Tancred was a big hit in the Hill. His easygoing personality immediately won everyone's hearts. We dug a cave for him near the arena pit and he is helping the symians with the reclamation of the land. That ax of him can cut trees like they were twigs. Maybe because for him they are as if they were. Maybe I should enchant that ax. Later.

That was two days ago. We are all gathered around the arena that has become a big fire pit. Humanization wore off today, so I'm in my own shoes. This place is getting cramped, the average height of the inhabitants almost doubled overnight. I should pick a smaller evolution now.

"You eat too much, Tancred!" It is the sixth whole boar he eats tonight. I'm going to braid his mane and make him use striped pants that go up to the chest.

"C'mon, Bro. I cleared almost all the trees for the new wall. I'm pulling my own weight here! And I am in my growing phase. I can't bear to be smaller than Bro!"

"Maybe you are working in the wrong industry. I'm making you produce food instead of just eating!"

"Hunting?" Oi, don't go for the seventh boar! And I am out of roc meat.

"No. Spawning. I'm making you a dungeon master. What do you say? Make a labyrinth, spawn some monsters and bang! We got food."

Charmma and Downna come to greet me. Their bellies are already huge. I think goblin pregnancy is really fast. I have to watch them closely.

"I heard talks of a dungeon expedition from the demon tamers, but isn't that just a legend?"

That is interesting. I would like any insider info from the demons I can get. "Did they say where this dungeon was?"

He points at the Dragonspines that is illuminated by moonlight. "Far to the north."

"That should be Beelzebub's. We've been there and probably squashed that expedition."

Caramel flies around the pit with a throng of bees behind her. Even at night, they are collecting honey and pollen. It is Spring, I don't blame them. And I believe there are some flowers that only bloom at night.

After the buzzing of bees becomes distant, Tancred resumes the talk, "That dungeon of yours, where would it be?"

"The exact location is not important, we can teleport there. That is right, we haven't given you a card. Come, let's talk to Shraaizar."

The naga is on the other side of the fire pit. She is talking to Kochurearc and the shadow goblins.

"Hey, Shraaizar can I ask you a favor?"

"Sssure, Grendel. I'm always at your ssservice!"

"Could you make sure Tancred has a card issued tomorrow. And please let me know if you are running out of cards, I can enchant more. I think I can do it with F-rank pemadras, so set some requests for collection." I think I can do it with just the auto enchant and a huge dose of MP, but F-rank pemadras are like peebles right now. And it speeds up the process.

"Yess, with pleasure!"

Mittens approaches me, "Got any, tic, tasty knights, Grendel?"

"Stop that. Helen forbade me from giving you humans to eat." Tancred tries to sneak away. "Well, before you get your eighth boar, Mr. Minotaur, come with me. {Teleport}!"

We go to the safe room of the fifth floor of the Battle Spring.

"Is this the dungeon? I can feel the thick magic power in this place. What kind of monsters are there for us to fight?"

"An ice slime, earth frog and the boss is a really big and bad wolf."

Tancred rubs his hands and draws the humongous battle ax that was strung across his back.

"Right! Let's go for exercise, Bro! It is the best thing to give you an appetite!"

"Lead on, but don't hit the wolf boss. I want to try taming him."

"You a tamer, bro?"

"I didn't tell you, did I? I can have jobs just like the humans, even though I am not a hybrid. One of them is Monster Tamer."

Tancred takes a step backward. "And do you have any tame monsters? Where do you keep them?" He is looking at me with feral eyes like I am some kind of monster that enslaves monsters. That is wrong. I only enslave demons and people.

"But you met them! Those two pregnant goblin ladies, Shraaizar, Kochurearc, and the shadow goblins. The Symians that were cutting timber with you were also my tame monsters, but they evolve into an ultra-rare hybrid race."

"You gotta be kidding me, bro! Tamers enslave monsters! They are evil and wicked!"

"Tancred, did those monsters you met look sad? I know that all the demon tamers you met were a piece of crap that looks at monsters only as toys, but here we do things differently. It is a partnership. Made out of mutual trust. I don't need to entangle any monster to tame them. I just ask and make the contract with a handshake. I could force my hand, but then it would only bring resentment."

"Come, let's get that wolf. If he wants to be tamed he will, if he wants to fight we fight. It is up to him. Party Invite: Tancred."

Tancred has joined your party!

I set my title to dungeon master. Double Exp buffs are always welcome. I will also equip my bronze mace.

"We are going all out. Don't worry about dodging or blocking any attacks. Just hack away. {Heroism}! {Defensive Coating}! Proxy set: Tancred!"

"Woohoo! Bro, what kind of mojo is that! I am like bursting with POWAAAAAA!" Tancred can sell manly deodorant. And there he goes!

We run through the halls and corridors of the dungeon, hacking and smashing anything in our path. It is so much fun. It is like a sports meet scavenger hunt across the dungeon. After half an hour we burned 75% of our stamina and find ourselves panting before the boss room door.

"Tomorrow's dinner is frog for you!"

"Eww. Aren't these guys poisonous?"

"It is good training for you, Tancred! I was drinking wyvern venom straight from the sac to train poison resistance! But no, those frogs are not poisonous."

"Stop joking. There is no way that is true!"

"Dude, hold my keg of ale! If I win you are going to tank the wolf for as long as it takes to tame him."

"What is that supposed to mean? You are not even drinking!"

Out of the item box, I get a wyvern tail. With a two-handed sword, I cut off the venom sac. "Here is the thing. Want a sip?"

"No!"

"Then down the trap, it goes!" I just swallow the sac without bursting it.

As a jest, I begin to cough and hit my stomach. Stumbling, I cast an illusion to make green and dark veins appear on my body.

"Bro, bro! I didn't mean it! I was joking bro! Don't die on me!"

The venom is doing serious damage. I feel like my innards are half-liquefied. But for someone that recovers 20% of the Max HP per minute, it is manageable.

A few minutes later and I am just as perky as always. "Wow. That shit really packs a punch. I think I should ferment that venom. The trick is finding a ferment that can survive."

"That was a fake! A fake!"

"Nah. It was the real deal. But I have poison resistance level ten and I'm a troll. I can regrow an arm in minutes. I was even beheaded once."

"Leave the ax behind. You are going to dance the tango with the wolf."

We go inside and there we find the great-great-grandfather of the red streak. A pitch black fifteen feet long wolf with orange streaks running in his pelt. C-rank high tier. These orange streaks catch on fire and I kick Tancred forward.

"You are forbidden to spill a drop of his blood. Sacrifice Aura, set Proxy: Tancred. Monster Taming!"

It took me two minutes.

Success. Specimen of [4] Eclipse Wolf tamed.

"You shall be named Skoll. The wolf that devours the sun."

"It is a worthy name, master. I, born of your mana shall serve you for all my life." That is right. Dungeon monsters recognize the dungeon master.

Tancred +2 levels (5-Racial 45 > 47). Beowulf +3 +5 levels (2-App. Acolyte 52 > 54, 3-Acolyte 48 > 53). +42 SP

"What was that? The wolf bit me but I couldn't barely feel anything!"

"Do you know that 'Transfer Link' the demon tamers used? I have the opposite. I can draw the damage from my party members to myself. And if I set myself as the proxy for one individual, I can take ninety-five percent of all the damage."

"I think I'll take that dungeon master gig. I can teleport in and out of the dungeon whenever I want, right?"

"Yes, I'll make it so. You should spend time there to charge the core. It is okay if you spend the nights there. You can make the core room your house. But before we go to make the dungeon, I'd like to request something of you."

"Anything, bro."

"It seems that a monster that was once tamed, cannot be tamed again. I'd like to test it with you."

"You want to tame me?"

"We tried earlier with a wyvern that we captured from the demon soldiers, and we couldn't revert the taming. We had to kill her in the end. But I thought that maybe with a willing subject, it could be different. Anyway, I won't give you orders or anything."

"I guess there is no harm in trying. I'd still be brainwashed if it weren't for you."

"Those demons were coming here to attack us. It was inevitable."

"It is alright, bro! I'm going to trust you on this one. Shoot!"

"Monster Taming!"

Invalid target. Monster already marked by another tamer.

"Impossible. Unless the tamer that tamed you... Shit! Skoll, can I try something?"

"Anything, master. My life is yours as I told before."

"Dismiss taming: Skoll."

Skoll is no longer bound by the monster taming skill.

"Monster Taming!"

Success. Eclipse Wolf "Skoll" tamed.

"It works! Let me test one thing. Job Change: Monster Wrangler!"

Failed. Missing requirements: Tame five monsters of rank C or higher (3/5). Have no currently tame monster (15/0).

"Awesome. Tancred, Skoll, we are getting out of here. {Dungeon Exit}!"

We arrive at the exit of the Spring, the old slime area. There is only the spring that creates the river, but there is no river. The water level rose due to the thawing of the mountains, and the willow meadow is now the willow marshlands. And any slime that spawns here is teleported down into the floors below now. This is the floor zero of the dungeon, we are still 'inside' it. But the area is now deserted.

"Tancred, tomorrow we are going to set you as the dungeon master of the new dungeon. It will be used to train the humans of my town But I will make it so a portion of any Exp gained is sent to you. I will also tame every single monster living in this settlement so they can't be enslaved by the demons."

"Go for it, bro! Knowing I'll never again be a slave to anyone really gets me pumped. We should go back and break some demon skulls sometimes too."

I cast reduce weight on both of us and carry Tancred and Skoll to the foot of the hills with my dragon wings.

"I might be forced to do that. Until tomorrow, my brother!"

Tancred and I do a colossal fistbump, "G'nite, bro!"