. Can''t just leave them around, ya''know?" I took my leave outside the dungeon with Slime and Tal in tow. "So, Slime, want to eat the bodies?" I asked with a chuckle.


    Slime reared itself to slam me, an attack I nearly dodged. It didn''t seem to take kindly to my joke. Metal. Metal Only. You know this.


    I laughed again, "Yeah, I know." I couldn''t shake the feeling that the slime was growing in an astounding fashion. Far has it come from the days were it single-mindedly repeated ''kill''. It spouted complete thoughts and ideas now. Deep inside I beamed like a proud father might over his blossoming child. I turned to the zombie, "How about you, Tal? Fancy a bite out of the bodies?"


    There was no intelligible response from the zombie. It groaned and shook, but made no indication it cared or understood what was happening. I wasn''t really sure what the zombie was running on. A little bit of mana flow was all I was allocating it and it seemed happy as a clam.


    "Since neither of you two care for these bodies, at least give me a hand and group them up by the dungeon so I can take care of them." The dungeon powers were convenient; I could simply absorb them and store their nutrients and residual mana. It was like recycling in a sense, but I had other plans for a few of them.


    Natural ordered creeped back into the forest. The unusual calm and quiet had dissipated, a note I made while beginning the cleanup. Still lingering in the air, however, was a faint smoke, a burning odor. The knights had torched and burned most of the village. A southern wind had wafted it into the greater forest. I wished that the wind had also carried away the rotting smell from the dead. That lingered to the earth making the walk through the forest unpleasant.


    Bodies were neatly assembled in front of the dungeon entrance. Tal dragged some in, the slime created an appendage to carry them (doing so most reluctantly as if it was disgusting trash), and I carried them over my shoulder. Soon we had cleared all that we could out of the forest. The village was left as is - I considered it too far outside my range to bother, and all the bodies disappearing from there could attract attention as well.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I went to work dissolving most of the bodies. The slime rolled around next to me, I want metal, where is metal?


    It was a simple slime that didn''t ask much, so telling it there was none always was unpleasant. There were a few small trinkets and jewelry on the elves, bands and bracelets. Those were metal and I happily separated them out as I had the dungeon absorb the bodies. Slime was more than overjoyed, jumping on them and dissolving them faster than I could go through the bodies.


    There was three left at the end, and to my delight, the slime asked, What are you doing with those three?


    "Since things might be getting dangerous around here, having a few extra hands might be helpful. I''m going to reanimate them, but with a little twist..." I could make them zombies just like Tal, but he was a slow, lumbering type of creature now. There didn''t seem to be any intelligence in the body sack right now, so all that skin and meat was weighing him down. "That''s right," I broadcasted my thoughts, "I will be stripping these bodies of their flesh and turn them into skeletons." Without all the extra weight, they could be a valuable mobile asset. Not to mention reanimating clear elves from a village that was slaughtered wouldn''t look good to anyone, especially Lia if she came back.


    The process was simple. Strip the meat, reanimate the bones. Easier than healing wounds. Feeling like a villain, I went to work. It wasn''t even a moment before the piles of bones clattered and clanged together and stood up. I brushed my hands together, "There we go! Three skeletons ready to go." The three lightly swayed together and, just like the zombie, didn''t do much. Intelligence was something I would have to figure out. The slime didn''t start of smart either, but as it was grew being fed mana and metal, it evolved. Skeletons and zombies don''t naturally eat much so pumping in mana would be the best bet.


    I wrote that down in my notebook. Another idea to be tested at another time. I ushered in the gang as it was getting dark and today''s work was over. In the back of the book, far away from all of my notes, I got started on my next project. While there were a few things I had in mind I could test out, powers and abilities and the effect of mana consumption, I wanted to work on something more artistic; I wanted to work on dungeon design.


    While without Gil I was too afraid to do any such thing, the mana consumption being the primary concern, that didn''t mean I couldn''t start planning. There were several things I was considering: size, reach, defense, offense, utility. I had no intention of living in just a plain old dungeon. If I wanted to make somewhere worth living it, it had to function appropriately and have all the amenities people would expect.


    That meant planning out roads and transport routes, homes and stores, storage rooms and dungeon rooms, and then seamlessly weaving them into the structure of the dungeon in a way that it can be defended in case of attack. It was no easy task, but I had to get started somewhere. In the study of my room at the bottom of the dungeon''s depth, I sat with Slime who happily bounced my ideas back at me. As interested I was in the development of the dungeon, a part of me couldn¡¯t help but keep thinking about the slime. It started off as a simple white slime with no smarts to speak off and developed into a metal slime that could fight and think. I wondered where it''s continual growth would take it and if the other monsters could experience anything close to what this special slime can. With the thought at the back of my head, I sketched out my mark on the world.

 Chapter 12 - Hector

    I went outside into the forest with Slime in tow. Sword in hand, Iswung my sword at imaginary enemies, honing my skills. They had gotten rusty from inuse; my strikes were sloppy and my stance weak. Getting into another fight without polishing up would be risky, and who knew when the next one could be.


    "Want to practice fighting?" I asked the slime. It rolled quietly to itself, side to side.


    No need, it replied, shining its metal surface,Can kill anyone.


    I laughed, "I like the confidence, but be careful not to be arrogant."


    The slime rolled around,What do you mean?


    I stopped my swinging and dug the tip of my sword into the ground, leaning on it, "Well, there are a lot of people in the world. Many of them are powerful, entire levels stronger than us. We woule have no chance in a fight against them right now - unless we get stronger."


    The slime left it shades in the tree and hopped over to me.Then let''s fight!


    "You want to practice too?" With a grin I said, "That''s a good attitude to have." I took my stance in the open field and waited for the slime to make its move. I was trained to fight monsters - I had even killed slimes before as practice. They were weak things, considered easy practice targets, but I knew this one ws different.


    It launched itself at me, the headbutt tactic my shins have become so used to. I dodged it and it flew past me. The surface of the slime rippled and out shot a tendril.


    "Woah!" I cried out, the darting appendage catching me off-guard. I dropped to the floor and it zoomed past me and retracted back.


    I missed. The slime said as if it was dissapointed. Three more tendrils rippled out from its metallic body and spiraled towards me. Two I dodged, one stabbing the dirt and the other smashing into a tree. The third I had to parry with my sword, sliding it off and away. It flowed like water, but it was still metal. It grinded and sparked off my sword.


    I took my chance and charged the slime. I danced through the metal appendages using my sword to block my way through. "You are going to have to do better than that, Slime!" In a few strides, I had broken through its defense of metal limbs. I swung down with my sword at the stationary slime, intending to hold off at the last second as to not actually hurt it.


    From its body emerged another limb, but it morphed and shapted into a hand. The slime caught the sword in its makeshift handand tossed me back.You are going to have to do better than that, Master.


    Air blew through my nose as I caught myself. Cheeky little slime was mocking me. With the way the slime was fighting, I didn''t think either of us were going to come out on top; If I pressed in, the slime could check me with his metal, and I could dodge its attacks from afar.


    The slime swung an appendage but not at me. It was sideways lash, and from it came out metal darts flying at me. I dove to the side and the projectiles wizzed by, driving into the trees with a satisfying thunk. "You''re getting better at this, aren''t you?" My body tremebled slightly. This slime was a monster and now it was a smart one. Deep down, I had a feeling it wasn''t even fighting seriously yet. I was glad it was on my side.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Another volley of metal projectiles flung themselves at me. I scrambled out of the way and the slime began its rain of terror. "Are you trying to kill me?!" I yelled at the murderous little shit. The metal darts were no joke - a sustained barrage of them cut through a tree I was hiding behind.


    No, it replied,I''m trying to win.


    Then I would have to try harder, I decided. Buying time by running between cover, I tried to formulate a plan in my head. Approaching Slime right now seemed impossible. Between the metal tentacles and the metal balls flying everywhere, I wasn''t getting anywhere close without being skewered. I would have to change something.


    The slime had been evolving. It was painfully clear now. Between the metal, icnreased intelligence, and now tactical fighting ability, the slime had been improving and developing in ways I never saw. Why, I thought, couldn''t I be the same? If nutrients like mana were a catalyst for the growth and evolution of the slime, why could it not be used for other monsters - or even myself.


    A loud crack popped out and another tree toppled over. I had as much time as I had stamina, which given by increasingly heavy body and shortness of breath wasn''t much. I needed to transform the mana I have been storing in my body into something useful. Though it was an idea I have been meaning to try, I didn''t expect to attempt it under such duress.


    Somehow, someway, I needed to get to Slime, to end the fight in my victory. I opened up the reserve of mana within myself and started to churn and turn it. I diffused it throughout my body. I felt my energy return, but no signs of evolution. I kept running. I kept pumping mana. Something had to happen eventually.


    And the miasma came. It was thick, dense. A byproduct of my mana expenditure. With the miasma came a strange sensation within the depths of my being. I had churned through most of my mana and in the void it left was the feeling of power. What that power was, I had no idea, but it pulled at me, telling me to charge, telling me that I can make it to the slime.


    I trused my gut and charged the slime. A volley of metal tendrils and projectiles flung at me. I called forth the power that now festered in me. My body felt light, my existence hazy. I wasn''t going faster, but the attacks were going through me.


    How?! The slime seem expressed in utter confusion.


    "Victory is mine!" I exclaimed. My mana was draining fast, a consequence of phazing through all the attacks. I ran at the slime at full speed. My sword wouldn''t dent the little shit, so I tossed it to the side. "You''re mine now!" The slime was frozen, paralyzed by the sudden turn of events. I tackled the metal ball and rolled through the dirt with it. It was surprisingly soft and spongy. Out of breath and out of mana, I wheezed out, "Got you."


    The slime was relaxed under my weight. I could tell as its surface was not tensed or purely metal. It was quiet, so I worried if it was okay, then it said in a hush voice,You win, I lose. It admited defeat, but it wasn''t in despair from loss nor simmering in anger from being bested. Slime seemed happy.


    "Sorry about that," I said as I got off the slime, "I was crushing you there for a little to long."


    It''s fine. You won. Slime said as if implying whatever I did would be okay just because I won.


    "How about we call it a day here?" The heat from the sun coupled with the work out had generated quite the sweat. The slime bounced in agreement with the idea. "Does a bath sound good?" In the depths of the dungeon in the original slime room, the crater I made was now filled with water. While I haven''t made a proper bath, this would do splendidly. The dungeon was able to absorb and dissolve all the excess dirt so it could be kept nice and clean.


    Great! The slime exclaimed, bouncing up and down rapidly. It hopped around like an excited child,Clean water, nice bath! Relaxing. The idea pleased it greatly


    "What are we waiting for then," I said, "Lets go!" After a hard day''s work, the bath was a perfect way to round it out.

 Chapter 12 - Lia

    What Lia wanted most was a relaxing hot bath to wash away the dirt and sweat that clung to her body - and perhaps a tall glass of mead to wash away her sorrow. Her journey has been nothing short of miserable; nonstop terrible weather plagued her. Storms that torrented on and off, mudding up the roads and drenching her clothes. The air was an unusual heavy and humid, but since it was the rainy spring season, there wasn''t a god she could curse at. WIth her shoddy, beatdown equipment and meager supplies, the journey was nothing short of miserable.


    But she didn''t complain because it wasn''t all bad; spread out through the great wilderness were towns and villages acting like an oasis. What little cash and items she had could be traded for the more pertinent items like food. Lia was fine with playing along with Hector''s request - for now. The two monsters planted in her shadow haven''t made any move, but she could feel them watching her. Disobediance could come at a steep cost afterall. Even if the boy meant well and had no malicious intentions, Lia was a cynic; she couldn''t help but distrust others.


    A day into her trip she came across her first town (it was more of a village like her own, small and quiet) and had a conversation with a friendly old trader which dispelled some of that distrust. While organizing his wares he told Lia, "Be careful travelling my little elf friend. the roads might be dangerous." She asked why is that and he replied, "The man-at-arms around here have been very active - and aggressive. Supposedly a bunch of their men and some adventurers went missing in the woods. They have been badgering everyone trying to punish the responsible party."


    His accountcorroborated what Hector had said: one of the reasons the knights came for her village was for the missing men. The merchant didn''t know much else on the matter. It didn''t seem word got out of what happened. There was also the note of the land being wanted by someone, another reason Hector mentioned she barely recalled. Information on that would be helpful, it would be one step closer in deciding if Hector was lying about anything, but she couldn''t think of an appropriate question to ask for it. Lia thanked the man and went on her way.


    She was sad to leave the village. It reminded her of home, but there were more important things for her to do than to lollygag around. The issue of what to do with the boy still wasn''t resolved. She would carry out his errand, but then what? Lia was grateful for the boy saving her life, but everything gets complicated when considering that Hector might have been the cause of it all in the first place. Not to mention he claimed to have fused with a dungeon core, a notoriously dangerous object. Even his supposed goals seemed untrustworthy, naive and wistful. Lia didn''t believe it - people aren''t some wholesome, good-doing creatures.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    It was first major town she came across that validated her cynicism. The town was quiet and dead, an unsual sight compared to the small villages which were teeming with life. Naturally, she asked the scarce few people she came across and learned why.


    "There was a riot," a young man detailed the event, "A lot of people have been moving into town and there isn''t enough of anything for everyone: food, shelter, jobs. People got frustrated and protested to the city council and things turned out poorly, I guess."


    A second person gave a different insight, "It was because of those blasted elves and their friends. They are the top dogs around here, those merchants hog everything and give jobs only to their friends." The crabby old man gave Lia a vulgar look so she cut the conversation with him short.


    There was an elf she came across. With bags under his arms and bags under his eyes, the man looked very stressed. He was kind enough to stop and answer Lia on the matter, "The town management has failed the people. Education has been terrible so no one is skilled for the tasks we need. The few good blacksmiths are only the dwarves who have been here forever. Arithmetic and management skills need for merchant work can only be afforded by the already established. We have tried to improve the quality of the city, but we can''t do it alone." A nice man though but looking glum.


    So the town was on edge. Random stores and homes were broken into and looted. Some people were mugged and attacked. For the rioters it didn''t seem to matter who or what was the target as long as they saw it with envy. Lia got a few looks. Maybe because she was an elf. Maybe because she was a girl. Maybe because there was no one else out in the streets so anyone walking on them was strange. The entire town was on edge. You could cut through the tension with a butter knife. It wasn''t a pleasant place. She passed through as fast as she could.


    There were bright spots in her travel, but she would still call the journey miserable. Jourd was close now and she made all haste to it. The sooner she could send out those letters and meet this ''Gil Fins" the quicker she would get tne answers she wanted and free herself from doing the boy Hector''s work.

 Chapter 13

    Jourd was the first and last stop on her trip worthy of the title of city. Nestled under the shadow of the Orphant mountains the city quickly grew as a trading and industrial hub. Metals and minerals from the range flow out and Jourd was one destination. Blacksmith¡¯s forges flared all day and night and the stream of merchants never stopped marching. Weapons and tools, gems and jewelry, a constant flow of products and trade took place in Jourd.


    No matter how many towns and cities Lia had visited in her travels, entering a city was always overwhelming. The thick bustle of people that left little room for oneself. A myriad of odors ¨C some pleasant and some foul ¨C mixing in the air and assaulting the nose. The continuous racket of the whines of work animals and the chatter of people and the hammers of the forges. For someone raised in the quiet country side, it would never not be overwhelming.


    However, it could always come to be bearable. Besides, after finally reaching her destination from weeks of travel she was keen to complete the task the boy in the dungeon gave her. Discomfort from the city life wasn¡¯t going to stop her. Trying to find one person among the many thousands in the city, however, might. One step at a time, she thought to herself.


    Post offices were a dime a dozen in the city. Dumping off the letters in the mail was an easy task to check off. Lia strolled into the first one she found, arranged for postage, and asked the old lady at the counter, ¡°I am to meet a friend named Gil Fins, but I don¡¯t know where he could be. Have you heard of the man before? He¡¯s a mage.¡±


    The lady plucked the letters from Lia¡¯s hands and gave them a quick look. ¡°Haven¡¯t heard of him,¡± she responded without looking at her. The receptionist said nothing more and shuffled the letters into the stacks, a quiet acceptance.


    Lia wasn¡¯t worried ¨C but the cold service left her dissatisfied with the post¡¯s performance. In major cities there are often organizations and guilds and groups for professions and jobs. Jourd was no exception. There was a group or guild for mages somewhere here. Finding the man would be no problem if he was registered, and if he wasn¡¯t, she was more likely to find someone who knew of him there.


    It was an easy find, a fancy towering building on the east side of Jourd sitting among the lazy businesses and homes. She was thankful it wasn¡¯t on the westside where all the forges were. The air was dirty from the fires, smoky and smoggy. It never failed to burn her eyes and tingle her nose.


    The mage guild was fashioned like a library, wide and open floors with a continuous spiral up. Naturally, books lined the walls and the only sounds were the clacking of shoes on stone floors and the ruffling of books. It was clean and proper.


    At the center of the network of hallways and staircases on the bottom floor was a circular desk with staff. Lia approached a young bland man in baggy clothes who asked, ¡°Good evening. Ma¡¯am. What business do you have for us today?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to meet with a mage in town, an acquaintance of a friend of mine for some business,¡± she replied, ¡°I was having trouble locating him and was wondering if you would be able to help.¡±


    ¡°Certainly,¡± he said pulling out a large brown leather book from under the counter. ¡°We have a registry on most mages in the city, where they live in such. May I have a name?¡±


    ¡°Yes, his name is Gil. Gil Fins.¡±


    The clerk man looked up from the book and squinted his eyes are Lia. ¡°You came here for him? That Gil Fins?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Lia held her right arm and glanced around, ¡°Is there another Gil Fins?¡±


    He slammed the book shut, ¡°I pray to the Gods there isn¡¯t.¡± A parchment and pen appeared and he furiously scribbled on it. Eyebrows raised, he shook his head at no particular direction, exhaling a deep sigh. ¡°Here you go Ma¡¯am.¡±


    On the parchment was an address and directions, more than enough for Lia to find her way to it. ¡°T-thanks,¡± she managed to reply in the face of the man. Lia wasn¡¯t sure what to make of that reaction. She went to go find this Gil Fins.


    The smell of smoke stung her nose. The man¡¯s directions led her west deep into the heart of the forges and metal workers. A calm wind blew west, making it all the worse; a constant stream of the fumes assaulted her senses from every direction.


    Unlike the area around the mages headquarters which was nice and proper, homes kept up well and businesses lined up neatly, the west side of Jourd was coarse, like sand. Seedy men loitered the street, stubby dwarves roamed together in a drunken stupor, and many buildings were grey and dilapidated.


    Down a dirty alley did the address lead her. It was cramped, barely enough room for two people to walk side-to-side. A rat scurried through the littered trash and she stood in front of a quaint, shuttered house.


    A man was banging on the door, ¡°Open up Gil! I know you are in there!¡±


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± Lia said, ¡°Is this the home of Gil Fins?¡±


    The grubby old man turned around and snorted, ¡°Damn right it is. Who are you? Another person who he owes money too?¡±


    ¡°Nothing like that, I¡¯m just a friend checking up on him.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s rich!¡± He laughed. The man trotted down the steps and spit into the street, ¡°Well, tell your friend if he doesn¡¯t pay up he will be living in the streets.¡± He walked off down the street.


    ¡°Is he even home?¡± Called out Lia.


    He chuckled again, ¡°Like he has a job!¡±


    Lia frowned and looked again at the address written down. This had to be the place. She tip-toed up the grimy steps, trying her best not to step into any rubbish. ¡°Anyone home?¡± Lia asked, knocking on the door. No response. She knocked once, knocked twice, and the door popped open. No one was behind it. The slamming and banging by the creditor must have broken the lock and hinges. She shrugged and went in.


    ¡°Hello,¡± she called out again, ¡°Is anyone home?¡± The home was extremely small. Before here was a small kitchen with a nook attached to an equally as small living room. Somehow a staircase was fit in the middle leading up. There was no one on the first floor, she could see everything from the door. From upstairs she heard a faint groan and made haste up it.


    Face down on the floor was a young man with dirty blonde hair. ¡°Oh shit,¡± She muttered to herself and rushed over to him. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Lia propped him up, picking the man off the floor. It was hard to get a grip through his baggy clothing, but she realized it was fitting ill because the boy was nothing but skin and bone.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    The man groaned again and feebly looked up, ¡°Oh, hello there I wasn¡¯t expecting visitors ¨C sorry I¡¯m not feeling very well right now so I couldn¡¯t answer the door ¨C would you care for some tea, no wait I forgot I¡¯m out of water, but how about some cookies ¨C no wait I ate all of those already.¡±


    ¡°Calm down and stop talking,¡± ordered Lia. His lips were dry and cracking and his tongue looked like it was about to fall apart. ¡°Are you sick? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Gil Fins croaked a laugh, ¡°No, no I¡¯m afraid I didn¡¯t mean I wasn¡¯t well in that I was sick; it is just the usual under the weather, you know? I just haven¡¯t eaten or drinken anything in the last few days, nothing a little bit of rest won¡¯t solve!¡± He ended with a harsh, dry cough.


    She picked up the feather named Gil and swung him over her shoulder. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect Hector to send me to someone like this,¡± she complained out loud. ¡°Just sit tight. I won¡¯t let you die ¨C not until I¡¯ve completed my job.¡± The boy was out of it. He babbled and groaned. Nothing coherent.


    Lia lugged Gil down the steps and flung him over a ragged sofa in the living room, the only other notable piece of furniture besides his small bed upstairs and a two-seated kitchen table with enough room for one. She took what food and water out of her bag and went to the kitchen. The boy needed a meal, some meat on his bones.


    It wasn¡¯t long before she had a steaming bowl of porridge prepared for the both of them. She placed the bowl in front of Gil and bade him to eat. ¡°You better eat it too after I worked so hard to make it,¡± Lia said pouting, folding her arms beneath her breasts. Gil groaned and his hand wavered over the food. ¡°I¡¯m not feeding you it either,¡± she added.


    Soon enough, Gil mustered the strength to straighten himself. He took one bite and was halfway done the next. One glass of water became three gulped. Life had come back to the boy¡¯s sullen and droopy face.


    ¡°So,¡± Gil smacked his lips, ¡°My good old friend Hector sent you?¡± Lia nodded and handed him the letter. Gil tried to tear It openly carefully, but it ripped straight diagonally. He sighed and whipped out the letter, perusing through it with his bagged eyes. His jaw dropped and his eyes went wide with shock. ¡°Is¡­ is what this letter says true?¡± He waved it in the air.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what it says,¡± Lia curtly responded. ¡°But if it talks about Hector¡¯s interesting¡­ situation then it is true.¡±


    ¡°This is insane! Do you know what this means? For a mage that craved a research topic so interesting, this excites me beyond belief!¡± He slammed the table and got up, ¡°We must leave now! There is no time.¡± Gil took a step forward and tripped over himself. He still lacked the energy for proper movement.


    ¡°Looks like you aren¡¯t going anywhere,¡± Lia chuckled looking at the toppled Gil. ¡°And I don¡¯t know what you mean by ¡®we¡¯ ¨C I never said I was going back.¡±


    ¡°Really now?¡± Gil said picking himself up off the floor. ¡°Hector mused as much in his letter, but I¡¯m curious as to why?¡±


    She furrowed her brow, ¡°The letter said he thought I wouldn¡¯t come back? Let me see,¡± she said reaching forward to snatch the letter.


    ¡°Uh-uh-uuuuuuh, no can do,¡± Gil snapped, swiping the letter from the table. ¡°The letter is addressed to me, not you.¡±


    Lia folded her arms and frown, ¡°I guess so. Either way, I have no plans to return because I don¡¯t see a point. He saved my life, and I¡¯m thankful for that, but it wasn¡¯t like he wasn¡¯t guilt free in causing the situation. Not only that, but he was reluctant to share what happened until I practically guilted him into it.¡±


    ¡°He normally does that,¡± Gil interrupted, ¡°He doesn¡¯t like people getting involved in his messes if he could help it.¡±


    ¡°The bolt in my stomach told me I was already involved,¡± retorted Lia, ¡°But that is beside the point. I made a living travelling by peddling and doing odd jobs. I can live that way again. He offered to do great and grand things as he may have wrote in the letter.¡± Gil nodded in acknowledgement. ¡°But I can¡¯t trust him. I have no reason to trust someone who does things that can¡¯t be explained and then refuses to explain anything. For all I know he is just like any other shady businessman offering some seedy deal.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve known him for a long time, and I trust him,¡± Gil said with confidence.


    ¡°Well, Gil, I don¡¯t know him ¨C I can¡¯t trust him.¡±


    ¡°Question,¡± Gil said, ¡°How much did he tell you about himself.¡±


    She waved off the question, ¡°What do you mean? He told me he was a knight and how he ended up in that situation. It¡¯s not like he told me his life story, like anyone had the time for that anyways.¡±


    Gil nodded his head, ¡°I see. What did he say his name was?¡±


    Lia frowned. What a strange question. She responded, ¡°Hector Sageus.¡±


    ¡°That, my lovely guest, is not his full name.¡±


    ¡°What does that matter?¡±


    ¡°That, my lovely guest, makes a big difference in understanding my friend Hector. He hates telling people, and hates it even more when others blab about him, but since you so kindly treated me to a meal, I will tell you.¡±


    ¡°Does the letter ask for you do to that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no,¡± he chuckled, ¡°This is of my own accord. He would never ask people to share the name which has caused him so much grief ¨C he does everything he can to avoid and forget it after all. He is Hector Hevagrain Sageus.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Lia fumbled out. A middle name that was the country¡¯s name?


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t click,¡± Gil said as if he was reading her mind, ¡°His middle name is Hevagrain because he is part of the royal family.¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­ What?!¡± She was shocked and confused and the gears in her head started to turn.¡±


    Gil Fins the mage laughed heartily, ¡°Don¡¯t be mistaken, his royal blood isn¡¯t some godly trait, not for him at least. Hector is the son of the third heir to throne. In his own words, he was ¡®someone important enough for people to remember, but not important enough for people to care about.¡¯ Or something like that. He would tell you his life problems came from the misfortune of his birth. Growing up, he was ¡®too important¡¯ for the common folk so most treated him nothing like a proper person. On the opposite side, he wasn¡¯t ¡®important enough¡¯ to his family and the other nobles, too far down in the line of succession, so he was looked down on.¡± Gil leaned back in the chair and remarked, ¡°And the only way he was going to be important is if some heads rolled, and no one wanted that, if you understand what I mean.¡±


    Lia had an idea: Hector¡¯s family members didn¡¯t have any use for him, so any ambition he had could be seen as a threat. He would only become important if some heads rolled after all. ¡°So is that why he became a knight?¡± Lia asked.


    ¡°Yes. He wanted to get away from it all. The politics. The prejudice. The persecution. After we all graduated, he quietly went away, like a whisper in the night.¡±


    ¡°I see. Never thought his life story would be that interesting, but don¡¯t expect me to trust him just because you told me his background.¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Gil mused, ¡°It wasn¡¯t my intention. I was simply talking about an old friend of mind and hoped you would find the information as interesting as I do.¡±


    Lia certainly did. ¡°I can¡¯t say I trust him, but I think I¡¯ll change my mind; I will go back to him and that dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Oh-ho-ho!¡± The bony mage leaned forward, ¡°And what, my lovely guest, triggered this change?¡±


    ¡°I said I could make a living travelling and peddling ¨C and I still can. But¡­ if Gil is some royal member, some noble, there might be some benefit in sticking around; there might be some influence or some money or some opportunities to be gained being around someone highborn like him.¡±


    ¡°An opportunist!¡± He exclaimed. ¡°I respect it., but don¡¯t expect him to push around his noble blood like it¡¯s some magical end all.¡±


    She purred, ¡°Of course not. I just see opportunity in sticking to him I might not get elsewhere. And if things go sour, you can expect me to leave.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± he purred back with his hoarse throat. ¡°So, we leave as soon as I recover, yes?¡±


    ¡°About that,¡± she nervously laughed, ¡°You had someone banging on the front door. Said he was going to kick you out if you don¡¯t pay up.¡±


    Gil¡¯s face went pale, ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which, how did that happen?¡±


    ¡°Well, uh¡­¡± Gil Fins the mage scratched the back of his neck. ¡°I graduated with top marks so I went out in search of work. I declined military work, not my sort of thing, so I came here to do research and experiments with forging and imbuing things with magic. I thought I could make some breakthroughs in enchanting, but it didn¡¯t work out. I borrowed money, wasn¡¯t able to making any back, couldn¡¯t hold a job, ran dangerous experiments that endangered the public, typical things like that. All I got was plain old worthless jewelry and a list of people that would shake me by the legs to find any dusty piece of coin in my pockets¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Lia perked up. ¡°You can make jewelry?¡± She tilted her head, gave a longing stare, squeezed together her breasts, and asked in a sweet high voice, ¡°Maybe the talented mage could make this girl a pretty set of jewelry? I haven¡¯t worn anything nice in ages¡­¡±


    Gil laughed, ¡°Your seductive prowess hold no sway over this wizard, thot. I shall make no such objects for your worldly satisfaction. And, I mean, didn¡¯t you get the memo? I¡¯m broke without money or a forge.¡±


    Lia giggled to herself, ¡°Yeah, I know. Just teasing,¡± she said with a wink. ¡°At any rate, we gotta leave ¨C or else you might have people coming for you.¡±


    ¡°Good point my lady, but how will we accomplish such travel with me in such an unfortunate condition?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that,¡± Lia commented, getting up and patting her clothes clean. ¡°I¡¯ll figure out a way.¡±


    Gil Fins, a studious mage with a keen thirst for knowledge (who graduated top of his class he would have you know) didn¡¯t like that sound of that one bit.

 Chapter 14

    There was an agenda for each day: training with the slime, exploring, planning, testing. I was kept busy as there was always something to do. However, on this fine morning where a cloudy overcast made the air cool, I lounged with the slime in front of the dungeon. Today was the reunion between me and Lia and my old friend Gil ¨C my dungeon senses alerted me to their presence the moment the stepped foot in my sphere of influence.


    I waited for them in a reclined chair I constructed with some spare mana. A soft campfire also cackled with meats cooking on it. Lia and Gil broke through the brush and I greeted them with a smile, ¡°Glad to see you two after so long! Have a seat,¡± I bade them towards some extra chairs. ¡°I went hunting and got some meat cooking on the fire. What¡¯s a reunion without a warm welcome?¡±


    Gil, grinning ear-to-ear, strolled up and gave me a bear hug, ¡°It¡¯s been over a year and you greet me with fresh, cooking venison? I couldn¡¯t have asked for a better friend.¡±


    ¡°So, how was your trip?¡± I asked him.


    His face went pale and Lia swopped in clasping his shoulder, ¡°It went well.¡± Her tone was matter-of-fact and her expression plain. A curious thing when contrasted to Gil who looks like he saw a ghost.


    ¡°Lia, I¡¯ll be honest: I didn¡¯t think you would come back.¡±


    She pouted and crossed her arms, ¡°You really thought that? Well, I considered, but I didn¡¯t want to leave behind my savior prince charming, now would I?¡± Lia tilted her head and winked. My back shuddered; she was like a tiger.


    And then my leg flared and pain. The slime rammed my thigh. Again. ¡°Dammit! I yelled in pain, ¡°Slime, can you not do that.¡±


    ¡°T-the hell is that?!¡± The mage shrieked waving his pointed wooden staff haphazardly at the metal slime, slowly inching back in panic. Poor Gil, he already was white and fright and now he was sweating uncontrollably as if he was suffering a panic attack.


    ¡°Woah, calm down there Gil! It¡¯s just Slime, a monster I made in the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°So you weren¡¯t bullshitting about that?¡± he asked with his voice quivering.


    The slime inched up towards Gil, extending its body out to survey the frightened mage.  Can I kill him?


    ¡°Slime, no, you can¡¯t kill Gil ¨C he¡¯s my friend.¡±


    Gil recoiled, ¡°W-w-wait, you can talk to it?¡± He did a double take, ¡°W-w-wait, it wants to kill me?!¡±


    ¡°Oh, calm down,¡± Lia said with a roll of her eyes. One arm crossed, she pointed at the slime with her thumb, ¡°It¡¯s just an adorable little slime. What¡¯s it going to do? Dissolve your shoe?¡±


    The slime retracted itself to its normal form. Can I kill her instead?


    Lia let out a singular laugh, ¡°You want to kill me now? I¡¯d like to see you try little guy.¡±


    ¡°Hold up!¡± Gil yelled, his eyes darting back and forth. ¡°You can talk to the slime too?!¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± she replied, ¡°You can¡¯t hear it?¡±


    He yelled at the top of his lungs ¡°OF COURSE NOT! It¡¯s a slime! A monster! M-O-N-S-T-E-R!¡±


    Discrimination,  said the slime.


    I agreed with the slime, ¡°Yeah, Gil, that¡¯s discrimination. I got all sorts of monsters around. Gotta learn to live with them!¡¯A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Gil Fins did a double take, ¡°Wait, there are more?!¡±


    I nodded my head, ¡°We got a zombie around too, and uh, yeah.¡± I left out the skeletons I had made; they were created from Lia¡¯s village people, so I felt uneasy bringing them up with her around.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Lia chimed in, ¡°And you put those shadow dog things in my shadow, right?¡±


    I frowned and stroked my chin, ¡°I did, but I think they died?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°I think they kind of need mana, or some equivalent, to live,¡± I explained, ¡°And sitting in your shadow I don¡¯t think they got any, so they kind of died, I guess. At any rate, I don¡¯t sense or feel them anywhere, not in your shadow at the very least.¡±


    ¡°Strange because I think I can still feel something,¡± she said, ¡°But makes sense. Maybe my imagination is playing tricks on me.¡±


    ¡°Anyways, why don¡¯t we eat for now?¡± I pointed to the fireplace full of simmering meats. ¡°We can discuss more later.¡±


    Gil was more than happy at the change of pace, gathering as much meat he could carry off the fire. We all sat casually around the fire and ate our fill. Gil caught me up on his life. His troublesome life after graduation surprised me with the debt and failures. But, it made sense since he refused to resort to joining the military. A conflict of morals, he would explain.


    I, in turn, told him my story, bringing him up to speed. It was a hard sell telling him I fused with a dungeon, but he had to accept it after I showcased the dark marks etched in my chest, my ability to extend myself into the dungeon, and my control over monsters. After the shock wore off from meeting Slime, his mage-like curiosity twinkled in his eye. Git barraged me with questions, asking how I made it, its diet, abilities, and so on.


    The serious discussion began when the meal was finished. Gil asked, ¡°To recap, you have fused with a dungeon and the land you are tied to is sought after by some unknown party?¡±


    ¡°Correct. That is why I need to know if it¡¯s safe to expand the dungeon and essentially increase the size of my activities. There is going to be trouble one way or another, and I¡¯d rather have it on favorable terms.¡±


    ¡°Verily,¡± quoth the mage. ¡°I have already looked into the mana source you spoke in the letter ¨C the one coming from underground.¡±


    ¡°Already?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say ¡®already¡¯ as if it was some difficult task. The answer is simple: under this area are large tracts of mana ley lines flowing beneath. Naturally, there is just a huge amount of mana just floating around underneath. Lucky it ended up like this for you; you don¡¯t have to worry much about endangering the environment by sucking out mana from the ley lines. Also double lucky because it seems no one knew about this area being so rich and plentiful with these mana ley lines.¡±


    The explanation flew over my head. ¡°I¡¯m astounded ¨C how did you figure out so fast what it was?¡±


    Gil giggled to himself, ¡°You should know as well. There isn¡¯t another likely answer anyways. A large source of flowing mana under the earth is almost always going to be some ley line.¡±


    ¡°Then how come I didn¡¯t know this?¡± I pouted, annoyed by my lack of information.


    ¡°You were asleep when we went over that in class.¡± Gil tried hard to suppress his laughter.


    My face fell to the floor, hiding my shame. Lia off to the side was full out laughing at my shortcomings. ¡°All right I guess that answers my question. I can start building up the dungeon without much worry. I¡¯m thinking of giving it a defined circular structure with branches that lead off to strategic areas.¡±


    Gil shrugged, ¡°You¡¯re the boss here, not me. I¡¯m just here to advice and do research ¨C speaking of which can I do some testing on the metal slime over there because I am very curious on its structure and properties.¡±


    Slime jumped behind me,  This guy is scary.  Truthfully, Gil did looks scary. He had a glint in his eye and a grin that could only be seen as sinister.


    ¡°No experimenting on the slime, but you can observe it, I guess.¡±


    Gil deflated, disappointed. ¡°If those are the rules, I understand. But I implore you: I have many research topics I wish to go into since monster biology and habits is a very low information field. I will need specimens to¡­ work with.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± I said, ¡°But not the slime. I will set up some rooms for you to work in, but that will take some time.¡± The mage nodded his head satisfied. I cleared my throat, ¡°Now that I can work on shaping the dungeon, there are still two issues to be dealt with: our lack of manpower and lack of information. Hopefully some of the people I contacted with the letters will listen and come down. It would be a great help. But if they don¡¯t, we will have to work out some sort of recruitment process that won¡¯t attract any unneeded attention. The second point is that we don¡¯t know much about who wants these lands or what their plans are. We need to prepare properly, and to do that we need to know who is plotting, what they are plotting, and why they are plotting. The more we know, the better.¡±


    ¡°I guess I will take care of that?¡± Said Lia reclining back on a wooden log. She shifted and cross her legs in a manner that made Gil gulp and continued, ¡°Since mage boy will be doing experiments and you can¡¯t leave, that would leave gathering information to me, would it not?¡±


    I scratched my neck and signed, ¡°Yes, that would be correct. I feel like I¡¯m asking a lot of you, so I feel bad about it¡­¡±


    She doubled down on my guilt, recrossing her legs and folding her arms beneath her breasts, ¡°Shame on you for making a lady work so hard, turning me into your errand girl!¡± I felt as if I was stabbed in the gut. ¡°First you send a defenseless woman across the entire country to meet strange people and then you ask me to do dangerous recon?¡± Both Gil and I doubled over as if we had been shanked. Lia purred, ¡°But don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll do it ¨C not because I¡¯m the only one who can, but because I¡¯ll do anything for the man who saved me¡­¡± She ended with a wink and my face went red. She laughed, ¡°Oh, it¡¯s so easy to tease you two! Someone has to bother you two, and me being the oldest one here makes me the perfect candidate!¡± Lia grinned from ear-to-ear.


    Slime came to my rescue, No bothering. We need to get to work. Build. Train. Learn.


    I recovered myself, ¡°Slime is right. We have work to do. We might have the luxury that no one knows what¡¯s going on here, but that doesn¡¯t mean we can take it easy.¡± I clapped my hands and rubbed them together, ¡°Now, shall we get started?¡±

 Chapter 15 - Hector

    I began my work shifting and forming the dungeon. Mana was still a problem until I could expand the reach of the dungeon allowing me to absorb more from the underground mana ley lines. For now, I decided to mold everything out of basic materials like dirt and worry about transitioning it to a more suitable material like stone at a different time.


    The popular perception of dungeons was that they were these massive, mysterious, dangerous series of underground lairs and tunnels. While it¡¯s true that most dungeons are these underground type caves, I learned that it didn¡¯t have to be that way; the sphere of influence in which I could control and manipulate the terrain did not differentiate between under or above ground. Everything was fair game.


    So in order to create something defensible that can also double as functional, I opted for a double layer system. The inner layer I will fashion into a cone that grows larger with depth. This portion will be the part that delves underground. It will be a place for living quarters, storage rooms, recreational areas, any typical thing one could think of. However, on the outer shell which runs directly above and below surface level will be an extension of the dungeon designed for defense. Creating a sort of maze crossed my mind, but that wouldn¡¯t make the dungeon really accessible to anyone. A series of defensive towers and walls fitted with battlements pleased me.


    I worked on the first layer of the dungeon, molding it into a proper entrance. To Gil I mentioned this underground tower idea, and I was still keen on it. Through the middle of the entire dungeon I thought a cylindrical opening would be nice to have. A pully system could get people, goods, and equipment to each flow fast ¨C and an atrium aesthetic would look really cool if I designed it right. And if I incorporated this tower structure, I could go both ways: up and down.


    Still, I was unsatisfied. Was it okay to really partition defense into this dual-layer system? I didn¡¯t think so. There had to be some protections built in, but I couldn¡¯t afford it to take away from a functionality standpoint. If I wanted the inner layer to be a safe pace, like for a town or the like, I would have to find a balance between practical city and lifestyle design with defense.


    Or, I thought, I could just leave monsters to do the job. Even if someone were to think of a castle or a large city, those implement a dual-layer structure as well. Most castles and cities have a defensible perimeter with walls and troops. The idea is if the enemy broke through your lines, the battle might already be lost.


    I settled for a compromise. There would be three ways down the dungeon: the proposed pulley, elevator system, a typical route that would follow the outer portion of the tower down like a main road, and a more elaborate, puzzle like path on the outskirts of everything. To get invaders to use the more confusing path, I will build mechanisms to block the other paths, like a rolling boulder to block the entryway.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The construction process was always a lot easier than I thought it would be; mana is the only resource I need and my imagination and vision linked with the dungeon takes care of the rest. It¡¯s like a kid at the beach making a sand castle. Of course, I had to pause to examine my handiwork. I wasn¡¯t an engineer or some building designer, I had to see if the structure was sound and serviceable.


    My mana was running low as I was finishing out the first floor. Even though the first floor was basic in design, one large entry way that leads to the atrium area, moving and shifting all the dirt and soil and stone was a pain. It was easy to concentrate however as no one was around. Gil had asked me to make a room for him on the fourth floor and so I did. He was cooped up in there and I had no idea what he was up to. As for Lia and the slime, I scratched my head. I had no idea where either of them went. Slime I last saw hopping down into the dungeon, Lia I hadn¡¯t seen at all since lunch at the campfire. My dungeon sense could tell me where they are, if they are near, but I opted not to. I felt like I would be invading their privacy for no reason.


    There was one thing I had to check on. I made my way down the dungeon to the third floor. I crafted and hid a room in the far reaches of it. Just around a corner at the end of a hallway. Someone wouldn¡¯t know if it was there unless they were looking for it. I checked to see that no one was around before going in.


    Inside the three skeletons stood. Tal, the zombie, was missing. I had told him to stay and watch over them, but I didn¡¯t give that as an absolute order. The zombified knight was known to take walks and go outside. Even though I have been feeding him ample mana in hopes of some growth or development, nothing really changed with it. The three skeletons, on the other hand, I explicitly did nothing with. I made them as sort of a test, and now I wasn¡¯t sure what to do with them. If we were attacked, I would happily throw them to the front lines. But what should they do with nothing going on like now?


    ¡°How are you skeletons doing?¡± I asked the bony bodies. They replied in a positive clatter. They didn¡¯t really talk like Tal nor did they have understandable thoughts like Slime. They were obedient. Mindless. ¡°Maybe I should have reanimated you lot into zombies like Tal,¡± I wondered aloud. The difference between zombies and skeletons, I didn¡¯t know. Skeletons did look flimsier compared to the towering Tal. ¡°Or maybe it¡¯s because the base body was that of an elf. They have naturally leaner structure after all¡­¡± I took out my notebook and jotted the notes down. There was also the issue of Lia. How should I bring them up to her?


    I decided not to. ¡°I have a job for you three,¡± an experiment came to mind. ¡°Around the corner on the north side of this floor is a passageway I partially formed into the wall. I want you all to continue the path, digging following north.¡± There were two purposes to this: digging north would create a tunnel going underneath the river, a strategic path, and I wanted to test if expanding the dungeon by the manual labor of a monster was no different than me expanding it with my magic. I added, ¡°If you come across any metals or stones, things of value, set them aside. Shovels will be provided.¡± The skeletons clattered and clanged and shuffled to carry out their order.


    I was happy. It finally felt like everything was falling into place; things were moving along smoothly. It didn¡¯t matter if no one answered my letters or if Lia couldn¡¯t find out anything useful, I would make sure everything will be prepared on my end. On the note of preparation, that reminded me I needed a larger fighting force. Three skeletons, a zombie, a slime, a pacifist mage, and me wouldn¡¯t cut it. I took out my notebook and began jotting down some ideas; what other creatures should I bring to life?

 Chapter 15 - Lia

    Lia observed Gil work in his room. The mage was in a flurry, circling around and rummaging through books and journals. She had been watching the mage for some time. One part out of curiosity and another part out of boredom. While Gil was exploring the depths of the dungeon, he bumped into a certain dead knight. His mage curiosity took over and Lia watched him kidnap Tal. That was after he overcame his heart attack.


    While Tal stood calmly in the center of Gil¡¯s shoddy, makeshift room, the mage whizzed about. He bombarded the zombie with questions, ¡°Do you remember your past life,¡± and ¡°Is mana limited to sustaining your life or can you repurpose it for healing your wounds,¡± and ¡°You won¡¯t eat my brain, right?¡± To all of these, and the numerous other questions Gil spewed out, Tal answered with the same, uniform groan. It was strange to see this lanky mage examine each aspect of a standing corpse in detail, but neither party seemed bothered by it one bit. In fact, it looked like the two were getting along very well ¨C and the basic grunts and groans didn¡¯t deter Gil from continuously talking.


    The fact was Gil didn¡¯t know Lia was there. She was watching from the shadows, and she intended to keep it that way. Her current job was to go out and gather intel about who was targeting the land, but Hector never gave her a sort of deadline or immediate order to go out. For now, she decided to just sit back and watch. Maybe make a plan for her job if she felt like it.


    She had her fill of watching the mage and zombie play around and slipped out of the room. To her surprise, she saw Hector hurriedly striding through. He was last working on the first floor, so she didn¡¯t expect to see him down on the third. Hector looked both ways, failing to notice Lia, and disappeared around a corner.


    Lia licked her lips with curiosity. Without hesitation, she followed him down the hallway. Hector was in a plain dirt room hidden from sight. He stood with three skeletons. She furrowed her brow. Lia was unaware of the existence of these. He said something and she couldn¡¯t hear it: she was too far away and the skeletons were clanging.


    In the shadows, she inched closer. Hector spoke again, mumbling to himself. Only the word ¡®Tal¡¯ could she make out. The boy whipped out a notebook and said clear as day ¡°¡­Maybe it¡¯s because the base body was that of an elf. They have naturally leaner structure after all.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Her heart dropped. Those skeletons, were they elves? More importantly, that would mean he had to have used the bodies from her village. Nothing about this sat right with her, but she swallowed her pride and stayed in the shadows. Another time she would have to confront Hector about it. This was neither the time nor the place.


    Hector gave an order, ¡°Around the corner on the north side of this floor is a passageway I partially formed into the wall. I want you all to continue the path, digging following north.¡± The skeletons began to move at this and Lia slipped out before they noticed her.


    Lia continued to move along the shadows. She would go back to one of the upper floors before coming out of hiding. However, she didn¡¯t get a chance.


    Come out, snake.


    She came out of the shadows shrugging with her hands, ¡°For what do I owe the pleasure?¡± Lia looked down and her grin pursed into a frown. ¡°Slime.¡±


    Elf.


    ¡°I have a name, you know.¡±


    Slime ignored her,  Why are you lurking in the shadows? Are you plotting? Scheming?


    ¡°How rude,¡± she snorted. ¡°I live here too now, don¡¯t I? Are you really going to accuse me of scheming for simply walking around?¡±


    A friend doesn¡¯t lurk in the shadows. Master is trusting. Master is generous. Master is caring. Slime expanded itself into a towering blob of metal. I am not master. Think twice before acting.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me.¡± Her voice was frigid like a glacier. ¡°I don¡¯t intend to cause trouble. And I¡¯ll have you know I¡¯m not the defenseless little girl you think I am.¡±


    The metal slime but a spine chilling grinding noise, I never thought you were. Our conversation is done.  Slime slinked into the darkness.


    Lia threw one last jab at it, ¡°Also, you ask what type of friend lurks in the shadow. I will ask what type of friend continues to hide secrets?¡±


    Slime stopped and replied, Remember, a sin you too are guilty of.


    ¡°Remember, a sin we all are guilty of,¡± she retorted back.


    The slime said nothing more and slid into the dark of the dungeon.

 Chapter 15 - Slime

    A metal whip lashed forth and etched its mark into the stone wall. Slime was irritated. Slime was annoyed. Slime was vexed. The elf was troubling, and master too nice. Slime cut stone. Breaking things released its tension and was good training. Master was strong, but Slime needed to get stronger. Master needed strength. Master needed someone reliable. Master needed someone to lean on. Slime would be that. Not the zombie. Not the skeletons. Not the mage. Not the elf.


    Slime was getting there. Pace was slower than it wanted, however. If only it could eat more metal ¨C that would speed things up. It had to survive off of mana. Master gave it plenty, but still doesn¡¯t beat raw metal. One way or another, it would get stronger. It had too.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    It contoured its body. Slime shaped it into spikes and swords and spears and slings. More mana meant more power, more abilities, and more intelligence. It didn¡¯t notice it at first, but it was getting smarter. Slime was embarrassed to think back to how it was. It was an idiot when it was born. Slime was grateful Master didn¡¯t throw it away. Slime would prove its usefulness. Soon it would get stronger. Soon it will evolve.


    But first, there was a snake in the shadows.

 Chapter 16

    I woke up sinking into my bed. The uneven level of support was unpleasant and made my back ache. I rubbed my eyes and looked over. Lia was curled up next to me, snoring softly. I rubbed my eyes and looked over. Lia was curled up. Next to me. Snoring softly. Hoping to wake her up, I nudged her. She resisted the attempts mumbling to herself. I looked around and scratched my head. At the door of my room was Slime. It stood silently. Watching. Normally its metal surface has a sheen to it, a glisten, a shine, but it was dark and coarse like a matte finish. Slime didn¡¯t say anything; its presence spoke for it. I gulped and doubled my efforts to wake up Lia.


    The elf rouse from her slumber, wrangling in the covers. Exasperated, I gasped at her, ¡°Why are you in my bed?¡±


    Lia yawned, stretching on the bed casually with no regard to the slime. She laid on her side and propped up her head on her hand. ¡°To sleep of course. You never made me a room or a bed ¨C I wasn¡¯t going to sleep on some dirt floor.¡±


    I dragged my hand across my face. I knew I forgot something. ¡°Well, could you kindly get off my bed then?¡±


    The bed shook and Li pounced. In an instant, she pinned me to the bed, my head between both of her hands. Her warm breath fell on me. With a cold stare disappointment was written on her face. She didn¡¯t say a word. Her weight kept me down and her body hung over pressing into me. I felt trapped like a mouse in a corner.


    ¡°W-what are you going?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I want to talk,¡± she said. Her long black hair danced and shifted on me as she spoke. ¡°Care to explain the skeletons?¡±


    My body went frigid, ¡°Skeletons¡­?¡±


    Lia scowled, ¡°Don¡¯t be coy. The three skeletons, you made them from the people from my village, right? When were you planning on telling me?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­um¡­¡± I tried to look around, but the only thing I could see was her hair or her face. Fidgeting beneath her, I replied, ¡°I wanted to tell you as soon as possible, but...¡±


    ¡°But, what?¡±


    ¡°¡­ I didn¡¯t know how to bring it up.¡± I signed, ¡°Sorry. I did it without thinking how you would feel. I turned their bodies into skeletons because we needed the manpower for protection and to test my abilities.¡± She didn¡¯t say anything. Not even the slime did anything ¨C it watched, a deviation from its normal antics. ¡°Um¡­ are you mad?¡±


    Lia giggled to herself, a smile creeping through. ¡°Yes.¡± The humor was gone in a flash. ¡°I¡¯m mad that you are always hiding things.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t mad at me for using your people¡­?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m a little frustrated at that as well¡­¡± Lia paused and took a deep breath, ¡°When the attack happened it was¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°I can¡¯t do anything about it now. My friends, my family, my feelings, there is nothing I can do but move on.¡± She raised up one hand and wagged her finger, ¡°But, I can do something about you hiding everything. You¡¯ve been reluctant to share information since the beginning. I hate that. It¡¯s not helpful. It¡¯s dangerous. It¡¯s not honest. It hurts those who put trust in you.¡±


    I laid underneath her and took the verbal beating. Her words stung, but she was right. ¡°I understand,¡± I said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry and I¡¯ll try my best to avoid withholding things in the future.¡±


    A smile broke out on her face, ¡°Good! Glad we got that settled.¡±


    ¡°Now, um, would you mind getting off of me?¡±


    Her smile turned into a sly grin and she said, ¡°Is there something wrong? Most guys would be head over heels to have a young, cute elf girl like me on top of them¡­¡± The slime who said or did nothing emitted a murderous aura. It was mad. Very mad.


    Flustered, I stammered, ¡°Well, I mean, uh, we don¡¯t have time to play around!¡±


    Lia giggled, there was a spring to her voice, an uneasy sweetness, ¡°Well, even so, you aren¡¯t going anywhere unless I say so!¡± She took a finger and ran it down my chest, tracing over the black markings and lines that ran over them.


    The girl was having fun messing with me. The devious smile told it all. So I shot back, ¡°Who said I can¡¯t go anywhere?¡± I flicked on my newly acquired phasing ability. Lia with a gasp tumbled through me onto the bed while I passed through her and got up.


    ¡°What was that?¡± She exclaimed in utter confusion.


    ¡°Oh, you know, just practicing my new skills. I used a little mana to give me a little more strength.¡± I left out that I had used practically all my mana and the entire reserves I had to gain this power. ¡°I still can¡¯t use it that much ¨C it drains mana way too fast ¨C but being able to go through things in any capacity is more than useful.¡±


    Lia sat up on the bed and pouted, ¡°Now that¡¯s not fair at all. How am I supposed to mess with you if you can just go through me?¡±


    I shrugged and smiled, ¡°That¡¯s up to you to figure out. Now I have to get back to work on shaping the dungeon. There is a lot that needs to be done¡­¡±


    Lia got up and stretched out her limbs again, ¡°Yeah, and I guess it¡¯s about time for me to go out and do my job as well.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well, I¡¯ll see you off then.¡±


    She covered a yawn with her hand, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I have to prepare and you have to get to work.¡± Without another word, she shuffled to the door. I finally noticed what she was wearing: a singular, long, baggy shirt.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    I was about to yell at her to put some clothes on, but Slime said as she got next to it, What do you think you are trying to do dressed like that?


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She innocently asked. ¡°I was just trying to sleep in something comfortable, is there something wrong with that?¡± With the slime right below her on the side, she raised her arms up and stretched as hard as she could. Her long shirt rode up and she had a sinister smile. It stretched up higher and higher, and I swallowed hard. I didn¡¯t know if she was even wearing anything underneath it, and her coy posture meant she knew what she was doing.


    Before my mind was driven insane by the pure animosity oozing out of the slime next to the seductive scheming of Lia Slime said, Didn¡¯t you say you had to go prepare? Go leave? Finally complete your mission?


    She slouched and the tension released. ¡°Yeah, yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± She walked past the slime and left, but not before giving both Slime and me her patented grin.


    I just woke up and was already tired. The bed was so warm and enticing, but there was work to be done. Slime was staring right at me. ¡°So, Slime,¡± I laughed nervously, ¡°What are you doing down here?¡±


    Slime shot a tendril at me and I phased through it, making it crash into the wall behind me. I came for you.. And then the slime also left leaving me alone with a hole in the wall.


    I got ready and left my room ready to get back to work. But before I began churning through my mana to continue the dungeon alteration, I stopped by Gil¡¯s room to see how he was doing. I knocked once. There was no answer. I knocked twice and the door popped open, creaking in.


    Gil was dressed only in his boxers standing in the middle of the room. Tal the zombie was lying down on his bed stripped of all of his armor. The lanky mage panicked, ¡°H-hector, what are you doing here?¡±


    I tensed my throat and began closing the door, ¡°Sorry, am I interrupting something?¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, no, no, it¡¯s now what you think ¨C I was just studying Tal all night and It was getting stuffy and uncomfortable in my clothes so I thought I could just take them off for now so I can work in peace because I didn¡¯t think you or anyone else would be coming by and seeing me like this and did you knock anyways?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I knocked twice.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Well, come on in then.¡±


    I stepped in and looked around. Gil had asked me for a bed and a desk and that was it. He brought his own bag of books and scrolls and ink and pen. Much of it was scattered all over the shoddily constructed desk I made for him out of mana. ¡°Before I started the day¡¯s work I thought I would just see how you are doing.¡±


    ¡°How am I doing?¡± Gil spread out his arms, ¡°I¡¯m doing amazing! I wish you had invited me to come over sooner because getting to watch and study monsters without the threat of being eaten is an opportunity beyond compare.¡±


    I chuckled, ¡°You were certainly afraid to death of them at the start.¡±


    ¡°Of course I was! But I got used to it. Besides, research and advancement is the one thing that will make me get over my fears. Eventually.¡±


    Leaning up against the wall, I asked, ¡°So, what have you learned so far?¡±


    Gil¡¯s eyes twinkled and I think I might have made a mistake. ¡°What haven¡¯t I learned would be a better question!¡± He strolled up to Tal and said, ¡°Would you kindly stand up for me my friend?¡± Tal did as he was asked. Gil presented the zombie¡¯s body and said, ¡°Normally when people die their bodies fall apart. It¡¯s called decay. Tal as a dead person should be experiencing the same thing, but it isn¡¯t. We all know that zombie bodies don¡¯t decay and it¡¯s probably due to mana keeping it together, but I have figured out what exactly is happening!¡± He went over to his desk and rummaged through his notes and papers, ¡°First, it is important to note that bodily functions have ceased. Tal doesn¡¯t really breathe, his heart doesn¡¯t beat, that sort of thing. Through deep examination of its muscle tissues and fibers I have concluded that Tal as a body is continually decaying just as any other body might. However, the mana input into Tal is actually being used to reverse the decay process such that the body is staying in the zero-sum situation. In other words, the mana is being consistently consumed and turned around into a process that regenerates the body to counter the effects of decay.¡±


    ¡°What are the implications of that then?¡±


    He shrugged, ¡°Don¡¯t know. Didn¡¯t get that far. But I guess if that the mana is being used to repair the body in terms of decay, the same process can be applied to any other wounds it may receive, making the zombie an especially durable long-term monster as it can repair itself over and over.¡±


    ¡°Now that is interesting.¡± I would have to jot that down in my notes later. It seemed to be a key advantage it had over the skeletons. ¡°Say, Gil, there are also some skeletons I have down below digging a tunnel. If you want, you can look into them and study as well because learning things like what you are figuring out with Tal can be very helpful.¡±


    A grin grew on the lanky mage¡¯s face, ¡°Certainly. And I ask if you do go off and create any more monsters or creatures please let me know. I want to be there for the process and be able to begin my research immediately.¡±


    ¡°Sounds just perfect to me. I¡¯m going to start on my work then. Let me know if you need anything.¡±


    ¡°Will do.¡±


    I left Gil to his science and trekked up on to the first floor. Most of my work was done; the foundation was laid solidly. I left the entrance out to the world untouched, keeping its stony and cave like features to deter attention. Inside however, I set up a series of three rooms.


    The first room was immediately after the dungeon entrance. It was a large and spacious one that went off to either side. This area I left open with the intention of filling it with utility facilities: guard posts, storage rooms, basic housing. The second entrance was an archway that led into a tall narrow hallway. To the right was a dead end, a pathway I wanted for it to lead up into the tower structure that can let me look over the entire forest area. To the left was the current and main pathway down into the dungeon. One more archway led into a large circular room. That was to be for the deep pit down into the dungeon.


    Today I worked on molding the tower out of the large stone hill my dungeon found itself in. I wasn¡¯t going to finish it out as a tower in the middle of a forest would be suspicious. I would get it close and when the time came I would make a push to finish it.


    As the dark lines radiating from my chest lit up and the hints of miasma began to pour out, I went to work down the right path, carving out my road up through the spiral. Soon I would have to worry about more than construction and building. Soon I would have to worry about monsters and creatures for defense. No one else had responded to my letters which troubled me. I sent only a few to my close friends, many of which I went to school with my entire life. They were capable people like warriors and adventures and merchants now. Capable, smart, resourceful, and some of them were important as well. If they ignored my message, that was fine, but if they acted against me, that would be extremely troubling.


    I would love to trust my friends, but I could not bring myself to do so, especially if it meant risking my life, Gil¡¯s, Lia¡¯s, the slime¡¯s, and everything else. I needed to get stronger, improve my skills, work on that phasing ability and see if I can get more things like that. If not through my own power, I need to create vassals, monsters and beings that can act rationally and fight. How long I had till people came to survey and claim the land was unknown. So as I worked on the dungeon I wondered to myself. What could I add to the dungeon? What monsters could I create?

 Chapter 17

    Gil and I stood at the clearing in front of the dungeon. It was just us, no Slime or skeletons or zombies or Lia. A cricket chirped in the brush and Gil said, ¡°Nice night, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    I nodded my head and replied, ¡°Very relaxing ¨C for now.¡± The moon was out and full and the sky cloudless. Our backs were warmed by a fire lit at the dungeon entrance. ¡°Might get hectic later though.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Gil cocked an eyebrow. ¡°What is on the agenda? Monster making?¡±


    Gil rummaged through a satchel hung of his shoulder and started pulling out books, ¡°Glad you brought me then for my research; there is much to be learned here. What monsters were you planning on making ¨C no, a better place to start would be on mana. Is that okay?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Go ahead,¡± I said.


    Gil took a seat on the ground and cleared his throat, ¡°Mana is what you use to make these monsters, correct?¡±


    ¡°More or less,¡± I explained, ¡°Slime was created from purely mana, but Tal and the skeletons used a pre-existing base, a body, where mana was an additive.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± The mage scribbled in his notebook. ¡°And this process, how much mana does it consume.¡±


    I sighed, ¡°A lot. That¡¯s why I was not looking forward to this; it eats through my reserves extremely fast and using mana to create anything, like monsters, out of nothing increases the cost significantly.¡±


    ¡°Creating things out of nothing ¨C you do that with the furniture and such, right? Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°Yeah that¡¯s right, I do use it for the furniture. The cost for that sort of thing could probably be driven down if I had the raw materials, but I haven¡¯t tested it out. As for anything else¡­ well¡­ that¡¯s why I wasn¡¯t looking forward to this; I made a mistake in managing my mana pool.¡±


    Gil straightened up and frowned, ¡°A mistake? Could you please elaborate?¡±


    ¡°I was saving up mana while Lia went out to meet you.¡± Gil cringed at the very mention of that. I didn¡¯t know what happened between the two and I was too afraid to ask at this point. ¡°During that time, I was saving up mana so I could do loads of work once you got here. I didn¡¯t want to waste time meanwhile, so I ran some experiments and sparred with Slime to keep my skills sharp. You know how I can use my mana to improve monsters and make them stronger?¡±


    Pencil to his lip, he replied, ¡°I think you mentioned something of the sort.¡±


    ¡°Well, I thought what if I could apply that to myself. And it worked. I created the power to phase through objects out of nowhere.¡±


    ¡°Problem?¡± Gil exclaimed, ¡°That sounds great! I¡¯ve never heard about a normal ability like that, so to be able to just create them like that is nothing short of amazing.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s amazing,¡± I half-heartedly replied, ¡°But it isn¡¯t without problems. First, gaining the skill took everything. Every last drop of mana, mana I had been storing for weeks. The power is useful, yes, but even turning it on for a moment drains me of mana. I can¡¯t waste my pools of mana on using it when there is so much more for me to do.¡±


    ¡°So you would you rather not have it?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s nice to have, but I was really wanting to use all that mana for other matters.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t be helped now,¡± said Gil. I agreed. ¡°Then shall we get started while the night is still young?¡± He got up and patted his long rove of dust. ¡°Why are we doing this at night anyways?¡±


    I stepped up and rubbed my hands together, ¡°There is a reason why I¡¯m doing this at night: it will make making one monster I had in mind easier. I¡¯ll tell you more on that in a second.¡± I pointed over to two rock slabs that jutted out from the earth. ¡°For right now, I¡¯m going to try and turn those stone slabs into golems.¡±


    ¡°Ooooo, golems!¡± Gil licked his lips. ¡°Those would be very useful for labor and defense. Good choice I would say.¡±


    ¡°I thought so too. Hope they don¡¯t take too much mana,¡± I said with a nervous laugh. My dungeon senses engaged and mana twirled around me. While I toiled on the rocks, I explained the process to Gil who jotted down furiously in his notebook. Miasma generated from me and spilled out. The black core in my chest in the radiating lines glowed again. Every action was recorded in the mage¡¯s notebook.


    Solid slabs would do no good purely animated; I had to give the rocks some form, a proper shape. The mana ran along the surface and chiseled away at it. Pieces of stone where moved around and pebble by pebble it gained shape. It was tall like a giant. Wide like a wall. I crafted on it not one, but two sets of arms. A round head with a singular half sphere in the middle. I gave it a mouth ¨C just in case.


    The formation of the two were complete. Mana flowed into them and my mind, my senses, gave them a will. It took hold ¨C life sparked. The empty circle emitted a faint blue light.


    ¡°They¡¯re alive!¡± Gil shouted. The two white stone golems swayed side to side, their spherical heads grinding and examining the environment.


    ¡°Hello you two,¡± I waved at the golems. Their heads swiveled over to see me. ¡°How are you guys doing? Good?¡± They nodded their heads. ¡°Can you two talk?¡± They nodded their heads. Maybe they hunks of rock weren¡¯t a vocal bunch. I would have Gil look into them later. ¡°Can you test out your bodies a little bit? Tell me if anything seems wrong.¡± On command, they stretched out their limbs and worked through the motions. They grappled rocks, bent over, stretched, they seemed dexterous for stone slabs.


    ¡°Seems pretty good,¡± Gil said with a glint in his eyes. The mage was carefully watching the golems, jotting down in his journal without even a glance down. ¡°Now that you made these golems, there is at least one more thing is there not? The one that had to deal with us doing this during the night?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there is one more and that is the one,¡± I confirmed. ¡°Tell me, besides the miasma I¡¯m creating, do you notice anything weird in the air? Any irregularities in the mana?¡±


    Gil scratched his chin. He got up and planted his stick in the ground, closing his eyes. His blank face devolved into a scowl, ¡°Something stinks in the mana alright and it isn¡¯t you.¡±


    As I suspected. ¡°I don¡¯t know if Lia told you, but her village used to be around here. Hevagrain knights exterminated all of them.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so that foul presence in the mana must be the residual spirit of the dead. Man, that must have been a mess though. What happened?¡±


    ¡°What happened indeed,¡± I slouched on a tree, ¡°Several people in this area have gone ¡®missing¡¯: me, my fellow knights, and some adventures. Technically I am the reason for that but no one really knows that. A combination of some nobles wanting this land and the Kingdom needing someone to take responsibility for the disappearances turned into a blame game ¨C and her village suffered the brunt of it.¡±


    ¡°Must be tough on her.¡±


    ¡°I thought so too, but I can¡¯t honestly tell with her. I can¡¯t tell if she¡¯s completely distraught or doesn¡¯t even care.¡±


    Gil chuckled, ¡°Yeah, Lia is a little socio¡­ I mean strange. So you intend to turn these residual spirit into monsters?¡±


    ¡°This is the hard part,¡± I sighed, ¡°I intend to turn them all into one. I don¡¯t know if you know anything about wights, but they are an amalgamation of these left-over spirits and energies ¨C fighting them was often a bitch. Most cases a single wight is just a handful of these energies, maybe four to five people. My goal is turn over a 100-people¡¯s worth of energy into one.¡±


    ¡°Why one?¡±


    ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t think I have enough mana to create a separate monster for that many ¨C or it would take a long time to do so.¡± I fidgeted and scratched my arm, ¡°Time I don¡¯t think we have. These spirits, if left alone, might form into wights and ghosts and other apparitions naturally. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to control them in that case. That¡¯s why I have to take of this before it turns into a situation like that.¡±


    Gil scratched his neck, ¡°That sounds a little dangerous, pushing yourself like that¡­¡±


    I walked up to Gil and clasped his shoulder, ¡°I know. It will be dangerous. Who knows what type of wight will come out after bringing together all that energy. Please, if it comes to it, use your magic.¡±


    The lanky mage squirmed under my grip, ¡°Hector¡­ you know I don¡¯t how I feel about that¡­¡±


    ¡°Please.¡± I looked up into his eyes.


    He slouched, ¡°If my choices are self-defense and death, I guess it can¡¯t be helped.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, my friend.¡± I went over to the empty clearing and began setting up a suit of armor. Slime would be angry if it knew I had this, but I actually forged this myself using the metals and minerals I was able to scout out in the earth using my senses. I found some good metals down there, making this a very nice suit of armor. It would be the wight¡¯s body. On either side of the clearing I stationed one of the golems. If things went poorly, the plan was the golems and me taking point while Gil prepares his magic.


    ¡°Hey, Hector, are you sure about this?¡± Gil clutched his staff tightly, his knuckles going white from the pressure.


    ¡°What do you mean,¡± I asked while finishing up my preparation.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you get in a fight with Lia about this sort of thing? She said she was mad at you for messing with her which I guess she means about you messing with her dead village people. That would explain the skeletons you told me about as well.¡±


    ¡°Perceptive as ever, Gil.¡± He was a smart man so it was no surprised he connected the dots fast. ¡°You are right, but wights are a little different. They exist as a new entity from the energy that makes them up. You might know more on the subject than me, but as far as I know, they are like a new existence that absorbs and takes in the residual energy, memories, and such from the dead.¡±


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Gil sighed, ¡°Yes, you are right. I suppose it doesn¡¯t matter since they would probably naturally form anyways¡­¡± He was deflated. Actually, he was quivering.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get started while the moon is still out and full ¨C this is when their energy is most dense.¡± From my observations, the energy of the slain village people were drawn to the dungeon anyways. The night sky and the moon makes a difference in the strength and prevalence of these energies, but I never understood why. Gil and the golems were at the ready. I took a deep breath and began the process.


    It was experience like none-other. Screams. Crying. Shouting. Wailing. I extended my reach as far as I could and gathered the numerous mana and energy from the dead spirits and beings. Their will and existence was black and putrid like toxic sewage and my work was like handling it without an inch of protection. Sorrow, misery, depression, guilt, rage, their emotions and feelings and memories from the moments of their death were etched into the very essence of the mana. I continued to take deep breaths and escorted the energy into the vessel. I could feel the miasma pouring out of me which doubled the acidity in the air. Mana drained from me in chunks, but I persisted. This had to be done.


    Mana and energy streamed through the air. It took form becoming a stream of hazy green and blue. The armor sucked in every last bit that flowed to it. Ethereal fire erupted within the vessel, dancing with the same fog green that seeped into it. Shaking on the ground it clattered and clanged.


    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong,¡± howled Gil. ¡°You have to stop Hector ¨C there is something wrong with the mana!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t stop now¡­¡± I gasped out. There was something wrong and I could feel it. The collective energy of the 100s in the air were gathered, but the suit of armor that was springing to life kept on taking more.


    ¡°It¡¯s taking mana at a dangerous rate! The mana ley lines, your body, it can¡¯t take this sort of strain!¡±


    Gil didn¡¯t have to tell me that. The miasma tripled and my body seared from the waves of mana that poured out from the earth and the world. Even though my very bones were shaking from the strain, I had to continue, I had to finish it. A sudden end to the process would throw all the flowing mana into chaos. The repercussions would be unknown.


    The cool night turned frigid and a piercing frost crept into the air. Miasma muddled the air, ushering in a dense fog. There was the light of the fire, the shining of the moon, and roaring emerald green energy that blazed from within the armor. The vessel stood up. A cackling laugh from its featureless face shivered my spine.


    I pushed my dungeon abilities as far as I could. The energy was coming from the ley lines below, so I focused on cutting off that flow. Loose mana still whirled in the air and I wrangled them, focusing them straight into the towering monster. There was little left the air. Close enough, I thought, and ended the process. I collapsed, doubled over in weakness and pain. My hands were shaking uncontrollably. The meat on my bones was gone ¨C the creation had left me emaciated.


    A deep, air-like voice spoke, ¡°Are you my creator?¡± The wight beheld me, its numerous shades of green and blue flickering controllably in the armor.


    I wheezed, ¡°Y-yes¡­¡±


    ¡°You look¡­ a little weak.¡± Every word of the spectral entity reverberated.


    ¡°No thanks to you. You sucked up everything ¨C and then some.¡±


    It chuckled, ¡°I thank you for that. My birth was inevitable, but your ¡®guidance¡¯ granted me power I would not otherwise have.¡± It crossed its arms, ¡°Now, I know a little of what is going on; by taking bits of your mana I was able to learn of the situation. When do we ride out to slaughter? It is not right to let vermin breed and endanger us.¡±


    I looked over at Gil. He looked as confused as I was. ¡°Hold up, we aren¡¯t slaughtering anyone ¨C yes, there might be a battle and we might have to kill people, but it¡¯s out of defense.¡±


    ¡°Oh? A battle? Not a slaughter?¡± The green flames from beneath the helmet flared, ¡°Even better. How many are at your disposal? 200 skeletons or wights? 300?¡±


    ¡°Uh, no. We got three skeletons, those two golems, a zombie, and a slime.¡±


    The wight remained silent for a moment. It remarked, ¡°That¡¯s not a lot.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± I sighed, ¡°That¡¯s why I made you.¡±


    It bellowed, ¡°Of course! How could I be so daft. An army needs a general, needs direction. A fitting task for a death knight such as myself.¡±


    It called itself a death knight and I repressed my panic. They were a creature far more powerful than any normal wights or apparitions. I utilized a large mass of mana ¨C that must have been the catalyst for it forming directly as such a creature. Gil couldn¡¯t hide his quivering.


    I asked the death knight, ¡°Do you have a name?¡±


    ¡°I am the fusion of the dead lingering here and of those swept by the currents below,¡± it said, ¡°I am death, I am fear. I am them, but they are not me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great and all,¡± I said with a scratch to my neck, ¡°But what should I call you.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. You are the creator -- naming rights belong to you.¡±


    Naming was always difficult. ¡°I¡¯ll get back to you on that later. I need some time to think about it.¡±


    The death knight nodded. ¡°We are targeted. Give me a weapon, show me your monsters. Time is precious.¡±


    I glanced at Gil. His face shared the unease I did. The death knight was powerful, its permanent chilling aura was evident of that. I gave it a suit of armor, but not a weapon. The monster¡¯s true nature was still unknown.


    ¡°Your concerns are valid,¡± it vibrated. ¡°Trust is hard to comeby. I will not go against you. As my creator and the dungeon core, your power over me is absolute.¡± The death knight nodded at Gil, ¡°And that mage isn¡¯t a twig like he appears. We all know that.¡±


    ¡°Very well, let¡¯s go inside then. Keep in mind the dungeon is still under construction,¡± I said. The death knight listened and followed Gil and I. Surprisingly, it spoke to the two golems and ordered them to stand guard outside -- and they listened.


    ¡°Three skeletons, a zombie, and a slime?¡± It sought to confirm.


    ¡°Correct.¡± Up ahead at the entrance was Tal. The zombie was close to Gil these days so it was no surprise it was nearby. The death knight looked over it and said nothing, so I kept leading it down the dungeon.


    ¡°There is potential to this place,¡± it observed during the trekk. ¡°You are building with purpose. Good. It is as they say, functional yet stylish.¡± The death knight¡¯s armor clanged in the dark, crushing the ground. ¡°The dirt, however, must go.¡±


    ¡°Working on it,¡± I said, latched onto Gil¡¯s shoulder. Walking was extremely difficult. I had no energy, no power, no mana. Creating the death knight had left me completely drained, even my muscles feel like they had deteriorated in the process. We reached the third floor and I pointed out the skeletons conducting manual labor. The death knight, again, was not impressed.


    ¡°I do not mind slaughtering all of humanity by myself, but an army would help.¡±


    Again, I said, ¡°I am working on it. It takes a lot of mana, and I just used all of it and then some to bring you to life.¡±


    ¡°Fair.¡±


    We reached the bottom floor and it was more impressed with it than the others. While the others were slowly turning to rock through my mana conversion, I had taken deliberate care in designing the bottom floor. I haven¡¯t expanded it, but I made the stone smooth, added two pillars for support, and generally renovated the area.


    ¡°Beyond those two wooden doors is my chamber. I think the last monster, the slime, should be in there.¡± We went up to it and Gil helped me open it.


    Slime was not in the room; a humanoid creature occupied the space next to my bed. It¡¯s surface glistened and shined, reflecting the room around it. Its limbs dangled and twisted as if there was not a single bone in it. It turned around at our arrival displaying its form, the body of a beautiful woman; it had breasts and curves, hair and skin -- but it was metallic and featureless, like a doll.


    ¡°W-what are you?¡± I managed to say after overcoming my shock.


    It had a face, eyes, mouth, and all. It grinned and said in a girl¡¯s voice, ¡°Am Slime.¡±


    ¡°Splendid!¡± The death knight exclaimed striding forward with arms wide. ¡°Finally a monster worth beholding. You said a slime, a lowly creature, but this is a fine being, one worthy of being underneath me. Its beauty is a facade; I can sense its power.¡± The death knight waltzed over, examining every inch of Slime. ¡°I will take this one for myself,¡± It vibrated out a deep laugh.


    His enjoyment was cut short as Slime punched it square in the chest. Slime¡¯s arm extended, carrying the death knight crashing through my wooden doors. Panicked, I looked through the hole to see if the death knight was okay. It laid in the rubble grumbling to itself, complaining about how that hurt. I let out a sigh of relief.


    Slime said cheerfully, ¡°Shilly death knight, I¡¯m only for Mashtah. Try anyting and I¡¯ll kill you!¡± Slime was cheerful and her threat, smiling. Slime turned to me, ¡°Sowwy Mashtah, took me long time to evolve.¡±


    ¡®¡°I-it¡¯s alright... ¡° I wasn¡¯t sure what to say. The change must have just happened since Slime was still trying to figure out how to speak; she was messing up words and slurring. It was cute, though. With the death knight on the floor aching in pain, my friend who was already writing in his research notebook, and the slime who was now all grown up, I had a feeling things were going to get more busy and interesting. But first, I collapsed on the floor and passed out. The night was a long one and left me a dead man walking.

 Chapter 18

    ¡°The name of kings, of conquerors, of generals, of leaders,¡± the death knight said, ¡°Then it is settled, Alexander shall be my name.¡± It was pleased with the name, and I was glad since it was a struggle making one. My track record was far from perfect; after naming the slime ¡®Slime¡¯, leaving Tal¡¯s name the same, and ignoring everything else, my name creativity was obviously lacking. Alexander, however, did not mind.


    Alexander asked, ¡°Take me to the skeletons and zombies. Our forces need to be inspected.¡± He now sounded reserved, a distinct difference from his high and might booming voice earlier. Getting smashed through a doorway through Slime reigned him in.


    I took the death knight to the third floor to show him the skeletons. Slime was nearly attached my side and her presence caused Alexander to lag several paces behind. Slime was skipping and frolicking almost dancing as it walked. It was enjoying its new limbs.


    The skeletons were digging away the tunnel and explained to Alexander, ¡°I ordered them to dig this tunnel to make a path under the river north of us. That way we have a safe path across the river.¡±


    ¡°Excellent foresight.¡± It stroked its nonexistent beard instead dragging out the wispy green energies that made his form. ¡°They are doing good work,¡± Alexander said examining the deep progression, ¡°But how are their combat skills?¡±


    I shook my head, ¡°They haven¡¯t fought anything yet. I made them spar a little against themselves when I first made them, but that was it. For some time now I have been feeding them extra mana ¨C there hasn¡¯t been any evolution or development because of it.¡±


    ¡°Verily.¡± Alexander strode up to the skeletons and they stopped their work. ¡°They do not grow because they do not have direction.¡± He examined them picking at their bones. ¡°Do they have weapons?¡±


    ¡°They each have a boar spear.¡±


    Alexander nodded to himself. ¡°Give me control of them,¡± he requested, ¡°I will develop them into fine soldiers.¡±


    ¡°Am I even able to do that?¡±


    ¡°Of course. As the dungeon master and creator, you have that power. You can shape the powers and growth of everything in your realm as you see fit.¡±


    I engaged my dungeon powers to verify his claim. Each skeleton had a flame of mana flickering, their life force. Mana, energy, health, vital information was readily available. Although they had been digging straight for days their vitals were clear and mana consumption wasn¡¯t problematic either. Their life forces healthily twinkled. Next to them the force of Alexander¡¯s roared like an inferno. I focused on the skeleton¡¯s energy and dragged it out like a string. The threads spun through the air and I led them to Alexander. His life force snatched them. A pulse of energy shot down through each, disintegrating them as it went. It reached the skeletons and their life force momentarily flared.


    ¡°It is done,¡± commented Alexander. Whatever I did must have worked. ¡°They will still answer to you ultimately, but now control is also mine.¡±


    ¡°So what plans do you have for them?¡±


    ¡°To trample on the fields of man and slaughter all of humanity of course. But first they need to be stronger. I will work on that.¡±


    ¡°Great! Now I wonder who will dig these tunnels for me.¡± I joked. No one joined in the laughter. ¡°What about the golems,¡± I wondered aloud to recover myself. They were sitting outside guarding the dungeon. They didn¡¯t have a job right now. Through my dungeon senses I overlooked my newest creations. The pair were inactive since we left them but now they were moving. Curious, I extended out and surveyed the land. ¡°We have trouble.¡± My face paled. They weren¡¯t knights or men-at-arms or adventures but, ¡°A large force of goblins are headed straight this way.¡± Even though they were generally weak, goblins were nothing to laugh at. Their pain tolerance is high. Their bloodlust and savagery without bounds. Their numbers overwhelming. The best of knights or even heroes could fall to an army of goblins.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    An invading force trampled on the dungeon territory and Alexander howled in laughter, ¡°Fortune smiles upon me! My first battle draws near. Let us go check their advance.¡± His motions were smooth and immediate. The skeletons scrambled behind him grabbing their boar spears. I couldn¡¯t muster any words at the display and followed Alexander to the surface with Slime.


    Alexander stood out front peering deep into the forest. ¡°Where are the golems?¡± They were not under his power so he was unable to sense their position with accuracy.


    ¡°Straight west. They are slowly advancing towards the goblins. Right now there are 30¡­ no 40 goblins headed our way.¡± The numbers slowly rose the more I observed. Monsters and demons were naturally attracted to the dungeon; its miasma and empowering capabilities were a natural lure making them typical homes for such creatures. My more frequent work and generation of miasma must have attracted the goblins,


    ¡°Recall the golems back. We will consolidate our forces in this clearing. Golems in front, skeletons will support from behind them with their spears.¡± Alexander stood arms crossed. His spirit churned under his armor. The coming battle had him excited. I relayed the orders to the golems and they returned at a hastened pace.


    Alexander took charge. The golems were wide and their reach impressive with their four arms. He situated them in the front and had a skeleton standing on the sides and middle. The goblins were close ¨C I could hear their rustling without my dungeon senses. Alexander remained composed, not flinching at the cracking of branches or the rustling of leaves.


    ¡°Here they come.¡± The death knight called out. And they came crashing. Out of every opening they poured out like ants with wooden clubs and sharp stone. The battle had begun.


    I watched at ease from the back as the little green devils crashed into the stone protectors. Slime hummed a metallic tune to itself, oblivious to the ongoing battle. Her presence put me at ease for if a single goblin got close I was sure her murderous tendencies would snap right back. There was nothing sticks and stones could do against heavy metal.


    With their sprawling four arms the golems smashed and tossed around goblins like they were dolls. Every goblin they got their hands on were left a mangled bloody pulp. Some were smashed into the earth, others flung into the trees. The three skeletons formed a defense barrier behind them, stabbing and slicing any goblin that sought to break through. Bodies and blood piled up on the floor and Alexander quivered in his armor as the dying shrieks of the goblins gave him pleasure.


    Goblins, however, kept pouring out. Far too many for me to count in my dungeon senses. Even though the line Alexander set up held well, the numbers was becoming too much. More and more goblins broke through the golems and assaulted the skeleton back line. They were nothing but bone, vulnerable and weak. The short goblins got underneath them and hacked at their legs. One was sent tumbling to the ground. It was strange to watch. The skeleton had its legs chopped down but its life force raged on. A raging skeleton on the floor stabbing at green midgets almost made me chuckle.


    ¡°I¡¯ve had enough playing games. Give me a sword,¡± Alexander reached out his hand to me. I took mine and out and tossed it over. He looked over the blade and said, ¡°The goblins made a mistake sending out only expeditionary force. I shall carve fear and death into their very existence ¨C I will teach them that the meaning of their pitiful life is to grovel at the feet of superior beings such as ourselves.¡± He leapt dozens of feet into the air in one motion and plummeted down into the swarm of goblins. One sweep, one cut, and a dozen goblin heads flew in the air raining blood onto the earth. Alexander gave off a natural cold, but his chill intensified and frosted the world. My spine shivered, my breath visible, my teeth chattering.


    The eyes of a goblin were an empty thing. A common foe, even I fought them before. They were single-minded creatures: kill, pillage, hunt, grow. Goblins live off their basic instincts of survival. Their eyes were empty because they were an empty monster. The goblins now reflected a green flame. They beheld the blueish green eminence of the death knight. Fear was in their eyes. Every swing mowed down their ranks and Alexander¡¯s cackled vibrated through the night, echoing off of every tree.


    The goblins came for food and were served death on a platter with the grim reaper as their waiter. Fighting was beyond them ¨C death was the only result in engaging Alexander. Just as they swarmed out from the trees and brush, they fled back with shrieks of terror.


    The sweet deep voice of Alexander said, ¡°I¡¯m not done with you yet¡­¡± His blood-stained armor clanged as moved to hunt the vermin. His voice resonated through the entire forest, ¡°I have taught you death; now it is time for me to teach you fear.¡±

 Chapter 19

    Gil strolled out of the dungeon, ¡°What¡¯s going on up here? I hea-¡± he minced his words; the bloody carnage outside seized his body, ejecting the food in his stomach. ¡°What¡­ the hell¡­ happened,¡± he said between pants.


    ¡°Well,¡± I replied, ¡°We were attacked by goblins and Alexander the death knight killed the lot of em.¡± Gil nodded feebly using his tall stick to hold him up as his legs quivered. ¡°Speaking of which, here he comes.¡± The chill gave away his presence ¨C that and the glow coming from the thicket. He burst through the brush and two goblins dragged their feet behind them. ¡°Woah!¡± I raised my hands up, ¡°Behind you, two goblins.¡±


    Alexander did not break pace, ¡°I know. They will do nothing. They have learned fear.¡± Their eyes empty, shoulder slumped, feet heavy. I believed him ¨C and dared not question what he did.


    ¡°What do you plan on doing with them?¡± Gil asked.


    Alexander dryly responded, ¡°Interrogate them. Some got away,¡± he said with disappointment. ¡°That won¡¯t happen again.¡±


    I crossed my arms, ¡°So we are going to exterminate them all?¡±


    The death knight shrugged, ¡°Maybe. Perhaps there are better options.¡±


    Like what, I thought to myself. ¡°Might it be possible to take control of the goblins?¡± Out loud I walked through the idea, ¡°Goblins are dumb creature but have a hierarchy, a leadership, like any other. Take out the leaders and they either scramble or rampage. However, if we take out the leader and immediately replace them or make them subservient to us, could we not wrestle control of the entire population?¡±


    A phantasmal grin grew on the death knight¡¯s face. He outstretched his arms, ¡°Excellent! Your logic is sound; taking control of these insects should not be a problem. There are many ways to make them kneel ¨C even excluding your dungeon abilities.¡±


    I clapped my hands, ¡°Then we will do that, take over the goblins. Any ideas on how?¡±


    Alexander bowed, ¡°Leave the matter to me. I shall draw the plans and make arrangements and inform you if your powers are needed.¡±


    Gil jumped forward between the two of us, ¡°W-w-w-wait, hold up, is this even a good idea? Think about it! Taking on dozens and dozens and maybe even over a hundred goblins! Those little murderous creatures? Really?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see a problem¡­¡± Puzzled, I tilted my head. ¡°We need numbers and strength. Goblins seem like a convenient way for us to do that. But you are right, over a hundred goblins to suddenly take care of would be a lot.¡± I turned to the spirit, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I agree. We can trim their numbers as needed.¡±


    Goblins weren¡¯t finnicky creatures when it came to food; anything that was edible was fair game. The concern was quantity. As of now the few of us here had gotten by with the occasional hunting and some gathering. Converting my mana into food was an option that was also exercised. However, with dozens of more mouths to feed that would be problematic. There was no guarantee they could secure enough food consistently for all of them. If they couldn¡¯t it would risk tearing up chunks of his mana to keep things maintained.


    ¡°How about this: you work on the subjugation while I figure out the logistics?¡±


    ¡°Excellent,¡± it replied to my recommendation. Alexander gathered the skeletons and returned to the depths of the dungeon. Gil had enough of the mess outside and followed behind.


    I, on the other hand, was left to clean up. Instead of turning the slashed goblin bodies into skeletons or undead (which I didn¡¯t have the mana for all of them anyways), I used my powers to break down their composition to pure mana. My job was to figure out how to support a surge in our population ¨C and I needed mana to work with. I left the golems on patrol duty in case some stragglers showed up. They were able to take care of themselves; the goblin weapons and fists couldn¡¯t scratch them.


    The top priorities were food and housing. Plenty of animals roamed the forest and berry bushes and fruit trees were scattered everywhere. Foraging for food would work, but a more permanent solution would be needed in any situation. That meant investing in animal husbandry and crops. We didn¡¯t have either the animals nor the seeds for that. Once our position solidified, trading would become a top priority.


    If their numbers weren¡¯t that great, a combination of hunting, gathering, and mana could subsist until a more permeant solution was created. In fact, the dungeon was situated right next to a large flowing river and the ocean. Plenty of fish available to catch. There wasn¡¯t much to do on this for now, but I had to budget room and plan out for it. On the other side of the river was more flatland, land suitable for tracks of farms. The tunnel underneath was far from complete and would take time. An above ground bridge would be the easiest structure to come up with to make crossing way. The mana to build would be great, and I didn¡¯t have anywhere close. For some time I had gotten by using mana to directly form whatever I needed. It was quick and easy ¨C but the costs were high. It was time to manage his mana pool more efficiently, and that meant harvesting raw resources to supplement his powers. With manpower and trading it shouldn¡¯t be an issue.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Housing would, of course, be in the dungeon. Goblins roaming around outside would be too dangerous. Problem was, I didn¡¯t know how much to build. The number of goblins we would take in is unknown. I had no interest in housing the goblins on the lower levels, close to my own personal space. The second floor would do fine for them.


    The floor was rather plain. I had ignored it completely in favor of modeling the bottom levels. It was the smallest of the middle floors. In fact, while the other levels have been outfitted with stone, this one was still all dirt. Keeping in mind the spiraling structure I had in mind for the dungeon, I exercised my powers and extended the dungeon outwards.


    This place was a dungeon, but bigger ideas for it were growing in me. A home? A town? A city? I wasn¡¯t sure, so I worked only on the outer edges. An outer ring, like a hallway, formed on the boundaries. A continuous pathway around the entire second floor. From that outer ring, I fashioned rooms along the entire way. They were small, but not cramped. Simple dirt rooms that could comfortably hold four, maybe more if they were small goblins. I left a cross section open, dividing up the rim into four equal quadrants. Nothing was crafted out of the inner side of the ring, thus leaving twenty rooms in total made, all nestled on the outer side. About four goblins each would mean housing close to 100. I didn¡¯t think we could support close to that many so we would have to trim the numbers done if it was that large ¨C but it left room to grow.


    I was exhausted. Summoning Alexander to the fighting the goblins to getting to work on the dungeon happened all in the span of one night. Normally, sleep could be substituted for mana. But I had none. Substituting sleep for mana might even be for the worse. When I ran of mana, like now, the weakness and deprivation hit me like a crash. I have been up for over 40 hours doing work and all the exhaustion hit me at once. Dragging my feet I stumbled my way down to my personal chambers and collapsed on my bed. Sleep was instant.


    I woke up paralyzed. Slime was sprawled on top of me and its heavy metal weight crushed me. ¡°S-slime, could you get off of me?¡± Wiggling underneath the slime¡¯s weight I tried to free myself.


    Slime deflated its form on top of me, crushing more of my body, ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re crushing me!¡± Slime solidified its form back into its feminine shape and rolled over. ¡°Why were you on my bed anyways?¡±


    ¡°I was tired and wanted to sleep with master.¡±


    I ruffled my hand through my hair. It wasn¡¯t a problem as long as I didn¡¯t get crushed, I guess. The bed was big enough. However, ever since Slime had her next transformation into a humanoid state, it was getting harder deciding how to react around it; Slime¡¯s female body blurred the lines between ¡®it¡¯ and ¡®she¡¯, so I wasn¡¯t sure how to act anymore.


    She tilted her head more than 45 degrees, ¡°Troubled?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said, ¡°I¡¯m troubled by the fact that your head is almost upside down on your shoulders.¡± It giggled and the head snapped back. I got up from the bed and stretched. Everything felt sore and heavy. ¡°How long was I out for?¡±


    Finger to her chin, Slime thoughtfully replied, ¡°Maybe a day and a half?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I scrunched up my face. The exhaustion had gotten to me, but a day and a half was too much. I would have to make sure I don¡¯t overexert myself like this in the future.


    Alexander walked through the door-less doorway and made his presence known by letting his aura wisp around. ¡°You are awake. Excellent. Preparations are complete. I will need your assistance.¡±


    ¡°¡­Oh, okay.¡± It took a second to process what he was saying. ¡°Let me get ready and I will be right out.¡± Alexander nodded and left the room. I got ready and followed him up.


    Slime and I reached the entrance and Alexander stood with the skeletons, Gil, and Tal. The death knight started explaining straight away, ¡°The plan is to corral the goblins onto our territory. I learned that they seek a home, this dungeon, after interrogating the two insects I brought. They will come back eventually, but we will bait them to act now, on our terms. The skeletons will spearhead the assault. Lure them in to our forest. Then, the golems and I will strike and take out their leaders. From there, we capture the remaining goblins and take them over either through submission or through your dungeon powers.¡±


    I shrugged my shoulders, ¡°Sounds good. Let¡¯s do this then.¡± I turned to Gil and Tal who were also here, ¡°So what are you two doing in this plan?¡±


    Gil sighed, ¡°This guy is making me fight! In case there are too many he wants me to blast them all away¡­¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s getting you to fight? Impressive!¡±


    He grunted in frustration, ¡°I don¡¯t want to! I¡¯m under duress here!¡±


    I patted his shoulder, ¡°Sorry! I¡¯ll make it up to you ¨C hopefully you won¡¯t have to do anything.¡± Gil grumbled something and I went to follow Alexander. The goblins were staying at the outskirts of the forest west. Alexander had scouted it, said the trees were thin there and clearings were abundant. Supposedly they had been launching attacks on the roads and travelers using the forest as cover. Another problem to worry about, more unneeded attention.


    We continued to trek and my maximum range was dangerously closing ¨C even though it had been expanded a little due to both the expansion of the dungeon and my own powers. Alexander pointed ahead, ¡°Over there they are. The skeletons will draw them out, trigger their assault, and capture them on dungeon territory.¡± He crossed his arms, however, and looked displeased. ¡°I don¡¯t sense many of them here. Something is going on.¡±


    I took his word for it and we cautiously pressed forward. Alexander was right: there was only a handful of the green creatures around. Alexander dealt with them before they were aware of our presence. While we made little noise, from behind the thicket of trees we heard the cries of goblins. Alexander was not amused. He strolled forward and burst through the brush. I followed.


    The goblins were already fighting. A singular knight on a horse rampaged through the little monsters slashing through them with a long sword.


    ¡°Another insect to crush,¡± Alexander coldly said.


    I looked closer and rubbed my eyes. ¡°No, wait, I know that knight!¡±


    Alexander looked over to make a comment but he was cut off by a thunderous crash. Down the tree line north a tree flew out and spiraled straight at the knight. He steered his horse out of harm¡¯s way and it splintered into the ground. The leaders of the goblins lumbered out from the woods ¨C five brutish hobgoblins towered out.


    This was Alexander¡¯s plan, but I took charge, ¡°We are saving that knight. Subjugating the goblins is secondary.¡±


    The death knight brandished his sword and stepped forward, ¡°Understood.¡±

 Chapter 20

    Goblin¡¯s blood painted the knights armor. Five hobgoblins and a towering death knight closed in while still amidst a swarm of snarling demons. Yet he did not waver. Gil shook his head next to me, ¡°Who thought he would be the one to come out?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not surprised,¡± I said, ¡°And neither should you be. You know how he is.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± he replied.


    I only sent Alexander out, Tal and Slime stood close by. The tree line was my limit; I could not go any further. Even though I was not out of my range, I could feel a drag on my energy levels. I kept Tal and Slime close, just in case. Alexander strode tall. I was sure he would be enough, and he carried himself as if he was. His confidence seeped into his emblazoned aura, bringing death and frost to the earth with each step.


    Another tree log sailed towards the knight. He reacted quickly, driving his horse through the raving horde and dodging it. A poor group of goblins was in the wrong place and was splattered. The knight was still unharmed, but his horse was taking damage. Raving midgets hacked away etching cuts and wounds into the horse. Commanding his horse into a full gallop, the knight strided forward through the goblin ranks. He hopped off the horse¡¯s back and twirled in the air, gracefully landing on the ground. His horse rode forward, breaking through the goblins and into open field where it galloped to safety.


    The goblin¡¯s attention was divided between the striding horse and the dismounted knight. He didn¡¯t stop moving for a second and danced through the goblin horde. Down from the perch of the horse¡¯s back, the knight finally suffered the ravenous attacks of the goblins. Their crude weaponry dinged and scratched his armor. However weak goblins were, they were still monsters and he felt the force of each hit. It was the brutish hobgoblins that concerned him. They lumbered forward nearly upon him. The five wielded massive logs and clubs. The leader of the pack had one log under each arm and launched it toward the knight.


    If there was a time to hold back, this wasn¡¯t it, the knight thought. A faint red glow enshrouded him. Wind pressure blew forth from him and staggered the horde. In one clean swoop he sliced the incoming log in half. The two parts slid into the dirt beside him.


    A hobgoblin broke ranks and ran at him. It swung its club and the knight rolled out of the way. The club crashed into the ground flinging dirt and rocks. He swung back but the hobgoblin beat his attack back with his club. Despite their size and bulkiness, they were far more agile and powerful than the goblins.


    He was stronger still. A flurry of slashes broke the hobgoblins defense and pushed it back. The knight¡¯s red aura flared and he pierced through, striking off an arm of the hobgoblin. The monster roared in pain clutching the bleeding stump. The knight prepared for a final strike before a club walloped him in the side. It batted him into the dirt.


    A swarm of goblins rushed him and he pounced to his feet securing his ground and fighting them back. He looked for the source. The other hobgoblins entered the fight. Three rushed him and he stood steeled himself.


    The knight was pushed back. He had no choice. Their attacks came in succession leaving him no room to fight back. After opportunity he took to strike at them was met with a stray hit. His armor was forged well but it was taking its toll ¨C he could feel it.


    Another swing and a miss from a hobgoblin, smashing into the ground. He covered his helmet to prevent dirt and dust from blinding him. The knight was hit in the gut by a club sending him tumbling back. He looked up at the horde of hobgoblins and goblins surrounding him. A chill went down his spine ¨C he was not in a good spot.


    The hobgoblin reared his club and brought it down on him. Before he could act a knight reeking of death parried the strike. It was insufferably cold. The grass withered and the ground frosted. ¡°Be grateful my master commanded me to save you, worm.¡±


    He got up and brushed the ice clinging to his armor, ¡°Well, getting saved by a death knight is a first. Who¡¯s your master?¡±


    ¡°My master¡¯s name is Hector. An I am no simple death knight, I am Alexander!¡± Alexander¡¯s voice shook the air. The hobgoblin in front was not deterred and swung its club. The death knight batted it away like a stick and slashed across the monster¡¯s chest. It recoiled and roared. Alexander raised a hand. An icicle formulated and launched itself through the hobgoblin¡¯s head.


    The lone knight swung around and chopped away at the goblins pouring in, ¡°Of course it¡¯s Hector. Got any plan or are we just killing these things?¡±


    Alexander slid a goblin off his sword and looked around. ¡°Kill the hobgoblins, cull half the goblins, subjugate the rest.¡±


    ¡°How are we going to manage that?¡± The knight released his red aura again and swung his sword toward the goblins. The energy rolled off and fired off line an energy slice crashing into the monsters.


    ¡°Just follow me.¡± With an echoing laugh the death knight waltzed into the fray, turning the battle field into an icy tomb. The knight supported it from behind and killed the stragglers.


    The death knight led him right into the four remaining hobgoblins. All four of them set themselves upon the two, even the leader which was surveying the fight from the back. Instead of wielding a makeshift blunt weapon like a log, it held a large double axe. It was aged and rusted but the edge was still sharp and dangerous.


    The death knight and the living knight rotated as they pressed into the horde. Alexander would press the attack hacking manically into their fleshy bodies before switching with the knight who was acting as a shield defending stray hits and beating back the miniature monsters.


    One switch and the knight took point. He flaunted his skills and pumped up his red aura. On his back the death knight did the same spreading its chilling presence. The death knight effortlessly maneuvered. These monsters were insects and their attacks worthless. The knight charged his energy; Alexander wasn¡¯t the only one around who was strong.


    Switch. The knight with his energy charged went from defense to offense. His body flowed forward dodging through the hobgoblins. ¡°Your head is mind!¡± He shouted launching himself into the air. The hobgoblin he went for stumbled back in surprise. His sword glowed with red energy. A club was raised in defense but he cut through, all the way through the neck.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    The hobgoblin fell over and then came the axe. The knight blocked with the flat of his blade using one hand on either side to hold it up. With all of his strength he lifted up and pushed off the axe. He stabbed forward at the hobgoblin leader¡¯s face. Both knew it wouldn¡¯t reach. The knight¡¯s sword came short but a red blast shot from the tip. The hobgoblin reacted too slow and it clipped its face damaging its left eye. It howled in anger and punted the knight 10 feet back.


    ¡°Look,¡± Alexander said, ¡°You¡¯ve made the worm angry.¡± The hobgoblin doubled down and screeched again which momentarily paralyzed all the goblins.


    ¡°So now what?¡±


    ¡°We run.¡± Alexander turned tail and headed for the forest. The knight was confused but ran after him. Behind both came the hobgoblins and goblins in all their anger and rage.


    ¡°Why are they running at us?¡± I asked. Gil was too busy in panic mode to respond. Alexander must have a plan, I thought, since the original goal was to capture. I did a mental check of the skeletons and the golems. They were moving, taking positions. Of course, Alexander did have a plan. ¡°Alright then. Gil and Tal, lets head back. I think Alexander has this under control and we will be needed later.¡± The death knight in its original plans set up an area deeper in the forest where I would wait for the stragglers to come through. It was there I was supposed to trap the goblins. I doubted much had changed in his plans despite his arrival.


    ¡°Me?¡± Slime asked. Her head tilted at an inhumane angle again.


    ¡°I think you ought to stay around here. Link up with Alexander if you can and help as needed.¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± She said with a smile. Slime was so happy and her mind full of murder.


    ¡°Listen, knight,¡± Alexander commanded, ¡°We kill the hobgoblins and drive the goblins deeper east. Master will trap them there.¡± Alexander stopped with the hobgoblins crashing behind them. ¡°Split up.¡± The death knight turned around trotting one way, ¡°Over here insects!¡± The knight got the signal and shouted likewise running in a different direction. The leader with blood dripping from its eye ran enraged at the knight while the other two went for the death lords. The goblins had no sense of direction and ran every which way in little ravenous packs. Most followed their leader.


    Alexander trotted through the forest and took a turn back towards its master. The two hobgoblins chased after him but it didn¡¯t care. Together they had three arms and zero brain. They were never a threat and never would be. Alexander wouldn¡¯t waste his time with such dirt.


    From the brush came three spears soaring through the air. With a thump each of them found their mark on the hobgoblins body. One in the head and two in the chest. Shock went through the hobgoblin¡¯s body and it tumbled over. It¡¯s one armed companion skid to a stop utterly confused. Three skeletons emerged from the trees and collected their weapons from the monster. Their jaws clattered as they set their sights on the one-armed one. The mindless beast charged the skeletons but it was the two golems that erupted from the earth ensnaring it. With their stone arms the two pummeled the hobgoblin to death. Unable to move it cried in pain and struggled desperately. All music to Alexander¡¯s ears. The pair pulverized it like meat at a butcher. The hobgoblins were no more and the skeletons and golems set off after their commander.


    The knight sprinted deeper east into the forest. Most of the goblins tailed him along with their leader. Alexander said that his master, Hector, would spring a trap and capture them. Going deeper in seemed a good idea.


    I could sense them coming through my dungeon senses. ¡°Gil, Tal, get ready. Shows about to start.¡± The hobgoblin tailing my friend was a prize. I considered capturing it but decided leaving the goblin¡¯s leader alive would be a mistake.


    The knight broke through the thicket and yelled ¡°Hector!¡± Upon seeing me.


    ¡°Hello old friend!¡± I waved at him. ¡°We can get reacquainted in a moment ¨C lets take care of this first.¡±


    Behind the knight came the hobgoblin and his culled swarm. My enhanced sensory abilities told me there was 23 excluding their leader. I dug deep into my powers and activated my trap. Four walls of stone and earth sprouted from the ground and trapped the goblins and separating them from their leader.


    The knight laughed, ¡°Impressive Hector! Looks liked you learned some new tricks!¡±


    ¡°A lot has happened,¡± I said with a shrug. ¡°Think you can take care of that one?¡± I pointed to the hobgoblin. ¡°You look a little beat up.¡±


    ¡°This?¡± He laughed, ¡°This is nothing. My armor isn¡¯t just for show, you know!¡±


    The hobgoblin, however, did not take another step. Pure anger was frozen on its face but its body didn¡¯t move. It tensed and struggled, muscles popping.


    I frowned, ¡°Slime, you didn¡¯t leave, did you?¡±


    A silver metal coat crept up from behind the hobgoblins back covering its entire surface. It tried to scream, but not sound came out. The metal liquid enclosed it and the monster began to shrink.


    ¡°What the¡­?¡± The knight shook his head in confusion still not dropping his guard. ¡°It¡¯s shrinking ¨C no it¡¯s being crushed!¡± The hobgoblin¡¯s body snapped and cracked compressing down. It was enveloped by the metal slime and reduced to nothing. Slime¡¯s body rubber banded readjusting from a slime shape back into a female form.


    The knight turned around, ¡°A death knight and a metal slime girl? And Gil? What¡¯s he doing here?¡± Gil gasped as if he was offended.


    I shrugged, ¡°Long story.¡±


    ¡°I bet it is.¡± My old friend came up and dropped to a knee. ¡°I, Roland Severon, return to your service, my Lord.¡±


    ¡°Quit the formalities, Roland,¡± I said rolling my eyes. ¡°You know how it is these days. Get up and let¡¯s go back. I¡¯ll get you some food and get you up to date.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes, of course.¡± Roland sheathed his sword. ¡°But what about the goblins?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, almost forgot about those.¡± I walked up to the enclosure I made. Inside you could hear the goblins writhing around clawing at the walls searching for a way out. I expanded my dungeon senses and examined the 23. I had only made monsters up until now; subjugating already living things was new territory. I was excited to get to work and document my findings.


    Nothing naturally came to me, so I did the only thing I could think of: break into their minds and forcefully dominate them. It felt invasive and a bit dirty, like trekking knee-deep through a muddy swamp, but it had to be done. One by one I went through their mind, crushed it, and rebuilt it. As I worked the goblins began to feel familiar; they gave off an aura similar to the skeletons and the golems.


    When all was said and done, the method, I think, worked. But, the problem was how much damage if any it caused to the goblins. I dropped the walls to Roland¡¯s immediate disdain as it was the only way to find out.


    And there the 23 stood obediently. They were mindless creatures, I could tell because I rummaged through their pea brains. The goblin pack was not hostile.


    ¡°Alright then,¡± I clapped my hands. ¡°Everyone line up now!¡± The goblins responded my orders and lined up.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Asked Roland.


    ¡°The goal before you came was to subjugate these goblins for some additional power. Now I have 23 under my control. Time to test their obedience.¡± I thought for a moment and decided to play a little game. ¡°Listen up! Hector says jump on one foot.¡± And the goblins jumped on one food. ¡°Hector says stop.¡± The goblins stopped. ¡°Hector says slide to the left. Now slide to the right.¡±


    ¡°Hector,¡± Roland said, ¡°What is going on?¡±


    ¡°I was just having a little fun and testing them. Everything seems fine. Let¡¯s head back then. Ill get you some food and tell you what¡¯s been going on.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that sounds good,¡± he said with a hand on his sword. I led the way back to home and everyone followed.

 Chapter 21

    ¡°I¡¯ve made my home in a cave up ahead,¡± I told Roland who lagged behind me. He kept an eye on the goblins who tagged behind.


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s alright?¡±


    I shrugged, ¡°It¡¯s not as bad as it sounds. You¡¯ll see what I mean.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± he said, ¡°I meant the goblins.¡±


    ¡°Not sure, honestly.¡± I took a look back at them and they looked docile enough with their blank faces. ¡°When I used my powers to subjugate them, I kind of forcefully invaded them and their minds. I don¡¯t know if they are supposed to be like this or I just¡­ broke them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll add mind breaking goblins to the list of questions.¡± Roland pulled out a folded piece of paper and asked, ¡°But first, can you explain this letter? It told me pretty much nothing.¡± I didn¡¯t have to look at Roland to know he was annoyed with a side of angry.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t put too much information in it in case someone got their hands on it.¡±


    Roland sighed, ¡°I¡¯m sure a letter being sent from someone declared dead by the kingdom wouldn¡¯t go over so well.¡±


    ¡°The cave is right up ahead in a clearing,¡± I said. ¡°We¡¯ll sit down and I¡¯ll tell you the full story: why I¡¯m here and what happened.¡±


    We broke through the trees and into the clearing. The two golems and three skeletons lined up ¨C and Alexander sat tall on a horse?


    ¡°Welcome, Master. What a splendid victory,¡± it said beholding the line of goblins behind them.


    ¡°T-thanks,¡± I replied, ¡°but where did you get that horse from?¡± It wasn¡¯t even a normal horse ¨C maybe at one point it was. It was dead and bones with the same ghoulish energy locking it together as the death knight. Some of its flesh and tendons remained but it was still a ghastly sight with the cold greenish-blue energy misting off of it.


    Alexander proudly answered, ¡°I acquired this steed out in the fields. I have christened it Malus.¡±


    ¡°Wait a second,¡± Roland interrupted, ¡°That was my horse!¡±


    ¡°Not anymore.¡± Alexander looked at him coldly.


    Roland threw up his arms, ¡°Give me a break. The horse¡¯s name is Autumn and its mine.¡±


    ¡°Not. Any. More. And its name is Malus now.¡± Alexander patted its neck and it neighed in response.


    Roland threw a glance at me and I could only helplessly shrug. I got in between the two, ¡°We can, uh, work this out later. I need to talk to Roland first alone and catch up. Alexander could you take care of the goblins for me? Check them out and see what they are made of?¡±


    ¡°As you wish,¡± the death knight responded.


    ¡°This way,¡± I said to Roland leading him into the cave. The entrance still wasn¡¯t glamorous, just a bunch of rock and stone and I could tell he was skeptical. I led him further down the levels and cobbled stone pathways and walls started cropping up (I had been partitioning portions of my mana to slowly convert everything from dirt to stone) at around the third floor.


    ¡°Not as bad as it sounds,¡± Roland whistled as we came down into the fifth floor. It was my personal floor so I had put a lot of time into making it look nice. A foyer, columns, rooms. A homely feel with a dash of epic.


    ¡°This is my floor in the entire place,¡± I explained to him. ¡°I¡¯ve kept this portion kind of an entrance ¨C my room and study and other stuff is behind the doors at the end here.¡±


    We went through my room and he said, ¡°Hector, how did you get all this furniture here? Its well-made as well¡­¡±


    ¡°I made it,¡± I nonchalantly said taking him into one of the side rooms. It was a conference room. Small it was but it would be sufficient as a place to sit with a little privacy. Slime was nowhere to be found; I thought she was following me on our way back, but I didn¡¯t notice her anywhere. I hope she won¡¯t interfere as I wanted to talk to Roland alone.


    I picked a chair and sat down. Roland did the same and I started my story, ¡°My company was moving north towards the border. Then we ran into this place. It was a dungeon. Fresh too. You could tell by the miasma amount and the monsters¡¯ power. My commanding officer made the call to come in and take care of it.¡±


    ¡°You all went missing,¡± Roland said. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    I put one elbow on the table and held up my head, ¡°They all died. When we reached the bottom, I was the last one. It was down here, on this floor, I found it. A dungeon core. It wasn¡¯t in some monster or fused with anything. A small, round black orb¡­¡±


    ¡°And? Did you destroy it?¡±


    ¡°No. I went up and touched the thing like a cat and a ball of yarn.¡±


    Roland smacked his head with a hand, ¡°You idiot.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I didn¡¯t think it through ¨C I was too curious. When I touched the dungeon core I fused with it. I became a dungeon core. I became a dungeon.¡± I looked at my hands, ¡°I can shape the dungeon as I see fit. I can make monsters, empower them, and even take them over.¡± I closed my hands and began rubbing my fingers against each other. ¡°I can do amazing things now. Roland. And it scares me. I don¡¯t understand it. I don¡¯t understand myself. What am I? What have I become?¡± I stood up and looked at Roland. ¡°What am I? Am I human?¡±


    Roland sat there silently. His face was an emotionless stone as it always was when he didn¡¯t know what to say.


    I took off my shirt and displayed the dark marking that radiated out from my body. I activated my dungeon powers and filled them with energy. Miasma seeped out from them and into the room. It poisoned the air, made it heavy. I asked again, ¡°Am I a monster?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re Hector,¡± he said, ¡°And that¡¯s all that matters.¡± Roland shook his head with a pained expression. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry. I should have come out sooner. I should have looked for you. I didn¡¯t know you would be in such pain and loneliness¡­¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°I wasn¡¯t entirely alone. I had Slime by my side and slowly other monsters and people cropped up here. But I was lost ¨C and still am. I tried not to think about it. Made some plans, kicked around ideas, kept myself busy. I was thinking about making something out of this place, you know? I can¡¯t leave this area anyways, might as well make it a nice home I thought. But I don¡¯t know can I, should I. What else is there for me? I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°Hector,¡± he said, ¡°You need to believe in yourself more. Look, no one can tell you what to do. Not me. Not your family. Not your monsters. There are some things you have to figure out yourself. We can only give you our opinion and advice.¡±


    I dropped my shoulders, looked my head at Roland, and shook my head suppressing a chuckle. ¡°Never knew you could speak like that.¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t make fun of me! I was trained to be a solider ¨C not a speaker.¡±


    ¡°No, but really, thanks,¡± I said taking a seat. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it will help, but I¡¯ll try. It¡¯s just everything feels so different, so complicated. Hard for me to figure out anything since my mind is all over the place.¡± I wondered how much of my confusion and self-doubt was a product of fusing with the dungeon core. They were always known to exhibit self-protective characteristics ¨C that¡¯s why they often fuse with a strong monster if they get a chance and expand and develop. Are those feelings of wanting to make this place a home, something more, my own genuine ambitions or desires, or was it a product of the dungeon core¡¯s innate desire to preserve itself seeping into me?


    ¡°Whatever the case is, you aren¡¯t alone. Looks like you got some¡­ good companions here. You got me now. And we got some others on the way ¨C Marina is coming for sure.¡±


    ¡°Marina is coming?¡± I rubbed my hands together, ¡°Oh boy, looks like the whole squad is going to be back together at this rate.¡±


    ¡°We couldn¡¯t exactly leave you out here once we heard that you were actually alive. Part of our job description, you know,¡± he said with a laugh.


    ¡°At any rate,¡± I said wiping the smile on my face, ¡°There¡¯s a bit more to the story. After I had fused, I made Slime. Right now, Slime is taking the form of a girl, not sure why, but it, or she now I guess, started as a normal slime that fed on metal. It evolved into a metal slime and gradually grew stronger. A group of adventures came by mapping and searching the area. Things got dicey and I ended up killing them, turning one of them into a zombie as an experiment. Later on, a group of soldiers came by. Not for me, but for an elf village that was north of the river. They killed all of them except one girl, Lia, who I saved. She¡¯s with me now and is trying to gather more information on what happened.


    Roland said, ¡°No, I heard of this actually. They were accused of attacking travelers and robbing merchants that passed by. Your death was blamed on them.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what we understand so far. However, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the full truth. Of course, relations between humans and other races have been declining and recent decades. There¡¯s tension. The land here is good, fertile, and on the ocean. Between the adventures scouting this area and the soldiers being very thorough in clearing out the area, I suspected someone is targeting this land. It¡¯s going lots of minerals and resources, but it can¡¯t be used if elves were on it.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense,¡± Roland said leaning back in his chair. ¡°So, this Lia person is out trying to figure out who is behind this and what is going on.¡±


    ¡°Exactly so. I was building up my strength with the goblins for example if we confirmed that someone was after this land ¨C that would mean them running into me is an inevitable as I can¡¯t leave. If there was no one and this land isn¡¯t going to be taken anytime soon, then I wouldn¡¯t be too sure on what to do.¡±


    Roland suggested, ¡°I think you should keep trying to build up regardless. If you really are a dungeon core now and stuck on this land, your existence being discovered seems more like a when rather than an if. No matter who or what you are. I don¡¯t think there would be a shortage of people wanting to get rid of you quickly and quietly if you turned up alive, especially as a dungeon.¡±


    The best option would be to keep building to protect myself, I thought. ¡°What if we continue to build up and then purposefully reveal myself to the kingdom?


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Roland scratched his chin. ¡°If we were strong enough, that would stop them from getting rid of you quickly. Going public and releasing your existence would also make things very complicated politically I would think. If there was any motion to get rid of you, it would be far from quiet and quickly at that point. And I think there is zero chance that they would leave you alone ¨C not unless you grew strong enough to rival a duke.¡±


    It was a good sounding plan; it afforded us time in many cases, a valuable commodity. However, would the kingdom or its nobles and people really accept my existence at face value? ¡°What we need is legitimacy,¡± I decided. ¡°If I do expand and announce myself, would the people think if they saw me with hordes of the very monsters that poison the land, burn their fields, and kill the people? They would fancy me a demon, a monster.¡±


    ¡°So you want to diversify this location with people and other races. If there are other beings living here, it would support the idea that you are indeed peaceful and in control. It¡¯s harder to come up with an excuse to attack a settlement of people than it is a den of monsters.¡±


    I smirked, ¡°Roland, you always know what I¡¯m thinking.¡±


    ¡°Please,¡± he said, ¡°We¡¯ve been friends for ages. Of course I know what you¡¯re thinking. Again, it¡¯s also kind of part of the job description.¡±


    ¡°So how do you think we should go about that then?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s simple,¡± Roland remarked, ¡°We target slavery.¡±


    I nodded my head, ¡°Ah, of course. That makes sense.¡± There used to be a movement to outlaw slavery several kings ago. They chipped away at it over time by limiting and restricting it. Citizens or their families can only be made slaves for high crimes. Slavery for debts was outlawed. Only citizens of another nation are allowed to be sold. It was laws like this that sought to slowly constrict the practice. However, the movement lost traction due to war and economic depression and the movement¡¯s leaders dying. ¡°We can target the illegal slave trade. Even if we are caught, no one can wrong us for targeting the black market.¡±


    ¡°Verily. We liberate people whose freedom was wrongly snatched and offer them land and a home.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like a good plan,¡± I said, ¡°But we need to figure out a whole lot before we can even try it.¡± Targeting the black market for slavery was never easy. They had force and played dirty of course. Their networks are hidden and their reach is long. Raiding any of the organizations in it would require strong fighters, solid logistics, and loads of intelligence.


    Roland got up from his chair, ¡°Our work is cut out for us. How about you give me a proper tour and introduce me to everyone? I thought I saw Gil around here.¡±


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± I said getting up.


    As we were leaving Roland whispered in my ear, ¡°And about that horse¡­ what can we do about that?¡±


    ¡°Sorry man, I don¡¯t think Alexander will give it up that easily.¡±


    ¡°Bah,¡± Roland made a face and waved his hand. ¡°He can keep the damn horse then. The death knight killed it anyways.¡± He looked at me and we both broke out laughing.


    It was good to have an old friend around.

 Chapter 22

    I walked out the front of the cave with Roland. Alexander was inspecting each goblin in the neat ranks they made and I asked, ¡°How do they look?¡±


    ¡°More bone than meat,¡± it commented.


    The goblins did look thin and raggedy. It was likely none of them had enough food for some time. ¡°Then we will need to beef them up somehow,¡± I said. I could always convert my mana production into nutrients for them. It would feed them while making them grow stronger, but it would also be a huge drain. No matter how much mana I generated, suddenly supplying over 20 goblins was a lot to ask.


    ¡°We will need to establish a consistent food source,¡± Alexander said as if he was reading my mind.


    I mused, ¡°Having crops wouldn¡¯t be bad.¡± However, the problem with crops is we would need both time and land. While there was land on the other side of the river before the elf village ruins, we didn¡¯t have time to plant and grow crops; the payoff would come too late. Besides, it¡¯s not like I had seeds lying around. ¡°We can start working on getting crops established and obtaining some animals to raise, but we would need something more readily available for now.¡±


    ¡°Let the insects forage,¡± the death knight suggested. ¡°This land is bountiful. There are animals to hunt. Berries and nuts to gather. Fish to spear.¡±


    ¡°I figured as much, but I didn¡¯t want to strain the environment.¡±


    ¡°The forest is vast.¡± Alexander looked over at the goblins, ¡°Their effect should be negligible.¡±


    ¡°Alexander, I have another question: how do the goblins look from a mental perspective? I¡¯m afraid in the process of controlling them I might have done something ¨C it feels weird to seem them just despondently stand there and stare¡­¡±


    Alexander rubbed its ethereal chin, exhaling out frost. ¡°Goblins were always mindless mongrels, lowly beasts with only two things on their minds: food and fucking.¡± It knocked on a goblin¡¯s head with its knuckles, ¡°If they appear lame, it¡¯s because they are. Under your control they no longer are slaves to their base instincts. Absolute control will do this to any beast. Goblins are no exception.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me they are nothing more than mindless muscle? Doesn¡¯t sound that great to be honest¡­¡±


    ¡°At first these goblins were worth less than the dirt on your shoe,¡± Alexander said, ¡°But now under your control they are more like helpless worms and insects. You can make them grow, and just like an insect, they too can metamorphize out of their pitiful worthlessness.¡±


    ¡°Ah, you are right.¡± I completely neglected the fact that I could use my mana to slowly develop and evolve them. Perhaps they could turn into hobgoblins, but even they weren¡¯t that smart either. What else could a goblin turn into, I wondered. ¡°We can start on developing just a few of them to see where it leads, how does that sound?¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Alexander replied, ¡°Perfect. I already have three out of them selected.¡± The death knight marched them forward. ¡°The one of the middle is bigger than the rest with more meat and muscle on it. I estimate it to have the highest capabilities so I propose turning this one into a leader for them. The other two are above the rest but are about equal. With one leader we can split the remaining twenty-two into groups of eleven, each with their own sub-leader.¡±


    ¡°Leave it to Alexander to have everything thought out already. I¡¯ll do that then,¡± I said while already making the proper connections through my dungeon abilities.


    ¡°Developing monsters?¡± Roland asked. ¡°So, with these dungeon powers, you can¡­ evolve these monsters?¡±


    I turned to my friend, ¡°Yup. I told you being fused with a dungeon core gave me incomprehensible abilities. I can use the mana the dungeon generates as a fuel source for anything under my influence. Slime developed from a normal slime into what you saw as an example. I can even apply it to myself and I did get some powers out of it, but it¡¯s not that practical yet.¡±


    ¡°That sounds incredibly powerful, to be honest,¡± Roland said folding his arms with a frown.


    I pulled out my notebook, ¡°To keep myself busy, I kept a running journal with my thoughts and notes and experiments. If you have any questions you can take a look through it to see what I¡¯ve figured out already. Or you can ask Gil wherever he is at. Where is he anyways?¡±


    ¡°The scrawny one did not feel at ease amongst these insects,¡± Alexander replied. ¡°He retired to his chambers along with that zombie.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like Gil,¡± Roland said with a chuckle. ¡°He was never good around monsters. Or danger.¡± He scratched his head, ¡°But it sounds like he¡¯s breaking out of his shell if he¡¯s hanging out with a zombie¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, you know, his desire to explore and learn sometimes surpasses his fright mentality,¡± I said.


    Roland walked up to Alexander, ¡°So, Mr. death knight Alexander, I was talking to Hector and we are thinking about boosting our numbers by targeting the illegal slave trade and liberating and recruiting from their ranks. I can assume you will help, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± it waved, ¡°Sounds like a great plan. However, I know nothing of the dealings of men. We will need much more information.¡±


    ¡°That seems to me to be the biggest issue with that so far,¡± I said joining them. ¡°We need both manpower and intel to do anything, and I¡¯m afraid we don¡¯t have enough of either.¡±


    ¡°Your average vermin thug would be unable to challenge me,¡± Alexander declared.


    I sighed, ¡°I know you¡¯re strong, but there might be dozens of enemies in unfavorable territory. It¡¯s not like I can come out and help since I¡¯m stuck here either.¡±


    ¡°Regardless,¡± Alexander rattled, ¡°Differences in manpower can be compensated with sufficient knowledge. That elf girl is already out there. Set her on this task.¡±


    I nodded my head, ¡°I will do that. Hope it isn¡¯t too much for her.¡± I looked over at the goblins and scratched my chin. ¡°What should we do meanwhile? It may take some time for Lia to get back to us with anything.¡±


    Roland answered, ¡°If you really intend on building this place into something, we need to work on infrastructure. Map out the area if you haven¡¯t, plan out the structure, and start clearing out the area and erecting structures.¡±


    ¡°Battlements and defense structures would be wise,¡± Alexander said. ¡°Establish some outpost areas out in the forest and the goblins can rotate between them while they hunt and grow as a protector force. The skeletons and golems can be used for building efforts: both on the proposed underground path below the river and even an above ground bridge.¡±


    I listened to their plans and didn¡¯t have a single objection. ¡°It all sounds good to me. We can use the golems to clear out some trees and lumber for now and we can convert those into outposts in the forest. Until those are setup the goblins should help out to accelerate the process. The skeletons can go back down to their digging and I¡¯ll help out. There¡¯s a lot of renovations I wanted to do to the dungeon. Expand the fourth floor in particular for housing, setup the first floor as a defensible entrance, and convert the second floor into a holding area for monsters and supplies.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get to it then,¡± Roland said. ¡°Doesn¡¯t sound like there is much for me to do so I will go and catch up with Gil for now. I have some questions for him.¡± He looked over at Alexander, ¡°After that, I¡¯d like to sit down and discuss some things with you. Is that alright?¡±


    ¡°Very well,¡± the death knight said. ¡°I will oversee the fortification effort in the meanwhile.¡±


    I clapped my hands, ¡°Excellent. I¡¯ll go send a message to Lia then and we can get started.¡± I headed back to the dungeon to begin the long buildup.