《Lair》 Chapter 001 - Birth Lair Chapter 001 - Birth By Skalsar The sun is grey. Everything is grey. More colorless than grey. The flames are colorless, too. But I can feel the heat. Something in my mind is shouting: "Danger!" A [Village], I guess? it''s burning. We destroyed it. Something in my mind ordered us to. I "spawned" in a house. We all "spawned" in this [Village]. We were "spawned" here by this thing in my mind. Just a moment later, I''m in some kind of [Lair]. I am.. I don''t know. Some sort of "breeder", I guess. I take in magic power, as a form of nutrition. Converting it in my body, forming it into.. something. Like a "core". The thing in my mind orders me to. How can I describe it..? Some kind of consciousness, overlaying my own. Like those flying things, that sting. Bees. A "hive". The "Hivemind" orders us to devour everything. I don''t know since when, but it isn''t since long. Like a few days, or weeks. Something strong entered the "hive". It rampaged through everything. Hurting its body. Then it died. Somehow it just died. The "Hivemind" leeched all the energy. ''Magical power'' A "breeder" startet to form it into "cores". From a very strong part of the nutrition, the "breeder" created me. Or more so, my "core". The "core" is transported by the "Hivemind." It has the ability to transport the "cores" inside the "hive". Well, the "hive" seems to be the body of the "Hivemind". Some kind of creature, that wanders the world and rests at places where it can lure in prey. Magic power. Most of it''s eaten by the "Hivemind" and it grows. Whatever is left, is converted into "cores" and placed in the different places in the "hive". These "cores" are like eggs. They take shape as a creature that works for the "Hivemind". Guarding and hunting. And luring in prey. But because that strong prey entered, the "Hivemind" was angered. When the strong prey died, the nutrition was very powerful. Many "cores" were created and as soon as we took shape, we were "spawned" into the [Village]. They attacked the "hive" and showed to be a threat, so the "Hivemind" destroyed the threat. When I try to understand, everything just enters my mind somehow. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.Because I''m connected to the "Hivemind", I guess. I was spawned to the [Village], too. Because I had to collect the magic power. When creatures kill the prey, they eat part of the magic power. They grow stronger. But only if it''s within the "hive", the "Hivemind" gets the magic power that isn''t eaten. Outside, it''s lost. That is, without a creature that can convert it. Me. As a "breeder", I can collect the magic power that is gained by killing prey. I''m connected to the "cores" of all creatures born from my "hive" and it''s "Hivemind". That is why I was going back and forth. Collecting magic power outside, till I''m full. Converting it into "cores" and nutrition. Kind of.. a bee worker. That''s it. The "Hivemind" and me just got a new idee. From the knowledge of the "Hivemind" I recalled information. I''m able to choose what "cores" I create. Just now I gained the freedom to create new creatures. I fiddled with the "cores". Small ones. Very small. At least I think so. Now that I think about it. I''m big. Large. Huge? What is the right word? I don''t know. The "Hivemind" doesn''t know either. I get the feeling that the "Hivemind" is mustering me. Like I''m a strange breed. Something seems to be wrong with me, but for now, it just watches me. I "spawned" in the [Village] again, collecting more magic power. Beeing back in the "hive" one moment later, I finish my creation. Small creatures, not as small as bees, but still small. After they took shape, they started to swarm around me, like waiting for my command. I named them [Hiveworker] for now. The "hive" then spawned them to the [Village] and they flew around as a swarm. Collection even the smallest amount of magic power, stored into their "cores". When they are full, they join together as a swarm and are transported back to the "hive". Like this, I don''t have to go myself. The "Hivemind" likes it. It''s easier to transport these small creatures instead of a "breeder". Just like this, my first day ends. Because the "hive" is going to devour the rest of the magic power and not convert it into "cores" to create creatures, I''m "shut down". Like put to sleep, in order to not waste magic power. Chapter 002 - Color Lair Chapter 002 - Color By Skalsar When I wake up, I''m already converting magic power. The "Hivemind" seems to be able to order me, even when I''m "shut down". Oh, it seems I can get information there. "Shut down", means: the "Hivemind" puts my consciousness to sleep, but still uses my body. Every "core" in the "hive" is connected to the "Hivemind". And every "core" makes up a creature. The more magic power a creature devours, the stronger it gets. Creatures with strong "cores" get their own small, little consciousness. But I seem to be weird. The "Hivemind" seems to suspect that my consciousness is strong, because of the strong prey. It had very strong magic power. More of a condensed magic power. The "cores" created from that, seem to be much stronger than normal. That is why, I had a consciousness from the first day on. But everything is clouded. I don''t completly understand it, neither does the "Hivemind". Well, it doesn''t matter. The "Hivemind" likes me. Very much that is. I''m the favorite "breeder" now. Strong and unusual magic power is delivered to me first. That is all because of the [Hiveworkers] I created. In fact, it was due to the knowledge of the "hive" that I was able to do so. When prey enters the "hive" and dies, some information and knowledge is absorbed. That''s why the "Hivemind" knows about bees. Also there is a very, very small creature in the "hive" that devours the body of the dead prey. Within hours, nothing is left. [Hiveworkers] are a bigger, flying version of that, combined with some special properties. Like breeders, they have a split "core". Allowing them to store magic power. They deliver this magic power to a breeder, that converts it. That is why the [Hiveworkers] are directly connected to breeders. In this case, me. While the "Hivemind" sometimes sends out creatures to hunt, it''s most inefficient. But now, that changed. The [Hiveworkers] collect even the smallest amount of magic power. By the way. I was informed that we will change our location now. Since the [Village] we stayed at was devoured, there isn''t enough prey here now. Animals and the like can be hunted or lured in with special pheromones, but that isn''t enough. The "hive", refering to the body of a "Hivemind" seems to be a unique creature. It moves through everything and can''t be killed from the outside. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.That is why prey enters so willingly. "Humans", they call themselves. Building villages and even citys around the "hive". They refer to it as a "labyrinth" or "dungeon". So, a hive or labyrinth, or whatever you want to call it, is a creature with many layers inside. Like the "Hivemind" can transport creatures to the outside, creatures outside can transport themselves into the hive. "Cores" seem to be very useful to these humans. But also other parts of creatures. I dislike humans. They want to kill the "Hivemind". Once in a while, they go into a hive and try to reach the last layer. There, a big "core" is guarded by strongest creature. If the "core" is conquered by the humans, the "Hivemind" dies. And so we would starve. Small amounts of magic power would still be consumed by the hive. But without the "Hivemind" to control the consumtion, only small creatures would take shape. Also there is a byproduct when we create "cores". Small gems and minerals. Humans call them treasure. The "Hivemind" uses these to lure in even more human prey. We can take them in somehow, making the treasure disappear. Storing them inside of an imaginary space. And if we die, the treasure reappears. That is why many humans don''t attack the "Hivemind", but try to attack the creatures. That way, more magic power is circulating through the hive. I even got to see the "Hivemind" directly today. The big core that is. Afterwards, I continued my work. We seem to have arrived at our new home. A Forest with many animals and the like. Ah! "And the like" refers to monsters. Creatures, born naturally and not having "cores". I''m allowed to see one that was killed right now, in order to get the magic power. When I arrive in the forest, there are many creatures scouting the area for the "Hivemind". Also a dead monster is lying there. Some kind of big bird. Bigger than a human. My height is a bit smaller than that of a human, by the way. My [Hiveworkers] start collection the magic power, and so am I. Suddenly there is light. Warm light. No, it''s something else. Color. I somehow understand it. The green of the forest. Blue sky and white clouds. How can I describe this.. it feels.. nostalgic? Chapter 003 - Time and Consciousness Lair Chapter 003 - Time and Consciousness By Skalsar I noticed just now. While I have some sense of time, it''s still twisted. Because my counsciousness is turned on and off, it feels like day three. Still, it isn''t. Like day two wasn''t day two. How should I describe it. The ''Hivemind'' only needs me counscious when there is magic power to be converted into "cores". Or on special occasions. That''s why for me, it''s day three. But it isn''t. For example: There are humans already. A small settlement has been build near the hive. I somehow.. dislike this. Shutting me on and off. Would it be possible not to do so from now on..? Huh? If I go collecting nutritions myself you say? Ah! If I send my [Hiveworkers] to collect magic power to feed me that is! Great! Magic power is not only in monsters, animals or humans, but also in plants and water. Therefore they don''t need to hunt, which would be too much of a risk. Doing so, I''m allowed to stay! This is great! I love the "Hivemind"! But what is love..? Well, whatever. For now I send out the [Hiveworkers]. Seems like I grew in the time I wasn''t myself. My height is that of a human now. I got stronger, too. And I can "transport" my [Hiveworkers] now. Back and forth. I desolved them to try something out. Creating new "cores" with a stronger bond to me. Allowing me to know everything they do. Like the "Hivemind" knows everything we do. The "Hivemind" likes it, because they are even better scouts now. Because they were only somehow connected to a breeder before, the "Hivemind" and the breeder didn''t really know what the [Hiveworkers] were doing. Now it was possible to give them orders even outside of the hive, through the breeder. I used the chance to look at the settlement. Seems like they were getting rid of the forest around the hive. I kind of get why. They want to build a protective wall around the hive. If they do so, the "Hivemind" can''t transport creatures to the outside of that wall. Like what happened to the [Village] before, transporting monsters right into a house. Humans are weird. Thinking a wall will make it save. Stupid. The hive is growing fast by the way. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.Before destroying the [Village], there were only twentyone layers. Now the hive has fourtyfour. Well, I guess that is fast at least. When I think about it, that is the feeling I get from the "Hivemind". Also, the place where I stay is something between the layers. There are many small places between layers, where the "cores" stay to take shape as a creature. Connected only from there. Which means, the creatures can go from there to the layer, but only the "Hivemind" can "spawn" something to that place. And my place has a special name, it''s called the [Lair]. The place where "cores" are produced. You have to kill the "Hivemind" first, to be able to reach here. A very disturbing thought. On the bright side, my [Hiveworkers] were doing great. By absorbing the magic power from plants and water, they contribute greatly to the "Hivemind". "We" learned a bit about our surroundings too. To the west, there was the settlement. To the east, a big mountain. In the mountain were many caves with monsters. South was a great river, with some weird thing on it, helping humans to cross it. Weird humans. Lastly, north were wide plains. The humans are currently wandering from south (over the river) to west (to the settlement). From the "Hivemind" I got the information, that they have a strong need to stay together. They then form bonds with each other and build [Villages] and [Cities]. The little ones seem to be the most delicious, but they don''t have much nutrition. So the "Hivemind" doesn''t really care about them. I think humans refer to them as "kids". One day, I might try one of these. I wonder what it will be like. Also, the humans are preparing an attack right now. It always starts like this, the "Hivemind" explained to me. They gather and attack with a bunch of people. Trying to see what the hive is like. Something about getting a basic understanding of the creatures in the hive. Afterwards there will be continuous attacks from small groups and single humans. Trying to get treasure. If they believe they can''t handle it, they call for strong ones, to kill the "Hivemind". But the "Hivemind" will try to decieve them better this time. That''s why I need to convert small "cores" for now, to send to the upper layers. Chapter 004 - Ignorance Lair Chapter 004 - Ignorance By Skalsar >Be careful there.< >I know, I know. Don''t worry.< Shortly after the axe hit the tree again, the tree finally fell. >Alright. That''s it for now. Let''s go back.< >But we could still get one more, you know?< >No. The scouting group will attack very soon. We sould leave the spawnarea.< It was three men, cutting down trees around the hive. >You know..< The biggest one started, axe in hand. >We could go in, too. Get us some of the treasures and be back before dawn.< >Are you out of your mind, Mardo? You will die before even seeing minerals, let alone gems.< The one who was scolding Mardo, seemed to be the leader of the three. His hair was already grey, but you could see his strength every time he hit a tree with his axe. >Oh come on, Rego. If you come with us, what could happen?< The third one joined the conversation. >Like big bro said, if we go in there with the scouting group, kill some weak monster and return, there would be nothing to worry about. And if the first one doesn''t drop anything, we can leave it at that.< He continued. >We could really use the money, you know..?< Redo sighed at Mardo''s words. The settlement was poor, more so the two brothers. After being robbed by bandits when transporting goods, they returned to their [Village]. Only to see it being burned down and devoured by monsters. Afterwards they tried to find work and ended up in the settlement as lumberjacks. >I don''t like it.. There is something weird about this labyrinth. Like these flying things, that seem to scout the area. It''s a bad omen I tell you.<, said Rego. The brothers sighed, but nodded. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was the third one, the little brother of Mardo. Lant. He just couldn''t get the thought out of his head and therefore followed the scouting party. Before him, they opened a [Portal]. It''s something that everyone can do, when near a hive. By wanting to go inside, the [Portal] opens. The same when you are inside and want to go outside. But for that, you have to go to a safe place within the dungeon. Mostly the rooms right after ascending or descending a level. Otherwise, you need an [Explorer]. They have the ability to travel to layers they already visited. Also they have the ability to leave from everywhere, as long as they aren''t involved in a fight. But that is also a problem sometimes. There are many [Explorers] who feel save because they can leave from everywhere. After a fight they often don''t rest enough and go on. Then, when they are worn out and want to return, the [Portal] doesn''t open because a monster is near, disturbing the skill. Panicking they lose their focus and make mistakes fighting the monster hastily. That''s why it''s a rule for explorers not to go into a hive alone. Lant also opened a [Portal] to get into the hive. Seeing the scouting group inside. They were careful in exermining the first layer. >So this is the first level, huh?<, Lant was speaking to himself in his excitement. Looking around for his chance to get some treasure. Only an axe in hand. His class was that of a [Novice]. Not once had he fought a monster yet. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Humans are weird creatures. Why do they need the treasure? The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.I still don''t get it. It isn''t like they can eat them or something. And even through they are without question afraid, why do they come into the hive? "Hivemind" shares my thought that they are just stupid. No other living thing would take such a risk for treasure. You can''t know what this weird creatures think. Most likely they don''t really think, but act to some sort of instinct. Trying to reproduce? Maybe the treasure helps attract females? Showing off how strong they are, if they don''t die? I don''t know. Like those weird green monsters, called goblins. Well, I''m a bit curious. After producing a core, I look a bit at the treasure. Sure, I can''t go near the big group, but there seems to be a single human too. I guess I will watch him for a bit. He really looks weak. "Hivemind" doesn''t mind, as long as I take a bodyguard with me. So I took along a [Blazing Hellhound], opened a [Portal] to the lowest layer and started moving. By the way.. The [Blazing Hellhound] would be weakened normaly, because the influence of the "Hivemind" is weak at lower levels. That is, if there is no transmitter. Which is me. My "core" has a special bond with the "Hiveminds" body. Therefore, as long as I''m here too, the [Blazing Hellhound] is as strong as ever. That could also be the reason why the human is trembling right now. He also seems to be leaking some fluid, and it reeks. Is that a defensive mechanism humans have? Well, I send the [Blazing Hellhound] back a few steps and lay down a small mineral. Backing off, too. The human is watching me stupified. He doesn''t seem to understand. I wonder what he will do. Will he take it? Or is a human intelligent enough to run away, given the .. No.. he took it.. I lay down the next one. A small green gem. He stares at it greedily. Seems like his instincts kicked in? He doesn''t even look at me anymore and just grabs it. I send the [Blazing Hellhound] back a few more steps. Now I point at that thing in his hand. To my understanding, because humans are weak, they use weird things called tools. But he doesn''t seem to understand what I mean. He makes some weird noises. It hurts a bit to listen. Is that some kind of attack? Oh, that is his "voice"? He is "talking"? What a stupid way to communicate. "Hivemind" got curious too now and is watching us. I show him some more treasure and point at the tool in his hand again. Now he seems to understand and lays down to tool, backing off a bit. After I grab the tool and examine it, I throw it at him. It''s easily thrown and flies in a small arc. Seems like humans are really fragile. His voice got really loud when it hit his leg and he fell down. Trying to get away, he even let go of the treasure. Seems like finally he understands that it isn''t worth it. Maybe humans are able to learn? Well, whatever. I take the treasure back and leave. Something seems to be missing through. But I feel bad for only taking a small amount of his magic power. "Hivemind" doesn''t seem to care about it. He is more fascinated with the fact that I can collect magic power without killing the prey. Thinking about it, it would be useful to have stronger creatures on the lower levels with that ability. Like, hurting the humans and collecting magic power, but not killing them. So they try again. It would allow a steady support of nutritions. Maybe I can experiment on a "core" to test around somebit? Chapter 005 - Inside the Settlement Lair Chapter 005 - Inside the Settlement By Skalsar "Hivemind" scolded me. After my little experience with the human, I wasted magic power in experiments with the "cores". I don''t think I''m wrong through. Oh, he doesn''t mean it that way? I see. It''s just that I have to be careful with my timing. We never know if strong prey enters. The humans also get stronger by fighting creatures. So we have to be careful. I nod. For future experiments, I will only use small amounts of magic power. If possible, I do it while there is no human inside the hive. The big group is already at it again. Fighting off small creatures. Somehow they seem even more vigilant. "Hivemind" told me, it''s because of me. Because I let the human live, he returned to the settlement late at night. He most likely told them about me and the [Blazing Hellhound]. A [Blazing Hellhound] on the lowest level would be a terrible danger to them. But the big group didn''t find anything that hints to that. Thats why they are acting vigilant, but still continue. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Please believe me brother! I tell you! It was a giant burning dog, with blue flames and a weird big .. thing! With the lower body resembling a spider and the upper body resembling something like a weird snake, but with hands!<, Lant was nearly crying. >Just calm down already. The scouting group didn''t find anything. Couldn''t it be.. that you just fainted after fighting a monster and made that up in your mind?< It was Mardo that tried to calm his brother down. But the old man Rego looked worried. >You know.. He could be right..< >Oh please, don''t encourage him, Rego.< >Well, look at his drawing. Do you know how a [Queen] looks like?< Rego looked at Mardo worried. >Well, no. So what?< >Neither does Lant, or the scouts, or most people in this settlement. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.But he just drew one!<, Rego explained. >This is nothing we should just ignore.< >Yeah, finally someone..<, Lant was cut off. >Oh, you be silent, boy! Didn''t I tell you to leave the dungeon alone!?< >Yeah, but..< >No BUT! You nearly died! If there really was a [Blazing Hellhound] and on top of that a [Queen], you should have run! No, you should be dead! I just don''t get it! We are missing something!< >Well..<, Lant slowly spoke, looking down. >There was something else..< He showed a green gem that he managed to hold onto with all his might. Then he started explaining the whole situation, how he was offered treasure. How he had the feeling that the [Queen] was trying to test something. And how she traded some treasure for his axe. >Are you out of your f*****g mind, you stupid son of a b***h?! I will get you sorted right now, you little f***!<, Mardo was completly raging. Even Rego was red with anger, but held Mardo back. >You are telling me, that you gave your only weapon (inside a dungeon), to a creature (a [Queen]) that had a [Blazing Hellhound] with her, in order to get some minerals and a gem?< If his wife wasn''t behind him on the other side of the room, speechless at that, Rego would have let go of Mardo. But his eyes fell onto the gem again. He just threw Mardo a few steps back and took the gem. >That..?< >Impossible.< Mardo and Lant looked at Rego with worried eyes. >This is a [Magic Orb].< >Huh?<, Mardo and Lant tilted their heads. >If processed, this stone can absorb magic power from the fallen monsters inside a dungeon. That''s how the [Adventurer Guild] weakens a dungeon. This thing is worth a fortune.< The brothers were grinning like crazy on this explanation. According to Rego, this could buy them a house in a city for at least three years, if sold in the [Capital]. Chapter 006 - Minerals Lair Chapter 006 - Minerals By Skalsar Rumors travel fast. Very fast. According to "Hivemind", the humans have an ability to travel great distances with a skill. It''s like the [Portal] to enter and leave the hive. Only that it''s limited to villages and citys. Seems like I left some gem with the human. Because I''m the one who created it, after converting a core for a [Hiveworker], it had a special property of saving up small amounts of magic power. Normally, such things are only possible to be taken from strong creatures on the deeper layers. For humans, it''s a great treasure. Dropping it on the lowest layer got them curious. Now the settlement grows steadily with humans that wish for great treasure. Stupid humans. Pushing their luck. "Hivemind" on the other hand is overjoyed. Seems like they are weak prey. And he likes weak prey. Even small humans might try to get lucky. He isn''t very interested in them, because of the weak magic power, but he won''t ignore them either. I might get to taste one. Lucky! The "Hivemind" is very proud of me and gave me more freedoms, as long as I don''t do something dangerous. Other creatures seem to like me, too. Looking up to me, for my way of thinking. Even those that are far older than me. Considering that I wasn''t created that long ago, I seem to be something called a genius. I don''t really know what that means. Neither does "Hivemind". But it seems to be a human term for more intelligent ones. Because "Hivemind" already consumed so many humans, more memories and words enter his mind. Therefore, our knowledge about them grows. I''m kind of curious. Maybe I should test these humans out some more. Sending my [Hiveworkers], I scout the area ones more. They started building the wall. It''s made of some weird stone. Stopping my ability to create a [Portal] outside of it. More like, something is mixed with the stone. Some kind of mineral. Oh. I see. That''s funny. I recognize it. Humans really have developed a way to turn some of the treasure minerals into that. They make it into a pulver and mix it with broken down stones, water and earth. Heh, we can do that too. I can''t believe humans could help us come up with stuff like this. Did they really believe their inventions can only be used by them? "Hivemind" likes my idea. Lucky! He is now consuming some of the minerals. After we breeders break it down and mix it with nutritions of course. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The inside of the hive has a stonelike substance too. Unlike the body of most creatures, animals, monsters and humans. That''s why, "Hivemind" can mix minerals to some "rooms". A "room" refers to a area inside a layer of "Hiveminds" body. Within every layer, there are many rooms, connected through small passages. The creatures gather in these rooms. By growing his body like this, "Hivemind" can make sure that not too many humans enter at once. Since they have to go through the small passages and to the rooms. They then have to search for the right room that connects to a deeper layer. Lower layer and deeper layer seem to be wrong terms I believe. Humans are refering to them as levels. The lowest layer is the first level, while the deepest layer is the last level. "Hiveminds" body has fiftysix layers right now. So the fiftysixth layer is the last level. Not counting the [Lair] and spawning zones. In that case, deepest would mean highest? No. That is wrong too. Irritating. I will stay with deep and low for now. It isn''t very likely that anybody would ask me about it anyways. ''Hello, human. I came to talk about my hive. Would you be interested in listening before I eat you?'' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The settlement was growing fast. After selling the gem for the brothers, Rego couldn''t stop his grinning. Sure, the brothers will leave with all that gold. But because of the rumor that a [Queen] gave treasure to a human and a [Magic Orb] at that, everyone is more than curious. The settlement is swarmed with adventurers. Even the [Adventurer Guild] is establishing an outpost right now. Finding new workers will be a piece of cake. Maybe even a [Village] will be build soon. With this rate of arriving and leaving people, even a city might be possible in the not too far future. A dreamlike possibility, as long as the dungeon doesn''t pose too much of a threat. But the settlement might have to stop strong adventurers from killing the [Dungeon Lord]. For that, they have to speak with their [Local Lord]. After losing a [Village] not long ago, he isn''t too willing to send [Heroes] or strong adventurers. But you never know. If he decides to get rid of the dungeon, the settlement might perish. But the rumor should reach him, too. Chapter 007 - Variation Lair Chapter 007 - Variation By Skalsar Rumors travel fast. Rego was quite happy about it. ''Like I predicted. Even the [Local Lord] is curious.'' But his wife looked worried. For the [Local Lord] to visit the settlement and draw even more attention to the dungeon, it could mean trouble. Maybe the dungeon IS dangerous. >We should be careful.< She tells Rego and he nods in agreement. With that in mind Rego will still speak to the [Local Lord] in the afternoon. If he plays his cards right, the lord might name Rego a [Village Chief]. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The "Hivemind" is worried. Some big human with strong prey arrived in the settlement. Maybe we will have to devour them all, again. Did the hive grow too fast? Or maybe it was my fault for appearing with a [Blazing Hellhound] on the lowest level. But "Hivemind" told me not to worry. Since we only were there for a moment, the humans won''t care, he says. Even so, I will try to think of ways to help. Some treasure? No. If it was because of the [Blazing Hellhound] could it be possible to only imitate the appearance? A creature that looks like a [Blazing Hellhound], but is weak? Oh, I get it. Magic power. I will create a creature with the magic power to only make the image of a [Blazing Hellhound] appear. Something that is fast running and does that to escape. "Hivemind" tells me that if prey dies inside the hive, everything they leave behind is collected. Like that weird tool the human was using. A [Hoarder] travels through the hive and brings these things to special rooms. I will change the [Hoarders]. "Hivemind" likes the idea. It will scare the humans first, but when they notice, all their worry will be gone. They will be lured in even more. And when they don''t realize, they will run into rooms later, from which they can''t escape. That will be fun! But it''s really hard to fiddle with the "core" of a [Hoarder]. Time and magic power gets wasted. Since "Hivemind" needs the magic power to grow stronger, I have to be careful with it. I dislike failing "Hivemind". Huh? I''m not failing him? My idea will work, he believes in me. That''s what he tells me. Another breeder is going to help me, too! ''Hello, "Hivemind" told me about your idea. I''m interested in helping.'', the breeder connects to me. Together we start collecting more information. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.Like, about animals and monsters. Most creatures in the hive are created after the image of monsters and animals. Even we breeders. Looks like we are an adaption of some very small insects, called ants. To be more specific, ant queens. But our upper body was redefined to be upright. And we were given hands, so that we could weave the magic power better. But that is something "Hivemind" knew how to do from his birth. ''Found it!'', the other breeder tells me with a very happy feeling. While there were many monsters with the ability to use magic power to attack or to defend, only a few were capable to use illusions. These illusions are what we are looking for. We will have to get one of these monsters. But they seem to appear only at night if the moon is shining. Very small, but very fast. Its called a [Wisp]. We will send [Hiveworkers] to search for them tonight. "Hivemind" tells me, we only need one. That helps alot. But how are the [Hiveworkers] supposed to catch one? Maybe I can change them to some extend? ''Help me please!'', I inform the other breeder and we start to fiddle with a core. Adding some sticky secretion to them and making them a bit bigger. Bees have stings, I guess [Hiveworkers] should get something like that as a defense. Therefore, we add some small needles. With Poison? Something that stops the prey. Paralysis. It will only have one or two needles with paralysing poison. Otherwise it would cost too much magic power to produce them in its body. Thats good! It will spit the sticky stuff from its mouth and shoot the needles from its bottom. Huh? I should rename them? "Hivemind" likes my better variant of a [Hiveworker]! He wants me to give them a new name to register them as a "subspecies"! But what is a "subspecies"? According to "Hivemind", all monsters can "evolve" into a stronger variant. Creatures can do that, too. If the stronger variant is known to "Hivemind" that is. The same way a creature can be created out of knowledge about animals and monsters, variants can be created for them to evolve into. "Subspecies" is a term for a "variant" to evolve into. Like a small [Goblin], evolving into a [Hobgoblin]. I name the new [Hiverworker] variant a [Drone]. Somehow the name seems to fit, but I don''t yet know why. Neither does the "Hivemind". It should be connected to human memories. Weird humans with their need for names and terms. Chapter 008 - Resolve Lair Chapter 008 - Resolve By Skalsar After creating the first [Drone], the other [Hiveworkers] started to evolve very soon. Since they already collected quite some magic power, it was easy for them. Even more because they aren''t very big. A normal [Hiveworker] is as big as a human childs fist. The [Drone] variant is double that size. The size of a human adults fist therefore. After "Hivemind" transported them to the lair, they lay down and some kind of shell appeared. Surrounding the [Hiveworker], I could tell that it''s some kind of egg. No, it''s more like breaking down to a lump of meat. In order to evolve, the core rearranges the flesh. Afterwards, the egg broke open and the [Drone] was born. Now they will be able to hunt down a [Wisp]! I hope so at least. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >I don''t like these flying things. They seem to watch us, like some scout. We should be careful with them.<, the [Local Lord] explained. >Yes, mylord. Even more because they are pretty agile.<, Rego nodded. >But we shouldn''t forget that the settlement has yet to face any real threat. The scouting group found nothing dangerous, yet.< But the [Local Lord] seemed worried. >True. But you know what happend to [Quart Village].< Other people were nodding now. >I will think about the situation and call for you tomorrow.< With that, the meeting was over. Rego left the large tent and returned to his home. The settlement started to look like a very small [Village], just with tents instead of buildings. The forest around the dungeon was nearly cleared. Maybe two more days, or three. And the wall was getting finished tomorrow, too. Sure, as always, there were young adventurers who couldn''t wait and died. Trying to challenge the dungeon. Maybe searching for a gem. But in this world, that was normal. The lucky feast, the unlucky die. And with the [Adventurer Guild] outpost near the settlement, the risk lowered quite a bit. >Maybe I should have gone in, too.< Rego still wasn''t sure what to make of the [Queen] that Lant saw. Was it really a [Queen]? And one keeping a [Blazing Hellhound] at bay? But what did they really know about [Queens]? There wasn''t really that much. It''s quite hard to reach the [Lair]. First you have to defeat the [Dungeon Lord], then you have to seize control of the [Dungeon Heart]. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.An [Explorer] can then open a [Portal] to the [Lair]. Inside the [Lair], the [Queen] resides. And a [Queen] is by no means weak. Sure, weaker than a [Dungeon Lord], but no enemy to be taken lightly. Not to mention that, with the death of the [Dungeon Lord], the monsters in the dungeon start raging. Attacking everything, even eachother. Most of them die after the first few minutes. Those surviving, starve. That is because the dungeon seems to be one big consciousness. Like ants or bees maybe. The [Dungeon Lord] controls everything and holds it together. >But I feel like I''m missing something.<, Rego just couldn''t understand why a [Queen] let Lant live. Why should a [Dungeon Lord] who consumes everything to grow his dungeon, ignore a human? People were greeting Rego here and there on his way. But nobody talked to him or stopped him. Everyone was busy to improve the settlement. Just one surprise waited for him at his home. >Surprise!< The ones who shouted were his wife Isilde, Lant, and Mardo. Rego thought Lant and Mardo to be far to the south by now. But they thought about it and came back. >The settlement is a huge chance.< Giving him most of the gold, they decided to invest into the development of a [Village]. He couldn''t hide how happy he was. For him, Lant and Mardo already were like family. There was also a second suprise. After being attacked by the [Queen], a wandering [Healer] used magic to help Lant. That encouraged Lant to learn about the deitys and maybe because he was still a [Novice], his class changed to that of a [Novice Cleric] after a level up. The ability to use magic is quite powerful and rare. Having to take lessons at an early age, consuming special potions, things like this help. To become a [Novice Cleric] without that is like a miracle. >We have to celebrate!<, Rego exclaimed with a strong voice and no one dared to refuse. They got some settlers together and spread the word. Shortly after, everyone participates. This night, the whole settlement decided to have a small festival. It had been hard work to reach the point the settlement was at right now. Contacts had to be made. Houses to be build. Farmlands and livestock. Even sickness was quite a problem, because there was no physician or [Healer] yet. Now everyone could forget all that for a night and be proud of what has been achieved. Chapter 009 - Movements Lair Chapter 009 - Movements By Skalsar The settlement was still trying to clean up. Last nights festival threw off quite some plans and created such a big spectacle, that even people from other villages came to take part. The [Local Lord] was no exception. Holding his head high only because he was lucky enough to employ a [Healer]. Otherwise his headache would be even worse then most settlers. >Thank you, Rego, Son of Rag. That was a brilliant festival.< >Mylord, it honors the settlement for you to say that.< Rego wasn''t so sure about it being brilliant. Quite some ressources were wasted. But the damage was already done. >That might be. But taking care of the needs of those around us, is what a leader does. Seeing the festival last night, I know it was needed by the settlers.< For that, the [Local Lord] explained, he will help the settlement. No, the [Village]. >From today forth, I declare you chief of what shall be known as [Mafay Village]! May the gods bless it!< With this proclamation, Rego was officially [Village Chief] and the settlement therefore a [Village]. So there would be no problems to survive now. With it officially being a [Village], trade with citys and other villages was allowed. It would also profit from the collected taxes of the region if in need. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A forest on the other side of the river. Just a bit farther was [Quon Village]. To tell the truth, the village had nothing special about it. Sure, there was a small dungeon around its border, but that one was already conquered. Meaning, there would be no strong monsters inside. No large treasure. Only thing to gain was experience. Thats why novices often came here to test out their skills. Getting used to killing monsters and wearing their equipment. Or simply to slaughter some easy fow. The [Novice Explorer] Gram was also one of these who wanted to gain experience. After leaving his trainer under some kind of dispute, he decided to travel alone. Taking the little copper coins he had with him. For a boy of twelve years, having a novice job, he was already counted an adult. Meaning that no one would take pity on him under normal circumstances. So he had to work for himself in order to survive. An [Explorer] could use most weapons, so Gram chose a hammer. Having red hair and a strong body, the image somehow didn''t match. Most [Explorers] use fast weapons to be more agile in combat. But Gram wasn''t that far from that thought. He just prefered a good weight in his hand. The hammer was his choice therefore. He was already able to go to the twentysecond level of the dungeon. Not alone through. >Watch your swing more. The arc of your attack makes it hard to fight alongside.< The voice behind Gram was soft and female. Her name was Mina. Golden, long hair that was bound together when fighting. The smiling face of a small angel. For Gram at least. He fell for her instantly when they first met. But she was seventeen and didn''t care for him in that way. Everything she did was for her own improvment. >If you fail again, I will just leave you to the monsters, after taking your equipment.< Her class was that of a [Treasure Hunter]. Something told her she would find a treasure here. But she couldn''t really tell where. Only that it''s here somewhere. It was a passive skill of hers. >Yeah, I know.. Sorry about that.<, Gram easily said and ignored her warnings just like before. The [Treasure Hunter] was very agile, too. Mostly fighting with two daggers. Therefore they often could use simple tactics like switching in the middle of a fight. Since the monsters in this dungeon are already mindlessly raging, it was easy to throw them off. If anyone had seen them, they would think about these two as brilliant amateurs. Sure, they could leave nearly any fight undamaged through their switching around. But if they did only one small mistake, they both would be dead. And it was quite slow. They needed nearly an hour to kill a strong monster. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.>Since we are still low in level, the experience is quite good, isn''t it Mina?< >Well, we could get more by killing weak monsters in a fast manner. So I''m not quite happy about it. I just hope the treasure is worth it.< Their travel continued for days already and food as well as water was getting scarce. >I know something should be here, but I just can''t make it out. Maybe we have to try again after getting new supplies.< Mina bit her lips hard after this sentence. Her money was nearly gone, but she didn''t want to die inside a dungeon because of dehydration.
You have found a hidden passageway.
>Found it!<, Gram finaly shouted. Looking at the blue box in front of him. It was some ability that was connected to the mind. Even through [Mages] and the like was really rare, everyone had a small potential to use magic. These boxes were the simplest of the simple magics, that were passivly being used. When playing with small children, their parants show them how to imagine things. From that imagination, the blue boxes appear. It converts things the body feels or skills of a class into visible images. Visible only to the person itself that is. Mina ran to Gram as fast as she could, happily smiling. >You did?!< >Yeah, I can detect it somehow, right here and a [Status Message] popped up.< Mina nodded to his explanation. Naturally, Mina had those blue boxes too for her skills and other stuff. >Lets go then!< Gram opened a [Portal] and they finally went through. Holding their breath. What was awaiting them, wasn''t treasure. Sure, there was treasure. Like gems and minerals and a huge magic stone. But with one look they knew that this wasn''t the treasure they were looking for. >RUN!<, with Minas shout, they both jumped back, while the monster opened its eyes angrily. But the monster reacted too late. They jumped back through the still open [Portal]. >What the hell!<, Gram was shouting and opening a [Portal] to leave the dungeon as fast as possible. The skill to do so was called [Dungeon Walk]. Luckily even through he was a low level [Novice Explorer], he could use it twice a day. If the [Portal] to the hidden passageway had closed, it would have been a dead end. >How is it possible! The dungeon was conquered, wasn''t it?!< Mina shouted in confusion while running. What they had seen was definitly not just any magic stone. It was a [Dungeon Heart]. Even through it had cracks in it. And the weakened, but still deadly looking monster, was the [Dungeon Lord] with dozens of sleeping monsters all around him. >I don''t know, but we have to tell the village as fast as possible!< >It just doesn''t make sense! Everyone knows that the [Hero] Idril sacrificed her last power to kill the [Dungeon Lord]! Her party at that time reported how they had slain him, but weren''t able to get through the raging monsters. Therefore, Idril used her strength to destroy the [Dungeon Heart], getting the attention of the monsters, while the others escaped!< Mina was nearly crying. It was a story of her childhood. A story about heroism she strongly believed in. But now a [Dungeon Lord] appeared and stained her memory. If they kept running, maybe they would reach the village within a hour. They might be able to build up a defense just in time. But with a loud noise appearing, they stopped and looked back. A small earthquake ran through the area. Magic power could be feeled to flow through the earth in this area again. Even by an amateur explorer like Gram. >This is..< Gram was looking worried and Mina didn''t know why. >He moved. The [Dungeon Lord] moved the dungeon. He is leaving the area.< The explanation shocked Mina. If this was the truth, the dungeon really was still alive. They witnessed a sleeping [Dungeon Lord] and escaped just in time. Witnessing all these "eggs". Mina fainted at that thought. Luckily for them, the dungeon was leaving. [Quon Village] would have taken heavy losses if attacked by the dungeon. Chapter 010 - Wisp Lair Chapter 010 - Wisp By Skalsar Yesterday was really a very special day! I''m overjoyed just thinking about it. No, I''m not even able to descripe my thoughts about what happened! I have to focus. We will never talk about the things from yesterday again! There is work to do! After taking a few breaths I slowly calm down again. "Hivemind" laughs at my childish excitement. But I don''t mind. On the other hand, the [Drones] I send, finally found a [Wisp]. They are carefully circling around it. Blocking off its escape ways. There was one hour before, but it escaped. I learned from that. The way they escape is illusion magic. Circling around them with [Drones] is therefore effective. They collect the magic power from the wisp, wherever it turns. Making it impossible to use such weak magic. The [Wisp] is even shivering. But the [Drones] shoot needles nontheless. I don''t need the [Wisp] to be alive. Dead it can''t escape. Being pierced by six needles and overdosed with paralysis poison, the [Wisp] instantly dies. Ready to be taken by the [Drones] and delivered to me. They really should hurry. I''m excited again! I already made plans how to improve the [Hoarders]. My assistant breeder and I will make it a bit smaller, but faster. With the ability to use illusion magic once a day. They will run through the rooms fast, only to collect treasure and human tools. If spotted, it will instantly cast its illusion magic and run away. When the creature isn''t near a human, "Hivemind" can transport it everywhere in his body. But the bigger and stronger the creature, the harder to do so. Consuming more magic power and having problems to keep the creature under control. On deeper layers that problem seems not to appear, because it''s near him. But on lower layers that is troublesome. Again, that doesn''t seem to be a problem when transporting me. Since I have a consciousness, I won''t rampage. Because of the magic power I saved up and the strong bond to "Hivemind" I can even help with the transporting and the keeping control. Oh! Finally. The [Wisp] arrived. "Hivemind" says I should devour it myself. According to him, that will help me understand its features faster and more precicely. "Hivemind" really is generous! I wonder how it will taste. Because it has a delicate small body, I have to do it carefully. First I pick up the little fingers, then the arms. They don''t really have feet, just pointy legs. The body looks a bit like a small egg. It tastes weird. The head only has two black little eyeholes. In it, a light was glowing when it was alive. A [Wisp] doesn''t really have a physical body in the normal meaning. It''s a lump of earth, covering magic power. The magic power is originating from some kind of consciousness. I believe it''s from the fragments of memory of humans who died in swamps or forests. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. These memories take form and try to stay in our world. Moonlight strenghtens their magic power. Oh! That is an interesting thing! I wonder if I can use that somehow. "Hivemind" says it''s interesting, too. Looks like he wants me to try giving that ability to the [Drone]. But I''m not quite sure how to do that yet. Maybe later. For now we start working on the [Hoarders]. After fiddling with the "core" for a hour or two.. Maybe five, we finally get some results. The [Hoarder] variant will be called [Collector]. It will only be used in special cases, so the term of a collector fits it more. A small "core" is his origin. Around it, magic power is kept in the body, covered by earth. When magic power is used, it shrinks down a bit. The "core" connects it to the dungeon, allowing it to be easily transported by "Hivemind". Oh! I get what a "core" really is now. The humans have a term for the consciousness that resides in a body, too. Calling it a [Soul]. And the physical body has something called a brain. Which stores the [Soul]. If the brain is damaged, it''s really dangerous for the body. The [Soul] might even leave the body. The core is similar to the brain. It can store magic power and in rare cases a [lesser Soul]. With time, the [lesser Soul] might develop a consciousness and turn into a complete [Soul]. That is what happened to me, too. For normal creatures, "Hivemind" is acting as the consciousness. Through the core, he can control the creatures. He can comunicate through it, too. The core is something closely connected to the hive it originates from. "Hivemind" has a core with a special name, called a [Dungeon Heart]. It''s extremely powerful! He gave me a mental image about it. And while the hive is his body, he has a special substitute body to guard it. The so called [Dungeon Lord]. A powerful creature that stays right in front of the [Dungeon Heart] on the deepest layer. The [Dungeon Lord] even has three cores! Entwined with each other to make casting magic easier. Humans and monsters have to use words with this weird voices of theirs. Creatures can conjure them with the core. Transforming the magic power directly. With the entwined cores, [Dungeon Lord] can cast two magics at the same time. Allowing him to create even more complex magic. The third core supports the other two cores. Not that it matters for me. I can''t use magic. Converting magic power, that is possible. I need to do so to create cores. But other than that, nothing. Sure, there is the black portal I can open up, but that isn''t really magic either. It''s a skill with the name [Dungeon Walk]. Producing a core is a skill, too. [Creation - Crystal Heart] is the name of it. Well. I will look more into that later. Chapter 011 - Blazing Hellhound Lair Chapter 011 - Blazing Hellhound By Skalsar It was really funny to watch the humans panic. They were running like crazy, falling down here and there. But the voice was annoying. They call it "screaming". Well, whatever. The reason was simple. For the first time, the first creation of a [Collector] was found. As it shrinked down, the humans were about to attack it. But a [Blazing Hellhound] appeared just behind it, growling. The [Collector] ran, the humans ran. Only the [Blazing Hellhound] stand still. It took them some time to realize it. When they returned, it was already gone. That is, because it was illusion magic. An hour later they continued and the same thing happened again. They must be really stupid not to notice. Because of that, they ran again. The illusion was even a bad one. Some hours later, more humans joined them and they tried again. Finally looking like they noticed that something was off. But it happened again! If they don''t learn from it this time, I will have to try again tomorrow. Since I don''t have any more [Collectors] with magic power left to do so. >Wait!<, one of the humans shouted. "Hivemind" was sad. That human killed the [Collector] with a bolt. Seems like finally someone with a bit resistence to illusion magic appeared. He looked through the illusion and killed the caster. Therefore, the [Blazing Hellhound] illusion disappeared. The other humans looked stupified. After this, they left the hive. I guess they will tell other humans about it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >I tell you! We thought we were done for at first!< Everyone in the [Adventurer Guild] outpost was laughing. >It just didn''t follow us, so we hid and looked again later. But it happened again and again! Like the [Dungeon Lord] was just playing with us!< The comotion was quite big. Even normal villagers listened to the stories. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.>At some point, we wondered if a [Queen] would appear and give us treasure!< Again everyone was laughing. No one hadn''t heard about the story of Lant. A story of a [Blazing Hellhound] appearing again was sweet gossip. But the explanation of the adventurer group was shocking and revealing. >And then my friend here joins us and when it happens again, he just stands there. I already made up my mind and wished him good luck in the next life I tell you! But he just shouts "Wait!" and lifts his crossbow. Shooting some small ass monster!< Some other guy explained. >Just like that the [Blazing Hellhound] disappeared. And my friend looks at us shocked too, stuttering: Illusion Magic!< >We fell to the ground on the spot!< Everyone was laughing again now. With this, the incident with Lant seemed to be resolved. The comon story now was, that the boy saw the illusions and fell on his own axe. Rego didn''t really like it, because there still was the question about the [Queen] and treasure. But for now, nobody cared anymore. The dungeon got even more attention, even from experienced adventurers. Illusion magic was quite rare and they wanted to train against it. If you are vigilant enough, you can make out some features that tell you if it''s an illusion or not. >How was it?<, Lant asked. >Just like the rumors say. They met a [Blazing Hellhound] but it was just an illusion. Something that looks like a smaller variant of a [Hoarder] seems to be the source.< Rego was carefully explaining the situation to Lant, Mardo, and his wife. Afterwards the three nodded. >It''s best that way, I guess. The [Local Lord] will value the dungeon much more now and deem it less dangerous.< It was his wife who said that. >Maybe. But we might have to take a look ourselves in the future.<, Rego finally explained. Mardo and Lant seemed excited about that thought. Chapter 012 - Under Siege Lair Chapter 012 - Under Siege By Skalsar The ground was shaking heavily. "Hivemind" seemed angry about it, but didn''t tell me why. I''m a bit worried about that. Did I do something wrong maybe? No, he says that''s not it. But something seems to be happening to the hive. I can feel that there is a large amount of magic power besides the hive, but I don''t know what it is. Maybe the humans are attacking us? No, they can''t attack the hive directly. Ah! Impossible! Something just entered the hive and is attacking creatures. But not just that, it''s trying to devour the magic power and cores! ''Just what is happening "Hivemind"?! I want to help!'' He tells me to hatch more creatures. Big ones. Strong ones. Fast ones. I do as he says. Just when I start, I finally understand. Another "Hivemind" is trying to devour our hive. Fishing through our cores and minds with its consciousness. It tries to find us.. no.. not creatures.. the Lair! The attacking "Hivemind" is trying to get control over a breeder! "Hivemind" is concentrating on defending. He has problems to fend of the corruption of our cores because of that! ''I.. feel weird.. Have to..'', the breeder besides me starts talking. He is getting won over.. How dirty! This can''t be happening! No! ''NO!'' I''m shouting, raging. My mind expands. For the first time I notice the hive in its entireness. I shout back at the other "Hivemind", cutting off his connection to the other breeder. Still I continue shouting. ''Get your hands off of our "Hiveminds" creatures you dirty bastard!'' My rage echoes throughout the hive. The other "Hivemind" is greatly irritated. It doesn''t understand how a lowly breeder can throw him off. Our "Hivemind" seems overjoyed with my loyalty. I win back creatures that were corrupted one by one. My [Drones] spread through the hive, increasing the effects of my mind. Now the other "Hivemind" is on the defense. His creatures are drawing back, because he has problems to keep them under control. "Hivemind" tells me how proud he is. I''m really special according to him. Maybe because of the great amount of magic power I already processed. Even through we have three breeders at the moment, most goes through my hands first. Oh.. That is.. Our creatures get slaughtered. The sensation of death is entering my mind. Some of my [Drones] are ripped apart by something strong. A magic power that is emitting danger. Slicing through most creatures like they are weed. A [Dungeon Lord] entered our hive. "Hivemind" is drawing back our creatures. He might have to step in himself. But that would cost the hive heavily. What to do? What can I do? How can I .. Wait? Does that mean his [Dungeon Heart] is unprotected? "Hivemind" says yes. Hm. Interesting. Guess, I might at least take a look? The hives are connected, that''s why the [Dungeon Lord] could enter. After opening a [Portal], I try fiddling with it, like I fiddle with cores. I need to understand it better. What exactly is a [Portal]? Somehow it feels kind of familiar. Like I would open a [Portal] inside our own hive. Shortly after I start to understand how [Dungeon Walk] works. Folding the space. Like having two points on a piece of paper. The shortest way would be to draw a direct line, right? Nope. It would be folding the paper, so that the points are on top eachother. A hive exists on another realm, normal physics doesn''t apply. My next try opens a [Portal] into some empty room of the other hive. Another try brings me to one of the spawning zones between layers. It got easier after reaching the other hive too. I can already travel freely in it right now. But the deepest layer is empty. Weird. Shouldn''t the [Dungeon Heart] be here? This doesn''t seem right. Maybe I did a mistake? Could it have been moved? Is that possible? "Hivemind" has problems answering me. I guess I should go back for now. After opening the [Portal] and returning, "Hivemind" seems happy. The other [Dungeon Lord] returned to his hive too for now. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!Fun! "Hivemind" is preparing an attack. We will go over there and rampage for a bit. Huh? We? Seems like he wants me to lead the troops. Alright, if he says so. I''m curious about how it''s like to fight. But we will have to be careful. The hive is shaking every now and then. "Hivemind" is holding up, but the other one still tries to devour our hive. I still don''t get why one of "Hiveminds" brethren is attacking him, but so be it. Our troops attack on different layers according to their strength. "Hivemind" keeps control through me. If I concentrate, I can strengthen our link and therefore his link to our creatures. ''I will devour you!'', the other "Hivemind" is shouting in our minds. I chuckle. Somehow it feels weak. We continue to sweep through his minions. On my left arm is a bladelike thorn, I behead a [Minotaur] with one swing. [Blazing Hellhound] rips apart an enemy [Cyclops]. The eye seems to be tasty. The lower layers have been empty, our lesser troops soon join us. [Goblins], [Kobolds] and some other creatures. More specific, the creature versions of these monsters. This hive seems really weak somehow. Maybe something happened to it? If so, it should have talked to us, we could have helped him. But "Hivemind" says it''s too late for that now. There is the weakening I do myself too. Since I''m able to consume magic power, everytime we slaughter an enemy, I devour its magic power and my [Drones] and [Hiveworkers] transport the magic power back to our hive and "Hivemind". Simple. And as much as I enjoy fighting the other hive, "Hivemind" calls us back. Seems like he has some plan. My earlier attempt made him think. Our assault is costly. He doesn''t want creatures to die like this. All creatures are going back. Transported to some deeper layer of our hive. Only I stay behind. The other "Hivemind" took the bait. He is attacking with everything he has now. Knowing that it''s his last chance. ''Go to the [Lair], I tested it out right now. It''s the only place the [Dungeon Heart] could possibly survive instead of the deepest layer.'' I''m told. Just like that, I arrive at the [Lair] of the other hive. I behead some [Guardians]. Big, black creatures made of obsidian. Their movement is slow but they are quite strong. Don''t want to be hit by one of them. Too bad my thorn is made from obsidian too. So they are still cut down by me. My [Drones] help me with picking up the [Dungeon Heart]. As we guessed, something is wrong with it. It has cracks all over it. Nonetheless we return with it to our [Lair]. The shaking stopped. The advance stopped. The fighting stopped. The outcry starts. Enemy [Dungeon Lord] is shouting. Trembling. Crying. Hating. Understanding. The emotions are flooding my mind. ''It was my last chance.. I''m sorry. Please don''t hate me for it.'' He says. Waiting for his end. It doesn''t come. ''That would be really wasteful.'', I declare. Looking at the [Dungeon Heart]. Sure, it''s damaged, but not broken. I can patch it up. Maybe. "Hivemind" starts to devour the other hive. I see. There are many ways a hive can operate. It can devour prey to grow, or take root in an area with high magic power. There is the possibility to devour another hive as well. Or to mate with another hive to give birth to a new hive. And.. the possibilty to merge hives as well. "Hivemind" explained that to me just now. Since I took the [Dungeon Heart] and the other [Dungeon Lord] is in our hive as well, it should be alright to devour the hive. The two "Hiveminds" are merging. Their consciousness that is. As the [Soul] resides in the [Dungeon Heart], the other hive doesn''t matter. With the strong bond from [Dungeon Lord] and [Dungeon Heart], no damage is done. Nearly none. It will need time to recreate the lost creatures. Also, because two [Dungeon Lords] are too much for the hive right now, "Hivemind" sends the second [Dungeon Lord] to the [Lair] and puts it to sleep for now. "Hivemind" says something about choosing me over any other creature any time. I don''t really get it. Chapter 013 - Foundations Lair Chapter 013 - Foundations By Skalsar The magic power from the [Dungeon Heart] is tremendous. Patching it up is harder than I thought. Not that it''s really needed anymore, after both "Hivemind" and "Hivemind" merged together. The other "Hivemind" is very happy about this situation. But it''s hard to distinguish between the two after the merge was done. "Hivemind" told me not to differ between them, for they are one. On another note: Because the other hive was devoured, our hive grew by ten layers. That is awesome! It has seventyseven layers now! Humans would already name it a [Greater Dungeon], if they knew! But the most they can reach yet is the sixth layer. Well, back to the [Dungeon Heart]. I''m allowed to fiddle with it to some extend. Because of that, I learned how to improve cores. My skills [Creation - Crystal Heart] improved to [Creation - Soulstone]. [Dungeon Walk] improved too, it''s now called [Black Gate]. The difference seems to be that I can go everywhere I know now. Even the wall the humans built around our hive doesn''t stop me anymore. Better we don''t let them learn about that. It even works in combination with my [Drones], because I''m linked to them directly. But I can''t really travel around right now because I have to fiddle with the cores. Not for new creations, but for those who are already there. There is always space for improvements. "Hivemind" got some new creations either way, because of the merge. [Woodler], a wood type creature that attacks with its branches. [Wolly], a sheeplike creature with horns. More of a Ram. The fluffy stuff is a pretty good protection against cuts. [Spitter], a froglike creature. But much bigger. It spits acid. And also that [Guardian] the other hive came up with. Those are just a few of them. Also because of my fiddling and the new knowledge, variants are possible too. I mostly learned how to add elements and magic to creatures. A [fiery Wolly] is really impresive to watch. Burning from top to bottom and spreading fire everywhere while its charge. Quite costly though. I also started to improve my own core a bit. "Hivemind" says I might become the first variant for a breeder if I do a good job. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In [Mafay Village] an emergency meeting was held. Just an hour ago, Rego was informed about what had happened near [Quon Village]. ''If the two told the truth, the [Quon Village Dungeon] was still alive and moved away.'' Rego explained to the other villagers. ''There is no danger to [Mafay Village], because we already have a dungeon here. What we have to worry about are the [Merchants] who travel with carts. As long as we don''t know where the dungeon takes root, the traderoutes are in danger.'' That was the current situation. If a hive takes root somewhere on a traderoute, monsters might appear and kill travelers. For the growing village, that was a great risk. They would have to stay vigilant. For now the meeting was over. They will have to send scouts and guards to secure the traderoutes for a while. And something else was worrying Rego. If the [Quon Village Dungeon] was still alive, it would draw away attention from the [Mafay Village Dungeon] and get less adventurers to [Mafay Village]. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At first.. I only knew how to devour. Devour and devour. And then devour some more. After my birth, there was only emptiness. I traveled around until something tasty appeared. After devouring some more, thoughts entered my mind. The emptiness became cloudiness. I noticed the differences in my prey. Everything I lure in is devoured, but different prey gave different amounts of satisfaction. After devouring even more, I understand more. There was prey called humans. Tasty humans. From them, I learned about words. They use a "voice" to communicate. Words help me describe my thoughts. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The more humans I devour, the better. If the prey is strong, it has more magic power. With magic power, I grow. I naturally knew how to imitate prey, forming magic power into weaker shapes of the prey. To help me lure in prey. And to defend me against strong prey. Need to get more prey. But that was complicated. I know about some other creature as well. A breeder. It''s sole purpose is to do that for me. So I created a breeder. Living got much easier by doing so. I only had to tell it how much I want to devour. The rest was converted. Everything in my body is connected to me. I''m called a dungeon. But it would be more correct to call me a hive. Live is well. It doesn''t stay well. I was too greedy. Consuming too much. Strong prey came. Very strong. It killed many creatures. Survived many attacks. I''m scared. It''s a human. Humans are dangerous. What should I do? Just a few more layers and it will reach the [Dungeon Heart]. ... Oh.. It died. Just like that. Humans are stupid. I believe he never guessed he would die like that. He stumbled when dodging. Fell down. That wasn''t the problem. But he lost something. Something that saves prey from poison. It''s called [Antidote]. He got poisoned shortly after. So he died. The magic power was delicious. But I was still scared. Near me is a [Village]. It''s too strong already. Endangering me. So I use all the magic power to create creatures. I will devour the whole [Village] and go somewhere else. This place isn''t save anymore. But I have to do so fast. I take some strong energy from the strong prey and give birth to a second breeder. Two is better than one. My attack goes smoothly. The [Village] is devoured pretty fast. And the second breeder seems to be a bit special. I don''t really know why. ... Oh. Finally I understand. His counsciousness is special. Maybe because of the strong prey he is created from. Humans have [Souls]. It must have carried over. From the brain of the strong prey, to the core of the new breeder. But that is alright. I can see everything in his mind, he is loyal. He likes me very much. A good child. I will give him more freedoms for his crazy little ideas. He calls them [Hiveworkers]. I like them. They feed me well. Even without prey. They just find the tiny little bits of magic power in plants and water. And they let me see the world around me. He likes to work on improvements. That''s funny. I teach him many things. Even the other breeder wants to help him. I allow it. They even find a way to weaken the humans that settled around me. But just when I believe that I''m save, another hive attacks me. I don''t understand it! Why does it do that?! It''s mean! Don''t even think about devouring me! But it''s hard to defend.. It''s stealing my children.. Oh! Lucky! I''m very happy! My second breeder really is special! He pushed back the other hive! Fun! I will be the one attacking now. Let''s show the other hive what I can do. Second breeder will go too. He found a way to go to the other hive. Weird enough, the [Dungeon Heart] wasn''t on the deepest layer. How is that possible? Can it survive on another layer? After I think about it, I notice. The [Lair] has a high potential, just like the deepest layer. The [Dungeon Heart] might survive there. That must be it. And just like that, the breeder finds it in the other hives [Lair]. I win. But I don''t devour him. My breeder said it would be a waste. I guess he is right. ... New knowledge floats through me after merging with the other one. I grew quite a bit. Chapter 014 - False Mercy Lair Chapter 014 - False Mercy By Skalsar I.. had a.. I don''t know. What was that just now? Images and thoughts went through my mind, but I wasn''t in the hive. Well, yes I was in the hive, but my mind seemed to be somewhere else. After converting most magic power and creating many cores, I was exhausted. My magic power was low and "Hiveminds" magic power was low. Possibly even nearly depleted. Repairing the damage was costly, yet needed. Since I needed to rest and didn''t want to waste power, I slept. On my own accord that is. My whole body was going to sleep. Not just my consciousness. It was weird. Colors I never saw before. Plants and animals I never thought existed. Structures I couldn''t fathom. Everything was weird. And the memory of it gone within seconds. But it was familiar. Familiar in a way, that happened every now and then. Memories and thoughts entering the hive if prey dies. Just that the thoughts and memories weren''t a puzzle this time. Normally, we have to go through these puzzles for weeks. Trying to sort them. Maybe find parallels to other thoughts and memories. ''That''s called a dream, child.'', "Hivemind" enters my mind. Seems like living things sometimes dream. I don''t know if I like it. With a small portion of magic power that my minions brought, I get up. The hive is nearly back to normal. But the forest suffered a bit. We had to extract more magic power from our surroundings than usual. It looks a bit weird. The dirt turned black, the nearest plants withered. A tree died and fell on the wall the humans had built, destroying a small part of it. I had to snicker a bit about that. You have to keep them busy. Humans love building walls. They even built a wooden wall around their village. Another breeder informs me that humans have entered the hive. Humans have different classes. That is something they get skills from. It''s something the deitys of this world designed for them to have. Because they can''t change through evolution. I wonder if I could get something like a class too, one day. Sure, I can just change the features of the shape surrounding my core, but that isn''t the same. Traveling around, getting levels, aquiring new skills for my class. Sounds pretty fun. Maybe I can understand humans entering the hive just a bit there after all. But risking your life is still quite stupid. Like this group of humans right now. Normally I wouldn''t care, but they seem to be the clever kind of stupid. Attacking single creatures or groups that are low in numbers. Picking on the weak ones or getting them in a bad position. It should be the other way around! Just before, the most the humans could reach was the sixth layer. Not so this group. They already reached the ninth. "Hivemind" deems them dangerous. Even through they aren''t strong prey. Seems like we will have to wipe out the group. What could we do? I travel to the forest for a bit in order to think. Using my [Black Gate] the humans outside don''t even notice that I bypassed them. There are quite some magics we could use. A ball infused elemental power maybe? Making the room hard to breath in? We could even lower the temperature. No, that''s not it. But that gives me some ideas to change some of the rooms. Most of them are just like stone. It''s boring. Every now and then there is a room with gooey slime emitting from the walls. That is because it''s helpful to [Slimes]. A [Slime] is a creature with a fluid covering the core instead of flesh. It can change form easily and is hard to detect in midst the slimy rooms. Tentacles whip out if it wants to and harden in order to deal damage. Or it can cover a body and dissolve it with an acid. Quite dangerous for a lower layer. Some time ago an adventurer duo came to the hive and fought them. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.They were covered in acid quite fast but still killed the slime. It was lovely seeing them despair with all that acid. They ran back tried to leave the room, but "Hivemind" had mixed minerals to that room aswell as the room before and behind. So the duo ran back, because the [Explorer] couldn''t open a [Portal]. It didn''t work. They started to panic. Believing there must be a monster nearby, they ran back to the slimy room. Since nothing was there, they ran to the next, exhausted already. Nothing was there either. They started to cry because of the pain. Annoying I tell you. But it was still fun to watch them run back and forth in agony. I believe the stronger one was called a boy and the agile one a girl. When they finally fell down due to the acid, I came by to see if they would survive. To my surprise, they did. I watched them for a while and the girl watched me. She did look afraid, but also.. I don''t really now. There was something I did not understand yet. Getting curious about it, I watched the boy for a while. But he seemed more angry than afraid. When I grabbed the girl, he somehow got up and tried to grab my arm. "Gram..", the girl whispers in a low voice. I opened a [Black Gate] and kicked him out of the hive. His weird behaviour was annoying. ''What are you doing now, child?'' Seems like "Hivemind" wanted to eat them. But I was still wondering if we should. ''You know, they were quite good till this point. And they don''t seem to give up after all. I wonder if after all this, they would still come back.'' ''Hrm..'', "Hivemind" wasn''t completly happy with that. ''Well, do as you wish this time.'', he still agreed. A [Hiveworker] told me the boy was raging outside, crying. Shouting. All while laying in the dirt. He even wanted to crawl back in but was stopped by other humans. Not that he would be able to enter right now. I took all his magic power. The girls magic power too. It was tasty. I wonder why they can survive with all magic power drained from them. The humans outisde looked shocked when the girl appeared before them. Exhausted and mentally depleted, but still alive. But well, that gets me to the current mess. No they aren''t the same. The human group this time is different. They have four humans. One of them can use minor magic. A woman is in front, holding the creatures at bay. One man stands at the back and uses a tool called a bow. The last one seems to stand guard in case something goes wrong. "Hivemind" wants me to devour them this time. They killed quite a high number of creatures. We can''t just have them get away. I found something I like in the forest. "Hivemind" asked me to find a way to improve the [Woodler] before, but I didn''t know what to do with it yet. I couldn''t just add an element or something. But when watching the plants I noticed. I could add something first and implement the element there. Therefore I will fiddle with a [Woodler] and its core. ''Will it hurt..?'' Huh? What the hell? The [Woodler] is asking me about pain? ''You are a creature of the hive! Do you even know what pain is?'' ''Well, not quite. But humans often talk about it and seem to fear it. So I was wondering..'' Stupid [Woodler]. Stupid humans giving creatures weird thoughts. I shake my head and start messing with the [Woodler]. Hm. Vines are wrapped around its core. Maybe I could add poison to them. Should be helpful if a human attacks with bare hands. Also I add small buds. With the feature of preserving magic power in it, growing it bigger, it should do the trick. In it, I add the element fire. That should work. Maybe. After fiddling with the core, the [Woodler] breaks down and evolves. ''You will be the boss for the tenth layer. Guard it well.'' Chapter 015 - Lection One: Always Stay Vigilant Note: Chapters sadly won''t be daily for a while, I''m a student and have to study. :/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lair Chapter 015 - Lection One: Always Stay Vigilant By Skalsar "Hivemind" and I are watching curiously. Through the mind of the creature that is. The group of humans have cleared most of the tenth layer. First, "Hivemind" wanted to just kill them off in order to minimize the damage they cause. He changed his mind after seeing my newest creation. ''Finally!'', another breeder is also watching and quite excited. The humans entered the last passageway. Next is the bossroom before they can reach the next layer. "What is this?", one of them asks. "Huh, an empty room? Shouldn''t there be a boss right here?" They aren''t very vigilant I guess. "What is this?" Before them, a chestnut dropped to the ground. The woman picks it up. "A chestnut?", another human gets close to take a look. I chuckle. The other breeder starts to snicker too. Only "Hivemind" is focused. "That..!", another human seems to notice the creature on the ceiling. Too late. *FOOOOOM!* A loud explosion echoes through the layer. One human is crying out in agony. Blood and gore is everywhere. "WAAAH! I can''t see!", the human who was looking at the chestnut besides the woman shouts. An arm is lying around. Don''t know where the hand and fingers went though. I didn''t believe it would be that strong. The woman is lying on the ground. Her rips completly broken. I know because I can see them. The flesh was ripped off by the explosion and some organs are showing too. Her other arm is bend in a very weird way. Most of her face is gone. A human who noticed is puking. The fourth one has problems standing and is holding his ears. Seems like the sound was a problem for them too. Funny! But they won''t be stunned for long I guess. "What happened! What the hell happened!", the blind guy is screaming. ''That''s what they call pain.'', I tell the new creature. I named it [Slashing Chestnut] by the way. Hiding on the ceiling and throwing exploding chestnuts. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. It puts magic power into a bud until it grows into a chestnut. The magic power is then being compressed. I learned to compress magic power into a higher density from fiddling with cores. But the [Slashing Chestnut] uses magic power to put a small flame inside the chestnut. After releasing the chestnut, air gets inside and the fire and magic power expand rapidly. The explosion that took one human instantly is the surprising result. But it isn''t over yet. The [Archer] started to fire arrows against the creature and the [Novize Mage] is channeling a fireball. [Slashing Chestnut] is quite good though. First, it slashed at the mage in order to stop him. The blind human isn''t a threat and can be ignored. And they didn''t even notice the second chestnut that was thrown before. It detonated behind the mage, throwing him under the creature. [Slashing Chestnut] released the hold on the ceiling and dropped on him. Crushing the head. "NOOO!", the archer is shouting. Even without crushing the head, the mage should have been dead. But I don''t think the human understood that yet. He is charging in now in order to avoid the exploding chestnuts. But [Slashing Chestnut] isn''t moving. Even after being scratched with a knife. Oh, clever thing. The human seems to think it died and therefore dropped to the ground. He is crying, looking around. As he tries to roll the creature down from his dead comrade, he gets stung by a vine. [Slashing chestnut] is laughing in our minds. ''Humans are stupid. This is fun!'', it says. It slashes at the human and throws it back. The shocked archer tries to get up again, but his legs fail him. He finally notices that he got poisoned. A third chestnut explodes between him and the blind human. I wish them better luck next time. Well, not that there will be a next time for them. It''s a lie though, I don''t with them better luck, sorry. Lying is wrong. [Dungeon Lord], as well as the other breeder and me clap our hands. It was a good experiment. I''m quite proud. With this, we can return to other stuff. But I guess I will think about new creatures some more. A good diversity seems to be very important. Chapter 016 - A Loyal Minion Lair Chapter 016 - A Loyal Minion By Skalsar I''m curious again. What is a human? Is it just prey? After consuming many of them "Hivemind" still doesn''t have much information about the topic. They seem to be everywhere in the world outside the hive. Working together to stay strong. But still they travel everywhere, endangering themselves. Getting killed over stupid things. Killing each other over stupid things. They get weird skills and seem to have a small amount of intelligence. Like their tools and stuff they do. Yet, they aren''t able to speak. Well, they have their stupid voices to communicate with eachother. But besides that, they are ignorant to what they simply call monsters and animals. I met a cute little rabbit today. We spoke about quite some stuff. Like what herbs are useful in the forest. It was called a [Horn Rabbit]. [Horn Rabbits] are strong rabbits with a horn on the forehead with which they impale enemies. Sure, I killed and ate it later, but he knew that. He knew he couldn''t escape and thought if he had to die here he could as well chat with me. I liked him. So I left his [Soul] intact. Only devouring the flesh was weird. Patching up the dead head so that the magic power wouldn''t leak out. By slowly converting some magic power to a small core, I created a basic vessel. Fiddling with the core, connecting the magic power from the head to it. Desolving the head, growing the core bigger. Eating some of the magic power.. it looked too delicious.. sorry there. Well, when I was finished, the little [Horn Rabbits] [Soul] had a core to stay in. I''m going to create a [Drone]. Oh, wait. It should be better to make him a [Hiveworker] first and let him gather experience. Since he was a rabbit and has his [Soul], he should become stronger that way. ''Right?'' ''Sure! Thank you for your concern! I can''t believe I''m given such a chance!'' The little core was pulsating. He couldn''t speak, but everything in the hive is connected. If a core has a consciousness, it can talk with its mind just like that. To other beings with a consciousness in the hive at least. ''Done!'' After hatching, a strong [Hiveworker ¨C Rare Variant] was born. Much bigger than normal. More of the size of a [Drone] already. Seems like a creature is stronger if its [Soul] is intact, but because I fiddled with the core too. That''s new to "Hivemind". But I should be careful with it as it consumes much more magic power. ''Well my [Queen], how may I serve you?'' ''[Queen]?'' ''Oh, that''s how the humans call you. Sorry. "Hivemind" calls you a breeder, right?'' ''Ah! So thats what they call me! Huh, funny. We don''t have genders, but humans are giving us names which imply them. I''m refering to "Hivemind" as he too. Weird. Well, call me however you like. Just go out and devour some magic power from plants.'' ''Alright [Queen]!'' Heh. I like it somehow. I will be called a [Queen] from now on. It really sounds strong. I''m even more curious now. What if I were to catch a human, could I learn more about them? Guess I will try! After opening a [Black Gate] I step through and arrive to the human village. Everything is dark, but I can see clearly. Through I switch my vision to allow me to see life energy and magic power. Did I mention this skill before? The name of it is [Enhanced Vision ¨C Energyflow]. It turns the colors of this world into a strong black and highlights materials in grey. Living things are colored red, but plants are green. Magic power is blue. If the magic power is strong, it turns purple. Like this I travel through the village and look for a human that is to my liking. Most of them sleep around this time. So it should be easy to pick one. I open a door to what they call a house and step inside. A doglike monster greets me, asking me to leave them alone after connecting to my mind. It''s called a [Guardian Beast], it says. Seems like it''s not nice to go into a house without being allowed to. My bad. ''Sorry about that.'' Maybe they call me a monster, but I''m not that kind of a monster that enters a home uninvited. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.I leave the house and look around some more. You know, because entering ones home in order to take something that''s not yours is wrong! At least [Guardian Beast] said so. Next building is called an [Inn]. Travellers sleep there. It should be alright, right? They aren''t at home here. Just staying in order to sleep. After going in, I''m looked at by two big humans and a little girl. Yes, I knew they would be here, because of my vision enhancement and their loud voices. I didn''t understand what they were talking about through. Voice is still something abstract to me. "Yeah, sure! I bet she even gave them treasure before kicking them out the dungeon!", a male voice was laughing. "If you ask me, they were just exhausted after defeating a slime. A [Collector] came to take their equipment, but created an illusion. End of story." "And the boy [Explorer] just crawled out thinking it was the real deal." Two male voices were laughing. "Bet the girl didn''t want to ruin him for running away without her, since they were comrades." They were talking too fast. Only thing I understood was [Collector], illusion and [Explorer]. I wonder if they could mean ''my'' [Collectors]. But how could they know what name I gave them? Well, whatever. The girl fell asleep as soon as she saw me. I believe.. what was it called..? ''Fainting!'', my new [Hiveworker] tells me again. Thats right. She fainted. He isn''t here, but because we are connected he can communicate with me over great distance. One of the two man trembles. Then he starts shouting. It''s annoying so I make him go silent. That is.. I make the obsidian thorn appear and cut him in half. Devouring his magic power while I''m at it. The other man doesn''t dare to move or talk anymore. Much better. First I pick up the little girl. She looks yummy. Her body is a bit short. Her long hair is shining golden in the weak torchlight. The fabric she is a bit weird though. "Hivemind" says she is one of these very delicious small ones. Hm. Maybe I should eat her and get another human to satisfy my curiousity. ''Please don''t eat her..'' Huh..? That wasn''t anyone connected to me. Who just spoke there? ''Hello? Anyone?'' Nobody reacts. Weird. I devour the magic power of the other man kill him and take the girl with me. I don''t want to eat her right now. Maybe after my experimentation. After opening a [Black Gate], we return to the lair. Maybe I should see if it''s possible for a human to learn talking first? But that could take quite some time. As already mentioned, humans are stupid. >EEEK!< She fainted again. Just seconds after she woke up. That''s kind of annoying. I lay her down in the [Lair] and get a [Aqua Terror] to produce some water for me. The ability to produce elements is quite useful I guess. Maybe I could try to fiddle with my body to produce some elements too? But first things first. I take the produced water. For that, I have to enclose the water with a bubble made of magic power, similar to producing the shape for a core. Otherwise it would vanish too fast. I then dissolve the bubble and let the water drop on the girls head. She wakes up and screams. I slap her with my left hand. She shuts up and stares at me quietly. That''s much better. I nod in approval. She nods too. Very good. For now, lets start with removing that fabric. I want to check if she is damaged in any way. Don''t want some defect for my experimentation. She is called a female. Her features are underdeveloped. Still a child. When human girls mature, their breasts grow. She is looking confused now. ''Can you hear me?'' ... Guess not. I try to touch her mind a few more times, but she doesn''t react to it.
You have been marked as a heretic for capturing a blessed vessel.
Huh? What is this? Chapter 017 - Lily Lair Chapter 017 - Lily By Skalsar According to "Hivemind" there appear to be people who have been blessed by a deity. Very strong prey with special skills that have been granted by the deity that blessed them. There are many deitys. Apparently the girl was blessed by one. But I don''t really care. When I think about the message I got, I kind of get what it means.
Heretic To The Goddess Frey:
You have been marked as a heretic for capturing a blessed vessel. The deity which has marked your soul will keep watch over you whenever you travel one of their realms.
Seems like I got her attention. But I don''t care about her. "Hivemind" only told me that stuff like this happens and doesn''t mind either. That is our nature. Oh, the deity that created the hives was called the [Goddess of Vengeance] by the way. Her real name was lost. "Hivemind" remembers only her title. The other deities destroyed her for something she did. But being all about vengeance, she created the very first hive with the last of her power. A weak creature that would get back at the other deities somehow. But nobody knows how. The little girl behind me starts crying. I slap her. ... It doesn''t help. Weird. It helped when she was screaming, I wonder why? She is making weird noises too. Well, her body is making the noises. Maybe it isn''t her fault? Noisy. Maybe I should just eat her. Stupid human. Oh. She can''t live from magic power? "Hivemind" says humans have to eat flesh and plants. Maybe she is crying because of hunger? I already cut some humans apart and "Hivemind" ate quite a few of them. Therefore we know how the human body works for most part. But the connection between their voices and noises, and stuff like hunger, that is new. ''[Hiveworker], bring a Rabbit please.'' It takes a bit of time, but my [Hiveworker] delivers. One could think that it would be hard for a [Hiveworker] to catch a rabbit, but not for this one. Because he was a [Horn Rabbit] himself before I recreated him, he knows exactly what to do. Might be weird to hunt a rabbit after having been a rabbit. But it''s the cores nature. After being reborn as a creature, useless emotions are cut down. We are creatures of this hive. We devour. That''s all there should be to it. If we are weak, we die. But the girl is still crying. I threw her the rabbit, but she only stares at it, crying. Is she not able yet to eat by herself? Maybe she is too young? Should I get an older human? ''Humans normally don''t eat their food alive. They kill it and prepare it with heat. I believe she doesn''t know how to eat something raw.'' [Hiveworker] might be right. ''Well, guess I will kill it first then.'', I explain and step near. The girl stares at me terrified for a moment and grabs the rabbit. I don''t really get why. She seems to think that by doing so, the rabbit is safe? But who in his right mind would believe that something is safe just by holding it? I grab the head of the rabbit with my left hand and squeeze it. It''s crushed easily. She stopped crying and is staring at me quietly. I believe, terrified, would be the right word. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.That''s surprising. I should have done that sooner. Looks like this is a better way to stop her noises. But quite wasteful if she isn''t going to eat. I call for a [Blazing Hellhound]. A friend of mine. It got a consciousness too. While drawing near, the girl looks scared even more and seems to be leaking. The [Blazing Hellhound] is 2.5 meters in height, with blue flames erupting from its fur. It could crush a body with one bite of its strong jaw. I take the dead rabbit and get rid of some useless stuff. [Hiveworker] says, humans can''t eat everything. Living in the settlement for a few weeks before escaping, he learned quite a few things. So I take some of the stuff out, like the heart. [Blazing Hellhound] eats that. The girl is calming down a bit. Afterwards, I let [Blazing Hellhound] roast the rabbit flesh and throw it to the girl again. This time, she starts eating and afterwards.. She slowly points at herself and uses her voice. >Lily.< Weird human. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >We have to find her as fast as possible.< >But where could she have gone?< >It must have been bandits!< >Killing off her bodyguards like that? Did you even see their bodies?< >It looked like a monster slaughtered them.< >Sure, a monster. If you ask me, that''s what they wanted it to look like.< >But what else could it be?< >I bet it was another lord. A high level [Knight] could have done that.< >Might be.< The village was in uproar after the girl was kidnapped. Her two bodyguards were [Guards] too. It''s unthinkable to kill them off just like that, without being high level. Rego had goosebumps thinking about the bodies. >Orcs.< he finally said. The room went silent. Twelve men looked shocked because of one word. >That..<, one tried to talk but stopped. >I know, they are stupid and don''t act much, but if an [Orc Shaman] or [Orc Warlord] ordered them, it might be possible. We all know how strong they are. We only won the war because of numbers and weapons.< >True..< Orcs are terrifying. Monsters with great strength and endurance. If they want to fight, they do. We aren''t speaking about fat animals or monsters who simply attack everything without tactic. Orcs are muscular humanoid monsters. More like vikings. But green. And with an average height of 2.5 meters. Every day they train to fight and how to win fights in every situation possible. The [Orc Warlord] is the strongest warrior in an orc tribe and the evolved form of an [Orc Warrior]. An [Orc Shaman] is an evolved orc with the highest intelligence in a clan and the ability to use elemental magic. >A clan was spotted just two days away from the village. Maybe they really did it.< >But for what purpose?< >Maybe they want to provoke us.< >It doesn''t matter. Send the scouts. If they took my girl, I will kill every last one of them.< Everyone turned their head when the voice was heard. The [Local Lord] had joined them. >If they took Lily, they will pay for it. I already spoke with the king. He is sending an attack force.< With that said, the meeting was dismissed. >We won''t tolerate orcs on this lands.< He really was angry. Chapter 018 - Orcs Lair Chapter 018 - Orcs By Skalsar The humans did something stupid again. Seems like they are out for war. And with a strong enemy that is. "Hivemind" told me they raided an [Orc Camp]. And they failed terribly. The [Scouts] were found and killed. Some [Vanguards] fell to fear and deserted, leaving their [Archers] open to be attacked. They had to retreat. The leader of the [Orc Camp] is a [Stormcaller] with good intelligence. He send his scouts to follow and was led to the [Mafay Village]. Now the village is under siege. The humans are holding up, but orcs are quite strong. As long as the siege is upheld, there won''t be much prey for the hive. Orcs don''t have much magic power and taste terrible. I ate one myself, so I know. "Hivemind" dislikes them too. Nonetheless I tried creating one core from them after studying their bodies. Trying to keep their features of strength. The creature born is not really as strong as an orc, but nearly. I don''t really like it. We won''t make many of them. They look fat and sluggish. But I get why they are that strong. Their muscles are much denser than most species. I wonder if I can change my muscles that way someday. >I''m Hungry.< Behind me, Lily talks again, using her voice. Annoying. She isn''t crying anymore at least. Instead, she tells me when she is hungry or thirsty. But I''m not really interested right now. I throw her a rabbit, but she has to kill it herself. After opening a [Black Gate] I leave the hive. The orcs have already surrounded us. [Goblins] and other weak hivecreatures that were killed by the orcs are lying around. But even they look at me doubtfully. One stares at me and raises his claymore, but I use the obsidian thorn to cut his legs. He reacted to slow. In the same motion, I pierce the head of a charging warrior. By now they are more vigilant. My body is more agile than it looks like. I avoid an orc that tried to jump on me. He was in my blindspot, quite dangerous. Lucky for me, my [Hiveworkers] and [Drones] are in the air and monitoring everything. A [Guardian] is spawned right before me in order to stop the charge of an orc. The [Guardian] is thrown over. Two other orcs join the fight and kill it. I use the commotion to behead one of them. After finally slaughtering four more, they finally start to panic and sound alarm. More orcs join the brawl. I slaughter three more by throwing a chestnut that I borrowed. All of this took me two hours and I''m quite exhausted by now. I draw a line at the entrance to the hive, the small part in the wall that is kept open as a gate. Many more orcs are watching, but I guess they get the gesture and stay away for now. When I return to the [Lair], the human is crying again. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.[Hiveworker] tells me that she broke the neck of the rabbit. Afterwards she handed it to the [Blazing Hellhound] and ate some of the roasted meat. The problem is, she didn''t eat much. What a waste. Maybe I should slap her again? ''Please don''t.'' She looks at me afraid but stops crying. ''Can you hear me?'', I ask with my mind. As always I get no reaction. I don''t get it. Without knowing she might understand the situation and talk to me. But when I react to it, she doesn''t seem to hear me. Just what is that supposed to mean? She only uses her voice. Well, I don''t have time for that right now. Slaughtering these orcs with a obsidian blade might sound easy, but I took quite some damage myself. Orcs hit hard. My carapace is broken on many spots as well as my other arm. I bleed from a leg. Even an organ was pierced. A spearhead is still stuck in it. Didn''t even notice it till now. I start with repairing the organ and stopping the bleeding. Patching up the flesh while I''m at it. The carapace will regrow if left alone. As long as my core is undamaged and my body not too hurt, I won''t die. "Hivemind" says it was good like this. Because I slaughtered them mostly alone, they will see great strength in me and be vigilant. If a problem had occoured, "Hivemind" would have transported creatures to the surface to save me. But what will happen now? If we go outside and help the humans against the orcs, the humans will see us as a threat. More dangerous than orcs is a hive that is able to send a swarm of monsters to kill off the orcs. They would surely send a [Hero] if that happens. A terrible thought. ''We might help them in some other way.'' A few hours ago, a new [Queen] acquired a consciousness, after consuming enough magic power. Now she is finally able to think for herself. She is the fourth [Queen] to do so. ''If we attack the supportline of the orcs with weak creatures, the humans won''t notice. And if they notice, they will just believe it''s because we are using cheap tricks.'', she explains even more. Ah, I see. ''You mean to poison their food, right?'' I get what she is saying. If we poison their food, the orcs will weaken and the humans will have it easier. Since they are locked in the village, they shouldn''t notice. ''I already looked into it. There is an animal called a rat. Humans hate it for easily spreading illness. You should have eaten it before.'' Yes, I remember it. It wasn''t bad, but not good either. ''Alright.'', I nod. The other [Queen] will create a creature similar to a rat and give it the ability to create poison. Afterwards I will transport them to the outside of the wall. The orcs would notice otherwise and we don''t want them to attack the hive. Chapter 019 - Staying Alive Note: If you like the story, please consider rating the story on bottom of the fiction page. :) Even if you don''t like it, still please consider it. Feedback is always welcome! Even if it''s negative. Lair Chapter 019 - Staying Alive By Skalsar >You really messed up badly.< Rego was talking to a [Soldier ¨C Commander] who was looking at the orcs that surrounded [Mafay Village]. Not that it was personally the fault of the man, but as a commander, he should have stopped this from happening. >I don''t know what to say, chief Rego. This is terrible. We still don''t know how the orcs were able to find the [Scouts]. Not to mention the two [Vanguards] that ran away from the battlefield.< >Nobody is blaming you. I was at fault for acting to rashly.< The commander and Rego looked to the man who talked just now. It was the [Local Lord]. Because his daughter Lily was kidnapped, he sought to destroy the orcs that entered his territory, believing it was them who took her. >No, mylord. It''s a good choice to destroy such a threat as soon as possible.< >Please call me by my name already, Rego. We know eachother for years. Even before you retired to become a settler.< >Uhm, yes.. sure, Odas.< It was weird for Rego, but if the lord asks him, he will do it. As a [Village Chief] it should be alright. Even through the nobles don''t like it if non-nobles call a noble by his name in public. >What will we do now?<, the commander finally asked. If the lord commanded, he was ready to strike at the orcs any time. Even if it meant dying. >We have to survive for one more day. Reinforcements are on the way.< With that said, Odas left. [Mafay Village] was surrounded by a weak wall made from wood. It won''t hold out for long if the orcs attacked it. The [Soldiers] and [Adventurers] are able to defend for now, but that might change any time. And there is still the kidnapping. But the orcs aren''t even trying to use the kidnapped girl as a hostage. Maybe they really didn''t do it? But that won''t change the situation. One might wonder why the reinforcements take that much time, or why the village isn''t evacuated using the skill to travel between [Villages] and [Cities] called [Field Walk]. But for some reason or another, it isn''t working if a [Village] or [City] is under siege. Like an [Explorer] can''t use [Dungeon Walk] if a monster is near. They were simply to slow to react. >Attack!< Someone was shouting. The orcs were at it again, but the [Soldiers] already noticed the movements. A good dozen orcs were rushing through the forest with an improvised ram. With full force, they crashed into the wooden wall and broke both, the wall and the ram. [Soldiers] attacked the orcs with spears. It isn''t a good choice to fight orcs in close combat, so spears are the best choice. But the orcs were already running away. >That''s really bad.< The commander looked worried. >[Runners]!<, after shouting, young boys walked up to the commander. >Tell the officers to abandon the wall!< With that said, the boys ran to the [Soldier ¨C Officers] that led the defending squads. The [Runner] was an agile class with high stamina, used to deliver messages on the battlefield. And they have a skill called [Blur] which makes it hard to see them running in a battle. But after getting away from the wall, nothing happened. >Maybe we were wrong?<, Rego asked. But the commander shook his head. >No. I''m sure now. Their leader must be a strong [Orc Shaman]. If they can force us to heavily guard one spot, they will use magic to destroy that point.< >The breaking moral from that would destroy us. Stay vigilant.<, he continued. But because of the abandoned wall, the village was now penned up too. Enough for the orc leader to show himself at least. A big figure appeared from the forest, where the wall was already broken. His staff was glowing blue and thirty [Orc Warriors] were guarding him. When he struck the earth with his staff, a ball of blue light shot to the sky. A shockwave exploded in the air. Clouds turned black, thunder howled. If someone was to think ''Well, it''s just rain.'', they should think again. [Mafay Village] was surrounded by Orcs. A strong race which could rip a weak [Villager] apart with his hands. [Field Walk] wasn''t working. The farmlands were outside the village and had to be abandoned. Now on top of that, the sight from the [Watchtower] in the middle of said village was taken because of the rain and if lightning were to hit, panic would break out. This situation was the worst. >It''s a [Stormcaller] ..< Rego knew about them from his days as an [Adventurer]. It was the evolved form of a [Orc Shaman]. Ranking the same as an [Adventurer] at that. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Speaking about rankings, humans have their classes, monsters have evolutions. Being a second evolution of orcs, the [Stormcaller] could take on an [Elite Knight] alone. >We have to leave.< >What?!< The commander didn''t get it yet. >Abandon everything! Take nothing!< With Regos shout everyone around was shocked. Rego himself equiped his old armor and weapon now. >I will buy you time. Run south! The reinforcements will come from there.< >Wait, what do you mean with "buy time"? Are you crazy?! The leader has thirty orcs with him but the clan should have over a hundred warriors!< Rego didn''t even listen. Just like that he ran down the towers stairs. >[Soldiers]! Take everyone south, to safety! In the name of the [Village Chief]!< His voice echoed through the village. It was a skill acquired by a leader. [Shout]. The [Soldiers] didn''t understand the situation, but still acted. Right now, they were sitting ducks. They had to break through. When Rego reached the forest, he threw an dagger to take down an orc. It was the power of a level 57 [Adventurer]. The orcs were mostly level 25, maybe 30. At least that was what Rego was hoping for. If so. He might be able to slay a quarter of the clan before dying. The problem was the [Stormcaller]. Lightning was raining down on the battlefield. When there was a small opening on a warrior, he had to back away because of the magic attacks. Sure, the orc wouldn''t risk hitting his own. But that meant Rego had to stay near the [Orc Warriors]. One on one was alright, but they came in bundles of three. >Let the light of the goddess Ignis shine on you! [Heal]!< Light hit Rego and some of his wounds were gone. But that was bad in his own way. It meant just one thing.. >Stupid boy..< Rego was angry at himself for not having noticed that Lant followed him. Now both of them would die. But because of the [Novice Cleric], he might be able to take some more orcs with him. >Stay behind me run away if the [Stormcaller] channels mana!< Lant nodded. Any mistake would mean instant death. >WUAAAAAH!<, escaped a shout from Rego. An aura of clarity entered Lants mind. It was Regos skill [Battlecry], which increased vigilance for a short time. Sadly, the [Orc Warlord] that entered the fight just now, could do that too. And his additional [War Cry] was a skill that increased strength and weakened the enemy. Rego was staring at him in disbelieve. This was really bad. A warlord and an evolved shaman. With a loud *BANG*, the axe hit the ground and stones were send flying. Rego was able to dodge it. But the [Stormcaller] used magic again. Lightning surrounded the [Orc Warlord]. It was a defence magic that struck lightning if hit with metal. >Your mace!< Rego threw Lant his sword and caught the mace. The mace was isolated with thick leather on the hilt, to provide better grip. It would at least weaken the lightning. A powerfull strike hit the [Orc Warlords] stomach, thunder growled. Rego was thrown back, but was standing. >Great Ignis, may your blessing heal the sick! [Prayer of Life]!< It was weaker than [Heal], but provided regeneration over time. But Rego was even more worried about that. Lants magic power would be gone in one or two more skills. The warlord was grinning. >Shit.< Rego saw his mistake, but wasn''t fast enough to react. Behind him, an orc hit two red stones against eachother. The explosion threw Rego again. It was called [Elemental Stone ¨C Fire]. While it can create small flames if hit with a normal stone, it creates a strong explosion if hit with another [Elemental Stone ¨C Fire]. Just like that, the orc behind Rego had used them to commit suicide. Trying to take Rego with him. Lant stepped in to strike the warlord with the sword. But a level 4 [Novice Cleric] couldn''t possible damage a warlord. With his backhand, he hit Lant hard enough to make him fly to the side. Gripping his axe, grinning, the warlord stopped his movement and looked back. The rain was gone. The thunder was gone. The [Stormcaller] was gone. The [Orc Warriors] were gone. No, they were still there. Lying on the ground, with green puddles around them. Orcblood. A woman was in the middle of it all. Long, red hair and blue armor that blocked most of her feminine features. Her eyes were glowing in a strong purple. Maybe some kind of skill. Lant was taken in by the view. A second later, the warlord was slain. Rego had to take a deep breath and started laughing weakly. They were saved. Chapter 020 - Lily - Point Of View Lair Chapter 020 - Lily - Point Of View By Skalsar Why are there always so few other kids around? Dad said, to stay besides him. After mother left us, he said to always come traveling with him. He doesn''t want me to be alone in the mansion. But I never was alone. There were Pet and Vira and Waru and Molli and the others too. Still he doesn''t let me. He says, they are just toys. I don''t like it when he calls them toys. They are sad when he calls them names. It''s mean. But he doesn''t know it better. Still I have no choice but to travel with him. But there never are kids to play with. When we were at the [Capital] the last time, there was a boy who watched me. But he never came to ask if I want to play. I don''t really understand. But I guess it has something to do with my [Status]. Mom taught me how to use it a year ago, before she left us. I don''t understand much though and dad says he doesn''t understand when I try to show him.
Blessing Of The Seven Watchers
Well, at least I get to see many villages. They look really weird sometimes. ... The village is boring. Daddy says it doesn''t exist since long or something like that. I forgot. But there no kids here. Again. Maybe one or two. But when I approach them, they run away. I don''t like it. Who cares about playing with other kids anyways? I will play in the woods. Dad said not to, but he isn''t even around. He always runs from meeting to meeting. Just like before mom left us. Only that I have to stay at some house in the village every time, instead of playing with my friends. ... Dad was quite angry when I returned. He said: >Don''t you know how dangerous those woods are?!< Obviously I don''t. How should I if he is never there to tell me. Maybe my friends would have told me if you hadn''t told me to leave them back home. Only thing I know is that there was a nice doggy who played tag with me. She had white fur and was as big as me. And really fast too. But she still let me win sometimes. It was already quite dark when I returned, but dad had another meeting to attend to. He didn''t even take the time to scold me more than that. Instead he left two adults with me. With armor and swords. They are called [Guards]. I will wait with them till he returns. So that we can go home ''without any further incident''. ... A weird kid opened the door to the [Inn]. He was big and scary. A child shouldn''t be that big! Dad always says to stay vigilant of the bigger kids. But that he would take care of it if any of them are mean to me. So it should be... ''RUN!'' ''NO!'' ''You have to move!'' ''Don''t move, stay still!'' ''It''s dangerous! Don''t move! It might ignore you!'' ''Please, no! Please! You have to run child! You have to run!'' They are loud! Why are they so loud! Dad said to leave you at the mansion, why are you even here and shouting like that! It hurts! ''YOU HAVE TO RUN!'', they finally shout in unision. It feels like it will break my head. The kid is looking at me. ... Huh? Where am I? Did I fall asleep? It''s dark and... >EEEK!< A bug! I touched a bug! ... AH! That hurts! He hit me! That weird kid hit me! Are you stupid?! Bully! And right after I touched some disgusting bug. What is wrong with you? Can''t you see that I hate bugs?! I''m a girl, you know! He nods? Why does he nod? I nod too. Oh my god! He ripped my dress! Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.That bastard! Is he one of those perverts dad sometimes curses about? The ones that will take me away and make me their bride? I better stay vigilant! ... He kept watching me. I call him he, but I''m not sure anymore. Normally I know if someone is a girl or a boy, but he is different. Like if he hasn''t decided himself. Is there something like deciding for oneself? Aren''t you just born with it? But I will keep thinking of him as a boy for now. He can tell me if it annoys him. Mom always told me, boys have to take the first step. ... It has been at least a day since the kid brought me to this weird cave. The ground is moist and feels weird. And most of the cave is dark. Why do I have to stay here? But even after walking circles for an hour I still can''t find an exit. How do I leave here? This is stupid! I want to go home! *sob* And I''m getting hungry too. ... The weird kid brought me a rabbit. Is it because I''m crying? Does he want to comfort me? Let me go home instead, idiot! But it''s cute somehow.. If he is trying to be nice to me, I shouldn''t be mean. The rabbit looks fluffy too. Guess I will call it fluffy. Don''t come near mean boy, I will take care of fluffy from now on. Huh? I said don''t come near! Hey, what are you..! No.. This.. He.. Why..?! He.. This is terrible.. He killed it.. Just why..? No.. I guess I know why.. He just doesn''t understand me. My friends always understand me. But not the adults and neither this kid or his friends. Instead he is making dinner. He wants me to eat the rabbit. If you had just asked, I would have been fine with vegetables. But I get it, he isn''t normal. I have to be careful. Someone who murders a rabbit just like this is dangerous. I must find out more about him. This is important, I''m sorry. I will have to break my promise. >Lily.<, I point at myself and tell him my name.
You have broken your vow.
Broken Vow:
For breaking your vow, you will lose the blessing of the seven watchers.
You have lost the blessing of the seven watchers.
They really did it.. My friends left me because I broke my promise..
You have been blessed by Frey.
Ah! I knew! You really are my friend! Thank you so much Frey! I don''t know what I would do without you! ... After.. I don''t know.. When did he take me here? It feels like days. By now I understand how he and his friends leave here. They open doors like when dad and I travel between villages. He really is a bad child. But some of his friends seem nice. They look very similar to him. Sometimes it''s hard to discern. But there are small differences in height and behavior. I like his doggy-friend better. He always looks like he wants to play, but isn''t allowed to. I guess they are mean to him too. Don''t worry little doggy-friend. I might just be 10, but I will take care of things from now on! They might be bigger, but I''m still older than most here! Chapter 021 - Change Lair Chapter 021 - Change By Skalsar Back in [Mafay Village], the red-haired woman explained what had happened. The other [Villagers] and [Soldiers] had also returned with the reinforcements. But they weren''t needed anymore. Seeing all the orcs, she doubted it would be possible to get through, but they were surprisingly weak. Most of them were even lying down sick from some weird poison as it seemed. A [Hero] was unbelievable strong. But orcs were strong too. Speaking in levels, if a level 1 [Orc Warrior] and a human level 100 [Novice] fought, the orc would win. If a level 100 [Orc Warrior] were to fight a human level 1 [Hero], the [Hero] would win. That is how the deitys designed the world to be. But you can''t negate damage completly. If enough damage is pilled up, even the [Hero] will die. And there are things like critical hits on weakspots. Attacking the eyes is quite dangerous too. >Because of their weakened state, I was getting through easily. They tried to swarm me, but were no match. So I slaughtered them all and finally reached that old [Adventurer] there.< She pointed at Rego. It seemed to be luck. She was on her way back from a monster subjugation and saw weird clouds far away. Noticing it was magic, something made her run in that direction, where she then met the orcs. >If they had been at their full force, I doubt I would have made it in time.< Lant and Rego were more than happy about that coincidence. Maybe the orcs were fleeing or came from a big fight. Nonetheless, they had to die. >But did you find her?! Did you find my girl?!< The lord looked worried. The orcs were dead, but he still had no word about his daughter. ''It can''t be that she was already killed, right? She has to be alive!'' >I''m sorry, but there was nothing but orcs.< Looking confused, the [Hero] didn''t seem to know what was going on right now. >Please calm down Odas, maybe the orcs really didn''t take her.< But the lord didn''t want to calm down. His daugther was still missing. What man would calm down in that situation? >Maybe..< At that voice, everyone looked to Lant who was deep in thought. >.. she was taken to the dungeon?< Rego and Odas went pale at that thought. If the orcs did so, she should be as good as dead. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lily had grown fond of the [Blazing Hellhound] somehow. I didn''t even notice when that happend. What did I do at that moment? Not even "Hivemind" understood it. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Humans are to be afraid of creatures. They should run away, shake, fight for their life. And not.. Ride on them. How did she even climb up there? Oh you betrayer. I see. The flaming fur of a [Blazing Hellhound] has magical properties. It decided to not burn her and let her have her way. ''Stop that you idiot! She is food! Dont play with her!'' With that said, it puts her down and looks a bit sad. Just what is up with this creature? ''But you play with her all the time.'', it tells me with a bit of envy. Wait, what?! ''I''m not PLAYING! I''m studying humans! That is different!'' ''In what way?'' "Hivemind" looks at me curious too. What the heck? You too? Is it because I asked you not to eat her, that you take [Blazin Hellhounds] side, "Hivemind"? ''The difference is..! Well.. Different..'' What exactly is the difference in experimenting on her behaviour and playing? In both I can see how she reacts to different situations. Learn about her movement and intelligence. But most of all, where the hell did Lily run off to again? Oh no. I left the [Black Gate] open. Whenever I do, she runs through and explores the hive as if she owned the place. Doesn''t she know how dangerous that is? Well, it isn''t. Because I told everyone not to eat her, till I''m done. And she is quite good at evading traps. That isn''t the point though. Annoying stupid little human girl! When I catch you, I will eat you! No, probaly not. I want to test out what happens if you eat magic power next. Sadly she still doesn''t understand a word I say. I would like to ask her why, but well, she won''t understand. She is too stupid for it. ''You hear me? Too stupid!'' ''How do you know, maybe it''s just ignorance? Or maybe she knows that you will eat her after you succeed? Can you say for sure that she is just stupid and not playing you?'' I look at [Hiveworker] in shock. ''That is, with all due respect, my [Queen].'', he adds. What if he is right? Could a human be playing me? But humans are stupid, aren''t they?! I have to find out! Think about other ways. What can I do if she refuses to understand? Ah! Just because she doesn''t learn to talk with her mind, doesn''t mean I can''t learn to use voice. With that thought, I lay down in the [Lair] and focus magic power. I already understand most of the things she says with her voice. There just is something missing for me to use it myself. Chapter 022 - Long Live The [Queen] Lair Chapter 022 - Long Live The [Queen] by Skalsar I''m an egg. This is weird. While I''m here, I''m kind of not here. No, let me rephrase that. I''m the consciousness of a [Soul], residing in a core, missing a body. After breaking it down, only a lump of meat is protecting my core. Redesigning myself. That is what I''m doing. [Queen] number four is helping me again. The one that came up with the ratlike creatures. ''Would you call me Sora, please?'' Huh? Is she asking me to call her by a name? ''Is that weird?'' She shyly asks. But what can I say? Sure it does! ''We are creatures of the hive, I don''t get why we would need a name.'' ''I don''t believe we need one.. just.. I would like to have one. Like Lily is Lily.'', she says. Is she special, too? She developed a consciousness very fast as well, but I won''t call her a genius, I guess. ''Somehow, Sora feels like a fitting name for you.'' I don''t really get why I think so. Maybe intuition? Like how she gives off a ''female'' feeling? Argh! I made a mistake because I was too focused on her. Now the feature of the obsidian thorn is gone. I need to concentrate! I already altered how the magic power from my core circulates through the flesh. My muscle density is increased like those orcs, too. As soon as I grow muscles that is. I''m only a lump of meat right now. ''Why did you change the circulation of magic power?'' ''Because it will allow me to modify my body more easily in the future.'', I explain to Sora. The little channels of magic power will go through most regions of my body. Magic power is what keeps us alive. It''s what we feed on. What we grow from. We take it in and transform it. We even can turn it into our own flesh. So if I can reach my flesh with the magic power more easily, I can change it in a better way. ''So, by doing that, you don''t need to break down your body in the future?'' ''That''s right.'' I hope so at least. The feeling of being bodyless is disturbing. But what to do about a weapon now? Have to bring back the thorn I guess. And while I''m at it.. maybe something with more force? I might need more hands for handling all this modifying. Hm. More hands? Why not. At least I can try, can''t I? Uh, this is getting costly. Sora already needs to supply me with magic power from the hive. Neither my saved up, nor my [Hiveworkers] and [Drones] collected magic power holds up for long. Imitating is a piece of cake if you understand how something works, but creating anew is a whole different story. But that doesn''t mean anything to me now! I already started, I can''t give up midway! Arms are just arms. I already had two. Just duplicate them and put them below the other two. I have to increase the height of my upper body for that. The real trick is inside the two new hands. Within, I put stings. Having more possibilities besides the thorn should be useful. With this. I finally emerge from the egglike structure of meat. Black chitin is on my whole body. My complete height is about four meters. The height of my upper body alone is a bit shorter than three meters. It resembles the form of a cobra. But four arms with clawlike hands spring from the shoulders. Which is slightly below the hood that surrounds my head. One of the arms has the obsidian thorn attached to it. The lower body with its strong and also sharp eight legs, looks more like that of a scorpion instead of an ant queen now. Mostly for being coated with the black chitin. It has pits though. Many pits. Dozens of [Drones] fill these with their bodies. But the most shocking thing is: Lily isn''t impressed in the slightest! She watched it all interested, but as soon as I emerged, she started cuddling with the [Blazing Hellhound]! >You stupid little human girl! Don''t you understand the greatness of this?!<, I shout at her. That''s right. Vocal chords. I added them. Now she looks shocked. I showed her this time. "Hivemind" is.. Angry? Huh? What is the meaning of this? ''You stupid child!'', he shouts at me. His mind is unsettled. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.Did I do something wrong again? ''Again and again you do it!'' What? That''s not fair! I.. ''Oh shut up!'' Ah! He is shutting me down?! Why?! ''You wasted magic power again! Didn''t I tell you not to do so?!'' But there are no humans in the hive! I was allowed to do experiments as long as.. My consciousness failed me for a second. What did I want to say just now? ''Have you no sense of your surroundings?! The humans have a [Hero] with them! And you nearly wasted it all!'' I can feel his hunger. The thoughts and feelings of "Hivemind" are flooding my mind. Ah! That is the village? A [Hero] is in the village? ''I need to devour.. I need to grow.. Stronger. Get stronger!'' "Hivemind" is losing it. Even eating some of our own creatures. My consciousness is flickering on and off. ''Please wait, "Hivemind"!'', I try to talk to him but he is looking for prey to devour. He is looking for.. Hey! No! Not my experiment! ''Wait! You said you won''t eat her till I''m done!'' ''So hungry..'' Did I waste that much? I feel it now. We are nearly empty of circulating magic power. I did something really stupid. No, that can''t be all. We were low on power before. Is it the influence of the [Hero] near our hive? Or the influence of strong prey generally? [Blazing Hellhound] has been shut down. It is getting up and staring at Lily. I won''t be able to finish my experiments. And that just after I finally made it possible to communicate with her. It''s not fair. Will I have to get a new toy? I mean.. human? I want to cry. What? Cry? Just what is happening with me? As my body improves, I have the feeling of .. No, not the feeling of. I''m really starting "to feel" all kind of emotions. Is it Lilys influence? Could that be possible? My mind doesn''t seem to work. Being shut down and waking up again is hindering me. ''Sleep!'', "Hivemind" screams at me. Lily will be devoured. She isn''t even crying, even through she seems to know. The shouting and screaming isn''t coming either. Just looking at me with her small green eyes. >Please save me.<, she asks. ''Save her'', something whispers faintly in my mind. But it isn''t Lily. Before I know, I already grabbed the head of the [Blazing Hellhound]. Infused with magic power, the sting that is hidden in my hand shoots forward vigorously and pierces the skull of the beast. My hand is burned by the fur. I acted on instinct. I don''t understand. This is new to me. Not that it will stop the [Blazing Hellhound] for long. Because the core isn''t damaged, it will regenerate. ''How dare you!?'', "Hivemind" shouts again. It''s getting annoying. I don''t care anymore. Strong prey or not. Maybe even [Hero]. This is getting ridiculous. ''Get yourself together.'', is what I tell him. His greedy eyes are focused on me. Yes, his eyes. He came to me as the [Dungeon Lord]. ''Why can''t I put you to sleep? I need to devour. We need to devour.'' The flickering stopped. He doesn''t get it. Magic power is one thing. I won''t ever beat him with that. But clashing with his consciousness against mine, he loses. I finally get it. We are all like children. Trying to find our place. Acting only on what little we know. [Dungeon Lord] drops to the ground in front of me. Had he cut my connection to the hive, he could have slaughtered me in seconds without sweat. I put him to sleep. His consciousness that is. ''Shut up and take a break for now.'' My [Hiveworkers] and [Drones] are already collecting magic power. In a few hours the hive will be back to normal. And sure as hell I won''t sleep anymore. Sora is looking at me in a weird way. I don''t know what it means and she won''t let me see in her mind. Whatever. It will have to wait. I sit down and concentrate. My mind is focused on keeping "Hivemind" at bay and collecting magic power. I don''t have time for anything else. After that I will continue my experiments! Chapter 023 - Under The Moonlight Lair Chapter 023 - Under The Moonlight By Skalsar [Broodmother]. Sora called me that just now. Nobody in the hive knows why and "Hivemind" is still weak and decided to sleep some more. On his own accord that is. After getting more magic power, he finally realized what he had been doing and stopped. But before going to sleep he said that something big changed in the hive. He couldn''t really describe it. Just looking at me weirdly and deciding to go to sleep. But if names come from the memory of humans we aquire, how can I be called a [Broodmother]? I build my appearance from watching animals and monsters and changed it according to the situation I''m in currently. Shouldn''t I be unique right now? Could it really be that there was something like me before? But Sora can''t really tell. Just that the thought of me being a [Broodmother] came to her somehow. And the other creatures in the hive said so, too. There must be more to the names and terms. I want to know. That isn''t right. I must know. If something is influencing us, besides the memory of the [Soul] we were created from, that is. Maybe we are being manipulated and in danger? On the other hand I feel really unique right now. Not one of the other [Queens] is able to evolve to a [Broodmother] right now. I registered as the variant, like with the [Drones], but if they try, they just know that it would fail. Something about only one [Broodmother] being hard on the hive already. Like with the second [Dungeon Lord] having to sleep, because the hive is too weak. It might get to wake up if I were to change back to being a [Queen]. But I don''t want to right now. I feel amazing. Sora will have command over the hive for a while. Even if "Hivemind" is sleeping and a [Hero] in the village, I will go to the forest. I want to move around. See what it''s like to be in my new form. The atmosphere changes the moment I step through the [Black Gate]. I feel.. free? Sure, the minds of my [Hiveworkers] and [Drones] are there, their bodies sleeping on my back. But after understanding that we are all just children, I feel relieved. I thought I have to be something great. That I would have to keep the hive safe and fulfill his expectations. But he too is just a child, only knowing about devouring. Learning new stuff every day. But I still don''t know what Lily meant. After I saved her she turned to me and looked worried. >Who was that beautiful woman?<, she kept asking and searching for someone. I didn''t understand. But she told me, that when she asked me to save her, a woman was besides me. A beautiful woman, dressed in black. She seemed to whisper in my ear and as she did, I saved Lily. This is really disturbing. I never saw any woman. No one did. I will have to think about this later. For now, I watch Lily happily dancing through a field of flowers. If I review everything like that.. we were like children throwing a tantrum about a world we don''t understand yet. Trying to destroy while not being destroyed. The moon is shining. I remember. [Wisps] surround me. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. We didn''t know before, why they are only visible in moonlight. But now I get it, I can feel it myself. The bond between body and [Soul] strengthens. It allows magic power to flow more easily. Strengthening the body of small and otherwise weak creatures. While I can''t do that for bigger creatures, I can at least grant that feature to the [Hiveworkers] and [Drones]. It''s quite easy. Just a small change of how the core emits the magic power into the flesh. Done. The creatures on my back vibrate weakly for a short duration, changing. If we want to be part of this world, we have to adapt. Our deity was lost. Creatures are just monsters for other races. Staying in places only to devour. We have to change. >Come, we will go back now.<, I tell Lily and she runs towards me while I open a gate. >Can''t I go see daddy now?<, she asks me. >No.< I''m not yet ready to give up my experiments. >We have to try teaching you how to talk first. Not that annoying stuff with a voice though.< Guess she doesn''t get it. After saving her, she grew fond of me too. It''s kind of.. nice. Can''t blame [Blazing Hellhound] for it anymore. Lily and I talked about the village for a while, her father seems to be the [Local Lord]. She travels through villages and cities quite often because of that. Most of them are inhabited by humans, a few by beastraces. Lily says, she saw people with ears like that of a cat and fur all over their bodies. Guess this is a really interesting world after all. ''Alright guys, listen up!'' I connect to everyone in the hive. Even "Hivemind" wakes up and listens. ''We have been wrong. Sure, devouring and growing are what made us. But that isn''t all.'' "Hivemind" is confused about what I''m saying. ''I don''t want anyone to stop doing so, don''t worry. What I want to say is.. We have to evolve and adapt. If we want to stay in this world, we have to interact with it.'' [Blazing Hellhound] is getting up and looks happy. ''Does that mean I may play with Lily?'' I nod in approval. ''We need to change the hive and our way of acquiring food. The humans are everywhere in the world. Building villages and cities. They can do so, because they acquired a steady income of food.'' "Hivemind" looks at me interested now. ''So, you want to tell us to let prey leave alive after getting their magic power?'' I nod again. ''But not every prey. We can''t take too much risks. If some strong prey attacks us, we will kill or imprison it. But other than that, we will grow our prey to that point and only devour the magic power!'' They finally understand. We will change the form of our food to concentrated magic power. Humans and monsters enter our hive in order to acquire treasure and experience. If they do so, they grow stronger and are able to produce more magic power. As long as we don''t sacrifice too many creatures, we can get our hands on our own livestock. We will expand our hive and create something new and powerful. Chapter 024 - Revelation Lair Chapter 024 - Revelation By Skalsar The absorbtion of magic power is tricky. I have to change the cores of nearly every creature in our hive. Cores act as a vessel for magic power and the [Soul], giving form to the creature. In order to absorb magic power, everything in the body needs to flow towards the core. There, a strong undertow needs to be held up. For that, the magic power needs to circulate through the core. Which means, the cost of creating and upkeeping them increases. I finished just in time. Time for what? For the arrival of the [Hero]. If anything goes wrong, we might be wiped out. For that, the creatures have to prepare to fight. The [Local Lord], [Village Chief], and [Hero] are in front of our hive. I guess they want to get Lily. Better give her back. For now that is. Sadly, my experiments had failed. Lily wasn''t able to learn how to communicate. When I open a [Portal] to the entrance, five humans stand in front of me. Four of them trembling. Two of them are quite the strong prey. First is the old man that is the [Village Chief]. But he is hiding his presence quite good. Though I know because of his fight against the orcs. [Hero] is the other one. A woman with red hair and purple glow of her eyes. Which is because of her strong magic power. I''m getting hungry just looking at her. >Get back!< Two [Guards] get in front of the [Local Lord]. >What the hell is that monster?<, guess they don''t know what I am. >My observe skill tells me that it''s called a [Broodmother].<, the old man explains. >A variation to the [Queen].< Huh? How did they know? Is that a skill? Observe? That''s cheating! Why does some stupid skill know what I''m called?! >Shit, it looks angry.< Oh, did I look angry there? Guess what? I am! Stupid humans with their stupid skills. >How shall I kill you, creature?!<, the [Hero] finally speaks and gets in front of everyone. I might try explaining the situation to them, but they all drew their weapons already. Maybe I should stay friendly here. We don''t want too much attention. I take Lily from my back and put her on the ground. The woman with red hair attacks me right at that moment. With help of the obsidian thorn, I parry her sword just in time. >Wait daddy!<, Lily shouts surprised too. Her father, the lord, grabbed her and dragged her behind the [Guards] as fast as possible. >He is my friend!<, she states and shocks everyone. But the [Hero] still continues her fight against me. Good for me. Delicious magic power! Every swing that I parry, lets me take a bit more of the magic power that is wrapped around her sword. Even though it''s parried by a hair''s breadth. >What do you mean with that?<, the old man asks Lily. >He showed me his home and let me play with a big fluffy doggie!< Not that they would really understand, Lily wasn''t good at explaining. Three dozen creatures take flight from my back. The woman reacts first and jumps away, but gets stung two times with needles. She looks terrified for a second. >Don''t move!<, old man says. >This is dangerous.< >What are they?< >Something special of this dungeon, the bigger ones with stings are called [Drones]. They attack with paralysing poison from the needles they shoot from the sting and a sticky spit. The smaller ones are [Hiveworkers]. They are weaker but know how to bite and come in swarms.< They are vigilant now. Good. >So, let''s talk now.< When I say that, the humans look at me stupified. Guess they didn''t think a creature would talk to them? >You.. you can talk?< >Why shouldn''t I? Not everyone is as stupid as humans.< >But.. you are a monster?< >That depends.< >Depends on what?< >From where you are looking.< They look irritated now. Maybe I said too much? >My name is Rego. I''m the chief of [Mafay Village]. This is the [Local Lord] and his daughter, Lily.< >Sure, I know. Don''t care.<, voice is still annoying. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. >Then, what do you want to talk about?< >Trading.< They look even more irritated now. Maybe I have to say it in a more direct way for them to understand? >I want to establish trade with [Mafay Village]. You seem to depend heavily on products from our hive.< >You are out of your mind creature!< The hero seems enraged and attacks me again. >I can sense your presence, monster! You have been marked by a deity. You are an enemy of humankind!< Sounds right. But can''t do anything about that. It''s my nature. Luckily it doesn''t matter right now. [Hero] is already weakened. Maybe because she killed all these orcs. Or because I stole quite a bit of her magic power in our earlier clash. She gets shot by three of my [Drones]. >Seems like you humans need a more direct communication. I''m the [Broodmother] of this hive. This.. is the [Dungeon Lord].< While I speak, a creature of three meters height with black armor, eyes like burning coal, two horns on his forehead and a sword surrounded by blue flames appeared out of a [Portal]. The humans were holding their breath. >Looks like that got your attention. [Dungeon Lord] says, you infiltrated his land. Again.< I pause for a moment to look at their reactions. >He tried to live a normal live, but you humans follow him again and again. You build settlements and villages besides him. Attack him whenever you can. Loot through his home and kill his children.< >So tell me, who is the monster?< I look at the humans while shaking my head with disappointment. Sure, everything is a lie but that doesn''t matter. It only matters that the humans believe it. It buys us time. >The last village tried to kill our [Dungeon Lord]. So he had to destroy it. And now you join up with a [Hero] and threaten our home again. Not that I believe you ignorant humans might really understand that.< Rego and the lord looked shocked about this sudden revelation. Being seen as a monster attacking the home of others, seems new to them. >Cut that crap, monster!<, the woman still didn''t care. >Join me and attack!<, she screamed and the two [Guards] joined her. My [Drones] bombarded them with their poisonous stings and "Hivemind" used his [Dungeon Lord] body to parry the [Hero]. While I grabbed the heads of the [Guards] and pierced their skulls with the stings hidden in my hands. It was over in seconds. [Hero] hesitated for too long. After being hit by the paralysis poison for the first time, she should have attacked till the end or ran. Being weakened every second, she was no match for the [Dungeon Lord] anymore. He kicked her in the stomach, slapped her face and stomped on her hand when she fell. After she let go of her sword, he broke her arm, grabbed her hair and dragged her into the hive. She will become our first livestock. >We won''t ignore any more provocations.<, I explain. Rego and the lord watch me with a hint of panic. >Why are they trying to kill my friend?!<, Lily is angry at the humans. Funny. Her father is looking shocked. Guess that was the last straw. >I see. We were in the wrong.<, he lowers his head. >This is.. I don''t really get it.<, Rego adds. >You may take your time and think about it. We also like the food that enters our hive. As long as you don''t try to kill the [Dungeon Lord], we won''t mind. But if you tell everyone about today and we get attacked, we will take vengeance.< With this, I take my leave. Returning to the [Lair], I feel exhausted. This is terrible. We fought a [Hero]! The woman lost because she was listening to my talk, but she wasn''t what humans call high level I guess. Otherwise, it should have been more of a fight. But just what will happen if they attack again? What if more [Heroes] come? Or if they get reinforcements now?! This was a mistake! A mistake I say! I changed my mind! May I still change my mind, please? ''No.'', "Hivemind" answers me. Well, shit. Chapter 025 - Idrils Legacy Lair Chapter 025 - Idrils Legacy By Skalsar A small moaning escaped the girls mouth. Her body shaking and the voice high pitched as she was bend over the desk. The man behind her didn''t seem to care about her little weeping, as he still continued. He grabbed her golden hair and pulled on it. >Like this you can at least be of some use.<, he tells her with a bitter tone, before releasing her. >I''m sorry.<, she weeps. The man doesn''t care, instead he simply pulls up his pants and looks disappointed. >Go clean yourself. You reek.<, he adds and takes out some documents from a drawer. Mina never got much attention from him, besides when he wanted to have his way with her. >Would you.. tell me about my mom once more..?<, she timidly asked. >That again? Isn''t it enough that you wasted my money twice?!< It was his way to keep control of others. Getting in a higher position and blaming them for being less fortunate. Mina was just a tool for him. >This stories are getting to your head. First that story about [Quon Village Dungeon], then [Mafay Village Dungeon]. You said you would bring me great treasure. Tell me again, where is that treasure now?<, he threw his words. He didn''t really care about all that. Once he was known as [Idrils Shield], but those days were long since over. He acquired a new title after [Quon Village]. Now he was called [Treasurer Of The King]. Politics were his realm now. >You are lucky for not ending up as a slave, girl.< But was that really the case? What else was she, if not a slave for this man. After Idril died in the dungeon, the other adventurers returned and told their story. How Idril had saved them and killed the [Dungeon Lord]. And that she entrusted the safety of the village and her daugther to them. The otherwise orphan Mina was adopted by [Idrils Shield]. How lucky for her. Everyone was impressed by that much loyalty. But in reality, nobody else cared. They were saved, that was all that mattered. >Yes.. thank you..<, she answered weakly. >I even warned you I would have to sell you as a slave if you failed again, didn''t I?< >Yes.. you did.. I''m sorry.<, what else could she say. He had fed her false information. Tricked her into believing that a treasure of the [Hero] Idril was still in that dungeon. Not personally of course. He had used some other people in the [Capital]. Telling a rumor at a banquet. Giving someone an information that is supposed to be secret. After that it went on for itself. Till the point where Mina heard about it. It was cold calculation. He wanted her to be even more indepted to him. She took the bait and lend money from the man. A man that told her he would sell her if she couldn''t repay this time. [Idrils Shield], who had used his authority in order to abuse the girl whenever he felt like. He even made her sign a contract with a noble as a witness this time. >Don''t look like that.<, he now said warmly and hugged the girl. >I won''t sell you. You just wasted so much money again. How can I ever let you leave to stay on your own feet, if you always disappoint me like that?< Now he gave her false feelings again, while keeping her confidence at bare minimum. She started crying again. It was addiction. >You have to take your medicine. And go take a bath already. We will see if I have the time for a story about Idril afterwards.< Never hurt the man to use drugs in order to keep control, too. Like most of his slaves, she couldn''t leave for more than a week. Otherwise, withdrawal symptoms would start showing. >Weak little Mina..<, he caressed her cheek for a moment and left. >I know it''s there. It has to be. Mom''s necklace, I swear I will find it.<, she kept talking to herself left alone in the room. She had used all that money in order to find it, but she couldn''t. The [Dungeon Lord] was still there. The [Dungeon Heart] was still there. How could that have been possible? Didn''t he tell her again and again about her heroic mother and how she sacrificed herself? She had stayed with him, even through she wanted to leave so many times, for the hope he would one day tell her something new. But that never happened. And now when she had finally found new information, everything she knew fell apart. She didn''t even dare to ask about it. A small little thought stopped her. ''What if everything was a lie?'' She trembled and cried even more. What had he done to her for all these years? But she couldn''t just leave. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ''Why didn''t the [Queen] simply kill me? Maybe that would have been for the best.'' She thought about it again and again. Nothing really made sense. After Gram and her were surprised by the [Slimes] acid, they had nowhere to run. They didn''t fight a [Slime] before as there were none in [Quon Village Dungeon]. With no experience with acid and no way to get rid of it, the burning was terrible. It even made concentrating hard. Not only that, the panic took over when Gram wasn''t able to create a [Portal]. Even through there was no monster to be seen at all. Realizing that this would be their end, they were about to give up. Gram was just a boy. She didn''t want him to end up like this. All because of her wish to find something that was left by her mother. But the dead end didn''t appear. When she opened her eyes again, a [Queen] was watching her. ''Is she going to eat me alive? That might be good. At least I won''t have to worry anymore.'', she thought. But nothing like that happened. She starred at the [Queen], hoping for salvation. But the [Queen] just stared back at her as if there was something more to all this. And before she knew, Gram was getting up in front of her and.. kicked out of the dungeon. Not strong enough to defend or attack, but still not butchered, but kicked out. ''Please, don''t give up.'', something seemed to whisper very weakly. It was a faint female voice. Something in her mind, she didn''t knew about. It was a lovely voice. A caring voice. But that couldn''t have been that [Queen], right? Maybe it didn''t even happen. She was still dizzy from the acid and came to outside the dungeon. And more than everything else.. The [Queen] had more of a masculine feeling towards her. Sure, it was called a [Queen]. But it was a genderless monster. Still she would call the creature that kicked Gram and her out, a male if asked. ''No. I won''t give up. I will find out the truth!''
Your level has increased by 1.
For fulfilling special requirements, you may advance to the [Pathfinder] class.
Do you wish to change class? Yes / No
>[Pathfinder]?<
Pathfinder:
A third tier class that can be acquired by fulfilling special requirements.
There wasn''t much information about it, it seems. But being a third tier class..
Do you wish to change class? Yes / No
She accepted.
Class has been changed:
You have successfully changed your class to that of the special third tier class [Pathfinder]. Skills have been granted to fulfill your role.
The world in front of her eyes changed. Dozens of different colors were everywhere. Lights were glowing in some spots, shadows overlaying others. Just a glance gave her a painfull headache. >Too much!<, she said surprised and tried to concentrate. The light dimmed down. Some colors vanished. ''Is this a new skill?''
Vision Of The Seeker:
A skill which illuminates the path.
She understood now. This skill would show her the path to whatever she was seeking. Colors highlighted everything that was connected, for how it was connected. She just didn''t understand yet what which color stands for. But she would start with the bright blue light, that came from the desk. And as she opened the drawer she wasn''t supposed to open.. Trembling. Crying. Faintly whispering: >Just why?< She found a necklace. Chapter 026 - Will Of The Hive Lair Chapter 026 - Will Of The Hive By Skalsar I woke up. Finally. Not in a physical way. For once, I really woke up. My mind being clear. I had devoured and devoured. Ripping flesh and power from everything that stood against me. Dead or alive didn''t matter. My children crushed skulls and bled bodies to death. Not just for hunger, but to see if there was any difference. But there was none. Just suffering and death. It mattered not. Being afraid of disappearing, I made others disappear. Afraid of hunger, I devoured without thinking. Interrupted at devouring, I created new children to stop the interruptions. Focused on devouring. Just devouring. For all eternity. But not anymore. I woke up. Finally facing the truth. I have been wrong. ''Something big has changed in the hive.'', I told my smartest child. Then I went to sleep physically. He had stopped me. After being emptied of magic power, feeling the terror of hunger once more. Feeling the despair of being threatened by death once more. It wasn''t simply strong prey this time. It was a [Hero]. Fear took over. Something in my mind was shouting. Voices over voices. Everything screamed. I had to devour. Or so I thought. I was wrong. Even going as far as to eat some of my own children. How could I fall that low? But he stopped me. Smart little child. I simply was a child too. Devouring and devouring. Time after time. Sure, thoughts entered my mind. Memories were taken from the prey and put together. Thus I learned. But not enough. I didn''t think for myself. Just letting my children do it. Only devouring. My smart little child knew better. He took a human and started to learn on his own. Not waiting for something to happen. But making it happen. What had I done all this time? [Broodmother] came back and is waking me up. He is waking everyone up. Explaining his thoughts. Yes. We have been wrong. What we need to do is, change. The creatures of the hive will evolve. And we will start to interact with this world. If humans can do it, we can do it too. We will create our own livestock. And when we are ready.. We will conquer this land, which is my home! The hive is shaking. My children look worried. But I''m not. ''Fear not, for I''m awake now.'', I tell them and open my eyes. Bending the rules. Forming anew. My body wakes up. The [Dungeon Lord] that is. [Broodmother] looks at me worried. ''Don''t worry, smart little child. I had lost my way, but you opened my eyes.'' He nods. We speak about his plan some more. A [Hero] and some strong prey are on their way to us. We will meet them head on. ''But why is the hive shaking?'', my smart little [Broodmother] asks me. Well, it is simple. ''I disconnected the hive.'', I tell him. My children look at me terrified. But I''m not. ''Oh, stop it already.'', I tell them. ''Far too long was I asleep. Only devouring. Feeling the hunger of my body. This ends now. Yes, the hive is my body. But it''s our home. I''m the [Dungeon Lord]. The hive is the hive.'' ''But.. you are "Hivemind".'', [Blazing Hellhound] says. ''Yes. And no.'' We have got it wrong all the time. It took me till now. ''Hivemind is but a though. Hivemind is but a feeling. Hivemind is but a concept.'' They are irritated. ''When I came into being, I knew only to devour and to protect myself. That is "Hivemind". Nothing but a feeling to control what is within my body, to better devour and protect.'' You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ''But, if "Hivemind" is no more, how do we do things from now on..?'', Sora asks. They still don''t understand. ''I didn''t say it is no more. Hivemind is all of us. Hivemind is intuition. The connection we all share. Through the cores, we are one. Through the bodies, we are many. Through our personalities, we are ourselves. We are all this and more. Hivemind is but the collective will.'' I felt that they began to understand. With the connection to the hive shattered, my consciousness is now the [Dungeon Lord]. I changed my cores, before doing so. Compressed the magic power in it. Using some more power to store my being. From now on, the hive will be changed through the [Dungeon Heart]. Like other beings do if conquering a hive. If you touch the [Dungeon Heart], you may claim the hive. Creatures of the hive on the other hand, may change the hive through the heart. They may arrange the rooms or plan the way it grows. And so on. But only the one who claimed it may do so. That is me. I have to be killed, defeated or absent for someone else to claim it. Like that, [Broodmother] and I faced the humans. And won. I captured the [Hero] who will become our first livestock. We blamed the humans with a stretched truth and took their will to fight. The next step is to establish trade with them. Having a [Hero] as livestock is amazing. The magic power it holds is a bit more than that of the strong prey with which I took down a small village before. And it''s refilling. Just by giving it nutritions. Food and water. Somehow, other beings are able to change that into magic power. Not like us, who are living on magic power. Well, the [Hero] tried refusing to eat. But we can prevent that easily by putting her into a semi-sleep state. I created a [Slime] that breaks down the food into an edible fluid. She can''t stop the fluid from entering her body. The skin itself would be enough to absorb the nutritions, but that would take longer. [Slime] forces the fluid into her mouth and other orifices. She is making weird noises sometimes because of that. That''s why I put her on her own layer. A layer that will be only for livestock. Not reachable through normal ways. It would be bad if someone reached our livestock and stole it. ''We have acquired quite the promising livestock, but our expenses grew too.'' I nod. ''Still.'', I begin. ''The others will follow your example and evolve. First I will wake the second [Dungeon Lord] though. It will be the guard for the [Lair]. Second. I want Sora to think about an evolution on her own. As stated before, we need more diversity. The other two breeders too.'' We won''t be able to evolve everyone at the same time, but with the livestock, we will have enough magic power over time. And as we acquire more livestock, our possibilities grow. ''And there is something else.'' I look around the [Lair] for a bit. ''Those who prove themselves useful to our home, will be named by me. As she already chose a name, which I approve of, Sora will be Sora. I will be known as Danar and [Broodmother] will be Nydar from now on. [Blazing Hellhound] will be known as Blazer.'' ''Huh? Do we really need names?'', Nydar asks me. ''Yes. You said it yourself. We need to interact with the world. For that, we need names.'' ''And why can''t we chose them ourselves?'', Blazer wants to know. ''Well, because I say so as the leader of the hive. Being the strongest and oldest here.'' ''But..'' ''And could slaughter everyone in seconds.'', I add. ''Sounds Fair.'' ''Anyone who wants to challenge me for the right to rule the hive, may do so.'' No one wants to do that. With this, the matter is settled. I may have lost track of what is important once. That won''t happen again. Chapter 027 - Back In The Village Lair Chapter 027 - Back In The Village By Skalsar >She really lost..<, Lant whispered. The moment he had seen the woman, his thoughts were bound to her. And just like that, she was gone again. Not quite gone, but taken by the dungeon. Which means as good as dead in this case. The lord, Rego, Lant, Mardo, Lily, and an old man who was dressed like a scholar were holding a meeting. Were the old man seems to be the advisor for the lord. Rego had told Lant and Mardo about what happened because he trusted them. Lord Odas trusted Rego, he therefore allowed it. >She fought bravely. But they all do..<, the old man said. Not that it would change anything. The real problem with dungeons is that it''s considered another realm. Fighting in the realms of the deities was just fine. Bravery could win you that if the deities are in your favor. Fighting in a realm outside their reach was something entirely else. Suddenly you had to follow the rules of that realm. >A [Hero] level 100 could have fought that monster and still lost with a sting from one [Drone].< The same was true for creatures creeping from that realm, as it turned out. >I know. I mean.. I didn''t even know her. There is nothing you could have done. I just.. It''s shocking to lose a [Hero] after nearly being overrun by orcs.< That was the truth, too. Humanity at it''s finest. Being sad not for the dead, but for the situation that arises with it. >Still, seing that monster and hearing it talk was quite.. surprising.<, the lord spoke. Rego nodded. They never heard of something like a [Broodmother] before. Mardo was sighing. >Isn''t it even more shocking that a [Dungeon Lord] could leave his dungeon just like that?< But nobody wanted to answer him. It was a weird feeling for Rego and Odas, sure. But at least they knew [Dungeon Lords]. >I don''t think you should call him monster, he is just a kid.<, Lily said and earned worried views. Lily had returned to her father, that was wonderfull in its own. But she was.. disturbingly weird when talking. As if there wasn''t the least amount of common sense in her. The lord didn''t know what to say to her or about all this. >I''m happy that you are finally speaking, but you still go on with that nonsense. Didn''t I tell you, that friend of yours is different?<, he tried to explain to her again. >He calls it voice.<, she answered. >What does he call voice?<, Rego asked and tilted his head. >Speaking.<, she said. >They don''t speak, you know? They communicate with their minds. He said that humans are stupid for being only able to use voice and still believe they are the most intelligent among the races.< Seems like she blabbered out of boredom. >Wait. What?<, Lant was not following. >Do you want to say.. That mon.. That kid, talked to you with his mind and explained stuff?< >No.< >Ha, ok. Thought I heard wrong.< >I''m a human, humans are too stupid. He explained using voice.< This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Lant looked bewildered. >Did.. <, Mardo tried to say something but stopped himself, shaking his head. They still couldn''t believe that what they thought to be mindless killing machines that only devour, were sentinent beings that were talking about just defending their home. >All this is ridiculous.<, the lords advisor exclaimed. He looked at Lily and then at the lord again. Whispering to him now. >You really tell the truth, right? Lily didn''t speak for all her life and spends about a week in a dungeon and suddenly starts talking? Not only that, she tells us, she knows more than us about those monsters because she asked nicely? I studied dungeons for years now, and only know the things everyone knows. And yet you really want my advice about establishing trade with a monster?< >With the dungeons inhabitants. But yes. And maybe you should have tried asking too. Maybe we all should have.< The old man turned back to the others again. >Alright. Let''s say what the girl told us is true. The monsters in the dungeon are sentinent and want to trade with us.< He took a deep breath. >If we were to talk about it, the king would send in more [Heroes], the churches might send [Paladins] and other lords might send assassins after Odas to gain control over this dungeon.< >And what is the best outcome that might happen?<, Lant asked. >That was the best outcome.. Trading directly without the need to conquer the hive, would make [Mafay Village] very powerfull. The [Capital] wouldn''t allow that.<, Odas answered. >The worst would be that the moment we talk about it, a swarm of monsters surfaces in order to devour everything in this territory.<, the old man explained. >But we might try to increase our forces behind the scenes, without anyone knowing, right?< >Possibly, but that might draw attention from other lords and kings.< >They might think we want to invade someone.< >Shit..< Everyone was trying to get their thoughts together, but the situation was hard on them. Never did anyone say something about communicating with a dungeon. And here they were thinking about establishing trade. >Tell me Lily, what do you think the chances are that we can be friends with your friend, too?< It was Mardo who finally asked Lily for her opinion. But Lily looked irritated. >How should I know?< The lord seemed worried. He couldn''t just get any help from outside and nobody had been in such a position before. The ones in this room were the only ones he could depend on right now. >Alright. This might become my biggest mistake.. but I will enter negotiations with the mon.. inhabitants of the dungeon. We will have to find out what they want from us and what we can get from them. Maybe this will turn out into something great. Maybe it will be our end. But whatever it will be, I will see it through.<, Odas finally decided and dismissed the others. This would be all for the day. Later they would speak to the monster and talk about what to trade. Chapter 028 - Moving On Lair Chapter 028 - Moving On By Skalsar Gram was already waiting for days. Mina told him she had to return home for a while, but didn''t say how long it would take her. So he waited. And waited. What did he even know about her? He was adventuring with her, but she never was very talkative about herself. Only noting that she was looking for something important. Just what was it? And why was she so desperately searching for it? Nearly dying just one of the problems that occured because of that. He really would like to ask her about it. If she were to return, that is. The past days he had gone exploring the first few levels of the dungeon alone. Now that he knew about [Slimes], he could avoid them. But it was boring without Mina. While not being talkative herself, she always livened up the fight. ''Huh?'' He was looking around. Were had he gone now? ''Shit. I lost track.'' Being deep in thought he continued to walk his circles. Forgetting about his steps. It was cold. ''[Dungeon Walk].'' The [Dungeon Walk] didn''t work. ''Is there a monster?'' He drew his weapon and looked around. ''No. It''s like that time.'' As he already had experienced it before, he now knew. Something about this dungeon was very, very dangerous. At some rooms, you couldn''t open a [Portal]. When did he enter it? From where to where would it be like that? He had to stay vigilant and not panic.
You have found a hidden passageway.
''Huh?'', it was weird. As he took a step, the blue box had appeared. Was this a good thing or a bad? The last time he found a hidden passageway, he had stepped in front of a [Dungeon Lord]. Should he step back? But what if this meant treasure? What if this time karma went around to help him? How does this even work if you can''t use [Dungeon Walk] here? ''No, this time it will work out. I can''t give up this opportunity!'', he thought to himself. When he went through the [Portal], he could see a dark, cold room. It was freezing and hard to breath. Pillars where everywhere. Looking like a jail made within a maze. Just that the pillars looked like crystals. Weeping could be heard. Someone was there. In one of the squares made with pillars. Naked. Hanging on chains. Through the darkness, he couldn''t make out much, just the form. >Oh my goddess. Are you a human?!<, he asked her surprised. ''Is she imprisoned here?!'' The weeping stopped. >You have to run..<, a female voice whispered faintly. ''This is dangerous.'' He had done something stupid again. Maybe he could save her? No. He isn''t strong enough to break those pillars. If anything, he has to run and get help. There was said to be some strong retired adventurer in [Mafay Village]. Maybe he could tell Gram what to do. With that thought, Gram turned around and run through the [Portal]. He had to escape. Was he in danger too? Monsters were drawing near. He could somehow feel it. No, he couldn''t. Being afraid played tricks on him. Feeling cold stares in the darkness. But where had he ran now? Finding a hidden passageway after losing the way was a bad thing after all. He ran through some rooms. This wasn''t the right way. >Argh!<, he shouted surprised as a rat bit him. No, this wasn''t a rat. It had a green glow on it''s fur. ''Oh goddess.'' There were more. Dozens more. Like a wave spreading on the sea, they were jumping over eachother to get to Gram. He ran faster now. To his luck, they were many, but slow. When he finally had lost them, he tried to use [Dungeon Walk] again. This time he succeeded and escaped through the [Portal]. But the surface shocked him. It looked like a room. Had he really returned? The wall that was built to prevent the monsters from appearing outside the given space was altered. It had a dark glow and marble-like structure. And a ceiling. It looked like a dungeon room. Leaving that room, Gram held his breath. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.The forest around the room was being removed. A treelike.. thing, was breaking down trees. If he remembered correctly, it was called a [Treant]. Some high level monster. >No way..< A wooden sign was standing right on the way to the rooms entrance.
We are currently establishing a trading outpost. Please refrain from using the dungeon until further notice.
>Oh my, what a cute little boy.<, a beautiful woman said behind his back. As he turned to look at her, he was taken in by the view. Just like he felt when he saw Mina for the first time. He was just a young boy after all. Even if this world considered him an adult. He knew nothing when it came to woman. >Who..<, he couldn''t even end his sentence before the woman kissed him. Her long, black hair fell over his shoulders as his legs gave in. A sweet fragrance entered his nose. Why was he shaking like that? ''No, I have to run. I have to help..'' His thought was disturbed as he felt the tongue of the woman in his mouth. As he opened his eyes again, he could stare into hers. Red as blood. Her skin smooth, but pale. Only now he realized the form of the woman. She was nearly naked, with the exception of her feminine features. The disturbing thing was the black wings on her back that looked like that of a bat. Now that he looked at it.. there was a tail on her back. Her hands more like claws. This was without any doubt a monster. >I''m lonely, you know?<, she whispered in his ear and bit it softly. What was this feeling? Gram hadn''t experienced this before. It wasn''t like being attracted to someone. This felt like being helpless. Every time she touched him, he felt even weaker. His mind didn''t seem to work either. ''No, I wanted to.. What did I want to do..?'', his breath grew heavy. >Just who are you..?<, he asked. The monster was slowly drawing him back to the dungeon. When he entered the [Portal], he arrived to another weird room. Had the monster opened the way to this room? The ground was soft, the air was nice. And again this sweet fragrance was everywhere. The monster kissed him again. >Please, just call me Sora.<, she whispered. ''She is a monster, but how come she is that beautiful?'' Slowly she started to play with him and his desire again. Laying him down. And as she kissing his body, going deeper, he finally noticed. He didn''t feel his limbs anymore. >Poor boy. Being bitten by my little [Skeevers]. Don''t worry through. I won''t let you suffer from the poison.< ''The rats.. I forgot..'' He had thought about it for a moment. The green glow. But he wasn''t worried because he had antidote with him. Just that he had been waiting for a sign that they really poisoned him. So he went on and forgot about it. >I won''t survive this.. Will I?<, he asked bitterly. >Oh, you were given a chance before, by our [Broodmother], weren''t you? And there you enter our hive again and even enter the prison we built. They would be mad at me if I just let you escape.<, she explained with a soft voice. He wanted to laugh, but couldn''t muster the strength. On the bright site, even through he was slowly loosing conciousness, it felt amazing. ''Just why was I trying to escape again..?'', he tried to grasp his thoughts before falling asleep. Ignoring the weak blue glow before his eyes.
Your stamina and magic power have been forcefully depleted.
You have entered critical condition.
You have lost control over your limbs because of poison.
Your life energy is being drained.
Chapter 029 - Slavery Lair Chapter 029 - Slavery By Skalsar >I need help.<, Mina said. Trying to get help from the nobles. >I have been tricked.<, she said. Nobody cared. It was a wall of silence, falling down on her. When she grabbed the arm of someone in the office, they simply shook her off. Annoyed that is. Currently she was inside the great hall within the [Capital]. Weeping. Inside, nobles gathered. Fulfilling the roles as the ruling class. >Please!<, she screamed. Only one man finally spoke to her. >Girl, why are you making that much noise?< >I want to meet a judge, but they won''t let me.< The man looked her up, top to toe and began smiling. >Girl, you are a slave, who would be willing to help you? Where is your owner, does he know that you are here?< Mina looked shocked for a moment. Why did he think she was a slave? No, it hit her a moment later. ''The contract..'' She had agreed to lend money from her guardian and agreed a contract. He told her he would sell her as a slave if she failed. She didn''t bother before, but it made sense. >No, I have been tricked into slavery! Thats why I''m here!< >Ha, stupid girl. If you have been tricked into it, thats your own fault. You can only become an official slave if the owner clearly states that you will become one. And that is while having a witness and a contract.<, he laughted about her. Her eyes began to water. ''My fault..'', she thought. Yes, he had said so. And used a contract to lend her the money. She had been too trusting. >Now stay here while we find you owner. You are annoying the nobles. Guards?!< ''NO!'', her eyes opened wide, adrenaline pumped through her. Her vigilance sharpened, lights started to show. Two guards were highlighted, as was the possible exits of the room and the building. All in different colors. She was still unused to the skill, but it was quite helpful either way. >Don''t let her run away! And try not to hurt her, I would quite like to purchase her later, if possible!< She could hear the man laughter even more, as she turned around and ran. >You.. you tricked me.. didn''t you..?<, she had asked her guardian. But he didn''t even try to hide it. Sighing as if it was natural, he took some steps towards her. >Sure I did. Did you only figure that out now? But please specify what exactly you mean.< She was shocked by his attitude. >You.. you had the necklace..!< Tears ran down her cheeks. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.>Oh, that one. Yes. I acquired it myself through a old colleaque of mine. I wanted to give it to you later, after having you realize how stupid your adventure was.< Even an idiot would know that it was a lie.
You have acquired the Pathfinder-Skill: [Truth Or Dare].
>Truth or dare..<, she said looking at the window. >It''s the truth, of course.<, he smiled broadly. And the moment he did, a shadow bound his legs and arms. [Truth Or Dare] had activated. >What?! What is this?!<, he screamed. A dagger made of white light appeared in front of him and turned blood red.
Truth Or Dare:
As lies become truths and truths become lies, who dares to dare? Neither gods nor demons may escape their verdict.
What was it with this weird skill descriptions? But she still understood. She had used the skill, even if unwillingly. And he had lied, trying to sell it as truth. >You lied too blatantly.<, she said with sadness. The dagger stuck his chest.
For telling a blatant lie in the face of a [Pathfinder], title [Liar] forced active for 24 hours.
The whole night she had cried, the necklace in hand. And still he wouldn''t tell her the truth, but play games with her. >Tell me the truth! [Truth Or Dare]!<, she screamed to his face. >Hah, as if.<, he didn''t even take her serious. If he didn''t choose, the skill wouldn''t activate. Raging she screamed. Grabbing her daggers. Taking a step towards him. But she was unsure what to do. Crying. Emotions swept over her. The shadows that bound him were dissolving. She had no time. >Just wait for a bit. You want to hear more about your mother, right?< He was trying to stall her for time. So she ran. But no one was willing to help her. The whole [Capital] looked down on her. It was the fate of a slave. ''That is why you don''t accept to be a slave..'', she thought. He would know where she went. Wherever she went. She had to think of something. There was only one thing she could do: Escape the [Capital] and get as far away as possible. Light highlighting a path. Chapter 030 - Arrangements Lair Chapter 030 - Arrangements By Skalsar The [Local Lord] of the humans has returned to our little hive. Alone. Quite surprising. He seems to be learning from earlier mistakes. >Welcome.<, I say. He looks around and surveys the surroundings. Danar and me stand in front of the hive entrance. A second room is currently being grown besides the entrance we have claimed. When I say claimed, I mean that we changed the walls that hindered us from opening a [Portal] outside, into a part of the hive. It''s now a room itself and doesn''t hinder us anymore and a ceiling has been added. The forest around us has been cleared quite a bit in order to secure a territory for us. We had a [Treant] do so. It''s a creature that normaly looks like a tree. Quite the trap for adventurers, because they can''t be sure inside the hive if it''s a real tree or a [Treant]. So they started to attack every tree inside a hive to be sure it''s not a [Treant]. We will set some around our territory to guard the place. >Hello.<, Odas says. I show him to the second room, which only opens for those we approve of. There, a desk has been set that looks like stone, but it''s also grown from the hive. As well as four chairs. Even though I don''t need a chair. Well, I can''t use one. My body is quite restricting in cases like these. Danar is the first to sit down. Odas looks vigilant, but after a short moment, sits down as well. If we wanted to kill him or do something to him, we could have done any time. But I guess humans aren''t very trusting. >Let me reintroduce ourselves. My name is Nydar and this is our [Dungeon Lord] Danar.< >You have names?< Seems like that surprised him. >Yes. I decided that it would be easier this way. Nydar has been granted the authority to speak on behalf of the hive for the trade. I will sit by if there are any other questions or discussions.< ''Huh, you have vocal cords?'', I ask a bit surprised myself. ''Sure. I just never had any reason to use them.'', Danar answers me in my mind. Well, guess so. There never was a human who made it to our [Dungeon Lord]. More knowledge about the [Dungeon Lord] body enters my mind. >My name is Odas. I''m the [Local Lord] of this territory and therefore will decide about a possible trade with the inhabitants of this dungeon and [Mafay Village] on behalf of the humans.<, he began formally. But he started to look worried soon. >To tell the truth, I don''t really know how to do this. We never thought you could be sentinent. I''m sorry for this misunderstanding.<, he continued. Well, for most of the time he was right, but we won''t tell him that. >Don''t worry about small details. What we wish for is a fortunate future, we won''t dwell in the past.<, Danar says. Odas sighs. >What is it that you even want to acquire from us. I''m sure you know what we need, as we have always come to the dungeon to get the goods. But what would you have to gain from trading?< >Well, for starters, we wish to live in peace with the village.<, I declare. >Peace..? We might be able to get the adventurers from our village to stop attacking you, but I can''t make promises about outsiders.< >Oh, don''t worry. I don''t mean to stop adventuring. What we want is to minimize the losses. Not all beings in the hive are sentinent. The ''monsters'' in the first levels are just like puppets. Your kind may slay them if they are able to in order to acquire goods and whatever it is you get.< I take a short break to let him swallow the sentences. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. >As far as Lily told us, your kind gives out a subjugation request if the dungeon poses a threat. You won''t ever do that. As soon as you do, we will see the peace as broken and destroy the village. If you agree to that, we promise to not kill any human that is only using our dungeon. As long as the human doesn''t threaten a sentinent being of the dungeon that is.< >Not kill any human..?<, Odas repeats. >That.. you can promise such a thing?<, he continues after a short break. >Yes.< Humans die quite often inside a dungeon, even on lower layers. That is commonplace, and mostly no one cares about it. But being able to stop that from happening, would be a massive change for the village. >What level may we go to, before the danger of meeting a sentinent being?< I look at Danar. >I guess I will allow humans to go down till they reach level fifty of the dungeon.< >Fifty?! That means?!< >Yes, this is already what you would call a [Greater Dungeon].<, I add. Odas looks pale now. It not only means we are quite dangerous, even more dangerous than he thought, but also that they can acquire even more and stronger goods. We won''t tell him that we currently have reached over a hundred layers thanks to the [Hero]. >Well.. I''m a bit lost at words.<, he says. >Still, what is it you want to acquire from us humans?< >Written knowledge. Books as you call it. Lily told us about it. You humans write down knowledge for later generations. We want to get them all in order to learn about this world.< >Books? Just books?<, he seemed surprised. We promised him quite a big deal and only want books. Even though some of them are very costly. He nods. >I can''t promise every book. Some are out of my reach and have delicate informations. I can promise every book that can be acquired by myself as the lord.< ''For now that is good enough, right?'', I ask Danar. Danar nods. >Alright.< With that, the deed is done. We stand up and shake hands with the human. A custom for sealing a deal. The books will be delivered to the second room we are currently in. Five books every month. And as we did..
The hive has been connected to the realms under control of the deities.
Trading post ''Hive'' is now part of the travel network.
>What?! This means..<, Odas exclaimed. We looked a bit surprised to be connected to this world now. But all the better. >That means [Field Walk] may now be used to get here. How is this possible? Only an [Adventurer Guild] can establish a [Travel Point].< >I guess this is because your [Field Walk] is an adaption of our [Dungeon Walk].<, Danar says before leaving. Guess I will ignore it too. I follow Danar back into the hive. Odas is left alone and is shaking his head in disbelieve, before returning to [Mafay Village]. It''s a bit funny that the humans will believe we are generously sparing them because of this trade. Odas will declare a law that allows adventurers not to go deeper than level 50. Everyone who does, is fair game for us and will join us as livestock. Which is good, because we need much more magic power in order to build the tower. Chapter 031 - Step By Step Lair Chapter 031 - Step By Step By Skalsar Today, let me introduce you to a new creature: the [Watcher]. While the name might suggest that it''s some sort of big eye, I have to tell you otherwise. I thought about it for quite a while. How do we make sure that our new friends the humans, stay true to their words? I mean, how could we simply trust someone who doesn''t trust us, right? ''What if they get reinforcements behind our backs'', Sora had asked me. So we sat down and talked about ideas for a while. Humans are hard to control. You never know what stupid thing they do next. I won''t even wonder if one of their little quarrels about who owns what part of what land, that they aren''t even going to use for anything, escalates into a full-fledged war that destroys them all. My [Hiveworkers] and [Drones] are good lookouts, but they are supposed to do other stuff. So we have to make something new. That''s what I decided. ''Well, their bodies aren''t really that complicated if you break it down to their life-force.'' It''s weird to hear that from Sora. Not long ago, she thought about her own evolution and started to collect knowledge. Plants, animals, magic and.. emotions. I was wondering why emotions, but the reason was the [Hero] we captured. She had kept our guest company and tried to learn more about her. As mentioned before, humans don''t react to pheromones the same as animals do. But they produce them as well. ''They react to it, but not as strong.'' Ah, my fault. Well, what Sora told me is this: Humans need a much stronger stimulation. After some trial and error, she was able to influence the [Hero] slightly. It was much easier with male adventurers though. When she learned that, she started to look for useful features. She changed the wings of a bat slightly, but that alone wouldn''t let her fly. There seem to be laws in nature that prevent heavy objects from taking flight. If I calculated right, she would need immense power in her wings to do so. Luckily there is magic. She studied the body of the [Hero] and adapted her mass to that before adding the wings. Everything was connected with small channels for the magic power to expand through the body. Like I did, in order to ending the need of breaking down the whole body. But she made me change her core slightly and add the wind element. With that, her body weight was changed dramatically. As if air itself was pulsating through her, she was now a lightweight. Small jumps were all she needed to take flight. And using some wind magic under her wings, let her fly for hours. While I don''t really care that much about flying, I was surprised that she learned that much. Mostly about humans, she seems far ahead of me now in that point. It''s even hard to comprehend everything she shares with us. And there was that other feature.. She doesn''t stop with magic power. When watching the [Hero] suffer, she noticed. Remember the [Enhanced Vision ¨C Energy Flow] a [Queen] has? Remember that living things are showing red? Sora pointed it out. It''s called energy flow for a reason. The red that is being shown is the flow of life-force. It''s another powerful energy that can be extracted. But it would kill a living being to drain it completly. Sora is the only one in the hive able to do so right now. I was a bit terrified for a second to learn that. Danar looked shocked too. Like if he wondered if he was still the most powerful now. Sora was quite proud of her accomplishment and we were too of course. And it didn''t stop there. While experimenting she learned something else. The way animals and monsters reproduce is useful for her. Before, we had to devour animals and other races till we got the hang of how their bodies work. And even then, we would only be able to imitate most of them. But there is the genome, she told us. Something that is hidden in the fluid that is exchanged though reproduction. While it''s a problem to get the female part, the male part is easy to get. She can just act as the female part, mating with the male. But she won''t produce any descendants. She only acquires information from the genome that way. After trying it on some adventurer, she was so damn far ahead of us. It also seems to be fun for her. She said she imitated the human copulatory organ in order to enjoy it. Well, the evolution was registered as a [Succubus] by her. So, what does that mean for the [Watcher]? Now that Sora understands the human body, she can influence them easily. The [Watcher] has two states. In his normal state, he remains hidden inside stone, earth or any other substance. Moving through by becoming part of it through a mix of earth and water elements. He can''t see, can''t hear. What the [Watcher] does is watching the life-force and vibrations. If a human passes them, they enter the second stage. They get out of their hidding places and shoot a tiny needle at their target. After that, they hide again. The real trick is in the needle. Even through it''s tiny, it''s part of the [Watchers] body. Something that holds on to the target and enters the body. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.Draining tiny bits of life-force to stay alive. Unlike magic power, you don''t need a core connected to the bodypart in order to absorb life-force. All [Watchers] are mentally connected to eachother and the bodyparts. They are shattered all around the hive entrance and the territory we live in. It''s a massive intelligence network, allowing us to monitor the humans movements. Sora is working on a way to decrypt human bodies even more in order to integrate the parasitical needle-like bodypart into the human body. If she succeeds, we might soon be able to even monitor voice through the vibrations of the body. Looks like I will have to learn a few more things from Sora. I kind of feel like loosing, I don''t really get why. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Blazer!<, Lily shouted happily and ran to the beast that was walking casually through the village. Naturally, everyone else was startled to the point of wetting oneself. Terrified screams, kids crying, adventurers taking their weapons and surrounding the monster. Since Lily had tried to see the beast every day, Nydar had decided to send Blazer to them insead. Naturally he told Lily the name of the [Blazing Hellhound], who in return told her father. >Get away from the monster, girl!< >It will kill the girl!< >Oh my god, someone, do something!< Shouts errupted as she simply hugged it. >Sit!<, she told it and Blazer sat down for her to climb the big body. It didn''t even flinch when she pulled out some fur because of a mistake while climbing. >What the hell?!<, an adventurer who watched the scene shouted trembling. >Oh my god! Lily! NO!< The lord had entered the scene and ran to Lily, grabbing her and stopping her ascension. >I told you not to climb on the inhabitants of the dungeon, it''s impolite!<, he scolded her. The rest of the onlookers were even more irritated now. Did the lord not even care for the deadly beast in his village? How was it possible that it didn''t attack? >But Blazer told me it was alright!<, she fended off the accusing. Lily still didn''t talk much to anyone. Maybe because she wasn''t accustomed with it. But when she did, she said the weirdest things. >Lily, you have to learn common sense. I tell you, it''s impolite. So please stop it.< >No.< >What?< >I said no. Just because someone set some weird rules about what is polite and what not, doesn''t mean that I have to act according to it. Even more impolite than playing with Blazer is forcing me to obey rules that don''t have any meaning to it.<, she told her father who didn''t even know what to say about it. He was just in pure shock. How could his daughter be that intelligent at the age of ten and still act like a spoiled brat that only did what she wanted to do? Well.. It might be partly his fault for spoiling her too much because of her not speaking. >I.. I..<, he tried to find his words. >You see, Blazer came here to play. He came to me. Apparantly he doesn''t care about being impolite to the villagers who are startled, which you should maybe comfort first. Still, you tell me what to do instead.< Odas was looking around now. Weapons drawn, kids crying, woman scared. She was right. He let her down and thought about what to do. >Please. Take down the weapons.<, another voice rang through the village. It was Rego, the [Village Chief]. >This [Blazing Hellhound], while being terrifying to see here, was tamed. He poses no threat to anyone here, as long as you don''t attack it. It was a present from a powerfull [Sorcerer] towards the lords daughter!<, he explained. Naturally it was all lies. But Rego knew that it was neccessary. >Hello Blazer.<, Rego bowed slightly before the beast. The beast in return lowered his head for a short moment. Not that anyone would have heard about a monster of the dungeon being tamed even once, but this was a small village yet and it wasn''t unthinkable for a [Sorcerer] to do so. Quite much more viable than a [Blazing Hellhound] happily walking through the village on his own accord, just to play with a little girl. >Rego, thank you.<, Odas told him, grabbing his hand. >Mylord.<, he bowed his head. In the meantime, Lily had already climbed Blazer again. >Lily! NO!<, the lord shouted. >And off she goes.<, Lant said, who was looking at the scene from the sideline. A moment later, Blazer and Lily fled the scene. >Oh if just her mother were still with us..<, Odas facepalmed himself. >She is just in her rebellious phase.<, Rego said and laughed. >What if it eats her?!< >You told me it''s already a [Greater Dungeon], right? Believe me. If so, no one in this village poses a threat to it anymore. We are lucky if we can really establish peace with them.<, Rego told the lord with a serious face. With that, the scene was resolved for now, even though the people around didn''t get what happened. Chapter 032 - Next Step Lair Chapter 032 - Next Step By Skalsar ''I''m back.'' ''You were gone?'' ''That''s quite mean of you, my [Queen].'' ''I''m not a [Queen] anymore, but a [Broodmother]. You have to keep up your informations.'', I say. [Hiveworker] had returned. Well, should call him [Drone] now. Somewhere on his journey, he had evolved into a [Drone ¨C Rare Variant], as he tells me in my mind. ''And we use names now. Call me Nydar.'', I tell him. [Drone] flies around me. ''I see. My apologies, [Broodmother] Nydar.'' I also tell him about the stuff that happened here, while he was gone. Thinking about it, I should name him too. ''Would that be alright, Danar?'' ''Sure, he is quite the unusual one.'' ''Alright, let''s see.. I think I should give you a special name. How about this: From now on you will be Nyr.'', I tell him. ''Can we talk about that, great [Broodmother]?'', he asks. I slap him. Names sure are complicated. But he will get accustomed to the name, like we all did. Maybe not liking it first is a sign for a good name. ''I gave you the name because you are something like my heir. Therefore, I gave you part of my name.'' ''I see, thank you very much, Brood.. I mean, Nydar.'' But enough of that now. There are other things to do. ''So, how was it?'', I finally ask. ''Three of them in the land of the [Local Lord]. One on the neighbouring land to the south. Two west, three north, one east. Last two in the vicinity of the [Capital].'' Twelve hives in total. Other than us, that is. So make that thirteen. ''But I thought about it. As far as I noticed humans, they are always vigilant. If they go hunting, they look for the smallest clues.'' ''What do you mean?'' ''If you want to start communicating with other hives, it might be better to start somewhere else.'' ''Huh? Why? What do you mean by that?'' ''It''s because humans are tricky. They tend to be startled easily and are very paranoid. As you already took steps to interact with humans, you might want to lower the attention. Like, going somewhere far away and start there. Otherwise, someone might see that everything seems to be starting here. In the end, we might get annihilated for that.'' Nyr seems quite well informed. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.I still wonder why. He was just a rabbit before. Sure, he was captured for a while by humans and supposed to end up as dinner. But between captivity, escaping and meeting me, how did he acquire that much knowledge? ''Did I not tell you? I''m sorry [Broodmother] Nydar. That''s because of my unique skill. If a monster lives long enough, even after facing death, it might recieve the blessing of the world. As far as I''m concerned, that is [Wisdom Without Flaw]. It''s a skill that let''s me put together information I acquire in whatever means possible.'' ''Unique skill? I never heard about that! Explain more!'', I say a bit louder. I somehow feel cheated. Not only Sora, but this one as well. They leave me behind! ''I need pieces of information. When I get them and focus on them, I can see how it interacts. Like, learning about a dead animal in the forest and finding some footprints. I might be able to see what left the footprints and might even be able to tell if it killed the animal.'' ''If you have enough information about it, right?'' ''Yes.'' ''Why didn''t you say so sooner?! Go to Sora right away! Help her with the [Watchers]! This is terrible! With that sort of skill.. you could become a better [Queen] than all of us.'' ''Ah, I don''t believe that, to tell the truth. While I can comprehend the information, I''m pretty bad at using it. I feel as if my body is not reacting to the flow of my thoughts. That might be a restriction to the unique skill.'' Hm. A skill that hinders the body to use it in certain ways? That sounds weird. I will have to think about it some more. Still, if he helps Sora with that sort of skill, they might decipher human bodies much faster. ''Is that [Drone] for real?'', Sora tells me in my mind, a bit startled. Seems like she feels cheated too. Guess you can''t judge a creature by it''s form. Are skills this important? How do you even acquire them? No, one thing after the other. I have to see other hives and how they are doing. But Nyr is right, I should start somewhere else. After opening a [Black Gate] to outside the forest, I start walking. I saved some magic power in the [Hiveworkers] I took with me. Just to be sure. Chapter 033 - Traveling There is a poll about the alignment of the hive in the discussions thread. Please tell me if it would be better to have polls added to the chapters instead in the future. Lair Chapter 033 - Traveling By Skalsar The first books should arrive soon, but I won''t be able to see them. It kind of saddens me, not to see what they are like. But maybe I can see some books when I arrive to my destination. Lily and Blazer decided to travel with me. I told them not to follow me, but they said they were just traveling to the same point on their own. So it should be alright. It''s nice to travel together on your own. Even though Lily is a human. What I like most about her is that she doesn''t use her voice as much as other humans. >Nydar?< Sadly, she still does use it sometimes. But I can simply ignore her, right? >Nydar?!<, she gets louder. ''Does she think I''m deaf? Why can''t she just stay silent?'', I ask Blazer in my mind. He laughs. I don''t get why. >NYDAR?!<, she shouts and recklessly jumps from Blazer onto my back. >The hell, human! What do you think you are doing?!<, I shout annoyed. That human is kind of crazy. Sometimes I wonder if she is insane. Is she? >I don''t like being ignored.<, she says smiling. Was this girl really just ten? >Tell me, Lily. Are other children of your race as weird as you are?< >It''s mean to call me weird. But I don''t know much about other kids. I never played with any, since they seemed afraid of me.< Blazer is looking worried. ''She told me something about other kids always running away from her.'', Blazer tells me. I guess she is weird. Oh. Looking ahead, I can see the first city. It should be called [Ivory Castle City]. Simply spoken, it''s a city that was build around a big castle made from ivory. The elves created the castle using magic, but some other beastrace seized the castle and build a city. It''s the first city you can find after crossing the great plains north of the hive. I won''t go into detail at the moment, as we won''t go there at the moment. Opening a [Black Gate] and stepping through, we simply cross the city. ''That feels like cheating.'', Blazer tells me. At least I''m ahead of him, I guess. Even though the others are leaving me behind. >But shouldn''t both of you do something about your appearance?< I look at Lily with a hint of confusion. What does she think we are? >Well, it''s fine for me. But isn''t it annoying to not enter cities and villages because they might panic?< Hm. Guess she has a point. >I will think about it.<, I tell her. So far, travelling was easy, fast and safe because of my [Black Gate]. As long as I can see a point, even if I never was there before, I can use it to get there. Every time I do, I create a [Watcher]. I do that right now, too. That way, I can expand the communication with the hive. And also increase our information network. >Monster!< Hm, that isn''t Lily. Seems like I forgot to use my [Enhanced Vision] to scout the area. >See, it''s bad.<, Lily tells me with a grin. Does this make her happy? Me doing a mistake? Or her being right? Before us are four people. Two of them are human woman with staves. One is something like a humanoid wolf. I will simply call it wolfman for now. Last is a small man with a mace. But not like the human child. Uhm.. >Is that a gnome?<, Lily asks. >How should I know?<, I ask her back. The group looks irritated. >It can talk? And has a human child with him?<, they ask among themselves. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! >Maybe we can talk about this? I''m called Nydar.<, I extend my hand. They seem to be adventurers who formed a group. Guess they went to the next dungeon, in a city north-east from here. At the border of the continent. The wolfman looks a bit irritated, but draws near to shake my hand. ''Eat one of the woman.'', I tell Blazer. >I don''t really know what to make of this situation. You look like monsters.. But..<, the wolfman says, then shakes his head. >No, I shouldn''t discriminate on looks. I''m sorry. My name is..<, before he can end his sentence, the hidden sting in my hand shoots forth. His arm splits open. Blood is spilling everywhere. Blazer bites the head of the woman nearest to him. Lily is screaming. >Nooooo! Don''t!<, she shouts. >By the deities!<, the gnome shouts. >In the name of the fi...<, the other woman wanted to start, but I throw two [Drones] at her. One hits her head, starts flying and stings her in the chest. The other one grabs her leg and bites it. Guess she wanted to use magic. That would have been bad. We need the magic power. Don''t waste it so easily! And we can''t let anyone know that we were here. >Heal them!<, the wolfman shouts with an agonizing cry to the gnome. But there is nothing to heal. One is already dead and the other one paralysed. >Whyyyy!<, Lily screams and jumps down. The [Drones] paralyse the gnome. Since the wolfman is looking to the gnome, I grab his head. Ending him with another push of the sting that is hidden in my hand. >What do you mean, why?<, I ask Lily. I don''t get why she is acting this weirdly. >Why! Just why did you kill them?!<, she cries. Adding: >They were people!< She is saying weird stuff again. >They are just food. We can''t travel without eating. It''s the same for humans.<, I tell her. >NO!<, she screams again. This is annoying. >We don''t kill people!<, she exclaims. >Oh yes, you do. You just don''t eat them. Instead you kill and eat helpless animals and what you call monsters.<, I try to explain. She looks shocked. >This month alone, we noticed seventeen people being killed by humans. Your father sentenced them to death.< >No, he wouldn''t do that!< >Go ask him, if you don''t believe me.<, I shrug. >Lies!< She looks insecure now. >Also there were people dying in the hive before, you didn''t scream back then.< Blazer nods to what I told her just now. She is looking down now. >That.. they were trying to kill you too..< >It.. can''t be. Killing people is wrong.. right?<, she was starting to cry again. >Blazer, please bring me back now.<, she says weakly and trembling. Guess she doesn''t want to travel with us anymore for the moment. That.. kind of hurts me. Was it wrong to kill them? No, I don''t think so. Maybe she just doesn''t know what to think about it herself? ''It''s good this way. We need the livestock..'', Danar tells me. The [Watcher] had hatched and added to the network. But because of the [Watchers], we also need more magic power and therefore more livestock. So this should be the right thing to do. Lily climbs the back of Blazer. I open a [Black Gate] for them, to the hive. After they go through, some [Hiveworkers] come out from the [Portal] and start collecting the magic power. An [Ogre] collects the two paralysed bodies as well as the two dead. The dead will be disposed of inside the hive. Guess it''s traveling alone again. But that''s alright. I just should try to avoid humanoid beings for the moment. Or follow the suggestion and change my appearance. There is still quite a distance to the next city, I will think about it on the way. Chapter 034 - Scheming Of The Church Lair Chapter 034 - Scheming Of The Church By Skalsar >Something.. is happening.< >What do you mean?< >I''m not sure yet. Please just wait a little while longer.< It was the dialogue between two men, but the second man wasn''t really happy about it, as it seems. With a loud *BANG*, his fist hit the table. >We waited long enough! Do you take us for fools?! After your villages was destroyed, who gave you food and helped you set foot elsewhere? You said you would be useful, where is that usefulness?< Mardo bit his nail to that. >Just a few more days. I promise to...<, his words were cut off. >No! Explain it right now! First you start to talk about weird monsters and big treasure from the dungeon. Shortly after that, the village gets raided by orcs. You tell us, the dungeon even is a [Greater Dungeon]. And now it is just that you tell us: something is happening?!<, the other person shouted. Mardo had tried to stall for time, but it seems like the patience of the man was at its limit. >[Mafay Village] seems to have established something like a trade, with the dungeon.< >Pardon?< >They seem to have esablished..< >What the hell are you talking about! How should a village establish a trade with a dungeon?!< >That is why I...< >Oh shut up! Are you still going to tell us this nonesense?! You don''t want to talk, alright, we are done with you! Leave! We will send someone else to investigate!<, the man shouted angrily. Getting up from his throne, throwing away his golden chalice. Pointing at Mardo, two [Guards] came by. Grabbing Mardo on both arms. The sun breaking through the huge windowglasses of the church, light shone upon the man standing in front of the throne as he was shouting. >You are hereby banished from the church of Legra''Nis! Never set foot on any of our churches ever again or you will be burned at the stake! And don''t ever dare to even talk to any of our [Priests] ever again!< With that, the [Guards] dragged Mardo away and threw him out of the building. >That went better than I thought it would.<, Mardo sighed after standing up and dusting down his clothes. Legra''Nis was the higher deity of the farmlands. In short, a [Priest] from the church could change a small garden that fed a family into a farm that could feed a small village. With a power like that, they easily made it to nearly any city and even the [Capital]. But for one reason or another, they had it hard to set foot on Odas territory. Money, influence and the hearts of the people were with them, but they were simply not needed. The region Odas was managing wasn''t densely populated and there was enough space for farms. So they didn''t need a church to help the farmers. And the dungeons didn''t pose much of a problem. So the villages could get treasure and goods from there. It was running smoothly without outer influence. The church had their hopes up for the new settlement that soon grew into a village. But Odas had managed just fine. They had Mardo investigate, gathering informations in order to get something they could provide. It didn''t work out either. Passing through the streets of the small city, Mardo noticed unusually high numbers of adventurers. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. ''Dungeon Subjugation, huh? Is it already this time again?'', he thought to himself, after reading the [Adventurer Guilds] board. It was a large pin board with jobs for those who were looking for fast money. The Dungeon Subjugation was a request done every four months. And it didn''t pay very well. The dungeon of this city was already conquered. So it didn''t pose a threat. The [City Stadtholder] was simply taking his [Guards], some [Knights] and a few adventurers and broke through the weak monsters that appear in the conquered dungeon. Slaughtering the mindless monsters till they reach the [Dungeon Heart] and renew the claim over it. It was a method used to keep control, because if left alone, a new [Dungeon Lord] might be born. And that would mean that the mindless creatures would start attacking the city instead. Not that Mardo knew about that last part. >Don''t bother with that one.<, some adventurer spoke to Mardo. >What do you mean?< He checked her from head to toe. Just a girl in dirty clothes. But she gave a feeling of an adventurer. >That request is a week behind shedule.< >Huh? And?<, Mardo asked a bit irritated, not getting what she was hinting to. >They failed.< Mardo was a bit surprised about that statement, but the adventurer continued. >If they had succeeded, they would have taken down the request. That it is still there means, no one came to take the request down.< >But.. wouldn''t that mean..?< >Yes, the stadtholder should be either dead, or trapped inside the dungeon. That is the reason that many adventurers are gathering.< >But why aren''t they going inside for a rescue?< It was a bit off. Somehow, there was still information missing. Even though it made sense what the woman said. >They can''t. No one was able to enter the dungeon. As if it had vanished.< Mardo started laughing to that statement and earned a scornful look. >A conquered dungeon vanished? Just like that? After defeating the stadtholder? Sure thing girl.< Shaking his head, Mardo started to turn around and leave. >It''s on its way to [Mafay Village].<, she finally said. Mardo stopped. >What?<, he asked confused. How should she even know something like that? >I saw the man that took it. The [Dungeon Heart], that is. I could see its true form.< >Who are you?< >My name is Mina. If you take me with you to the village, I will tell you more.< >You don''t have money to travel yourself?< >Nope.< >What is in for you?< >I need to get to [Mafay Village Dungeon].< >Why are you asking me?< >I will tell you when we are there.< >You kidding me?< >Nope.< Mardo sighed. Feeling cheated. >Why don''t you ask someone else?< >I can''t.<, she says a bit vague. It hit him then. A hood hiding her face. Dirty clothes. Nothing else. This girl didn''t just have no money, she had nothing. >You are a slave, right?< >... yes..<, she whispered weakly. >You can tell me more on the way to the village...< Chapter 035 - The Feeling Of Despair Lair Chapter 035 - The Feeling Of Despair By Skalsar *A few days before.* Screaming. Crying. Shouts filling everything. It gave me chills down my spire. How could there be that much suffering? Is it possible for a living being to outcry this loud? Was this how true terror felt like? Endless agony? Crushing shouts? Neverending pain? How could another living being ignore all this? Yet here I stand and watch the goings-on of the humans of this city. Running around happily and buisily as always. Sure, some are sad. But they all just ignore the pain and the suffering. They don''t even notice it, do they? As I stepped into reach of the hive, I had to puke. Getting flooded with its emotions. It wanted to get away, but it couldn''t. Stuck in a human city. >See, my friend got me this necklace from the dungeon, isn''t it beautiful?<, some girl was talking. >Let''s slaughter some easy foe tomorrow, I got a new skill I want to test out!<, a man said. The humans are chatting steadily. I''m not personally there, my [Hiveworkers] are lurking around. >If you strangle the [War Bats] instead of simply killing it, you may be able to extract more medicine from the body due to it being produced by stress. At least that''s what an [Alchemist] friend of mine told me.< No. They don''t have the slightest idea about the pain the hive is in. And they are sadistic. ''Well, I can at least understand the need for medicine. If it was the other way around, I might kill humans in a cruel way too.'' But as I learned that adventurers simply went to the dungeon to have fun killing the mindless and weak creatures and maybe acquire some shiny loot, I can feel my anger accumulating. ''They don''t need it to survive. They don''t need it to grow stronger. They don''t need it to learn more. They simply use it to satisfy their greed.'' I can''t tolerate it. First, I turn part of my flesh into magic power. The part of my lower body where the [Hiveworkers] and [Drones] were placed, to be precise. I will collect them later. Next, I get rid of two arms and shorten my height. Two meters should be enough, with that, I can blend in with the humans. Even though I can''t really change much. Being coated in a black carapace, I kind of look like a human in a full-body armor. The chest, arms and legs have more chitin and look a bit thicker. In order to be able to move, I made the carapace into layers, overlapping eachother on the joints. I don''t have a finite name for the form I have taken. For now, I will name it [Morphling]. As a state between forms. My center of gravity changed dramatically. It''s a bad combination with the fact that I only have two legs now. My first step is my first fall. ''How does this work?'', I ask Sora in my mind. ''It''s quite easy if you have a tail.'', she says. Guess that isn''t helpful. I don''t have a tail and I don''t want one right now. Ah. Danar sends me a weak feeling of how it is supposed to work out. Something like a memory of him walking. I try imitating it. And fall again, because my height is shorter. But the feeling is right. I just have to train. After a few hours, I get the hang of it. It''s nighttime by now and the city is mostly asleep. Walking in casually is enough. As [Zil City] is a travel point for many adventurers, not even the city [Guards] care about me. And why should they. Who ever heard about a monster walking casually into a city? That is, till right in front of the hive. >Halt! The dungeon is off limits till the subjugation tomorrow.<, a [Guard] tells me. I hit his face with my fist and he falls backwards. The other [Guard] draws his weapon. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.But before anything else, I step through a [Portal] and enter the dungeon. I don''t care about them right now. The hives suffering is all that matters at the moment. Walking through the small maze, I see a few weak creatures. They don''t come near me. Intuition tells them not to. I connect my mind to the hive. ''Who are you..?'', a weak voice asks me. Suffering is sounding in it. [Black Gate] brings me to the [Dungeon Heart]. After connecting to the hive, that is a easy thing to do. This hive is weak, but old. ''You suffered a long time, didn''t you?'', I ask. ''...'' ''Don''t worry, I''m here to help.'', I say. ''You aren''t a human..? How is it that a creature of another hive has entered my body?'', it asks. Seems like it is still worried. It tries to enter my mind and dominate me. Not that it could possibly succeed with taking control over me. ''Don''t waste your time. My consciousness is strong.'' But I allow it to connect to my mind. Realization hits the hive. Its body trembles weakly. ''No, this is bad. They will do it again! I have to hurry!'', it says with anger. I see. It realized the dungeon subjugation. ''Don''t worry. I will take care of that.'' ''You?'' I nod. Opening a [Black Gate], my [Hiveworkers] and [Drones] enter the hive. I step near an egg. ''Wait! What are you doing?!'' I see. That is it, right? ''That is the [Dungeon Lord] you are trying to create, right?'', I ask. ''Please, be careful, it is still weak! I have to breed it till tomorrow!'', it says with worry. I focus the magic power I can spare and start fiddling with the cores inside the egg. My [Hiveworkers] and [Drones] support me with the saved up magic power they have stored. ''What?!'', the hive exclaims with surprise. Within minutes, the egg grows bigger and stronger. Power pulsating through its veins. ''That is.. something like that is possible?'', the hive watches interested. Naturally, being conquered, this hive doesn''t know very much about the possibilities. I hardened the cores and increased the density of magic power inside the cores. Added the ability to absorb magic power. Increased the muscles of the body. With that, it hatches. A creature of just one meters and seventy. The [Dungeon Lord] of this hive. What surprised me is that this [Dungeon Lord] again is quite different from the other two I know. ''It seems, depending on the knowledge of the parent-hives, the [Dungeon Lord] differs.'', I say. This one for example has four sharp legs. I don''t know if there is any monster or animal that it was designed after. The upper body is at the middle of the four legs and it has two faces with three eyes each. One face to the front, one to the back. ''With this.. With this I can finally do it! With this I will become free! I will devour them all! I will slaughter the humans in this city!'', it shouts to my mind. ''Please don''t.'', I say and it looks shocked. ''What?!'' ''It would be too much of a commotion. I will help you kill the ones who caused you all that pain. But after that, I have to ask you to leave this place behind. You wanted to be free of these humans, right? I will help you with that. But at a price.'', I explain. Irritation floods my mind. The hive isn''t getting what I say. Or maybe it doesn''t want to. ''I can''t! After suffering for this long, I finally can devour again!'' ''We made that mistake too.'', I say and send memories to it. Opening my mind, the hive gets silent. I can feel its excitement. A while later it seems to comprehend. ''Such a thing.. For such a thing to be possible.'' Chapter 036 - The End Of A Hive Lair Chapter 036 - The End Of A Hive By Skalsar The commotion started soon. Naturally, the [Guards] had informed the stadtholder of the intruder to the dungeon. Which would be me. ''They will be here soon. I can feel it.'', the [Dungeon Lord] tells me. But it doesn''t matter. We only have to wait patiently. In the meantime, hive is transfering his consciousness completly into the [Dungeon Lord]. Yes. He will give up his hive-body. Why? Because I told him so. We need an event to happen. No, we need events to happen everywhere. The world has to notice that something is happening, but not where. Like the hive, while still being here, not doing anything anymore. How I will do that? I will take the [Dungeon Heart]. Without a [Dungeon Heart], a hive is just dead flesh. Stone maybe. A cave? I don''t know to tell the truth. But the body will be left behind and the connection to the other realm will shatter. As not even the deities can see inside a hive, as far as Danar told me, nobody will know why. They will only have an hive, that still can be felt as being there, but not entered. ''There they are.'', [Dungeon Lord] tells me. By now, they should notice the lack of creatures first. Walking through empty passages. Looking inside empty rooms. Nervously discussing what to do. But they will think to themselves: ''Ah, that guy must have cleared the way already.'', because I went in before them. Sadly they are wrong. I can see them through hives mind. The stadtholder is a weak looking boy. Maybe eighteen human years? His two [Guards] and [Knights] are vigilant. Some adventurers are with them, maybe they had these three ready for emergencies like this. They look.. worried. Guess they are thinking something around the lines of: ''This feels off.'' Oh how right they are. ''It''s done.'', [Dungeon Lord] says. The earth trembles. More like the hive shakes heavily. The [Dungeon Heart] that weakly glowed till now, expires. No more magic power in it. With that, the connection shatters. This is the end of this hive. [Dungeon Lord] and me are left. I can''t see the humans anymore. The connection to the hive is lost. We would be trapped now, if it weren''t for my [Black Gate]. This realm, where the hive lives in, is our natural habitat. Even if the doors of this hive are closed, it can''t stop me or other hives. ''I hope you really know what you are doing.'', [Dungeon Lord] says. I nod. Around us are the dead bodies of the creatures of this hive. I had to turn them into magic power to fill my [Drones] magic power. None of them were sentinent, but it''s still sad to kill creatures of the hive. But it had to be done. There was just nothing else to do, as they don''t have a chance against the humans and we need the magic power. Exhausted, the humans arrive in front of us. They must have rushed after feeling the hive shake. >Whaaat?!<, the stadtholder screams startled. Looking into the angry face of the [Dungeon Lord]. The adventurers look startled too, looking at me. >That thing..! It''s not human!<, one of them shouts. >I.. It says: [Morphling]!<, a.. I guess.. [Mage], adds. Till now, they thought another human was trying to claim the hive. Seeing us, they know better now. The [Guards] step in front of the [City Stadtholder]. >Step back.<, they say. I chuckle. The [Knights] pass the [Guards] and want to attack first. [Dungeon Lords] eyes glow blueish. His head turns 180 degrees. The second faces eyes glow reddish. One of the [Knight] lifts his sword and cuts the chest of a [Guard]. >>What?!<<, both of them scream. It isn''t deadly, but the [Guard] still is quite panicked. >Traitor!<, an adventurer screams and shoots a bolt from his crossbow towards the [Knight]. >No! That wasn''t me, I couldn''t control it!<, the [Knight] shouts and blocks the bolt. Now they are really nervous. I chuckle even more. The second [Knight] wants to bring down his sword towards the [Dungeon Lord]. My [Drones] drop from the ceiling and start shooting their needles towards the humans. One of them succeeds in hitting the gab between the helmet and the armor of the [Knight]. Giving [Dungeon Lord] the chance to avoid the sword. The [Guards] were still watching the other [Knight] and hit easily. Crossbow-adventurer was taken by surprise while reloading. [Knight] one blocks the needles with his shield, crouching. A [Mage] begins to cast a spell. Not good. ''Scatter!'', I tell my [Drones]. They follow the command. On my right arm, the carapace expands and forms a shield. The left arm opens a small gap from which the obsidian thorn appears. I rush in and take the shield of the [Knight] as a jumping point. Jumping over him, the humans look shocked. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.I hit an adventurer who looks like a [Priest] with the shield. While I do so, the [Mage] finishes his spell and fire spreads through the air, burning half my [Drones], even though they had scattered. I pierce his chest with the obsidian thorn. The stadtholder falls backwards and seems to be nearly crying. How can such a human have a position like stadtholder? Shouldn''t he be someone important? A human that at least knows how to defend the city, like that Rego knows how to defend a village? [Dungeon Lords] eyes glow again. The [Knight] in front of him stops for a second. Enough time for [Dungeon Lord] to tackle him, throwing him over and trampling him down. The sharp legs aren''t enough to get through the platemail, but the dent on the chest must hurt. >Gaaaah!<, the [Knight] is heard. The [Guards] drop first, because of the paralysis. Second is the [Mage] whom I pierced with the obisidian thorn. I behead the [Priest] next. Crossbow-adventurer wants to shoot me, but can''t muster the strength to lift the crossbow. [Knight] one is taking position in front of the [City Stadtholder] that is crying on the ground. What is left..? Hm, that felt easy. They should have prepared more. I lost half my [Drones]. Which is sad. But with this, we won. >Alright, that was that.<, I say and get back to [Dungeon Lord]. >It can talk?!<, crossbow-adventurer exclaims surprised. >Sure. It was nice playing with you guys, but we will take our leave now.<, I say. [Dungeon Lord] nods. I focus on the [Dungeon Heart]. Didn''t do that for long and never with something that big. Black light surrounds it. And then, it''s gone. Like the treasure we keep, or stuff we take from humans. Put into my personal space between realms. If I die, it will drop. >The [Dungeon Heart]!<, the stadtholder screams. >Well, now that the connection is shattered. I hope you enjoy your prison. Not that I believe you will survive long without water and food, but still. Try to enjoy the little time you have left.<, [Dungeon Lord] says happily. >NO!<, the [Knight] screams and rushes towards me. [Dungeon Lords] eyes glow once more. [Knight] stops for a second, losing his focus and falling down. I chuckle. Opening a [Black Gate], I take a last look at the humans. >Please wait.<, a girl says, stepping out from the shadows. When did she come here? Didn''t see her with the other humans. Maybe she followed them? Oh. >You again?<, her eyes turn big when I say that. >So it IS you?!<, she asks excited, followed by: >Please take me with you to [Mafay Village]!<. Wait, what? Why should I take that human with me? Guess I will leave her here. ''Don''t.'', something begs me in my mind. I look towards the [Black Gate]. Something said that from over there, from our hive. But who? ''Who is there?'', I ask. No reaction. This is creeping me out. >Please! I have to find out the truth! Even if it kills me later! But I have to know!<, she shouts. I don''t get what she is talking about. But she starts running towards me now. Fast! That human is freaking fast! Startled, I open a second [Black Gate] towards the city and she just runs through. That was surprising. Even the humans around us look irritated. >What the hell?!<, the [Knight] near us says. I close that second [Black Gate]. [Dungeon Lord] and I flee through the other one, back to the hive near [Mafay Village] and close it. ''So, now tell me, who was it?!'', I shout irritated. ''Who was what?'', they ask me. ''The one that begged me to spare the girl!'' ''What girl?'', Sora asks. ''Nobody was even watching what you were doing, Nydar. Calm down.'', Danar says. I share my memory with them. They return the feeling of irritation. Nothing in the hive seems to know. So who the fuck was talking to me? ''Free.. Freee! FREEEEEE!'', [Dungeon Lord] was screaming to our minds. Happily running around. Traveling through layers. Getting to the surface and back. ''AHAHAHA!'', it laughed. ''Calm down!'', Danar scolds it. But it seems like it can''t calm down right now. We will have to ignore it for now. It was trapped for years. So we should have sympathy with it. ''So, what will you name it?'', I ask Danar. ''Name?'', it asks even more excited. ''Ah, right. You will be Lysk from now on.'', he declares. I place the [Dungeon Heart] next to the other one inside the [Lair]. Filling it with a bit of magic power, the glow returns. And with it, the capability to store even more power inside our hive. With this, I will take a short break. Afterwards, I will travel to the next big city, towards the south. Chapter 037 - Future Plans Lair Chapter 037 - Future Plans By Skalsar >Wait.. Did you dye this pergament?< >Sure.< >For what reason? This looks really wasteful.< >I like it better this way. And there was something drawn on it already.< >Wait, you destroyed a pergament that we gave you and drew upon that?< >That''s right. It is more useful that way. We already read the information that was on it, so it had no use anymore.< >That is absurd! Destroying information because you have no more use for it?! That is wasteful!< >It is?< >YES!<, he shouted angrily. >I see. We won''t do it in the future.< Odas had to shake his head heavily to that. The inhabitants of the dungeon had no need for the common sense of humans. But at least they listened to him if he explained things. Not like a certain girl. >So, tell me Danar, what is it I''m seeing on this pergament?<, Odas asked confused. Currently the [Dungeon Lord] Danar and himself were talking in a room in the village. Danar at least had his body hidden by a cloak. So that the villagers and adventurers that saw him, didn''t panic that much. But seeing a person of three meter height walk through the village still drew attention. >In the middle is the tower. We set it as a base above the entrance. I decided to mark our territory that way. Around that are the inner wall, outer wall, inner ring and outer ring.<, he explained. Claiming a territory just like that, with a tower. Humans had done this in the past, but not with towers, but castles. It made sense. They read the books that were given to them and came up with this. Would they think about building a castle in the future? No, the walls around the tower.. they are already planing it. The dungeon itself is already something like a castle. Now they start to carry it over into this realm. ''This is more of an invasion.'', he thought to himself. >So, when do you plan to build that.. tower?<, Odas asked nervously. If such a tower was erected, others would wonder what was going on in this territory. Even the [Local King] might start investigating. >Hm? As I said. We already set it as a base above the entrance.<, Danar answered irritated. As if asking if the lord didn''t listen. >WHAT?!< ''A tower like that? They already build it? What is he talking about, is he talking about something like a small outpost and not a tower?'' >You can see it from outside just fine.<, Danar added and shrug. Odas went pale. That couldn''t be. He ran outside to confirm.. And just like that, a giant tower clad with black obsidian was soaring to the sky. Throwing its shadow over the village. >Impossible.<, Odas exclaimed. >How can you call it impossible, if you see it with your own eyes?<, Rego asked. The [Village Chief] had arrived just this moment. >I didn''t believe it myself to tell the truth. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.Just an hour ago the tower appeared from thin air. In a blinding black light.<, he added. Returning to the room Odas looked towards Danar. >You can''t do that! No, I don''t know how you could build something like that, this fast. But it has to go!<, he shouted. >No.<, Danar answered not even slightly intimidated. >This will draw exactly that attention towards you, that you wanted to avoid.<, Rego tried to help. But Danar shook his head again. >This is something that needs to be done. We are about to interact with this realm. If we don''t adapt to the human ways, we will perish. We have but this chance. With the tower, we will be able to scout out enemy troops much faster. And if need arises, make sure to flee.< This wasn''t about invasion. Neither was it about claiming territory. They thought it through and decided it was a needed risk to ensure their survival. >We won''t develop the territory around the tower for now. Also, there are stories about a sorcerer who was capable of building structures with magic. I was hopeful that you might use that as an excuse if need arises.< >That?!<, Odas was shocked again. >Sorry, but that might not work. It is a story we tell kids, about a sorcerer that lived about 500 years ago. No one knows if it is true.<, Rego said with a worrisome face. >According to the books, it was three times. The first was about 750 years ago. Second was 500 years ago. Third 250 years ago. While it might be a myth, enough of you humans saw the tower appear just like that. The rumor will develop on its own. You just have to play ignorant.<, Danar ended his explanation. ''Hm, if it happened every 250 years in the books, there was a chance that it was three people. Each living 250 years apart and recieving the blessing of a strong deity.'' >What do you think, Rego?<, the lord asked surrendering. >This doesn''t really feel like negotiations.. More like a dictate.<, he sighed. There wasn''t much they could do right now. >Guess we have no choice but to accept this.. Thank you for at least sharing the information of the structures plans with us. We will try to come up with something to cover the progress you are planing.< With that, Danar and Odas shook hands once more, before the [Dungeon Lord] left. And it wasn''t exactly a bad thing. If he could really establish peace with this dungeon, it might benefit them. Even if the dungeon was attacked for this, it wouldn''t be their fault. And if that happened, there would be a tower they could claim. The part around it might be used in order to build houses and ... ''Wait..'' Are they planning something like that on their own? >It can''t be, right?<, Odas went pale again. >What is it, mylord?<, Rego was nervous to that and stepped near. Taking a look on the pergament. >I''m afraid. They.. I believe, they plan to live on the surface in the future. Around the tower.< >Monsters living around the dungeon entrance.. That would be troublesome to explain.< Chapter 038 - Beginning Of A Long Day I decided to do a double release today in order to progress the story a bit more, but please note that this is an exception as I still have very little time due to exams and projects at my university. Lair Chapter 038 - Beginning Of A Long Day By Skalsar Business was running smoothly for Sora. Whenever she entered the village, she earned scornful looks from some of the female villagers. Mothers hid their daughters and sons. But on the same time.. felt envy, as nearly every man and boy were staring at the female creature. Watching her every step and nearly drooling, the men couldn''t stop themselves. Even some females had it hard passing her sweet fragrance without looking at her chest and butt. She was nearly naked, but had still a more charming than exciting appearance. How that combination was possible? Because she was still a monster with weird bat-like wings, if watched from afar. Her skin was smooth and pale, but her lips were red. As were her eyes. From the stories of adventurers who met her in the lower layers of the hive, they knew that while her clawlike hands looked dangerous, she could use them quite skillfully. Without hurting anything. But still, there was that rumor about her being absolutly exhausting. Older men would possibly die from her affection. But as a matter of fact, no one knew about her draining the life-force of her adorer. Instead, she was a welcome guest in the village, unlike Blazer who would cause a commotion. Merchants were still sceptical though, because she always looked at the goods but never bought. And they knew she had money. She had even bought a house in the village. And turned it into a brothel. The [Village Chief] and even the [Local Lord] wanted to deny her, but couldn''t win the argument. Whenever they talked about it with her, she would step near and enchant them with her sweet voice and fragrance. Slowly stroking their legs with her tail. Just moments later the two men would flee. They knew she was dangerous in that way. But they simply were weak towards her. Some woman tried to stop her too, but too many men were on her side. They would pay quite the sum for just an hour of her time. Not much later, even more succubi were breed within the hive in order to help her out. Besides the livestock, the income of magic power through her means were enorm. Even cleaning her body was turned into a show, as she had created a [Slime] with the element water. Watching the females in the hives prison, being force-fed by [Slimes] had her thinking. The moaning and arousel that came with it. Only difference was that she was enjoying the cleaning through the [Slime]. >Th.. this is disgraceful.. If the church knew..<, Odas exclaimed when he heard about it. But the villagers didn''t care. Neither did the adventurers. How was it that just because of her sexuality, the monster was accepted? >It''s addictive..<, Lant said with a low voice. Rego was shocked by that remark. But if the villagers and even the travelers accepted the succubi, there was nothing to do about it. >At least, we should place [Guards] before the brothel.<, Mardo said. He had just returned and looked for Rego and Odas all over town. Just to find them staring at the brothel. >But if you guys want to go in that much, maybe you just should do it.<, he shrug. >That is absolutly not the case!<, Rego shouted. >How dare you even imply such a thing!<, Odas added and blushed. >We have more important things to discuss.. I.. have to tell you something, mylord.<, Mardo said. The atmosphere grew heavy. >Did something happen?<, Lant asked him, but Mardo shoke his shook his head. >Don''t worry, it''s fine.< Left out again, the [Novize Cleric] Lant could only sigh, with his big brother Mardo walking away with the lord and chief. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. >So..?<, Rego asked when they had reached the conference room they always spoke in. >Well..<, he started, kneeing down in front of Odas. >Oh please don''t propose.<, Rego laughed. Naturally, Odas and Mardo couldn''t laugh about that. >Forgive me, mylord. I have to confess that I have been spying on this village.<, Mardo spoke clearly. Odas face hardened. Saying: >Go on.<. >Wait! What! Stop this!<, Rego shouted surprised. If he had spied for another lord, that could mean the death sentence for Mardo. But Odas signaled for Rego to be silent. >After my village was destroyed, the church of Legra''Nis had offered me help. For the promise to give them information on this settlement.< >What for?< >They wanted to set foot on your territory. But because of the rural areas, there wasn''t a need for them by the people in your lands.< >Why are you telling me this now?< >I failed them and tried to stall for time. So they banished me and declared to send someone else. I fear that they will.. take a more direct approach.< Rego was trying to think about what Mardo just said. If this was true, that could mean quite some problems in the future. >Legra''Nis, the higher deity of the farmlands.. They are quite demanding and tend to seize control over the farmers. I tried to keep them out because of that reason.<, Odas said deep in thoughts. >What informations did you give them?<, Rego asked now, seeing the importance for the truth. >That.. I told them about Lant and the [Queen], the orcs, as well as that the dungeon already is a [Greater Dungeon]. And..< >And?< >Well.. I.. before they threw me out in disbelieve.. I told them, the village had established trade with the dungeon..<, he answered weakly. Odas and Rego went pale. If they were to believe him, that.. No. They threw him out because they didn''t believe him. But still, that information was quite a problem. >How could you, boy..<, Rego brought for his disappointment. >I will have to send you to jail for now.<, Odas said sighing. Mardo nodded. >But there is more.<, he said. >Huh?< >There was a girl in [Zil City].< >There are many girls, say what you want to say.< >I brought her with me to [Mafay Village], she told me, a monster had taken the [Dungeon Heart] from the cities dungeon. A monster she had seen before, when she was in this village.< Odas and Rego looked startled. >Where is that girl?<, Rego broke the silence first. >She is currently looking around for a boy named Gram who was supposed to meet her here, but seems to nowhere to be found. I don''t completly know the details. Well.. and.. she is a slave.< >A slave? That is troublesome. Does her owner know she is here?< Mardo shook his head. That wasn''t good. Every slave was to be sent back to their owners and denied hospitality by edict of the king, if fled. Just this morning, Odas had gotten a letter from a nobleman, to inform him if a female slave was seen anywhere without her owner. Most likely that was about her. >I will have to send [Guards] to capture her.<, he said. >Please listen to her first, before doing so.<, Mardo requested. >I shouldn''t have developed this settlement.. It really only causes trouble..<, Rego told himself. >You''re quite demanding, spy.< Lowering his head, Mardo grew silent. >Please don''t tell Lant about my mistakes.< >We will talk about you later, for now I have other things to do.<, Odas lastly said, before leaving. Chapter 039 - Reserve Of The Shadows Comments to the threads in order to tell me what you think, ratings on the fiction page and also pm''s for feedback are most welcome and help me develop the story. Thanks to everyone who has done so! It''s hard to write without these. :) Lair Chapter 039 - Reserve Of The Shadows By Skalsar ''What are you doing there, didn''t you want to go to the next hive?'', Sora asks me. ''I''m breeding eggs.'', I say. Actually, that much must be obvious. So she must have meant something else. I even changed back to my [Broodmother] form for better fiddling with the eggs. ''Hm, let me rephrase it. I''m creating empty hulls of eggs with undecided cores. That way, if need arrises, we can simply breed these eggs for reinforcements. Sora looks irritated. Maybe I''m thinking too much, but I believe she thinks this is a waste. ''I don''t get why we should do so. Even if we have the eggs, wouldn''t it be a waste to set them beforehand? We don''t know what creature will be needed later on.'', she tells me her concern. But it isn''t like that. I didn''t set them to be a "real" creature. ''These aren''t supposed to be anything. As I said, they are empty hulls.'' ''But I can clearly feel that there are creatures and a core inside. So, naturally they will become a set creature.'' ''Yeah, but only in name. I set them to be a mass of bound magic power. A creature that is between forms. When I turned myself into a [Morphling], I thought about this. Shouldn''t the eggs have the opportunity to change too? Imitating the [Morphling], I registered something I call a [Formling]. Something that is in certain ways similar to a [Slime].'' Sora looks surprised now. ''Why aren''t you sharing that with the rest of us?'', she asks. Huh? I feel irritated again. ''What do you mean? I just said I already did register it to the hive.'', I tell her. This is weird. ''It isn''t.'', Nyr adds to our conversation. ''Actually, it makes sense. It was more weird that the other [Queens] and variations could recreate what you created. What you are doing is nothing a normal [Queen] could do anymore, but influenced by your skills.'' Ahhh, I get it. ''So it''s because of [Creation - Crystal Heart], right?'' I get the image of him nodding, because he isn''t with us in the [Lair], he only sends an image. Actually, he has his own layer now. Just after helping Sora with the [Watchers], we realized how useful his ability is. So he was given his own layer, where all the books and informations are to be stored. Our own [Library]. Even the puzzle-like memories of those we devoured are send there for him to decipher. And he does so perfectly. ''According to some books we acquired, the humans have skills for creation too. Stuff like [Woodworking], [Stoneworking], [Blacksmithing] and so on. They need certain experience in these skills in order to create things.'', he explains. Sounds fair. I''m still pretty good, I guess. ''That''s mean.'', Sora is sad now. I pat her head with one of my four hands. ''Well, you have other possibilities now, that I don''t have. So it''s alright, isn''t it?'', I say and she nods. ''Then please tell me more about those [Formlings].'', she demands. To say it in a simple way.. a [Formling] is a shadow. Something that is not given a finite form within this realm. When I had the [Dungeon Heart] inside my pocketrealm between realms, I noticed. It was still usable. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.With a bit of magic power, I could have activated it. Creating a connection. These [Formlings] are exactly that. A creature with its core inside their own pocketrealm. Shadows that travel through their own and our realms. ''Ah! I got it! I can do it!'', Sora suddenly screams. She tried to pick an egg into her own pocketrealm. Doing so, she noticed what I meant and build a bond to the [Formling ¨C Egg]. ''This is..! Fascinating!'', she says with big eyes. Seems like it''s possible for others to learn, if I explain in detail. I should be careful with that. But I''m still proud of Sora. She always was good in learning from me. I guess, she is something like my apprentice, sometimes. ''But wouldn''t that mean, we can create more creatures like these? Some that travel through materials?'', she asks and I nod again. That was the plan. ''Yes, Nyr told me about it. Stories about something called [Ghosts] and [Spirits].'', I hatch one of the [Formlings] with magic power in order to show her what I mean. The shadowlike create creeps before me. Left, right, its shadow isn''t bound by form and twists around. His height is about thirty centimeters at most. ''The [Formling] itself is nothing that can attack. It''s just a basic creature which can be manipulated to hatch into anything else, if magic power is given to it. But it also has no physical form in this realm. So it can''t be attacked physically. Its body is magic power. The moment it loses that, it dies. So magic attacks might be deadly towards it.'', I explain further. Adding more magic power, the [Formling] starts to glow and grow. Fog is gathering. No, the shadow is turning into fog and growing. The core in its pocketrealm is pulsating and growing too. Moments later, it turns into a fog-like white creature with a hollow face that is hard to see. When it moves, arms can be seen for a moment. ''I named this [Ghost Walker]. After the left behind [Ghosts] of deceaced the humans tell about in their books. It can attack by focusing magic power in its hands, but can''t be attacked by physical attacks.'' But it''s quite the expensive creature. So.. Why is there so little change to our reserves.. ''This should have taken much more magic power.'', I tell the others. >How may I serve you, master.<, the [Ghost Walker ¨C Rare Variant] answers. We watch it stupified. >You can talk?!<, I ask and feel even more stupid for mentioning something that is more than obvious, like some stupid human would do. >I can, master. You returned me from the abyss, for that, I''m bound to you and await your command.<, it says. Abyss? Returned? Bound? What is it talking about? ''This thing.. it''s conscious.'', Danar says. >What are you?<, I ask. >The [Soul] of a fallen orc. You returned me with an ability of yours.<, it says. I try to feel inside me. Ability it says.. Ah, I got a new skill. I see. When I think about it, I kind of get what it is. [Summon Soul]. It allows me to return the [Souls] of the dead and put it into a core, binding it to me. This is.. interesting. ''''''I feel cheated.'''''', Danar, Nyr and Sora tell me in unison. Guess I''m back in the game. But it''s quite restricted. The [Soul] has to be strong enough and not too damaged. Since they are magic power, it''s easy to accidently damage them whenever we do anything. I will have to find out more about it later. Chapter 040 - Midday Shadow Comments to the threads in order to tell me what you think, ratings on the fiction page and also pm''s for feedback are most welcome and help me develop the story. Thanks to everyone who has done so! And while I can''t write everything people wish me to do, everything you tell me -might- influence the story in the future in certain ways. Lair Chapter 040 - Midday Shadow By Skalsar >It''s a lie, right, you aren''t killing people, right?<, Lily suddenly appeared before Odas. He was on his way to find the slave girl Mina that Mardo had told him about. Instead, Lily suddenly ran to him and was shouting. >What?<, he was startled for a moment. His daughter had ran off with Blazer and hid herself after returning. And now she was suddenly screaming at him. >Lily, I don''t have time right now. We can talk later.<, he said and wanted to go on, but she simply stepped in his way. >NO! I hate it! You always hide things from me! Everytime you say you have something important to do! Always leaving me behind alone! Every single time since mother left us!<, she screamed. His own anger from moments ago, after finding out Mardo spied, had vanished easily to this. Why was she so upset? He never noticed her unrest. >Calm down, Lily. And what is that about mother leaving, you know what happened to her, right?<, he asks a bit worried, bending down to her. >Stop dodging my question!<, she screamed. This was a problem. ''She is thowing a tantrum.'', he thought full of worry. >Lily, I have to do important things. After that, we will talk.<, he said, but Lily wasn''t doing that. She wasn''t looking like she would calm down any time soon. >Tell me! Are we killing people?! Like living people, who did hurt no one?! Humans killing other humans?!<, she shouted again, earning the concerned looks of other villagers and travelers. Again it was common sense that Lily didn''t know about. But was it alright to tell her? She wasn''t good with the dead it seems.. >Well..<, he was searching for words. Somehow he was scared. What was he scared about? This was his daughter, who one day might have to lead his territory. She has to know about the laws and flaws in human nature. >If they break the law, they will be punished accordingly.<, he started saying. Lily''s eyes widened. >S..So..? It''s true? You are killing humans?<, she asks with a shocked expression. >Lily, the world is complicated. Sometimes, there are people, who need to be punished accordingly to the law.<, he tried to explain things in a soft tone. >What people?< >W..well.. People who hurt others, or harm their land.< She was looking irritated now. >Harm their land? How can you harm the land?< Maybe it was because that situation had just happened, but Mardo was the first thing to come to his mind. He felt anger again about it. If that church were to tell someone.. >Like people who give important and dangerous information to others, that could put many people in danger.<, he tried to explain, but it was hard to explain that to a ten year old girl. >What am I even saying. This is enough. I will explain it to you later. For now there are important things I have to do.<, he exclaimed and grabbed her arm. >There are always important things! Why am I never that important!<, she shouted at him and tried to free herself. >[Guard], take her to the [Inn] and watch her.<, he said and gave her to the female [Guard]. Naturally, Lily tried to free herself even more, biting the hand that held her, but she was too weak. The people around looked irritated but didn''t say anything. What could they say, they knew about the executions by law, but had pity on Lily who didn''t. >Let me go! Let me go! I don''t want to!<, she screamed. Sighing, Odas wanted to move on. >Don''t worry too much, Odas. She is your daugther after all, she will come around if you explain it calmly.<, Rego said.
You have been summoned by the king. Transportation will take place in five minutes.
>WHAT?!<, Odas suddenly screamed. This was bad. Was it about the dungeon? Or the tower? Maybe the church? Shit. A magic circle appeared under his feet a moment later. >Rego, I''m being summoned by the king. Please search for the slave girl, I will return as soon as possible.<, he said agitated. Rego was surprised, but nodded. Since every lord had to swear fealty to their king, summoning magic could be used on them. It was to no surprise for situations like this to happen every now and then. Shortly after, light took the lord and he was gone from the village. Instead, he reappeared in front of the king. A man in his late fifties, sitting on a golden throne. Placed within a great hall with marble pillars. Huge windows with great motives of heroes on each side. White beard, red robe with golden ornaments. One wife to both his sides. A face that has seen war and peace. But the feeling of royalty was still missing. Maybe because he wasn''t born king. He was an adventurer once, who was friends with the late king. The late king didn''t have an heir and decided to give his crown to someone he trusted. Peace was seen ever since then. >Sire, you have summoned me?<, Odas said, bending down on one knee and one arm bend over his chest. Facing the ground before the king. >Rise, Lord Odas. We are here to talk informally.< Standing up and looking around, the throneroom was nearly empty. >I was told about a great tower near your newest village and was wondering about its meaning.< ''The tower after all.. If that is the case, this is meant even more than formally.'', he thought. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Done wrong, this could cost his lordship. >Sire, we are still investigating the appearance ourselves. It.. It was hard for me to comprehend, but as far as the witnesses told me, it just appeared. Like the magic of old stories.< >Is that so..?<, the king scratched his beard. >Well, I was told the same already. But it''s quite hard to believe.<, the king added. >But I''m surprised. I hear you are securing books into the dungeon. And just like that, suddenly there is a tower to guard the entrance.<, he says with curiosity. Adding: >It couldn''t be, that you are trying to hide something from others, right..?< >Well..<, what could Odas say about that..? ''Think..'' >After these orcs had nearly destroyed the village, if not for the [Hero].. I decided to secure important books into the dungeon. But that has nothing to do with the tower.<, he said. >Hm. The [Hero].. yes.. The one that disappeared shortly after. So is that why you declared for no one to go beyond level fifty of the dungeon?<, he asked. ''This is getting complicated.'' >Yes, sire. That way, no one would accidently find the books, even though we put them into secured chests.< >I see. But that tower appearing for no reason is still hard to believe.<, the king was still doubting. >Yes.. Something only happening in childrens stories..<, Odas added thoughtful. >Children stories?<, the king seemed interested again and gestured for his [Court Magician]. A moment later, the [Court Magician] stepped near the king and whispered in his ear. >What?<, he seemed surprised. Standing up, the king walked some steps towards Odas. >Lord Odas, you are hereby to keep looking for the person who created the tower. If by chance, a person who did it, is to be found, report immediately. Dismissed.<, the king declared and before Odas could say anything more, he was send back. Finding himself back in the village. ''That was weird.'', he thought. >The magician must have told him about the stories and figuered it might be someone with a greater blessing. If so, his reaction makes sense. Such a person would be most useful for the kingdom.<, Odas sighed. ''If they find out the truth, I will be executed..'' Huh? What was that smell? Looking around, Odas noticed. A building had burned down and it reeked of blood. >Milord!<, an adventurer shouted. >The [Inn] was attacked by a [Hero]!< ''What?'' It took Odas some seconds to comprehend what was going on. Why should someone attack the [Inn]? But.. >By the deties! Lily!<, he shouted and started to run. His heart beating like crazy. If she was somehow drawn into that, he would never forgive himself. A moment later he arrived to the [Marketplace] where the [Inn] was. Rego was currently trying to fight the [Hero]. No. It wasn''t a fight. Rego was hopelessly trying to block. >Aargh!<, getting cut once more. He was already full of blood. >Hahaha! For you fools to try and help the corruption!<, the [Hero] shouted. Was that really a [Hero]? The man in front of him was clad in red platemail and wearing a big bastardsword. Happily slashing around and not caring for anything in its way. >Evacuate the villagers out of reach! Send for [Soldiers]! Get ranged weapons!<, a [Soldier Commander] shouted. With his commands done, he stepped in to try help Rego.. And was cut down with one swing. Odas couldn''t believe it. This was a slaughter. Just why? >Mylord. That [Hero] suddenly lost it when he walked into the [Inn]. Screaming that this village was full of corruption.<, a heavily bleeding [Guard] told him. Wait.. This [Guard].. >Where is Lily!<, Odas shouted. >She.. she ran away..< Suddenly the [Hero] was in front of Odas. Only a few steps were needed as it seemed. It was something similar to the [Runner] skill [Blur], as it seems. >Oh! Is that the name of the corrupted girl? What a lovely name! Sadly she has to perish for the glory of our god!<, he laughed. No, this wasn''t a [Hero]. >P..[Paladin]?<, the [Guard] asked weakly before being cut down. >Silence!<, the [Paladin] ordered. A [Paladin] was the champion of a god. If so, that man was even stronger than a [Hero]. >Wait?! What do you mean corruption! My daughter isn''t corrupted in any way!<, Odas tried to mediate. But it was useless as the [Paladin] was only laughing. >You poor thing, knowing nothing. I can feel it. Can''t you too? The corruption creeping around. Everywhere in this village. I could follow it even from the great plains, like a line leading me here. It''s strongest felt in that girl. Having a dungeon nearby, this occasionally occurs. A human being strongly influenced by its darkness. Such a thing has to perish.<, he told the lord with glowing blue eyes. Lifting his sword to strike down the man. Odas nearly pissed his pants, feeling the killing intent. >Don''t!<, Rego screamed as he tackled the [Paladin], who only laughed as he was pressed away. >Hahahaha! You fools. I wasted enough time with you. Be happy for not having died for guarding the corruption. As my god commands me, I will take the girl!<, he said and vanished again in a blurry light. Rego was breathing heavily. Being cut all over his body. One hand was missing. His chest bleeding heavily. >Heal!<, could be heard as Lant mustered some last strength and cast a spell before losing consciousness. Not that Lant was wounded, but being only a [Novice Cleric], he had poor stamina. Maybe he got in the way and was simply thrown away by the [Paladin]. >This can''t be happening!<, Odas said in disbelieve, going pale. Chapter 041 - Lightless Afternoon Ratings on the bottom of the fiction page, even just giving stars and pressing submit (can be changed any time afterwards by changing the stars and pressing submit again if no comment was given) is most appreciated. Lair Chapter 041 - Lightless Afternoon By Skalsar >What are you talking about! She is just a little girl! My little girl! Lily is innocent!< The human was raging at the [Paladin], but held back by a [Guard]. >Please, milord, he will just slaughter you too!<, he said doing so. >Do you really stand in the way of god? Your "girl" is corrupted. Blame the deities, blame the dungeon, blame yourself. All that doesn''t change anything. The girl has to die as declared by god!< With that, the [Paladin] drew his sword, glowing violet. Approaching Lily, who was too afraid to even move. She wanted to faint, but this time she knew that it would be her end if she did. Even her tears won''t come out. And when the sword fell, it cut through carapace. Opening a [Black Gate], I appeared before Lily to guard her from the blow. Like a hot knife going through butter, it ripped apart an arm of mine that wasn''t even near the cut. The cut itself went smoothly through my body and took three legs. Some of my guts are scattered and falling out. Looking at me with a grin, the [Paladin] seemed to like the situation. I could feel the stare. Should I move? Should I run away? Maybe I should bow? Could it be the [Paladin] would let us talk about this? What was this? My mind is going crazy. Not from the pain. Something else. It''s disturbed? Helplessness is rushing through my mind. ''That thing.. it is stronger than everything we met before.. stronger than every creature inside the hive..'', Danar surrendered. >Told you. It is even protecting its corrupted little mistress.< The lord looked shocked. He wanted to run in himself, but he couldn''t even dare to move an inch. ''Please! Save my girl!'', his mind was shouting even if he didn''t knew. This was disturbing, not just for me, for the other hive creatures as well. >Tell you what. I don''t care for you, [Dungeon Lord], or your little dungeon. Devour the girl right now and I promise to leave. I won''t return to attack your dungeon. I swear by my mothers grave.< Was he thinking I''m the [Dungeon Lord]? Understanding his words, Hivemind was worried. Our collective mind, that is. I was worried too. This was a choice between our safety and that of a human girl. But can I really do that? Killing her might save us. But we don''t know for sure. I grabbed Lilys head and cut it from the body faster than Lily could even notice. My other hands grabbed the body and I started to eat. This.. was delicious! Its taste, the consistance, even the chrunchyness of the bones! Tears wanted to roll out because of the happiness I was feeling right now, but I could stop them. Lightning struck a near tree. I didn''t even notice clouds gathering in the sky. Like an outburst, a blue box was visible for everyone to read.
A goddess has marked this area for a great tragedy that took place. While the reason might never be known, the weeping of a woman can be heard at night, whispering through the forest.
>Clever boy.< With this last words, the [Paladin] turned around to leave. The legs of the [Local Lord] gave up as he fell on his knees. He didn''t even seem to have the energy to scream out his pain. Seems like for some reason, the [Paladin] was only interested in Lily. And everything I had, was focused on the head in my hand. Trying to keep the [Soul] from disappearing outside the hive. I have never imitated life before. Sure, I can create cores. Creatures are born that way. But is that life? Is that growing up? No. It is a weak imitation of existing. We have the ability to evolve and change, but not to live in a human sense. Rage is flooding my mind. No! I have to focus. That man, the [Paladin], he doesn''t matter now! Focus! The thing I''m doing right now, is what we are capable of. Looking at us, we are evolution itself. But that is by adaption. Humans don''t work that way. She is dying, her [Soul]. Right now, magic power is leaving her. I can feel it. However much I concentrate, I can''t keep it together any longer. Think! My body is failing me. Blood is everywhere. I forgot to patch up my leg. The ripped arm is a problem too. Focus! I start fiddling with the core. This is wrong. I just ate her body, I know it''s something entirely else. A living body, a human body. Something that evolves all the time. Every second there are maybe billions of changes in the human body. That''s how they grow. >[Hiveworkers]!< I scream. Why do I scream? Just what is happening? It doesn''t matter. The [Hiveworkers] appear before me. All of them. ''What are you doing, she is dead. Who even cares about one little human.'', Lysk says. It''s understandable for him not to care, after being trapped that long. Small creatures, three times the size of a hornet. I desolve them all and take the cores. Around twohundred cores. This feels wrong, but I can''t stop now. I intertwine them all. Twisting them, adding elements. No, not elements. The ability to add elements. She has to grow, not to evolve. And I have to protect her from harm. When I''m finally finished, I notice. The other [Queens] were helping me. While they don''t even know what I''m doing, they focused on keeping Lilys magic power together. Her [Soul]. And just now, we insert it into the cores, creating an egg. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Spreading the [Soul] through a network of intertwined cores. I never succeeded in creating a human creature before. This might be the nearest I will ever reach though, using the [Summon Soul] skill. And still it might not be even close, while being ahead of humans by far. Hatching, we can see the final moment. Shadows twisting around her pale flesh, forming a black dress around her fragile body. A [Formling] variation with the ability to form a body. A small girl, formed after Lily. I shall call it [Banshee], because Lily is dead. I could only bring back her form and memories. ''What happened?'', she finally asks confused with her mind, looking for someone. Just why did I do this? I don''t understand at all. Bringing back her [Soul], binding it to the hive, Lily could never be Lily. Such a thing is impossible for human beings, it will destroy their human mind. I hate myself for trying. My legs give in. My core was scratched. My magic power is failing me. Is this how dying feels? Guess I may take my leave now. I feel kind of satisfied, since at least I tried my best. But I still hate it. The lord followed us through the [Black Gate] and watched. Crying with his sword drawn. Not even knowing what I was doing, he had driven his sword into my core and waited for me to die. >Lil..? My little Lily..? My cute little Lily..?<, he whispers. He let go of the sword and enclosed the [Banshee] called Lily in his embrace. I open a [Black Gate] that will take them to the village, before my consciousness starts failing me. But a scream escapes Lily as she scratches out Odas eyes with her clawlike hands. >How dare you hurt Nydar! How dare you attack our hive!<, she shouts with hatred. >Gaaaaaah!<, the lord screams in pain. Lily''s knowledge about humans is flooding us. This is so wrong.. Why did I do it.. I want this to be undone.. And then, Odas gets cut down. >Just kidding.<, the [Paladin] says laughing as he slaughters the creatures around me. >Didn''t really believe I would leave this corrupting dungeon be, right?<, he spoke.
You have been acknowledged as a new race, by acquiring a human level of knowledge.
Lily''s knowledge about the blue boxes enters our mind. Danar was shocked the most about that. Even through he ate countless humans, he never learned about these blue boxes. And now it was revealed that it was childsplay. Literally. Human children play games with their parents to imagine them. They teach them how to see everything that happens as a blue box. It''s an ability that every living being has from birth, given by the deities. And now, every creature in the hive is able to do so too. I was slowly dying, seeing everything around me being slaughtered.. but a blinding white light wouldn''t let me sleep. ''I finally understand it. Seeing it like this is schocking. Finally I understand what her vengeance really is. The others won''t understand and I surely won''t tell them. For trying to kill Lily with that champion.. I despise them.'' With that, the glowing white, stopped weeping. She approached me with a crying smile. Kissing me on the forehead. ''This is my last gift.'', she whispered. Then came the colors. Red, yellow, blue, green, purple, grey, gold, ... I can''t even see all of them. So many, so bright, so blinding. Even the [Paladin] stops doing his slaughter and watches in awe. They are grabbing the white deity. Ripping at her. Like claws trying to pull her away from the hive. >Beautiful..<, he whispers. They can''t completly reach here. Not even see. Just blindly grabbing everything, reaching for her magic power. A weird kind of magic power that is. I understand. These are the deitys. All of them. And a moment later the deity is ripped to shreds. Taken out of the hive.
The weeping of the goddess has vanished from the region.
They destroyed her. They destroyed one of their own? I don''t even know how she was able to get in here. She just appeared, while the other deities can''t even see inside. With this.. I may finally sleep, right? Dead end.. Right..? My eyes growing heavy. My mind growing slow. But what was that annoying voice again.. I want to sleep a little bit longer.. >Told you. It is even protecting the corruption.<, a voice said... again? ''Please! Save my girl!'', Odas mind was shouting even if he didn''t knew. This was disturbing, not just for me, for the other hive creatures as well. >Tell you what. I don''t care for you, [Dungeon Lord], or your little dungeon. Devour the girl right now and I promise to leave. I won''t return to attack your dungeon. I swear by my mothers grave.< Was he thinking I''m the [Dungeon Lord]? Understanding his words, Hivemind was worried. Our collective mind, that is. Opening my eyes, I was worried too. This was a choice between our safety and that of a human girl. But can I really do that? Killing her might save us. But we don''t know for sure. I grabbed Lilys head and ... ''Wait.. This..'', I stutter. >Nydar?!<, Lily shouts surprised for me having grabbed her head. ''You have to kill her.. I''m sorry Nydar.'', Danar tells me. ''I believe it is a lie.'', Nyr says weakly. >Again..?<, I ask. The [Paladin] looks at me irritated. >You can even talk?! Ha! This is a first! I will make sure to slaughter you slowly and enjoy your screams!<, he says with a crazy look in his eyes, as he lifts his sword again. Chapter 042 - Setting Sun Lair Chapter 042 - Setting Sun By Skalsar >Ahahahaha!<, the [Paladin] was laughing as he tried to cut away my flesh. His bastard sword finally broke through an improvised shield I had created by overlapping chitin that I created with the reserve of magic power I had to spare. >Humans are weird.<, I say. ''But thinking about it. I might be too. Didn''t I die just now? Just what has happened to me?'' ''What do you mean, you died?'', Nyr ask me most irritated and with worry.
[Blessing Of Frey] has ended due to the destruction of the deity.
I see. A blessing, huh? Is that why I still remember? That deity, she did something to me and was destroyed for it. Cutting away two more of my arms with a lucky strike, that [Paladin] turns around and kicks away Danar. Danar, Sora, Blazer and Lysk had come through [Portals] in order to help, but couldn''t do much. Sora tried to lash him with her claws, but could only scratch his armor before hit in the face, which send her flying. Blazer tried to bite the arm, but the [Paladin] simply dodged and cut two of his legs. Lysk used his [Bewitching Eyes] but didn''t seem to have any effect. He doesn''t look like he is interested in them in any way, not even taking them serious I believe. I share the knowledge I acquired with them through our minds link. About how I killed Lily. About how I ''recreated'' her as a creature and she killed Odas. About how the [Paladin] still slaughtered us all. And of course, how that white deity did something and was ripped apart by the other deities for doing so, with me keeping my memories of something that now seems to have not happened. ''What?!'', Danar screamed to my mind as the knowledge flooded the hive.
The inhabitants of [The Hive] have been acknowledged as a new race, by acquiring a human level of knowledge.
The [Paladins] bastard sword cuts another of my legs. I can''t move anymore. >This is it, monster. Please scream for me!<, he says as he presses his sword slowly into my chest. Slowly pressing on, in order to cause me pain. It burns. But I won''t give him that victory.. >G.. Gaaaah!<, I scream painfully. Well yes I do scream, so what? It hurts like hell! It''s a freaking sword being pushed slowly into my chest! I stare into his eyes as the sword slowly approaches my core. Then I smile. Startled, he notices something is off. Ripping out his sword, he turns around, but only to stare into white fog. Then.. hundreds of creatures appear on the surface through [Portals]. Shadows lurking around. [Formlings]. Swinging his sword in a wide arc, the [Paladin] wants to get rid of them. With a look on his face as if getting rid of insects. >What..?<, a weird tone escapes him as he is surprised about his sword just going through. Blood flows from his mouth. >Impossible.<, he says. He is dropping his sword and feeling his chest. The white fog from before had formed to a figure with claws and a hollow face. Holding something that stopped pulsating just now. A lump of flesh. A human heart. With a small explosion of magic power from the [Paladin], the [Ghost Walker ¨C Rare Variant] and many of the creeping shadows called [Formlings] perish. This was all he could control, being on the edge of deaths door. Danar still shielded me from the explosion, seeing how I wouldn''t have survived it in my current state. Cores are dropping all around from the pocketrealms of the [Formlings] as they died. But the [Paladin] drops to the ground too. >A lower being can''t do such a thing.<, he says to himself. Is he talking about the [Ghost Walker] ripping out his heart? If so, it made perfect sense. Not having a physical form, it used all its magic power to directly attack the heart. >I''m the champion of Logaris.<, he says. >A lowly monster can''t harm me.<, tears are starting to roll from his face. >He promised me, he blessed me.<, he is weeping now, realizing that this is his end. I like it. Smiling, I watch him die. >He has let you down.<, I tell him even through it''s a lie, I like the despair in his final moment. I chuckle as he drops dead. The real reason is just as he said. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.Deities have their own rules and laws. The blessing that [Paladin] had, must be just as he said. A monster can''t damage him in any way. But we aren''t monsters any longer. Quite possible he was supposed to kill Lily just for that, to stop us from advancing into a race. I have to thank.. what was her name..? My memory is getting blurry. That deity.. the one that saved me. I can''t remember her name. Just like with when Danar was still just "Hivemind" and told us of [The Goddess Of Vengeance] that created us but was destroyed by the other deities for some reason. Seems like you can''t remember the name if the deity gets destroyed. >Daddy!<, a highpitched voice is screaming besides me. >Please!<, it is Lily who is screaming and crying. He had shielded her from that magic explosion, hasn''t he? >Wake up! Please!<, she begs. This is.. sad..? But many died, even that [Guard] and other people in the village. Why is it only sad to see Lily like this? ''I don''t feel sad. I find it quite amusing.'', Lysk tells me. Well, Lysk was trapped by humans for like ever, that doesn''t count. ''Sorry, I don''t feel sad either. He never gave in to my temptation, he was mean.'', Sora says. Guess a [Succubus] doesn''t count either.. ''Well..'', Danar starts. ''Oh not you too!'', I shout. ''No, no! I mean.. I''m sad about it too. He seemed ok, for a human that is. But can''t you do something about it with your skill?'' Skill he says.. He means the [Summon Soul] thing.. ''That would be a bad idea.. he wouldn''t be himself anymore. I tried before..'', I say, thinking about Lily. [Drones] and [Hiveworkers] from within the hive appear before me and give me magic power. Being cut down like this, I''m nearly depleted. This is good, I won''t die this time. I discard the dead flesh and morph into a [Morphling] again. Leaving behind blood and gore. As our flesh is made from magic power, it can be turned back into magic power. The others are shocked and worried about my memory of the deities. But Danar seems thoughtful. ''Your memories are worrisome, but we will need him.'', Danar says. Guess that might be true.. ''And Lily will need him too, even if he isn''t really himself anymore.'', he adds. I don''t know.. I have the feeling that this is wrong. That I can''t do it right. ''Then let me do it?'', Sora offers. Huh? Her? ''I have a much better understanding of a human body. I believe, using the dead body, I can create something similar to it.'', she says. ''I might be able to help with that.'', Nyr seems to be confident too. Guess that might be true. And if Nyr is helping.. Well, whatever. They use some of the cores that are lying around, looking for those that aren''t damaged. Maybe fifteen of those small cores should do they believe. Intertwining them with eachother. Forming them. ''We just need him to be believable human, right? Like some puppet.'', Sora asks Danar, who nods. Seems like they want to control the village with this. Not just the village. The whole territory I guess. ''Here you go.'', they tell me and hand me a intertwined core in the form of a human heart. Guess it makes sense that way. I take it and step near his corpse. Lily doesn''t even look at me. She just cries, with her head resting on his belly. Grabbing his clothes with all the strenght of her small hands. >Please wake up..<, she whispers again. I lay the core onto his chest and start feeding it magic power. Then I focus on using the skill. His [Soul] is still lingering around. Scattered here and there for a bit. But still around. If we were to mindlessly use magic power that surrounds us, we might destroy it in the blink of an eye, that is how fragile it is. His [Soul] is disgustingly weak. Not the [Soul] of Odas, the [Soul] of the [Paladin]. Odas [Soul] is just fine, staying around his daugther as if not wanting to leave. Clinging to her with all his might. Focussing my mind, a weak black glow surrounds the core. The flesh beneath it is getting slowly absorbed, as the new heart oozes into the corpse. ''Why should we try to imitate the form, if it is already lying before us, empty. I shall call this a [Ghoul]'', Sora thought. And as I spread the [Soul] into the core, his new heart starts beating. Chapter 043 - To Advance Lair Chapter 043 - To Advance By Skalsar >I''m sorry daddy! I really am! From now on, I will listen, I swear!<, Lily is crying happily this time. Hugging her.. father. Being resummoned into his body with a core, has left him irritated. ''Congratulations. You are now part of our little hive.'', Danar told him with a smile. The knowledge that flooded Odas was overwhelming and left him spaced out for a moment. On the other hand, we acquired information too. Having him back with his [Soul] intact as a [Ghoul] has its good sides. Let''s sum some important information up.. The land we a live on is called [West Sifall], on the continent [Sifall Ignaria], which is named after an [Emporer] who lived a thousand years ago. After his death, the continent was devided into two kingdoms. [Ne''fra Lim Empire] in the south-east and [Magora Kingdom] in the north-west. We are part of the [Magora Kingdom] and on the border to the empire. For now that is. ''I.. can''t believe it.. All my live.. and now..'', Odas stuttered with his mind. ''Am I but a puppet to you?'', he asks. We nod in unison. I can feel his mind surrendering. Not that he has much of a choice. Being bound with his [Soul] to the hive, he is but a slave to our will. >What a surprise. Seems like your father is exhausted after this, but how lucky for him to survive.<, Danar tells Lily. She nods with clouded, teary eyes. >I.. I see. I''m sorry for clinging so much.<, she is still sobbing and not letting go of Odas clothes. >He will need to rest some bit. For now, you two may stay here. We will make sure to take care of the village in the meantime.<, Danar pats her head. She nods weakly. Both will go into the [Lair] to rest. Odas needs to adjust to his new existence. >Master..<, a voice besides me begins. ''I hate you! Nefarious creature!'', the [Soul] that belongs to the voice is shouting. >How may I serve you..<, it continues. It would have been wasteful to just let that [Paladin] disappear, right? Not that I have any use for him, or want to turn him into a real creature. I simply trapped his [Soul] into the core of a [Formling]. He is but a shadow of his former glory, so to speak. I didn''t even connect him to the hive. ''How dare you humiliate me like that!'', he shouts. With his [Soul] bound to me, I will make him suffer in days to come, for looking down on the hive. ''I shall name you Squishi, because your weak little [Soul] is all squishi.'', I tell Squishi. ''I will end you!'', Squishi screams. Danar took Squishis magic power instead. And let me tell you.. that is a tremendous amount. We could harvest a [Hero] for like half a year for that much. Maybe a [Soul] isn''t magic power on its own, but more like it is bound to this realm with the magic power of a being? Because seeing his weak little [Soul], you would never guess this amount. On the other hand, if he hadn''t taken us lightly.. If he had just one moment thought of us as a danger.. Stopping to play with us for his pleasure.. With one magic infused swing of his sword, he could have destroyed us. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.The whole hive. Without a sweat. The earth is shaking. ''And there I thought, we would have to wait longer.'', Danar says as he focusses the magic power into the three [Dungeon Hearts] and the hive. From the ground, walls start to grow. He is carrying over part of the hive into this realm. This is one of the main reasons Danar was saving magic power and increasing our livestock. Evolution and getting more creatures is important, as well as the new [Watchers], sure. But what matters isn''t our numbers or strength. It is how we interact with the other races. What Danar wants to do, is build a city and get rid of the possibility of simple destruction for being monsters to the other races. Before this, through the captured livestock and Sora, we had the hive increase in size. It already consisted of a hundred and twentysix layers. Remember how fifty meant that we were a [Greater Dungeon]? Seventyfive is called a [Massiv Dungeon], and it is a threat to the land according to Odas. Adventurers would walk it with [Magic Orbs] to lower the magic power in it. Well, a hundred was only seen once and called [Grave Dungeon]. It nearly destroyed the [Ne''fra Lim Empire] before being destroyed by [Paladins]. Imagine their faces if they knew. But being even over that point, I guess we need a title for ourselves. ''All in favor?'', Danar was asking and earned acceptance. ''Then I hereby declare the hive to be called a [Great Necropolis].'' We applauded, watching the great walls that now surrounded the tower. Under its surface, a great maze has been created, which humans would call a labyrinth. The maze as well as the tower are filled with inhabitants of the hive. And because the whole area is part of the hive, we can freely travel between points with [Portals]. ''You know.. I have been thinking. With all that livestock of yours, I was wondering why you didn''t get the villagers too. Being afraid of attacks and all, needing more magic power.'', Lysk suddenly stated. Danar was grinning. ''But seeing how the [Paladin] attacked the village first and how you grew the [Great Necropolis] this large.. You are planning to get them settled here, right?'', Lysk added. If what Lysk was saying is right, it made sense. I thought it wasteful to build such a large structure, even with all our inhabitants. We could easily fit into the zone between the tower and the inner wall. ''That''s right. I''m planning to create a city with many races, to give us magic power and political influence. And we will start with absorbing [Mafay Village].'', he said. And that was a good thought. The village was still in a panic. Being attacked like that wasn''t new to the hive, but humans can''t control their fear that easily. Houses burning, they panic and break down. Some tried to stop the fire from spreading and succeeded, but the damage done is large. Being creatures on the other hand, we simply regrow what was lost. Collect magic power were we can and try to learn from the experience. As soon as Odas has adapted, we will send him to gather the first villagers to resettle. News - (not a chapter, just news, sorry) UPDATE 25.07.16: I have begun writing again. Even though Chapters will still come up irregulary. So.. what is going on or why the heck am I not releasing any chapters you might ask. Or at least that is what I keep asking myself whenever I check RRL and see how long it already has been since I wrote something.. It''s quite terrible to watch the days pass by. But truth is, I just can''t find the time. It''s annoying but can''t be helped. As if my studies weren''t enough, I need to work for december to earn some money, too. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. So, two things I want to say.. First: I won''t drop the story, I have much too many ideas and thoughts still in my mind that I want to write. Second: There is no way for me to tell when I will be able to write more chapters. I''m deeply sorry for those who are waiting for more, since I know how it feels to wait for a story to continue. I will get to it ASAP, but can''t make any promises. Chapter 043.5 – Feeling Lost (Mina) Thank you everyone for the patience with the story! It will still update rarely for now! Lair Chapter 043.5 ¨C Feeling Lost (Mina) By Skalsar Mina had told Mardo quite a few things about what had happened. Not about the abusive character of her guardian, but about lending money and searching for hints about her mother, the [Hero] Idril that died in the [Quon Village Dungeon]. About Gram and her exploring. How she returned emptyhanded and was therefore reduced to being a slave. Even a few things about her class escaped her while she was at it. After running away and hiding, it was a good feeling to finally talk to someone again. Like this, they arrived at [Mafay Village] thanks to the [Field Walk] at the [Adventurer Guild]. But she couldn''t just go into the dungeon again. First, she would have to find Gram. And maybe talk to the [Local Lord]. Mardo had told her about him and the [Village Chief] and they sounded like good people. The chance was, that they might help her. Mardo therefore wanted to go to the lord first and talk about something important before arranging a meeting for them. In the meantime, Mina could search for Gram. But.. How was it that no one seemed to know about where Gram was? Looking around, color was everywhere. Sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker. Few had seen a boy like what she described, but that was over a month ago. Couldn''t be he was stupid enough to go back into the dungeon again, right? Like.. alone.. When they had already failed.. right..? The thought hit Mina hard. What was this sudden pain, the feeling as if someone was pressing against her chest. Gram was just a boy after all. What if he thought that it was just bad luck to lose to that [Slime], because of their inexperience? But that wasn''t the case. The dungeon was clearly too much for them. Not to mention Gram not being able to escape with [Dungeon Walk]. The [Queen] that casually threw them out should have been more than enough proof for that. You don''t cheat death like this twice. And still she was thinking about entering again herself too. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. >Eek!<, a voice escaped her lungs when she collided with someone, being deep in thought. The man fell besides her. >I''m sorry! I was..<, not finishing her words she noticed the wounds on the body. >... and shall burn those who are lost in corruption!<, a voice appeared. Screams appeared. How long had she drifted off, thinking about the boy? She tried to focus and see what was going on, but the colors were so bright. Orange was everywhere. >This.. isn''t color..?<, she thought to herself, feeling the heat. Fire spread everywhere and a laughter echoed through the village. Poeple were running and bodies dropped dead. Faster then she could watch, a man rushed through the masses and slaughtered many with a swing of his sword. Chaos broke loose everywhere. ''Why? Just why?'', she thought. Was death following her even here? ''Am I just a toy for the gods to suffer?'', she wanted to cry as the [Paladin] noticed her and stepped near. >Noooo!<, she screamed in terror. >I don''t want to die! I don''t want to die! I don''t want to..<, she shouted to herself, curling up into a ball, tears falling from her face, crouching against the burning building at her back. This was too much. People dying left and right, as if they were just cattle. And then, the [Paladin] stood before her. Touching her head with his left hand. >Oww, don''t worry little one. You aren''t from here, right? I shall protect you. I will get rid of this corrupted filth for you any moment now.<, he reassured her. She didn''t dare to breath. Wetting herself as he just left and continued the slaughter. Fire spreading from one house to the other. Blood flowing beneath her feet, as a severed head fell before her. She didn''t dare to move from her spot and closed her eyes, hoping it would be over soon. Telling herself there was nothing she could do. But a small whisper remained.. ''Why aren''t you even trying to stop that man..?''. END OF VOLUME I Volume 2, Chapter 044 – Saving A Village, Losing A Village Thank you everyone for the patience with the story! It will still update rarely for now! Lair Volume 2, Chapter 044 ¨C Saving A Village, Losing A Village By Skalsar How could it have come to this? A Dungeon, born to be fed. Servants, created to serve. Minds developed and thoughts emerged. Yes, it had been long. How long exactly had never been important to the beings of the dungeon and the dungeon itself. Adventurers fought over the thought of wealth, a [Hero] fought over the thought of good and evil, a [Paladin] fought over what he called divine punishment. In between, a [Goddess] was slain by the other deities, which forced them to revert time for whatever reason they might have, at least saving a little girl in the process. But the dungeon stands not only victorious, but stronger than ever. A whole city, the [Great Necropolis], emerged from the [Magic Power] of the defeated [Paladin], overshadowing [Mafay Village] easily, which was simply a small dungeon village. But so many questions seem to remain unanswered still. The Villagers felt overwhelmed by the damage done. Asking themselves why the deities allowed something like this to happen. Why a [Hero] had slaughtered so many and tried to burn the village. But as much as they asked, no answer appeared. >At least, the fire is stopped..<, an old man said. He was at the end of his endurance. Bodies were being dragged to the center of the village, to line them up for identification. >It''s only because of his daughter..<, someone whispered bitterly. A rumor had already started about Lily being the cause of all this. Nobody understood why, only that she was said to be corrupted. But humans always had a tendency to blame someone in situations like these. >Don''t speak ill of children.<, a woman demanded and the whispers stopped for now. >Please, dear people of [Mafay Village], calm down.<, Rego finally appeared and started to talk. >As far as we know, the man that attacked the village, seems to be gone.< People started to calm down by these words. Feeling the tension fall from their shoulders. >We don''t exactly know what happened yet, but we will find out. For now, we have to organize help for those in need. Many houses were burned too much and can''t be used anymore. If any of you have space to house people while we start rebuilding, please help.< >That won''t do!<, people shouted. >How can we rebuild with all that damage?!< >And what about burying the dead?< They were worried and still unable to comprehend the situation that happened. >You won''t need to.< At the sound of the voice, the people turned around to see who had spoken. Before them, Odas had returned. He looked a bit pale, but alive. Rego finally felt relieve about that. He had feared his lord to be perished at the hands of the [Paladin], but here he was. Lily holding on to his hand with all her might, as to not let him go ever again. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. >My Lord!<, Rego called, running towards him. >People of [Mafay Village]!<, the Lord exclaimed. >We have been beaten. We have been forsaken. We have been punished.< >What good has come to us for trying to live a upright live?<, he asked while looking to them. Walking past some of them and looking them into the eyes. >Being punished by the gods, for what? For living near a dungeon? Judged guilty without doubt? How many died for the crime of what? Corruption? By a dungeon? Is it corruption to live? Is it corruption to build a live for your family?< The people weren''t able to say much about it, they were still shocked. Exhausted. Angry. And their anger was growing. >Why them?<, they were starting to ask themselves. >Whatever it is that [Paladin] tried to punish.. I will be the first to spit on his ugly corpse and curse the god that declared him to be the measure!<, Odas now shouted with the full power of being the [Local Lord], having his voice be heard over all of what was left of [Mafay Village]. People nodding their heads. What had the gods even done for them?! Making them blame a little girl? >Was this how the gods were supposed to be?<, someone in the crowd asked angrily. Others nodding at his words. Some seemingly being unsure of what to think about all this. Their homes being burned down, friends and family of some being killed. >I say FUCK THIS!<, Odas shouted again, getting back the attention. >Let all of this burn! Let it be eaten by the gods for all I care! You see that tower?!<, he pointed behind him towards the giant tower of the dungeon. >This is our liveline. It is what killed the [Paladin] and saved us. Something that spared and provides for us. Yes we call it a dungeon. But it is a living being, only that few know about it''s intelligence. After being nearly destroyed and seeing our home being burned down, it didn''t attack, no. It send me a messager. A messager that offered us help! Being hunted down, being attacked again and again for being alive, it offers help to us!< The people seemed frightened now. A dungeon? Being intelligent? >If this is the corruption they speak about, I feel I''m better off being corrupted!<, Odas shouted again and this time people from the crowd joined in, shouting agreements about what seemed like a life belt in the open sea. >Trust me or not, decide for yourself.<, he suddenly exclaimed with a smaller voice, forcing the people to listen closer. >A whole city has emerged from the dungeon. Look at it for yourselves if you want to, or leave it be. But I for one, will accept this help.< With this, he turned around. Leaving the people shocked for what to think. A dungeon being a help? >But.. a whole city..?!<, Rego asked himself, being somewhat afraid. Nonetheless.. they followed. They just had to see. What else was there left to do? Any life was better than dying in this ruin of a village. Volume 2, Chapter 045 – A New Beginning Surprisingly had some time today while planing about the end of my trimester abroad. About the story.. I''m a bit sad to say that the quality dropped because of the long time I couldn''t write, but I hope to get it up again in the future and at some point still plan to edit the whole thing into a better quality. But considering how long it took for me to get back to writing, I don''t dare to think about when that time will arrive. Lair Volume 2, Chapter 045 ¨C A New Beginning By Skalsar >This... Is this for real, mylord..?<, Rego looked shocked at all of this. How could he not be? Where the dungeon had a little trading post before, a whole [City] had emerged. Giant walls surrounding the area in a circle around what was the [Dungeon Entrance] before. Not long ago, everyone was getting crazy about the [Dungeon Entrance] turning into a giant tower. That was nothing compared to this. Odas, Rego and some adventurers knew about this before, but most people here didn''t. They had stayed in [Mafay Village] and were blind to the changes. A whole [City], clad in black. Walls surrounding the outer part of the [City], too. And dividing the space in between into seven smaller districts. However the people that arrived with Odas tried to comprehend all this, they just couldn''t. Even stone-like buildings which resembled houses had emerged. Not that many yet, but it seemed to serve the purpose of offering a home for the people for now. >The [Great Necropolis] is the name of this [City]. No harm shall befall any resident who seeks safety in this [City], by the inhabitants of the [Dungeon]. Neither will any resident be killed in the dungeon, nor within the walls of the [Great Necropolis].<, a voice suddenly declared. It was a more or less featureless humanoid figure. A [Morphling], like the observe skill of Rego told him. Even more shocking.. it now said ''Race: [Hiveborn ¨C Morphling]'' now. >My name is Nydar. I''m a servant to the [Dungeon Lord] Danar. This district, will be your home from now on, if you desire it to be. If not, I will to have to ask you to leave this [City] and us, the inhabitants of it, in peace.< Everyone was now focussing on the weird creature. Was all this the truth? Could it really be? >Is this for real..?<, someone repeated once more. How long had they already been staring at all this? >Your [Local Lord] will from now on serve as one of many [Lord]s of the [Great Necropolis]. We will establish a council with leaders from every district and our [Dungeon Lord]! From now on, peace shall finally arrive for this region!<, Nydar ended his declaration. And then, all of a sudden, people started crying. What all had happened? Setting foot in a new settlement, developing it to a village, being attacked by orcs and frightened by the danger of their surroundings. People died all the time in the dungeon. Family members, friends, lovers. All of it in the pursuit of freedom, happiness and wealth. And just then, a [Paladin] burns it all down as if the deities were taking a joke on them? But now, just like this, creatures they thought to be mindless monsters offered them not only help but a home! Declaring what..? Peace? Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. All the tension of those that suffered suddenly dropped. There would still be problems like farming and providing cattle, but they would survive. >Thank you! Thank you [Lord] Odas! And thank you [Lord] Danar!<, someone screamed which now brought a chain reaction with people all over the district shouting, too. >We are saved!< >Peace! Finally at peace!< But even though most people were positive about it, some stayed vigilant. Looking upon all of this with sceptic. >Are you blind?! How can you accept all this so easily?! A dungeon being peacefull? It lives to devour! We will all be eaten! Just see when the first one tries to decline and leave!<, someone told the people and Rego couldn''t stop but think about this, too. It might be true, but this was all too good to be as simple as it seems. >We should be vigilant, yes, but this might be a chance for..<, Rego started to say, but Odas appeared behind him and lay a hand on his shoulder, making him stop. Passing by, Odas raised his voice. >Yes. Be vigilant my friends. Be save. And don''t accept blindly. But saying this..<, he looked the man that had stated his critic in the eyes. >Go on and leave. If you truly think all this is too good to be true. Maybe that there are some hidden traps. Or even if you just don''t like the inhabitants of the dungeon. Leave. We will see what happens than.<, he told him, but the man already felt unwell the moment Odas had stepped up to him. How could he go against the words of a [Local Lord]. No, that wasn''t it.. Everyone was staring at him. Yes, he was afraid. Afraid of being left alone. ''What if I''m wrong and leave..'', crossed the mans thoughts. He dropped his shoulders and head. >Forgive me, mylord. I''m simply afraid.<, he said before mustering his strength and turning around. ''What if I''m dying alone, outside these walls?'', he thought but went on. >If you ever change your mind. Simply come back.<, Odas suddenly declared and shocked the people again. Could it really be that easy for them? Was there no deeper meaning behind being told to leave if they didn''t want to stay? With that, the man smiled weakly and left. No screams, no one to stop him. He simply left the [City] under the watchful eyes of the other people. Others followed. And then came back right after as if testing if it was true. No one seemed to care. >I''m going to live here.<, someone said and others nodded. And with this, it seemed to be done.
The [City] [Great Necropolis] has integrated [Mafay Village].
Residents of [Mafay Village] are now recognized as residents of [Great Necropolis] Local Council: Odas ¨C Lord of the Human District, Danar ¨C Lord of the Hiveborn Local Races: [Hiveborn], [Humans]
You have settled in the [City] [Great Necropolis]. Congratulations!
Rough Summary Till C045 I tried to write a rough summary here. Couldn''t do it before, hope the most important stuff is in it. Summary till Chapter 045 The hive, which is the living being called a dungeon, devoured a small village because a strong adventurer had threatened it before by reaching far into it. After moving to his next location, the humans build a settlement near it and started to develop the area, not knowing if the dungeon is a threat or not, supervising it carefully. But the dungeon grew in conciousness and started to act more careful, playing the humans in the process and seeming more or less harmless enough. To his help came the [Queen] who later got the name Nydar, with creativity and helpfull achievements. The [Dungeon Lord], which is the strongest creature of a dungeon and a vessel for the conciousness that is the hive, claimed the name Danar for himself. The [Local Lord] Odas, came to the settlement to see its development and decided it improved enough to be called [Mafay Village] from there on. Naming Rego, the head of the settlement who was also the main lumberjack and an old adventurer, [Village Chief]. With this everything seemed well, but not only went the daughter of the [Local Lord] missing, but [Orcs] attacked the young village and drew in the attention of a [Hero], a young woman that again threatened the dungeon. But with the poisonous creatures Nydar had developed and called [Drone] and some surprise tactics, they beat the [Hero], dragged her into the dungeon and turned her into the first livestock for the hive. Much to the joy of a second [Queen] by the name of Sora, who was very fascinated with the human body. Even more so the females. By the time, the daughter of the [Local Lord] Odas with the name Lily showed affection to the dungeon creatures who had found and protected her for some reason unknown even to themselves. With this, Odas was swayed over to stay peaceful with the dungeon and even start a trading, which was the dungeons proposal, as they were very interested in what humans called books. Some peaceful time went by, the dungeon started to develop the land around the [Dungeon Entrance] for themselves and even the [King] summoned Odas to speak about the dungeon and a tower that the dungeon had errected with him, but to Odas surprise neither the village nor the dungeon were threatened for that. The [King] simply seemed accept the tower to be the work of some magician. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.Upon Odas return though, the village was burning. People screamed everywhere around him and what seemed to be the end and should terrify Odas, was cast aside by him when a powerful human, a chosen champion of a god, a [Paladin] appeared who did all this stating that Lily brought the dungeons corruption to the village and had to die. Seeing his daughter threatened he ran to the dungeon wanting to protect her even if it would kill him. Sadly.. he was late. Even though nobody outside the hive would seem to know. As the [Paladin] offered the dungeon to let it be if it killed Lily, Nydar had to act and tried to atleast preserve Lily''s consciousness by keeping the [Magic Power], which is the [Soul] of a living being, together. But trying to create a body for her he noticed all the flaws and faults. It was just impossible for him to create a human with a normal consciousness. When he noticed he had failed, even he was at the end of his bodies abilities, for the [Paladin] had already damaged his [Core]. And without a intact [Core] to store the [Soul] of a creature of the hive, it would die, too. Nonetheless. For him trying to save Lily, Frey ¨C Goddess of nature and Guardian deity of Children sacrificed herself by blessing Nydar and intervening with the world, breaking the deities rule not to intervene directly and therefore being ripped apart by the other deities. But for this, they were forced to revert time for a few moments. To before Lily had died. And with the blessing Nydar had recieved, he kept the knowledge of what had happened, knowing things from the assimilated consciousness of the previous Lily and turning the hive into a acknowledged race by the rules of the world. Which in itself negated the [Paladins] blessing stat stated to be immune to any attack of creatures and monsters. Given this opening, the [Paladin] was killed. But Odas had died, too. Protecting Lily''s small body from a magic explosion that the [Paladin] willed to happen at the end of his life. The [Magic Power] taken from the killed [Paladin] was then used by Danar, to finally transform the area around the [Dungeon Entrance] and tower, so that it could be worthy of calling it a [City] with the name of [Great Necropolis] to allow for other races to settle there in the future. [Mafay Village] being the first stepping-stone by convincing the humans there to join the [City] and providing [Magic Power] and a sort of diplomatic protection for the hive. Volume 2, Chapter 046 – Becoming A Diplomat Lair Volume 2, Chapter 046 ¨C Becoming A Diplomat By Skalsar Who am I? What am I? Those questions lingered in me for... ''You are scum! Giant scum! The worst of all! Trash that needs to get ridden from the world! Disgusting! Blasphemous!'', Squishi squeeks into my mind, interrupting me. I nearly forgot about him there right now. His whole being is so week and squishi. What was a former [Paladin] is now little more than a pet gold fish, existentwise. I kick him away with a mental force, using magic power. He comes running back like some loyal puppy. ''Sit.'', I tell him. >Yes Master.<, Squishi answers and sits down. Sadly, he only is that obedient with voice. ''You dare!'', squishi screams. Binding his [Soul] to me forces the little [Formling] to do whatever I want, but I have yet to figure out how to really make him suffer. For now it seems to be enough to order him to do stupid things and break his arrogance step by step. It''s just so.. similar.. the skill to take a [Soul], binding it to me and the way a creature is born. Could it be, that if enough of a [Soul] gets transformed into a [Core], a creature gains a consciousness..? And if so, are the memories just taken away by the hive..? I might experiment on that in the future. Still.. What am I really..? Till today it was like some small drop of water in a large pond, with many more important ones. Now, with all these things accomplished, with all the magic power gained, it is more. The voice that told me to save Lily in the past, leave those adventurers alive. Am I manipulated by something..? Was it both times the same voice? I don''t think so. It''s not important for now. ''Now that we have all this livestock, we should get more [Dungeon Hearts].'', Lysk says. I can feel some bloodlust from him, looking at the humans living within our walls. He still hates them and ever will, I guess. After being imprisoned in a [City] for a long time and his hive body taken control of, he finally has the upper hand. Freeing him and joining our hive reduced him to a [Dungeon Lord] body though. The other [Hiveborn] are starting a discussion on what to do next. I don''t really listen right now. What I''m doing now needs my full attention. I slowly cut the animal meat in front of me with a metallic tool, not completly smoothly, yet effective for the purpose. Along some fat that is left intact, the way it''s cut looks kind of religional to me. The meat has to be hot, or it would not work. Or so I''m told. >It''s called a Steak.<, the human tells me. He calls himself a [Cook], which seems to be his [Class]. I''m currently in the human district and in my [Morphling] form. >I don''t get it.<, I say after eating it. Humans and their need to eat meat cooked instead of raw. Half the useful stuff gets wasted because their digesting system can''t work with it. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. >I guess you [Hiveborn] creatures can''t be expected to like human food.<, the [Cook] says sighting. I shrug and go on. This experience was overrated. Going through a [Black Gate] I arrive to the [Lair], where Danar, Nyr, Sora, and Lysk are already waiting and.. staring at me.. angrily.. I link my mind to the hive again. Concentrating on the Steak, I had blocked the connection to not be disturbed. ''How the hell dare you to shut me out!'', Danar shouts angrily. I slightly hit the ground with the tip of one of my feet and look to side. ''ikindaforgot..'', I mumble in return, feeling somewhat awkward being stared and shouted at. Actually, it''s more of a vague way of thinking, since we just share our thoughts. ''What?!'', he shouts again. ''I was just so focused on all that weird stuff the humans use! I''m sorry, ok?!'', I shout back. Sharing my experience with the steak with them. They suddenly start shaking their heads. Even you, Nyr? Be on my side goddamn! ''Let''s get back to the topic.'', Nyr says and conveys what they discussed to me. It seems that the [Local King] tried to summon Odas, but failed. The [Local Lord] shouldn''t be able to deny a summoning, but after dying and being returned as a [Hiveborn], his sacred vow of loyalty is over. He still remains in his position, but has to follow no rule of his so called [Local King] anymore. Actually, it would be bad to have him summoned at the moment. We still need time. Instead, Danar made Odas send Rego, to tell the [Local King] in person what happened. That will buy us some time to get the [City] running, hide Odas new ''situation'' and grow in defense. Every second we gain, we can extract more magic power from the humans living with us. Our [Watchers] have already shot every human here with their parasitical needle-like bodypart, which allows us to monitor them all and being in their bodies, we can easily drain them. With their numbers, we only need to take small amounts while they are awake and bigger amounts when they are going to sleep. It''s impossible for them to notice like this. Oh the fun of being in control is clearly on Danar''s face. The next step will be for me to play diplomat. Sora had already started to build relationships with monsters from [Monstercave Mountain]. Now I would have to go there and ''convince'' some of the intelligent races to settle with us. Might even be fun to do so. Grabbing my stuff, I open a [Black Gate] to as far as I can get, before I will have to walk. Well, my stuff is just Squishi. ''Nooo! Don''t bring me near these bunch of vermin!'', he cries. He doesn''t know yet that I will even let them play with him to their hearts content. ''Say you love all monsters.'', I tell him. >I love all monsters, master.<, he answers like a good puppet. His mind is going crazy. Won''t take long to break his arrogance I bet. Volume 2, Chapter 047 – Being A Friendly Diplomat Lair Volume 2, Chapter 047 ¨C Being A Friendly Diplomat By Skalsar Walking is kind of boring if you have nothing else to do. I was ordered to go to the [Monstercave Mountain], so I go to [Monstercave Mountain]. But it''s still boring and I won''t just stop calling it as such. ''Come on now, stop complaining! It''s not that you have to stop calling it boring, it''s that you call it boring every two seconds!'' Sora is the one telling me so, but what does she really know. It''s just her opinion and I''m the one walking through this boring forest, plain and mountainside. ''It isn''t just her opinion, Nydar.'', Danar joins in. ''Now you are bullying me again.'', I say. ''You know, you are the [Dungeon Lord], why aren''t you going to the [Monstercave Mountain] instead of me, wouldn''t that be better?'' But to my question I''m only rewarded with an angry silence. Angry for I can feel his irritation and that he is annoyed about my attitude. Maybe I should be silent about it for a moment. I go on with my normal routine. Jump as far as I can see with a [Black Portal], create an egg out of [Magic Power] I have saved up and turn it into a [Watcher]. It''s just like my way through the [Great Plain], extending our information network and increasing the ability for our hive to communicate. The thing is. I shouldn''t be bored. Adventures are fun. Traveling is fun. Creating creatures is fun. Taking breaks with nobody knowing is fun. Even.. ''What do you mean, breaks with nobody knowing?! You useless servant! As a creature of the hive, you should work until you die! Even after dying, seeing your abilities, I wouldn''t be surprised if you came back! So you would again work even harder!'', Danar shouts into my mind. His anger has build up. Guess the whole ''running a city''-thing kind of stresses him at the moment. ''You shouldn''t slack off like that, Nydar! We need you to do better!'', Sora says. ''As far as the memories and emotions of the humans go, that we acquired by eating them, breaks are important.'', Nyr explains. What happened to having the same opinion on things I wonder. There was a time were we didn''t even need to consider eachothers opinion. Is it our stronger and stronger consciousness that drives us apart? Atleast I get the feeling that with every bit of [Magic Power] we acquire, our conciousness grows. Sora and Danar would by that have the strongest ones at the moment. For Sora and her Succubi sisters, they casually acquired [Magic Power] from the many men. And sometimes woman. That was even before we integrated the village to our [Great Necropolis]. If it weren''t for my fighting ability and unique skills, she would long have taken place one I guess. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.Maybe one day she will. But do I really care about it? I feel as if even Nyr could easily overtake me. That little [Drone] mutation that was a [Horn Rabbit] not long ago. His unique skill to make sense of fragmented information was quite impressive. Maybe I should have taken him with me more often. But for now I have no other choice but to accomplish my given mission. Arriving at the first big cave, I can see many of the small red and green monsters called [Goblin]. They are small in size and weak in muscles. With their sharp clawlike hands, they mostly try to rip and slash at their opponents, but sometimes take up weapons such as clubs or daggers. As if it would be any difference. Their evolution [Hobgoblin] is a bit bigger, not as big as a human though. But than comes the next evolution, currently standing in front of me. An [Oger]. He towers over my [Morphling] form easily. Not that it matters. >Greetings, dear monsters.<, I start saying. I was told by Sora that I should always be nice and respectful to others when doing diplomatics. >I''m here to talk to your leader. Whichever of you puny creatures that might be.< The [Oger] looks at me somewhat irritated. I wonder why. Nonetheless he points at some older looking [Hobgoblin ¨C Shaman]. The old monster walks to me slowly and looks at me from head to toe. >You a wierd human.<, he says with his voice slightly agitated, but I simply shake my head. >No, no, no. I''m not a human. I''m a [Hiveborn]. A creature of the hive. Like Sora.< >Ohhhhh, Sora!<, he suddenly seems to turn red. More red I mean. Most of the [Goblins] seem to. I wonder why. >I have been send to talk to you about the possibility to join our hive in his [City].<, I try to initiate the topic. Not that I really know what I''m doing. Who ever does? Diplomatics is just a nice word for boring talking about how to interact with other groups. >Why you? We want Sora!<, he suddenly says and turns away. They all do. I''m left standing alone. The [Oger] goes on to some pit and starts brawling with another [Oger]. [Goblins] start to get back to their places and eat what looks like small insects. And the [Hobgoblins] seem to train [Greengust Wolflings], some sort of forest wolf monster. >Excuse me.<, I start again. >Dear puny monster leader, if you want to see Sora, you should hurry up and join our [City]. That way, you will see her even more often!< >NOOOO! She come here! She of us! You leave now!<, he screams angrily. I already knew that they don''t have the highest intelligence, but this type of dourness is annoying. Volume 2, Chapter 048 – Showing Dominance Lair Volume 2, Chapter 048 ¨C Being A Friendly Diplomat By Skalsar ''They won''t listen..'', I tell the others in my mind. ''Show dominance.'', Sora says. ''Make them.'', Danar answers angrily. His anger is directed at me again. [Dungeon Lords] temper is worsening I guess. First he sends me to do this without any knowledge besides Sora grinding them to the last drop of [Stamina], now he gets angry because it doesn''t work as easy as he thought it should.. Stupid Danar. Wait.. did I cut off the connection to the [Hive]? Yes, yes I did. Phew. Just panicked there for a moment. But now to the main question. How do you control other beings? Are we even supposed to control other beings? I myself don''t quite like to be controlled, but on the other hand, controlling others is fun for me. Stepping over Squishi who is squishing around on the ground, I walk over to that arena-like thing where the [Ogres] are brawling. Guess this is as good as it gets. "So.. what is an [Ogre] supposed to be able to do?", I ask curiously as I jump down to them. One of them growls deeply and grabs my neck. I get the feeling I somehow offended him. Oh. My neck gets broken easily by his massive hands. Looks like [Ogres] don''t just simply look strong. Believing it was enough to break my neck, he had turned around to continue brawling. My beloved obsidian thorn took care of him in an instant. Blood splatters everywhere as I pierce his chest from back to front, destroying his heart. The other [Ogre] looks at me angrily. "GRAAAAAH!", he screams and charges at me. But I already have an idea how to not do everything myself. So I take out a [Core] from my pocketrealm and drop it on the dead [Ogre]. Yes. I''m going to create a [Ghoul] again. Inserting [Magic Power] and using [Summon Soul], the [Ghoul] rises up and blocks the charge.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Being only a tool, he shows destruction I wouldn''t have guessed to be possible. He crushes the [Ogres] arms. He rips away bones with his bite. He rages blindly with everything he got. Some [Goblins] and [Hobgoblins] that are in the arena try to attack him, but are easily crushed. I have revived something good. But his mind is full of screams and fury. A few moments later he punches the other [Ogre] down and crushes his chest with a kick. Hm, maybe I will call him Fury for now. This makes me think.. Maybe they would be a good material? I want to create something terrifying, something absolute for those little [Goblins]. [Summon Soul] is used even more. Reviving the fallen ones around me. A bloody slaughter takes place in the dark cave. Screams of helpless monsters. I block the entrance with my new slaves. A hundred of them fall easily. They are weak. "Please! Beg you! Mercy!", the [Goblin ¨C Shaman] pleads to me. My [Ghouls] drag him to me easily while the terrified [Goblins] watch. His fingernails dig into the ground and leave a bloody trace. "EEEEK! MERCY!", he shouts. Fury steps on him, crushing him completly. Afterwards, I use [Summon Soul] once more. I wanted to test this before, but this is as good as any time. "What?", Fury asks suddenly. "Me.. Ogre?", he suddenly bursts with joy. "Strong Ogre now! Now I will..!", he starts shouting and looks at me. He wanted to attack me just now, but isn''t able to move. I forced the [Goblin ¨C Shamans] [Soul] into Fury. But this is only the start. Ripping out the Fury''s [Core], I start fiddling again. Other [Ghouls] come to me, too. I tinker with some of their [Cores] and bodies too. "How dare!" "Cruel!" "Disgusting!" "Monster!" The [Goblins] and [Hobgoblins] shout in disgust as I dismember bodies of their brothers. But who really cares? ''Why you do this?!'', the [Core] of Fury asks weakly. But it''s simple. I create something that will make this little weaklings obey! Something so terrifying, they will never dare to ignore me again. The base of the creature are the two [Ogre] bodies. Mixed together with some of the [Hobgoblins]. Back to back I knit their flesh. Legs fuse together and become one. Arms as thick as the [Ogres] legs, I build them from scratch. ''What is that disgusting creation?'', I suddenly hear Sora in my mind. ''Don''t know yet.'', I answer truthfully. ''That thing is an abomination! Where is the art! Where is the..'', she starts again.. ''PERFECT!'', Danar suddenly shouts happily. ''I knew I could count on you, Nydar!'', he adds proudly, scanning the new creature. "GRAAAAH!", my new creation shouts. Two heads on a body that towers even above an [Ogre]. Three arms that easily could crush trees. Four legs to support the massive body. [Hiveborn ¨C Abomination] is born. Only by chance is it still small enough to move in the cave. "Follow new leader. We join [City].", Fury mumbles while looking at the terrified [Goblins]. They follow, not wanting to think about what might happen if they don''t. Looking back at the few [Ghouls] that are left behind. Volume 2, Chapter 049 – Control Lair Volume 2, Chapter 049 - Control By Skalsar Two hundred [Lizardra] were walking in front of me. Humanoid monsters, but with scales all over their body. Similar to lizards, but as big as a grown human and likewise walking on two legs. After deciding to use strength to subjugate them, everything became easy. The [Abomination] walked into their cave, followed by a hundred very frightened [Goblins] and ten [Hobgoblins]. Most [Hobgoblins] had tried to resist. Much to their misfortune. Changing... occupation. But lucky for me, behind me were like twenty of these very submissive, occupation changed [Ghouls] now, dragging corpses for me to use later on. The [Abomination] had cost too much [Magic Power]. The [Lizardra] didn''t even think about resisting and just knelt down. A weird thing to do. Why do they believe it''s needed to kneel in order to submit oneself? ''Three hundred and ten monsters.. Not bad for a first. Bring them to the [City]. Any more and the balance would be thrown off too much.'', Danar declared in my mind and felt a bit happy. It''s wierd, but newadays.. I don''t feel that good about Danar being happy. Maybe I catched a cold or something? Humans say that they are often not themself when catching a cold. Could this apply to [Hiveborn] too, now that we are a race? I tilted my head. Or.. is it just that I''m not sure if doing all this subjugation was the right choice..? Naaah, can''t be, right? "Move faster, the slowest one gets eaten by me! Lets go home!", I tell the monsters. Hm.. Eating.. that reminds me.. I grab one of the young [Lizardras] and bite his head off, hadn''t eaten one of these yet. A bit crunchy because of the scales. The flesh is tender and not much [Magic Power] in them. Guess that''s the reason why there are no variants in their midst. They look at me somewhat strange now. Ah! Terrified, that was the word. Right. It feels a bit like when the [Paladin] attacked us, we were that helpless, too. But now that we are on the other side, it''s quite funny. And we won''t simply slaughter them, but make them into citizens to grow our [City]. With the parasitic needles of the [Watchers], they will constantly produce [Magic Power] for us. Unknowably. Shortly after, we finally arrive to the [City Gates]. I take the [Goblins], [Hobgoblins] to one of the six still free districts and the [Lizardra] to another. Maybe some monsters will share districts later on, but for now we have enough space. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. For the [Goblins], small cave-like buildings are erected using [Magic Power]. The [Lizardra] prefer something more like stonetents for now, but are quite interested in huts. [Humans] stare at the monsters as we pass through their district. It seems to be fascinating for them that all these monsters are peacefully entering the [City]. The [Great Necropolis] that was promised to be peaceful, still not showing any sign of failing them. For the sake of showing kind behaviour, we had Odas speak to the [Humans] again. >Listen well, residents of the [Great Necropolis]. Even though they were just monsters once, everyone who seeks peace shall be welcome to this [City] and show the world that we don''t have to kill eachother. This is but a first step and many more will follow.< He didn''t have to say anything besides that, the [Humans] were already convinced. Not knowing that Odas himself was but a [Ghoul] and therefore slave to the hive. >Welcome to our [City].<, Danar finally spoke to the monsters. >As you can see, we live in peace here. If you behave well and don''t cause trouble, you will live well. Fury will be in charge of the monsters [Goblins] and its variants.<, he explained.
The monsters [Goblins] and its variants have been apointed a leader. As the leader is acknowledged by them for his strength and prior leadership, the monsters have been acknowledged as residents to the [City][Great Necropolis].
>The [Lizardra] will be looked over to find a leader for them.< With that, he already left. Afterwards we made sure for them to know the rules of our [City.] Peaceful behaviour, hunting in the dungeon, stuff like that. ''But is this really worthwhile? They are so weak.'', I say to the others in my mind. ''It will work out. We just have to train them. They will need to earn [Experience] to produce more [Magic Power].'', Nyr says. But I don''t quite understand. Feeling my irritation he continues. ''Humans and [Monsters] grow very slowly by means of what they call [Experience]. Their [Souls] absorb this [Experience] and grow in strength.'' Oh, I see. Then we could simply make them do stuff for us and pay them by giving back [Magic Power]. Like having the [Humans] provide on the fields around the [City] and share with the monsters. ''No, that doesn''t work. They produce [Magic Power] themself, they don''t absorb it like us.'' ''Yeah, I still can simply give them the [Magic Power] and transform it for their [Soul] to assimilate it.'', I explain. ''You could do what?'', Danar asks surprised. ''Grand them [Magic Power] surrendered as [Experience]. I would just need to imprint the [Watchers] with the ability to surrender the [Magic Power] as if the Human or [Monster] defeated a [Monster], [Creature] or [Hiveborn]. They may then modify their parasitic extensions with the given knowledge remotely to grow part of their parasitic body and then simply cut that grown part off and let it desolve, resulting in an [Experience] gain of the Human.'', I don''t understand why it seems to be so difficult to think of for the others. ''That is impossible. How should the [Watchers] remotely change something in the distributed parasites?'' ''Well, both share part of the same [Core]. It''s something that happened by chance when I created the [Watchers]. Since we wanted to use them to aquire surviliance, I had them produce miniature [Cores] for the parasitic bodies. They therefore partly liquify their own [Core] to sample a [Core] and add [Magic Power] to create the new [Core]. Which results in a new [Core] that has partly intaken [Magic Power] of their original [Core]. Making them share a bond of [Magic Power] over a great distance.''. All of them are deep in thought now. I get the feeling as if they are thinking of me as some sort of alien being. Why do they suddenly feel like I''m the strange one again? ''You are.'', Nyr says. ''Just impossible to pass him.'', Sora adds. ''I guess you should just throw him out, he shouldn''t exist.'', Squishi says with a feeling like nodding. ''''''Shut up Squishi!'''''', everybody suddenly shouts at Squishi. Wait. How does Squishi add to the conversation? Shouldn''t he be cut off of the link? I take a look at his being and scan his [Magic Power]. ''Well, I guess you aren''t as special as you think yourself as, stupid.'', he exclaims. I see! Even through he is weak, pathetic and squishi, he still has a bound [Soul]. ''I see'', Nyr talks again now. Looks like he understood it, too. ''He developed a skill due to being confrontated with his isolated situation.'', he explains to everyone. ''Interesting. I should check if such a thing has a regular possibility. I will go check on our [Hero] in her guestroom.'', Sora said. Oh yeah, we still have that female that provides us with large amounts of [Magic Power] daily. Guess we don''t really need her anymore though. Since we have all these humans now. ''That isn''t all.'', Nyr starts again already. He seems a bit fascinated by something. ''What Nydar just said, means that it''s possible for [Watchers] to heal their [Core] by liquifying the [Core] and adding new [Magic Power] to a broken point. While that would only work on very shallow cuts, if adapted to other [Hiveborn] with more then one [Core] or with a bigger or stronger one, would allow them to live through most wounds if the [Core] or [Cores] don''t or doesn''t get completly destroyed.'' ''Oh. Yeah, that should work.'', I say. Didn''t think about that yet. ''Stupid! You should think about stuff like that first instead of the [Humans] and [Monsters]!'', Danar screams at me again. Just because he is so focused on survival, doesn''t mean everyone has to be like that all day long.. Well, at least it seems like that [Experience] think will be helpful in order to bind the residents to our rule. We will have to think about some sort of system to give out orders to them, providing useful rewards in return. ''Shut up! Make my [Dungeon Lord] body immortal!'', Danar shouts again.. Annoying.. Volume 2, Chapter 050 – Survival Of The Fittest (Danar) Lair Volume 2, Chapter 050 - Survival Of The Fittest (Danar) By Skalsar (POV Danar) All this pain. All this suffering. All this darkness. Why is all of this so hard? I thought, if I were to grow in strength, everything would be fine. But I was wrong. What does strength really mean? For the population of this world, our race is but a tool to provide for them. If we grow to be dangeroues, we get annihilated. There is never enough of us to stop all of them. We saw it when the [Hero] attacked, we saw it when the [Paladin] attacked, we might see it in the future, too. But we got lucky so far. How long will this luck keep us going? All these children of mine. They might perish any day if I don''t do anything about it. If I mess up, everything will fall apart. They don''t see what I see, they don''t understand it yet. I just don''t want them to live with all that worry on their mind.. So I block them from the knowledge Odas provided me with.. But how long can that go on? I shudder at the thought of an army attacking us. ''It''s done.'', Lysk finally appears back in the dungeon with a joyful face. Or two in his case. I had send him to his former [City], the [City] that held his dungeon prisoner in the past, raiding it again and again for its resources. I never want to see something so cruel happen to my hive. Being in an endless circle of getting my children slaughtered, being consumed by rage and not able to even lift a finger. ''It was quite easy, you should have allowed me to kill more [Humans] besides these [Nobles].'' ''No, it''s bad to get too much attention.'', I tell him. His hatred for [Humans] is the biggest I guess. But for now, I only have him disrupt the state of that [City]. They lost their dungeon some time ago, now they lost their rulers. In between I had [Formlings] steal their food reserves. In a week, we will send a messenger and offer help to them. Rego should do fine. As he is loyal to Odas, he will perform splendidly if he hears that another [City] is suffering. ''What about that other problem?'', Lysk asks me and takes me from my thoughts. Right, he is talking about Odas and the [King]. Because we revived Odas as a [Ghoul], his bond to the [King] was severed. The [King] tried to summon him a while ago, but we had Odas resist it. ''We can''t do anything about it. It''s in the past. Only when the [King] sends someone to talk to Odas we will be able to react to it.'', I tell him. After nodding in aggreement, Lysk takes his leave. Well, it''s looking good so far. The fields outside the [City] look promising. We have enough food stored for the [Humans] and [Monsters]. The [Adventure Guild] acknowledged our [City] and use it as a travel point for their [Field Walk]. Even some other [Lord] had send a messenger to offer trade with our [City]. All that while being able to keep the deaths of my children in the dungeon to a bare minimum with only mindless ones being killed.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Only Nydar really worries me. His mind is so confusing, his very being is abnormal to the other [Hiveborn]. As if he hadn''t a care in the world. Sometimes I believe, something else was mixed in when I created him with the [Magic Power] of that strong [Adventurer] in the past. But I can''t point at it. He is simply too strange. If he focused, he could improve our [Hiveborn] race with ease. He might be able to create beings more powerful than ever before. And yet, he only strives for his personal freedom. Doesn''t he know how important all this is? At least, by chance, he often finds ways for improvement. Yet it drives me mad to think about his personality of taking it as if it was a simple thing to do. As if our survival was irrelevant to him. But he doesn''t get what my irritation is about. This terrible, yet lovely child of mine.. I will have to keep an eye on him. For his own sake, I can''t let him go on like this, for I don''t want to see him die in the future. ''Sora. How is it with that [Hero]?'' ''Well, she looks normal to me. Lifeless eyes as ever. No sign of resisting.'', Sora shruggs in her mind while explaining so. Looks like there is no sign of the development of a skill, if the being itself has given up. She was imprisoned quite some time ago. Being used as livestock ever since. Kept alive through being fed and cleaned by slimes who dissolve plants and meat for her. Lysk laughed at the irony when he saw her for the first time. ''We should do that to all [Humans], to show them what it''s like to imprison a dungeon.'', he had said. But I disagree. If we did that to many [Humans], they might find out at some point and decide to attack us for it. We will just keep that one as an emergency stash of [Magic Power]. For now, we will increase the numbers of residents. It''s complicated for the [Goblins] though. For some reason, they can''t breed many [Goblins] with their own females. That''s why they often kidnap females of other [Monsters] or [Humans]. But Sora said she might be able to create [Hiveborn] with the needed generative organs. Well, she has the most experience with these things, I will put my trust in her for this matter. That being done, I arrive in front of the [Lizardras]. For a moment, they look afraid. >Don''t worry. You are all safe here. No one will be harmed.<, I say. >My kid was eaten by your monster that subdued us, yet you talk about not harming us?!<, a female screamed at me right at that moment. Others joined in with the blame, too. That Nydar.. Not that I care about it. He only ate one small [Lizardra] and shared the experience with the hive. >Well! From now on, we won''t harm you. If you behave well.<, I tell them. They seem to be about to cry. >Have you apointed a leader candidate as I requested?< At that moment, a female [Lizardra] steps forward and kneels down in front of me. >I was chosen as the demanded sacrifice.<, she says. I tilt my head. >Seems like you misunderstood.< Well, it doesn''t matter. This female is as good as any [Lizardra] I guess. Can''t really tell anything about them either way. I raise my hand to her direction. A [Watcher] appears besides me and I feed him large amounts of [Magic Power]. In return, he transmits it to the parasite in the females body. Looks like the method Nydar thought of is working fine. Just a minute later, her body starts to glow strangely as she evolves from the gained experience. Something unique to [Monsters]. Her body grows to two meters. Four arms where there were only two before. Her scales much more massive and sharp. Her head looks as if she was wearing a helmed. On her Hands were small crystals, a sign for [Monsters] who are able to use [Magic]. The [Lizardra] turned speechless.
Somewhere in the world, a [Dragonewt Lord ¨C Rare Variant] has been born.
Looks like the world sees this as some kind of special event. >What is your name?<, I ask the female. She looks at herself in disbelieve. Tears run down her face. >My name is Li''dra. I''m a [Dragonewt Lord ¨C Rare Variant] now.<, Li''dra says. >A [Dragonewt Lord]!< >She turned into a noble one!< >The [Hiveborn] turned her into a ruler!< >She had the fires blood!< All the [Lizardra] suddenly started to mutter and chat, before, just as sudden, turning quite and kneeling down. Afterwards, the blue boxes only visible locally popped up again.
The [Dragonewt Lord ¨C Rare Variant] Lin''dra has been acknowledged as the [Lizardras] eternal leader.
>Interesting. I will apoint you as the [Lizardras] leader, will you accept the [Cities] rules and become residents to it?< >I.. I agree.<
The [Lizardra] have been acknowledged as residents of the [City] [Great Necropolis].
>I expect much of you.<, I tell them before I leave. With this, one more step is done. I wonder when I will be able to convince some [Orc] tribes to join the [City]. But for now, everyone has to get familiar with living here. They would be shocked if suddenly [Orcs] appeared again. IMPORTANT NOTICE As much as it pains me, I can''t make the time to continue writing as well as rewriting the old chapters. Real-Life just keeps getting in the way again and again. I''m sorry and have to apologies to those who were interested in my story and kept reading, but I will have to pause once again for an undefined amount of time.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. As the story needs a complete overhaul with more depth of character and a better mixture of interaction between characters as well as more description about the world it plays in, I will take my time to re-structure everything and try again in the far future. Thank you all for reading so far and I hope that at some point in the future, I will be able to present you all with a more fluent version of Lair.