It was some time before Alex got over the shock of seeing the special summons, heck even I was shocked, WE HAD RANK SS warriors as possible summons! I say possible in a very theoretical sense since I’ll have evolve into an old turtle by the time we have enough resources to summon them. There was one effect to this though, Alex had increased the pace of the dungeon, now everyone in the dungeon was working full-time.

We even leveled up!

Requirements have been met to reach the next level.

Dungeon level has increased to level 7

To reach the next level 2000 Mana and 200 souls are needed

No skills this level either but like I said, we can’t get stuff every level, that’s just being greedy.

We also summoned out 2 slimes and 2 goblins. I went about trying to educate the goblins but they were so dense… I don’t know if they’ll be useful to us considering the squirrels were almost as strong now and vastly more intelligent. I don’t know when I started changing my mind. Traditionally, dungeons would start summoning slimes and goblins and use treasure to bait adventurers to come to the dungeon. I guess since we seem to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, and because Alex is weird, we did things differently. I think this way is better, and it’s not because Max brings me berries and fruits. It’s because I feel this way is like building a better foundation.

After some time had passed, we got an unexpected and definitely unwanted visitor. One of the squirrel folk on his way back saw a human woman. My blood ran cold. We knew only one human, and if she’s back, it means she’s suspicious… and there’s no way to hide that we were a dungeon, what with the whole expansion and everything.

‘Squirrel troop, inform everyone to hide in the secret rooms! Not a peep out of you! Goblins and slimes, spread out one to a room and look harmless! AAAAHH! Alex, it’s the Ogre Chic! She’s back!’

If she finds one of the hares or squirrels evolved here we’re finished! I know they’ll either send people to enslave them or something, this was a nightmare, and we weren’t ready for this yet!

So the plan is to pretend to be a young dungeon that will do nothing but summon a few monsters. Harmless really, no treasures, nothing yet.

The 2 goblins and 2 slimes are to be decoy. Hopefully she’s just curious and won’t kill them all… That’s basically a huge investment for us, and she could set us back a whole week of mana.

We had barely got everyone hidden when she appeared at the entrance to the dungeon.

Darn, I was right, it really was her.

As she stepped in, it seemed she felt the mana fluctuations of the dungeon around her. She smiled and said, ‘I was right, it’s a young dungeon.’

She started walking deeper. She frowned after going past the second room, the rooms were large, a bit larger than a young dungeon should have… but well, we technically were a young dungeon, but we had grown faster than other dungeons because we were collecting things from outside.

She made into the 4th room before she found anything… a very mysterious slime that was… just sitting in the middle of the room…

I slapped my forehead. These monsters are going to be the death of me. This was the slime ‘looking harmless’, I swear charades with these folks is going to be a nightmare.

‘Pst Alex, should we release a rat or something to chase the ogre chic away?’

‘Stop calling her an Ogre, she doesn’t have green skin, and she doesn’t smell of onions… and she doesn’t have a pet donkey hahaha,’ Alex was laughing at his own jokes. I wonder if he knows that none of us understand his humour.

‘Anyway, we needed to get rid of this homewrecker! Do something!’

‘Ah Rox, do you know what a homewrecker is? Ah never mind…’

The curious swordswoman moped around for another 2 hours. TWO HOURS. Then, quick as you know it, she called it quits and headed back out. We heard her whispering, ‘Gotta get the guild out here.’

That was a troublesome sentence if there ever was one…

The swordswoman had stayed for a couple hours before she left. The great thing is that the mana that surrounded her was rich so our mana collection was great, but it’s terrifying watching someone that can crush you beneath her heel just wandering around in your home while you’re hiding from her.

That evening, we had a council of war, I say we, I mean Rox and Max came over to talk. We needed more forces, although we had 10 rooms in the dungeon now, along with 5 secret rooms used to house everyone, I didn’t feel like we had enough monsters. While building up mana using outside resources was fast, I wanted to build mana faster. One way was attracting adventurers to come and dungeon hunt, but without more floors and a few stronger monsters to defend us, we were sitting ducks if they decided they wanted to take the dungeon crystal as well. The dungeon crystal is after all, a highly condensed mana soulstone, a very valuable commodity I expect. Thus that wasn’t a good idea. Another way was to invest in mana stones that will start increasing the mana of the area ambiently thus allowing greater absorption but that would cost a lot to set up and I didn’t want to set it up on the first floor. Anyone that came and found them would take them away and we would suffer a loss.

So the only choice we had was to get everyone to carry on collecting until we had unlocked the ability to make a second floor, no matter how far away that was.

As Max was heading out… the squirrel folk started screaming out an alarm! This wasn’t like when the swordswoman came, this time things were serious.

Outside the dungeon entrance, the wolf pack, 30 strong was moving towards the fleeing squirrels. In comparison to size, the squirrels were larger now, all of them were at least ‘Elite Giant Squirrels’ with a good 50 or so evolved all the way to squirrel folk. The problem was we had no weapons, we had no traps, no preparation.

As they got near the entrance of the dungeon they broke into a run. The retreating squirrels and hares were too slow… as the lead wolves hit the back of the retreating group, squirrels and hares were torn apart by their powerful jaws. They had been peacefully gathering materials before, so they were caught completely unaware…

It was a disaster. The wolves had obviously grown or some such thing, they were the height of a full grown squirrel folk but twice as strong and three times as fast. Another dozen squirrels got torn to shreds before everyone managed to make the dungeon entrance.

The wolves didn’t stop, the wolf leader growled at them and they started pushing towards the dungeon. I admit I was panicking.

‘Max, make a defensive line with the goblins and slimes, get the squirrels and hares to prepare rocks to throw!’

The situation wasn’t good. We had grown complacent, sure we had more than 400 individuals, but I completely overlooked the fact that the thorn weapons we had now were both too small for the squirrel folk and simply wouldn’t be effective on these larger creatures.

‘Shit, this is bad… at this rate we’re going to lose everyone! Levine! Max! You’ve lived in this forest a while, do you know anything that will work against these guys?

Max spoke first, ‘Master, apart from when you rescued me, I hadn’t had any wolf contact since we’re mostly up in the trees. From what I can see though is that the most deadly thing about the wolves is their speed. If we can break that, we can surround them with our greater numbers. We’ll beat them up with rocks and sticks in our hands if we have to.’

‘Master, I have an idea,’ Levine spoke slowly like he was thinking if it would work, ‘My hare family lived quite a bit aways from here, closer to the humans. I think I remember hearing that humans chase away wolves using fire before… someone in my troop must know, but if we can make fire we could probably chase them away for a while.’

Fire. Fire is a good idea… but how, the wolves were literally in the first cave, beyond being on our doorstep, they were already intruders.

‘Alex, we can summon fire elemental stones. If we can find someone who can use some of the power within the stones, we could light some branches…’ Rox trailed off as she realized something, ‘The only problem is that the cost for summoning something doubles when intruders are leeching mana from the dungeon…’ It’s a two way street, ambient mana absorption increases from the intruders but summoning stuff increases in price. It would be a different story if I had more floors…

Damn, but that’s the only way right? So fuck it, let’s do it!

‘Create elemental stone!’

What elemental stone would you like to create?

Elements available

Fire

100 mana

Due to intruders, mana cost is 200 mana

Water

100 mana

Due to intruders, mana cost is 200 mana

Holy

150 mana

Due to intruders, mana cost is 300 mana

Locked

To unlock, affinity to the element has to be created within the dungeon

‘200 Mana?! We don’t have enough, shit, ok I’m going to absorb everything not essential, goodbye fruits and veges, goodbye to everything… and… that just gives us enough… ah my heart bleeds mana, this better fucking work!’ I was so mad, I’m going to DESTROY these wolves! They set us back so much freaking mana!

‘Create fire elemental stone!’

An orb the size of a fist appeared floating in the air then was caught by Levine.

‘Alright, Levine, go find someone who can use this thing… Max go help out with defense, the wolves are having a standoff with the goblins and slimes but that won’t last long… I really hope this works.’

Max whispered something to Levine before he left, then both left for their missions.

‘Alex, we messed up didn’t we?’ A small voice, Rox looked so sad, even though she wasn’t to blame.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll get through this, I just don’t want to lose too many… Max and Levine have lost enough of their family as is… but we’ll pull through this. You are the one who knows the most out of all of us, so we need you with us, ok Rox?’

It’s true, she knew stuff from before she was a dungeon fairy and that was way beyond the knowledge the rest of us had.

Well, time to see what was going to happen.

I am so fucking scared, wolves! The first thing that happens when we find a new home is it gets attacked by wolves! We’ve barely been here a month! AAhhh, I think Alex was being sarcastic when he named me ‘the Brave’. Worse is I know, I know I can think more clearly now in the dungeon… but all I can think about is imminent death. To top it off, I’ve been given such a strange job.

‘Alright, Levine, go find someone who can use this thing…’ I was stupid enough to reach out and grab this thing. I thought it was going to hit the floor, that’s why. They said it was a fire elemental stone, and true it felt warm but I have no idea how they would even use it.

Max came up to me and whispered to me, ‘Go ask for the squirrels that know about medical herbs, probably your best bet for someone who is mana sensitive.’

Well, Alex is the boss but Max is my bro. I know it’s corny and all but he saved me, and well debts have to be repaid. Especially because I don’t know if I would have done the same thing…

Anyway, dark thoughts aside, I should look for this group of planty squirrels.

When I found them, they were being directed by Lady Rox to make medicinal paste.

‘Hey Miss Rox, can we get these squirrels to test out the fire stone?’

‘Oh hey Levine, sure I think this one here is your best bet, she’s a lot quicker than the rest at making healing paste. Maybe she’ll be able to use the stone, hey good thinking, I didn’t even know you knew these squirrels.’

‘I didn’t! Max was the one who…’

Right! It was Max! I looked at the squirrel in question… well, well, well… what have we here. A female squirrel that caught my brother Max’s eye hey? Ahahaha, oh this is going to be good.

Rox was quick, when she heard what I said she put two and two together.

‘Ahahaha, well well well, Max and little miss lady squirrel hey? Who would have thought that ball of honour and duty would have it in him?’

You know, listening to us, it’s almost as if we weren’t being sieged…

Of course I had to think it. As soon as that thought crossed my mind, a message was passed down from the defense line.

‘One of the slimes has fallen, the defence line is retreating to the second room!’

I looked at the squirrel that came to deliver the message, then I quickly turned to the herby squirrel.

‘Look I know this is sudden but can you use this stone to make a fire? I don’t know how but it has fire mana inside, it’s serious… Max is at the defence line and needs this pronto.’

Shame, I feel shame… when I mentioned Max, the little Lady squirrel’s eyes lit on fire and she snatched the fire elemental stone from me.

Lady Rox looked at me with one eyebrow raised… nooo don’t look at me like that, the shame the shame…

‘My dear, try to feel the mana in your body, it should feel like a bit of heat or energy and it beats at the same time your heart does… if you can feel it, try and will it to push into the stone in your hands’ Lady Rox obviously knew a bit more than I did, thus was able to give better instructions. She was still looking at me accusingly though…

A minute went by, then two.

The poor little squirrel was clutching the stone so tightly, ah I feel so much shame.

Then, a spark, just a small one, then two, and then suddenly a small flame could be seen dancing on the elemental stone!

‘Quick Levine! Bring a branches! We’re going to chase those fucking wolves back to hell!’

Lady Rox really had a way with words, I couldn’t have put it better myself.

The wolves, they seemed to be acting smarter. Especially that leader of theirs. Contrary to what most people think, wolf packs aren’t ruled by an Alpha, no, they actually are more tribal… but this group was abnormal. The leader ruled with strength. I could see his eyes flashing red as we stood facing each other in the cliff room. We had lost one of the slimes in the first room. The wolves were down below the cliff, while at the top of the cliff on our side, I had gotten the slime and goblins to line up beside me. They were individually a bit stronger, at least defense wise, than the normal wolves, but definitely not as strong as that Demon Wolf leader.

Our tactics lay in scaring them away using fire, which should give us time to prepare… but that itself was a gamble, would they run? That Demon Wolf worried me. It could think, and it was looking at us calculating.

If it charged our defensive line and broke through, it would open the way for the rest of the wolves. We just had to hold out till we could break out the fire.

The demon wolf growled, and two wolves trotted closer.

It seems he was testing us. I can understand why, I was decked out in armour and sword, while the slime were probably not something they came across often so they didn’t know how to deal with them. We only lost the first one due to that Demon Wolf.

Now, do I stay defensive or should I give a show of strength?

As the 2 wolf scouts came closer, I made my decision. One wolf killed now is one wolf less to worry about. Besides, I needed a little bit of revenge for them killing my family and attacking my home.

I lunged from my position towards the nearest one, stabbing straight towards its head with full force. It wasn’t expecting it and yelped, falling back and knocking into the other wolf.

I smirked, perfect. With a few steps, and a diagonal chop, I hit the wolf over the head. The sword cleaved into its head, blood spurting. It gave a dying whimper as I pulled the sword out. These normals weren’t my match. I looked warily at the lead wolf. It was staring at me. It was smarter than the rest of its pack, it knew I was the biggest threat. Well, two can play a game of smarts. I pulled back to the defensive line, a goblin on either side of me, with the slime behind.

The Demon Wolf gave another signal, this time 5 wolves joined the wolf from earlier. Before they got close enough for the goblins to attack, the two wolves in front rushed and tackled the goblins. Unfortunately, we could only get the goblins some wooden clubs, no powerful weapons. They slammed their clubs down on the wolves’ backs but as they were being pushed back, they didn’t have a firm enough stance to put power behind their blows.

At the same time they started rushing, the Demon Wolf made its move. Using its superior strength and agility, it started a sprint and ran along the cliff wall before jumping behind the defensive line. I hurriedly turned to face it, bringing the slime with me. Some of the squirrels and hares had started pelting rocks at the remaining wolves, but honestly the wolves looked lazy as they dodged.

I looked that Demon Wolf straight in the eyes, my sword out in front of me. We were testing each other… and I was not liking what I was seeing. It outdid me in strength and agility, while my strengths lay in intelligence and stamina, but that meant this wolf could over power me. As if to prove a point, the Demon wolf, approached quickly, moving by darting from side to side, keeping the point of the sword further away. As it got close enough for a lunge, it jumped to one side and aimed straight for the slime. The bastard, after killing the first slime, it knew these slimes had great physical resistance so it was trying to take the last one out. I couldn’t let it do whatever it wanted so I moved to intercept.

I aimed a horizontal slash at it, but bastard moved his body away. The tip of the sword barely reached its body, drawing a faint bloody line across its ribs. This wasn’t enough to stop it though, it used its strength to tear apart bits of the slime in a frenzy, even as caught up to it and delivered another slash. This one bit deeper, making a gash appear along its back. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. The Demon Wolf had finally found the monster’s core of the slime, and although it was injured it wasn’t enough to slow it down. It jumped down from the cliff and the rest of the wolves retreated as well. The goblins and other slime didn’t do much better. All three were moderately injured but they had greviously injured one of the wolves in return.

With a glint in my eye I quickly charged out and stabbed right into the back of that injured wolf as it was trying to get away. It collapsed to the ground, whimpering.

The Demon Wolf saw what I was doing and howled in anger, charging at me, but he was too far. With another stab I finally got through its ribs and into its heart, as I stared straight at the Demon Wolf’s red eyes. There was a simmering hatred there, as well as a tinge of madness. When things finally came to a head, I knew that it was going to be a fight to the death.

‘Max! Brroooo! We have fire! Quick, everyone grab branches and throw them at the wolves!’

Levine charged from the back of the cave gasping for air, in his hands he held dozens of burning branches. Behind him charged half of our cave’s inhabitants waving burning branches which they started throwing down the cliff towards the wolves. As one of them got struck it yelped from the heat and scramble back. As the branches started heating up the Demon Wolf gazed at us… then with a sharp bark, the wolves retreated.

Honestly, I don’t know if I should be happy. That wolf didn’t look like it was retreating from fear. It was either leaving so they could treat their wounds or because they needed to hunt. And we weren’t an easy target…

Things were definitely grim. I don’t know when they would be back, but we need to be ready.

The wolves retreated a bit a ways into the forest. I was under no false illusion that they were gone for good, that leader of theirs was too cunning. I have a suspicion that the wounds he got from Max were more painful than he let on to be.

So to round out the fight, we lost more than 34 squirrels, all from being caught while gathering materials outside, we also lost three hares, since they were faster, they weren’t caught after the initial rush. Both slimes were killed by the demon wolf as well.

In return we managed to injure the leader, although it didn’t look heavy, and we managed to inflict light injuries on most the other wolves with fire… that wouldn’t work a second time though. We had managed to kill two wolves, both taken down by Max.

‘Well done Max, you managed to take down two of their number and you weren’t injured at all.’ I had to give congratulations when they’re due, no one else could do what Max did.

Also, that squirrel who helped make fire, she had a talent and we needed that. I asked her to come forward, ‘When this battle is done, I will offer you a contract and give you a name. Is that alright?’ The fire squirrel seemed a bit timid but she nodded her head. Hmmm Max…?

Well, that’s none of my business… well it sort of is but I wasn’t raised to be rude. Just because I am a glowy pebble right now doesn’t mean I can forget my manners.

‘Ok, team talk. We need to prepare for those damn wolves. They’re out there waiting for us. If I didn’t know any better, I would think they’re sieging us, trying to starve us and exhaust us, before attacking again.’

‘Sir, when I was fighting with that wolf leader, he seemed too intelligent. I wouldn’t put it beyond him to have cunning like that,’ Since Max was at the forefront we could only rely on him for the assessment of the enemy.

‘Master, I have an idea,’ Levine piped up, ‘I say we arrange some special ways to greet those wolves when they come in. I have a couple ideas.’

Then Levine started putting some ideas forward. As soon as he started talking, Rox’s face lit up and she started putting her own suggestions and improving on Levine’s. Between her intelligence and Levine’s cunning, we suddenly had a fairly elaborate defensive plan.

‘Alright everyone, get started! We need to be ready as soon as possible!’

This time we would be ready for them.

This time, those wolves would be coming to die.

‘Concentrate on the flame, find your focus… the centre. When you breath in, the air feeds the fire, allowing it to grow, when you breath out, keep the fire burning high. Let it grow.’

In front of me is a small squirrel, her eyes filled with light reflected off a small flame in her hands. Ever since she used the fire elemental stone, she had been trying to summon a flame again. And she succeeded.

Slowly in front of me, the flames were growing…

I watched intensely as a soft glow surrounded her. Yes, she was evolving. I finally understood, that is the requirements for evolution. I couldn’t see it directly but I knew, when two of their inherent stats broke through a limit, they evolved. Max probably broke through stamina and intelligence, while this young squirrel was breaking through intelligence and magic power.

I smiled, once we drive away these wolves, I had the key to getting everyone evolved to full beast-folk. But before the, since I didn’t have a role in this battle, I would train this young squirrel. I had a feeling, a nagging suspicion that I was close to something and I didn’t want to let this feeling go.

‘Breath in, breath out. The fire is your centre… let all your thoughts enter the fire…’