Still Day 1…

…

Acknowledged, you will no longer enter sleep mode when needing to recover mana… there seemed to be a malfunction in the system the last time you requested this course of action.

‘good… I could basically be doing anything else as I wait including spectating on others or helping out if something invaded the dungeon’ he thought as he starts going off to spread his awareness everywhere to listen in on conversations or look for points of interests after his rage inducing anger has subsided…

One of the first thing Tier noticed was Aenirus still playing with the slime as she either prod at it harmlessly, lick it in affection or gentle place a small rock in it for it to dissolve. “why are you so interested in the slime Aenirus?” Tier asked as his curiosity peaked “oh, I always find slimes to be cute but I never get to interact with them due to their acidic bodies, I even went as far as upping my acid resistance through constant use and even leaning acid magic to see if there are any spells I that could help me but after my acid resistance ability plateaued at level 79 and my acid magic capping at spell level 6 I gave up but then you claimed this guy and I got excited due to our relationship so I tested it out and indeed I can finally touch slimes!” Aenirus answered and squealed with all the force of a seven-year old who just finally got their parents to buy them their new favorite toy… even though she’s way older than that.

“… I got what magic is but you never fully explained what it actually does” he added truthfully “oh, I should’ve probably explained that to you sooner but I keep getting distracted… sorry about that” Aenirus said, responding with a flushed expression.

“alright, time for some explaining and some re-explanations for good measure” Aenirus announced and Tier basically pulled everyone in to hear her lecture “magic is the ability to control mana with many different ways to do so which defines all types of magic: there’s Arcana which is the most common kind and the kind I specialize in; Spiritual magic which focus on the usage of one’s spirit to shape mana around them; Rune carving relying on your dexterity in carving runes, weaving cloth or drawing with a brush and is easy to learn but very limited compared to the others; Psionic powers were once categorized as a school of magic but then people realized that anyone that learned another school can learn it so it’s more or less an add-on to the other schools and… that’s it I think, my knowledge on magic is very incomplete so I might not be the best teacher” Aenirus admitted her somewhat lack of knowledge.

“it doesn’t matter” Tier said in a calm tone “you’re still a lot more knowledgeable than me or anyone else I currently know about magic and I think you’re a great teacher based on what you taught me so far”

“If you say so… anyways there are many ways to use magic but it is capped to your magical potential which is capped to your mana affinity. Your magic potential is the max spell level that you can get based on things like your destiny, mysticism, etc… but is calculated differently for each individual so you can still improve if your potential for magic is like 0.

That is only your magical potential though as even if you have a potential of 1000 which is the max, you can only cast pure mana based spells and pure mana based spells are absolute hot garbage that a god barfed into… as in they are kind of useful if used correctly, especially the higher level ones but they are basic as sh-poop and there are way better options that are way more efficient for basically anything else. Also, the max magic potential someone ever gotten out of 1000… is like… 15 or something” Aenirus managed to explain before having to take a breather.

“alright… I think I get the gist of it… you have a thing called magic potential, it varies based on individuals and their stats and other variables, it let people control mana better the higher the potential is and the highest known potential is 15 as of right now” Tier said, bisecting the information he got from Aenirsus.

“yeah, I know, it’s very confusing, I only know this because I read book on how to magic I stole from a mage academy from the empire o... you know what let’s not get into that, I still have to explain about elemental affinities and how spells work” Aenirus started rambling on before getting back on track “so, mana affinities... how do I explain this one… alright, so mana affinities in the most basic ways I can describe them are limiters set so mages aren’t completely overpowered compared to martial classes

The way it works is this, a person has a magic potential based on their growth but mana affinities are selected upon birth based on too many unknown factors to count. For example, I may have a magic potential of like 8 but I can only use level 6 acid based spells because I only have an acid affinity level of 6. Also, there is no guarantee for someone to even get a mana affinity so they may have a magic potential level of 100 but 0 mana affinity levels making you the most wasteful use of mana ever as pure magic spells as I will reiterate again are practically useless but better than nothing.

These are all of the mana affinities I can list off at the top of my head because I only know these and I’m not sure if there are more so beginning to end we have: Fire, Water, lightning, Air, Earth, Acid, Dark, Light, Ice… Wate… no I already said that… right!... actually no wait I don’t remember anything else… POISON I FORGOT POISON and… think brain… think… I swear there was one more… Sonic!... yeah I think that’s all.

Then… there is the complicated thing that is spellcraft… oh boy… so spells are the medium used to cast magic by channeling mana from either your inner reserves which is quicker and more powerful and useful in a pinch or from the surrounding area which is pretty much infinite in source, slower but more efficient. The mana will then flow in certain patterns based on your own imagination, creativity and control over mana so you can do things such as launch pure elemental energy at your opponents.

You can also do many things with spells first thing is quickening spells, even if you cast using your inner mana reserves it is not the quickest thing though if you quicken a spell, you can use it in a split second to a few seconds depending on what spell and its level. You can also twin spells as in you cast two of the exact same spells whilst just casting a singular spell and there is a thing called upcasting where you increase the spell level of a certain spell to make it more powerful which can result in a totally different spell.

For all of what I just mentioned… all of these things are rarely used because of one simple thing… cost and that you must use your inner mana reserves to even attempt to do them… they can also fail though that is based solely on the caster’s skills. Twinning a spell does not double the mana cost… it will quadruple it, quickening a spell triple the cost and upcasting is very inefficient, so much so that it is usually better to cast a higher level spell instead.

Finally, we have multi-casting… this is not exactly a difficult thing to do but… it’s hard, uses up a lot of focus and is more expensive than normal. For example, I can quadra-cast… which means I can cast four spells at the same time and they do not need to be the same spell… problem being… it’s expensive to even attempt and again relies on the skill of the caster… and spell failure… it’s not pretty at all… especially when it multiplies the cost by… 4 times for quadra-casting for each spell.

Anyways, that’s the basics of magic from what I remember… basics of the Arcana school since I have no idea how to explain the others but I hope all the information I offered was helpful at the very least” Aenirus finished her explanation, though she questioned herself at the end of it “No worries you were a great help” Tier said gratefully “I honestly don’t know how I could’ve gotten all the information you gave me without you, I’m glad you’re here Aenirus” he gratefully added “oh erm… I’m happy you’re here too, it’s been so long since I’ve gotten to talk to anyone since most things I ran into in the wildlands attack me on sight that I’ve grown… out of breath… If you need me, just ask and I’ll answer any questions my way, it’s the least I can do to help” she said with a very flushed and happy expression… if it weren’t for the small fur like feathers Tier would’ve seen her blushing.

…

‘I’m extremely lucky to have her, I should repay her later though I don’t really know what to repay her with…’ was all Tier thought as he went and ordered the slime to cuddle with her for her efforts. Before he could go on to do other things, he got a notification:

You now have access to the blueprint(s): Sling (vines)

The blueprint he gained came from an item that the crafty kobold Verk of the bunch created and is currently in the process of testing… after he was supposed to hear an explanation about magic… before Tier went to him said “now what do we have here little fellow?” asking the kobold who proceeded to jump at his voice.

“greetings great one, what mayhaps I do too please you?” The kobold replied with a skittish demeaner ‘okay, so I’m great one now huh? Seems like all my creatures view me differently, also are all kobolds nervous wrecks when they speak to me?’ was the thoughts that formed in Tier’s head before he replied to the kobold “nah, I just want to ask you some questions and was wondering how you keep inventing things”

“oh? Great one wants to know? Someone wants to know? I will happily explain” Verk happily exclaimed before he went on with some explanations “you see, I looked at mah stats after yah went to help the others and when we compared our stats, I have the weakest strength, endurance and even perception with only a middling Dexterity to make up for it. Mah other stats were also average as well but Kaide the cammander told me I shoulda… try something else since mah trap making proficiency started at Trained the highest so I started to make stuff beginning with copying what you did and got some abilities to help along with a class and I thought mayhaps you would appreciate a crafter or someone skilled in the department so I continue to raise mah levels”

“I will say that you are enthusiastic, it’s nice to meet a fellow practitioner of the art” Tier said “you do have some problems but nothing a lot of knowledge about engineering wouldn’t fix” Tier exclaimed too happily “what… what do ya mean great one?” the kobold asked worriedly before Tier replied “no worries, I can see you have talent, for no… wait a second… IS THAT FUCKING MONITOR SLEEPING AGAIN? Give me a moment…” only to notice a sleeping monitor which will soon get into a lot of trouble.

…

5 minutes later…

…

“alright, sorry about that, got Kaide to force feed that thing a bunch of those poisonous mushrooms… where was I… oh right… Verk, I will be teaching you a lot about what you are currently doing” Kaid said to the kobold “thank you great one but what will you be teaching me?” Verk asked curiously “just simple engineering” was all Tier said before he started a session, he also called some other kobolds who seem interested to join the class… it was a mistake those kobolds who joined later would never forget…

As Tier is currently teaching er…. Screaming at his new recruits, Kaide is busy teaching the kobolds who did not enter Tier’s training camp spearfishing to improve their spear proficiency after he asked Tier to increase the amount of finis in the pool and after he was finished doing some… monitor force-feeding. Aenirus is cuddling with a slime that has no feelings but no orders of what to do whilst simultaneously teaching a curious Taika more about magic, the monitor being the only one guarding as an extra punishment whilst the Flying Kanids were busy grooming each other… a cute serpent find itself awake once more…

Cute critter serpent POV:

I awaken to some screeching, it was loud, can’t sleep because of it, maser was shouting against some of the two legged hunter… strange, no feeling hunger at all… weird… no need to sleep anymore either… which is more weird… felt bored so silently observe master yell at two legged hunters…

…

Yelling about something called engienaring? Cracteng? Understand some but not all points… whole cave system can crumble to one boom? Interesting, perhaps learn bit more… bored now, move to the best of the two legged hunters teaching others to use… long sticks? Long claws?... Spears! That’s what it’s called… strange, why m… I know that?

…

Two legged hunters plunge spears in water yet hit nothing so hiss loudly in frustration, best hunter do it, pulled out a finis instead, interesting… an hour passed watching each… training? Camps separately but grow boredom, went to explore rest of cave with maser as master started to move training camp, now master’s domain…

Cave path to get here unchanged but master did something as his training camp moved from place to place… interesting, master created lots and lots, make lots of examples, teach other Kobolds? Yes, now know what two legged hunters are called now!

One time, master noticed something shiny on wall after creating fire on stick, it’s something master exclaimed while excited as coppah, master liked coppah, starts creating more fire sticks to look for other things, went past lead Kobold’s group that was now voluntarily eating poison mushies? Poison mushies bad, why eat? Maybe not poison mushies, try biting one… NOPE! Still poison mushies, got bad belly ache, still follow master though.

Master found other things in walls as he made wall disappear, got too excited, made the L shaped room into a large box… maybe now 100 me’s wide left to right, 60 me’s tall up to down, made more water though and also spawned in many more things like more geckies that climb on walls more same brothers and sistahs, jumpy tasty things (rabbits), tiny armored things (insects), swimmies in the waters, more things to hunt, maybe become betterer hunter.

Master found other things in the walls as well, created from air to show other kobolds, some stuff like querts, coppah, ten?, clay, sleet, sand… many different things that all looked differently or the same… cannot tell. Started getting confusing, mastah apologized for being too excited but show that mixing coppah and ten can create thing called… br… Brons? Yes, brons!

Master said he show what can be done with metah later when have something called forge and other weird words cannot remember or understand. Getting head hurt from too many thoughts, but still follow master’s presence, went back to room before entrance and went to dead end room which master didn’t like so he made a rough hallway to second last room before big room which he said will be boss room? Did not remember…

Room has weird red in it, didn’t paid attention to what master taught the kobolds, weird red is weird, tried eating it, taste pleasant, continue to feast!... wait where is master? Why is there more weird red moss than before? Feel full, can’t feel mastah’s presence so went back to mossy rock to sleep…

Strange, mossy rock now has red moss on it, *gasp!* give from master! Huh? Now understand that green and red stuff is moss now? Amasing! Will cherish rock for rest of life… feel full… feel sleepy… sleep now… coil around rock… love mah mossy rock… love lots and lots…

…

Back to Tier…

‘that little serpent is seriously cute though, I adore it to death, training camp is done as well, Aenirus is still playing, the most surprising thing is that the monitor didn’t fell asleep again which is nice because I don’t want to stop Kaide’s… method of… force feeding everything those… poisonous mushrooms’ Tier thought at how weird his dungeon is but got past it ‘anyways, the real prize is the metals I found in the walls which I can get by absorbing stuff… which the advisor didn’t tell me about… *sigh*…’

All that aside, Tier was happy especially with the new blueprints he got:

You now have access to the blueprint(s): copper, quarts, limestone, clay (general), soil (general), tin, bronze, Feldspar, Basalt, Mica…

‘I finally have some metal… that was so fucking lucky of me to find both copper and tin in the same cave system so close to each other which makes no sense but hey… not complaining though I did have to dig around bit to find tin’ Tier thought ‘hmmm… there are things like threat rankings, magic potential, elemental affinities… things to think about I guess and…………………… what about mine?’ he asked about his own stats mentally

Rejected, know your own limits and potentials.

‘fair enough, I should go check up on Verk’s stats, something I completely forgot about’ Tier exclaimed in his mind before getting into that:

Status:

Name: Verk

Species: Kobold

Gender: Male

Age: a day old

Stats:

Strength - 11

Perception - 14

Endurance - 14

Dexterity - 22

Intelligence - 29

Wisdom - 25

Charisma - 16

Creativity - 37

Destiny - 17

Mysticism - 4

Karma - 11

Willpower - 14

Traits: Darkvision, Creative passion (gifted) (let the user make more creative decisions and are more passionate in creating things that are usually more off the table)

Skills: Fleet footed (lv.4)

Abilities: Fervent Focus (lv.5) (the user increases their focus whilst working in to increase efficiency in work whilst decreasing awareness of surroundings), Communication (lv.3), Poison resistance (lv.2)

Proficiencies: Trap making (trained), Knifes (novice), Spears (novice), Weapon Crafting (trained), Armor crafting (amateur), Javelins (novice), Slings (novice)

Arts: Aimed Thrust (lv.1)

Class: Crafter (lv.4) (those who create things such as weapons, armors, trinkets, etc… with skill and effort from their own hands and tools), Engineer (lv.2) (those who are skilled in the design, construction and use of machines and other aspects of engineering)

Threat ranking: 0.82

Magic Type: none

Magic potential: 1

Mana affinities: none

‘alright, maybe I should check all of the other kobolds’ Tier thought as he got back to work creating the ecosystem of the cave system he was in, originally he thought of completely changing the layout but decided to keep the cave theme even making the additions rough looking to match the original cave.

He put many more things that should be found in caves like cave dill, cave shoots, stalactites, stalagmites, cave varmilleons, etc… he even made small burrows around the cave for smaller critters to hide in ‘good places for creature breeding as well” Tier thought

Creature and critter breeding is currently disabled.

“oka… wait what? WHY?” he shockingly asked.

It is because creatures in dungeons, breed grow up faster than normal, this would cause too many creatures to be in a dungeon which may cause problems for the dungeon.

“that makes no sense, even if there is an increased growth and breeding rates there would be predators to keep the population down!” Tier said in a bit of aggression.

Creatures in a dungeon cannot attack each other.

“okay, but why?” Tier asked out loud.

Creatures attacking each other can kill each other which may weaken the dungeon, also unnamed and non-boss creatures cannot respawn.

…

“EXCUSE ME BUT THAT MAKES NO SENSE AND CR… oh right I got that from a trait… I guess it makes sense for dungeons to have those things disabled…” Tier mused out loud as he did the dungeon equivalent of mentally rubbing one’s head.

“excuse me boss but now that you stopped screaming loudly to the advisor thingy… we have a situation…” Hraeta nervously reported as she walked in the room…

“alright, spill the beans, what is it so I could go back to screaming childishly at the advisor… I really should get my temper under control…” Tier blurted out “We are getting under attack boss!” The kobold screamed out.

“oka… wait attacked? Give me a moment” Tier said as he went on to check on the attack as Hraeta now ran back to follow his presence or go to where the others are.

As he reformed his presence to put full focus the one stone door he made to keep things out, he saw all the other kobolds along with Aenirus still holding the slime, some of the flying Kanids including Batra, even the critter serpent and the usually lazy monitor staring at the stone doors that were buckling after every hit.

“Oh erm… hi there cr-Tier” Kaide greeted as he noticed Tier’s presence “save the chit chat for later, what’s the current situation?” Tier asked in a stern cold voice “we have no idea what’s behind the door at all… since no one is able to open it after you installed it” one of the kobolds, Verk replied “shouldn’t you know? You can sense anything in your dungeon” Aenirus asked “you should be able to see what it is since It’s in your dungeon” she quickly added

“right… okay, I’ll relay what I see to you since you’ll know what it is” Tier said responding to Aenirus suggestion “alright, four legged, 13ft long, 8ft wide creature, small nubby tail, large maw, rows of sharp yellow teeth, large black furred body, some scars, it was eating a dead cave serpent when I first saw it half a day ago, has really sharp claws at least 6 inches long, completely white eyes, seemed enraged especially after I tried to subconsciously claim it and from the many punctures on its belly after it fell down my spiked pitfall trap… also it’s smashing through the door in about a minute… scratch that half a minute”

“oh… that’s bad, that’s a Yao Guai, those thing are threat level 10 minimum, they can kill a full wild kobold tribe or perhaps a squad of soldiers if they’re strong enough, no way you guys are going to beat that thing at all, I’ll bust out some magic support in the back to help out” Aenirus reported calmlyin though she started chanting as soon as she finish for some kind of spell and some faint outlines appear around her.

“alright, let’s see here… Kaide I want you to take command of everyone on the field, I’ll be providing information on all its movements and what to do to counteract them” Kaide only nodded in response “Verk stay behind the lines with the two kobold who have javelins and pepper that thing until it stops moving. Batra, take command of the other flying kanids since I have no other subcommanders and start carrying the heaviest rocks you can carry above the entrance and drop it on the sucker. Slime go ready your slime shot skill and try to hit the beast in the head but above the mouths to blind the FUCKER. Monitor y… *CRASH* SHIT no time, do whatever but do not disrupt the line. Everyone, stand your ground and brace for impact! This is a SNAFU level of threat right now and I feel stupid for not spawning anyone else, but that’s in the past soreadyup!”

…

“sorry boss, I got a bit stuck o-” was all Hraeta got out before the beast burst through the half foot thick stone door and started charging the line, she threw her spear at that thing in a panic but not before all the other things happened at once causing complete chaos on the battle line.

The Yao Guai broke through the stone door only to be pelted by a lot of different things by the determined defenders, two javelins to the front left leg that sticked but didn’t do much damage, over a score of rocks landed on its head and back that dealt minimal amount of blunt damage. Two spear thrust from the two closest kobolds aimed at its neck but one missed and the other barely didn’t penetrate the thick fur. Only the lucky sling stone from Verk into its roaring mouth and the slime that landed on its head after a lucky bounce did some semblance of real damage…

Also the three spinning spears of yellow acid that Aenirus conjured to impale it on its neck, front right leg, actually the third one missed as it dodged by pure chance roaring from pain. The damage while severe was not enough to down it or hinder it too much except make it roar out in pain as it slapped the slime which bounced harmlessly off of Taika’s face to then mortally wounding another kobold with a slash as she tried to retreat after attacking it throwing her 10ft back.

The spear thrown by Hraeta coming to the fray managed to only bounced harmlessly off the beast’s fur coat so she rushed to pick the fallen kobold’s spear and starts to ready up an aimed thrust. The monitor which was hidden by the north western side of the room leapt onto the Yao Guai’s back and starts to frenzily attack it as best as it could but most attack only do minor damage. This however allowed Kaide and another kobold called Galdra to both land their aimed thrust skill at the beast’s neck but only Kaide’s thrust did any real damage as Galdra did not get enough momentum and released the art a bit too early.

The critter serpent decided that it wants none of this and hid behind a rock alongside some other critters that came to see what’s up but still kept watching as Tier command the remaining monsters he had, a dozen giant cave Varmilleons and two lesser cave serpents to flank around and attack it from the rear after they got out of a hastily built tunnel system to the entrance room but their sneak attack proved unsuccessful at even inconveniencing the Yao Guai.

The Yao Guai got the first initiative as it slams the monitor to the wall on its back which made it fall off whilst also inadvertently crushing some of the flanking creatures as it then picks up the fallen monitor and threw it at the skirmishers at the back not hitting them but making Verk have to wind up his sling again showing that the beast has at least some intelligenc… never mind it just charged into Kaide’s readied spear. Kaide’s reaction to the beast impaling itself on his spear is to drop it, hop back and pick up and threw one of the javelins a kobold dropped as he dodged the flying monitor which only nipped it in the rear with Galdra to its left side stab at it’s well… left side and managed to get it good.

Hraeta also went in to stab it in the stomach which caused some damage but got her spear stuck and the damage is starting to add up on the beast especially after losing its frenzy buff as it was impaled again by one of Aenirus’s acid spears as she also cast a group buff of some kind boosting the stamina of all those who did not act yet and also undazing the monitor. The kanids went in but found their attacks ineffective so they went to pick up more rocks to drop on as that at least did some damage.

The most damage dealt in the round was acually from Taika who was hit by the slime in the head who then picked up the slime and threw it at the Yao Guai’s face again before going in for a stab and actually blinding it in its right eye as the acid managed to get in on its socket. The flanking force was still ineffective so Tier did a little something with the hanging stalagmites on the ceiling but aren’t able to drop them just yet.

“DODGE LEFT!” Tier mentally instructed Galdra but was too late as he was mauled to death by the large beast after it swatted off the slime again this time hitting Verk square I the face. Taika who threw the slime now behind the creature mauling one of their comrades did something with her spear and stabbed it hard in its arse doing some damage. Hraeta took her dagger out and raked it from its side alongside kaide as he went in with a javelin to its neck. The ranged kobolds all got a hit in except Verk who was trying to get the slime out of his face not so for it eating his face but more so he could actually breath.

Aenirus changed tactics shifting the shadow of the Yao Guai before sending a focused lance of darkness through the Yao Guai’s… ermm… ouch that’s gonna sting not having babies for the rest of your life, which made other males gave her a wide stare as the beast roared in agonizing pain “what? It’s an effective tactic against clearly male creatures with exposed bollocks!” she shouted out in her defense “I mean, I’m not against it per say but you should probably never do that again unless you want to lose… brownie points towards all the other males” was Tier’s only response “that’s… fair I guess” was Aenirus response before she got back to casting.

The monitor only slightly perturbed by Aenirus’s move charged at the beast’s side as it regained its composure but not fast enough as the monitor whipped its tail out for a brutal tail attack on the creature’s face right on the nose. The kanids got rocks but are not fast enough and half of them have to go into other rooms to search for rocks. The critter serpent is still watching the fight but staying absolutely still as it watched the action unfolding. The flanking team being as useless as ever and Tier managed to drop a falling Stalagmite on the thing’s back injuring it a bit.

Unfortunately for the beast, the ranged team got the better initiative peppering it with ineffective fire as the kanids rained rocks on it but doing little to no damage. The beast now enraged swatted the slime’s slime shot into the kobold at its rear, bit off half of the monitor’s tail and standing 13ft tall and gave a wide downward slash which eviscerated half a dozen flying kanids though the monitor and Kaide evaded thanks to Tier’s warning and so did the rest of the kanids.

Kaide shouted for the javelin throwers to get in melee as the line was only three kobolds now but he stabbed it again before readying another aimed thrust on the beast. However, he did not need it as the monitor now enraged by having its tail bit off climbed onto the Yao Guai’s face and ripped off an ear before plunging one claw deep into the beast’s remaining eye effectively ending the fight and ending the Yao Guai with it.

As the fight ended, Aenirus stabbed it with a few more spears of darkness, Verk hitting it with a few more stones, a falling stalagmite from Tier and a whole lot of poking and prodding and double-tapping before the thing starts dissolving alongside any dead defenders.

You now have access to the pattern:

Lesser Yao Guai: Originally called the daemon bear until a traveler from the Eastern continent came and referred to it as a Yao Guai which is a much better name agreed by most. These are tough beast from the Ursinea family, they are unintelligent beast that travel alone, only getting together to mate but make up for their lack of intelligence with strong physical stats and mental willpower. Yao Guai live in forests and do occasionally live in caves but be careful as tehy do not build any clear indications of nests so while entering or securing any caves, be ready to fight a Yao Guai at the very least.

Base Stats:

Strength - 92

Perception - 36

Endurance - 89

Dexterity - 21

Intelligence - 4

Wisdom - 7

Charisma - 12

Creativity - 4

Destiny - 4

Mysticism - 10

Karma - 11

Willpower – 61

Traits: Keen sense of smell (the user has a keen sense of smell), Tough Fur (provide ample protection against both physical damage and the elements)

Skills: Intimidation (lv.7) (allow the user to intimidate opponents into inaction, pits the user’s and opponent’s respective willpower against each other)

Abilities: Frenzy (lv.11), Dying rage (lv.4) (the user let out a dying rage, trying to kill those who are currently winning against it providing a boost to stats as it is mortally wounded), Arboreal-movement (lv.3)

Proficiencies: Claws (trained), Bite (trained)

Threat rank: 10.67

…

…

“okay, all of you can take a break” Tier said as pretty much all the denizens of his dungeon breathed a sigh of relief as their adrenaline died down and the life or dead situation was over “also yes, you can fall asleep now” He answered a question he knew would be asked and this pleased the monitor greatly as it falls to sleep the kobolds went back to the only place with a campfire after Tier put two more pit traps up in the hallway from the entrance and fixed the stone door whilst tripling its width and weight.

Tier noticed that of the creatures from his side that died, many dropped something after their bodies dissolved into motes of light which seemed to refill much of his mana alongside the body of the Yao Guai which he himself has to manually absorb like everything else in the cave that he could not claim. ‘alright first things first, how do I respawn the others that died in the attack?’ he asked mentally

When a respawnable creature died, you are able to select their greyed out name in your status.

After that Tier checked his status again:

Name: Tier

Species: Dungeon Core

Gender: None (but prefers male)

Age: 1-day old

Stats:

Strength – 22 (+11)

Perception – 23 (+12)

Endurance – 20 (+8)

Dexterity – 21 (+9)

Intelligence – 35 (+3)

Wisdom – 25 (+3)

Charisma - 21(+8)

Creativity – 36 (+4)

Destiny – 16 (+4)

Mysticism – 15 (+2)

Karma - 22(+4)

Willpower – 51 (+3)

Traits: Increased Creature’s Intelligence, Increase Creature’s Variety, Caring Dungeon, Equal Opportunities

Skills: Rage (lv.10) (user can enter a rage state to increase either physical, mental or spiritual stats based on the situation)

Abilities: Communication (lv.18), Battlefield Orders (lv.3) (allows the user to give orders to those under them increasing their effectiveness when following their orders)

Classes: None

Patterns: Flying Kanid (lv.3), Kobolds (lv.4), Scavenger Ravicas (lv.1), Monitors Reptilari (lv.1), Greater Venomous Cave Serpent (lv.1), Lesser Cave Slime, Lesser Giant Cave Varmilleon (lv.3), Lesser Cave Serpent (lv.2), Lesser Yao Guai (lv.1)

Proficiencies: None

Creatures: Kaide (Kobold)

Reserves: 2 kobolds, 6 flying kanids, 3 lesser cave varmillions

‘oh, okay then… I just realized that I haven’t checked my stats for a while… not important right now but note to self for late. I guess the advisor thing made a new category called reserves so I can respawn my creatures… hey can you set it to automatically spawn them in their chosen location?’

Affirmative, any creatures that have fallen will respawn in their chosen environments within a set amount of time based on their threat ranking.

‘thank you, I have a few question, first question, can you turn on the natural breeding and predation thing?’

Affirmative, creatures will now start breeding and hunting each other in your dungeon, in addition any nutrition they managed to get will be converted to their experience required to evolve.

‘okay, what is this evolving thing then?’

Evolution is the natural stage of any creature, dungeon creatures can evolve faster but are offset by their lack of experience, skill and cunning due to numerous reasons which is why natural creatures are way more dangerous and dungeons like to try to either claim or contract natural creatures, creatures with core crystals are more likely to evolve.

‘what are core crystals?’

Core crystals are a part of any living beings except for a few exceptions like humanoids and some other creatures. These core crystals allow for the better use of mana from the creatures who have them, for dungeon creatures, core crystals allow them to leave the dungeon on command, they also provide some passive bonuses for creatures with them and are an incentive to come in and raid the dungeon. Bosses automatically get these core crystals and they can be added to any creatures via creature modification.

…

‘can I give my creatures core crystals and what happens if I do?’ Tier asked again.

Negative, you cannot give your creatures a core crystal until you reached your 5th floor, however creatures can automatically get core crystals with many different ways. If you give a creature a core crystal, they can leave the dungeon and they are stronger whilst in the dungeon whilst also providing an extra bit of loot drop which should get more people to come to your dungeon. Bosses automatically get core crystals.

’right, final questions… how do I create another floor?’

To create another floor, you simply dig down and designate a space as a new floor.

‘alright, no more questions I need to respawn the others’ Tier finally ceased questioning as he respawned the others that lost their lives in the attack. All of the denizens that respawned were shocked by them suddenly coming back to life again from death… as any person would be shocked if they suddenly get revived.

‘now then, I want to experiment with something later and that something is creature modification’ if Tier had a physical body, you could clearly see a mad smile form on his face as he was giddy on thought of modifying real biological creatures, something any biologist back at home would give both their arms for from his perspective as the day passed on with him doing things like thickening the outer walls and adding a couple of traps…