With all the evolving monsters minus Mittens awake, we are ready for the execution of the prisoners. Except for the princess, the other six demons will be executed. Their crimes are attempted regicide and several others I could make up on the spot. Press faux charges! Like a boss. I've reinstated their levels and bound them in stone blocks. One quick blow to the nape with the horn spear.

The second reason is to feed their Exp into the recently evolved monsters. Especially the Symian villagers. I've made a party with Helen and the six of them. I am leveling the acolyte job and Helen finally will walk the path of the druid. All the recently evolved tame monsters are also present.

The execution was solemn and painless. They were given a sleeping medicine.

I didn't like to kill them defenselessly, but there is no hope for this bunch. They came at me. I tried to mentally shirk it into 'a statesman business' sort of feeling but no good.

But now I realize that we need a steady supply of Exp. Just relying on whatever can be hunted in the wild is not steady. And we can't over-hunt either. But we have the raw materials to work with. The slime pit and the Earthpulse skill. I didn't pay attention, but the skill description states that it increases monster spawn rates. The slime pit is a natural spawning point for slimes. If we put two and two together, we get a fountain of slimes. And the geyser thing only worsened things. If the monsters don't go there to clean up, some slimes are pushed to the boundary of the willows. While they die in contact with the poison sap, they still damage the trees. Being no trolls, the willows will eventually die and make way for more room for the slimes. The water that comes out of the geyser spring is acidic and undrinkable.

"And this is my plan. I am going to create a fountain of slimes, or a 'Battle Spring' as I will name it. We are circling the perimeter of the slime pit with willow amber so the slimes won't spread past the pit's boundaries, and I am using my shamanic skill to increase the slime spawn rates. This way the community will have a way to earn Exp past the initial levels."

Marcy listens quiet to what I proposed. "If we had such a facility in a human town... To be able to farm Exp this easily."

"Slimes are not easy. And I expect stronger slimes to spawn."

She chuckles, "Oh, yeah, there was that one you called what... black facehugger!"

"Grendel really almossst died on that one, Marsssy."

Helen has a smile like a kid going to an amusement park, "I think that having something like our own mini-dungeon will be awesome! I am one that will use it extensively!" I think she wants to power level her bees. Caramel is about to hatch any time.

Mini-dungeon, right? I think I could do something about it. If the earthpulse can manipulate spawn rates and combining it with other skills of mine...

"Good. Zahariel, Marcy is always busy with the bootleg guild management, Shraaizar is also working at the guild, Kochurearc with the security, and Helen with her brood. Could I ask you to oversee the construction of the slime containment area?"

"Of course! You can count on me. What about you?"

"The earthpulse skill is good but it is temporary. I will research a permanent solution."

I'm going to try and craft a dungeon crystal core. Just like the guild crystal, but it will allow one to manage and build a dungeon. And it means paying a visit to our 'friend' Beelzebub's place.

I jump to Barnsley directly. Setting the permanent anchor at this forgotten cellar was the right thing to do. Now to Colchester and then to the bee level. I'll just sneak to the bottom of the hive, where seldom the bees come. Maybe get some larva pods for Helen as a souvenir.

Now... "{Reverse Engineer}!" I'll analyze the very structure of this dungeon. Damn, this thing is deep. Forget fifty-something levels. I'm seeing over three hundred and there's still no end to it. Four hundred. Five hundred. The mana concentration is enough to choke any human. Six hundred. It is sluggish to move deeper. Six hundred fifty. These levels are devoid of life. Only raw magic power. Six hundred sixty. I can't go further, but i was almost there.

"Who are you that dare gaze upon me?" What is this voice? Telepathy? The pressure. If the owner of this voice told me he is a god i'd believe right on the spot. And then run a few worlds away.

"are you beelzebub?"

"yes! I am the greatest beelzebub. Lord of the flies."

"did you just wake up?"

"no. I never sleep. For seventy five hundred years i lingered in this abyss. Guarding the master's body for his return."

Fuck. Lucifer's corpse is in the six-hundredth-sixty-sixth floor of this dungeon. "and did he return?"

"i... Do not know. Are you the master? I can feel a sliver his power in you." Oh, shit. It makes sense now.

That disembodied head. The faceless brat. The one that 'granted me' his 'masterpiece' the 'great LCM skill'. THAT FUCKING BASTARD IS LUCIFER.

"do you think i am the master, or just someone that has a sliver of his power?"

"i know you are not. You do not have the countenance of the master. You are... Something else touched by master."

"do you think demons and humans could live together in peace? Without fighting?"

"i do not even remember the purpose of fighting."

"how were demons created?"

"master used his power and changed us. I was the fourth of the eighty-one. After my change, i became ENVY. The second of the seven. But he changed many of us."

"how do you know i am not the master?"

"he would never doubt himself. He is PRIDE. First of the seven, first of the nine. The first in everything. He is never wrong."

"did you make this dungeon? The monsters?"

"it came to be from the power leaking from me. They spawned from my magic, from my subordinates, without my consent."

"do you mind if we kill them?"

"no. The magic usurped by them returns to me."

"do you mind if i return here?"

"it is... Rather refreshing having someone to talk to. As fellow creations of the master, i welcome you. But wait. You have something i desire. Your freedom."

"you have something i desire! Master's body. Give it to me."

"no. You are right. My mission comes first. Begone for now brother." Two can play this game. And Beelzebub is senile. Good enough. From the pressure conveyed by his telepathy, there is no chance in hell I'm going to defeat one of the seven sins with my current stats.

"Yes, brother. I will go." And fast. Even though Beelzebub has degenerated during his long confinement and is no longer properly reasoning I don't want to linger around. Teleport out.

And now back to my workshop. I really got more than I bargained for. But if I combined what I learned by analysing the Beelzebub's dungeon and the guild crystals, I can make a dungeon crystal. I spent the whole day just drawing the schematics that will be later etched for the crystal's magical circles.

"Grendel, we finished painting the border with the death willow sap." Zahariel barges into my workshop. "Whoa! What the heck are these diagrams?" He stares at the pile of parchments on my desk. I must tell you, not having paper is terrible. Sometimes the pen skids or skips on the fibers.

"Schematics for the newest magic item I am going to make. It will turn the slime pit into a proper dungeon. Our adventurers will be able to dive into the dungeon and also teleport back."

"But to enchant this many diagrams you will need a humongous amount of MP... Why are you looking at me?"

"Guess who is going to return to their capped wizard job to help me enchant? I might have to call Helen too. I believe this beast will cost over a hundred thousand MP."

"I don't have much of a choice, right? I'll help you. But you look like crap. Go to sleep."

"Yeah. It is enough for one day." Time to go to sleep.

I dislike this shaman body, but there is one thing wonderful about it. There are no pointy, sharp things protruding out of my body anymore. I can sleep with my dear life companions.

The next day I went to the workshop right after sunrise. I need to carve a new quartz crystal with these diagrams to be enchanted. Failure could mean a trip to the geode cavern. Time went by as I painstakingly cut the diagrams in the quartz block. This one will not be spherical, but a cube with almost two foot sides. The corners and edges are slanted, and the six main diagrams go in the faces.

Noon was already a forgotten memory when I met with Zahariel and we began enchanting. Between us, we have over 10,000 MP now. We can take on these large-scale projects now. I'll use an A-rank pemadra for the enchantment. Benorass' would be worth over 20,000 points if we had harvested it. I'll use Kudryss' for the core enchant. The poison nature of the mana in the pemadra will affect the dungeon and create more poisonous or venomous monsters, but it is in the middle of the Syrup Meadow. Poison resistance level 2 is a bare minimum to live here. A normal enchant could be finished in 10 minutes. We took over two hours between pouring MP and meditating.

Success.

Battle Spring Dungeon Core (S)

Indestructible. Immovable.

Creates a dungeon on the place it is deployed. Can be programmed to develop the dungeon up to the desired specifications and depth. Moves to the deepest floor automatically. Floors are connected by one flight of stairs except the deepest, called 'core room'.

Repairs damage to the dungeon structure. reduces damage dealt to dungeon structures by 95%. x100 durability of the first floor roof and core room walls, roof and floor.

Tithes magical energy from all the creatures inside the dungeon. Drains 5% of the maximum MP and ST amounts every time it hits the maximum.

Tithes 0.1% of all Exp earned by killing creatures spawned inside the dungeon. Tithes 100% of the Exp by killing creatures not spawned inside it. This Exp is stored in the core and may be used by the Dungeon Master as he sees fit.

Can create new dungeon features and expansions and spawn monsters using stored energy.

Increases or decreases the magic flow of the dungeon up to one level below magic poisoning for humans. Mana levels are weakest at the top floors and strongest at the bottom floors.

Dominates and controls monsters spawned inside the dungeon to disallow them moving to other floors or entering designated safe zones.

Disallows dominated monsters to get near or attack without provocation creatures within 20 feet of the stairs (safe zone) and on the first floor.

The slime pit is considered floor zero.

Deploys a bootleg guild field around the outside and in the safe zones. Creates a freshwater spring on each safe zone.

Teleports monsters up or down floors upon spawn depending on relative strength.

Allows bootleg guild cardholders to teleport to and from the outside to and from previously visited floors at the safe zones. First floor is always considered visited. Amount of MP/ST used depends on the depth of destination or origin, whichever is higher. Records deepest reached level on the card. MP/ST cost for teleportation is half used to move the user's party and half tithed to the core.

Absorbs and stores items and corpses left unattended in the dungeon floor for five minutes, except at the safe zones. Catalogs and ranks these items by value. Items can be removed from storage by the dungeon master.

Bestows one item from the storage when the strongest monster in a floor is killed based on proportional depth and strength of the slain monster.

All options above can be reconfigured by the Dungeon Master: Grendel.

Dungeon Master can always teleport anywhere in the dungeon. Core room is considered a permanent dimension anchor for the Dungeon Master. Core room cannot be reached from inside the dungeon. Automatically dispels dimension anchors set in the core room.

The core can only be moved on its own or if touched by the Dungeon Master. Soulbound to Grendel.

Within what I could do, I think I nailed all the dungeon functions. One thing I couldn't add was to remove trash left in the safe zones though.

But there won't be an opening or an entrance. The only way to access the dungeon is using a bootleg guild card to teleport to the first floor. In the case of an attack, citizens can retreat to the safe zones or the first floor and wait out the attackers.

All those functions cost thousands of MP to operate. But the crystal will absorb magical energy from the inhabitants and from the visitors. It also doubles as training for the MP and Stamina recovery skills.

Zahariel is reading the parchment with the dungeon crystal specs for the third time. "I wonder what will you do if you ever lay your hands on a true dragon's core..."

"I'd eat it on the spot."

"Oh, right. And what about the other wyvern's cores?"

"I'm dealing with them after I get the dungeon operational with five floors."

"Will it affect the slime pit?"

"The slime pit will be inside the dungeon's area of influence, but it will be the 'floor zero'. I will increase the spawn of slimes slightly, but any slime too strong will be teleported inside the dungeon upon spawn."

"Can we try it now?"

"Yeah, let's gather everyone."

We gather everyone. It is already night, but the rush to get this thing going is too much. Around the circle of still curing amber the monkeys are up the trees and there is a buzzing of monster voices. I lift the cube and the cheers erupt.

Behind us, Shraaizar and Zahariel are killing the remaining slimes on the pit. It is an endless endeavor as they spawn as fast as they are killed.

"This will be the cornerstone of our settlement's strength. WIth this there will be lots of prey for us to hunt, lots of materials and experience to be obtained. Use the dungeon wisely and grow!" I suck at speeches. I want to cringe every time I take the spotlight to speak.

Zahariel and I already charged the core with some energy. I pour all my MP and ST into it until the verge of exhaustion and then give the command.

"Dungeon Core, activate!" The core draws power from around it and some sparks fly into the crystal. It floats off of my hands and sinks into the ground as if the stone was water.

The ground rumbles as the core begins to shape the dungeon. I have sketched the first five levels. There will be a big 1,000 x 1,000 room as the entrance, where we will set up shops and some rest area. This room and the first fifty feet of corridor out of it will be safe zones. Then a dozen interconnecting rooms and the stairs. It won't be maze-like. It is meant for efficiency, not to challenge. I can change it later.

Title Dungeon Master [B] awarded.

Those that seize control of a dungeon.

Increases all stats by 10% inside a dungeon. Increases all Exp earned by 50% inside a dungeon.

And It is a title I can set in my basic info for double the benefits.