《Dungeon Without A Name》


 Prologue 01 - Creators Challenge

    Prologue 01 - Creator''s Challenge


    In an alternate world, there exists demons, demi-humans, beastmen, spirits, humans, dragons, monsters and the Creators. With the Creators being the only higher beings equivalent to God, the others squander the resources of the lush planet, waging wars between species, countries, territories and monsters. Seeing the world they nurtured being mistreated to such a degree, the Creators enlisted the Dragons as a messenger, unleashing them as a means of cleansing the land. However, the other species began summoning beings from alternate worlds and coercing them into fighting for their race. Respectively for the humans, demons, demi-humans, beastmen, spirits and monsters, these beings were called Heroes, Overlords, Chosen Ones, Progenitors, Spectral Lords and Bosses. Likewise, these summoned beings could be the souls of the deceased reborn into an alternate race who live a new life with a new face, retaining a portion of their former power or knowledge, if any at all.


    With these Champions, the Dragons were slowly pushed back to their lairs, unable to fight off these unique beings who defied them. In the end, all the Dragons either went into hibernation to restore, or perished in the first Aetheria War. Dissatisfied with the outcome and the continued tarnishing of their once peaceful lands, the Creators decided on a new course of action.


    As the first Aetheria War came to an end, and two hundred years passed, the second Aetheria War was started. Unable to finish their plans in time, the Creators were forced to abruptly end the war after 5 years of conflict with the appearance of Dungeons. To end conflict which increased resource consumption on the planet, the Creators made Dungeons and warned all races that if they failed to conquer these Dungeons, their existence would flood the world with monsters. As such, more monsters began to arise in their vicinity, and stronger than those in the surroundings.


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    With the summoned beings having a challenge other than each other, they ventured out into these dungeons. As they found, no Dungeon was every the same. They were all unique, with their own separate monsters and strengths. In only a year, all races came to a unanimous agreement that they would hold their own countries and suppress the dungeons. Together, they established an Adventurer¡¯s Guild whose members were allowed free passage between countries in order to fight in dungeons monitored by the separate territories.


    That said, there were still many dungeons out there which had yet to be discovered, and each one was like a separate dimension on the inside, acting like a living thing as they did their best to combat their intruders.


    Among the currently discovered Dungeons, there are a particular 5 that have been declared as Rank S+ Dungeons. These ones are famous for a various reasons, with the primary one being their difficulty. It is also of note that the higher ranked a Dungeon is, the more unique the inside of it is in comparison to others.


    It has been 50 years since the creation of Dungeons¡­


    <hr />

 Prologue 02 - This Is My Story

    Author''s Note | Heya people, I''m new to RoyalRoad so, hopefully I don''t mess up things too much >.<


    So I''ve had this idea in my head and thought it unique, so I wanted to punch it out while it was fresh. As such, here''s the first two Prologues. Short, I know, but it''s mainly to draw interest.


    The actual chapters should be something around 2500+ words as I have time and ideas to continue. I''ve already got the basic plot set out for possibly the first 10 chapters, just need to give it some details and body.


    If things go right, I''ll have the first chapter out in a week or so, and this is purely a fiction for when I have time, and when I have ideas. Also, forgive me for the poor tabling since I suck at it. Took me nearly half an hour to get them to look as they do now >.<


    Regards!


    Tarry


    <hr />


    Prologue 02 - This Is My Story


    My name is Dran Saril. An odd name, I know. I lived in an Oceanic country having spent some months in England, various states of America, and Japan. Obviously, Japan was my favorite. And I am a Dungeon. Now now, I¡¯ll explain all in due time. But hear me out or now.


    By the age of 22, I had lived in 8 different countries or states, and accumulated a lot of life experience in a lot of things. I was an easily influenced person, to say the least, and quite lazy to boot. I read manga, web novels and light novels, played games of every genre as well as visual novels, and watched anime, cartoons, movies and random television shows.


    Being influenced by these, I tried out various things I saw and read. I¡¯ve worked in varying jobs from desk jobs to caf¨¦¡¯s and manual labor. I¡¯ve even entered the military training camps for a duration. I¡¯ve tried out different forms of fighting styles as well, but never really continued them after I lost interest. I¡¯ve tried out art, acting, though music was my favorite. I eventually learned a second language, though it was rusty. I at least had good pronunciation.


    And what did all of this lead me to? Accepting a dodgy online application. After filling out a short form, having found the hidden links scattered throughout multiple websites as per the easter egg hinted at on forums, and was met with several pop up warnings. In summary, it could be said like this:


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">¡°Are you sure you want to end your own pitiful existence and become something more?¡±</td></tbody></table>


    Wondering what could be inferred by this, my wellspring of wisdom (consisting of web novels) told me this was bad. So what did I do? I clicked it.


    Shortly thereafter, the light faded from my vision, my body got heavy, and all my senses began to fail on me. So I did the only obvious thing I could. Skim through all my memory and remember as much as I could, and try to leave life on a happy note with all that R18 content I¡¯ve seen. Needless to say, I passed away with a lewd smile on my face. I hope someone got a good laugh out of this when they found my body.


    While all my senses were gone and I was ¡®reviewing¡¯ my memories, a transparent blue box with white text popped up in my ¡®vision¡¯, or whatever could be considered as such.


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">¡°We, the Creators, welcome you to Aetheria. Having looked into your mind, your potential has been rated as S++ Rank. We look forward to your continued cooperation.¡±</td></tbody></table>


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Without a chance to process this information, another box popped up, listing a bunch of options, and a brief explanation.


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">¡°Due to your rank, you have been granted special traits. However, due to your limited knowledge of Aetheria, certain traits can be picked but will remain unknown until you learn more.¡±</td></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">Dungeon Traits</td></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>???***</td><td>50</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>???</td><td>50</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>???</td><td>50</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Dungeon Restrictions</td><td>45</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Remove Safe Zones</td><td>40</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Monster Wisdom</td><td>35</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Advanced Traps</td><td>30</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Increased Spawns</td><td>25</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Monster Bosses</td><td>20</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Monster Commanders</td><td>15</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Monster Elites</td><td>10</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Rare Monsters</td><td>10</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Unique Monsters</td><td>10</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>Monster Loyalty</td><td>5</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Points Available</td><td>150</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>***Dungeon Craft</td><td>30</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>***???</td><td>10</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>***???</td><td>10</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>***???</td><td>10</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>***???</td><td>10</td><td>?</td></tr><tr><td>***???</td><td>5</td><td>?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Reading through the available things, I was stunned. There was so much that happened at once. Thinking it through, I tried selecting Unique Monsters. When I did, the Monster trilogy (Bosses, Commanders, Elites) went dark. Unchecking it, I decided to check Rare Monsters, and Monster Loyalty. Although I wasn¡¯t sure what the loyalty thing did, but it was cheap.


    After scanning through them, and focusing on some, they came up with brief descriptions. Though, the question marks had nothing to say. Selecting one of them, a set of skills became available for choosing with only one visible, labelled ¡°Dungeon Craft¡±. This one didn¡¯t have a description though, so I had to guess what it could be with my collection of knowledge.


    After Deciding, I picked the first ¡°???¡± trait and the first 3 skills under it, followed by ¡°Monster Wisdom¡±, ¡°Rare Monsters¡± and ¡°Monster Loyalty¡±. With my selection done and nodding my head (or I¡¯d like to think I had a head to nod in this black abyss), a confirmation window appeared.


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">¡°Are you satisfied? If so, call out ¡°Dungeon Start¡±. Otherwise, say ¡°Choose Again.¡±¡±</td></tbody></table>


    With a shrug, I contemplated for a few seconds before making my response.


    ¡°Dungeon Start!¡±


    <hr />

 Chapter 01 - Awareness

    Author¡¯s Note | So, here¡¯s the first chapter. It will take a while for the story to become truly interesting, but for the meantime, please bear with me as we follow Dran¡¯s new life. After all, we¡¯re all in the same boat as him in a way.


    Not exactly the 2500+ words I said, but this is still the ''explanation'' phase. I want to get all the mechanics out of the way before I begin introducing characters and plots.


    <hr />


    Chapter 01 - Awareness


    Darkness¡­


    Endless darkness¡­


    All that I see is just an abyss. I feel like I¡¯m paralyzed. But that is to be expected. After all, I have no body to call my own. All that is here in this abyss is ¡°me¡±.


    Utilizing all that random stuff I read, let me make up some philosophical stuff to explain.


    The being referred to as Dran Saril is a collection of a Soul, Memories and Body. That being is also an existence that is defined by how it views itself, and how others view it. With no one viewing it, and the loss of the Body for others to view, the being referred to as Dran Saril is incomplete.


    Okay, I don¡¯t understand a single thing I said. You too? Great! Now let¡¯s enjoy this floating sensation in this black abyss which I am pretty sure is the void between life and death.


    And I still have this habit of talking to myself¡­ Heck, I¡¯m not even sure I have a voice¡­


    In my ethereal form, or probably the spot where my soul is currently floating, I look around. I¡¯m still unsure if I am looking around or not. It has been quite some time since I finished selecting my ?Traits?, but nothing has happened.


    Though just as I think that, I can feel my ¡®self¡¯ being weighted down, as if I suddenly gained mass.


    After a few minutes of this falling sensation in the void, I can feel my senses beginning to adjust to my new location. Slowly, I can feel and see again. I move my body. I now have a body. Except looking at myself, I am merely a body with no solidity.


    I guess you could say I¡¯m having an out of body experience, aside from the fact that I have no body per s¨¦, since I can see through myself in this void.


    But at least I can see something now. I feel like I am looking at a projection. A full color, 3D projection of a miniaturized cave network. As I focus my attention on it, another window pops up in front of me.


    Sure took you long enough¡­


    It was a large one this time. Reading through it, there was a lot of information that I had no choice but to read. There was nothing else to do, after all.


    To summarize:


    I am now the embodiment, the will of the ?Dungeon? that I see before me. The Dungeon is me, and I am the Dungeon. We are one and the same. That said, I represent the consciousness of the Dungeon and thus my soul has become the overseer of it.


    What I got out of this is; The Creators trolled me and turned me into a goddamn Dungeon!


    Sighing in my own personal ?Void?, I continued reading.


    It summarizes how the Creators are the ones who summoned me, among others, for the sole purpose of being dungeons to combat the many races living in Aetheria. People from alternate worlds and local residents alike have been dragged into this role, and at the time of my creation, I am the 50th Dungeon to appear.


    Supposedly, one dungeon is set to be created each year, and their own personal dungeon is created by utilizing the memory of the soul used. Knowledge they have read, even once, combined with their creativity and imagination is used to generate the monsters and treasures that lay within their dungeon.


    It also states that only those who achieve ?S Rank? or higher retain their memories and personalities, whereas those between ?F Rank? and ?A Rank? simply retain their individuality and uniqueness to a lesser or higher degree.


    Given that I was told to be of ?S++ Rank?, then I must be overpowered! I mean seriously, I¡¯ve gone above S Rank?! Boy, do I feel sorry for whoever steps into me.


    ¡­ Now I feel like any adventurer that enters me will be ¡®violating¡¯ me, so to speak. Oh god, sometimes I wish I was more innocent.


    Inspecting my dungeon, I zoomed in on a random area, observing the blue glow indicating a monster under my control. Taking a good look at it, I couldn¡¯t help but sigh. It seriously did look like something I would design if I could.


    The upper five floors were infested with pack wolves sporting black fur with red tips, narrow and glowing red eyes with black sclera¡¯s, teeth and claws sharpened to a fine point and a polished white. On top of that, the top five floors were pitch black. And these were just the meat shields!


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">Wolf of ???


    Level 53</td></tbody></table>


    For some odd reason, its name is incomplete. Well, that would be obvious. I haven¡¯t been given a ?Dungeon Name? yet. But still, for a level 53 to be the main unit on the upper floors. If it was like that, then I hope no one is brave enough to reach the lower levels.


    From what I¡¯ve observed, I consist of 150 floors, and one of the monsters on floor 145 is level 357. Seriously, how overpowered am I?! And not only that, I thought the level limit would be 100!


    I¡¯ve also spotted that despite there being a LOT of treasure rooms, there are hidden treasure rooms and even treasure rooms with guards. To top it off, one third of them are traps, mimics or junk! Was I really such a cruel person?


    Probably.


    Glancing back to the message supplying information, it seems I haven¡¯t been told anything important. Mostly just stuff you would find in a prologue (which I probably did, considering I talk to myself a lot).


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Sighing, I finish the information and then close the message, wondering how I open new things. First off, Traits.


    Let¡¯s see¡­ Open Traits.


    Announcing it in my mind, a window suddenly pops up.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>TRAITS</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">???


    ---LOCKED---


    You do have not met the pre-requisites.</td><td width="25%">Monster Wisdom


    Monsters within your dungeon are unique in the fact that they have the same amount of mental capacity and potential as a human. Provides them with reasoning skills, knowledge of languages and the ability to learn. As such, they can grow with each encounter and learn tactics.</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Rare Monsters


    By sacrificing the ability to have hierarchical monsters within your dungeon, you have Rare monsters that will spawn throughout your dungeon. They quite often will guard hidden treasure or infrequently be present on floors, even possibly migrate between floors.


    Rare Monsters are typically around 15-30 levels stronger than their indicated level.</td><td width="25%">Monster Loyalty


    Monsters in your dungeon have a high amount of loyalty in carrying out your wishes, as well as in the dungeon itself. Weakened monsters that spawn outside of the dungeon will remain nearby without spreading out too far, protecting the entrance and acting territorial. Monsters within the dungeon cannot be affected by fear or mind altering skills/spells. They will also do their best to repel intruders.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I had already reviewed these beforehand, so I¡¯m fine with those. Though it seems skills are different from the traits. Opening them up, I could only see the ?Dungeon Craft? skill, but it was locked, alongside all of the other skills that branched from the locked trait.


    No matter. I¡¯ll learn how to use them eventually. Thinking of one more thing, I called out one more phrase in this void. ¡±Status¡±.


    In response, there were over a hundred windows that popped up. Now I understand why there was so much void around me. It was for this reason. Sighing, I took a glance at one of them and compared it to the rest. Seems my guess was correct.


    All of the windows contain information about all of the floors, including the entrance. Floor Layout, Monster Count, Monster Roster consisting of the Monster name, level and HP in percentage, Treasure Count and Info, Traps and percentage claimed. The claimed must be for how much has been explored by an adventurer.


    Aside from those details on every window, there were some other windows. Rare Monsters, Dungeon Resources, Safe Zone List and Info, and Explorer Info which I guess would display info, similar to monsters, on anyone that enters.


    There was a lot to take in. And no one to explain anything.


    For starters¡­


    I just realized I am a Dungeon in an RPG type setting. And I¡¯m even playing the role of a Moderator. This is just too surreal.


    Perhaps because I¡¯ve read so many stories with this kind of setting, that I adapted so quick and am not panicking.


    I have almost no knowledge of anything that didn¡¯t concern the dungeon itself.


    I at least have vision of the outside of the dungeon, but only because there are several monsters out there which have spawned from me. They seem to provide me information from outside. In fact, even inside the dungeon, I can only see what they see. Like a massive sonar network being relayed to my 3D Projection here in the abyss.


    Glancing at the windows around me, there is one more curious one. A Spawn Counter.


    It listed the spawn count of each monster type, and also the maximum spawn count and spawn timer, detailing how many I can have and how long it takes for one more to spawn. Though apparently, even if the timer says one minute, that is for a single floor. I could spawn another on a different floor.


    After playing around for a while, I also found that while I can spawn multiple monsters at the same time for each type, they can only spawn on certain floors. From there, I can migrate them between floors thanks to the Monster Wisdom trait. Apparently, it allows me to give more specific commands to them, giving them more freedom of movement.


    For example, a standard wolf would remain on its own floor nearby where it spawned, but with Wisdom, their instincts can be suppressed so they follow the order to migrate to a different location, a different territory. That said, I could fully be unfair and migrate all monsters to the entrance that are allowed on those floors, but I want to be a fair Dungeon Master.


    It¡¯s not often you get to be a real Dungeon Master, but you need players in the end. I also feel a bit conflicted over the fact I have to take lives.


    However, there is a sort of instinct, or desire, implanted within me. Protect the Dungeon. Protect yourself. In other words, if I don¡¯t fight, my monsters will be destroyed, and I will be imprisoned and controlled by others.


    That would be akin to having a body, but paralyzed without any means to fight back as wolves continuously rip you apart.


    And so, I set about memorizing the information ahead of me. After all, there is nothing else to do until someone discovers me. That said, I probably need a temporary name¡­


    Oh well, I¡¯ll cross that bridge when I get to it. It¡¯s funny seeing these question marks all over everything.


    <hr />

 Chapter 02 - Realization

    Authors Note | I know the length isn¡¯t that long, and the story isn¡¯t progressing that fast, but considering this is just starting, and mechanics are being explained, as well as lack of things for Dran (therefore me, as the writer) to do, creates a lack of things to expand on. But don¡¯t worry! Once the boring stuff is done, we¡¯ll be getting onto some more exciting stuff. Or at least I hope it is exciting.


    !!!WARNING!!!: Some of the content in this can be rather explicit descriptions of gore and death, so those who aren¡¯t quite accustom to such things, you have been warned.


    <hr />


    Chapter 02 - Realization


    It¡¯s been probably around 30 years since I became a dungeon. It seems that the perception of time for me is different according to how much I focus. At first, I was studying my information quite intently, and realized that roughly a day had passed since doing so.


    It felt fast, yet slow at the same time considering the volume of information I had to look at. All my monsters were fully spawned, so there was no need to spawn any more. The only thing that was continually spawning even now were the territorial monsters outside.


    While anticipating the arrival of adventurers, nothing occurred and so I quickly got bored, waiting to be the evil overlord of the Dungeon to terrorize adventurers. As I lost focus, I zoned out for what I thought was only a couple of hours.


    When I re-focused my attention, twenty years had passed by! Too fast! I could have achieved so much! And not only that, where were those damn adventurers! The last bastards.


    It was so incredibly boring. Stretching my non-existent limbs, I decided to play around with my monsters. As they were rather willing to listen to me, I began experiments to find my limitations.


    Thinking of creating an army, I tried sending monsters out of the dungeon. That failed. Monsters are restricted to inside what is defined as the ?Dungeon Zone?. They cannot leave this Zone unless some unknown requirements are met. My guess is the Creators are the ones who decide.


    As before, different monster types are restricted to different floor ranges. For example, my wolves can freely move between floors 1-5, but cannot enter the lower floors. On the other hand, the Ogres are able to move between floors 4-8.


    I¡¯ve also noted that my Rare Monsters are capable of moving anywhere within the dungeon as they see fit, but it leaves their areas unguarded and reduces the amount of my own dungeon I can see.


    I¡¯ve divided the floors into 3 sets of 5:


    The ?Upper Floors? consisting of floors 1-50, divided every 10 floors into a separate stage.


    The ?Intermediary Floors? consisting of floors 51-100, similarly in 5 stages.


    And the ?Lower Floors? consisting of floors 101-150.


    There is also a hidden floor, floor 0, just underneath floor 150, where the greatest treasure is. It could be called the Treasure Room, but guarded by my strongest Rare Monster available.


    I¡¯ll eventually explain more about the Rare Monsters and individual monsters out there, as well as the traps like the one that sends someone from the upper floors to the lower floors, but it would be too long. Instead, I¡¯ll probably explain it when someone encounters them.


    Or rather, I¡¯m still lazy, and don¡¯t want to monologue and bore myself when I¡¯m only talking to this black void in front of me.


    I truly am a sorry excuse for a remnant of humanity, aren¡¯t I?


    Sighing to myself, I look at the dungeon projection.


    The ?Upper Floors? are what I call the ¡±Feral Zones¡± due to the gathering of more instinctual monsters. Wolves, Ogres, Bears, oversized Rabbits, Werewolves, Bats, Snakes, you name it. Even the standard slims are there, though I personally find it hilarious that they are level 89 on average. Monster levels range from 50 ¨C 200.


    The ?Intermediary Floors? I have dubbed as ¡±Fallen Zones¡± because most of the monsters there are things that have lost their previous glory as what they once were. Undead and Fallen beings like Necromancers, Skeletal Warriors, Plague Warriors, Fallen Angels, Corrupted Spirits, Deformed Spectres, and other such monsters. Monster levels range from 150 ¨C 300.


    Finally, the ?Lower Floors? are probably the toughest. I call them the ¡±Demonic Zones¡± due to the fact that majority, if not all monsters on this floor are self-aware and have their own hierarchy. I¡¯m truly thankful for having ?Monster Loyalty? after I learned of this. Monsters that are on these floors are from many different races seen in Aetheria, as well as some that are created based on my mind, but all have been demonized. There are Succubi, Spirits, Beastmen, Demi-Humans, Aquatic Races, Avian Races, Vampires, you name it, I got it. Monster levels range from 250 ¨C 500.


    The levels are crazy. Despite not having Elites, Commanders and Bosses, my lower floors are, by nature, hierarchal. Why? Because it¡¯s a survival of the fittest environment. Though there have been no conflicts this far. If anything, my Dungeon is stagnant because of the lack of adventurers.


    I apparently have a huge mana capacity under Dungeon Resources, separate from the automatic monster spawner, which I am sure is used for skills. Maybe that ?Dungeon Craft? skill has something to do for it, but I don¡¯t have access it. Which is quite the shame.


    *****


    Another 20 years have gone by. And at this time, I have my first customer.


    My above ground monsters spotted humanoid figures approaching and began stalking them silently like the predators they are. After all, the wolves are the mainstay of my Dungeon, especially the upper floors, so they are the ones to spawn outside at weaker levels.


    If the population of the first 50 floors was around 1000 monsters per floor, given that each floor is probably 5km in diameter, this is probably an average population. As a side note, the first five floors are networks of caves, with floors 6-10 being forest areas.


    The population that spawns outside is roughly the same as a single floor, but the spawn rate after it reaches 200 is very slow. Currently, after 50 years, there are only around 300 wolves out there called ?Wolf Scouts of ????.


    With an average level of 35, a vast difference to the minimum level 50 inside, they are pack wolves. Upon stalking their targets, a group of what looks like 12 adventurers approach.


    From my observer¡¯s view in the abyss, overlooking the projection and zooming in on this, I curiously watch them approach and scout for a dungeon. Given their look, they seemed a bit flashy for what I would expect, considering the amount of adventure styled web novels I¡¯ve read.


    The moment around a dozen of my wolves were within 50m of them, they suddenly dashed away from each other. What were they doing? Well, that was obvious, they were targeting my wolves. Deciding to watch how this would play out, I was shocked by the results.


    No, literally. I was shocked.


    Pain wracked my body as the wolves of mine were struck down in rapid succession. What is this? Why?


    After all the surrounding wolves were slain, the adventurers grouped together again with puzzled expressions. Mostly because of the unknown names.


    As for myself, I was gritting my teeth. For every death of a monster under my dominion, I felt like someone was slowly pushing a serrated knife into my body and pulling it out. It was agonizing.


    Needless to say, I didn¡¯t want to feel this pain, and apparently all my monsters responded to this overpowering feeling of mine.


    With bloodlust filling the forest my Dungeon was in, the Adventurers were quite spooked. Within minutes, howling filled with rage echoed everywhere. And then moments later, they were being charged at by around 250 wolves went to feast.


    With more pain, I was unable to coherently understand the situation or guide my wolves. Out of my sight, the wolves were learning and adapting to their targets, avoiding strikes which cut down the one in front of them, coping better the longer the fight dragged out. But it still wasn¡¯t enough.


    In the end, all the monsters were dead, and I was left motionless as a lot of different feelings mixed and flooded into my mind.


    If there were 1000 monsters per floor, and each death caused this across the 150 floors, how many more times would I have to experience this pain? 150 thousand times. It may also be more painful with higher level monsters being killed.


    I don¡¯t want this. I don¡¯t want any adventurers to show up. I have to keep them out. I won¡¯t let them in. I don¡¯t want anyone to find me! I hate the adventurers. I want to kill them. But¡­ I¡¯m also afraid of them. If I fight them and lose, I¡¯ll experience this pain again.


    As they approached the entrance, I panicked. Responding to my will, the monsters willingly gathered on the first floor as droves of wolves packed the tight cave network, waiting with rage and bloodlust to kill the intruders that caused pain to their master.


    *****


    The party of adventurers stepped through the threshold of the Dungeon. They were arrogant and elated over their victory outside and the fact that they were entering a never before seen dungeon.


    The average party level was around 60, with the lowest level being 51. The highest, the party leader, was level 86. Because of this, they had an overwhelming victory outside and were now gloating over the fact they had a whole dungeon to themselves to explore.


    On top of it, they received a notification indicating they would receive an experience bonus for two weeks. Should they all die before the two weeks was over, the experience bonus would be given to the next group to enter.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Without delay, they continued inside, still full of vigor after the adrenaline from outside. Upon walking onwards, the caves were pitch black with not a single light. They could still see well enough, though, to get around the place.


    What stopped their advance was the thickness of bloodlust, rage, and the visible red eyes around them. With the mage in the group in the center, they used a light spell to create some visibility. What they found were two passages ahead of them, and the one they had come from, filled with wolves that were watching them.


    Startled, they looked at the level of the monsters. They were stunned. Level 50 being the lowest, even though the ones outside were level 30 at the lowest? It was a trap! This wasn¡¯t a regular dungeon, it was at least ?B+ Rank?!


    The group of 12 were ?B Rank? collectively, and there was a large difference between ?B Rank? and ?B+ Rank?. Similarly, there was another gap in power between the ranks of ?B+ Rank? and ?A Rank?. To note, a ?-? on a Rank indicated it/they had degraded in comparison to something/someone of the same rank.


    Their only advantage they could see was their levels. After all, the beasts in front of them were instinctual monsters. All they had to do was display their power and make them realize who was stronger so they could backtrack.


    With the party leader, an upcoming talent in the Adventurers Guild, he stepped forward and activated a skill which would demoralize opponents and instil fear and confusion on all targets. With a smug look, he watched the wolves take a step back.


    But that¡¯s all they did.


    Confused, and worried, he watched the wolves shake off the fear and become more enraged. From the look in their black eyes with a red iris, the party finally understood what those eyes meant.


    ¡°We¡¯re not letting you leave here alive, even at the cost of our own.¡±


    What followed was a bloodbath. The monsters slowly approached carefully, before one ran forward as the others watched. It charged at the Leader, causing him to raise his greatsword in both hands and swing horizontally while sidestepping. A wise choice.


    The wolf was struck down in the one hit. Fatal Blow popped up as the head went flying. Seeing this, the rest of the wolves snarled, and this time two approached slowly. Once within range, the first pounced high whilst the second kicked the ground as hard as it could, dashing past the Leader.


    Caught off guard, the Leader was forced to block the incoming attack as the second one got past him. The others, unprepared, took a step back unconsciously as the wolf dashed between them and bit the mage who had casted the spell for illumination.


    Within moments, the man was writhing as his arm was being used as a chew toy, and the others scrambling to kill the beast. But taking too long, the light went out. At this moment, although the two had died, the rest of their brethren howled while rushing forward.


    After a short struggle, close to 100 wolves swarmed the cave passage and pinned the 11 adventurers, jaws around their heads to force them to the ground and to watch what was ahead.


    And so, they could only watch their Leader who was encircled like prey before predators. With the cave walls suddenly illuminating, they were granted a means to watch the carnage as wolf after wolf pounced on the guy.


    Despite the metal cuirass, greaves and bracers, the man was quickly torn apart. Teeth sunk into the upper arms, parts of the leg, tearing off skin and muscle bits at a time.


    ¡°Feel our master¡¯s pain.¡±


    That was what the beasts were wishing for, but the adventurers were too horrified by the sight in front of them to understand.


    One arm was torn out of its socket and eaten, while another was left dangling, barely attached by a flap of skin. Bite marks were sunken into his armor with blood pouring out of them. Not satisfied, one wolf bit off the man¡¯s jaw. The deafening screams of pain made a glimmer of pleasure show on the wolves¡¯ faces.


    As the last attack on the man sprawled on the dungeon floor, a single wolf tore into the man¡¯s throat. As the gargling of blood continued for a minute or so, the man died painfully while the others watched. And then, they met a similar fate.


    The only saving grace, was that they weren¡¯t subject to the death and mental torture that the lower floors would have done. Some of the demons would have some really deadly things for them, after all. Their body violated before being restored and continuously tortured.


    *****


    Having watched the scene with hazy vision, I felt relief at the fact my intruders were dead, and that I wouldn¡¯t have to experience any more pain.


    With no monsters outside, I could no longer see my surroundings. I needed to prepare. If this was going to happen repeatedly, I need to be ready. No more pain.


    With this in mind, I set out to first recover mentally and eventually another five years passed before I realized it.


    By now, the initial 200 monsters outside had respawned and were scouting out a maximum 5km in any direction. They were quite spread out, but by my will, they didn¡¯t advance, and kept a sort of border patrol on rotation with 100 out so I had another 100 on standby for rotation and emergency action.


    I needed them to be stronger. Much stronger. If I wanted to forego pain, I needed to avoid the death of my monsters. To do this, I needed higher levels. Better tactics and understanding. It was time for training.


    *****


    100 years since I became a dungeon. In the last 45 years or so, I¡¯ve been discovered by a search party that went looking for the missing adventurers within a year of their disappearance. They must have stated where they were exploring, and only now did people get this far.


    My monsters outside were hunted every now and then, but it seemed as long as I didn¡¯t provoke them, they left my patrols alone. As long as they were hidden well enough.


    But there were still those who went hunting to raise their levels. In cases like this, the one detected willingly drew them away from the rest while I re-organized the patrols to avoid them.


    The first discoverers never entered and instead set up a guard post after returning with the soldiers of the territory¡¯s governing country. And after this, many attempted to explore the dungeon.


    Needless to say, I never let them escape the first floor. And so, given the difficulty, I was labelled as an ?S Rank Dungeon?, though I was declared as¡­


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">Dungeon Without A Name


    A Dungeon discovered 50 years ago famed for having never been explored past its upper floors. Labelled as ?S Rank? due to the difficulty. Befitting its unique Rank, this dungeon has no Name.


    Adventurers are warned that the monsters are intelligent and get progressively stronger and enraged with the more that are killed.</td></tbody></table>


    I had to admit, I liked the description. Thanks to it, not many entered. Though, this also brought more trouble as only the strong willing to risk the death would appear, either alone or as a group.


    Adventurers of ?S Rank? appeared and challenged it solo, but only 10 floors. That was their limit. For parties, they could only manage floor 25. As for a battalion that entered, they barely managed floor 35.


    Fatality rates were high, and risk of major injuries were extremely high too. The rumors were that any who tempted the Dungeon would find themselves being pulled further to their death with every step.


    To get to this point, there was a lot I had to do. On all floors, I had my monsters form groups of 12 and had them combat each other. On the upper floors, I focused on killing each other so that the winners learned how to survive against numbers and let them gain wisdom.


    The intermediary floors were focused on utilizing their numbers and skills since they were less instinctive and followed orders more. The stronger ones were designated party leaders and the floor focus was on group combat, multi-group combat, and war. I nurtured as much intelligence as I could for them to make them tougher opponents.


    As for the lower floors, I combined both the previous lessons and had them establish a survival of the fittest rule so they would constantly be fighting with each other. They were to band together should adventurers approach, and they were under strict instructions that while aiming to kill each other, they were to forgive and forget. If they could not do this, they would not survive war on multiple fronts when adventurers arrived.


    And to add a cherry on top, I ordered all my Rare Monsters to level up and attack other monsters as they saw fit. As long as they obeyed and protected their areas, they could do as they willed, devastating established battlegrounds and encampments everywhere.


    With 50 years having passed since my discovery, Rank Assignment and knowledge of my existence spreading, a peculiar, and possibly life changing thing occurred.


    One of my patrols encountered another Dungeon Monster.


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">Lamia of Eclarsyte: Level 41


    A Dungeon Monster originating from Eclarsyte, the ?S Rank Dungeon? famous for monsters sporting humanoid features.</td></tbody></table>


    And what did this Lamia say upon meeting my own Wolf?


    ¡±I, the Dungeon named Eclarsyte, invite you to the Dungeon Master¡¯s Conference.¡±


    <hr />

 Chapter 03 - Connections

    Authors Note | Sorry, I¡¯ve been sick for a week or more, and the effects stopped me thinking properly so I couldn¡¯t write >.<.


    I do hope to keep releasing a chapter once every 1-3 days when I can, a week at the most. At the moment, most chapters will be around the same length as Chapter 2 for the reason that there hasn¡¯t been enough interaction to warrant long chapters.


    As you¡¯ve seen, an entire chapter to just him talking to himself, it can get pretty repetitive. So now it¡¯s time to introduce some new characters! Sort of.


    For those of you who expect daily or bi-daily updates, sorry for not meeting your expectations =P


    I am lazy, unproductive, instinctive and procrastinator by nature =P


    For the most part, I know what I want to write, I just can¡¯t imagine the details in between here and there.


    And just a bit of info, when I have a solid know-how on what I¡¯m going to do, it usually only takes 3-4 hours to write a chapter.


    This story, I¡¯ve been writing it as I think of things rather than my usual way of writing out the entire plot, planning all the points in between, getting down my end goals, and constructing the backstory for everything and everyone ahead of time. I simply wanted to do a story where I could write my ideas and use them, and write the story, when EYE want. Not when OTHERS want. So please, even if you like the story, please don¡¯t rush me. Pressure makes my head go fuzzy and I have trouble writing over the pressure >.<


    tl;dr ¨C Enjoy the chapter~!


    <hr />


    Chapter 03 - Connections


    ¡±I, the Dungeon named Eclarsyte, invite you to the Dungeon Master¡¯s Conference.¡±


    Eh? What? Another Dungeon? Moreover, a conference of Dungeons?


    With many questions in my mind, the top one at this moment was how to respond. After all, it was a Lamia that was talking to his Wolf, directed at him personally. But how was he supposed to respond?


    ¡°Given the puzzled reaction of your minion, I take it you don¡¯t understand. While focusing on your minion, direct your body towards it.¡± (Eclarsyte)


    Oh, that¡¯s how. So¡­ like this?


    As per the instructions, I focused on the wolf with the Lamia, and directed my incorporeal body towards it. As if gravitating towards it, I felt my mind entering it. Within moments, I was seeing through the wolf¡¯s eyes instead of the dungeon projection.


    That said, I still had full awareness of my own dungeon, it was just more like it was on autopilot without me, while I could receive information in the abyss with the status windows around me.


    Still, I have a body now! Sort of. Now to try communicating.


    ¡°A-¡­ Aah-¡­ Ahem. Test. Check. Hello. Voice, check. Umm¡­ Hi.¡± (Dran)


    ¡°Seems you have gotten the hang of it. Now, do you accept the invitation? And before you ask, questions can be answered at the conference.¡± (Eclarsyte)


    Pondering for a moment, my wolf body¡¯s head looked downwards as a paw came to my snout as if in a thinking pose. Oh, this body has some good balance considering I¡¯m only on three legs.


    At the moment, there was no reason not to attend. I¡¯m not really secretive and I¡¯m not arrogant and prideful, so I may as well accept. Nodding his head, he looked back to the Lamia.


    ¡°I accept. I¡¯ll hold off on my main questions until the conference, though my curiosity may get the better of my along the way.¡± (Dran)


    With a bit of a grin, he could imagine his sharp tooth sparkling as he did so. Though hopefully it wasn¡¯t interpreted as being hungry. With a nod, the Lamia spoke up as she continued walking.


    ¡°Fair enough. It should take about a month to travel to the meeting place, so feel free to rest your mind for that time if you wish.¡± (Eclarsyte)


    With a nod to each other, they both started their travel.


    *****


    After managing the dungeon for a week to make sure things were in order and proceeding smoothly, as well as keeping those pesky adventurers from killing any more, I returned to the wolf¡¯s mind.


    I¡¯ve found out that while using the wolf as a medium, I can share all of its senses while at the same time observing from inside its mind, allowing it to continue by itself.


    With a few strong wishes, the wolf would obey. Similar to willing your numb fingers to move, you could see it happening but not feel it. It was the same sort of thing.


    As we were travelling during the night and avoiding travelling in the day to avoid any explorers or adventurers, it was a bit of a slow pace. That was probably why it was set for a month ahead of time.


    With three weeks left until the conference, I couldn¡¯t help but get bored. Even though there were plenty of questions I wanted to ask, I didn¡¯t want to speak until I knew the full situation.


    From what I¡¯ve been informed of thus far, the Dungeon Masters Conference was a gathering of {S Rank} dungeons. The DM¡¯s attending were limited to the ones discovered by the Adventurers Guild for the simple reason that it was difficult to gather information otherwise.


    As sending out scouts from a dungeon was limited to a certain area of operation due to adventurers and army patrols, they had to listen in on conversations of adventurers who entered their Dungeons.


    They only ones that could attend the Conference were {S Rank} due to the fact that only they had a ¡®will¡¯ as you would call it. An overseer that was capable of independent action not limited to the thoughts of the monsters dwelling within.


    Since I had been around for 100 years, give or take, it took half that for me to be discovered. The rest of the time was spent actually listening for information and dealing with their own problems.


    I wasn¡¯t the only one being hurt as they spoke. Because the others were better known, the other {S Rank} dungeons were constantly being wracked with pain since people had analysed them and tested them.


    Thanks to the greenhorn me being, well, greenhorn, adventurers were still testing the waters in my upper floors.


    While I have the time, I may as well describe some things. Currently, my main unit is the Black Wolf, with a thick fur but still silky and not the least bit rough, black sclera¡¯s (which is the whites of the eyes, if you didn¡¯t know!) and red irises. Their size is comparable to a grey wolf if its weight was increased by double, packed into its small body.


    As for the Lamia I am following, she has beautifully straight, brown hair with a white cloth around the neck and chest, all held together by a metal ring between the breasts. Speaking of which, she is well endowed, making me wonder how that thin cloth is holding her breasts, or covering them for that matter. Ahem¡­ Anyways, she has a light tan skin color, slim body befitting a beauty, and a nearly radiating yellow eye color with normal scleras.


    Reminding me of that ¡®absolute territory¡¯ thing regarding a girl¡¯s skirt and thigh-highs, this Lamia has sleeves from her palm to halfway up her bicep, white in color to match the cloth holding her¡­ Anyways. Her lower half becomes reptilian from the hips downward, starting in a ¡®v¡¯ shape so she has slight contours of legs, but no legs. Still, she has her nether regions intact. The female ones, that is.


    I was definitely staring at first, but do you know what put me off? The Lamia, or rather the overseer behind the Lamia who originally imagined such a creature, announced themselves as previously being Male.


    In other words, it¡¯s a dude underneath that Lamia. The person in question didn¡¯t mind, having been around for a long time, but seriously! I¡¯m still young and fresh! My dungeon hormones are raging! Such a Trap¡­


    Still, the guy must have been a pervert in his original life. Imagining such beautiful monsters that will rip you to shreds, even going so far as to have the female anatomy perfectly preserved and exposed. I truly feel sorry for the male adventurers entering the Eclarsyte Dungeon¡­


    Oh, a couple of details I forgot. Her hair flows down to her mid back, and her scales are varying shades of brown. It seems depending on the angle, the scales are different colors.


    ¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­¡­


    *****


    ¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­.


    ¡­


    Oh, I dozed off again. Checking back on my wolf¡¯s travel, it seems we¡¯ve arrived.


    It appears we¡¯re in a clearing inside of a dense forest. I can barely see through the treeline. The clearing itself is probably the size of a classroom, I¡¯m guessing. I¡¯ve never been really good with describing sizes. Heck, even the floors themselves just had their own sizes described for me.


    The trees aren¡¯t tropical, they just seem to be that tightly packed together, and they aren¡¯t dead so the forest must still be thriving. The clearing is filled with flowers, making it look more like a garden, and there is a circle in the center that seems suitable for a gathering. In fact, that is exactly what it¡¯s being used for.


    With my wolf and the Lamia next to me approaching, we take our respective places in the circle of monsters, creating a pentagon shape. There were five of us including myself. Really? Only this many S Rank? I guess we may be rarer than I thought.


    Well, I still don¡¯t know much at all, so that¡¯s to be expected.


    With the Lamia to my left, the monster to my right is¡­


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">Arachne of Siliyna: Level 38


    Mainstay unit of the {S Rank Dungeon} {Siliyna}. Well known for the disturbing appearance of the majority of its denizens, the Siliyna dungeon is famed for its stealth monsters.</td></tbody></table>


    Below the stomach, the Arachne has the body of a spider with metallic looking appendages, layered many times over to appear like a heavily armored creature. The upper half is that of a beautiful woman with pale white skin, ash blonde straight hair reaching the lower back and a sizeable chest which isn¡¯t big but isn¡¯t small. Somewhere in the middle.


    She has a normal face, unlike an Arachne, so if not for the lower body then one could easily be charmed. Also, I should mention that despite my mention of the BOOBS--- I mean, breasts, I may be knowledgeable but I haven¡¯t actually felt my way around them.


    The Arachne is also lacking any sort of clothing. Must be a humid or warm environment inside the {Siliyna Dungeon}.


    To the right of the Arachne is a¡­ uhm¡­ I think that¡¯s¡­ right?


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">Ghast of Alurose: Level 63


    Mainstay unit of the {S Rank Dungeon} {Alurose}. Famous among adventurers for its ghastly and necromancy like feel, the appearance of most monsters within {Alurose} induce fear into even the most veteran of Adventurers.</td></tbody></table>


    Its appearance is¡­ honestly, rather ghastly. Pun not intended. Seriously.


    It has a human appearance, but with pale, sickly green skin color, and the skin is nearly shrunken down to the bone on the limbs. It was like someone shrink-wrapped it. Its chest is exposed as only the ribcage of visible, with the rest of its body being covered in a deathly grey cloak or cloth. But that isn¡¯t the worst of it. Its face is¡­ truly fear inducing.


    With sunken eyeholes, no eyes, wrinkles across the bony face and a couple of teeth missing, its chest length grey hair, which is quite thinned out, perfectly complements the mouth with its jaw reaching down to its ribcage, showing only a black abyss inside its mouth.


    The only saving grace is that this particular ghast has a cloak covering its body and face from us. It looks like it could release a banshee¡¯s howl if it wanted.


    To the left of the Lamia, and the last monster in this circle, is¡­ Well, honestly, this person doesn¡¯t fit at all.


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">Demoness of Zelquiose: Monster Guardian


    Level 75


    Guardian to the entrance of the {S Rank Dungeon} {Zelquiose}. Commands the monsters that surround the Dungeon. Classified as a Boss Monster. Highest Loyalty. Highest Wisdom. Unrestricted Access to any Dungeon Floor.


    {Zelquiose} is famous among adventurers for the rabid monsters which are led by powerful elite and boss monsters, making it one of the strongest dungeons known to the Adventurers Guild.</td></tbody></table>


    The Demoness has the appearance of a blonde beauty with hair flowing down to her buttocks, with two pigtails among the straight locks all around. With a healthy white skin color with silky softness to boot, her breasts are of similar perfect proportions given the body type, being not large and not small.


    She wears a dark red bikini and sash type of attire with golden trim lace on both. With blood red eyes, the bewitching smile of hers matches the black demon wings on her back which have a red tint to them. They are about the size of her arm wing span, but still powerful enough to lift herself, if only to hover.


    To top it off, her head is adorned with two demonic horns of similar color scheme. They are smooth without ridges but with some unknown patterns carved into them. Truly, a remarkable beauty. My Succubi have nothing on her¡­ Oh¡­ I want one¡­ but I shouldn¡¯t.


    Dragging my eyes away from the beauty, I point my wolf head down. I truly am a pitiful existence.


    <table><tbody><td width="25%">Wolf of ???: Level 36


    Mainstay unit of the {S Rank Dungeon} {???}. Feared by all adventurers, they have repelled any intruders for decades without once relenting or being outwitted. The secrets of their dungeon remain safe thanks to them. The {???} Dungeon is famous for being the hardest dungeon to explore with the highest fatality rate thus far.</td></tbody></table>


    I mean seriously? I¡¯m still unknown? And my level is nothing compared to the rest. I¡¯ve got my work cut out for me. I can tell at a glance that any one of the other dungeon representatives can kill me without trouble. And I have the lowest level.


    Sighing inwardly, I looked at the rest that were sitting down on the grass patch in this clearing within a flower garden within a clearing of a dense forest. Sound confusing? Because that¡¯s what I wanted it to sound like.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    As the other dungeons took a good look at me, I felt rather intimidated. These are my seniors, after all. When they were all satisfied, they turned to the Demoness. Zelquiose, was it? I¡¯m gonna have a hard time memorizing these Dungeon Names. Heh, they¡¯ll probably have the hardest time memorizing mine. Since I don¡¯t have one! Hehe.


    ¡°Without further delay, we will start the Dungeon Master¡¯s Conference.¡± (Zelquiose)


    ¡°Agreed.¡± (Eclarsyte & Siliyna & Alurose)


    ¡°Huh? Oh, uh, a- agreed.¡± (Dran)


    So, the Demoness is the conference leader? There¡¯s a lot of questions I need answers to. Hopefully, they can all be answered now. Or at least the ones I can think of.


    ¡°For starters, let¡¯s welcome the newest addition. From your name, you¡­ are quite the mystery.¡± (Zelquiose)


    ¡°Huh? Oh, yeah. Sorry, I¡¯ve been isolated for the last century. Still kind of lost. Um, please call me uh¡­ Just call me Kuuhaku.¡± (Kuuhaku)


    Deciding to call myself Blank, like I¡¯ve heard in an Anime I watched, I figured it should be alright. ??? is the same as having a blank name, I guess. Hopefully everyone else agrees.


    Seeing the nodding heads of the rest, I take note of the fact only two of us look like men.


    ¡°Okay, time for self-introductions. I¡¯ll start so that everyone knows the format.


    I am Zelquiose. I was originally a human female from an alternate world, and have been around since the Dungeons were first made by the Creators. That makes me around 150 dungeon years old. I am also the one that decided to create this conference after meeting other intelligent dungeons. We¡¯ve only been around for about 20 years, give or take five.¡± (Zelquiose)


    ¡°I¡¯m next.


    I¡¯m Alurose. The second to join this conference. Before becoming a dungeon, I was a male Dark Elf demi-human who died in the First Aetheria War. I was created probably ten years after Zelquiose, though there is no way to know. There¡¯s not much else to say, but I¡¯ll add in that there are around 300 dungeons in the world currently, with no more being made to my knowledge. Ghasts have their ways of getting around.¡± (Alurose)


    ¡°Heya. I¡¯m Eclarsyte. Was a human male from another world and loved my women. Which is why my monsters look like this. I lost track of time, but I know I was the third to join the DMC. While I was originally male, I¡¯ve been inside female monsters for a long time so I consider myself neither male nor female. Or maybe I¡¯m closer to being a female.¡± (Eclarsyte)


    ¡°Siliyna. Just like I am now, I was an Arachne in my previous life. I was the fourth to join this conference, having been found several years ago. There¡¯s not much else to say. My dungeon is the closest to everyone else.¡± (Siliyna)


    ¡°That leaves me.¡± (Kuuhaku)


    I clear my wolf throat. Though, it seems we talk through a sort of telepathic link rather than audibly. Oh well, habits and all that.


    ¡°I am the Dungeon Without A Name. Therefore, please just call me Kuuhaku. I was a male human from an alternate world, and I spent a lot of time reading, playing games, watching random things, and doing everything a lazy and curious human being would do. I suppose I¡¯m the youngest, being around for about 100 years, give or take a few. Because of my fear of pain, I¡¯ve been rather protective and self-absorbed in my own dungeon to bother exploring much. Sorry.¡± (Kuuhaku)


    *****


    To skip boring details, I asked a bunch of details and figured out roughly the personality of each one.


    {Lamia of Eclarsyte}


    He/She/They are happy-go-lucky and keep a positive outlook on everything that happens, though does have trouble dealing with awkward situations or when questioned about their previous life. I¡¯m guessing he had a tough life and committed suicide, or something similar.


    {Arachne of Siliyna}


    A self-reserved woman who has experienced a lot during her life, along with her own hardships. She strikes me as the type to worry about her friends but not make a display of her emotions. Kind of analytical if I must say so.


    {Ghast of Alurose}


    A man who, to me, has trouble bringing himself out of the darkness he was consumed in. He is his own worst nightmare and keeps his distance while trying to keep connected with others. As such, he prefers to be the silent type to listen to conversations and only add input when asked.


    {Demoness of Zelquiose}


    Your typical beautiful girl and protagonist. Or would she be the antagonist seeing as we¡¯re all dungeons? In any case, she has that protagonist quality as she has leadership skills and is great and inter-personal relationships. I was quickly welcomed and accepted into the conference thanks to her.


    As for the information I¡¯ve gained, I¡¯ll summarize as best as I can.


    For starters, there were many more dungeons who were approached to join this conference. First were the lower ranks, but they had little to not semblance of a ¡®will¡¯, and so had no one to represent their dungeon. There were several other {S Rank} dungeons around, but majority of them were too arrogant and prideful to pass Zelquiose¡¯s eyes as an equal. As such, out of the fifteen that were around, only five in total can attend the conference.


    The world is separated into three large continents with a third more smaller continent in the ocean between them.


    {Killiad}


    The northern continent which has a good fertility, creating large forests and plains with mountains here and there. Majority of the population is the humans, demi-humans and beastmen. This is where I and the other dungeons are from. We don¡¯t have a means of traversing the sea to discover more friendly dungeons. Monsters here are among the easiest to slay with some elite ones out there.


    {Pangeius}


    The south-eastern continent with barren and mountainous areas with high populations of demi-humans, humans and spirits. Would probably be best equated to Africa back on Earth. The monsters here are apparently medium in power and serve as a proving ground for adventurers. They provide the baseline for dungeons in order to be safe. I wouldn¡¯t mind visiting it, but I doubt a Dungeon can travel.


    {D¨¦ Arta Cael}


    The south-western continent which is barren lands of forests, mountains and plains with low fertility, making it a treacherous place to live. Being the battlegrounds for the First Aetheria War, it was left scarred and high in magic and demonic power, bringing forth monsters of high ranks. One of the most dangerous places to live as a baseline, there are few that can survive unprepared, and a high mortality rate for travellers. Demons, monsters, spirits and some sub-species of demi-humans thrive here, and it goes on a village system with a survival of the fittest. Adventurers who survive this continent are said to be of {A Rank} as an average.


    {Draegun}


    Land of the Dragons. The central continent, smallest of them all, houses the Dragons as well as a few settlements of each race who have adapted and live peacefully. They are also a minority as monsters crawl about everywhere having soaked up the dragon power that leaks from their bodies which are too small to hold all that energy. Claimed as a neutral territory by the Dragon King, Draegun is even harsher to live in than Arta Cael, even though it is fertile and bountiful.


    {Ranks}


    As an agreement between Dungeons, we don¡¯t reveal our own {True Rank} which is told to us upon being turned into a dungeon. However, we are all classified as {S Rank} by the Adventurers Guild. As such, I asked what these ranks were and information pertaining to it.


    {F Rank}


    Lowest rank, and what is considered to be an infant, or your average human child that has yet to go through puberty. Adventurers start at this rank as they have to prove their worth. Dungeons of this level are what you would find in a Beginner¡¯s Town in MMO¡¯s. Sort of like the tutorial dungeons. Dungeon levels between 1-5.


    {E Rank}


    Those that have proven themselves, or gained enough power to be a threat in numbers. Dungeons of this rank are good practice for those that aren¡¯t looking for danger but still need to get a feel for being a dungeon explorer. Dungeon levels between 5-15.


    {D Rank}


    Beings which are strong enough to protect their small village, or have power suitable to those that grow up in manual labor without training. Also indicates someone who has gotten past their ¡°newbie¡± stages and started adventuring away from the local area. Dungeons of this rank have risk involved, but nothing a trained or experienced person can¡¯t handle. Dungeon levels between 10-40.


    {C Rank}


    Minimum rank required to enlist into any military force, or form a team in the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. People of this rank are typically fully-fledged adventurers who can handle themselves and take on more important or dangerous tasks. Dungeons of this rank are capable of killing the complacent or arrogant people who wander in. Dungeon Levels between 20-50.


    {B Rank}


    Veterans are typically of this rank and are finally overcoming their arrogance or wishful thinking and starting to face the reality of things. There are still many who take their strength for granted and parade around acting like they own the place. They flaunt their power. Dungeons of this rank are not to be taken lightly as they can easily take down a party of adventurers who let down their guard, and are smarter than your typical dungeon monsters. Dungeon levels between 30-60.


    {A Rank}


    Seasoned and elite adventurers, as well as soldiers of this rank would be your typical leader types, or members of a party/platoon to a higher ranked person. Powerful in a fight one on one, and definitely not to be underestimated when in a team. Those of this rank show their full potential in a party and are not to be underestimated. Dungeons of this rank are unique in their monsters that, despite their level, are vastly superior to anything else below it. Dungeon levels between 50-125.


    {S Rank}


    People of this rank are considered to be the epitome of their race, achieving one of the greatest levels of power since the first Aetheria War, and people usually find themselves stagnating at this level. Summoned beings can reach this rank with less effort than natives. A single S Rank is equivalent to an entire squad, if not an entire platoon alone. Dungeons of this rank are the highest that have been recorded, and can easily cause mortalities among S Rank adventurers who dare go it alone. Dungeon levels between 75-300.


    As a side note, despite the monsters at this conference being under 75, it is because it goes off the first floor monsters. I, myself, was upgraded to S Rank after some years when they realized the mortality rate among A Rank adventurers despite the low level of first floor, exceeding a single modifier. Thus, they went from {A Rank} to {S Rank} with me.


    {SS Rank}


    Said to be a rank achieved by summoned beings during the second Aetheria War. No dungeons have been classified as this so far. From records, beings of this rank are said to be able to combat an entire army by themselves. Dragon adolescents are of this rank on average. Dungeon levels unknown.


    {SSS Rank}


    A Rank created specifically for the Dragons, as the Dragon King was said to be above an {SS Rank} individual, capable of destroying fortresses with ease. Few dragon adults will be of this rank.


    {EX Rank}


    As the creators are above even the Dragons, they are considered immeasurable. As such, they are given the EX Rank.


    {+ Rank}


    A modifier given to dungeons only when they break away from the normal. For example, having low level monsters outside to fool adventurers into entering a high level dungeon, or having large jumps in monster levels between floors. Helps to indicate unknown or unique and dangerous elements that a Dungeon may have in addition. Level range increases by 50-100, though it¡¯s very vague and hard to calculate due to lack of information.


    {- Rank}


    Unlike the + modifier, a negative means a dungeon is weaker despite its levels or rank, but still not to be taken lightly. Simply means that it deviates from the standard and is weaker than usual.


    Alongside this, I also had to ask about Adventurers. Because seriously, a B Rank Adventurer defeated level 35 wolves, but died to level 50 wolves.


    {Adventurers}


    Adventurers come from every race and are the least likely to discriminate or flaunt their fame or power as they attain higher ranks. That said, there are still many who will do it for the exact reason. Because they can achieve visible ranks compared to common folk, they often abuse it and can even gain infamy through rumors. When such things happen, the military of the territory they are in will act. Across the world, military would take up roughly 20% of all population, and that being any trade of military be it armor smith or soldier. 15% would be Adventurers aligned with the Adventurers Guild, but they hold allegiance to no country or territory, and calls to arms are voluntary. As such, they are also under the watch of the military. Other combat ready forces average around 20%, with the rest being civilians or children.


    As a side note, Adventurer ranks indicate the minimum level requirement of a dungeon, but the safety margin is said to be another 15 or so on top of it for the lowest floors.


    I remember when I died, I was said to be an {S++ Rank Dungeon}, but that is in Dungeon terms and not Aetheria terms. I could guess they are close, but I may have to consider myself an SS Rank possibly on the Adventurers scale.


    Without realizing it, the conference has lasted a week.


    *****


    As the conference concluded, we left our representatives at the conference area and returned our ¡®wills¡¯ back to our dungeons. Once a year, there was to be a conference, mandatory, so that we could actually call to each other. For such a long distance away, it takes time to hear the calls of others. Similar to lighting fire signals across mountaintops as shown in a certain movie.


    Stretching my back, I look back to the first floors of my dungeon. What mayhem is being caused now that is numbing my senses? For that matter, when will my ¡®body¡¯ adjust to this pain, or will it always be there and I have to deal with it?


    ¡­


    Who knows. I¡¯ll have to make due.


    Oh? I see a party entering. Hey, one of the girls is pretty cute. As much as I hate adventurers now, some of them are cute. If she makes it to the first safe zone of floor 5, I may even give her a second chance on leaving. Though her party leader is a jerk. Oh well. Let¡¯s see how this plays out¡­


    <hr />

 Chapter 04 - Exploration

    Authors Note | Long story short, I¡¯m lazy and couldn¡¯t be bothered writing anything. Mainly having trouble deciding on names, personalities and appearances, as well as minor background details for all the extras/adventurers. I¡¯m a meticulous person, so even if they are unimportant characters, I like to have them with proper details. After this chapter, I won¡¯t be describing them as much and will get straight into it, so I won¡¯t have to worry about it in the future. For what I have planned, these details are important. Look forward to it!


    Sorry for the delay, here ya go!


    Plzdontkillme =P


    PS: I¡¯ve read some comments about some points that are brought up here and there. One was about why there is no pain experienced by the killing between the dungeon monsters, but there is when an adventurer kills them. This is because that thing called ¡°experience¡± in typical games and settings. As our protagonist may never understand this, I¡¯ll explain it now.


    In this story, ¡°experience¡± is more akin to one¡¯s ¡°life essence¡±. So having the monsters kill each other, they absorb the essence of the defeated. However, they are still part of the dungeon itself, so it has no affect as the ¡®resources¡¯ remain in balance inside the dungeon. When an adventurer kills them though, they take this resource; this life essence themselves. To give it an analogy, it¡¯s like a bone marrow transplant. The adventurers are stealing something he has excess of by killing his monsters. And so those who think there is no advancement in the future, know that the reverse is true. Killing adventurers steals their life essence, supplying it as a resource to the Dungeon >=). That said, remember that the Dungeon governs over a vast supply of this essence, far larger than that of a single adventurer, so of course there is no noticeable difference.


    <hr />


    Chapter 04 - Exploration


    A woman looking to be in her mid-twenties sighed as she walked along with her group of adventurers. Equipped with daggers on both sides of her waist, a short bow on her back and gauntlets on both hands, she seemed like quite the versatile adventurer, but rather lightweight compared to her heavily armored party consisting of two guys in full plate armor with tower shields and a mace or halberd. There was another archer who was equipped with a short sword, buckler, cuirass and long bow. The other two were a magician and healer. Even they were at least protected with leather armor.


    But this woman only had gauntlets reaching her elbow, light plated greaves, plated boots and scale armor covering only the heart on both sides of the torso, as well as the liver. Her class was that of a rogue, though she had customized it to her own liking. Versatile, agile and manoeuvrable. With her in the center of the formation, the six man {S Rank Party} moved around the first floor of the dungeon. Although the maximum party size for an {S Rank Dungeon} was 15, most teams were those who had been together from lower ranks and unwilling to bring in an outsider to their team.


    ¡­


    Sigh¡­ That¡¯s all I can do at the moment. My name is Synteia, nicknamed Tia by the rest of my party. As one of two girls in the party, it could be troublesome at times. For instance¡­


    *SMACK*


    ¡­ Having to fend off the men trying to cop a feel in this dark dungeon. Having smacked away the hand that was reaching for my ass, I glared at the one behind me who was trying it. It was Jear, as usual. One of our Vanguard, and the one using a Halberd. We agreed when we made this party that there would be no relationships between the party members, but that didn¡¯t stop the guys from staring, sneaking a peek, or copping a feel when they could. Men will be men, after all. Those horny bastards.


    They do release their lust on their paid for girls, as well as their partners whenever they actually get one. But still, this was also a means of distracting everyone and releasing stress, as well as lightening the mood. We were, after all, quite tense. Having entered the nameless dungeon said to be a veteran killer to the point it was elevated to an {S Rank Dungeon}, we have been on edge ever since. The abyss of the everlasting darkness was wracking our nerves too, since we had opted for a low-light spell to provide only a luminescent illumination that would allow us to use our eyes naturally instead of hindering it when looking at the darkness.


    We are currently on the fourth floor, slowly making our way through the caverns while keeping an eye on our surroundings. We had to do our best not to get arrogant. We had killed several wolves so far, and wounded many more. But the monsters are smart. When they knew they were losing, they would back off, or protect the wounded. They showed intelligence that was not thought to exist in dungeon monsters. That said, each dungeon was unique. And this was merely a small part of what made this one dangerous.


    Continuing to move, we kept talking to a minimum and kept a professional atmosphere around us. Our team leader, the archer, was giving out orders as needed. With a keen eyesight, he made sure we all stayed safe both inside and outside of dungeons. After an hour or so more walking, we came to the transitioning path between floors, and we could see light. That meant the following floor was going to be illuminated. Nodding to each other, we cancelled our light. But¡­ This was the signal for hell to be released.


    The moment the light spell was cancelled, three dozen wolves pounced at us from the rear. We neither detected them nor understood how so many of them had gathered up and coordinated so well in this dungeon. But the result was our leader, and our primary archer, being torn limb from limb before we could respond. With a sudden fear overcoming us, he dashed towards the light ahead of us. We knew it was too late for Leader.


    Upon crossing the border between floors, we tumbled forward and looked back ready to attack. What met our sight was the different limbs of our leader in the mouths of the wolves who stood at the border with a glare, tossing the multiple limbs to us. Leader¡¯s head was¡­ right at my feet. With the gears in my head clicking, I understood what they did. They hunted the leader of our Party, brutally murdered him as an example, and then tossed the remains to us to instil fear.


    And it worked. Having understood their aim, I shuddered as my eyes widened, instinctively kicking the head away. We had been friends for a long time, but this dungeon suddenly made me feel like that face was the most horrid thing ever. Looking at the rest of my party, they seemed to also understand, but gulped as we pulled ourselves together. We need to push forward. There was no way to head back through that after all. There would be other ways to head back out, this was simply only one path through the floor.


    Turning away from the path we came in from, we looked ahead and immediately saw an ogre. Seriously, not a single break! But this was weird. It was just standing there, staring at us¡­ Why? Wait, it was grinning¡­ Just then, I hear the sounds of padded feet quickly approaching. Spinning around just in time, I see the pack of wolves sprinting at us with a glint in their eyes. It was a ploy! They were capable of going one more floor! Or did they have a floor restriction at all?!


    Seeing the look in its eyes, it must have realized I would react as it pounced to my side and I immediately heard a scream. Without time to react or warn my other party members, they were set upon by the wolves. It was one on one at least, but they left me with the ogre to hold off. Impossible! Much to my own shame, I can feel a warm wet feeling between my legs. With face red and tears in my eyes, I dashed towards the entrance we had just come from, aiming to escape the way I came, not looking back.


    I didn¡¯t want to know what would happen. My death was almost assured. What else could I do? From behind me, I could hear the tearing of flesh, the splattering of guts as a blunt weapon was slammed into the ground, the cries of my probably doomed team members, and the howls of the injured wolves. I couldn¡¯t hear their pursuit, and there were none in front of me either. My chance to escape---!


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    *KSSSHHHH PFFFFF VVVVVVRRRR*


    As I was about to turn a corner, I heard a weird noise. In that moment of hesitation and stiffening of my body, runes began glowing under my body as I felt my surroundings distort and a wave of nausea and vertigo overpower me, causing me to throw up my already empty stomach in the darkness I found myself.


    ¡­


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    Where am I? Why am I on the floor? I¡­ I must have passed out. With a groggy feeling, I get up. Or I thought I would. My body aches all over. As my eyes adjust, I realize I¡¯m not alone, but I¡¯m in a sort of case. Or perhaps its ruins? It looks like a partially destroyed room with stone walls. The only light source is coming from the cracks of a wooden door, falling apart yet somehow still holding together. And then my eyes fall upon the one on the other side of the room. They were dressed in an all black, full plate armor. Not a single bit of their skin was showing, and they appeared as if they were asleep, leaning against the crumbling wall.


    The only solace I had was in the thought that I was away from the death of before, but the presence of the man put a damper on my feelings. That, and the fact I had no idea where I was anymore. I just want to go home. Maybe I¡¯ll quit adventuring. I don¡¯t have the mental fortitude to continue after this. If anyone did, they would probably survive anything. It¡¯s mortifying. My lower half is damp, so maybe an hour has passed at the most. Maybe?


    Seeing me stir, the armored being turns its head to me. It didn¡¯t say any words. Instead, it stood up and pushed open the door with a creak, allowing the light to flood in. Moving into the illuminate corridor, the person turned back to me with a bit of a rigid movement, then motioned for me to follow. I¡¯m distrustful, but there¡¯s no other choice. The person looks strong, so I should rely on them, right? They were with me while I was unconscious, so they don¡¯t seem to have any maliciousness to them. Was it another adventurer who had been subjected to the same trap as her?


    There was a rumor of a dungeon clearing group which entered but never left at some point. Was this person a survivor? With wobbly legs, I stood up and followed the man. Why man, you say? His height is above the typical woman, and the bulky armor looks too heavy and bulky for the thin frame of a woman. With a bit of a gulp, I leave the room so see the corridor. Looking both ways, it looked like she was in a maze. There were luminescent orbs on the walls at set intervals which made it strangely convenient to see. Not that I was complaining. Nothing worse than maze in the dark.


    After several minutes of wandering around silently, I followed the black armored knight who seemed to know where he was going. Tensions were high, but that wasn¡¯t why I wasn¡¯t speaking. Somehow, and I don¡¯t know how or why, but the entire maze was under a silence spell. It makes it difficult as I can¡¯t tell if there was a monster behind me, but we¡¯ve yet to encounter any. Did this man clear it all out previously? Who knows. I just want to leave.


    When we finally came to a stop, it was outside another room at the exit of the maze. There were bones everywhere. Just what floor had I fallen down to if there were undead around?! None of this was reported to the Guild! And more so, since when did a dungeon have such a variety of monsters?! I suppose that was why it had such a high rank.


    Pointing to a path, the knight directed me to a side path and walked through the bones with a broadsword sheathed on his back. As we went down the path, the light seemed to dim, and then there were pillars glowing with a unique hue. A safe room! Safety! But¡­ there was a problem. It must be why the Knight had me follow him. There was a monster standing in the way, probably something like a guardian to the safe zone. Even as the average sized humanoid skeleton drew its sword, no sound was heard.


    The skeleton didn¡¯t seem that strong, but appearances were always deceiving. Right on queue as I thought that, the exposed bones of the skeleton turned black, and the blade it held became jagged like a mess. It looked like it would be painful to be hit by it as it would probably carve out your insides as it hits you. But to top it off, it began to materialize a pure white armor. This was bad. Taking up a stance with my two daggers, I prepared to fight. The knight beside me slowly walked forward with its broadsword in hand. Seeing the two approach each other, it was like light and dark.


    I could understand why it would be best to approach slowly. I began circling to find a suitable position as the black knight swung its blade, colliding with the white knight¡¯s blade. They were even in power, their blades locked together as they began trying to push the other off balance. No wonder the black night needed help. They were even in strength, so it must have ended in a stalemate many times previously.


    Seeing a chance, I dashed forward and stabbed my daggers into the gap at the neck of the plated armor. My damage was negligible, probably indicating I was vastly inferior to my target. Holding back the urge to once again piss myself as fear clouded my judgement and face, I saw the head of the helmet-covered skeleton turn towards me. In that moment of intense pressure, I backed off just in time as the black knight pushed the white knight and followed up with a powerful swing of its blade down on the head of the white knight.


    I could see the white helmet crack and instantly I saw hope. The hope to win and survive. The black knight¡¯s level must be really high to damage such powerful looking armor that may have been enchanted. Dungeon monsters were unique in that they had levels instead of ranks, probably to denote a better understanding of hierarchy or ranking between other monsters instead of broad terms like ranks that adventurers use. Therefore, adventurers assigned ranks to a range of levels. The one she was fighting now was classified as S Rank, no doubt. The black knight was probably the same. As for me? I wasn¡¯t so sure she could fall under the rank of S anymore. My entire S Rank Party fell victim to tactics unseen of before. They were arrogant in their approach and lost their lives for it. I¡¯m barely alive.


    With the balance tipped, I watched the black knight begin to push back and overpower the white knight until unceremoniously, it was shoved against a wall and it collapsed. There was no more movement from it. It was over. I could reach a safe zone. I could possibly live and get out. As the black knight nodded to me, a smile came across my face as I turned to run to the safe zone. Safety!


    ¡­


    Pain.


    I can feel a searing hot pain in my abdomen. Why? The safe zone is a few steps in front of me. Looking down, I see my blood drenched on the blade piercing through my body. My whole body tense, I slowly turn my head around. My body no longer responds to my wishes properly. What I see in my somewhat blurry vision from tears, is a black helmet next to me. A gauntleted hand reaches up and takes off that helmet. Underneath¡­


    It was a white skeleton head.


    From its eyeholes which seemed like a void, a brief red light shined as I heard a voice in my head.


    You fail. Now¡­ your soul will be my sustenance¡­


    With that, I felt my body grow cold, and an unbearable pain as what I assume to be my life essence being drained from me.


    Why¡­?


    Who¡­ said that?


    Why did I fail¡­?


    <hr />


    Authors Note | You thought I was going to make a female protagonist? HAH! This is just the beginning.


    Later in the story, I¡¯ll have an arc dedicated to adventurers exploring as many floors as they can, going by every 5 floors so you, the readers, can understand how varied this possibly stupidly OPed dungeon is.


    I intended to make this longer, but because I stopped half way and left it for a long time, inconsistencies showed up so I cut it short so I can start fresh on the next chapter. NO IDEA when I will do the rest as I¡¯m using this as a distraction from my assignments >_>


    <hr />