It was an odd feeling coming back from the dead. Chion had first imagined it as if blinking, one moment he was fighting and the next he would be in his nest waking up, his body fully restored to peak health and his mind rested. Instead it was reliving his death in great detail, the last several minutes of his life from his own eyes or even outside his own body. It was a... he didn't have the word for it like his Master always did, but watching himself and the newly named Snep weave and dodge around Treesplitter made him think. When he should've leaned in instead of dodging out, him very poorly coordinating with Snep, a kobold still experiencing her first day in her class, what parts of the hobgoblin's body he should've hit instead of what he did.

Dying as a dungeon monster was a learning experience, but never an easy one. Every sense, from touch to taste, was replayed over and over. The only time it was ever cut short was when a wailing alert tore the reality into pieces and sent them back early to fight once again.

And whether or not something was learned the experience would fade and he would find himself back in his nest, fully rested and restored with the phantom pains of dying still in the back of his mind.

At least he had a comfortable nest.

Not everyone revived at the same time, not that Chion knew the reason but he could make a couple guesses, so he found only himself and Snep coming back first. The kobold lair was back to normal, no blood or bodies coating the floor and every nest neat or messy like their owner enjoyed it, all while the fire pit burned hot and low making the air in the lair comfortably warm.

First thing first, he checked his Master's nest to see if she was there. More often she wasn't unless she was sleeping, but this time she was there and still awake. He hissed in a low tone so she wouldn't hear when he saw her. Burns had melted and blackened her left claw to the elbow and large areas on her sides. Her tail was clearly broken and torn at the middle and she was covered in dried blood.

Yet when she looked at him he didn't see a defeated or depressed kobold, it was a gaze that always made his scales tingle and gave him an urge to hide. "Chion, you're back. Go get me the core."

Not even a minute back to life and he had work to do. "Okay, Master."

He stretched, although did it quickly in order to avoid displeasing his Master and getting another comment on his laziness, and hurried off to the . The core was something he felt absolute loyalty to, an odd thing considering it was a clear cube like a polished gem as big as his head, and it never mattered unless the core was being threatened in front of him by an invader.

It was super light, more annoying to carry because of its bulk instead, as he carried it over to his Master. He wanted to ask why she didn't go get it even though she was injured, but didn't because it would surely result in him getting kicked or worse. Chion wasn't one to test his Master's temper even at the best of times.

Master grabbed the core and began doing whatever a [Dungeon Master] did, weird boxes and letters that he couldn't read popped up repeatedly. He was about to go back to his nest when he finally noticed her new headgear. It strangely was something so 'her' that he hadn't noticed it. "Scary helmet, Master,"

"Yes, it's a very good helmet. Looks like a fox skull," she said with a grin. Master paused from using the core, glanced up at her helmet, and clacked her fangs. "Chion, go see if my bone knife is still at the entrance. I'm going to be angry if the dumb dungeon ate it. And see if there are goblins still out there."

He sighed with a longing glance at his nest. "If goblins there?"

Her sharp look sent him moving with a word before her attention went back to the core.

Snep snuck up to his side as he entered the trapped hallway, the spike pit sitting right in front of the lair's door. It took up most of the hallway, only a small edge near the walls and a part in front of the door enough for two kobolds to stand, or one hobgoblin as it turned out. Maybe it was Chion's sense as a [Trapper] but the spiky pit was as useless as it was deadly. Nothing hid it from view and anything smarter than a fox would easily jump over it. Maybe he should suggest putting a false cover over it?

"Why you listen to her?" asked Snep with annoyance. "Does nothing but insult and kill us. Barely fought and even ran away."

Chion didn't want trouble, and while he could understand any kobold's annoyance at their Master, they were usually as dumb as Master often said. The thing with Snep was that, like him, her class boosted her intelligence. He doubted his Master ever bothered to look at their statuses.

"She [Dungeon Master] so I listen," he said. That in itself should be enough for most dungeon creatures, although it had always bugged him. The fact that the [Dungeon Master] didn't get any feelings of loyalty that the dungeon core did.

"So? She mean and lazy. Always laying around in rooms, never practice," argued Snep. "You real leader, train me and others, helped me learn class."

They entered the entrance room, a bland thing with only a big bone chest to its name. No goblins were around outside of the archway and he did, in fact, see the lost bone knife. No bodies or even that massive wood club had remained, yet this had. He didn't bother trying to learn the rules and functions of the dungeon beyond what his instincts told him.

Chion went to pick up the knife but Snep beat him to it, snatching it and dancing out of his reach. He held out an open claw, "Give it. Need to return to Master."

"No! She not a good Master," hissed Snep, her grip tightening on the knife. "I... I say you good. She weak now, very hurt? I heard talk, she not revive when killed."

He didn't enjoy the train of thought that this conversation would go down. Snep was still young, although he knew that everyone including his Master was extremely young, and her relative youth was making her... what? Fearful, angry, power hungry? Chion couldn't understand what Snep was aiming for, so he asked, "And?"

Snep hesitated in speaking. A feeling teamwork and cooperation was something they felt very clearly, not as dungeon creatures but as kobolds, so betrayal like this was unsettling. "W-We kill her, and you become new [Dungeon Master]. Better, yes? Other kobolds would agree."

Chion resisted the urge to plunge his daggers into her throat for saying it. "Snep, tell why you feel this is good action?"

"Because! She lazy, never practice, always hurt or kill us because we revive, never fight!" Snep looked him in the eyes. "She kick you all time, at smallest thing. Is this good Master?"

Ah, now Chion understood. "Not true. Well, some true but most not true."

Snep stepped back at his casual denial of her accusations. "What not true? I see it! She never notice me sneaking and watching, so not tell me not true, Chion."

"What does [Dungeon Master] do? Not her, but class?" asked Chion patiently.

"It, uh," mumbled Snep. "Helps dungeon? Make more creatures."

"Yes," he said. In his calmest tone, something he struggled to use because he was not calm at all, he explained, "They build dungeon, summon us to defend, and do lots of things. She make important decisions. Summon fox? Summon kobold? Put trap here, make room there."

Snep snorted. "Stupid decisions. Useless traps and rooms."

Chion quickly made sure his Master wasn't listening. To even suggest she was stupid would get them punished... likely worse. "Shh, never say stupid to Master. Still, you not wrong, and she know that now. But all dungeon was one room, this room, at start. Now it bigger, we have foxes and us. We have classes, and Master trying to get all kobold class."

"S-So, okay, but still everything I say true," muttered Snep.

"Maybe. She hurt or kill, yes? But in fight, or training, we revive. Not big deal even if painful. We part of dungeon. Lazy?" Chion snorted, the lazier Master was the better because it meant he could be equally or more lazy. "Dungeon needs lots of mana, she rest to get more."

He stepped forward and held out an open claw for the knife. "And she never fight? We die fighting Treesplitter, he live. Chieftain run after Master. She alive in her nest, so where hobgoblins go?"

Snep wavered, glancing between the claw and the knife, before giving it to him. "She still mean and you better leader."

Chion stared at the bone knife. "She mean, maybe. Me leader is stupid though, she tell me to be chief so I lead and help. Without her order?" He sighed longingly. "Being leader not fun at all. Being [Dungeon Master] must be awful. Poor Master. What if being [Dungeon Master] mean only one life? Scary, scary."

She scratched her horns and lowered her head. "Okay, I wrong and Chion right. Maybe Master is good [Dungeon Master], but wish she act like Chion, like good leader."

"Master is Master," Chion stated.

He ignored the chorus of voices yet again and returned back to the lair with a discontent, but not treacherous, Snep. It wasn't like he didn't understand where she was coming from, but Snep was ignorant of what Master meant, of what she did. Being a [Dungeon Master] seemed easy right now, but he knew that this was her first floor. She would get more powerful, make the dungeon bigger, and his head hurt just imagining how awful it would be to be master of it all.

Chion focused on the feeling inside him, of his link to the dungeon, and thought of his status.

>Name: Chion

>Class: Trapper Lv.4

>Race: Kobold

>Gender: Male

>HP: 19/19

>MP: 32/32

>STR: 1

>DEX: 18

>AGI: 10

>VIT: 6

>INT: 10

>WIS: 2

>CHA: 1

>LUK: 2

>Skills: [Simple Trap Lv.3], [Light Step Lv.2], [Dagger Techniques Lv.3], [Restful Sleep Lv.1], [Tough Scales Lv.1], [Stab Lv.1]

>Perks: [Expert Reflexes]

He had leveled up twice fighting the goblins and a lot of his skills grew, in addition to getting the [Tough Scales] and [Stab] skills. His dexterity was now double of what it had been and knew he was maybe as strong as his Master, yet he still felt like he couldn't win.

Snep had disappeared, as was expected of a [Sneak], because she didn't want to be in the same room as their Master. That female would learn as she grew smarter and understood more, like he did, because when he was level one he too entertained ideas of being the [Dungeon Master]. He suspected all new kobolds did secretly.

"Here," he said and tossed the knife to Master.

"You took a long time, but good work anyway. I'm glad the dungeon didn't eat my knife," said Master as went to tuck it behind her horn where she usually kept it, but it hit the skull helmet. Not to be beaten by headgear she wedged it in between the helmet and her horn.

"Master doesn't even use knife," he complained. It was a good weapon and could easily go to another weaponless kobold. "Master looks very bad, going to get better?"

"Yes, it hurts a lot, but I'll get something to heal. There are more important things to do." She glared at Chion and begrudgingly got to her feet and snapped her claw. By now every kobold has revived and looked to her. "Follow, you dumb minions. Snep, you sneaky female, you too!"

Chion saw Snep crawl out from under her nest with an annoyed look at their Master, but frowned and glanced at Chion. They followed her into the east room which he thought was empty but turned out to be full of stuff! A table was set up near the doorway with little objects and a game board of some kind, there were targets with weapons on shelves, all looking more expensive than everything else in the dungeon.

Master touched a claw to the core and it glowed with a white light, then she tapped that claw on the floor and everything changed. The floor changed from wood again to dirt like the lair, but this time it was extremely soft and fine as his toes sank into it with ease. The walls turned into wooden planks as torches popped into existence on them lighting up the room as well as making it warmer. The targets grew larger and into the shape of a goblin and hobgoblin while suddenly a large statue of a kobold appeared at the far end of the room, it using a sword and appearing like it was fighting a foe.

Master grinned and laughed. "Kekeke, a good training room for my minions! Some of you may have classes, even if you didn't tell me, but training in here will let those who have no class get one faster. Train, minions, and get stronger!" Master calmed down and looked to Chion. "Choose one kobold; they get [Trainer] class."

Chion didn't refuse or ask the kobolds who wanted such a class. Instead he picked out the small male and shoved him at Master. He shook in fright as Master tapped him on the head with a glowing claw and Chion saw the spark in his eyes that all creatures gained when they got a class. "Hmm, a class needs a name, but I don't feel like you deserve one. Still, your name is now Trald!"

Trald looked around and then at himself. "Trald good name. Thank you, Master!"

"Keke, what a good minion," she said before hissing in pain and looking at her chest and tail. "You all do whatever minions do."

Master limped out of the training room as the four classless kobolds all swarmed Trald and went to the weapons to try them out. While a couple liked using their claws, they all now had combat experience and felt maybe weapons were better after dying to the goblins so easily. Chion agreed and didn't know how Master could stand to use her claws all the time.

Snep stepped up to him and frowned as she looked toward the lair. "She hurt and still made room instead of healing. Maybe I wrong, but she said for us to get strong. For us to fight so she won't have to? But that what we do. Ah, annoying thoughts!" She scratched her head in frustration. "Master being kobold is hard. Better if she was bigger, stronger creature."

Chion smiled and patted Snep on the shoulder. "She smallest of us, but very strong. You understand eventually."

Snep brushed his hand off and went to join the others as Chion wandered back into the lair. His Master was laying in her nest holding her tail and trying to find a comfortable position. "Master going to heal?"

She clacked her fangs. "Yes, yes, I need to wait a few hours for the mana. I could get a rune but I finally have enough mana for a scroll. It supposed to be better but I don't know why yet."

Chion didn't really understand what she meant but he knew enough. Her mana let her get things and upgrade dungeon. His own mana recovered so slowly, not even a single point an hour, so he wondered how fast she recovered hers. What was expensive and what was cheap? Truly, he didn't want a class like hers and was content being her lazy minion, even if it did get him kicked more often than not.

"Should tell, Snep talked about replacing Master," said Chion sadly. It was important enough that even though he explained enough that Snep calmed down, his Master deserved to know.

Master licked her fangs and flexed her good claw. "That sneaky female did? She try to get you to help?"

Chion nodded and waited for his Master's judgement.

"You think I'm a bad [Dungeon Master]?" she asked with heat in her voice.

"No," he said and looked around them. "New [Dungeon Master], work very hard. I know, I'm Master's chief minion."

She relaxed and he ignored the fact that her claw was twice as deadly as his dagger and only a single lunge away from his throat. "Good. Snep going to be a problem? You're chief minion so I expect you to handle it."

He nodded. "No problem."

Master stared as Chion and then at the training room. "Dumb Snep, just because her tail is nicer..."

He ignored that too and went to rest in his nest. Just the two of them relaxed without speaking for a couple hours before his Master asked, "You and Snep did very good against goblins. I was thinking of a reward, maybe another dagger, but do you have anything you want?"

Chion briefly touched a claw on his wood and then bone dagger. They were each a reward for good fighting, and another reason he knew his Master was a good one. They were all minions meant to die over and over, why reward them? He thought of what Snep would want. "Maybe better dagger for me. Snep... she sneaky. Maybe hiding thing and better weapon?"

"Just as I thought. Kekeke, you minions are so easy."

Chion curled into his nest, a fur nest that was on pair with the Master's while everyone else had grass. It wasn't a bad thing to be easily read. A glow made him peek up at his Master in time to see a scroll of thin hide appear in her claw. She grinned wide, showing all her fangs, as she held it up.

Nothing happened.

"...What?" Master stared at the scroll in disbelief. "Fifty mana and it wants me to use my own to activate!?"

Fifty... that was a lot. He listened to his Master complain about the core and lists and mana for another hour before she quieted down. It was rare to hear her talk that much. He looked up when he heard crinkling after having finally gotten comfortable in the silence.

His Master held the scroll in his hand and was concentrating. The scroll burned with a white flame, the words written on it disappearing before it too consumed the scroll entirely and ash fell. White light enveloped his Master and her injuries healed, the burns fading away and her tail straightening out. Except it didn't stop. The glow increased before blinding him for a moment, and it when it faded his Master had changed.

She was entirely white, and when she looked at him with those eyes, a swirl of sky blue and dark red, he flinched.