Wil couldn't be angry at the chime sound. This time.

"How did I level up, Belle?!" He was ecstatic.

She winked at him, and gestured out of the Core room to the rest of the Dungeon. "When you grow and define your Dungeon, you gain a small amount of experience, usually the gain is negligible. Since you're just starting out though, the experience cost to level up is tiny for now. Don't expect many more levels from just doing your job!"

I guess thats fair, if I could level up from hiding in the ground I would not be much of a Dungeon.

"Well how do I level up normally then?" Wil figured this should have been the first thing he was told, but what did he know? It's not like his Guide would forget something as important as levelling up, right?

God damnit.

Belle, sensing silent judgment, just scrunched her face up at his Core and replied, "You level up by absorbing the Mana from living beings that die in your Dungeon. You are always gaining a small amount of experience since absorbing Mana is a part of what a Core does naturally. However, if you waited to level up like that we would be here for the next few centuries before you made any meaningful progress." She looked directly at him, making sure he knew that she did not want to sit in a dark cave for the next hundred years.

"Yeah, that sounds pretty boring." She sighed in relief.

Belle continued, "The fastest way for you to level up is going to be when Adventurers come and test themselves against your Dungeon. Since we will still only have one floor when we open up to the rest of the world, the Adventuring Guild will be sending Novices to our Dungeon."

Wil, sensing another important piece of information he was unaware of, casually asked, "Novices?"

She winced as she realized she had forgotten this piece of information, "Umm...haha, yeah. Novices are the first rank of Adventurers, the Adventuring Guild puts them into six different categories. Novice, or the sons and daughters of the newest generation, they are the weakest of all the ranks. This is because it is fairly difficult to climb the ranks of the Adventuring Guild the farther up it you progress."

They are going to send weak-willed children to die in my Dungeon. Ha, and I'm the one with the Monsters. Wil thought to himself.

"The next rank are the Aspirants, there are more Aspirants than all of the ranks above them combined. The men and women in this rank have all been in a Dungeon, and come out the other side stronger for it. They are still far weaker than the ranks after them though. Explorers are the third rank, a much stronger version of Aspirants as they have multiple years of experience under their belt."

I bet I could still take them, Two-legs won't stand a chance against my Dungeon! Wil's Core brightened at the idea of all the Mana he would be getting.

Belle just smiled softly at him and continued, "After Explorers come the Veterans, these people all have a strong grasp on their Affinity, or have years of training in martial combat from their time in Dungeons. Or they have both. Don't underestimate the Two-legs ability to grasp at power Wil. All of the ranks will fight like it is their last when they are in your Dungeon, because to them it just may be. I'm pretty sure we won't see any Veterans in our Dungeon for a long time though."

He felt a little uncomfortable at the idea of the power difference between his Dungeon now and the higher rank Adventurers, but he did only have one room, and no Monsters.

"After Veterans come the Experts, these are the top of the food-chain when it comes to Adventurers, although there are very few in the world. Mostly just the leaders and Officers in the Adventuring Guild are Experts. They are the Sentient Races best defense against Monsters, aside from Heroes."

Heroes, bunch of arrogant children. He wasn't sure why he felt so strongly about Heroes, especially since he had never met one yet, but his instincts hadn't steered him wrong yet.

He spoke up, "That was only five, but you said there were six ranks? I'm going to guess that the last ones are the Heroes?" She just sighed and pat the top of his Core.

"Thats right, Sweety." He hummed in response.

"Heroes are, at least according to most Adventurers, a bunch of cheats." She smirked at this. "Heroes almost always skip most of the ranks of the Adventuring Guild, and get elevated to a status many in their of their colleagues feel they did not earn."

"While it is true that the Heroes have to complete their Life-long Quest, everybodies Quest is different. So, many people feel as though some of the Heroes just got a lucky break. Like it or not though, they are undoubtedly the strongest rank of the Adventuring Guild. Having the ability to use multiple Affinities elevates them far above the lower ranks. Some of the Heroes are the real deal, and were Experts before they completed their Quest. Others however, were little more than Aspirants before they ascended into the status of Hero."

"All Dungeons agree though Wil, if you had to pick which type of Hero to come to your Dungeon. You want the ones that used to be Experts. The ones who lucked into their power are almost always insufferably arrogant. Not all, but most." Belle was nodding to herself at the damnation of some of Belia's strongest beings.

She looked over at his Core and winked, it made him uncomfortable because he had no idea why she did it. Until, "All of that is really hard to remember though, so the Adventuring Guild just uses letters in order to classify the diferent ranks." There were letters the whole fucking time, why did I have to sit through all of that information then!

He kept his thoughts to himself though and asked in a tight voice, "What are the letters, Sweetheart?"

She winced at the poison in his voice, but kept smirking anyways, "Don't be like that, Sweety, if I didn't tell you now we both know you would have gotten upset at me later." Fair. "The letters, in order from lowest rank to highest go as follows; F, D, C, B, A, S."

"Well, that is a lot easier to remember." Belle nodded at this.

"Why no E?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"Why did they skip the letter E?"

"...They don't like how it sounds?" She was floundering, they both knew it.

She tried to compose herself, "How the hell would I know! No Dungeon has ever asked that before...Oh! Mom once said it was just because they liked giving Novices the F rank, apparently its a psychological thing." She remembered the 'official' reason F was used instead of E and tried to save face.

Wil mentally shrugged. Eh, maybe I can find out why when the Adventurers start coming to my Dungeon.

Belle looked like she just remembered a big secret. "Oh yeah! They also use those letter ranks for Dungeons too. The ranks are decided by a Sentient's level since they level up just as you do. They progress into the next levels by defeating powerful foes, or Dungeon Monsters, similar to how you level up by defeating them. Every ten levels they get, they move up a ranking in the Adventuring Guild. So, since you are level two, the Two-legs will refer to you as an F ranked Dungeon."

Now he understood why they used the letter F, it made him think he was a failure.

Monster Points - Gained at the creation of a new floor. Used as currency to purchase Monsters, cost of Monster varies depending on strength. Current Monster Point Count - 100

Wil was practically vibrating with excitement, this was what he had been waiting for since Mr.Blue shot him down from the sky and into his new cave.

Deer! Deer! Deer!

Belle, smiling at his obvious excitement, "As you create more Floors you can summon more and more powerful Monsters, but since this is the first Floor, you're going to be limited to some of the weakest."

Wil mentally frowned at that, but he understood it was necessary. If his Dungeon was too hard from the start, he was sure to be deemed too diffcult for an F ranked Dungeon, and if the Adventuring Guild sees a Dungeon as an outlier, they might ask a Hero to destroy his Core.

"Im ready Belle, let's see the choices!"

She giggled at him and waved her hands in a completely unnecessary fashion.

Chime

Dungeon Monsters

The defenders of a Dungeon and a scourge for Adventurers everywhere. Dungeon Monsters are some of the toughest creatures in existence, and when slain provide rewards proportionate to their strength.

Lesser Spineback

6 MP

Sharp spines 3-4" in length cover the top of this rodent. It can weigh between 15-20lbs, and has two large buck-teeth capable of piercing most Leather Armor. It has a thicker hide than most wild rodents, providing additional defense.

Lesser Ilvan Monkey

10 MP

Native to the Ilvan Forest, this species of Monkey excels at ambushing from tree tops. Just shy of 2ft tall, these Beasts do best in groups. With sharp claws and even sharper fangs. Once they scratch or bite an Adventurer infection is almost guaranteed.

Avian Howler

3 MP

A colorful bird with a 6" wingspan. This small flier has a powerful voice with a mild stunning effect, and excels at swooping down on unsuspecting Adventurers to disorient them.

Lesser Dungeon Serpent

4 MP

A snake with powerful muscles meant to constrict small animals. 3ft in length, and as thick around as a closed fist. If it manages to wrap itself around an Adventurers limbs there is little chance of removing it alive. Also possesses a mild toxin that will induce nausea and, if enough is injected, will incapacitate a Sentient for a few minutes.

Wil was heartbroken. How could he call himself a Beast Dungeon without the mightiest Beast of them all?

No! If what Belle said is true, it's only natural that Deer would only be available as a choice for the deeper Floors. A Deer wouldn't be caught dead guarding just the first Floor. Of course.

After talking himself off the edge, he looked back at his choices with renewed hope. There were some powerful combinations he could see between his new Monsters.

"We are going to be the greatest Dungeon Belia has ever seen, and this is the start of it!" Belle was smiling uncontrollably as she watched her Core summon his first Monster.

Wil focused on the menu and created his first Monsters right then and there.

Five small golden-brown monkeys appeared from thin-air. Suddenly being born must have been disorientating for the Monsters. They seemed to gather themselves quickly though, and as one all turned toward his Core.

For the briefest moment Wil was worried they would try to attack him, but one after another they all reverently reached towards the podium his Core was resting on and bowed. The sight was so heartwarming it made him want to claim all five of them as his children then and there. Belle, who was watching from on top of his Core, was beside herself at how cute the little Monsters were.

With short golden-brown fur and splotches of green the color of his Core on their hands and feet. The monkeys had small faces with large round eyes and perked ears that would swivel at the slightest sound. If Wil looked closely, he could see long black claws on their hands and feet an inch long. One of the Monkeys yawned, and wickedly curved yellow fangs on the top and bottom of its mouth poked out for a brief moment. Cute, but deadly.

One of the Monkeys, Wil noticed it was considerably smaller than the others, decided bowing wasn't enough. It clambered up to the top of his podium, and gently kissed the top of his gem. If a Core could blush he would have, but he settled for humming at the affection. Getting a closer look, he realised that he was looking at a female Ilvan Monkey. The only noticeable difference was the beast was a few inches shorter than her brethren, as well as her claws were nearly double the length of the males.

She's got size where it counts at least. He giggled to himself.

The female Monkey then excused herself from his podium, and rejoined her new family. As one they all turned from him and bowed again, this time towards Belle.

She squealed, and flew down to greet them. She kissed each one on the top of their heads, and Wil could swear he saw the Monkeys in the back look impatient for their turn in getting some of her attention.

"Belle?"

She was focused solely on the new additions, "...yeah, Sweety?"

"Do I have to name the Monsters?" He asked.

With a gut-wrenching look, she turned away from the Monkeys and looked at him, "Only name a Monster if you want to turn them into your Floor's Boss Monster. Since you don't even have a boss room yet though you couldn't name them if you tried."

"The Adventurers will call your Monsters by their species, so these will be called Ilvan Monkeys. Or Lesser Ilvan Monkeys if they want to get technical. Most will just call them the 'Monkeys' though." She said.

"Well it still feels wrong to not have anything to refer to them by, so from this day on these Monkeys will be known as the 'Troop'!" All the Monsters started hooting and screeching at each other, they seemed to approve of his declaration.

Belle just smiled at them, "The Troop it is. Where are you going to put them though, Wil? You only have one room right now, and a tunnel as well. If you try to shove these babies into that creepy hole with the alcoves I am going to smack you."

"I would never! I already have a plan for that tunnel thank-you-very-much. I was going to put them in the Coliseum room. Thats why I only created the Monkeys for now, I need to make the rest of my first Floor before I summon the rest of my Monsters." Belle nodded at this, happy he was putting so much thought into his Dungeon.

"Okay! First things first, I need more Resources." He said.

"Huh? Why do you need Resources right now?"

"Well to make the Coliseum room a nicer place for the Troop of course, and I feel like it is still pretty empty at the moment." Wil wasn't going to let his Monkeys live in a place with just a few stone pillars and a little sand.

"You have 20 Mana right now, since you levelled your Mana was maxed out. So you could dig out a few tunnels if you wanted to get a head start on the rest of your Floor." Belle offered.

"Thats exactly what I was thinking, step aside and watch the Master Dungeon at work." She just sighed, but gestured with a small smile for him to go for it.

Wil focused on the option to build a new tunnel, and watched as his Mana dipped from 20 to 15 out of 20. He made the tunnel on the opposite side from his other tunnel in the Coliseum room. Now that room had two tunnels connected to it. One of them led to his Core room, the other would be connected to his next room.

His tunnel was just a long empty hallway surrounded by stone, but before he started decorating it he instituted the next idea of his plan.

He purchased another tunnel for 5 Mana, dropping him down to 10 out of 20. For this one he placed it perpendicular to his other recently purchased tunnel, creating an upside down L shape branching off from his Coliseum room.

Resources

Gained by absorbing non-living materials, used as currency for Dungeon Building.

Current Resource Count - 43

"Perfect!" Wil was hoping to get a few more Resources from clearing out two tunnels, but he would take what he could get.

"Belle, did I get anything new from those tunnels when I absorbed it?" He asked, he was really hoping for some new items to spruce up his Dungeon.

"Lets see, a few new types of sand, a new kind of gravel. You also absorbed some tiny insects. Apparently since they don't count as Monsters you can summon them for Resources. A new type of Moss, and...Oh! You also absorbed some decayed vines." Bingo. That was exactly the kind of thing he was looking to get for his new Monsters.

Wil looked to his Troop, "You guys are going to love this." The Monkeys softly screeched at him in excitement.

Focusing on the Coliseum room, he transformed the floor into a mix of dirt and moss. Hopefully some grass would start growing before he opened his Dungeon up to the outside. He left the sand in the center where it was, and in a fit of inspiration, added a Fake Floor trap directly under the sand. He placed another Pitfall trap directly underneath the stone. If any Two-legs were to step onto the sand, they would immediately become ensnared in the sand as it fell on top of them.

Wil was extremely proud of his sand trap. When the Adventurers fell in, which he was sure they would, they would struggle to escape. While struggling his Monsters could close in on them from above.

He giggled maniacally at the thought, and Belle's eyebrow rose up in question. He ignored her and kept working on the room.

For the roof he attached the new vines all around the Silverbark Beams he had previously added. The vines seemed to meld into the wood, strengthening both. Now the Monkeys had an easily accesible home above the ground of the room. Wil was quite proud as he now had a potential ambush location set up for his Troop. For a few extra Resources, he added some insects into the room to add some much needed ambient noise to his Dungeon. It was eerily quiet when nobody was talking. As a final touch, he added horizontal vines swinging across the many different pillars in the room. Now, so long as the Adventurers didn't look up, the Monkeys could quickly cross from one side of the room to the other without ever being seen.

Wil was thouroughly impressed with himself. He looked to his Troop and commanded them, "Defend the room with your lives. Keep us safe from invaders and prove yourselves mightier than any Two-legs!" They all hooted, puffing their chests out and yelling towards the direction of the outside world.

"Please keep us safe." Belle added with a small smile.

All of the Monsters stood up straighter and bowed once to both of them, then turned around and screeched in excitement at the sight of their new home. They climbed and swung all across their new room. Wil thought that the sight of five large Monkeys swinging down from the ceiling onto unsuspecting Adventurers was going to quickly become one of his favorite forms of entertainment.

"One last thing you need to do is assign them loot." She said to him, though her eyes looked sad.

"It's an unfortunate fact that they are going to be killed over and over, but that is just how Dungeons are today. You need to reward Adventurers proportionate to how strong your Monsters are, or they are going to assume there is something wrong with your dungeon." Wil understood, if he didn't toss the Two-legs something, he would be in danger himself.

"What would you suggest I put as loot for them? Also...how?" He asked hestitantly.

She gave him a smile, "We have a few things the Two-legs would want, one being the Silver Ore we found. Silver is too great of a reward for just defeating a few Monkeys though, so we should reward them with Crafting Items." Wil was about to ask, but Belle beat him to it.

"Crafting Items are things a Monster has that may be used in the creation of gear for Adventurers. Fangs and Claws for weapons, pelts for armor. Or they may use some strange part of an exotic Monster and create a potion out of it. The Two-legs get really creative with the stuff we give them, so feel free to get weird with it." She finished with a wink.

"For the Troop, I would recommend have each Monkey be given a chance to drop its pelt, or a claw or fang if the Adventurers get lucky. All of these are Common tier drops, but there is no need for them to drop anything better than that right now. Especially since this is still an F ranked Dungeon." Wil didn't like being referred to as that letter, but it was accurate so he couldn't say anything.

"Okay, how do I give them loot? Do they just drop it naturally?"

She settled on top of his Core and stared up at the ceiling, "Nope, all you have to do is focus on them and think of the rewards they will drop. It's all very intuitive, or so I've heard. Mom said it was as easy as; thinking of the item, thinking of the amount, and the percentage chance that the item will be dropped by the Monster."

He turned his attention to his Troop, and sure enough he was able to get a general sense of what drops his Monsters could leave behind on death, as well as the amount and drop rate the items could have.

He set it so they occasionally dropped fangs/claws. They had a smaller chance to drop an intact pelt, but a much greater chance for scraps of their fur. With a mental shrug, he also added the female Monkey's claws as a drop chance. They were considerably longer and sharper, and were considered an Uncommon tier item. Belle said he didn't need to do that but he wanted to seperate the Monkey who gave him a kiss from the rest of her brethren and elevate her in the eyes of the Adventurers.

With loot settled, Wil settled down to wait for his Mana to recharge. He had a Dungeon to finish building.