Somewhere on top of a mountain in the dead of night…

A magic circle began to grow incredibly quickly on the ground, increasing in size until it reached a diameter of nearly 12 feet (3.66 meters). The ground seemed to turn to mud as a hand reached out from within. In a few seconds, a naked human man had pulled himself out of the ground. As the light from the magic circle illuminated him, it was apparent that he had a normal appearance, with black hair arranged into a simple ponytail which fell halfway down his back and a tall, muscular body. He immediately stepped out of the way as another hand reached out, pulling another human out of the ground. This human was incredibly muscular, emitting a savage aura. His auburn hair was a bed of messy curls, and he was incredibly hairy on the arms and legs. He also had a mustache and beard which covered his lips. Stepping out of the way, the two men turned to gaze at the magic circle, their gleaming crimson eyes flashing as a snout poked through, followed by stunning red fur…

Within half an hour, the two men stood surrounded by dozens of wolf monsters. The tall man turned to his stout ally.

“Do you feel his order, Uruga?”

The stout man grabbed one of his arms and stretched, while replying.

“Yes, Maxin, I too feel the Lord’s order,” His red eyes flickered with an eerie light as his pupils constricted. “The HUNT is on…”

Following that, the two howled towards the sky, causing the wolves around them to erupt in a cacophony of howls and snarls. The sound echoed throughout the mountaintop before the group of wolves began to move as one, flashing through the trees as they tore apart every living thing in their way. Maxin and Uruga led the charge, their glowing red eyes locked in on the direction of the dungeon their god had ordered them to destroy.

Dylan stared down at the list of new skills he had while he awaited the arrival of his inhabitants.

[Dungeon Communication] (New): Allows the Dungeon to communicate with its inhabitants which possess more than a certain degree of intelligence without forcing them to do something.

Dylan understood that this had to be the skill which allowed him to speak to Kuraura and Grotho. Although he didn’t see any point in a normal Dungeon having this skill other than for possible strategy building. Regardless of its usability for other Dungeons, Dylan was grateful for the skill. He had been surprisingly lonely, and the fact that he could talk to his monsters means he could eventually focus on making monsters he could easily talk to. Next up on the list…

[Absorb Objects] (New): Allows the Dungeon to absorb any type of object and analyze it, allowing the Dungeon to reproduce the item with a mana cost. This includes anything which doesn’t appear in the natural world. Items which hold a certain amount of mana or are of a certain rarity will need to be absorbed multiple times before they can be created within the Dungeon.

Hmmmm… Dylan looked at the club which Grotho was carrying after reading the description. He had attempted to absorb it several times before, but it hadn’t been absorbed. Maybe it would work after this new skill, but Dylan had other matters to worry about other than weapons.

[Forceful Evolution] (Upgraded): Allows a dungeon to control the evolution of its monsters and animals using the mana they have accumulated within their bodies. If an organism does not have the required mana to facilitate its evolution, or the dungeon wants to evolve an organism past its boundaries, the dungeon would need to supply the mana. The evolution is only limited to the amount of mana available for evolution, and the creativity and will of the dungeon during the evolution process. A creature can be imbued with items or ores which the dungeon has already absorbed. Magic cores can be imbued within organisms to allow them to use magic. The parts and organs of organisms can be combined together to facilitate further evolution.

Dylan was satisfied with this upgrade. Without a doubt, this was one of the most useful skills he had. If he could have monsters capable of using magic, he could achieve the same power as the goblin shaman, and even more later.

[Mana Healing] (New): Allows the Dungeon to use mana to heal a target, restoring their body to a healthy state. This can even restore limbs, granted enough mana is used. A dying organism cannot be saved by this skill.

Dylan immediately cast [Mana Healing] on Grotho, who he knew had a horrible injury. His mana had begun to steadily refill during this time due to his passive skills, and he needed to bring Grotho to maximum fighting strength. A look of shock filled Grotho’s face as he felt the cool waves of mana batter him, and his arm began to regrow from the shoulder. Within a few seconds, his right arm had regrown, a fresh layer of skin displaying a contrast against the rest of his dirty body. Grotho threw himself to the ground, thanking his liege in gratitude. Dylan tuned out Grotho’s thankful cries as he looked through the next skills.

[Corruption] (New): Allows a Dungeon to extend its influence into places which already exist, starting from its entrance. The existing spaces a Dungeon can takeover must be adjacent to the Dungeon’s influence. Corrupted spaces operate just like the Dungeon’s interior.

[Dungeon Avatar] (New): Allows a Dungeon to create a body which it can possess. The body must be made from the base of an organism the Dungeon can summon, and can be evolved through [Forceful Evolution]. The avatar can be given its own species, and in the event that the Dungeon chooses to discard the choice of avatar, it must be named and turned into a Guardian.

These last two…Aren’t they fairly useful? Dylan pondered to himself as he read the descriptions a second time. Corruptions could allow him to get mana and new summons faster, while avatar would allow him to create a body he could actually fight with. He would need to visit these two later, but now he needed to look at the [Skills] he could imbue his monster with. He had acquired quite a few skills through the goblin assault, and he needed to pick out the best ones for upcoming evolutions.

First up, the skills he received from the wolves.

[Teamwork] (New): Allows better communication and coordination between members of the same species.

[Leadership] (New): Allows the user of the skill to maintain better control over a group by increasing their commanding presence.

[Summon]: Wolf

These skills were useful for a group battle, and Dylan wanted to implement them with the goblins soon. Maybe when he evolved the goblins, he could imbue them with the [Teamwork] skill at the minimum. Next up, he looked at all of the skills he received from the goblins, with the exception of the ones he already saw([Hone In], [Club Proficiency], and [Rage])

[Stepping into the Battlefield] (Passive)(New): Boosts the power and fearlessness of all allies when this user enters the battlefield, yet also makes them more aggressive and reckless. If the user of the skill dies or suffers an injury leaving them incapacitated, all allies will become demoralized instead.

[Danger Sense] (Passive)(New): Allows the user to detect dangers to themselves in the form of pressure. Only allows the user to detect danger coming from a hostile enemy, not their surroundings.

[Twin Strikes] (New): A draining skill which can be used on a one-handed melee weapon, allowing the user to attack in two different directions simultaneously with a powerful attack. Attacking the same spot twice is not possible, and overuse of the skill can result in damage to the limb used.

[Whirlwind Strikes] (New): A skill which causes the user to rotate incredibly quickly while throwing out powerful blows with disregard for friend or foe. This skill is taxing on the user’s body, overuse of the skill can damage the user’s entire body.

[Skin Clench] (New): Activating this skill causes the skin around wounds to clench together immediately, preventing more blood from escaping from larger wounds. Also facilitates the clotting of blood flowing out of the clenched wound. The skin in other places of the body may tear when using the skill.

[Summon]: Goblin War Chief (E+)

[Spirit Magic Affinity] (New): Allows the user to use spirit magic up to their capabilities. The magic is limited by the user’s mana and intelligence.

[Spirit Summon] (New): Allows the user to summon spirits from the surroundings by feeding them mana. Spirits will be active for a short period of time before powering down, and strange phenomena may take place when they are activated.

[Spirit Control] (New): Allows the user to forcefully control or contract with a spirit that is active. Forcibly controlling a spirit consumes more mana than forming a contract with the spirit, though contracts require cooperation on both parts and following of the terms.

[Spirit Language] (New): Allows the user to communicate with activated spirits easily.

[Summon]: Goblin Shaman (E)

[Summon]: Dirt Golem (D)

[Summon]: Goblin Berserker (E)

[Summon]: Goblin Scout (E-)

[Summon]: Goblin Tamer (E-)

Dylan ignored all of the skills he had already looked through, such as the [Summon]: Goblin Warrior skill or the [Hone In] skill. It was simply redundant and he needed to manage his time well whilst waiting for the arrival of his monsters. Checking through his list, he confirmed that those were the new skills he had acquired since his last reading. He saw a lot of value in the Goblin War Chief’s skills, and was also curious about the goblin shaman’s spirit-based skills.

That might explain why the intruders disappeared after the shaman’s death…Dylan reasoned. The goblin shaman had been worth four intruders essentially, as he had a staff with 3 intruders inside of it somehow. He used one intruder to make the golem, and the other two disappeared when he died, the final one dying after the golem itself was killed. Those ‘intruders’ were spirits which the shaman summoned, probably. Dylan had no way to find out his theory other than to summon a goblin shaman, who immediately prostrated before him. Grotho visibly tensed when he saw the shaman, who wore a robe poorly stitched together out of animal pelts. Despite the difference in clothes, the shaman still had the same frail, hunched frame which Gwenthy had, without the scars covering his face.

“My Lord,” The shaman’s face contorted as he prostrated, and a few tears dripped out of his eyes. “What is it that you wish this lowly servant to do?”

“Summon a spirit,” Dylan immediately answered. “Then explain to me how your skills work.”

The shaman bowed his head further before standing straight and chanting the skill, eyes closed in concentration. As Dylan, Kuraura and Grotho watched, a strange yellowish light seemed to spark into existence before forming into a solid round orb of light. The shaman opened his eyes before kneeling to Dylan once again.

“My Lord, this is a spirit.”

Maxin and Uruga eyed the village from a distance. Their monster instincts told them to slaughter this village, and they were more than happy to do so. They had traveled for no longer than an hour under the moonlight, and had just recently reached the bottom of the mountain after following their orders from god, and were desperate to hunt something. Luckily for them, this village was right on the path they needed to follow to reach the Dungeon they needed to kill.

Maxin turned to Uruga, eyes narrowed into slits as he smirked.

“Shall we partake in this buffet?”