Ding!

Congratulations, you have subordinated Grotho of the [Goblin War Chief] species.

You can now [Summon]: Goblin War Chief (E+)

Now that’s what I’m talking about! Dylan cried out happily in his mind as he finally finished subordinating the goblin chief, now known as Grotho. He skipped the message from the voice of the world proclaiming his new skills as he thought to himself. With this, I have two (E+) rank species in my dungeon, the Goblin War Chief, and the Hard-Shell Centipede! Dylan smiled as he gave a [Dungeon Order] to the ants, which had successfully taken apart the golem after a while of continuous work, revealing a strange glowing orb the size of a fist amongst the body of dirt and stone. Under his commands, one of the giant bats he had summoned swooped down from the ceiling, using its momentum and claws to crash into the orb, which shattered into bits from the impact. The bat swelled with magical energy after killing the golem, and Dylan gained the ability to summon the so called [Dirt Golem], a surprising (D) ranked monster. Okay then, it appears that we skip (D-) rank and go straight to (D)! I can live with that! Dylan definitely wanted to devour the spoils of this war to his capacity, as he had gained ample skills and mana now. He could probably push to over Level 5 in one go if he used up the surplus of bodies he had gained over the course of the war.

Dylan was right about to check his new skills when he received a request from his newest member, Grotho.

“My liege, goblins still outside. Please let me bring them in, join us.” Grotho said as he kneeled on the ground, his remaining arm forming a tight fist which he placed on his chest as a sign of servitude, Dylan assumed. Hearing that, Dylan gave him a [Dungeon Order] to bring all of the goblins in for what he assumed to be subordination, a task which Grotho completed surprisingly quickly, brining in the remains of the goblin tribe to be subordinated. Dylan decided to subordinate all of the goblins regardless of their combat capabilities, as his monster numbers were diminished greatly due to the fighting. He needed all of the minions he could possibly get. After adding about 20 or so new goblins to the dungeon, Dylan settled his vision into his core to digest his earnings. He ordered most of the monsters away, with the exception of Kuraura, Grotho, the giant bat, and the hard-shell centipede. Of these four, Grotho and the centipede were not ready to evolve. However, Kuraura and the bat were ready. Dylan planned to evolve them immediately after his levelling spree. He hoped to make it past level 5, maybe even up to level 7 if it didn’t require too much mana. He ordered the four of them to guard him, a task which Kuraura and Grotho appeared to take up gladly. The stone centipede and bat simply continued acting naturally.

Dylan settled into his core before saying [Level Up] to himself, feeling his mana capacity draining away, Dylan let himself fall asleep…

WASHA!!! Dylan bolted ‘awake’ quickly as he woke up, alerting Kuraura and Grotho, who both hastily scrambled to bow before him. Enough of that…Just relax, no need to bow so much… Dylan tried to communicate with them, but ended up giving them a [Dungeon Order] not to bow instead, forcing them into a standing position awkwardly. Dylan sighed in his mind. I need a way to communicate with my creations and subordinates without giving the dungeon orders every time I try… Dylan mused as he went over the contents of this level up.

[Status]

Status:

Level: 4

Name: N/A (Dylan)

Species: Dungeon

Titles: N/A

Mana: 0/150

Skills: [Dungeon Overlay] [Dungeon Edit] [Dungeon Watching] [Dungeon Order] [Absorb Essence] [Absorb Bodies] [Dungeon Summons] [Forceful Evolution] [Natural Order] [Naming] [Subordination] [Dungeon Law]

Passive Skills: [Auto-Absorb Bodies] [Siphon Mana]

Attributes: N/A

Evolution Points: 3

Surprisingly, nothing had changed, other than his mana capacity doubling in size. It was fairly disappointing, but the higher mana capacity was a definite welcome. Dylan gave a [Dungeon Order] to Grotho and Kuraura immediately after checking.

Tell me how long I was inactive. Dylan did not know how to communicate without giving an order, so this was all he could do.

Hearing the order, Kuraura and Grotho glanced at each other, before Kuraura stepped forward.

“My lord could not slept longer than a quarter day…” He nervously said, wondering if the lord was upset. He shifted in place a little while rubbing his hands in anticipation, yet hearing no more orders, his shoulder slumped in relief. He quickly backed up to stand next to Grotho, and stiffened a bit as he heard an ‘order’ from his lord to continue guarding him, a task Kuraura was more than willing to do anyway. As he felt the power emanating from his lord dying down again, Kuraura and Grotho both sat down in companionable silence, content with guarding the dungeon’s core.

As Dylan sunk once again into unconsciousness, he thought a bit about how much he had changed. Just over a month ago, he was still alive, still a human. So much had changed since then. He didn’t even have a body anymore, unless you counted a rock buried in a wall to be a respectable body. He had none of his human desires or needs anymore. He didn’t breathe, eat, drink, or use the restroom. He couldn’t talk to anyone too, which made him feel incredibly weird. It felt like his human side and dungeon side were pulling at each other. With every intruder which had entered his dungeon, feelings of caution, danger, and curiosity would well up within his human side, while his dungeon instincts urged him to devour the intruder immediately. Sighing, Dylan finally lost consciousness.

As Dylan tumbled into the deep, dark abyss of the dreamworld, a few images flashed through his mind. These images were of humans…No, people he once knew. Dylan had a feeling that these people used to be important to him when he was a human, yet he didn’t really care as of now. Following that, images of the environment that Dylan was used to flowed in, of his forest cave, of each of his monsters in splendid detail. Images of animals, plants and monster concepts from Dylan’s previous life immediately followed, and Dylan tried to grasp that knowledge. Knowing more about plants and animals would benefit him greatly, and even if mythical creatures didn’t exist in Dylan’s previous world, they might exist in Thunnberg. The existence of goblins had been confirmed already. Things like dragons and unicorns probably existed too, right? In any case…Dylan ‘turned’ to face a glowing orb of light. What was this? What could it be? This is the classic level-up dream, right? Why was there so much place in the deep abyss called leveling up? Dylan also understood that the dream was unusual this time, as he had the capability to partially control his movements. The previous dreams always made him feel like he was being strapped onto a car and being driven around in whichever direction the car wanted to go. Now he was inside the car, and could at least politely ask the driver to stop at this particular oddity.

Dylan observed the glowing orb, then reached forward and 'grabbed' at it. As he 'grabbed it', he felt a small surge in power, and then he saw the dreamlike abyss beginning to fade away…

As Dylan came to, he turned his vision to his guards. The hard-shell centipede lay curled around the ground directly beneath his core, antennae twitching. The giant bat hung from the ceiling above the centipede. Kuraura and Grotho flanked the centipede, wielding a sharpened stone and a sturdy wooden club repectively. Reacting to his presence, Kuraura and Grotho looked up immediately before kneeling. Reluctantly, Dylan told them not to bow to him; it was embarrassing and frankly, quite unnecessary. Both Kuraura and Grotho nervously glanced at each other before reluctantly standing up.

“My liege,” Grotho took the initiative to speak. “Do you not like bowing to you? Only right for us to bow before a high being such as you…”

Dylan was immediately shocked by this, as normally the goblins would be forced into a standing position without any hesitation. He immediately questioned the goblins, trying his best not to give a [Dungeon Order].

“You can hear me?” Immediately following the question, Grotho and Kuraura stiffened as they nodded their heads. Dylan pondered to himself in contemplation before ‘talking’ again. “Well, please don’t bow before me like I’m some sort of god…I’m just a dungeon, after all…Also, don’t call me ‘Lord’. Just call me Dylan. That’s my name.”

“But Lord…Dylan! You are master!” Kuraura cut in. “It is my and Grotho’s duty to serve!”

…Tch Dylan clicked his tongue mentally as he heard their pleas. Despite being lonely for quite a while until now, he couldn’t help but be irritated when his first conversation in this world was with two freaks who kept trying to convince him he was a king or god of some sort. He was a Dungeon, and although they were his minions, shouldn’t they just call him boss or something? Sighing, Dylan decided to ignore them for now, and opened his status.

Status:

Level: 5

Name: N/A (Dylan)

Species: Dungeon

Titles: N/A

Mana: 0/250

Skills: [Dungeon Overlay] [Dungeon Edit] [Dungeon Watching] [Dungeon Order] [Dungeon Communication] [Absorb Essence] [Absorb Bodies] [Absorb Objects] [Dungeon Summons] [Forceful Evolution] [Natural Order] [Naming] [Subordination] [Dungeon Law] [Mana Healing] [Corruption] [Dungeon Avatar]

Passive Skills: [Auto-Absorb Bodies] [Siphon Mana]

Attributes: N/A

Evolution Points: 8

I got 5 dungeon points this time? Is it because I reached level 5? Then I might be able to get 10 when I hit level 10? Dylan thought to himself as he analyzed the new information.

Ding!

Congratulations, you have reached Level 5, passing the infancy stage of a Dungeon’s life! You have been granted the [Corruption] skill as a result! As you continue to grow as a dungeon, more skills will be made available to you, we hope you continue to grow and thrive within Thunnberg!

As Dylan glimpsed over the message and closed it, he received another one immediately. The screen which showed up this time was black like the darkest night, twisting and curling around itself in a fashion similar to a smokescreen. Glowing words of white began to seep out of the darkness, emitting a pure and holy energy contradicting the chaotic darkness whirling around it.

Ding!

As one of the people the Voice of The World decided to save, you have survived past infanthood and transitioned quite well. As one of my own, I would love to see you grow and thrive. However, you must prove yourself worthy of my investment. I will give you an opportunity…You cannot reject this challenge, as it should be a simple task for a Dungeon of your caliber. If you survive this challenge, you’ll grow a lot faster, and if you don’t…well, that’s why I said “If you survive this challenge” in the first place, right? I wish you luck.

The black screen disappeared only to be replaced immediately by another blinding white screen indicating the Voice of the World.

Ding!

The God of Dungeons, Gehennia, has noticed you! The challenge they have issued will be listed below:

Challenge: Defeat or Survive Encounter! The goal of this challenge is to destroy all incoming enemies, or survive for an allotted time without having your core destroyed!

Enemies:

‘Maxin’ the Werewolf Mage (C+)

‘Uruga’ the Werewolf Warrior (C )

2x Fire Ball Wolf (C )

10x Ember Wolf (D)

10x Wind Wolf (D)

10x Iron Spine Wolf (D)

10x Dire Wolf (D-)

20x Wolf

OR

Survive for One(1) day after the enemies entered the Dungeon!

Please Note! You will not obtain the ability to summon anything you don’t kill! Also, regardless of whether or not you kill the Werewolf Mage or Werewolf Warrior, you will not acquire the ability to summon them! Lastly, the more floors you have within the Dungeon at the time of entry, the more days the enemies have to conquer the Dungeon!

Rewards:

[Summon]: Psychoceros (C+) (Rare)

[Summon]: Rampant Lesser Raptor (C ) (Rare)

[Summon]: Long-Necked Lesser Drake (C )(Rare)

One(1) Random animal [Summon] of a species which would be unavailable to you now

[Catching Gehennia’s Attention] (Skill)

Enemies arrive in: One(1) Week

As the screen faded away, Dylan blanked out as fear began to grip his body. Kuraura and Grotho immediately noticed the change and cried out, yet Dylan didn’t hear them. Thoughts began to flash through his head as he considered all of his possible solutions. So far, he knew only a few things; he needed lots of monsters, enough to stall for a day. There was no way he would be able to kill all of his opponents. He needed to stall for one day with one floor if he wanted the highest chance of survival…

Dylan sighed as his [Dungeon Watching] roamed his dungeon, analyzing all of his available monsters.

Come to me NOW. He called out to every monster and animal who was ready to evolve in preparation for the challenge.