Aurora

I leaned against a tree as I waited for the nausea to pass. I was really starting to hate Maxwell’s teleportation skill. From the looks of the others, they appeared to be fine which made it clear that it was my telepathic link to the homunculus body that was the cause. Since it didn’t seem to cut the link altogether, I decided to write it off as an inconvenience.

Coughing to clear my throat, I straightened up. The others had already left. It was still early in the evening. While I wanted to get back to my dungeon, I still had work to do. I slipped out into the forest. Being known by the lord helped with the guards. They didn’t even raise an eyebrow when I exited through the gate.

Turning to the north, I kicked this body into high gear running back to the Nature Dungeon. It was close to seventy kilometers, but I covered that in just over an hour. Not too bad if I said so myself. When I arrived at the dungeon, I found Count Drac and the vampires I created for him waiting for me.

Drac along with his subordinates knelt in front of me as I strode into the clearing. “My Queen. We have been waiting for you.”

I waved for them to stand up. “Drac. Has the dungeon reset?” I asked.

“Yes, my lady. At least for the first section, all of the monsters that were defeated have returned.”

“I see.” Not that it was going to stop me. I gestured at the entrance. “Let’s go!”

Inside the dungeon, we cleared the first golem with ease. The Greater vampires were equipped with Maces that turned the stone golems into piles of rubble in seconds. Before long, I reached the first of the secret passages. With a glance at Drac, I pressed the switch causing part of the wall to slide free and reveal a new tunnel.

“A little ostentatious, but I like it,” I muttered pushing my way inside. Similar to my own dungeon, it was just a bare tunnel that led deeper into the dungeon. I sent a few Greaters ahead to make sure that the tunnel wasn’t further trapped. A few minutes of walking, I found the entrance to the first boss room. We ignored that and headed deeper.

Clocking in a time that would have made the party from earlier choke on blood, we arrived at the third boss room. I wanted to see if the boss had been recreated, but at the same time, didn’t want to risk it. Triggering the opening might be more than enough to sic the boss on us. I pushed my desire down directing us down the new section of the tunnel.

This part was only a few dozen meters before we came out in a circular room. The cave was natural and unnatural at the same time. As if someone had created the cave to look like it had always been there. Whatever the case, I found an orb that was exactly like mine floating above a small pool of water. The biggest difference was that the orb was a deep green.

I glanced around but failed to find a Dungeon Master. My existence seemed to be an exception after all. I rubbed my hands together and walked over to the orb. The entire time I closed in on the core, I waited for a trap or last ditch attempt to prevent me from accessing the core, but nothing happened.

Placing my hand on the core, I connected to the core from my main body using this body as a node. It worked even better than I expected. There was absolutely no resistance. The next few seconds reminded me that we were in a game rather than the real world.

--

Accessing Core Data. Access granted to Dungeon Master. Dungeon: Nature’s Grotto.

Owner: N/A

Dungeon Core: Golem

Level:3

Mana:1,470/3,000

Claim dungeon ownership: Y/N?

--

I didn’t hesitate. I clicked Yes. The green core dyed crimson causing the room to darken. The pool of water under the core seemed to become blood. I pulled my hand free enjoying the new power I felt. I closed my eyes letting my mind switch back to my main body. I stood up from my throne and pulled open my status screen.

--

Name: Aurora Nightingale

Level: 12

Race: Vampire

Class: Dungeon Master – Night Queen

Sub: Dungeon Core

Total Mana: 2,000/2,500

Abilities:

Blood Sucking

Blood Magic

Elemental Magic – Fire, Earth, Death, Dark

Basic Sneak

Dungeon Menu

--

[Dungeon Core: Vampire – Night Queen. Owner: Aurora Nightingale]

Dungeon Level: 5

Total Mana: 751/6000

[Dungeon Core: Golem – Nature’s Grotto. Owner: Aurora Nightingale]

Dungeon Level: 3

Total Mana: 1,470/3,000

--

I wasn’t sure if this would work, but I closed my eyes and thought about my vampire form appearing in the Grotto. The two dungeons were over a hundred kilometers apart. If I could teleport at least between the dungeons, it would make my life easier. The scent around me changed. Peeking through my lashes, I found that I was standing in the core room of the Grotto with the others. Yes!

Dungeon Master class has leveled up! Main class has reached level two. Instantaneous Movement unlocked – Dimensional Link: Shadow Walk. The power of all Earth magic has been vastly increased. New Creatures have been unlocked for summoning. Stats have been increased.

I nearly whistled at the windfall of stuff. It also gave rise to a new ambition. It was clear that I was leveling three different aspects. My player level, my dungeon core level, and what I thought was just a title until just now, my dungeon master level. This would change several of my goals in the short term. If capturing NPC dungeons raised my Dungeon Master level then I would capture any I set my sights on.

Dungeon Master conflict detected. Dungeon Master Aurora is the dungeon master of the Vampiric Dungeon of Demonic Delights. Halls of the Night Queen. Omen of Evil and Destruction. Please select a Steward within the next twelve hours or Nature’s Grotto will be destroyed.

I didn’t see a reason to hesitate. The only real options were Zaras or Count Drac, and perhaps maybe Frederick. Zaras and Frederick were, however, otherwise occupied with matters for the dungeon. Count Drac had only just started to settle in plus he was a few levels higher than Zaras being combat oriented.

“My Count. I am hereby appointing you to Steward of Nature’s Grotto.”

Count Drac knelt in front of me. “As you wish, my queen.” I was glad that I had started infusing loyalty into them when they were summoned with my blood magic. I refused to have another Losa event happen. Or worse, they might decide to come after me.

Count Drac has been declared Steward of Nature’s Grotto. You now possess 15.5 kilometers of land on the surface, and 173.4 kilometers of land of the Abyss. As a Night Queen vampire, you have the option of declaring a nation with your authority. This will create the Diplomacy stat and War Stat. Being a Nation will influence population growth, tax revenue, military strength, and culture gain. A City-State can be promoted to nation-state with the declaration of a capital and having a second town under your influence. As a nation you must defend your capital at all costs.

I thought about it for a good thirty minutes. I had some… misgivings about declaring a nation, but in the end, I decided that I would figure out a solution for any problems that might arise as a result of this. With a gallery of Greater vampires and one Royal Vampire watching, I filled in the information to declare a nation with the system. I went with Scarlet Night as the name since I felt that fit us the most.

Congratulations! The nation of Scarlet Night has been established! The Vampiric Dungeon of Demonic Delights has been declared the capital of your nation. Only your citizens have knowledge of this. Please inform any allies of this declaration. Twisted Webs has been incorporated into your nation through Espionage. You have forty-eight hours to clarify your stance with the citizens of Twisted Webs or risk a coup.

As your false identity is the leader of Twisted Webs, you have successfully integrated the city into your control without bloodshed. You have been awarded one free Cultural Unlock for your Nation. You have been awarded two spell unlocks. Future Espionage feats will be more likely to work.

I stared at the screens for several minutes. There was just so much to take in. I couldn’t believe that my little stint in Twisted Webs as Aru would be so rewarding. I would have to make sure to give Opal and Mira something to show my thanks. That said, NPCs or not, I doubted they would accept becoming part of a random nation without any warning. I would need to work on that soon. Timer or not.

My new nation tab even came with a map. It was a fancy three-dimensional thing that let me view the surface, Abyss, and even the sky in great detail. Maxwell’s territory was still whited out even on my map. I had hoped that my actions as Kaga would dismiss some of that, but whatever.

The territory on the surface that I controlled was separated by a big chunk of white due to Maxwell. He would have to expand to the North if we wanted to avoid each other, but that would take him into Eblos’s territory. I doubted they wanted to piss off the goblin nation even more. Not that they would have much choice. My present to Maxwell should come to fruition any day now.

I so wanted to be there when he got the news that some of the goblins from the inquisition managed to escape and what’s more, they claimed to be defeated by Maxwell and his lot. From what the goblins that we captured claimed it should be another day or two before word reaches the goblin capital. Unless, of course, something happened to speed that up.

Shaking my head to dismiss the wonderful thoughts, I turned back to the map. South was free for the taking, but it was hard for me and my vampires to move during the day on the surface. Even if I did manage to claim a large swath of the land, holding it would be another matter altogether. The idea of playing tug-of-war with Maxwell over some dirt didn’t exactly entice me either.

Moving the map down, I looked at my holdings under the surface. The area occupied by both dungeons came to just over seventy kilometers. I’m not sure how the system calculated that since I could only spread out to perhaps five max even from my main dungeon. I quickly realized that it was volume. Up, down, left, right, you had to think three-dimensional underground. When I visualized it like that, it made more sense. Adding in the area from Twisted Webs, and it came out to just about a hundred seventy kilometers.

I checked the time. It was well into the middle of the night. I had to get Kaga back to the village in case someone came looking for her. I closed my eyes and pictured my main dungeon. Without any sort of indication, I found myself back home. I took a seat on the throne and sighed before sucking a breath to ready myself for the mental strain that was the constant telepathy involved in controlling one of my bodies.

To my surprise, there was barely a twinge when I opened my eyes as Kaga. I moved around for a few seconds, but again there was no noticeable issue even though I was near the limit of my control—no. I wasn’t. This dungeon was now mine. It must act like an antenna, boosting my signal. Coupled with all the jewelry from Everlid, then I might be able to operate within a good portion of the Great Forest now as Kaga.

I dusted myself off, then glanced back to Drac. “I’m leaving this in your hands for the time being. Touch the core if you need my attention.”

“Understood, my queen.”

To test my new found ownership, I walked through the dungeon rather than the secret tunnels. The feeling of walking within centimeters of monsters that were just trying to kill me earlier today was amazing. I was already hoping to find another dungeon to claim as my own. When I reached the first boss, I clapped it on the thigh, since that was all that I could reach. “Take care of the place for me.”

I was nearly skipping when I left the dungeon and headed back for the village. It wasn’t until I was almost thirty kilometers that I smacked myself on the head. I should have used Dimensional Link – Shadow to send this body back to the main dungeon as well. The walk back to the village would have been so much easier. Dropping my head, I sighed and kept walking. I reached the village just as the sun was starting to come up. When I passed through the territory, something unexpected happened.

Your Mortal Enemy’s settlement has reached the level of town and now controls a potential City-State. A declaration of War has been declared from Scarlet Night.

“I don’t hate this,” I muttered. I had to cover my mouth since I was sure that I had the biggest and not to mention most sinister smile that a person could have.