《New Earth- The Dungeon of Madness》


 Chapter 1: New beginning

    In 2050, a global disaster struck Earth, forcing humanity into underground refuges for survival. They didn¡¯t know how long it would take before they would be able to go back to the surface but fortunately, humanity managed to complete a massive MMORPG just before migrating. Everyone was put into deep sleep using advanced cryogenic technologies and were connected to the game, New Earth.


    Despite the appearance of the game, New Earth has much more to offer than just action and adventure. The underlying purpose of the game is still unknown to the world population, only the powerful ones know the real meaning of New Earth.


    ....


    "Hey!"


    "Heyyy!!"


    "Hey!!!! Wake up!"


    "What is happening? Where am I? Who¡¯s speaking?"


    A young man opened his eyes, seeing nothing but darkness. He could not feel anything under his feet. It was like he was floating in water, but he could breathe normally.


    With this strange feeling, he quickly swung his arms in an attempt to swim but nothing happened. He felt like his body did not move from its original location but since it was dark, there was no way to confirm it. Suddenly, the same voice was heard:


    "Greetings, prisoner 1542! Welcome to New Earth "


    "Who are you? What is New Earth? Is that Hell? Did these bastards finally decide to kill me?" said the man while trying to find the source of the voice.


    "No! ...You should be aware of the situation; the governments could not afford any resources for the prisoners. They had to focus on the "Hope" Project. You should have been left on the surface together with all your prison mates. But I have different plans for you," answered the voice.


    "What do you mean? Who are you!? " asked the man. He was completely disoriented.


    "New Earth is not just a game to entertain humans while they wait to be able to go back to the surface again. It is actually a grand selection process; the harsh environment of New Earth will bring the best out of everyone. It is an opportunity for talents to emerge. There are many underlying components of the game that will be used in the future to select the best possible talents to lead humans to the surface once again..."


    "I don''t understand... That is too much information... Who are you ?!?" It was already the third time he was asking for the speaker¡¯s identity and the man was starting to feel frustrated.


    "You don''t need to understand right now. Take this opportunity as a redemption for your past actions. Don''t you want revenge for what happened to your family?"


    "How do you know all that?!? Don''t bring up my family! Just what do you want from me? Am I not just a criminal?" aggressively shouted the young man.


    The darkness was hiding the speaker, but the young man frowned and looked around him finding nothing.


    "Yes, you are a criminal... But just like everything in the world, criminals also have their own talent, right? New Earth was created to discover buried talents, and criminals are very often geniuses in their own way/ They are just not accepted by society. But in the future, we don''t know what will happen when humans go back to the surface. Didn''t you graduate with honors into Management before ''that'' happened?" said the voice with a hint of amusement.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "Don''t mention it! Stop beating around the bush, tell me what you want from me!"


    Suddenly, the environment got slightly brighter. In front of him, the young man saw a beautiful lady floating in mid-air just like him. She was one of the most beautiful ladies he had seen during his entire life. Her white dress completely covered her feet and the fact that she was floating gave her the appearance of an angel.


    She slowly approached the young man from afar, with a gentle smile on her face, she then explained:


    "Firstly, you can call me Gaia. I am the person in charge of New Earth. My task is to maintain a balanced environment for all the players. As everyone will stay in refuges for a long period of time, the different nations developed this game to allow the population to be productive as they stay underground. 60% of the population of the world is connected to New Earth, the remaining 40% making up the elderly and the under-age children."


    "After various debates with the people in charge, they agreed to bring prisoners into the game. While you and many other inmates were unconscious, you were transported into underground refuges and are now connected to the game. However, you won''t be playing the game just like the normal players."


    "I am giving all the prisoners a chance to get back their freedom. I want you to set up a dungeon in New Earth. In other words, I want you to be the ''villains'' of this game. I believe you know what a dungeon is. There have been many movies about them in the past few years and I want you to build one. Dungeons in New Earth are basically monster farms that are considered evil. Isn''t it fitting to ask a criminal to be in charge of such things?"


    The young man was calmly listening to the lady... His expression gradually getting darker and darker.


    "Why should I do that? I have no interest in doing such things. Besides I don''t want anything to do with other people again!"


    "As I said, don''t you want revenge? It is your chance to completely destroy your enemies, but at the same time, they can also ruin your life. People are not aware of this, but this game has more at stakes than it looks. I can tell you that the leading figures of the game, when it will be time to return to the surface, will become the next leaders of the human race."


    "I don''t care about these things. Who would want to lead such a corrupted society!?¡± answered the young man. But a few seconds later, he asked while trying to hide his interest: ¡°What do you mean by revenge?"


    "As a dungeon master, your task will be to create a dungeon and raise monsters. Normally, your dungeon will be under constant attacks from players and NPCs but if you do things correctly... You should know that monsters are not limited to only defending your dungeon... I don''t think I need to say more... You have the opportunity to make your enemies'' life miserable if you use your resources accordingly."


    "Really? That''s sounds interesting, but this is too good to be true... Where is the trap? Tell me the specifics. I need to know the details before accepting."


    "I cannot say anymore... I already gave you much more information than you need. Everything else, you''ll need to learn by yourself. You will have a teacher who will explain the basics of dungeon management. The rest is up to you."


    The young man recollected his thoughts: ¡®If what she says is true... I might be able to make them pay for what they did to mother and father... They ruined our lives... I will make them pay... especially her... In that case...''


    "..... Fine, I''ll do it! ..." loudly exclaimed the young man, with a hint of anger in his voice.


    Hearing that, the lady''s smile grew larger. She even covered her mouth with her delicate hand to muffle her laugh.


    "I knew you would agree, but still, you will never succeed if you don''t work hard. First, you will be sent to an existing dungeon where you will learn about the basics of being a dungeon master."


    "Is that really necessary?"


    "Yes, this is compulsory, and believe it or not, managing a dungeon is more difficult than it looks. Bear in mind, many other people labeled as criminals would also be in the same situation as you. And to make sure they won''t slack off, all dungeons will face a test regularly."


    At that moment, a bright portal opened to the left of the young man. He hesitated for a second and looked again at the lady. After a few seconds of doubts, he quickly leaned towards the portal and slowly floated towards it.


    The lady calmly watched the man float towards the portal. She smiled and said: "Ah I forgot to tell you. From now on, your name is Five"


    With a puzzled expression, the young man turned around, "Five? That''s a weird name. Can''t I use my own name?"


    "You were a prisoner after all. I cannot give you all the rights. I don''t think you''ll prefer to be called prisoner 1542."


    After she finished her sentence, the lady raised her hand and a bright light shone. Responding to the light, the portal started to emit a power sucking force.


    The man instinctively tried to resist for a second, but the force was too strong, he inevitably flew towards the portal and lost consciousness; the last thing he saw was the smile of the lady.

 Chapter 2: Fives teacher

    Five slowly regained consciousness. He felt someone touching his body and heard a soft voice: "He is fine. He will wake up very soon."


    Five felt numb. He tried to move his arms but failed. He could not even open his eyes, but gradually, he felt his strength coming back.


    "Mmm"


    He opened his eyes and saw a delicate white face staring at him a few inches away. The woman instantly backed off as Five¡¯s gaze followed her. What directly attracted Five''s attention wasn''t her purple hair but rather the dark wings behind the woman''s back. She was the one who just examined Five''s body.


    "Master. He is awake," said the woman while standing up and taking a few steps back.


    A few seconds later, an elderly man approached Five.


    The latter was still dazed, but he slowly took notice of his surroundings. He was lying on a small bed in a very simple room. There were no windows and only a large metallic door. In addition to the bed, there was a desk, chairs and a sofa on which the elderly man was previously sitting. The lack of decorations made the room look pretty much like a prison cell.


    "Good morning, child. You finally woke up!" said the elderly man.


    "First of all, I am Kroff, Dr. Kroff! And I will be your mentor for the following week and she is Harriet," said the man while showing the winged woman who was previously examining Five''s body.


    "Hello!" added the woman with a gentle smile, gently flapping her wings.


    As soon as he learned their name, Five could see their name appear just above their heads like holograms. Next to the names were their levels. However, all Five could see was: ¡°???¡±


    Five stared at them. It was not that he wanted to be impolite; he just could not move his body yet. Even just opening his eyes was straining for him.


    "Don''t worry. You will slowly recover. For now, just listen to what I say," said Kroff, when he saw that Five was trying to move.


    "You and I are both Dungeon Masters. You were chosen to become one but lacked knowledge and experience. You were sent here to learn about dungeons before setting up your own."


    Kroff continued: "I know that right now, you are tired and just want to sleep, but as a dungeon master, it is essential to be able to focus and react in any circumstances. You cannot predict when your dungeon will be under danger. Therefore, get yourself together and stand up!"


    Five frowned and looked right in the eyes of Kroff as if accepting the challenge. Despite feeling numb, he forced himself to move. After a few seconds of struggle, he managed to move his arms. With them, he adjusted his body to sit on the bed and looked back at Kroff.


    Kroff watched the whole process. Seeing the Five succeeded, he nodded his head and smiled. "I see that you have a good spirit. What is your name?"


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "I am called Five," promptly answered Five, using the name he had just been given.


    "There is a lot to say so sit down and just listen.... Where should I begin? A bit of story?"


    "We dungeon masters are said to come from the demons and that is partly true. We are the survivors among the monsters that invaded Zero decades ago. When our leaders were defeated, they shamelessly abandoned us on this planet. To ensure our survival, we, the highest ranked monsters that were abandoned, created these dungeons with our own cores which later, turned into dungeon cores."


    "By doing so, we could absorb energy from the environment and the living beings in the surroundings of our cores. With this energy, we were able to create anything. Yes, anything could be created as long as you had enough energy to trade. To quantify this energy, we use the term DP (Dungeon Points). With this energy, our dungeons slowly grew, and we expanded our forces."


    "However, our cores were highly sought by the different races of Zero, they are valuable materials for crafting weapons and elixirs. Noticing that our leaders had retreated, the different races all attacked our dungeons. We had to defend but many of the weaker dungeons perished under the constant attacks."


    "The different races became more and more greedy and to protect ourselves, several alliances between dungeons masters were formed and we went on the offensive for the first time. This was known as the first Monster Wave. Many cities suffered severe losses. Some were even destroyed but we achieved our aim. We cooled down the head of the attackers."


    "After this, the different races still attacked our dungeons but with much more moderation. Eventually, our alliance leaders initiated contact with the other races and later, an equilibrium was reached. Years have passed and now, our dungeons are basically the training grounds of these races. They come and kill monsters, while we obtain Dungeon Points due to their presence or death within our dungeons. It is a never-ending cycle."


    "I myself, is a member of the Cyclone Alliance. We are one of the strongest alliances of Dungeon Masters. Our leader is the Duke Shercliff of the Millenium Empire. Yes, you heard me well. Our leader is a duke. We dungeon masters also have other identities which actually helps in making our dungeons more popular."


    Kroff continued his explanations, talking a lot about the Cyclone Alliance, praising it, but Five twitched upon hearing that. He could tell where this was going. Kroff wanted him to join the Cyclone Alliance, but Five had no desire to. He remained silent and pretended to listen intently.


    "My dungeon is the Algate Dungeon, located just outside Algate City in the Dominion Empire. It is not the greatest dungeon, but I am proud to say that it is definitely in the top 20 of the Empire."


    "Cough Cough"


    "I think that this is enough information for today. You just woke up and need to rest. I will come back tomorrow for more. Harriet!"


    "Yes!" said the woman standing behind Kroff. She quickly went out of the room and came back with a tray on which a few dishes were placed.


    "Here. You should eat. It will help you recover faster," said Harriet with a smile.


    "Thank you!" gratefully answered Five while looking at his plate. He was relieved that Kroff did not invite him to the Cyclone Alliance but with just one look, he could tell that Kroff was rather displeased. In his previous ''job'', he learned how to observe people and determine what they were thinking based on their body language and what he saw was that Kroff was at first happy to talk to him, but later got gloomier.


    "We will leave you now. Have a good night," said Kroff while walking towards the door. He was quickly followed by Harriet who sent a quick glance towards Five before closing the door.


    "Fiouff"


    Upon seeing them both leave his room, Five let out a sigh of relief. He leaned against the wall, calmly thinking about what happened. Kroff gave him a lot of information but he was used to it. In his previous ''job'' collecting information was of utmost importance. There was a lot of information to process but he had a general understanding of what was happening.


    ''Should I just wait for him to come back? Or be more proactive?'' said Five to himself.


    His eyes landed on the tray in front of him. Seeing the tray of food, he could not help but feel hungry, not physically, but mentally. He stayed in prison before coming here and the food in front of him looked very appetizing right now.


    He quickly let go of his thoughts and attacked the steak in front of him.


    ...


    At the same time, in a large and fancily decorated room, Kroff was sitting on a throne in the center of the room. He rotated a floating sphere which was displaying the different floors of his dungeon. He was carefully looking at what was happening in the dungeon when Harriet came in from a side door.


    "So? What do you think of him, master?"


    "He is a good seedling; good spirit and he looks like he retained most of what I said."


    "Then why are you not happy?" asked Harriet.


    "When I mentioned the Cyclone Alliance, that guy clearly got uncomfortable. I don''t think he will be willing to join us..."


    "Is that an issue? When teaching the newcomers, isn''t it necessary to be impartial, regardless of what they choose?"


    "Yes, but I have a bad feeling about him. If I cannot get him to join us, I might as well leave him alone and not bother teaching him anything. At least, he won''t become a significant threat to us. That¡¯s the most important thing!"


    "Isn''t that against the rules? You should be giving him proper teaching and advises,¡± said Harriet with a confused expression.


    "That''s true. I have to teach him the basics, but apart from that, what I teach him is up to my own discretion."


    A cold light flashed through Kroff''s eyes which was quickly followed by a cold smile.


    "Now that I think about it... I am supposed to give him protection, but what if one of my monsters rebels and ends up killing him in the process?"

 Chapter 3: The Core of Madness

    After a good meal, Five stood up and placed the tray on the desk. He regained most of his strength and was now able to move normally. He found the food exceptionally delicious considering his recent diet, but he hoped that the portion had been bigger.


    He started examining the room. It was a habit he developed. Looking under the sofa and the bed, moving the chairs and even feeling the walls for any sign of hidden parts, but Five did not find anything.


    He sat on the bed, hesitating whether he should go and explore outside his room but at that moment, he heard a familiar voice.


    [Greetings to all dungeon masters. I hope you all arrived safely at your mentor''s dungeon. Please make the most of your stay there and learn as much as you can. Your future achievements depend on it. On another note, I am informing all of you that you have access to your character''s status as well as several other services. Just make a downward motion with a finger to open an interface. The rest is self-explanatory. I wish you all best of luck.]


    Five instantly recognized that voice, it was Gaia. He calmly listened to her speech and directly tried to open the interface and the followings appeared in front of him:


    Name: Five


    Race: Human/Dungeon Core


    Level: 1 (0/500)


    Class: Dungeon Master


    Title: None


    HP: 40/40


    MP: 70/70


    Strength: 6


    Dexterity: 7


    Vitality: 4


    Intelligence: 7


    Wisdom: 5


    Stat Points available: 0


    Skills: 0


    Fatigue: 10%


    [Information]


    Increasing strength increases the physical damage inflicted per strike


    Increasing dexterity increases the attack speed, reaction speed, and movement speed


    Increasing Vitality increases the amount of HP. HP is calculated by Vitality*10


    Increasing Intelligence increases the amount of MP. MP is calculated by Intelligence*10


    Increasing Wisdom increases the magical damage inflicted per spellThe narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Your race is half human half dungeon core. Since you have a different origin from the monsters, you were provided with an external core. It can be found in your inventory.


    Due to your special race, you can only level up using Dungeon Points.


    Just by looking at the interface, Five had a general understanding of the situation.


    "How can my vitality be so low!! And what about wisdom? Are they saying I am stupid!?" exclaimed Five.


    He continued to observe the interface, and quickly found other icons at the top. He pressed the one representing a storage which was clearly the inventory. In it, he found his dungeon core.


    [Core of Madness](Grade 0)(Upgradable)


    Activate to set up a dungeon at a specific location. (Cannot be used within 1 km of another dungeon core)


    Effect 1: 100% chance to drop upon death


    Effect 2: DP gained +2%


    Five took out the core and held it in his hand. He felt a sort of bond between him and the core. The latter was a small sphere. It looked like a constantly rotating galaxy was trapped inside.


    "So this is my core," thought Five and at the same time, the core flashed for a fraction of a second as if saying "yes".


    Five smiled but then returned the core to his inventory. He turned his attention to the interface. In his inventory, he found out that he had 204 DP. From the novels he read and the movies he watched, Five naturally determined that these were generated daily as a flat amount.


    Moving on, Five pressed onto the forums'' symbol. A separate section was created solely for dungeon masters like him, but right now, it was empty aside from an automated welcoming thread. After all, criminals were very keen on working alone and rarely shared their information.


    Finding nothing else interesting, Five gradually got bored and relaxed. He was already tired from all the previous events and in this dull environment, he gradually fell asleep.


    ....


    "Crrrk"


    Five was peacefully sleeping when he suddenly heard a creaking noise. Instinctively, he jumped awake moving his arm to grab his knife, but his hand grabbed nothing. It was just his old habit to always have a weapon near him when sleeping, and even when he was asleep, his senses were still sharp.


    "Good morning. Did you sleep well?" asked a voice.


    Five looked around, disoriented but quickly recovered and focused his gaze towards the door. Harriet was standing there, smiling at Five. Somehow, her wings were nowhere to be seen.


    "Morning," politely answered Five. He shifted his body to get out of the bed.


    She happily hopped into the room, and magically, another tray appeared in her hands. She placed it on the sofa and took a step back, looking at Five.


    "Here''s some food. You will need a lot of energy for the task ahead," explained Harriet. She then stood behind the sofa, quietly humming a song.


    "Thank you," said Five, before grabbing what looked like a croissant. He started eating but seeing that Harriet did not leave his room, he felt awkward. Harriet quietly whistled while averting her gaze. The awkward silence was too much for Five and so, he asked: "Harriet? Didn''t you have wings yesterday?"


    "Oh. It is one of my abilities. I can retract and take out my wings at will. I can even change their size to a certain degree," happily explained Harriet while demonstrating it. Her black wings once again emerged from behind her purple hair.


    Five looked closely at the wings. It was his first time seeing something like that. They looked so real! Their appearance was similar to angel wings but were black in color. Instinctively, Five moved his free hand trying to touch them.


    Immediately, Harriet retracted her wings, took a step back and made a "Hmmmp" while looking at Five with an annoyed expression.


    "What is it? I just wanted to touch your wings," asked Five, wondering what he did wrong.


    "Precisely! It is rude to touch the wings of a Harpy unless you are her husband," drily answered Harriet while crossing her arms and retracting her wings.


    "Ahh, I am sorry. I did not know. It is the first time I am seeing such wings and I just wanted to have a feel," answered Five with a sorry expression. He awkwardly looked down as he knew that he was at fault. He did not know the culture of this world, but it should have been clear that touching someone else for no reason was rude.


    ''Could it be that the harpy''s wings are the equivalent of human''s chest,'' thought Five making an embarrassed expression as he realized that.


    In an attempt to repair the situation, Five continued talking. "It is just that you are the first harpy I am seeing. Where I come from, there are only humans. Although I did see digital wings, I was just curious about the feel."


    "What is ''digital''? " Hesitantly asked Harriet, still crossing her arms.


    "It is hard to explain. It is just a term used by people to describe imaginary things... The world I come from is different. We have screens that can show us picture and videos or holograms. These are digital things"


    "Can you tell me more about where you came from? " asked Harriet with a curious look, leaving aside the previous incident.


    Five hesitated for a moment. He did not want to recall the previous incidents of his life, but he found no harm in talking about benign things: "Sure. I come from a place called..."


    A few minutes later,


    "Since you''ve finished, follow me. Master wants to see you; your first lesson is about to begin." Harriet pushed the door open and walked out of the room, waving her hands.


    Five quickly got up and followed her. He naturally started examining his new environment. He felt as if he was walking in an underground tunnel. The corridors were circular and were made of a clay-like material, but it was clearly not clay. The walls were emitting light despite the absence of torches and light bulbs.


    Harriet was happily humming a tone while leading the way. From time to time, she would look back at Five but would just quietly smile and not say anything. The latter noticed several doors in the corridor just like the one in his room. He determined that this was dormitory of some sort.


    Gradually, the surroundings changed and five entered a large and well-decorated room. The walls were covered with maps, paintings and portraits that Five did not recognise. At the center of the room, was a large metallic throne on which Kroff was sitting.


    "Good morning, Five. Did you sleep well?" greeted Kroff.


    "Good morning, Dr. Kroff. The night was pleasant, thank you," politely answered Five while sweeping his eyes across the room.


    Kroff invited Five to come closer to him. "Now that you are well rested, it is time for your first lesson."

 Chapter 4: The first lesson

    Kroff looked straight into Five¡¯s eyes. "You will soon become a dungeon master. It is important for you to understand the basics. I will teach you what I can; from how to build your dungeon to how to manage your monsters. The mentorship will last for 1 to 2 weeks, depending on your attitude and if you can understand what I am teaching."


    He made a short pause, caressing his white beard and then continued: "You can stop me at any time if you have questions, but first listen to what I have to say."


    "The task of correctly managing dungeons and surviving in this world can be really hard sometimes. This is why alliances were created, we..."


    ''Crap. Another speech about alliances again... Please stop...'' thought Five, avoiding Kroff¡¯s gaze. Having been betrayed in his past, the last thing Five wanted was to join any associations. He did not want to rely on anyone else. He did not want to risk being betrayed again!


    ...


    "And so, I would like to formally extend an invitation to you for joining the Cyclone Alliance. Of course, you don''t need to accept it right now. You first need to create your own dungeon to be able to join, but just keep that in mind."


    ¡°Thank you. I will think about it carefully.¡±


    "Now, for the actual lesson. Take a look at this! This is my dungeon. I cannot show you all my secrets, but I am revealing to you the first 10 floors. Have a look," said Kroff. He waved his hand and the sphere in his hand flashed before projecting a hologram.


    ''Since you really seem to have something against alliances, then don''t blame me! Let me see how much you can learn without proper guidance,'' said Kroff in his heart as he continued to observe Five. Kroff clearly noticed that Five once again got nervous and avoided him when he mentioned the Cyclone Alliance.


    Five was surprised to see the hologram. He did not expect it to suddenly appear in front of him considering that he was in a medieval world. The hologram was semi-transparent, just like the one he could see in real life. By moving his hands, Five zoomed the hologram at the particular floor he pointed at. He did not need any instructions to control it.


    All the floors had the same appearance. They consisted of caves and tunnels linking the large rooms. The different floors were connected via stairs. There were typically two stairs going up and two going down on each floor. The only differences between the floors were the creatures and the rewards. Naturally, some NPC adventurers were also present on the floors and were highlighted in red.


    As for the dungeon''s monsters, they were labeled in blue. On the lowest floor, the creatures present were slimes. Five could see that there were different colors of slimes and their levels varied from 1 to 6.


    On the next two floors, Five saw Mine Rats, ranging from level 6 to level 8. The differences between the two floors were the levels of the Mine Rats and the population density. There were about twice as many Mine Rats on the third floor.


    Giant Ants were guarding the fourth and fifth floor. Both had a high population density, but the fifth floor also housed a boss, the Giant Ant Queen which was level 9.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ...


    And finally, the tenth floor housed goblins who were all level 15-16. There was a goblin village in the corner of the map, but it was unreachable for the adventurers. There was a thin layer surrounding the village preventing the adventurers from seeing it.


    Five took some time to analyze all the floors. He was very meticulous, looking at the stats of each monster, their positioning and taking note of every detail. The dungeon did not consist only of monsters; there were also some secret tunnels and rooms containing treasures or monsters, but in general, it was a generic dungeon.


    After 10 minutes of silence, Kroff coughed to attract his attention. "What do you think? These are just the first 10 floors, but they follow the same principle as the higher ones."


    "It is very interesting. I have several questions though. Why is it that only one species of monster is found on each floor?"


    Kroff nodded and dully answered, "There is no particular reason. You can have as many species on any floor. Some dungeons do accommodate two or three species per floor. It is my own decision to only have one per floor."


    "About these secret rooms and treasures, how frequently do adventurers find them?" asked Five


    "Again, it is at your own discretion. Adventurers rarely find them by themselves. Sometimes, I intentionally reveal one to attract more adventurers. I vary the frequency, but it is up to you. You can add other things too," replied Kroff


    "Then, how much DP do the adventurers generate?"


    "It depends on their level; the stronger they are, the more DP they generate."


    "What about the cost of these floors? How much did it cost to make them?"


    "It will not be helpful for you to compare with me since you will be starting from scratch, but my floors did take at least more than 50000 DP each to make."


    Five mentally took note of the answers but was inwardly annoyed, ''What¡¯s up with these answers? They are all so vague... Can''t he give me more details? It looks like he is avoiding the answers,'' thought Five in his heart.


    But he did not show it. He continued to ask questions about the points he wanted to clarify but only received vague answers.


    "Alright... I think that I have a pretty good idea of the arrangements of floors," finally said Five.


    "That''s good, but just looking at the dungeon via the core is not always good. The best way to understand is to actually see by yourself. Harriet!"


    "Yes!" Harriet, who disappeared as soon as she brought Five to Kroff, suddenly reappeared out of nowhere.


    "You will be his guide for today. Please show him around the dungeon for a bit," said Kroff, before waving his hand, changing the hologram projected by the dungeon core.


    "Yes, master!" answered Harriet before smiling at Five and telling him to follow her.


    Five felt relieved. He had a bad feeling whenever Kroff looked at him. He felt as if he was completely seen through. On the other hand, Harriet was more approachable; she constantly smiled and made him feel at ease.


    "So, did you learn anything interesting?" asked Harriet.


    "I learned a few stuffs. It would have been nice if I obtained more information but it''s still good as it is," answered Five.


    He was not actually lying. Just by looking at the dungeon, he could already think of his own dungeon. Despite the vague answers, Five learned that the monsters usually had a low cost. The real expenses came from the food they consumed. These needed to be bought with DP and although they were also cheap, large amounts were required for that number of monsters.


    The other detail he noticed was that the monsters did not respawn. Once they died, they would never come back. Another monster needed to be purchased to replace the dead one.


    According to his observations, these were the two biggest expenses of the dungeon. Five made a quick mental note and started thinking of ways to avoid them. It was the basics of good management: Planning.


    ...


    "Which floor do you want to visit first? Or are you hungry? Do you want to the kitchen?" asked Harriet. Somehow, Five felt like a kid being taken care of by his mother.


    "I am fine. Let''s check out the first floor for now. I will visit them in order, but what about the adventurers? Won''t they be alarmed to see us?" asked Five.


    "Don''t worry about that. We look just like humans right now. They won''t suspect our identity," replied Harriet while smiling.


    She then guided Five through a series of tunnels and stairs. Along the way, they met several monsters of various species, some of which, Five did not even recognize.


    They were all very respectful towards Harriet. It was clear she held a very high position in this dungeon. Towards Five, they made a more modest greeting, but he did not mind it.


    Eventually, the two reached a small platform. Harriet did not say anything and hopped onto it.


    Five hesitantly approached the platform, "What is that? An elevator?"


    "Huh? What is an elevator? This is a teleportation platform. There are more than 50 floors in the dungeon. Unless you want to go down all the stairs, this is the fastest way to travel in the dungeon," answered Harriet while opening an interface.


    Five looked at the harpy and stepped onto the platform.


    "Be careful. Since it is your first time, you might feel some unease, but I am sure you''ll be fine," said Harriet as she pressed an icon on the interface.


    The two vanished from the platform.

 Chapter 5: Observing and taking notes

    "Here. Wear that!"


    As soon as he opened his eyes, Five saw Harriet handing him a set of clothes. Sending a questioning look to Harriet, he asked: "What are those?"


    "Although you look like a human, your clothes clearly do not reflect that you are an adventurer. Even though those clothes are not the best, they are very suitable for low-level adventurers. There! Go into this room. I also need to change."


    Not waiting for his answer, she turned and entered another side room with a set of black clothes.


    Five looked around him. Behind him was the teleportation platform he just used. He was now standing in the middle of a huge corridor, larger than the one connected to his room.


    With an expressionless face, Five entered the empty side room and changed himself. He was recalling his first lesson. Why was Kroff so evasive with his answers? Was it because he was against joining his alliance? Or was it just his competitive nature?


    In any case, it was clear that Kroff was not going to help him much. He needed to learn by himself and make the most of his stay here. But should he prepare himself in case Kroff turned out to be planning something against him?


    It was better to be safe than sorry.


    Five put on the clothes. He now looked like a completely different person. Instead of the plain white shirt and pants he was wearing earlier, the light grey armor and the brown pants gave him a valiant air. He looked at himself in the mirror and could not help but reminisce the past.


    He recalled how he used to stand on top of the town''s highest skyscraper to watch the sunset. He remembered the time he spent with his teammates and his harsh training. It was really tough, and he constantly wanted to drop out, but he persevered and succeeded in the end.


    But then, he clenched his fists as he remembered that in the end, his training and everything he went through during the last year was already set up by his enemy. He was just playing in the hands of this family, unaware that he was just being a pawn.


    The door of the small room was suddenly opened, and Harriet entered.


    "Why are you taking so long? I have already changed myself."


    Five took a deep breath to calm himself. He then turned to look at Harriet and froze for a moment. The Harriet in front of him was now wearing a tight body suit that was meant for rogues. It was sticking to her smooth white skin, highlighting her perfect curves and slim figure. She tied her long purple hair in a ponytail revealing her womanly charms. On her slim waist hung a pair of shiny curved daggers that further highlighted her body.


    Quickly getting himself together, Five pinched himself and said, "Sorry, I was just thinking about something. I am ready, let''s go."


    Harriet chuckled and quickly turned around. She brought Five to the end of the corridor. It looked like a dead end but when Harriet placed her hand on the wall, the wall trembled and started to move. The different pieces of the strange material repositioned themselves to make a hole just large enough to allow one person to go through.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Harriet immediately went through that gap and from the other side, made a hand sign, signaling Five to step forward.


    The latter followed her instructions and went to the other side, "What was that? An employee''s entry door?"


    "Huh? What''s an employee? It is just another secret passage. You noticed when looking at the map earlier that there are some secret rooms on the different floors. There are also secret tunnels that we can use to move more easily in the dungeon. It is impossible for adventurers to know about their existence. There is absolutely no difference between that particular wall and the others when viewed from outside. It is a very safe route for us."


    Five nodded and looked around him. They stepped in a deserted room. There were no adventurers in sight. Usually, no adventurers would come here to farm slimes on the first floor. The item they dropped was completely useless. The first floor was just a waste of time for the adventurers but for Five, it was a good starting point to observe the monsters'' behavior.


    "You can go anywhere. I will just act as your bodyguard and stay nearby," said Harriet


    "Alright. Let''s go find some slimes. Can I kill them too?"


    "Sure, but don''t kill too much. Each one of them cost DP. It would be rude to completely leech off Kroff," answered Harriet with a light laugh.


    "Ok. Can you lend me a dagger? I have no weapons right now."


    Harriet hesitated for a moment but then took out a dagger from her back and handed it to Five, "There. Don''t lose it"


    Five took the dagger and had a quick look at its stats.


    [Harpy''s Blood(+2)(Grade 3)]


    Damage: 31-34


    Effect 1: [Wind Blessing]: +10% damage from wind attribute spells


    Effect 2: [Harpy Affinity]: +10% damage when used by a Harpy


    Five stared at the dagger. Even though he could not compare the dagger with any other weapons, he clearly knew it was a very powerful one. Grade 3 naturally meant that there were worse grades than this.


    He tossed the dagger in his hand and spun it. In the past, he learned how to use a dagger but rarely used one. He was recalling the basic movements as he was juggling the dagger in his hands.


    "Thanks. I will give it back soon."


    Five walked out of the room through the nearest corridor; Harriet naturally followed him like a shadow.


    After walking for a few seconds, he finally met his first monster: a level 3 slime. The slime looked like a huge pile of moving blue jelly. It did not have any eyes but when Five approached it, the slime noticed his presence and crept towards him.


    Five wordlessly observed the monster. He already knew the stats of a slime. They were all very low, but slimes had a special membrane covering them which reduced physical damage.


    Suddenly, the slime''s body curved in and spat a blue substance at Five. The latter was already prepared and stepped on the side. At the same time, he stabbed the dagger toward the slime. "-26".


    That movement once again reminded him of his past. Although he used to make this type of movements with a gun rather than a dagger, the movements still felt rather familiar to his legs.


    Five then quickly spun the dagger in his hand and swung it back at the slime. "-28". The slime stopped moving and slowly disintegrated into nothing. Slimes typically had between 40 to 60 HP. Two hits were more than enough to finish this one since it was just level 3.


    [System Prompt: You have killed a slime. You are awarded 5 DP]


    "I can also get DP from killing monsters myself? I do not entirely have to rely on monsters. Well, let''s farm as much as possible here. They are just slimes; Kroff would not complain too much," said Five to himself


    He quickly resumed walking through the corridor and killed all the slimes he encountered. Their levels ranged from level 1 to 6 but with such a strong dagger in hand, Five could easily kill almost all slimes with just two hits.


    Meanwhile, Harriet silently followed Five. She did not say a word and only observed him for a while. After a few minutes of hunting, she eventually asked him if he wanted to check out the higher floors and he immediately agreed. The slimes were very easy to defeat; he had already collected 200 DP in less than 30 minutes.


    They returned to the first room and once again went into the corridor they came from. From Five¡¯s point of view, all rooms looked the same, but Harriet could distinguish them.


    When they got back in the inside corridor, Five did not rush to the second floor. Instead, he asked the harpy: "Harriet. Do you have something to write like pens and papers?"


    "Yes. Of course. Those can be bought with DP. Since they are not living things and not combat-related, they are very cheap but what do you need to write?"


    "I would just like to take some notes about the things I noticed on the first floor. It would be very useful for when I build my own dungeon."


    "Sure. Take this," said Harriet while a small stack of paper and a pen magically appeared in her hand.


    Five quickly took them and started scribbling down his observations. He wrote down some notes about the slimes and the terrain and about how to improve them. For example, he noticed how the slimes were always wandering alone in the rooms. If they attacked together, it would definitely be harder for him to kill them. He also noted down the absence of resources on this floor. There were only slimes and nothing for these slimes to feed on. Some DP had to be spent daily for their consumption. Five believed it would be much better if a self-sustaining ecosystem was created on the floor. That way, he would not have to spend much DP, but naturally, he would not share this idea with Kroff.


    As he was writing his thoughts, Harriet peeped on his notes with a strange look. "What are you writing? Is that the human language?"


    "Huh? Human language? This is English. Do you not understand it?"


    "English? The only language I know is the Demon language. I did not need to know how to read and write before coming to the dungeon. Kroff had to teach me those."


    "Demon Language? Well. At least we can still understand each other when we talk..." said Five.


    ''Then that means that for now, only players would understand Earth''s Languages...''

 Chapter 6: Second Floor

    "So? What are you writing? Did you discover anything?" curiously asked Harriet.


    "Nothing nothing. Just how the slimes fight and are positioned," carelessly answered Five as he continued to scribble.


    "Ahhh," Harriet pouted. She did not inquire any further and waited for Five to finish writing. When he was finally done, she brought Five back to the platform and teleported to the second floor.


    The two walked silently. Five was rearranging his thoughts, not caring about his environment but that created an awkward atmosphere. Harriet was about to warn him. She clearly knew that there was a massive difference between the 1st and 2nd floor of the dungeon; she was going to warn Five when suddenly, she heard a voice speaking in her head:


    "Harriet. Master is telling you to allow Five on the second floor. Let him suffer some hardships. It would be good to estimate his strength. Just make sure he does not die. It would be good for him to learn that he is weak and needs to rely on us for his growth. "


    Harriet immediately recognized the voice in her head. It was Mehlroth, one of the few monsters in the dungeon that were positioned above her. Its specialty was telepathy; it could communicate with any monster anywhere in the dungeon.


    "Isn''t that a bit too much? We should at least warn him, no?" said Harriet inwardly.


    "Master says: It would be a good life lesson for him. If he is smart, he will realize that he will grow much more smoothly if he joins us."


    Harriet inwardly sighed but did not answer. She just silently led the way for Five.


    The pathway was identical to the corridor of the first floor. Five walked out of the platform and once again Harriet opened the secret entrance through the dungeon''s wall.


    This time, they came out in an empty corridor. Five picked a random direction and a few seconds later, met a level 6 Mine Rat.


    The rat did not look very threatening. It was about three times larger than normal rats and had a hairy dark fur.


    However, Five was very cautious. He did not approach the rat and instead stayed just outside his field of view. He knew the level of the rat was above his. Five did not get overconfident even after easily farming the slimes. He knew he had an overpowered weapon in hand but did not let that get to him.


    Slimes were basically cannon fodders, but the rats were different. They could prove to be dangerous and so, he calmly observed the rat who was sniffing around the corridor. Sometimes, it would start scratching the wall and would then lose interest.


    Harriet did not say anything either. She did not warn him that the mine rats were different from the slimes. Instead, she stood there as if nothing was going to happen.


    Five observed the rat and the harpy¡¯s behavior for a moment. After a brief period of time, he finally went on the offensive.


    The mine rat immediately noticed his approach and squeaked before revealing its long front teeth. It squeaked and attacked Five.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    The latter drew his dagger and made a diagonal cut towards the mine rat. "-35" appeared above the head of the rat, but despite the pain, the mine rat widely opened its mouth and attempted to bite Five.


    It all fell within Five¡¯s expectations. Right after swinging his dagger, Five pressed on his legs and jumped above the mine rat, avoiding the bite. While still in mid-air, he stabbed his dagger at the vertebral column of the mine rat. "-30", but at the same time, the mine rat swung its tail and scratched Five''s face, "-23".


    Just a simple tail whip already took out more than half his HP but Five ignored that detail. The Mine Rat also only had a sliver of health remaining.


    He tried to regain his balance, but the tail messed up his momentum. He could not help but ungracefully roll on the ground when landing to mitigate the damage.


    The mine rat turned around and charged at Five threateningly. The latter smiled faintly. He quickly spun the dagger in his hand but instead of charging at the rat, Five simply threw it at the Mine Rat, taking out its remaining HP.


    [System Prompt: You have killed a mine rat. You are awarded 12 DP]


    Harriet who was observing the scene, ready to intervene, revealed an expression of surprise. She did not expect Five to be able to agilely avoid the mine rat. Defeating a creature 5 level above himself could be considered an incredible feat even if he was equipped with an overpowered dagger. But as she saw Five look back at her, she quickly pretended that nothing happened and approached him, taking out a red potion, but what he said next surprised her.


    "Here is your dagger. I have seen enough. Let''s go back."


    "Huh? You only encountered one mine rat and succeeded in defeating it? Are you not going to look at the rest of the floor?" asked Harriet.


    "No, that''s fine. I already have a general idea of the floor. Besides, even if I can deal with one Mine Rat, if two or three gang up on me, the outcome would be very different. Let''s go back. Some food would be nice," said Five as he gave her back her Harpy''s Blood and ignored the potion in her hand.


    "Alright, follow me back to the passage." Harriet awkwardly replied. She did not even deny or mention that she was there to protect him.


    Harriet took back the dagger and wiped it off with a piece of cloth before sheathing it back. She then quickly turned around and brought Five back to the secret passage.


    Immediately, Harriet once again heard Mehlroth speaking. "Master says that everything is fine. You did your part well. We did not expect him to be talented in fighting. Just pretend that nothing happened. Master will think of something..."


    ...


    The two remained silent as Harriet led the way through the different corridors and the teleportation platforms, while Five was scribbling down on the paper he had. He had confirmed the huge gap in strength between the 1st and 2nd floor, which he believed was not appropriate. He was already coming up with different ideas for his own dungeon. He remembered video games he used to play and how players could choose between easy, normal and hard mode. Could he implement that sort of mechanics in his dungeon?


    As for why he decided to leave just after one enemy was just as he said, Five knew his own limits and he did not want to rely on someone else. Although he did notice Harriet slightly contract her legs when he was in danger, he still could not fully trust her yet.


    While Five was still pondering about his last encounter, Harriet broke the silence.


    Harriet felt that she was in an awkward position as she was on good terms with Five while Kroff was her master. Recently, Kroff received an oracle warning him about the dangers to come. Not only would many new dungeon masters be born on the continent, but a large number of adventurers would also appear. What was special about these adventurers was that they would never really die. If you killed them, they would later revive and come back.


    This was why Kroff really wanted Five to join his alliance and he was not the only one. With an infinite army of adventurers coming, the dungeon masters needed more people to protect their dungeons. All the other dungeon masters were also actively trying to persuade their disciples to join their respective alliance. In the near future, nobody would be able to predict what will happen with this surge in adventurers and dungeons. The more allies they had, the safer the dungeon masters would feel.


    "Did you learn how to fight before coming here? The moves you did earlier were clearly not that of a beginner," asked Harriet.


    "Mmmm, I did follow some sort of training for assassins," vaguely answered Five. If he could not get any tangible answer from them, then he would not give them too much information either.


    "Then, are you part of an organization? I''ve heard from Kroff that he was not the only one who has received a disciple to teach. All the other dungeon masters also received one. Do you all come from the same place?"


    "Possibly, but I did not talk to anyone before being summoned here. "


    "Is that why you are so against joining the Cyclone Alliance? Are you going to join the organization that trained you before? Or do you have contact with the other new dungeon masters?"


    Five did not answer immediately this time but Harriet clearly noticed his furrowed brows.


    "You are thinking too far. I have nothing to do with that organization. They are just random people I got entangled with," coldly answered Five.


    It was a topic that he did not really want to talk about, but he decided to still be polite and answered her with minimum detail.


    After a brief moment of silence, he continued. ¡°As for the other dungeon masters. I do not want to have anything to do with them either. I would rather be alone than surrounded by untrusty individuals."


    Harriet did not immediately answer. Their conversation was slowly drifting towards their private life. "I can see a deep scar in your heart. Although you look strong at the surface, something must have happened in your past. Maybe... Do you want to talk about it? " hesitantly asked Harriet.

 Chapter 7: Communal room

    Another moment of silence... A flash of memories went through Five''s eyes. He clenched his fists tighter and took a deep breath to calm himself:


    "It is nothing... Just personal issues. I will deal with them myself later when I will have my own dungeon," answered Five with an expressionless face.


    Harriet sent him a doubtful look, but there was nothing she could do if Five did not want to share his past. "It does not look like a minor thing. If you want to share the burden, I am here to help. I wish you no harm," replied the harpy.


    "Yes. Thank you, but I think I will be able to deal with it by myself"


    "Fine then. Come with me to the communal room," said Harriet as she accelerated her steps


    ...


    The two resumed walking. Five felt the change in the harpy¡¯s mood. Their previous conversation created an invisible barrier between them.


    Eventually, he decided to apologize for his behaviour. He could feel that Harriet tried to help him while he was roughly replying to her. She was the only person he knew in the dungeon apart from Kroff. He did not know how long he would stay here but it was better to maintain good relations.


    "I am sorry for what I said, Harriet. I lose my temper when I think about those things," sincerely said Five," But these are private things that I will solve myself."


    Harriet who was walking with a pensive expression turned around to look at him.


    "No. It''s me who needs to apologize. I should not have asked such things. But there is something I should say. Building a dungeon is not a solitary task. If you do not trust your monsters, you will never succeed. Monsters are not born loyal to their masters; they choose to follow them out of trust. Even I can choose at any time to rebel against Kroff."


    "I will keep that in mind."


    "Right."


    "Let''s put all that behind us. Come, let''s go eat," said Harriet with a smile as she pushed open a double-sided door. Casting the previous discussion aside, she readily invited Five in.


    Five nodded and went in but he could not help but freeze for a moment. There was nothing dangerous, it was the exact opposite, the appetizing smell of food assaulted his nostrils but that was not the important part.


    In front of him, a group of 20 to 30 winged girls were happily eating and talking all over the place. Laughs, conversations, and sounds of cutlery hitting plates filled the room. While some were eating happily, some girls were just lazing around. The reason Five froze was that they all wore quite revealing dresses. His eyes wandered around, looking around for the prettiest one.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    A thought crossed Five''s mind, ''Is that girl''s paradise? Cough Cough. No! I need to calm down. Get away, evil thoughts!''


    "Clap Clap"


    As they entered, Harriet clapped her hands twice to gather their attention. The room quickly became quiet as the girls looked at the newcomers.


    "Everyone! I will like to present you Five. He is the disciple of Master for now. Please welcome him!" said Harriet while stepping to the side, allowing the girls to see Five.


    They all turned to look at him. A few chose to ignore him, but the majority warmly smiled and greeted him. A few harpies even flapped their wings gently and flew to Five:


    "Wow. Are you a human? It is the first time I am seeing one!" cheerfully declared a yellow-haired Harpy.


    "Where do you come from? Can you tell us about the open world?" asked a red-haired Harpy as she landed right next to Five.


    The latter was overwhelmed by the girls. Although he once had a fianc¨¦e and was not a virgin, in front of so many winged girls wearing revealing dresses, his heart could not help but beat faster. His eyes feasted on the white cleavages for a moment, but he quickly recollected himself, recalling his training to not lose focus.


    He politely introduced himself and answered the questions of the young harpies, but they would constantly assault him with even more questions. They were very curious about the world Five came from. Even the other harpies who first ignored him, turned their attention to him while finishing their plates.


    "Cough Cough! I think that that''s enough. Give him some space, girls. He won''t disappear after today. You should all go back to the village," said Harriet while laughing at the situation Five was in.


    "Ahhh "


    The harpies let out some complaints but obediently left the communal room. Harriet was after all their leader and they all respected her.


    Five let out a sigh of relief and looked at Harriet''s teasing smile, "Was all of that necessary? Why are they all here? Don''t they need to defend the dungeon?"


    "This is the communal room of the harpies. You don''t expect me to bring you to another race''s communal room, right? They do defend the dungeon but since they are positioned on the 50th floor, there is no real need to stay there. Adventurers are not strong enough to climb that high. Only high-level commanders or heroes succeeded in reaching them, but that occurs very rarely. Also, there are a few sisters who stay there to guard the floor in case some adventurer would survive till there," answered Harriet.


    She instructed Five to sit on one of the nearby seats and quickly brought two trays full of food, one for him and one for herself, and sat in front of him.


    "Bon Appetit," happily said, Harriet, as she readily sliced the sausage in her plate.


    "Mmmm" Five nodded and attacked his own plate.


    The two ate silently. Five did not find the atmosphere awkward anymore. He thoroughly enjoyed the potato mash and salad in front of him. It was his third decent meal since he was imprisoned. The meal was not of the highest quality but the flavor reminded him of the good old times.


    "You know. If you want to say anything, this is the right place. You are a smart person, I am sure you noticed that walls have ears, especially dungeon walls, but communal rooms and our personal rooms are different. Kroff give us some privacy," said Harriet to break the silence. Having had a difficult past herself, she was still resolute in finding out about Five''s past.


    "Mmmm. There is nothing to talk about. These are just minor things don''t worry about it. If I need help, I will definitely ask you," politely replied Five still avoiding the subject.


    Harriet, unsatisfied by the answer, stopped eating and looked at Five. She placed down her cutleries and took a piece of napkin to wipe off the sauce off her lips before speaking.


    "Five, I am talking to you as a friend. You have a bright future ahead of you. Why is it that you don''t want to join the Cyclone Alliance? Kroff is just very conservative and narrow-minded. If you are not his ally, then you can only be his enemy. You should have noticed his attitude. He would be more inclined to help you if you agree... "


    Hearing that, Five also looked at Harriet, "I did already notice that he won''t teach me much, but right now, I don''t feel like I need his help."


    "Huh? Do you think it is just about learning about dungeons? You should be aware that your mentor also has the authority to gift you a certain amount of DP and a monster, but these are all at the discretion of the mentor," quickly added Harriet.


    "What? I am also supposed to receive such things?" asked Five with surprise. This was something he did not expect. Although he could do without any proper teaching, the DP and the free monster were a huge incentive.


    "Yes. He can give you any amount of DP as long as it does not exceed 20000 DP. For the monster, Kroff must give you one that is at least above level 20. Else, how would you be able to protect your dungeon when you will get started?"


    "This...", It was an unexpected turn of events. Dungeon Points were essential for quickly improving his strength and a level 20 monster? They could be considered as mini-bosses.


    Seeing Five''s expression change, Harriet quickly continued, "You see? Having a good relationship with your mentor can prove to be useful. Sometimes, it is better to lower your head to gain greater benefits."


    "I..."

 Chapter 8: The past

    "Five. Let''s do something, an oath, an oath of truth. You and I will swear to speak the truth until we leave this room. What do you think?"


    "Is it reliable?"


    "Of course. Oaths are sacred to us monsters! It should be the same for you since you will soon become a dungeon master."


    "Alright then."


    ...


    While the two were eating, Harriet patiently talked to Five. Directly or indirectly, she enquired about his past. He was very resolute at first, and directly avoided the topic. But Harriet was very stubborn. She gradually wore down Five¡¯s defences. She was very sincere, explaining her own situation and how she only hoped that he would succeed in the future.


    Five felt like a child being interrogated by his mother for being naughty. His hardened heart could only soften, under the constant assault of that harpy. He could not find the will to reject her, until finally, the two decided to share their respective pasts.


    "Just imitate me," solemnly said Harriet,


    She put her left hand on her heart while her right hand was raised. Her posture was similar to the one, doctors adopted upon swearing Hippocratic Oath, "I swear that to speak the truth and solely the truth to Five as long as we remain in this room. May Sancus witness my oath."


    Five naturally imitated her. He initially thought the oath would involve a longer process, but turned out to be much simpler than expected. Sancus was the god of honesty; he was a neutral god and so all the races respected him.


    "Now, I hope that you will believe me when I say that this room has no ears. Only us can hear this conversation. Not even master can hear us," said Harriet.


    "Mmm," Five nodded. Although he had no absolute guarantee, it did not seem like Harriet was lying. Either she was an extremely good actor, or she was telling the truth.


    Having progressed that far, Harriet decided to tell her own story first to gain his trust. "I guess I should be the one to start," and with a deep breath, Harriet started narrating her own story.


    "A long time ago, during the holy war, the harpies were about to be completely exterminated. We were surrounded by dragons and giants with no escape path. But at the last moment, the harpy queen sacrificed herself and made a pact with the gods; they would save the harpies, but in exchange, the future harpy queens would have to serve the dungeon masters who will summon them."


    "I was selected, as the representative of the Black Wing clan, to be summoned by the dungeon masters once I came to age. We were all given three chances to reject our owners; it is possible that our personalities do not match or the dungeon itself won''t fit us. I myself, rejected two other dungeon masters before meeting Kroff and since he did seem to care about his own monsters, I decided to follow him."


    A pained expression appeared for a second on Harriet''s face, but she quickly hid it and continued:


    "Everything was fine, Kroff was very nice at first. He spent some DP for my sake and summoned the harpies that you saw earlier. He gave us a nice village to live in. I can show it to you later if you want. The other monsters were also very friendly with a few exceptions."


    "But one month ago, the dungeon masters, including Kroff received an oracle; soon, new dungeon masters would be born, and everyone would be tasked into guiding one for a short period of time. It was great news for the dungeon masters¡¯ community. Everyone was glad to be able to raise the next generation."Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    "However, that did not last for long. One week later, Oroculos, one of the five strongest dungeon masters had a vision, and what he saw was destruction and chaos all over the continent. The new dungeon masters would rebel against the older ones. Instead of allying to fight against the other races, the new dungeon masters would establish their own alliances and fight against the old ones, causing many dungeon masters to perish."


    "When they heard that, all the dungeon masters broke into panic, but they had already accepted the task of grooming the new dungeon masters and could not back out. I don''t know about the situation in the other alliances but when it comes to the Cyclone Alliance, the Duke Shercliff made the decision to bind all the new dungeon masters to the alliance. This way they would at least direct the fire towards other alliances."


    "This is why Master is so inclined upon making you join the Cyclone Alliance. Right now, you are a threat to him and to the other dungeon masters. If he cannot ensure that you won''t harm him, then he has no incentives to raise a ticking time bomb."


    Five nodded. He now understood why Kroff was so against him, but he felt that the situation was so unfair. They all went crazy because of the words of a single person?


    "Isn''t that too much? How can they all trust the visions of one person?" asked Five.


    "Oroculos has never been wrong about his predictions. He is a powerful seer. He was able to become one of the Big Fives. Even though his monsters are not the strongest, he is able to use them with maximum efficiency every time. He started at the very bottom, but not once did he lose a war," answered Harriet.


    Five paused for a moment, quietly processing the information he just received.


    "And that''s it. That''s the current situation," concluded Harriet, "Now it''s your turn, I hope that you will respect the pledge."


    Harriet made a solemn expression as she looked at Five; she just opened herself and revealed her past to Five. She was honestly hoping that he would also do so. She was not doing it for Kroff, but for herself. She saw Five as a friend and she did not want conflicts to emerge between him and her master.


    After a moment of hesitation, Five finally decided to share his own past. After all, Harriet sincerely shared hers, he had no good reason to go against his words.


    "Do you really want to hear about me?"


    "Of course, I am very curious as to why you are trying to act as an antisocial person when you are clearly not."


    "Fine," said Five as he gulped down the water in his glass before starting:


    "I lived an ordinary life as a normal human. I graduated from university and went to look for work. I became a regular entrepreneur and helped my family grow the family business. We slowly gained popularity and attracted more and more customers, slowly conquering the market but then, my peaceful life was suddenly disturbed three years ago. The big rich companies were not pleased to see us stealing their customers."


    "They initially tried to buy our shares, but we refused since we did not lack any help or capital. They were not pleased with our attitude and so they applied pressure on us, but we did not give in. We persevered, and our small business slowly grew into a medium size company. We even opened a second branch. However, seeing that we were prevailing through their storm, these bastards did not stop there, they used more extreme methods."


    "They started to aim at my family. I myself almost got into a car accident. They even sabotaged our products, causing a lot of health problems for the users of our products. And as a result, we were forced to shut down. In the end, they even succeeded in stealing our patent and then claimed to be the righteous creators. I started a legal battle but how could I fare against a massive corporation? Although the law is clear, society is corrupted. It is different from the developed countries like the US, where I come from, as long as you have money and influence, everything is possible."


    "My parents could not support the shock. They were quite old and had weak hearts. In the end, they ended up suffering from mental breakdown and passed away all because of that incident. I brought that case to the court but in vain, they had huge backings and I ended up having to pay a fine for slandering instead."


    Five paused for a moment. Tears appeared at the corner of his eyes as he thought about his parents. It was all his fault, if he did not maintain such a firm stance, maybe they would still be alive and living well. He laughed at himself for how silly he had been.


    "I lost everything at that point, but I could not let these bastards enjoy their lives. I was recommended by a traitor that I considered as a friend to recruit an assassin. My life was already destroyed, and I was willing to give up everything to bring them down with me. But the organization I contacted refused to carry out the job. Instead, they invited me to join them and to do it by myself. At that time, I was blind, naive and mentally unstable. I agreed, they accepted me and trained me into one of their men. Now that I think about it, it was a really stupid decision!"


    "I carried out several missions for them, did the dirty work. And when it was finally time for me to take my revenge, my supposed teammates turned against me and I ended up arrested by the police. That organization of assassins was, in fact, a long-time partner of those bastards. It was too late for me when I realized that to prosper, most people would have to have some contacts with the dark side of society. They used me as a pawn. When I was no longer useful, they revealed the assassinations that I performed, and I was sentenced to life imprisonment."


    "And then, I thought everything was over, but I was given a second chance by Gaia. She gave me the task of building a dungeon in this world."


    "This is it. That''s my story, pretty hard to believe, right? I made several stupid decisions but as unreal as it seemed, I am not lying. When you live in underdeveloped countries, you are bound to be used by the ones in power," concluded Five with a sarcastic look. He was not aiming it at Harriet but at himself for all the wrong decisions he took in real life. When he looked back at it, he could only laugh at how stupid he was.


    Harriet calmly listened and did not interrupt Five as he spoke. Even her facial expression did not change, but inside she was shocked to learn about the darkness of Five''s world.


    "Although there are many terms I do not understand, I do understand what happened to you. I am sorry to have brought that up..." apologized Harriet.

 Chapter 9: Afternoon lesson

    The two continued their conversation. The atmosphere slowly went back to normal after that gloomy phase.


    "So? What do you want to do now?" asked Harriet. She wanted to quickly shift the topic to a brighter one.


    "I don''t know. It is really hard to make a decision, but I can say for sure that I won''t join the Cyclone Alliance," calmly declared Five while finishing his plate.


    "What? Why? Did I not explain to you the benefits? It is not just for Kroff''s teaching! I know that you don''t trust him yet, but it is for your own good."


    "It is not that... I think that you are too na?ve. His help... might turn out to be a trap. Think about it! Even if they do not bind me to the alliance with a lot of restrictions. It is certain that I will have to depend on the monster that Kroff will give me."


    "But that particular monster, can just be used as a spy and turn against me in the future before I become strong enough to be a threat. A level 20 monster will definitely become one of the main figures of the dungeon, at least for the early stages. I don''t even know how long it will take me to be able to summon level 20 monsters. I simply cannot shelter such a dangerous variable. If I am not wrong, Kroff will probably give me a species that can somehow communicate with him," declared Five.


    He was very clear about this type of strategy. After all, wasn''t he himself surrounded by traitors in his previous life which led to his downfall. It was something he did not want to see again. His monsters, he would summon them himself.


    Hearing that, Harriet made a surprised expression. When she recalled Kroff''s recent actions, she found that it was really a possibility.


    "This... I don''t think..." started Harriet, but she was immediately interrupted by Five.


    "It does not matter. These are just small details. Some DP would, naturally, be very helpful but besides that, Kroff''s teaching might just not be worth it. Just by looking at his dungeon, I can already see several ways to improve the amount of DP generated."


    "Really? What did you find?" curiously asked Harriet, she knew that Five only had an overview of the real dungeon and found it hard to believe that he could find many flaws.


    "Just look at the first floor. If I am not wrong, DP is generated according to the time the adventurers spend in the dungeon. Kroff could at least arrange it so that the adventurers would spend more time on the floor instead of just walking straight towards the stairs. I am not talking about a labyrinth, but at least twisting the paths a bit," said Five as he took out a piece of paper and a pen.


    He then drew a plan view of the first floor, showing how if some tunnels were blocked, the adventurers would be forced to take a longer path. This simple change alone would at least double the amount of time spent on the first floor.


    "Furthermore, the slimes are clearly not useful. Not a single adventurer below level 5 was in the dungeon when I looked at the map. It is clear that only adventurers having reached a certain level would hunt in the dungeon, and at that point, they can just casually kill the slimes. Completely removing the slimes could actually be more beneficial. Without the slimes, the adventurers could set their camps on the first floor and therefore generate DP as they rest there. If it was up to me, I would have long gotten rid of the first floor."


    "Then about..."


    Five continued, pointing out several things that he observed. Harriet''s eyes would occasionally widen in surprise. Even though she was not very knowledgeable in Dungeon Management, she could clearly see that Five''s suggestions could indeed improve the dungeon to some extent.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    As for Five, he did not mind sharing his ideas with Harriet anymore. Sharing their pasts did build some trust between them, and through the oath, they also promised that she would not divulge any information about their talk to Kroff.


    "This... What you say is right. Can I really not tell master about these?" excitedly asked Harriet.


    "Mmm. These are my own ideas for my dungeon. You can use the ideas yourself when arranging your harpies and the floor you defend, but don''t say a word to Kroff. Since he is not inclined on helping me, there is no need for him to know about them," calmly answered Five.


    "Alright. I won''t say anything, but these ideas won''t be useful for higher level floors," answered Harriet with a disappointed expression. Five''s ideas would be very useful for the first few floors, but the higher ones were different. Harriet just wanted to share this information with Kroff since it was a way for her to contribute to the dungeon and through that, the status of the harpies would naturally improve.


    "I can''t help you with that. I need to see the floor''s arrangement before making a judgment. Now, since you know so much, can you tell me more about what my training here would include?" curiously asked Five. He wanted to know what Kroff reserved for him. This way, he could at least prepare himself.


    "I don''t know much, but I know that it mainly consists of theoretical things. However, I heard that master will temporarily give you control over the first 10 floors so that you can get used to managing them. Additionally, he should allow you to farm some slimes to gain some DP I think," explained Harriet.


    "Alright! That''s a solid piece of information."


    Harriet nodded as she stood up and picked up the trays. They talked for more than 30 minutes. It was long past lunchtime and Five still needed to meet Kroff. He was told to visit the floors and to come back when he finished.


    It was time for the afternoon lesson but Five did not have high expectations.


    And as he expected, he was just taught how to use the dungeon store to purchase monsters and other items; it was self-explanatory. He spent the rest of the day looking at Kroff replacing the dead monsters on the first 10 floors.


    It was a very boring task, but he could see the different commands available on the interface and the cost of the monsters. Judging from the DP he obtained from killing the slimes, he calculated that he would obtain two thirds of the monster''s cost when killing them.


    After a few hours of boredom and silence, Kroff decided to make something more entertaining for Five. He made a cold smile as he moved his hands, projecting a new scene. He decided to show how merciless dungeons could be as he baited the adventurers to the secret treasure room on the tenth floor.


    ...


    On the tenth floor, a group of young guard recruits was taking their final test there. As long as they succeeded in killing one goblin each, they would officially join the city guards. It was a simple task, but they needed to do it in groups of five and so, needed to kill at least 5. Their instructor was standing behind the young recruits, supervising the operation with a carefree expression. He internally grumbled, displeased as this useless task was allocated to him.


    The young men were tall and well built. They wore simple armors and held crude weapons, but these were already enough for them to defeat goblins. 4 goblin corpses were already lying around; they only had 1 left to kill.


    The group of five were facing an already injured goblin when suddenly, the latter decided to turn around and run away instead of making a suicide attack like the other ones. The recruits quickly chased after it, but they were surprised to see that the goblin did not run towards the tunnel but instead went straight to the cavern''s wall.


    The young recruits smiled. They saw that the goblin had nowhere else to run and would definitely die under their swords. They were already celebrating the success of their exams. But suddenly, the goblin used its club and smash the wall and what happened next surprised them.


    A light blue glyph on the wall suddenly lit up and the wall slightly trembled, opening a path for the goblin to escape.


    "What!? What is that?" asked one of the recruits.


    The instructor behind them showed an expression of surprise and immediately rushed towards the group.


    "We are rich! We are rich! This is a secret chamber! There are definitely treasures in there!" exclaimed the instructor as he went past the group.


    "Collect as much as possible! Quick! Before the others learn about it" said the instructor as he rushed through the wall gap, his eyes glimmering with greed.


    The young recruits quickly followed their instructor. They were all clearly excited. It was an unexpected surprise and a good opportunity to get rich. Inside, the room did not look too different from the others, with the exception of an altar made of the same material as the wall at the center of the room.


    The young recruits immediately noticed their instructor rushing towards the altar. It was surrounded by gold coins and jewels, and on top of it, was a shiny longsword magically standing straight without any support.


    The sword looked very enticing, emitting a yellow light. The second his eyes fell on it, the instructor simply could not resist and immediately grabbed the sword. He felt a great sense of satisfaction as he held the sword in his hands and made a few swings in the air.


    "Finally, a decent weapon! It is at least peak grade 1! I don''t need to serve as an instructor for these idiots anymore!" said the instructor to himself.


    He was still deep in his thoughts when he was suddenly interrupted by a shy voice.


    "Eh. Instructor? " asked a young recruit.


    The instructor was rather displeased to be interrupted and he angrily replied, "What is it? Why are you still standing there? Don''t you see all these gold coins! Hurry and collect them!"


    "But instructor, don''t you find it strange? The goblin we chased is nowhere to be seen," declared another recruit while looking around with a nervous expression.


    Instantly, the instructor took notice of this detail. "That''s true, where is the goblin?" murmured the instructor, but that was the last thing he did as a large shadow suddenly appeared behind him.

 Chapter 10: Level up

    Five was watching the hologram with an expressionless face. He internally sighed. How was this not an obvious trap? Yet, people still fell for it. He saw the man greedily grab the sword and speak to the recruits. But a few seconds later, the man who was examining the sword was suddenly decapitated from behind.


    The Goblin King, the level 16 boss of the floor suddenly appeared behind him, swinging down a glowing giant ax. The man noticed something and tried to dodge, but the Goblin King was just too fast; his head flew away in a clean chop. Just one strike was enough.


    Five did not even react at his death. He had witnessed death countless time, he was even the cause of most of them. Such scenes did not have any effect on him anymore. Although he felt some pity for the young recruits, there was nothing he could do.


    The Goblin King then turned its attention toward the young recruits. They were still standing on the spot, trembling with fear. Three of them drew their weapons upon hearing the one that looked like the leader speak, but the other two immediately turned away and ran out of the secret chamber despite the calls of their comrades.


    The three who decided to fight were immediately surrounded by normal goblins and did not last long before perishing. The remaining goblins chased after the escapees, but they managed to barely run out of the room. But again, that was all part of Kroff''s plan. If he wanted to collect a significant amount of DP, he needed to lead a larger group of adventurers here.


    The recruits ran for their life and coincidentally met a large group of recruits who were training on the 9th floor. They reported the situation and naturally, the large group, encouraged by their instructors, decided to attempt to collect the treasures in the room.


    The young men''s blood was boiling, they were all ready to collect treasures and glory upon their return. Although they were weaker than the five previous recruits, they had 4 instructors to guide them. They all drew their weapons and charged at the secret chamber.


    The gap in the wall was still wide open. The group of recruits was nervous. It was their first time fighting against a large group of goblins at once. The instructors quickly took the lead. As soon as they entered the chamber, they were met by dozens of goblins.


    ...


    Five watched as a bloodbath occurred. Many goblins and recruits perished together. The Goblin King was entangled with three instructors. It swung its giant ax everywhere, but the instructors were prepared and held their shields to block. In the end, the Goblin King was defeated, but not without a fight, one instructor and ten recruits perished. The survivors quickly emptied the room of all valuables before other groups find out about it. An instructor then said something, and the survivors collected the corpses.


    Five did not know what to say. He found this method barbaric and very inefficient. Even if Kroff made a profit out of this, won''t such things affect the reputation of his dungeon? It was effective for collecting DP in a short period of time, but what about the long run? Besides, what about the moral of his monsters?


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Kroff quietly coughed, "You see. Just from this small action, despite losing a Goblin King and some precious items, I made at least 10000 DP of profit. This is a considerable amount for the tenth floor. The best part is, the humans will stupidly come back to the dungeon to seek more treasures. They will think that more secret chambers can be found."


    "Although it is cruel, this is the way of this world. The weak is just food for the strong," coldly announced Kroff. "You should reflect on what you witnessed today. We will talk again tomorrow. Harriet! Bring Five back to his room"


    Once again, Harriet appeared out of nowhere. She quietly floated behind Five and signaled him to follow her. He silently nodded and left. As they walked in the corridor, Five curiously asked, "Harriet, what happens when monsters die? Like the Goblin King?"


    "Huh? Normal monsters simply die and never come back, but for the boss monsters such as the Goblin King and me, when we die, we turn into a soul form which is stored in the Dungeon Core. Master can then spend DP to revive us after one day."


    "This... Are you ok with this?" asked Five with a hesitant look.


    "There is nothing we can do about this. It is already a good outcome that this way, my race will not completely die," sadly said, Harriet. Everyone was scared of dying, but she had no choice. She came here for the sake of her race. She even died once; it was a horrible experience for her, but she could only bite the bullet for the sake of the other harpies.


    "It is true. It is hard to find a way to prevent monsters from dying. The dungeons will eventually be attacked by stronger and stronger adventurers," murmured Five.


    "Alright. We''ve arrived at your room. I already placed a tray of food inside. Just call me if you need anything else," said Harriet as she left Five in front of his door.


    The latter silently walked into his room and jumped on his bed. He was in deep thoughts of today''s event, "Was there a way to prevent monsters from being used as a cannon fodder?"


    At the same time, he recalled something and opened his interface, "Yes I have enough to level up," thought Five.


    He earned some DP over time and now had 643 DP in total. It was just enough for him to level up. Although he wanted to conserve all his DP for his dungeon, he knew that leveling up was inevitable and with a higher level, it would be easier for him to farm the monsters in Kroff''s dungeon.


    He paid 500 DP to the system and leveled up,


    [System prompt: You have used 500 DP. You leveled up. You are awarded 1 free stat point]


    Five leaned against a wall. He did not feel any change from leveling up. He decided to allocate his point to strength; it would make it easier to farm here.


    With nothing else to do, Five turned his attention to the food tray while he resumed thinking about the plans for his dungeon.


    ....


    As soon as she left Five, Harriet walked back to the Dungeon Core''s room where Kroff was waiting for her.


    "So? What did you tell him during your lunch? You spent a good hour in the communal room," asked Kroff with a suspicious glare.


    "I apologize master, but I cannot say that. I made an oath with Five not to divulge anything of our conversation. I can only say, that he has a dark past. If you really want to have him join the Cyclone Alliance, it would be better to take a softer approach."


    "What? Whose side are you on? Did you at least try to convince him to join us?" angrily asked Kroff.


    "I tried master, but he will clearly refuse. I hope that you will listen to my advice. I believe he would be a good addition to the alliance."


    "Alright! I will think about it," answered Kroff with a sour expression, while waving his hand to dismiss Harriet.


    The latter immediately turned around and left the room. She did not know what to do. Both sides had their own reasons; she could only stand by and watch.


    After Harriet left, Kroff turned to another side of the room,


    "What do you think?" asked Kroff while looking at an empty space.


    Suddenly, the paint detached itself from the wall and changed color. A few seconds later, a lizardman stood up in front of Kroff. His name was Roy; he was another one of Kroff''s main monsters. His signature ability was camouflage, the ability to blend with his environment, making him invisible to all. Only Kroff could see him; since he was the dungeon master, he had some connections with Roy and was aware of its position.


    "I don''t know. Harriet must have her reasons to act like that; I wonder what happened to that kid for him to be refusing our help," answered the lizardman.


    "This is not important. I feel that Harriet is too kind... It is better if we don''t let her get too attached to that kid. Tomorrow, you will be the one to show Five around the dungeon," declared Kroff.


    "As you wish, Master." The lizardman swiftly bowed upon receiving the command.


    "Ahhh! Now that I think about it, he should have collected enough DP to level up. Bring him to the goblin''s village tomorrow and then...."

 Chapter 11: Goblin Village

    The next morning, Five was again woken up by Harriet but this time, he did not tense that much when he heard the door opening.


    "You already leveled up? That''s great." It was the first thing Harriet said as soon as she entered. She could obviously see the change in Five since her level was much higher than his.


    After a quick breakfast, he followed Harriet to meet his mentor.


    Today, he learned about the Dungeon Shop; a service that even him had access to. Not only could he buy monsters from it with DP, but many miscellaneous items could also be bought: weapons like the Harpy''s Blood he used, ores or food. However, he obviously could not afford much right now, especially after spending his DP to level up.


    "Ok, now that you know the basics of the shop, it is time for a break. You should continue visiting the floors of the dungeons. I recommend going to the tenth floor since it is quite different from the other nine," declared Kroff to end the lesson.


    Five quietly nodded, when suddenly a green scaly creature appeared right next to him. The creature was tall and had a thin tail; its two vertical irises stared at Five. The latter felt rather uncomfortable. Five jumped in fright as he did not even notice the presence of the creature before its appearance but fortunately, it was not hostile to him. With a single glance, Five could guess that this creature was a lizardman; it was clearly a monster on par with Harriet.


    With a very deep voice, the lizardman spoke, "I will be your guide for today. My name is Roy." He signaled Five to follow him.


    Five quickly walked up to Roy and greeted him. He was surprised to have a different guide, but after thinking about it, he concluded that it was to be expected. Harriet still had duties and tasks to accomplish and could not spend all her time with him. It was after all, just the second day; that might just mean that the person guiding him would change every day.


    The lizardman was emitting a dangerous aura, looking very unfriendly Nevertheless, Five initiated the conversation:" Is it possible to go to the first floor? I would like to farm some slimes, then we shall go see the goblins."


    Roy simply nodded and guided him through the tunnels. He was told by Kroff to bring Five to the tenth floor. It did not matter if they went to the first one for some time. Five still could not distinguish between the tunnels; to him, everything was the same.


    A few minutes later, they arrived on the first floor. Roy silently stood behind Five with an expressionless face. The latter could only awkwardly ask, "Can you please lend me a weapon? Farming slimes without any is a bit hard..."


    The lizardman frowned for a second but quickly, a spear appeared in his hands. With a reluctant expression, he silently gave the spear to Five.


    [Ancestral Spear(Grade 3)]


    Damage: 39-43


    Effect: [Armour Break]: ignores 20% armour


    It was the first time Five actually held a spear. It felt very awkward. It was a rather short and thick spear, clearly meant for close combat. The texture felt weird; it was neither wood nor metal. Five held it like a sword and started hunting.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    The unfortunate slimes that met Five all perished one by one. Compared to yesterday, the rate at which he was slaying the monsters was at least twice as fast, partly due to his increase in Strength stat but mostly due to the spear. The spear had higher damage than the Harpy''s Blood.


    ...


    One hour later, Five finally took a break. He killed enough slimes to earn 200 DP. He wanted to continue, but he knew he could not abuse Kroff¡¯s hospitality. And so, he asked Roy to bring him to the goblin''s village as Kroff advised him to.


    With a nod, Roy led the way through the tunnels. He remained silent and expressionless as always. It did not take long to reach the teleportation platform. The tenth floor was not too different from the first; the tunnels and rooms were much larger, and goblins could be seen instead of slimes.


    Anxious that he would be attacked by them, he quickly asked Roy about it, but the latter quickly told him that they would not attack him unless he attacked first or offended them. Not waiting for Five''s reply, the lizardman let out a growl which caused the nearby goblins to turn and look at the two.


    But they did not approach the duo. The goblins simply stared at Five and Roy with a respectful look.


    "Just look around. We can go to the goblin''s village afterward," declared Roy while positioning himself behind Five.


    The latter nodded and started to explore the floor. He was surprised to not find any human guards. There were so many yesterday when the secret room was revealed and yet, none could be found now.


    It did not take long for Five to get bored. The surroundings were very repetitive; there were only rooms filled with goblins. He quickly decided to ask Roy to bring him to the goblin''s village; it was the one difference this floor had compared to the others.


    In front of a seemingly normal wall, Roy turned to look at Five, "That''s the entrance. As long as you go fast enough, you will be able to get through the barrier," declared the lizardman, not giving any more explanation.


    "Asking me to run into a wall?" doubtfully thought Five. It sounded like something nobody would ever do, but he recalled that there was something like that in one of the movies he watched in the real world. Full of doubts, he sent Roy a questioning look, but the latter ignored him.


    With no other choice, Five could only do as he was told. After taking a few steps back, he charged at the solid wall. As he was about to hit the wall, he instinctively closed his eyes, but the collision he expected never occurred. Five opened his eyes, only to find several goblins curiously looking at him.


    The goblins wore puzzled expression, "How could a human have found the way to get into their village?" They were about to attack when another figure appeared behind the human and warned them to not attack.


    After Five went through, Roy quickly followed behind. Such barriers were very common, especially for higher floors which usually housed a village of the creatures guarding it. With the same expressionless attitude, he silently stood behind Five.


    "Fiouff," The latter let out a sigh of relief. He doubted Roy for a second but fortunately, nothing went wrong. Seeing Roy, the goblins quickly changed their attitude to a respectful one and went back to their own tasks.


    The goblin village consisted mainly of females and children, with a population of about 3000 individuals of which only 20% were males. Goblins had a high reproduction rate. Normally, a female could give birth once per month. Despite that, the birth rate of the village could not sustain the death rate of the floor, Kroff still needed to purchase goblins via the Dungeon Shop, but the village still decreased the expenses significantly.


    Five strolled around the village accompanied by Roy. The houses were made of wood and straws, looking very rustic. But there was nothing interesting to see; most goblins had nothing to do, except for a small group that was patrolling the outskirts just in case a human would randomly decide to charge at a solid wall and went through the barrier.


    The goblins did not need to hunt or farm since all the food was provided by Kroff who used DP. All their daily needs were being provided. Their only task was to reproduce and replenish the population. It was no different from cattle on Earth, raised and fed only to be later slaughtered.


    Five quickly got bored. He could not communicate with the goblins who could only make sounds similar to grunts and squeaks. At the same time, they did not dare approach Roy who was standing just behind him.


    He continued to explore the village. Sometimes, he would see children running around and playing, but they would quickly turn around and flee when they noticed Roy¡¯s presence.


    In the distance, Five suddenly noticed a different building. It was much larger compared to the others and seemed to be completely made up of the wooden material. The building also looked like it was isolated to some extent, compared to the other houses which were closed to each other. There were no houses within a 15 meters radius of that one. Compared to the rest of the village, the building and its surroundings also seemed cleaner.


    Intrigued, Five proceeded towards the building. There were no goblins nearby. Turning to Roy, he asked him why that building was different, but the latter replied that he did not know since each village was different; he could simply go and have a look if he wanted to know.


    Followed by Roy, Five promptly stopped in front of the building''s door and pushed it open.

 Chapter 12: Death

    Five pushed the door opened. He was surprised at the scene unfolding in front of him. From his knowledge, goblins should be messy creatures but what he saw was the exact opposite.


    Inside, he saw several aligned beds on which several goblins could be seen. The room looked like a large common shared hospital room. From one look, Five could already tell that the goblins on the beds were all female; he did not know how to distinguish goblins by their gender but it was clear from their bellies that they were all in the latest stage of their pregnancy.


    Farther into the room, Five could see goblins holding newly born children in their arms. As soon as the door was opened, all the goblins turned their attention at Five with expressions of fear and nervousness. The mothers instinctively held their child closer.


    "This? Is it a nursery?" thought Five.


    However, before he could react, Five suddenly noticed something green charging at him from the sides. It was two goblins; these two were different from the others; they were taller and were wearing some equipment; it could not be called an armor, but they had shoulder plates and a heart protector.


    The two furiously charged at Five. Seeing their spears viciously pierce towards him, Five immediately reacted and tried to dodge. However, even if he had good reflexes, his body could not keep up. He was still in a game where stats had a certain significance.


    He tried to step on the side to dodge the spear, hoping to buy enough time for Roy to do something. But he immediately realized that he would not make it. His body was not moving as quickly as he wanted to, it was clearly slower than what he could do in real life.


    "Wait!" shouted Five but the two goblins did not react.


    In a desperate attempt, he twisted the ancestral spear and pushed the tip against the ground, to help him gain some momentum. That move gave him just enough speed to barely dodge the first spear.


    Five ungracefully rolled to the ground, successfully dodging the spear. While rotating, he caught a glimpse of Roy who drew out another spear and was charging towards the goblin. However, it was the last thing he saw as the second goblin stabbed his spear right through his head.


    "-75"


    A massive amount of damage appeared right above Five''s head. He panicked as he saw the number, not just because it was large, but because it exceeded the amount of HP he had and as he expected:


    [System prompt: You have been slain by the Goblin Guard, level -1, applying death penalties]


    Five''s body immediately started to emit light. It slowly disintegrated into nothingness starting from his feet. It looked like his body was changing into pixels that were slowly dispersing. As his heart was about to disappear, an orb fell to the ground and all the pixels suddenly converged to that orb.


    At the same time, Roy''s spear instantly cut the two goblin guards with a single strike. But he was too late, Five already suffered from a lethal blow. As they saw the two goblin guards being slain, the female goblins broke into panic and fled to the other side of the room, screaming and shouting.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    However, Roy did not spare them a glance. With the same expressionless face as ever, he calmly grabbed the ancestral spear he gave Five a few hours earlier and made it disappear. With a sigh, he took the orb, "I am sorry, the two goblin guards took me by surprise, I did not expect them to suddenly attack. I need to report this to Master. I shall accept the punishment," declared Roy while looking at the orb.


    Without waiting, Roy immediately turned around with the orb and left the building.


    ...


    A few minutes later, Roy arrived at the dungeon core''s room where Kroff usually managed the dungeon from. He kneeled in front of Kroff and presented the orb while explaining the events.


    Raising his right hand, Kroff silently used a skill, causing the orb to float towards his hand. With a severe expression, he waved his other hand to dismiss Roy before turning his attention to the orb. The lizardman quickly used its camouflage skill and disappeared from the room while apologizing for his mistake.


    After a few seconds, Kroff started cursing at Roy''s carelessness, "How could such a thing happen? I will definitely punish him later! He must have been slacking off for too long."


    Finally, he made an apologetic face and said while looking at the orb: ¡°Five! I know you can hear me in your ethereal state. I would like to apologize for what happened. There were factors we simply could not have predicted."


    "The building you went in is the nursery of the goblins. It is a very important place for the goblin village. Even the goblin king cannot act freely there. Goblins value their females, especially the pregnant ones. You were attacked because they thought that you were an invader. You noticed that the building was slightly isolated from the rest of the village. Goblins cannot go there at any time and so the news that you are my disciple did not reach the goblin guards there. The two responsible goblin guards are already dead..."


    Silence filled the room for a moment before Kroff resumed explaining the situation.


    "It is really unfortunate; Roy tried to save you but even he could not react in time. Fortunately, you can still reside in your dungeon core until tomorrow. You will naturally get your body back 24 hours after death..." continued Kroff.


    10 minutes later, Kroff was still apologizing when Harriet suddenly entered the room, "Did you call me, Master?"


    "Yes! An unexpected incident happened to Five. But I still have the dungeon to manage. Since you are the most familiar with him, please look after him until he recovers," answered Kroff while making the orb float towards Harriet.


    "This..." she immediately knew what that orb was. It felt like a weaker version of Kroff''s own dungeon core; she could already guess what happened to Five. She silently accepted the orb and bowed before leaving. She already understood that she was to look after the orb.


    ...


    Outside the room, she let out a sigh and closely looked at the orb, ¡°I know you can hear me, Five. What on earth did you do for it to end like this?"


    Without waiting for an answer, she quickly started walking through the tunnels towards the teleportation platform.


    "It must have been terrifying to experience death. I''ve been in this situation twice before... I cried the whole night with my sisters after being revived the first time though I don''t know if, as a dungeon master, you are experiencing the same thing...."


    With a saddened expression, she continued to narrate her own experience as she brought the sphere to the Harpies'' floor. "Let''s at least take the opportunity to show you a higher floor."


    A few minutes later, she left the teleportation platform and went through a secret opening in the dungeon wall. On the other side, was a single massive cavern. Compared to the lower floors which were divided into rooms and tunnel, this one seemed to be made up of a single large room. You could not even see the end of the room.


    There were pillars made of the material as the rest of the dungeons looking like stalactites. Also, a few shiny rocks and shiny ores could be found here and there. It was clear that this was a floor rich in mining resources.


    "Welcome to my floor. It is called the Avian Cavern. There should not be any adventurers right now, let me show you around."


    Harriet paused for a second before deploying her wings. With a single wing beat, she took off and flew across the cavern. She was flying quickly while speaking at the same time: ¡°These ores are Azemyth Ores. They are quite rare but there¡¯s a lot here!¡±


    ¡°The bones here are ancient dragon bones! They are very alluring to the adventurers!¡±


    She continued to explain and eventually, Harriet started gaining altitude.


    Everything looked normal at first but as she reached the roof, tiny platforms on which harpies were standing could be seen attached to the pillars. These platforms were about 100m high and could barely be seen from the ground since the color blended with that of the roof.


    The harpies warmly greeted Harriet as soon as they saw her. Making a quick smile to the harpies she met. She flew across the cavern until she stopped just in front of a pillar that was much larger than the other ones.


    ¡°This is the central pillar of the Avian Cavern! I don¡¯t know much about structural things, but it is what allows the Cavern to be made of only a single room! Not only that, but there¡¯s more!¡±


    Her left hand pressed against the rough material as a rune shone from both her hand and the pillar. A few seconds later, an opening appeared just above her head.

 Chapter 13: Planning

    As the spear went through his head, Five suddenly felt his body freeze. He did not feel any pain but rather, a sense of relief. It was a very weird but comfortable feeling. Without being able to resist, he lost consciousness and only woke up to find himself in a weird environment.


    As he opened his eyes, he found himself trapped in a small transparent sphere. The first thing he saw was a giant Roy moving his hands to grab him. He instinctively raised his hand to protect himself, "Hey! Careful" shouted Five. But the giant hand did not touch him. It was stopped by the transparent sphere.


    "I am sorry, the 2 goblin guards took me by surprise. I did not expect them to suddenly attack. I need to report this to Master. I shall accept the punishment," said Roy. His tone was as expressionless as ever, not even containing a tinge of sincerity.


    "What? Is that all you have to say?" declared Five inside the sphere. But Roy did not even answer him. He turned around to leave, bringing the sphere with him.


    "Are you just going to ignore me?" loudly asked Five but still, the giant lizardman seemed to not hear him and continued on his way.


    "It looks like he really can''t hear me," concluded Five but what just happened? Why did the two goblins attack him and more importantly, why did Roy not growl just like he did when the goblins first noticed him when he went through the barrier?


    He was furious. Losing a level meant losing all the DP he earned over his stay there. But there was nothing he could do except for letting Roy bring the sphere to Kroff.


    There was definitely something fishy!


    ....


    A few minutes later, Five found himself in Kroff''s hands. As he listened to the explanation, he felt the frustration and annoyance rise in him; something was bugging him. Things simply did not make sense and he could not help but feel like his death was planned.


    First of all, how could a level 15 goblin outrun Roy who was supposedly one of the strongest monsters of the dungeon? Apart from that, the fact that he chose to attack physically rather than shouting something to warn the goblins further raised Five''s suspicions.


    But seeing Kroff''s response, he felt like something was wrong. He did not feel any sincerity in Kroff''s explanations and apologies. Although he understood that the goblins could have mistaken him for an intruder, something was telling him that it was all planned. Especially when he saw how quickly Kroff dismissed the matter. Was that his punishment for not joining the Cyclone Alliance? Forcing him to stay at level 1 and taking away all the DP he collects by force?


    Although Kroff mentioned punishing Roy for his incompetence, the tone clearly indicated that it was not an important thing. And more importantly, apart from excuses, Five did not receive any compensation. 500 DP did not mean much to Kroff but to Five, they represented a day and a half of hard work


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    Five turned gloomy as he understood the situation. Although there was no definite proof, his senses were telling him that everything was part of Kroff''s plan.


    "Does he really think I am stupid?" said Five to himself. He was really furious. He did not mind not getting help from his mentor but if the latter was now tying him down, that was something unacceptable.


    At that moment, he saw Harriet suddenly enter the room with haste. After a quick exchange, Five found himself in the hand of Harriet as she promptly left the room.


    With a saddened expression, she started talking to Five without expecting an answer, but the latter was focusing on something else. Even though he could hear what Harriet was saying, right now, Five¡¯s mind was elsewhere; he was recalling the previous scene.


    When he saw Harriet, he now became almost certain that Kroff planned everything, why wasn''t it Harriet who accompanied him to see the goblin village? Was it just a coincidence or a plan?


    As pieces got together, the situation became clearer to Five: Kroff was definitely an enemy and a sly one. Using his authority and status to weaken Five because he did not agree to join the alliance.


    Did that mean that he would have to stay at level 1 and leave the mentoring period without any DP? That was a really harsh treatment! But there was nothing he could do. In this environment, Kroff did have absolute authority.


    But there was one thing Five knew; he needed to make Kroff pay for that. He did not do any wrong but Kroff was now indirectly harming him. There was no way he was going to leave without doing anything.


    At that moment, the scene in front of him suddenly changed; Harriet, who was still carrying his dungeon core, entered a new cave. It was clearly different from the previous floors he visited, not only did it consist of only one large cavern, he could also see several ores on the ground and walls. The shiny ores immediately attracted his attention and he temporarily stopped thinking about his plans.


    "Welcome to my floor, it is called the Avian Cavern. There should not be any adventurers, let me show you around," said Harriet.


    Five instinctively turned his head to look at Harriet when he suddenly froze for a second," Ahh Harriet! Please don''t place the dungeon core so close to your chest!" exclaimed Five while blushing. He quickly turned to look in another direction, but he instinctively took a few more glances. It was involuntary, but Harriet was holding the dungeon core with her 2 hands and it was pressing against her breasts.


    From Five''s point of view, since he was inside the small dungeon core, they looked like two giant white melons. They were especially highlighted by the battle gear Harriet was wearing which was similar to what the young harpies were wearing the first time Five met them.


    A few seconds later, Harriet suddenly deployed her wings and flew upwards. It was the first time Five could be considered flying, but he did not feel anything. The usual feeling during take-off on planes did not appear.


    Since he could not communicate with Harriet, Five remained silent and observed the landscape in front of him. It felt as if he was exploring one of those ancient underground caverns with a lot of stalactites except that it was well lighted.


    Quickly, Harriet stopped in front of what looked like the central pillar. It was clearly different since it was visibly larger than the others. By placing her hands onto a specific spot on the pillar, a rune appeared and a few seconds later, an opening appeared above their head.


    Harriet did not hesitate and flapped her wings and went through it. Instantly, the scenery changed; in front of him, Five saw a floating village.


    The buildings were not literally floating. They were built on a very thin platform made of the same material as the dungeon wall, but the fact that there were no roads made it feel like a floating village.


    "And this is the harpies¡¯ village."


    Harriet quickly brought him to have a look; harpies were found everywhere but here again, the harpies had no proper goals. Many of them were just lying around, talking to each other. But since the harpies were of higher rank than the goblins, they obviously had more perks, Five could see that some harpies were busy reading while some were playing what looked like chess.


    Time quickly went by. It was very boring for Five since he could not communicate with others. He quickly got fed up by all the girl talks that were taking place. Harpies were defending a much higher floor and so, not many adventurers reached there. They had much more free time and only a few were stationed in the Avian Cavern. They would then alert the Harpies in the village in case adventurers would appear.


    Five only half listened to the girls talking. He was not really interested in their talks. Instead, he was already thinking about his revenge. But he had limited power. What could he do to deal a sufficiently strong blow to Kroff before leaving? Did he need to pretend to accept joining the Cyclone Alliance?


    He was still trying to find a good plan when he suddenly recalled something; if he was not wrong, during their talk yesterday, Harriet mentioned that Kroff would temporarily give him the control of the first 10 floors to learn how to manage them.


    "But would Kroff still do that after this incident?" thought Five, as a plan started to take shape in his mind

 Chapter 14: As if nothing happened

    [System prompt: 24 hours have passed, reconstructing your body, death penalties still in effect!]


    "Finally!"


    Five was silently leaning against the transparent inside of the sphere when he heard the system prompt. Although he sounded relieved, he was, reluctant to leave his dungeon core. Spending hours doing nothing, it was like a holiday to him. Furthermore, despite the lack of furniture, Five felt very comfortable inside.


    Harriet was quietly reading; she spent the entire morning chatting with the other harpies and now, she finally had some free time. She was carelessly leaning against the wall of house. In front of her was an abyss. If one fell into it, he would immediately appear in the Avian Cavern but would undergo a free fall of 200 meters before crashing on the ground.


    The orb she received from Kroff was resting between her knees. She was well aware that Five was inside, fully conscious of everything and that he would soon revive but she did not know the exact time.


    Suddenly, the orb started to shine brightly. Harriet immediately noticed and put aside the book before grabbing the orb. She gently placed it on the floor and took a few steps back.


    The light that came out of the orb started to condense and in less than 5 seconds, it now had the shape of a human. Another 5 seconds elapsed before the light finally disappeared, revealing Five''s figure.


    "Ehh, hello," said a confused Five. He did not expect the revival to go this way. Although it lasted only for 10 seconds, he felt like he just came down after a series of roller coasters; his head was spinning but he quickly got himself together.


    Besides, he was a bit embarrassed in front of Harriet. The latter brought him to her room last night when she went to sleep. Of course, she placed the orb on a desk near her bed but as she went to sleep, Five was surprised as she removed her clothes before going under the quilt.


    As she was doing so, she promptly explained that it was the only way she could sleep. The feeling of cloth would often tingle her and prevent her from sleeping. Even if Five saw nothing besides her back, it was a very arousing scene. Harriet herself did not seem to be embarrassed at all as if it was totally normal for her.


    "Good to see that you''re fine!" happily greeted Harriet. She immediately noticed the drop in Strength of Five but she did not bring that up. She did not want to mention his death, or anything related.


    As for Five, he felt that nothing was wrong with his body; he could move as normal. But his stats were showing the opposite; not only did he have a ¡°-1¡± next to his strength due to his death, all his stats were further reduced by 50% due to the death penalties.


    ¡°So? Now that you can talk again, what do you think of the Avian Cavern?" asked Harriet.


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    "Back to business already? Not much. It is fine as it is. Suitable for harpies but at the same time, you guys don''t spend much time there."


    With a quick sleight of hand, Five moved his dungeon core to his inventory.


    The harpy queen was clearly not satisfied with the answer and persisted: "You did not find any ways to improve it?"


    "It is hard for me to put myself in the shoes of a high-level adventurer. That''s how I could find ways to improve the first few floors, but this one is way too high level for me right now," replied Five. In truth, despite the little amount of time he spent there, Five did think of some ways to help the harpies.


    However, he decided to keep that to himself. After Roy''s actions, Five came to the conclusion that it was better to keep some distance from Kroff''s monsters. Even if Harriet looked friendly and caring, he did not know if she was just acting or if these were her true intentions.


    "Fine fine, keep your secrets to yourself! Shall we go and see Master, or do you want to spend some time here?" asked Harriet, completely changing the topic.


    "Ehh, how are you planning to bring me down? I am not in the dungeon core anymore," said Five. Going up was easy since Harriet could just carry his dungeon core, but now that he was out, things were more complicated.


    "What''s the difference? I can just carry you!" declared Harriet and before Five could react, she immediately pushed Five slightly and repositioned herself


    "Hey wait! Ahhh" Five panicked as he felt the sudden feeling of weightlessness


    But before he could react, he already found himself in Harriet''s arms in a princess carry.


    "How else do you want to go down? Don''t move too much or you''ll fall," said Harriet as she jumped into the abyss below.


    ...


    "Again Five, I am very sorry for what happened! To prevent such things from happening anymore, I suggest that you stay with Harriet for the rest of your time here. She is more adept at protecting you!" declared Kroff.


    As soon as they entered Kroff''s room, the latter immediately dropped his current task to speak to the two. He tried to test Five''s reaction but to his surprise, he did not detect any intent to take revenge inside him. "Is he really good at acting? Or does he really not mind dying?" thought Kroff.


    Even after a few more exchanges, he still could not determine what Five was thinking. He was acting as if nothing happened and that was giving Kroff a bad feeling.


    "Anyway, I suggest you hunt a bit on the first floor. It might help you gain back some DP. We will go back to usual lessons tomorrow."


    "I was thinking of doing that, thank you," politely answered Five. With nothing else to say, Kroff promptly dismissed the two.


    ''Strange! With his temperament, I was sure he was going to make a fuss or complain... I should be more careful'' thought Kroff.


    Quickly, Five and Harriet arrived on the first floor. With the Harpy''s Blood in hand, he quickly started to farm the slimes. Unfortunately, the death penalties were still in effect. Without considering the -1 strength since he fell down to level 1, all his stats had an additional negative number next to them which would last for 12 hours.


    But despite the reduction in his stats, Five was still easily able to kill the slimes; he did not have to rely too much on his own strength with the Harpy''s Blood.


    "So? Are you gonna act like nothing happened? " asked Harriet. She had been quietly following Five into the tunnels and was wondering about his very passive behavior; if she considered his past, this was not something he would normally do.


    "What else can I do? It''s not like Kroff will give me anything... Unless I join his alliance but that won''t happen..." replied Five as he stabbed the Harpy''s blood into a nearby slime.


    "Sigh... You are really weird, anyone else would have already decided to submit..."


    "It''s fine, I don''t think such things will happen again as long as I am careful and stay near you. Also, I don''t plan on going on those high floors again. I''ll just quietly gather some DP and leave when I''ll be allowed to," innocently answered Five.


    He calmly went back to farming and Harriet followed him like a bodyguard. That was his plan; to lay low for now and collect DP. Dungeon Points were essential for his growth and at the same time, they would also be of prime importance if he wanted to take revenge.


    "617 DP... Not bad, but not enough... Sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter, even buying the raw materials instead of the final product will cost me at least 1000 DP," said Five to himself


    For now, there was only one thing he was waiting for: for Kroff to give him control over the first 10 floors. Even if it was just temporary, many things could be accomplished during that period of time. More specifically, the dungeon right now was designed to accommodate the residents of this world. But as soon as the players would arrive, the dynamics would immediately change.


    Players would definitely act differently from NPCs and as such, they could also be manipulated to some extent. Especially since the players would usually be more daring and greedier for resources as they did not die for real.

 Chapter 15: Arrival of the players

    Two days later, Five had now collected a total of 1500DP including those naturally generated.


    "Five, come! It is the moment you''ve waited for!" said Harriet as she entered his room with a smile.


    "Alright! I am excited, let''s go!"


    It was finally time for Five to get in charge of the lower floors. He sounded excited like a child that was given candy. Since his death, Five acted as casually as possible. Aside from collecting DP, he behaved as passively and obediently as possible. He was always listening to Kroff and Harriet without leaking his real intent.


    The past two days could be considered peaceful; no incident happened as Five stuck to the schedule and Harriet. The lessons were not very interesting, but he now had a good understanding of his responsibilities as a dungeon master.


    The only thing he said to Harriet was that he was really looking forward to taking charge of the first few floors. Even though she was her friend, there was no way he would reveal his plan to her. After all, even though they talked openly, he still had doubt that she was just a double agent sent by Kroff and if she heard what he was planning, there was a risk that she would not keep quiet.


    ...


    "Hello Five, I''ve heard that you have been looking forward to this moment. Here, this is a pseudo-dungeon core that you can use to control the first few floors. I trust that after our lessons, you already know how to control such things," said Kroff.


    "Yes mentor, don''t worry," excitedly answered Five as he grabbed the purple orb floating towards him. The orb was clearly different from his. He did not feel comfortable with it; it was not repulsive but if he could, he would stay away from it. But there was no way he would let go of this opportunity


    "Alright! You can do whatever you want. Your budget is 10000DP and all the DP you gain will be added to this amount. Try to make some profits from them. I will just take occasional looks at your progress but in the end, the decision is yours. I will only act in extreme cases," said Kroff.


    "No problem, I''ll have a look now."


    Having obtained what he wanted, Five activated the dungeon core and instantly, the first 10 floors appeared in front of him. But this time, it was different. There was a lot of icons to the side which represented the different modifications he could make.


    Five smiled. Now was time to get some DP back. As he looked at the dungeon, Five immediately found something strange; even though it was early in the morning, there were no guards inside training by fighting the monsters. "Strange! Did Kroff give me the command because the source of revenue was gone?"


    "Nevermind, I''ll consider that after I abuse the system for a moment!"


    ...


    Guided by Harriet, Five went back to the first floor to hunt some slimes.


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    "Did you really just do that? Kroff will be furious!" exclaimed Harriet.


    "Relax, I will only do it once. He won''t say anything if I don''t continue to abuse it. In fact, he should be thanking me for showing him this loophole. I am sure he will share it with his Cyclone Alliance," answered Five.


    As he was about to enter the first floor, Five grabbed the Harpy''s Blood and pressed the "Confirm" button on the interface of the pseudo-Dungeon Core.


    "Here I come!" shouted Five as he barged through the opening.


    ...


    In his room, Kroff suddenly frowned upon looking at the first floor. He did not know why Five did not immediately start to modify the Dungeon since he looked so excited about it. Instead, Five chose to go hunting slimes as usual. Upon hearing that, Kroff thought that it was normal that he would want to regain his lost DP and only internally chuckled.


    But as he swept his glance at the floors, he immediately noticed something different on the first floor. The population density of the slimes just instantly tripled and more importantly, they were more concentrated near the entry.


    "This guy... Don''t tell me he is planning to use all the 10000DP to summon slimes and kill them... That''s crazy," exclaimed Kroff.


    It was something he did not foresee; how could such a huge loophole exist? 10000DP was not a substantial amount of DP for Kroff. He watched Harriet and Five through his own interface. He focused on them and heard their conversation.


    "Hmmmp, that guy! I shall allow it if it is only once... It is true that it is a valuable information for the Cyclone Alliance..."


    ...


    Back on the first floor, Five was mercilessly killing the slimes one by one. After a few days, he had already gotten used to the Harpy''s Blood and was using it at its best. 2 to 3 strikes were enough to kill a slime regardless of its level.


    Two hours went by as Five already collected 400DP which was already twice the usual amount he would take daily. He used 1000DP to increase the population but naturally, there were some losses occurring in the process of killing. It was impossible for him to regain the 1000DP, at best, he could only obtain 500 DP from them.


    But even just 500 was already a lot for him, especially considering that his personal DP only amounted to 1900 now.


    As he was about to stop killing slimes, Five suddenly heard loud steps followed by curses.


    "F***! Why are there so many slimes. These monsters are not even worthy of being killed by me!"


    "Tskkk, you two, deal with them."


    Five and Harriet immediately turned their attention to the newcomers. It was a group of 10. From one look, Five immediately knew that they were not NPCs. First, from the way they spoke. Second, their equipment was clearly different from what he had seen till now and third, the newcomers were all Asians! So far, all the guards he had seen were Caucasians.


    "Hmmm. So the players are finally there," said Five. At his side, Harriet curiously looked at the newcomers.


    "Are they the ones that always revive after their death? They look really weak," said Harriet to herself.


    Having confirmed the arrival of the players, Five simply went to slay the last few slimes of his quota, completely ignoring them.


    "Hey look! There is already someone there!" exclaimed one of the players. His name was Wang Hao.


    "Someone was faster than us? Strange..." answered the player named Wang Chong. At the same time, the rest of the party turned their attention to Five who was busy killing slimes.


    "Hmmp... He is probably just an NPC, look! He is only level 1... Shall we approach them? We might trigger a quest," said another player whose name was Wang Lin.


    "We can try. There''s nothing to lose," said Wang Chong as he led the way towards the young man they saw.


    Noticing them approaching, Five immediately stopped his killing. He had just completed his quota. At the same time, Harriet moved in front of him to protect him.


    The players took a deep breath as they noticed Harriet standing in front of them in her tight assassin suit. They did not see her at the beginning as she was using a skill giving her partial stealth.


    Wang Chong paused for a moment upon seeing the mature beauty. But he quickly recollected himself and said," Good morning miss. My party and I just arrived there and could not help but notice your presence. I see that you are protecting this young man here, do you need our help in doing so?"


    Harriet lifted her eyebrows sending a questioning look. She could not help but feel irritated, "What does that guy want? Can¡¯t he mind his own business?" said Harriet to herself. She could feel the lustful stares of the other players wandering around her body.


    Five was internally laughing. It was clear to him that they were looking for opportunities to obtain quests; talking to NPCs was a normal thing to do in games. He found Harriet''s reaction quite funny, she was after all a monster whose job was to kill humans and now, ten of them were coming to chat with her. This was a first for her.


    "Thank you, sirs, but we are done here. We can go back on our own," intervened Five.


    Hearing his voice, the party immediately looked at him. "Alright! Be safe on your way back. Guys, let''s go!" said Wang Chong as he ordered his party to follow him to higher floors.


    The party dejectedly followed their leader. They would naturally have preferred to keep company to Harriet. Even the team leader, Wang Chong was not indifferent to the harpy queen, but he came here with a task. If he went back without results, the elders of his guild would definitely punish him.


    The players could only look at Harriet and Five in envy, "Why is that NPC so lucky to have a beautiful bodyguard at his side!?" shouted the players in their heart.

 Chapter 16: Observing the players

    Five and Harriet swiftly went back to the tunnel after the players left. The harpy queen was clearly annoyed. She easily spotted the lustful looks on these humans especially the one called Wang Lin.


    "You should be more patient, Harriet. You got annoyed just because they came to talk to you?" said Five along the way.


    "Hmmp! I don''t like the way they looked at me! These idiots! How dare they show their vile desires in front of me! I can behead them with a single hit," answered Harriet.


    "Oh man, I better be careful around her," said Five to himself. He found Harriet a little bit impulsive but again, she considered humans as weak creatures that could easily be killed. If he was not a dungeon master, he might have received the same treatment.


    The two returned to the communal room as it was time for lunch. He had already collected a large amount of DP. Five now had 2200DP.


    Harriet happily brought Five to the Harpy''s Communal Room. She enjoyed these moments with him since they would then talk freely and Five would tell her about his own world. Having lived a rather sheltered life until she came here, Harriet could only learn about the outside world through books and stories of others.


    She enjoyed hearing stories, especially the ones that described places like the sea or the desert. Although she did not like humans, she sometimes wished that she could go to Five¡¯s world and experience everything there.


    However, this time was different. Five was intently looking at the pseudo-dungeon core that Kroff gave him. He was planning to look at the group of ten that arrived earlier to see their behavior. The pseudo-core had many functions aside from making modifications and one of them was the camera function which allowed Five to look at any area on the first 10 floors.


    When he activated this function, a tiny hologram popped up showing the group of players. They were on the fourth floor, exploring to find the stairs. They were easily killed all the Giant Ants coming to stop them. It was to be expected since the players were level 10 while the Giant Ants were only level 8.


    Five carefully observed the players. It was clear that the leader was the one named Wang Chong. The rest of the team was made up of 2 rangers, 1 priest, 2 mages, 2 rogues and 2 paladins.


    While Five was watching the players, the melee classes engaged a direct battle with 3 Giant Ants. Another Giant Ant was making its way towards the group, but the mages and rangers showered it with projectiles.


    At that moment, Harriet came back with two trays of food, "What are you looking at?" asked Harriet.


    "Just the adventurers that arrived today. Since they are supposed to revive after their deaths, I thought it would be interesting to look at their fighting style," answered Five as he absentmindedly grabbed the sandwich on his plate.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    At the same time, he noticed that more players stepped on the first floor. When he looked at the pseudo-dungeon core, he found that the 10 players already generated 1000 DP after just 30 minutes. It was a very small amount considering that they already killed 900 DP worth of monsters and they were not showing any signs of stopping, continuing to move to the 5th floor.


    ...


    On the 5th floor,


    "These stupid ants! There''s so many of them but they are not even worth our time killing them..."


    "That''s only because of our level. Let''s hurry up and check the higher floors. We are only here to scout the place and check if the monsters are just like the programmers said... If they are right, we should stop on the 7th floor where there are mine bats."


    "F***ing hell... They should have made it so that we are not forced to go on all these floors to reach the higher ones... Such a waste of time."


    While it looked like a waste of time for the players, it was just a feature that helped the dungeon masters get a few more DP for each player especially later into the game where the players would climb more than 50 floors. A considerable amount of time would then be needed, and a significant amount of DP would be generated.


    "There is the Ant Queen somewhere on this floor... So be careful to avoid it. I don''t want to waste time on this weak boss!" said a player.


    "Why didn''t the elders come with us?"


    "These old men are just lazy! They want us to do all the work while they can stay at the training center and practice their techniques..."


    Harriet silently stared at the hologram. She understood that Five would always be serious when it came to dungeons, but she was not pleased since she would no longer have the opportunity to talk about miscellaneous things with him.


    From her point of view, these adventurers were really weak and did not understand what Five wanted to observe in them. Time went by in silence and finally, she could no longer hold it in, "So? Now that you are finally in charge of the dungeon''s first few floors, what are you planning to change?"


    "Huh?" Five raised his head and looked at Harriet. He smiled and said, "I am seriously thinking about completely changing the arrangement of the floors. It would not bother Kroff, right?"


    "The arrangement? What is wrong with the actual one? Is it not good for it to be orderly like that?" asked Harriet, to her, the arrangement of the rooms and tunnels would not affect the generation of DP. It was quite a useless move that would only waste DP.


    "I just think that the dungeon could benefit from better aesthetics..."


    "Aesthetic?" said Harriet to herself. She had a bad feeling when she heard Five¡¯s answer. It was clearly a rubbish excuse and for the first time she felt like Five was planning something sinister, but she could not figure out what.


    For a moment, she did not know what to answer and so, the two turned their attention back to the hologram. By now, the group of ten has already reached the 6th floor and was smoothly making its way towards the 7th.


    On the lower floors, several small groups of players appeared and started to climb their way up. According to the pseudo-dungeon core, 60 players in total have reached entered the dungeon.


    Five momentarily shifted the camera to have a look at the other groups before returning on the first 10 players. "They are all Asians, if I am not wrong, they should be Chinese. They look like Wolf and their names all sound Chinese," thought Five. Wolf was one of his partners when he was undergoing training. He vaguely recalled that Wolf told him that most Chinese had distinguishable features but there was no way for him to confirm.


    "Anyway, China has one of the largest populations of Asia. It should be safe if I write in Chinese. Besides, many people also started to learn Mandarin," said Five to himself.


    Luckily, when he was at university, Five followed a language course since he could use it to replace the grade of another module and coincidentally, the language he chose was Chinese.


    Still sitting in front of Harriet, he quickly took out a piece of paper and started to write in Chinese," Fifth Floor Second Corridor..."


    As for Harriet, she curiously looked at Five''s actions not understanding what he was doing. She could not read Chinese and for her, it looked like he was writing some sort of runes.


    After thinking for a brief moment, Five started to modify the writings, adding lines and gaps here and there. He then quickly shaded part of the drawing. Now, the original sentences were barely recognizable. He clearly knew that he could improve what he had drawn but for a first sketch, it was not too bad.


    Having finished his tasked, he raised his head and asked, "What do you think? I am thinking of mapping the floor like that. The shaded parts represent the walls or solid areas while the white parts are the rooms and tunnels?"


    "The new map? Is it even a map? Why are there long tunnels in this area and why did you cluster so many rooms there? " commented Harriet. To her, it simply looked like a mess but her intuition kept telling her that something was wrong with this map.


    "Mmm" Five clearly knew that there was a lot of room for improvement. He needed to find a way to rearrange the floors, "Maybe break the sentences and place the bits on different floors? Or use different words?" thought Five.


    "This is aesthetics, Harriet. Just aesthetics"

 Chapter 17: Plotting against each other

    <div>


    While Five and Harriet were discussing, Kroff was sitting on his throne, intrigued at the developments.


    "It is as you said, Mehlroth. They really stopped dispatching guards for their training there," said Kroff.


    "Thank you for your praise, Master! " answered a tall silhouette covered with a black cape. It was Mehlroth, another one of Kroff¡¯s strongest monsters. Mehlroth was actually a Soul Eating Ghoul; it was a high-level ghost type monster. While normal ghouls did not have any physical bodies, Mehlroth evolved and succeeded in condensing a very fragile physical body. However, the body itself was disgusting to look at and therefore, Kroff gave him that black cape to completely cover it. Not only did it protect its body, but it also gave it a very gloomy aura.


    "Maybe you should possess a few more humans. Gathering information will help us with our future plans but make sure to not get caught. I don''t want to initiate a war with this Marquis," said Kroff.


    "As you wish Master. Just let me know when some high-level guards will enter the dungeon. I will immediately cast my spells then. It will be a waste to possess any more low-level guards; they don¡¯t give us much information," politely replied Mehlroth.


    Mehlroth, being a ghost-type monster, had the unique ability to possess living creatures. He could temporarily take control of these creatures or at the same time, he could just passively experience the lives of these creatures. And the second option was precisely what Mehlroth did; he possessed some of the guards that entered the dungeon a couple of months earlier. Later, he used the possessed guards to learn about the plans of the humans. Although they were only some relatively low-level guards, it was still enough to gather some information. From them, he learned that the guards would retreat from the dungeon for a period of time and would instead train in another location inside the city itself.


    While Mehlroth''s technique had amazing effects, it had a very high price but this sacrifice was what allowed Mehlroth to obtain his high position in the dungeon. Kroff was, in a way, a good master. He prioritized and rewarded his most dedicated monsters and naturally, when he saw the sacrifices made by Mehlroth, he promoted him.


    He only cared about the loyalty and usefulness of his monsters. For example, Roy was given a high position due to his camouflage skills which made him an extremely dangerous assassin. In the same way, Harriet also obtained her position not only because of her caring personality but also because of her flying and wind-controlling abilities which could turn her into an excellent scout.


    As for Mehlroth, not only could he communicate with all the monsters via telepathy, he also had this possessing technique which could be very useful. As such, Mehlroth secured a high position in the pyramid of monsters.


    "There is something I would like to know, master. Did you plan to give Five the control of the first 10 floors precisely because the guards would stop coming?" asked Mehlroth.


    Kroff was surprised upon hearing the question and answered, "You are smart. This was one of the reasons, yes. And giving him 10000DP was also my plan; this way, he could survive for a few days before getting into debts. And naturally, when he will exhaust those 10000DP, he would naturally have to pay from his own pocket!" answered Kroff with a gloomy smile.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "So this was the plan! Master is so smart, I would have never guessed it! It is indeed a way to make him pay back all the DP he earned from killing the slimes without killing him. He might even have to pay with the DP he generated himself,"


    "I wonder what face he will make when I will announce that he would have to pay in case his allocated DP goes negative! According to my contract with Gaia, I need to teach him for a minimum of one week to a maximum of 2 weeks; this way, I can just keep him here for as long as possible and milk out some DP out of him!" said Kroff. "Since we are on the topic, is it not strange that he is again spending more time than usual with Harriet in their communal room? Maybe I should remove this privacy thing..."


    ...


    Back to the Harpies¡¯ Communal room.


    "Eh, I still don''t understand the purpose of this. Sure, it does add some more.... mystery? But what is the actual purpose?" asked Harriet with a confused expression.


    It was already the second sketch shown by Five. This time, he showed the plans of several floors. They looked very different, but it was still looked out of place. The rooms were strangely positioned; some were much larger while others were smaller and clustered together. There were also some random tunnels with dead ends. It was the first time she saw such a map and she definitely would not want this to happen to her Avian Cavern.


    "I think it''s cooler this way. Isn''t it better to have only a single thin path and make every player go through the whole floor? We get more DP like that!" said Five with an innocent expression.


    Harriet was speechless. After all the good ideas she heard from Five during the first few days, how could he not realize that this was a bad idea. It would mean more monsters killed and would create choke points as all players would need to progress together to advance.


    She did not know what to say and decided to simply change the subject. "Anyway, don''t you need to monitor the dungeon more instead of doing these maps? It''s only half a day but you''ve already lost 1000DP without counting the 1000DP you used for the slimes. I know that the number of humans in the dungeon is steadily increasing but it is still alarming to have made such losses."


    "Oh, that? Do not worry about it. It will be fine when more players will come into the dungeon. In fact, I predict that tomorrow we will have a lot of adventurers in there. But maybe I need to tweak the respawn time a little bit," declared Five.


    The dungeon could automatically summon monsters that were slain after a certain period of time. It could also be done manually but there were way too many monsters to do so for normal ones. Right now, the respawn time of the normal monsters on the first 10 floors was 15 minutes. Five made a quick adjustment to the interface and increased the respawn time to 30 minutes. This way, the players would need to waste more time.


    As for changing the arrangement of the floors, he was still not satisfied with his actual sketch. He needed it to be discreet; he showed the maps to Harriet to see her reaction and it was clear that she did not like them.


    "Since we''ve finished our lunch, what about going back?" asked Harriet.


    "There is no need, right? There are no more lessons now. I just need to take care of these 10 floors." Five said as he turned his attention to the notepapers trying to figure out a better way to arrange the floors.


    "Mmmm" Harriet simply sat down and observed Five''s work. She quickly put away the two trays and silently sat back in front of Five.


    After just 5 minutes, Five raised his head and looked at Harriet. He was not insensible and could feel that she was not very happy right now. While he himself was busy, he could clearly see that Harriet had nothing to do but could only stay with Five to protect and guide him.


    "Let''s go to the Avian Cavern, it is better to work there!" said Five.


    ¡®At least, she¡¯ll have her sisters there.¡¯


    And immediately, Harriet''s expression brightened. She found it boring to stay in the communal room but would not voice it out since Five was at work. But now that he expressed his desire to go to the Avian Cavern, she was naturally very happy.


    Five quickly stood up and followed Harriet. He was careful to pick up the notepapers and place them in his inventory. Since he was now leaving the communal room, he was worried that Kroff might sneak a peek at his notes and so, decided to hide them. As for how he would plan his maps, he would simply try to design them from scratch but without starting from the Chinese characters to make things less obvious.

 Chapter 18: Sketching

    As they went to the Avian Cavern, Five leaned against the wall of Harriet''s house and sat down. It was a relatively quiet environment since Harriet went to talk to her sisters. He would occasionally hear their hearty laughter in the distance.


    A nice breeze was blowing in the village. It was quite refreshing especially since the weather was nice outside the dungeon. But things would be very different during winter. Five did not know how things worked there, but there were clearly no electric heaters.


    ¡°Maybe I should ask Harriet about this. It might be important later if monsters become affected by the weather!¡± said Five to himself.


    Taking out a fresh piece of paper, he once again tried to draw satisfactory maps. Time went by as he tried several combinations. For example, he found that trying to communicate only one Chinese character per floor was the best option if he wanted to hide his message effectively. However, he could only modify 10 floors and by doing so, he would be unable to convey the desired message.


    He thought for a little while and decided that the best balance would be to write two characters per floor. What he wanted to convey was a specific location on the floors; he wanted the players to be able to invade the internal part of the dungeon. He naturally aimed at the special spots like the entry he and Harriet used to enter the floors and the secret treasure rooms.


    As for how he wanted to convey this message, he would simply give them the floor, the corridor, and the location in the corridor. Each one of this information would take two Chinese characters and so, with the way he planned, he would be able to give away 3 locations in the dungeon.


    His choice was the balance between the amount of information he would be able to convey and the discretion of the message! The last thing he wanted was to be discovered by Kroff or the other monsters! But fortunately, they did not seem to have any knowledge of Mandarin.


    Five¡¯s final goal was to cause as much damage as possible to Kroff and the best way to do it was to allow the adventurers to plunder his wealth or to kill a lot of monsters and the higher the level of the monsters, the better. But Five was well aware that the players were low leveled right now. He could not aim too big but still causing a loss of a few thousands of DP should teach Kroff a lesson.


    Another detail that Five thought about was that the secret rooms were easier to find than the secret passages that the monsters used. Therefore, he chose to share the location of two secret rooms and one secret passage through the message. Floors 1 to 3 would contain the information about a secret room, Floors 4-6 would show the location about the second secret room and as for Floors 7-9, they showed the location of the secret passage.


    This way, the players would have more chance of trusting the message. If they found the first two secret rooms, they would naturally be more willing to believe that the 3rd location was also true and would spend more time searching for it. As for the tenth floor, he simply decided to write "Good Luck".


    He could keep the tenth floor the same, but to avoid suspicion, it was better to change them all.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    With that in mind, Five resumed making sketches. It was still weird to have long tunnels in a part of the floor and a cluster of rooms in another. He made as many modifications as possible while keeping the message as the base of the map.


    Unbeknown to him, one hour already elapsed as he was making sketches; countless crumbled papers were littered around him. Harriet was happily humming as she flew back towards her house. She already spent quite some time with her sisters, but she could not leave Five without any supervision, especially after the incident with Roy.


    She returned only to find Five still deeply absorbed in making sketches. She internally sighed, "I bet that guy did not even look over the first 10 floors. Why was he so excited to gain their control if he would just ignore them?" She silently flew by and grabbed one of the pieces of paper.


    "Still this crazy map!" said Harriet to herself. The map was still very strange. Although she could see some improvements in making it more normal, it still did not look like a dungeon floor to her.


    Sensing her presence, Five raised his head to look at Harriet, "Hello, how are your sisters?"


    "They are fine, thank you! But you should be more wary of yourself. Why don''t you focus on the dungeon?" asked Harriet.


    "It is fine! Don''t worry! You are looking at the old sketches. Here! Tell me what you think about these ones!" said Five as he passed her some pieces of paper.


    Harriet quickly grabbed the sketches and had a quick glance. "This, they are definitely much better than the first one you showed me but it still weird in some places. Some floors are fine like these ones, but why would there be so many branches in this corridor?" asked Harriet.


    "I''ll take that into consideration for my next sketch," answered Five as he grabbed back the papers from Harriet. There was still a lot of work to do but he was confident he would soon reach his goal.


    Since Harriet just came back, Five decided to take a small break and talked to Harriet about various things. He was already tired both mentally and physically and taking a break might give him some inspiration.


    He also took the opportunity to look at the floors he was in charge of. It looked like most players that arrived were currently hunting on the 6th and 7th floor. About 200 players were in the dungeon. He turned his attention to the amount of DP he had available and saw that it was 7200DP.


    Not counting the 1000DP he used to make slimes for himself, he already lost 1800DP and the day was not even over. However, he was not alarmed at this number since he knew that the number of players would increase very quickly and so would his DP income.


    ...


    Three hours later, Five lazily yawned as he placed down his pencil. He was finally satisfied with his sketches and even Harriet gave her seal of approval. He had to sacrifice the legibility of the message to make the floor look less abnormal. He believed that at least one smart person would be able to find the message if they took the time to look at the map attentively. It was true that it looked like a very mediocre writing but that was the best he could do to avoid raising suspicions.


    During all this time, Harriet was simply reading the books about the outside world next to Five. To her, it was just like a normal day. "Are you finally finished with your aesthetics improvement?" sarcastically asked Harriet.


    "I am fairly satisfied, I doubt it can be any better!" replied Five. He smiled at her tone but maintained an innocent expression.


    "Then when do you plan to make these changes? You don''t have much DP available for that. I know that it is just rearranging so it costs less DP than adding features but still..."


    "Oh! Don''t worry about that. I''ll probably make changes tomorrow when the adventurers will leave the dungeon," answered Five. While he now had the plans for the rearrangement, that was just a small part of his plan, he still had other things to prepare.


    ...


    Meanwhile, Kroff was on his throne closely observing Five. "This is weird. What are these sketches he made? " asked Kroff.


    In front of him, a screen was displaying Five and Harriet carelessly discussing at the Harpies¡¯ village.


    "These are the maps of how he wants to rearrange the floors master, shall we call him to have a look?" asked Mehlroth.


    ¡°A map?¡± said Kroff as he pondered for a while. A few seconds later, he ordered: "Mmmm Yes, please tell Harriet to bring Five here. He visibly did not do anything changes to the dungeon despite the heavy losses... I guess it''s time to give him a wake-up call!" said Kroff while rubbing his hands.


    He was closely following the situation of the dungeon and already knew that Five only had 6500DP still available, that meant that one-third of his original capital was already gone. Everything was going according to his plan!

 Chapter 19: Gunpowder

    At the harpies¡¯ village, Harriet received the message from Mehlroth and transmitted it to Five. The latter was reluctant to go; "Do I really need to go? I will report to him tomorrow!"


    "Of course! Master wants to talk with you! Hurry up! Don''t make him wait because you''re lazy!" declared Harriet as she stood up and placed her hands on her hips.


    "Ok ok... " answered Five as he stood up. ''Did he notice something from the sketches?'' thought Five.


    Harriet quickly took out her wings and brought Five down to the Avian Cavern. It was already the third time that he was being carried in a princess carry. Five was naturally embarrassed at first, but now, he was used to it. Furthermore, Harriet did not seem to mind; she found it completely ordinary.


    ...


    A few minutes later, the two stopped in front of Kroff. Harriet politely bowed while Five simply stood still waiting for Kroff to speak.


    "Five! I gave you the command of the first 10 floors hoping to let you gain some experience. I have been keeping a close look at the situation! I am really disappointed! You looked so excited to experience what it is to be a Dungeon Master but in just one day, you''ve already lost more than 3000DP."


    "While I know that you don''t have any experience, it is not a reason to just give up like that. You did not even make a single change since you took command and it is my DP that is being lost! I cannot keep quiet when I see that you are just wasting my DP!" continued Kroff.


    "Therefore, I shall now say that once the amount of DP that I gave you reaches zero, you will have to pay with your own DP to keep the dungeon running. You cannot simply throw out 10000DP like that! I hope that you will now take the things over control and do your best!"


    Five looked at Kroff for a moment and replied: "There is no need to worry, I was planning the changes I wanted to implement in the Dungeon. I''ll probably do them tomorrow or the day after when I finalize them."


    "Oh, so you prepared something. Would you like me to have a look so that I can give you some advice?" asked Kroff while displaying a surprised expression. Although he was already aware of the drawings, he could not simply admit that he had been spying on Five.


    "It should be alright, just the rearrangement of the floors. This way, the players will spend more time in the Dungeon and will generate more DP!"


    "Let me have a look, it is better if you get the opinion of an experienced person, right?" said Kroff with a smile that was not a smile.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Five immediately felt some pressure as he saw Kroff smile. He internally sneered before taking out the map of one floor, the one where the Chinese Character was less obvious.


    Kroff asked with a doubtful expression: "Is that it? What are you planning to do with that?"


    "As I said, it''s to rearrange the floors! It looks like a useless change but just wait till I put in the spawn point of the monsters and the other details. I told you it''s not ready yet."


    Kroff suspiciously looked at Five, his free hand was gently tapping his hand rest. He could clearly see that the map was not conventional; in fact, he believed that changing the floor this way was a useless attempt, but he kept it to himself.


    "Alright alright! But you should hurry up! DP is precious. Don''t wait until everything is gone! I will remind you again that once you''ve used up all the DP I gave, you will have to pay with your own!" said Kroff.


    "There is no need to worry, I can guarantee the results will be terrific!"


    ...


    "So, what do you think master?" asked Mehlroth who appeared out of nowhere as soon as Five and Harriet left.


    "I don''t know, I doubt he will be able to reverse the situation and would definitely end up with a deficit! However, I keep getting this bad feeling. Let him do what he wants but keep an eye on him. He is probably allowing the adventurers to climb to higher floors so that they can deal with the goblins that killed him," answered Kroff with a thoughtful expression.


    As Five left with Harriet, he turned towards her and said, "I would like to go to my room and rest. No need to look after me. You should go back to the Avian Cavern."


    "Are you trying to push me away? Is it because you are stressed now that master said that there will be consequences if you failed? " asked Harriet. She found it weird since it was the first time ever that Five was telling her to leave.


    "Fine! You can just come with me then, I don''t mind inviting you to my small cramped bedroom," answered Five with a smile.


    "Hmmp! Nevermind, I''ll just go and talk to my sisters. I could not see them as much as usual because I had to look after you," said Harriet as she flapped her wings and disappeared in the corridor.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ If only I could be as carefree¡­¡±


    Five quietly entered his room and lay on the bed. He calmed down and recalled the memories of his training; for once, he could make some use of the theoretical classes he was forced to take. Opening his own interface, he quickly purchased about 200g of charcoal, 700g of Saltpeter and 150g Sulfur.


    These materials were actually available in nature and therefore, were not too expensive, but they still took out 1000DP from his reserve. He was now left with 1300DP.


    He jumped from his bed, went to the desk and started to work on the materials he just bought. He used another 50 DP to purchase some containers and placed the materials inside. Then, Five used whatever he had in hand to crush down the materials into small pieces. It would be preferable to turn them into powder but that was impossible due to the lack of proper tools and lack of DP.


    These three materials were the main components of gunpowder. When mixed in the correct ratio, they would create that very flammable and explosive mixture and this was precisely what Five wanted. He originally wanted to make more advanced explosive like Dynamite, but the lack of materials and DP made him turn towards a more primitive form of explosive.


    After 30 minutes of constant smashing and grating, he finally stopped and looked at his results. The container in front of him now contained a rather crudely made powder with lots of large grains. It was nowhere near what he saw when he had to learn how to make explosive in the real world but Five was very satisfied with his result.


    The gunpowder in front of him did not look too bad and he was certain that it was good functionality wise. Considering the severe lack of tools, it was close to the best he could make.


    "I wonder if I will be able to destroy a Dungeon Core with that?" said Five to himself as he put the container with the Gunpowder in his inventory.


    "This is enough for me... But if I want to cause some havoc. I''ll need more... Shall I use Kroff''s DP to make some?"


    He clearly knew that the gunpowder would not be enough to deal enough damage to Kroff and his monsters. However, what if he used it against the players and the guards outside? If he recalled correctly, these guards were standing by in case of monster waves and would immediately try to kill as many monsters as possible to protect the city not far away.


    "Then how would they react if several explosions occur right in their face?" asked Five to himself.


    "Let''s just use some of Kroff''s DP, about 2500 should be enough to make a decent show! With another 2000 to rearrange the floors... It should be enough if I tweak the respawn time and monster''s population a bit. Who cares if the players have to roam around the dungeon without finding monsters for a while. It¡¯s not my dungeon anyway."


    Having made his decision, he grabbed the pseudo-dungeon core and started browsing through the dungeon shop.

 Chapter 20: Finally ready

    The next morning, Five spent a few hours with Kroff for his daily lecture. Even if he was now responsible for some floors, he still had some lessons to attend to. They were not really lessons but more recaps and discussions with Kroff. To Five, these were absolute wastes of time. Although he would occasionally obtain some useful information, it was not really worth all these hours.


    Kroff kept prompting him to quickly make some changes, acting like a very responsible teacher. From his capital, Five now had about 4000DP after spending 2000 to purchase some materials; over the night, when all the players left, the floors slowly generated some DP, resulting in him still having a decent amount.


    He was not anxious since he was well aware that the number of players would keep increasing. All he did was slightly increase the respawn time of monsters. He was not planning on making any profit. All he wanted was to survive for a few more days.


    "The lesson is over; do you have any questions?" asked Kroff.


    "Not really, everything looks fine to me right now," answered Five.


    "Then I have a question for you, why did you waste 2000DP on this load of crap? You should be focusing on the dungeon. How can a bit of coal, sulfur, and saltpeter change the situation?" asked Kroff with a weird expression.


    "I am not ready yet! It is all part of my plan. Give me a little more time, everything will be fine!" said Five.


    "Do what you want but remember, there will be consequences if you make losses!" declared Kroff as he dismissed him. Although he looked annoyed, Kroff was internally rejoicing; to him, Five just took an additional step towards his doom.


    It was clear that Kroff had no knowledge of gunpowder. Although he knew about explosives, these were things he bought from the dungeon shop and since Five didn''t, he was not too worried about this. With such a convenient shop where everything could be bought with DP, it was easy to forget about the manufacturing process of these items.


    ...


    After the lesson, Five followed Harriet to lunch and spent the day in the Avian Cavern. He already got used to standing up just above the abyss and actually enjoyed the quiet atmosphere here. The harpies were talkative and liked to laugh but they usually did not disturb Five when he was doing his own things.


    Just like Harriet, the other harpies were also very curious and often asked about the outside world. As a result, Five would often feel like one of those old storytellers that resided in villages.


    "Hey Harriet, is there a way to leave the dungeon apart from the main entrance?" asked Five.


    "Huh? Of course, there is even an exit in this village. Do you want to have a look outside?" answered Harriet as she closed her book.


    "Sure, I have never seen the world outside of this dungeon,"


    The harpy smiled, "Follow me but I hope you are not afraid of heights"


    Five quietly walked behind the flying Harriet. A few minutes later, he finally saw an opening in the dungeon wall. As he went through it, he was greeted by a very strong wind, almost strong enough to make him lose balance.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    A few steps forward and he finally stood in front of a breath-taking view. He was standing on what looked like the edge of the dungeon wall; in the distance, all he could see was an endless farming field.


    When he lowered his eyes, he finally saw Algate City. From his point of view, the city looked like a medieval city, there were tall stone walls surrounding the city and even a small castle was found at the center. It was clearly not a large castle and so, Five deduced that the city belonged to a medium ranked noble.


    Algate City did not look very large, but he knew that it was because he was looking at it from a high point of view.


    "So? What do you think? It''s quite a view, right? I like to come here to look at the landscape!" said Harriet who was flying carelessly, completely ignoring the strong wind.


    "Yeah. it is definitely something unique. Even in my world, I have never seen something like that," answered Five. He did not know how high above the ground he was but it was definitely higher than a skyscraper.


    Five sat on the edge and looked around him, on his left, he could see some buildings looking like a monastery while on his right, all he could see were farming fields and farms. When he looked down, he saw what looked like a temporary camp for guards. He was too far to confirm it, but he could guess it since he saw several tents with one larger than the others, what looked like a training field and several flags.


    Even without the details, the structures below him could only be described as a temporary camp.


    Harriet happily flapped her wings as she floated next to Five. "Do you want to stay here? There''s some nice breeze here," said Harriet.


    "Hmm, is it a guard camp I see below?" asked Five.


    "Yes, they are from Algate City. Their task is to warn the city in case of monster waves from the dungeon."


    "Are you not afraid that they might notice these openings and attack the dungeon from here?" asked Five.


    "Haha, don''t worry about it. There are several openings in the dungeon wall but Kroff used some strong magic to make it impossible to detect from outside. There''s no risk," answered Harriet.


    "That''s good to know!¡± The two silently enjoyed the scenery for a moment.


    ¡°Let''s go back, I still need to work on some changes!" said Five.


    "Alright, you should work hard Five, it would be really bad if you lost more DP here..."


    "Don''t worry about it, I know what I am doing. I am just not ready yet!" answered Five.


    "But I suppose that this is a great location if I want to drop something on the camp," said Five to himself


    ...


    Back in his room,


    Five took out the materials he bought using Kroff''s DP and resumed crushing them into powder.


    "Sigh... I am really not suited for this type of manual work," said Five. He already spent a large amount of time on this and yet, he only completed half of it.


    "Looks like I won''t get much sleep today too, but I should be able to finish this tonight!"


    ...


    "Hey! Wake up Five!"


    Upon hearing the voice, Five suddenly tensed and stood up. He looked around him only to find a confused Harriet standing next to him with a tray of food.


    Five was confused for a moment but he quickly realized the situation. In the end, after hours of crushing the coal and sulfur, he ended up falling asleep at his desk. In fact, there were even some black marks on his face due to the coal.


    "What happened to you? You should maintain a healthy lifestyle Five. What crazy thing s are you planning with these?" asked Harriet while pointing at the powder on the desk.


    "Sorry about that. I worked all night on my plans and I think that I am finally ready," said Five as he quickly placed all the powder in his inventory.


    "You look very tired, look at those dark circles under your eyes and don''t try to say that they are marks from the coal," said Harriet. She was clearly concerned about Five, that guy was clearly not taking things seriously. Instead of focusing on improving the dungeon, he was preparing some crazy plans that might completely ruin his future.


    "Haha, everything is ready now, I will make the changes tonight so stop worrying about me, alright?" said Five but he froze as he looked at Harriet.


    He could not help but feel guilty when he saw Harriet''s expression. He saw both concern and annoyance in her eyes as if she was a mother scolding her child for doing something wrong, and so, he decided to brighten her mood.


    "Let me show you something. Can you lend me the Harpy''s blood for a moment?" asked Five.


    Harriet silently nodded and gave him a dagger, at the same time, she placed the tray of food on the now empty desk.


    Five swiftly grabbed the dagger and used it to mark the desk. He drew 64 squares of equal size, following that, he marked half of them.


    ¡°Ikk, why are you damaging the desk!¡± exclaimed Harriet but Five ignored her and continued:


    "Look, this is a game from my world, I don''t know if you''ve heard of it, it''s called Checkers," said Five as he took out some pieces of uncrushed sulfur and uncrushed coal.


    "Since you like my world so much, I will let you experience some of it. Let me explain the rules. First, we both have 12 pieces, you can choose the coal or the sulfur, then...."


    Having explained the rules, Five grabbed a croissant from the tray of food and sat down in front of Harriet, "It is a really popular game in my world. Do you want to give it a try?"


    The latter was visibly excited, she completely forgot about wanting to scold him and quickly nodded. She would always become excited whenever Five would talk about his world and now that he showed her this game, she was quickly distracted and forgot about scolding Five for not focusing on his task.


    The latter did not know if he needed to cry or laugh at her sudden change in attitude.


    "Sure, who shall start then?"

 Chapter 21: Modifications

    Unbeknown to the two, 30 minutes already went by as they started their 5th match of Checkers. And obviously, Five was the winner of each round but Harriet was slowly understanding the rules of the game and getting better.


    "Are you cheating? How is that possible!" declared Harriet.


    "Haha, of course not but I don''t think we should be playing another round. We still need to meet Kroff. Now that you know the game, I am sure you can share it with your sisters and all play together," said Five.


    The Harpy smiled and agreed. They have already spent more time than needed here and so, they abandoned their 5th match and left to find Kroff. When leaving, Harriet quickly swept the desk, collecting the pieces of sulfur and coal.


    She suffered defeat several times but she was not concerned about it. All that was on her mind right now was to show the game to her sisters!


    ...


    They quickly went to Kroff''s room and Five listened to his lesson. Harriet was more agitated than usual. She just wanted to go back to her sisters and present them this game, but she had to stay here and listen to Kroff speaking.


    As for Five, despite feeling tired, he looked completely normal and carefully listened to the lesson. Time flew quickly and soon, the lesson was over.


    "I would just like to say that I will make some modifications to the dungeon tonight when all the players will leave, will that be ok?" asked Five.


    "Sure, I was long waiting for this. I hope that what you''ve planned will be beneficial for the dungeon," said Kroff.


    "Yes, should I make the modifications now to show you? I know that they will only become effective tonight when everyone would have left the dungeon," asked Five.


    "Naturally, I will be happy to advise you," answered Kroff. He was really curious about what was planned by his student.


    With a quick movement of his finger, Five prompted the pseudo-dungeon core to project the hologram of the floors. Quickly, he focused on the first floor''s map and started making changes.


    Kroff and Harriet were both surprised when they saw Five''s movements. He was quickly rearranging the walls; it was as if he had done that all his life. In fact, the interface was very similar to one of those level maker games. These were very common on Earth and so, Five had no problem manipulating the interface at all.


    The first floor was vast but the makeover was done in less than 20 minutes. Without hesitation, he saved the draft and moved to the second floor.


    Kroff used his own Dungeon Core to open the draft in front of him. He carefully studied it. In the end, Kroff did not find anything wrong aside from the weird arrangement.


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    25 minutes went by and the second draft was ready. Another 20 minutes and the 3rd was ready...


    Quickly, 3 hours passed while Five was focusing on his interface. Every time he would change one floor, he would save the draft and Kroff would then open it on his own Dungeon Core to study it.


    The time for lunch was long gone but as he was focused on his job, Five did not even feel hungry. He was used to such tasks. Sometimes, he would even go entire days without eating and that would not affect his stamina. However, in the game, his Fatigue level was quite high already.


    "This is it, what do you think?" asked Five as he sat down and massage his hands.


    Kroff took a moment to look at the last floor, "Not bad, I don''t have anything to say about the arrangement, but why did you not give any weapons to the goblins. They are clearly different from the other monsters and rely on their weapon to deal damage," asked Kroff.


    "I highly doubt that the adventurers would even reach the 10th floor right now. There is no need for such unnecessary expenses right now! You already know that I am low on the budget too," answered Five.


    "Mmmm" Kroff once again looked at all the floors but still, he did not find anything wrong. "It''s good, you can process it and activate the changes tonight."


    "Alright. In that case, I will now go for lunch. I am very hungry after all of this," said Five.


    "No problem, Harriet will bring you there."


    As Five and Harriet left the room, Mehlroth quickly floated towards Kroff.


    "You saw the map too, right? What do you think?" asked Kroff.


    "From my point of view, they look fine and I did not feel any bad intention from Five when he was making the changes. But still, I have a bad feeling about this. We should closely monitor the situation tomorrow after the changes! " respectfully replied Mehlroth.


    "Mmm, but tomorrow will be more hectic since the guards will probably send people to map the new floors. We''ll have to see..."


    ...


    "Really? Why did you have to choose today to make the modifications?" asked Harriet visibly annoyed. All she wanted was to quickly find her sisters to play the new game she learned but instead, she had to stand there 3 more hours and watch Five modify the floors.


    "Sorry about that, but we can have lunch at the Harpies¡¯ village and spend the rest of the day there," said Five. He was already exhausted and the last thing he wanted was to have an argument with Harriet. All he wanted now was a good meal and some sleep.


    The two quickly made their way through the tunnels and Five sat down at his usual spot with a food tray next to him. A few meters away, Harriet was excitedly explaining the rules of Checkers to 3 harpies while drawing the board with her Harpy''s Blood.


    As for Five he calmly observed the excited young harpies play for a moment while eating but he quickly lost interest. To him, checkers was very boring. It was one of the most basic games but for the harpies who spent their life fighting and killing, it was very enticing.


    All his preparations were now ready; all he needed was to wait for tomorrow to see the results. Five was already sleepy but he activated the pseudo-dungeon core and projected the floors he was in charge in.


    Today, he was surprised to see such a large number of players, especially on the 7th and 8th floor. "Ahh, maybe I''ll get to buy a bit more materials," said Five to himself.


    He calmly observed the players, his eyes quickly fell onto the group he first saw when he was killing slimes. Right now, the group of ten was fighting together with another group against some Scorpions.


    It was an impressive sight, the players were still level 10 or 11 but were fighting level 13 scorpions. He was especially surprised as he saw the large variety of moves the players were using. He thought that the players would be restricted to the skills given by the game but in front of him, they were using skills he had never heard of.


    He watched for a moment and then moved to look at another group. As he predicted, this group was using completely different skills. He changed the camera several times and most of the time, he found new skills.


    "Very interesting, there are so many skills and they do not even appear in the dungeon shop, maybe I should try the things I learned at the association..." said Five to himself as he once again changed the camera.


    His goal right now was to witness as many different skills as possible but suddenly, the camera stopped on a particular player. Five frowned upon seeing his IGN, "How is that possible? Aren''t all criminals learning in dungeons now? Does that mean that Kroff also has the authority to send me back right now?" said Five to himself.


    The player he was looking at had the IGN: Seven. When he saw that, Five immediately concluded that it was another dungeon master like him. Since he was given the name ¡®Five¡¯ by Gaia, it was very possible that she gave another criminal the name of Seven.


    Five closely observed the player named Seven as he and his party fought against two scorpions at the same time. "He looks very ordinary. Is he trying to blend with the other players?"


    "This is not a bad idea! Maybe I should do that and try to find those bastards and that b*tch! ... It will be easier than waiting for them to come to my dungeon, right?" thought Five.


    He was still deep in thoughts when he suddenly heard Harriet next to him.


    "Five! Come and help me explain the rules, Aria does not believe that you also take the pieces by moving backward!"


    The latter was startled for a moment, but he quickly closed the hologram and walked towards the other harpies who were excitedly playing.

 Chapter 22: Start of the plan

    The next morning, Five actually woke up before Harriet could come into his room. After almost a whole week, his body already adapted to this schedule and his biological clock would wake him up just before Harriet arrived.


    "You are already awake? What a surprise! Are you stressed about the changes you''ve made?" asked Harriet.


    Upon hearing her, Five quickly opened the interface of the Pseudo-Dungeon Core. As he scheduled it, all the changes he wanted were implemented during the night. All the floors were completely different, and some players could already be seen exploring the first floor.


    Harriet immediately tensed upon seeing the DP left. Only a thousand was left and considering how much it decreased by yesterday, it would probably reach 0 today if the changes were not successful.


    "Don''t worry, Five. I am sure that the changes are great!" said Harriet trying to cheer Five up.


    But the latter did not mind it. He was not even concerned about the amount of DP since he did not plan to stay here another night. Before going to sleep last night, he made some final predictions on what could happen and bought a few more items with his own DP.


    After a quick breakfast, Harriet brought Five to Kroff for his daily lesson.


    "Today, since your modifications have been made, let''s check out the result!" said Kroff as he projected the hologram of the floors.


    ¡°Players are just starting to come but look here on the third floor, you can see that¡­¡±


    ...


    A few hours later, the lesson was over. It mainly consisted of Kroff criticising the modifications but still, he did not give any constructive advice in doing so. But Five just silently nodded whenever Kroff spoke. All he did was observe the players'' reaction. Although he was 80% confident in his own plan, there were still some variables.


    To begin with, just the fact that he chose to write in Chinese was a gamble, he had no way of confirming that the players actually understood the language. Furthermore, they might understand Mandarin, but what if his message was not clear enough? Besides, he also did not know if the players would be smart enough to look at the map when they would receive it!


    In one of the previous lessons, he already learned from Kroff that whenever he would make some massive changes like he did, the guards would often send a group of explorers to plot a map of the floors. Five naturally predicted that the same thing would happen when he would change the floors and since it was in a game, he guessed that it would probably come in the form of a quest to the players.


    He did not know the specific details, but he could already see some players running across the different floors as fast as possible. They were even avoiding the annoying monsters and were going in each corridor, even going all the way to some dead ends.


    "Come on, let''s go for lunch," said Harriet while lightly nudging Five.


    The latter quickly nodded and both left Kroff''s room to the Avian Cavern. This time, he specifically asked Harriet to eat at the Harpy''s village instead of the Communal Room and the latter did not mind. She was instead thrilled since she would get to play more Checkers with her sisters.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The game became extremely popular among the harpies but that was probably temporary. Once they would play it enough, they would get bored of it.


    ...


    Five was calmly sitting next to Harriet who was playing against her sister, Aria. He was occasionally helping the latter and hinting at the correct move to make but most of his attention was currently focused on the hologram of the Pseudo-Dungeon Core.


    He saw that the player''s behavior had already changed. Compared to this morning, the players were clearly trying to completely explore the higher floors. But the task was more difficult; even if Five modified the spawn points of the monsters to allow the players to travel more easily, he could not control how the monsters would move.


    It was clear that the group of players exploring was different from yesterday. He did not recognize any of the faces, but he could see that these players had a different atmosphere. More importantly, he could see that the guild badge was different.


    Above their head and right next to their name, players would usually have their level displayed followed by a guild badge if they belonged to one. For now, the players did not yet have the option to hide their badges.


    "It looks like they already have all the maps for the 7th floor and lower... But they do not seem to have noticed anything with the map... Are they waiting to get them all before actually reading them?" said Five to himself.


    He was starting to feel nervous. It had only been half a day but still, he was flustered at how slow the players were actually moving.


    ¡°Is it going to fail?¡±


    ...


    On the 8th floor, a player quickly approached his leader to report.


    "Sir, we have obtained the map for the 8th floor. We can move to the 9th now!" said the player.


    "Good, let''s hurry up before the other guilds come. We have a good lead now, hurry up."


    "Yes sir," answered the player as he quickly bowed and went back to join his party.


    As he left, another player with the name: Shining Blade approached the leader of the guild. "I told you, right? The game is quite flexible, we can just send different parties at different locations on the floor and then combine the part of the map they generated to form the final map," said Shining Blade.


    The leader, who was a tall and muscular man looked at Shining Blade with piercing eyes. "Don''t get too cocky. It''s true that this method saves some time but it''s mainly our coordination that is able to produce such results," said the man with a dry voice.


    "Sure sure, I''ll just go and explore the tenth floor," Shining Blade bit his lips and left quickly. If he stayed any longer, he might swear at his leader. "That F*** old fart, I proposed such a good idea but it looks like he will take all the credit for that... F***".


    He walked towards the stairs to go to the 9th floor. Behind him, a group of players silently followed. Along the way, he came across several players who would all smile and salute him but he himself remained expressionless. "How can I make that old fart acknowledge me?"


    Shining Blade was actually the official guild leader of one of the 3 strongest guilds of Algate City: the Stone Defenders. However, even if he was the founder and the leader in name, he had limited authority. The real leader behind the scene was his father, the man he just talked to.


    As he walked towards the other stairs to go to the tenth floor, he decided to take out the maps in his possession to have a look at the current progress. He now had the map of the first 8 floors in his possession.


    These were automatically generated as the player would explore the dungeon but, in his case, he obtained the maps by combining several bits from other players. The maps were in the form of a scroll.


    After one week of playing the game, the players quickly realized that there were a lot of tricks and loopholes they could exploit. These were voluntarily placed into the game to allow the crafty and ingenious players to triumph over the rest.


    When Shining Blade saw the quest, the idea of having different players explore different parts of the dungeon and then combine them together, crossed his mind. And as it turned out, it was successful!


    He simply opened one in front of him to have a look. Since the very beginning, he felt that something was wrong with these floors. Compared to yesterday, the change was so drastic and did not necessarily make sense.


    Now instead of having two stairs to choose from, they only had one if they wanted to change floors. Also, he noticed that there were fewer monsters than last time.


    He looked at the first map with indifference; he sneered at the weird arranged of the walls and tunnel. He quickly closed in a put it back in his inventory before looking at the second one.


    Shining Blade was about to close the scroll when he suddenly noticed something and stopped his moving hands. He quickly stopped walking and placed the map flat on the ground to have a better look. A few seconds later, he quickly took out the rest of the map quickly and placed them next to each other.


    The silent players who were following him looked at him with curious expressions. But the latter simply ignored them and looked at all the maps. His eyes shone as he snapped his fingers, "Is this..."


    He quickly separated the first 3 maps from the others and carefully looked at them. "Is this a coincidence?" said Shining Blade to himself.


    After a few seconds of reflexion under the curious looks of the players, he looked at them and said: "Gather some players, I would like to go and check the 4th floor..."

 Chapter 23: The battle of the 4th floor

    Five was not aware of what was happening, right now. All his attention was focused on the player who looked like the leader of the guild. By looking at the behavior and positioning of the players, Five easily determine who the leader was and decided to leave the camera following him.


    Although it was just a Pseudo-Dungeon Core, it could project several small holograms. In front of Five, four holograms were currently being displayed: one at each location that his instructions were pointing at and the last one at the leader of the players.


    "That guy is a really bad leader! He does not even look at the maps his players have already gathered!! Did I overestimate these guys'' intelligence?"


    "You don''t need to be worried Five. Look, you still have 1000DP that means that the changes are definitely beneficial," said Harriet to the side.


    Even though she was happily playing Checkers with her sisters, she always kept an eye on Five. She could see that he was not as carefree as he was this morning and tried to cheer him up.


    "Mmmm. Yeah, you are right," absentmindedly answered Five.


    "Stop looking at these humans. Come and play with us! Or you can teach us other games, right?" said Harriet, trying to distract Five from looking at the holograms.


    She wanted to drag him away from the pseudo-dungeon core and give him something more interesting to do but suddenly, Harriet noticed a change in Five''s expression.


    ...


    On the 4th floor, Shining Blade was leading a group of 30 players including himself through the corridors. The players were very disciplined and did not question his decision but inside, they were curious about why they would leave the 9th floor to come all the way down there.


    The Giant Ants here were very weak due to the level difference. Even if they could easily kill them, they would not obtain a lot of exp from doing so. The players simply did not see the point in coming here.


    "7, 8, 9¡­ It should be here," said Shining Blade as he entered one of the corridors.


    A few minutes later, Shining Blade suddenly stopped and said, "Somewhere around here! Everyone, clear the neighboring ants. It looks like there are a lot more here than in the other corridors!"


    "Yes sir!" replied the players as they started to kill the Giant Ants. They were very efficient in doing so, not only because of their high levels but also because there was a good synergy between the players.


    As for Shining Blade, he took out his sword and started examining the surroundings. It was an empty corridor with no reference point. The only reference he had was the distance he needed to walk but there was a large margin of error.


    The corridor looked totally normal. Shining Blade was full of doubt but started to examine the wall. Placing his left hand on the wall, he pressed different spots on the wall. He walked about 10 meters and repeated the process several times at different locations on the wall but nothing happened.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    "What is happening to the leader? Is he crazy?" said one of the players.


    Following that, Shining Blade repeated the same process but this time on the opposite wall. The players did not understand what was happening and chose to silently observe.


    When suddenly, Shining Blade stopped moving. He raised his sword and violently swung it towards the wall.


    "Is this how he vents his frustration? That''s such a waste, he''s gonna damage his sword like that," quietly commented a player.


    But the expected "Ting" of the sword hitting the wall did not happen. Instead, the sword effortlessly pierced through the wall.


    "What is happening?"


    "Haha! As expected, a fake wall!" shouted Shining Blade as he quickly retrieved his sword and stabbed again. This time, his sword seemed to push away something resulting in a small opening in the wall.


    All the players looked at their leader in shock, "Is it a treasure room?"


    "Hurry up! Let''s go in. Take everything you can!" shouted Shining Blade as he himself charged in. He was both surprised and delighted as he found the fake wall. He did not waste his time in coming here and might instead bring back a lot of treasures.


    Although they have heard that secret rooms containing treasures were present in the dungeon, it was their first time finding one. The probability of finding one was microscopic and yet, their leader just casually found one as if he already knew its approximate location.


    They quickly ran behind Shining Blade, taking out their weapons to be ready to fight. While the secret rooms often contained rewards, they also often housed a powerful boss and so, they needed to be ready.


    The inside of the room was no different from the rest of the dungeon. It still had the same dull color everywhere. The main differences were the size of the room and the presence of a small altar at the center of the room.


    The players'' eyes shone as soon as they came in. Several gold coins were littered all over the place and a small chest was present on the altar! Not only that, there were also some ores and a staff placed next to the chest.


    "Collect everything! We''ll share it among ourselves later!" shouted Shining Blade as he walked towards the chest but suddenly,


    "krr krr krr"


    Several Giant Ants suddenly came out from small gaps and entered the room. They not only came from the other side of the alter, some also crawled down from the top of walls towards the players while others came from behind trying to trap the players inside the room.


    There was a total of about 50 ants but the players were not afraid. They quickly spread out to protect their priests and mages while the rogues used their [Stealth].


    The ants were converging towards the players from all directions. Fortunately, the Ant Queen was nowhere to be seen.


    Shining Blade quickly drew his sword and courageously charged at the pack of Giant Ants, his long blade easily pierced through the ants'' flesh. He was closely followed by two paladins who protected his sides while a priest was standing behind him, ready to heal when needed.


    "Ahhh" shouted Shining Blade as his long sword exploded a Giant Ant''s skull. The battle was definitely in their favor, they remained in this circular formation which significantly reduced the Giant Ant''s numerical advantage.


    "Kill them all!" shouted Shining Blade to stir up the morale of his teammates.


    They were already certain of their victory, but they were still cautious! Nobody wanted to die and so, every time someone''s HP was getting dangerously low, they would retreat inside the encirclement and someone else would quickly take his spot.


    The players were well coordinated in that aspect. It looked like they practiced this all their life. The 50 Giant Ants did not last long, especially when the mages blasted their skills at the pack, taking out half a dozen.


    In the end, the players suffered no casualties while all the Giant Ants were lying dead on the floor.


    "Good job guys! Really good job! Now it''s time for the reward. Collect everything you can and don''t forget the loot from the Giant Ants'' bodies!" exclaimed Shining Blade as he stepped towards the chest on the altar.


    Nobody tried to stop him. They knew that he was the leader and it was normal for him to check out the best reward. The players quickly got themselves busy; there was a lot to collect.


    As for Shining Blade, he stopped in front of the altar and grabbed the chest. Fortunately, it was not locked. "It looks like the instructions were not wrong! Then does that means that there are two other treasures waiting for me?" said Shining Blade to himself.


    At the same time, his hand moved and opened the chest, revealing two small bottles of potion. His eyes shone with greed as he grabbed the bottles to inspect them.


    ...


    "Oh, someone already discovered a treasure room!" said Harriet who leaned forward to look at the hologram.


    "Yes, but it looks like they were too strong for the Giant Ants. In the end, it will cost quite a bit to rebuild this treasure room," answered Five.


    "You don''t have to worry! Treasure rooms are not a necessity. Not every floor have them!" consoled Harriet.


    "Mmmm, say Harriet? Do you mind if we go to the exit on this floor a bit later? I would like to see the landscape that I saw yesterday again!"

 Chapter 24: Arrival of the other guilds

    Two hours went by,


    Kroff was quietly rejoicing himself on his throne. He naturally closely followed the situation. He was first getting anxious when he saw the huge increase in the number of humans at the dungeon today, especially when the humans assaulted the secret room on the 4th floor. It seemed like they had a way to communicate with each other and suddenly, many other humans poured into the dungeon.


    Kroff first thought that it was Five''s plan to use the secret room as a bait just like he did a few days earlier with the secret room on the goblin''s floor. But he quickly gave up this idea when he noticed that the humans were now assaulting the 7th floor''s secret room.


    No matter how he looked at it, there was no way enough DP would be generated to compensate for the loss of two secret rooms. Unless Five was somehow able to kill all those present in the dungeon, he would definitely come out with a deficit. "These humans must be good at finding secret rooms... Hehe, I can just tell Five to reimburse me these rooms!!" said Kroff to himself.


    With a move of his hand, he changed the hologram in front of him to display Five''s current location. "Huh, this guy is carelessly enjoying the weather at the Harpy''s floor secret entrance. Is he really clueless of what is happening in the dungeon or did he just give up?"


    On the side, Mehlroth quietly appeared. "We should be careful, master. I have a bad feeling about this..."


    "You too? There is also something that''s bugging me, but I simply can''t find its source... Never mind that just stay here and look after the dungeon!¡±


    ¡°Yes master, leave this task to me!¡± answered Mehlroth with a joyful tone. The fact that he was ordered to look after the dungeon was a clear proof of the trust Kroff had in him!


    ¡°I still need to contact the Duke Shercliff to discuss something important. The leader arranged a meeting for the Cyclone Alliance. I need to go to the conference room. Do not disturb me unless something urgent happens!" said Kroff as he left the Throne Room.


    ...


    On the 7th floor, Shining Blade triumphantly brought down his sword, taking out the remaining HP of the Giant Mine Bat. That monster was the boss in charge of guarding the secret room. It was relatively powerful; it could control the wind to some extent but more importantly, it could recover its HP by biting and sucking its opponent''s blood like a vampire.


    Shining Blade had to sacrifice some of the players under him to secure his victory but fortunately, when he took out the treasures he obtained from the secret room on the 4th floor, many leading figures of his guild chose to trust him and assist him in capturing this secret room. Even his father chose to listen to his son for once after lecturing him.


    With the Giant Mine Bat dead, the normal Mine Bats did not represent a major threat. Shining Blade and his men easily dealt with them and wiped the room clean. They quickly distributed the loot among their players and regrouped to discuss the final operation.


    "You were indeed right, Shining Blade. I did not expect such a thing to be true. Let''s hurry up and look for the last secret room!" exclaimed one of the players.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    "There is no need to hurry. Let''s first secure the loot we already have! The Gem Family and the Fleeting Clouds Sect should soon arrive. The spy they planted into our guild would not stay idle; they might have ignored the first room since we could have just randomly stumbled on it but two secret rooms in a row would definitely arise suspicion!"


    "You are right! But lets at least check the location of the last room! We have a lot of players right now. If we play our cards right, we can also obtain the third room''s treasure!" declared another player.


    Shining Blade was silently listening to his comrades with an expressionless face but he was inwardly smiling. His father finally acknowledged his skills! He even went to the point of temporarily giving him true command of the guild. Now, all he needed to do was to prove himself and obtain the third room''s treasure.


    "We are not retreating! It does not matter if these 2 guilds arrive, we already lost so much when fighting for the open world boss; this time, it''s our Stone Defender''s time to shine! Follow me!" declared Shining Blade as he resolutely took the stairs to the 9th floor.


    ...


    Five was quietly sitting on the edge of the cliff-like dungeon wall. His feet were hanging hundreds of meters above the ground. The wind up there was quite strong, but he was not scared of falling. He spent countless nights watching over the city he lived in on top of skyscrapers; the strong wind reminded him of his past.


    "Time goes by so quickly when you have something interesting to watch," said Five to himself. He was excited


    In front of him, a hologram was being projected, showing the players exploring the corridor hiding the third and final room. He had been watching Shining Blade since the second he stepped into the secret room on the 4th floor.


    "It is really interesting, this feeling of using someone as a pawn for one''s own purpose... I wonder if these guys felt the same way when they used me..."


    At that moment, the players being projected in front of him were carefully examining the corridor. The 9th floor housed level 13-14 goblins. But Shining Blade already ordered some players to get rid of the goblins near the secret passage¡¯s location.


    There were quite a few goblins there but since they did not have any weapons, they did not last long under the constant attack of the players.


    Shining Blade was carefully examining the surroundings but did not find anything that stood out. He even went as far as to try to stab every inch of the dungeon wall with his sword.


    "Dam..., could it be wrong? No, the first two were real. This one should also be real... Maybe it is harder to find because the reward is even greater!" exclaimed Shining Blade to himself.


    The latter looked around him but to his disappointment, did not find anything. Players around him were starting to send him questioning looks. "No, I cannot fail now! Wait... What if the hiding spot this time is not on the wall!" said Shining Blade.


    Quickly, instead of examining the wall as he did for the first two secret rooms, he turned his attention to the ground. Using his sword, he careful swept the floor in search of hints and eventually, "Ding!"


    A loud noise was heard!


    Shining Blade immediately bent down and looked at the shiny metallic lever that was buried into the ground under dirt. In normal circumstances, that metal lever would have never been found. Who would have enough time to sweep the ground clean?


    Without hesitation, he quickly tried to pull the lever straight. The lever was about 30 cm long. One of its ends was connected to the ground while the other was pulled by Shining Blade, causing the lever to stick out of the ground.


    He waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. Despite that, Shining Blade did not give up, he quickly resumed examining the ground. The players accompanied him also noticed the lever and quickly helped him look for others. They were all smart, that metallic lever should have some purpose!


    It did not take long for three shiny metal bars to stick out of the dirty floor. At that moment, the nearby wall shook for a few seconds before shifting slightly, leaving an opening large enough for one man to enter at a time.


    At that moment, one of the players next to Shining Blade suddenly said: "Leader, I just received important information! The Gem Family is at the dungeon''s entrance! They mobilized more than a thousand players and according to the spies, more are coming from the city! Not only that, but the Fleeting Clouds Sect is also on its way!"


    Shining Blade frowned, "We also have more than a thousand members in the dungeon right now, there is nothing to fear! Tell everyone to gather on the 9th floor and stall for time! We will quickly rush through this room and leave with the treasures!"


    "But won''t it be useless if we die! In the end, the one who will collect everything will be the Gem Family!" said one of the players.


    "This is yet another reason for us to hurry and collect the treasure! This secret room is located on a higher floor; it definitely has some good stuff! As for losing the treasure, don''t worry, I have something for that!" declared Shining Blade as he walked towards the opening in the dungeon wall.


    ...


    On the Harpy''s floor, Five let out a cold smile, "It is about to begin!"

 Chapter 25: Corrupted Servants

    Shining Blade froze as soon as he entered the tunnel, but he immediately got himself together and raised his sword. In front of him, he saw several human-like monsters walking in a vast corridor while carrying large wood crates.


    He was surprised first upon seeing people inside, but he quickly noticed that the label above their head was blood red indicating that they were enemies. They were actually level 20 monsters that looked like humans; they were called Corrupted Servants.


    Although they looked exactly like humans, they were in fact, spirits. Corrupted Servants were monsters commonly found in dungeons. They were level 20 but had an extremely weak fighting power. What this race excelled at was: labor work.


    They were commonly used to carry out various tasks such as relaying messages and carrying items from one place to another. Food could be easily bought with DP, but it still needed to be delivered to the different floors and this was one of the main tasks of the corrupted servants.


    Dungeon masters could naturally give this task to any other monsters, but Corrupted Servants were specially designed for this; they were like worker ants able to endlessly perform these tedious tasks without taking any rest. Their one weakness was their fighting power which was almost inexistent. That was because they were supposed to never need to fight to begin with.


    If one was to compare a dungeon to a company, the dungeon master would be the CEO while the monsters would be the workers with which customers would normally interact. As for the Corrupted Servants, they would be those staff that tirelessly work in the backstage to ensure proper functioning of the company. They would often go unnoticed, but their work was essential.


    Shining Blade froze for a moment when he saw that they were level 20 monsters, but after observing them for a while, he fearlessly swung his sword at the nearest corrupted servant. To his surprise, the monster was startled and fell on the floor. It did not even try to fight back. When he looked at the monster''s health, Shining Blade saw that one-third of its health was gone!


    It was just a normal swing. He did not even use a skill and yet, the level 20 monster in front of him lost more than one-third of its HP!


    Shining Blade quickly slammed his shield into the Corrupted Servant before violently attacking the latter''s head with his sword. At that moment, he received a system prompt:


    [System prompt: You have slain a Corrupted Servant. You have gained 600 exp]


    "This? Are they all that weak?"


    Without hesitation, Shining Blade swiftly charged towards another Corrupted Servant who was trembling with fear. The monster did not even try to flee. Its legs were shaking. It did not even let go of the crate full of food it was carrying.


    [System prompt: You have slain a Corrupted Servant. You have gained gained 600 exp]


    As Shining Blade pulled out his blade out of the Corrupted Servant''s body, one of the players finally went through the opening in the wall. The latter did not have time to observe the situation. Shining Blade immediately shouted: "Hurry up! Let''s kill these monsters! They are real exp farms!"This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Shining Blade did not wait for his comrade''s reaction. His eyes shone with greed as he charged towards the nearest Corrupted Servant. In front of him, were dozens of such monsters. If they were that easy to kill and gave so much exp, they were basically a free ticket to level up! In this situation, he naturally wanted to keep everything for himself but as he was the leader, he could not be too selfish.


    The players behind Shining Blade quickly went through the opening one after the other. They quickly followed their leader''s command and slaughtered their way through the Corrupted Servants. More and more players entered the room and no matter how many corrupted servants they killed, more appeared. There seemed to be an infinite amount of them.


    ¡­


    On the Harpy''s floor, Five was happily smiling but inwardly, he was starting to feel nervous.


    ¡®I wonder how Kroff and the other monsters are reacting.¡¯


    The players finally broke into the internal part of the dungeon. He was naturally aware of the presence of the Corrupted Servants in the dungeon. Earlier this week, he even tried to talk to one of them, but the Corrupted Servant did not seem to notice him and continued his task as normal. It was his first time being ignored; all the other monsters he encountered at least nodded back when he greeted them.


    His real target was not really the Corrupted Servants. He only wanted to cause enough Havoc in the dungeon to cause some damage to Kroff. Once the players had access to the internal part, they could enter any floor of the dungeon and attack the monsters from behind.


    Five was well aware that many monsters resided in the internal part of the dungeon; That was even the case for the goblins, not all of them stayed in their village. A few goblins were kept in dormitories on their respective floor. These goblins were mostly in charge of receiving food from the Corrupted Servants but most of them were old ones that were lucky enough to not die to adventurers during their prime time.


    Five was watching the hologram in front of him. As he expected, Shining Blade and his men easily killed their way through the Corrupted Servants. Many players even leveled up.


    The Corrupted Servants were defenseless and tried to escape but it was their first time encountering this situation. Most of them could only fall under the merciless blades of the players.


    The players, led by Shining Blade, continued to kill their way through and even unconsciously moved to the tenth floor. They were all immersed in their killing spree, greedily obtaining as much exp as possible.


    At the same time, more and more players were entering the secret passage. Five was keeping an eye on the situation when he saw a fight break out at the entrance of the secret passage.


    The newcomers belonged to another guild, they did not look any weaker than the first one but more importantly, they were accompanied by a group of guards!


    Five watched as one of the players stepped out to speak, his IGN was Emerald.


    "Stone Defenders! You should quickly leave this place; this secret room shall belong to our Gem Family!" shouted Emerald.


    Visibly, the players had no intention of retreating and even wildly fought back. They had access to such a great source of exp. There was no way they would willingly give that to another guild.


    "You should not be reckless! Look! Today, young master Kenor is gracing us of his presence! We are giving you face by allowing you to peacefully retreat!" loudly exclaimed Emerald as he slightly bowed to another man right next to him.


    This man was clearly different. He was not a player but an NPC. He was the very reason guards were present on this floor. He himself was not very strong, only at level 17 but he was accompanied by powerful guards.


    The players started to hesitate. They were not aware of the NPC''s status, but no one would consider someone protected by guards as a nobody. That NPC should be someone important and could not be offended.


    The players were waiting for their higher-up''s commands but at that very moment, a loud warhorn sounded all over the dungeon.


    ¡­


    "Huh? What is that?" asked Five. He had been observing the players and had not seen anyone of them use a warhorn. The only explanation was that it was something done by the monsters.


    Harriet quickly deployed her wings and said:" It is the emergency warhorn. Something important must have happened! The leader monsters have to gather in the Throne Room! But I can¡¯t leave you here, let''s quickly go!"


    ¡°Won¡¯t that cause you some trouble?¡±


    ¡°You are Kroff¡¯s disciple. You already have access to the Throne room!¡±


    "Mmmm, Alright I''ll come with you immediately!" declared Five.


    He already knew what was happening and was feeling more and more nervous. The warhorn indicated that the monsters were about to retaliate.


    While he was observing the players, he was careful to use one of the functions of the Pseudo-Dungeon Core and that was to allow only him to see the projected hologram. He also projected another hologram that was showing the other floors of the dungeon in front of him. This way, Harriet would not suspect him.


    Harriet was clearly in a hurry and quickly started to return inside the dungeon. She was not paying much attention to Five. As soon as she turned around, the latter stood up and followed behind her as if nothing happened.


    But at the same time, his hands behind his back started moving as he inwardly thought about removing some items from his inventory.

 Chapter 26: Such a mess

    At the entrance of the Algate Dungeon,


    "Salute!"


    A loud shout resonated through the guard''s camp. All the soldiers were neatly aligned with their back straight and a hand on their heart; a few guards were still sweating. In front of them, the captain of this camp was nervously looking at the approaching officer in the distance.


    The camp had just been performing their usual duties. Their main role was to guard the entrance of the city''s dungeon, but they also needed to keep up with their training. Fortunately, they had some level of independence and as such, the garrison stationed there became used to training at their own rhythm. In other words, they used to slack off a lot.


    However, a few minutes ago, a few men spotted the arrival of a high ranked officer in the distance. That could only mean one thing: surprise inspection!


    The camp immediately went into panic but fortunately, the captain stepped up and got the camp together. In less than one minute, every guard looked like they were seriously patrolling or training in the training area.


    After a few minutes when the officer arrived, he was delighted to find everything in order. He discussed for a few minutes with the captain in charge before rallying everyone for a quick inspection.


    All the guards were nervous but fortunately, the officer was not too picky. He did not actually come here for an inspection; he just happened to need to go to the dungeon and decided to make a small detour to look at the camp.


    "Are you alone sir? Would you like some refreshments?" politely asked the captain who was trying his best to bootlick the officer.


    "The group that came with me is already inside the dungeon. I need to join them soon but since you ask so politely, I cannot refuse," answered the officer while observing the guards in front of him.


    "Naturally! This way sir," excitedly said the captain while slightly moving to the side.


    The officer slowly walked towards the captain''s tent but suddenly, he felt a sense of crisis. He did not know what it was precisely, but after countless battles on the battlefield, he knew that his gut feeling was always right. Whenever he felt like that, something was going to happen. Fortunately, the feeling was not extreme. It meant that the danger was not enough to kill him but could injure him in some ways.


    The officer carefully looked at the guards since he thought that maybe, one of them was an assassin sent to kill him. However, when he turned his head to look, he saw that the guards were no longer properly saluting. Instead, most of them seemed distracted and were looking upwards.


    The officer was naturally angered, he thought about how the guards changed their postures as soon as he was no longer looking at them. He was about to say something when suddenly,


    "Booommm!" "Booommm!" "Booommm!"


    3 loud explosions occurred behind him. The shock of the explosion naturally hit the officer right in the face, forcing him to roll backward and raise his hands to protect him.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    A few seconds later, when he looked at the source of the explosion, there was a large crater where he was previously standing to inspect the guards. While he was lucky to have walked a few meters towards the captain''s tent, the guards that were standing close to his previous location were not that lucky.


    Although they were not dead, all these guards took the direct hit from the explosions and were severely injured. Many were bleeding and even those that were standing far from the explosion had their face covered with dust and dirt.


    Behind the officer, the captain also recovered from the shock. "What was that? Is it a monster wave!? Grab your weapons and be careful!"


    However, the officer frowned and retorted, "Shut up! Everyone, follow me! We need to go to the dungeon now! I am the Colonel Gaydon under the authority of the general. I request all of you to go to the dungeon now!" He took out his badge and quickly showed it to the guards.


    "Wait! Colonel! Just what is happening, we need to find the cause of this explosion, we..."


    "Shut up idiot! We need to go to the dungeon now! The general''s son is in there accompanied by some adventurers from a group called the Gem Family! Do you really think I would waste my time and come here to inspect you? This explosion is clear! The general''s son might be in danger. Will you bear responsibility for making us lose our time here? Hurry up men, follow me!"


    ...


    Inside the dungeon, Five quietly followed behind Harriet. He was thinking about whether or not his plan would work but now that it had already started, there was no going back. He already dropped two thirds of the gunpowder he manufactured previously above the guard''s camp and was now left with only one third.


    He was satisfied that all the old tricks he had to learn to use his weapons behind his back were still useful. Without looking when he stood up, his hands moved quickly, lighting up the wick connected to his gunpowder before throwing down the container.


    When he was following behind Harriet, he was anxiously monitoring his DP and the ones he had in the Pseudo Dungeon Core. He roughly estimated the time required for the gunpowder to reach the guard camp and explode. While walking, he counted down but even 20 seconds after he had reached zero, no change happened to his DP.


    "I probably failed... Well I''ll do without the guards then," said Five to himself.


    Quickly, the two entered Kroff''s Throne room. Many monsters that Five had never seen were gathered there. It seemed that all the elites of Kroff had come and even some less important monsters came.


    "Thank you all for responding quickly! It looks like everyone is here!" said a tall figure who was hiding its features under a dark cape. Many monsters responded and quickly went silent to observe the situation. A hologram was being projected showing what was happening in the internal part of the dungeon.


    Five was already well aware of this and so, he preferred to observe the gathered monsters instead. There seemed to be 7 monsters at the same authority level as Harriet. It was a simple deduction Five made by looking at how there would be one or two monsters from the same race who were standing behind a slightly different monster.


    While observing the monsters, his eyes naturally fell onto the lonely dungeon core resting on a pedestal in front of the empty throne. Five''s eyes flashed with a cold light for a moment before turning back to its usual dull appearance. Fortunately, none of the monsters noticed as they were all focused on the situation happening on the screen.


    The players were easily slaughtering the Corrupted Servants and even the other monsters that were coming. In fact, many players already leveled up several times and were at level 15. What was interesting was that the players not only had to fight the monsters but they also fought between themselves. Not only because there were currently 3 important players factions in the secret room but also because of the strong competition that existed within their own guild.


    But despite fighting on several fronts, the players kept pushing back the monsters, especially the group of players that were protected by a group of powerful NPCs. The monster''s side also reacted and many monsters from the floors were trying to come to stop the players but that was in vain. The high-level monsters were still on their way there.


    In the throne''s room, one of the monsters looking like a frogman spoke: "The situation is really alarming! At this rate, we better intervene ourselves. They are only level 15 anyway, we can easily deal with them!"


    Another monster stepped up to second its friend but at the same time, the monster draped with the cape spoke: "You think I silently watched as this was happening? I naturally dispatched several monsters from the middle floors! They should be more than enough to deal with them. In fact, they should arrive within the next 30 seconds. If we act ourselves, won''t that be equivalent to using a cannonball to kill a fly?"


    "Mmm"


    The monsters grunted for a second but watched to see how the situation would unfold. They were naturally not happy to see their home being attacked but since Mehlroth said he already took measures, they would have to wait and see. What he said was right, if they were to act, it would be an overkill!


    30 seconds later, as Mehlroth said, many monsters arrived at the corridors and directly intercepted the players. These monsters were powerful ranging from level 20 to 30 and could easily kill a player in less than 2 hits.


    Even the NPCs that were there could not easily get rid of these monsters. The players were slowly being repressed. However, this situation did not last long.


    On the screen, all the monsters frowned as they saw the arrival of the player''s reinforcement. Several guards flooded the corridor and charged at the monsters, but the important detail was that the leading NPC was a powerful Colonel at level 53.


    "Oh dear, I''ve made such a mess."

 Chapter 27: The monsters reaction

    In the internal corridors of the dungeon, Colonel Gaydon madly charged towards the monsters. Although he looked tall and frail, that guy was, in fact, a powerful paladin. It would normally take much longer than that to reach the secret room but being a paladin, he used his aura skill to buff himself and many other guards at the camp also buffed him to greatly increase his speed.


    As such, he was able to quickly climb the dungeon. The other guards were closely following behind him but they were clearly slower than him; it would at least take them a full minute to reach the colonel.


    However, he did not have time to wait. The colonel disdainfully swung his hammer around, smashing to death 3 players of the Gem Family in a single swing. He did not care that the Gem Family was the ally of the general, it was their fault if the general''s son was in danger and he did not have time to politely ask them to move out of the way.


    Colonel Gaydon charged forward and eventually caught sight of the general''s son who was fighting on the frontline. Beside him, several guards were desperately trying to protect their leader.


    The monsters were not extremely smart, but they had good instinct; they easily pointed out that the weakest target of this group was definitely the general''s son and chose to eliminate the weakest member first.


    "Colonel Gaydon! You are finally here. Quick! Help me there!" shouted the general''s son as soon as he saw the colonel madly rushing towards him. It turned out that the general¡¯s son was the young master Kenor who accompanied the players. He let out a sigh of relief as soon as he saw the colonel. He knew that he was safe now!


    ...


    In the throne''s room, the monsters tensed as they saw the colonel easily slaughter the level 30 monsters they dispatched. Although he was a paladin, the colonel was someone who had a high offensive power and should not be underestimated.


    While Five was not aware of that since he could not see the monster''s level, the colonel was in fact not any weaker than any of those present in the room. One of them would definitely have to go and stop him if they wanted to stop the rampage.


    Harriet quickly spoke: "We need to do something! You should contact master!"


    "No, Master is very busy at the moment! He is in a conference with the Duke and cannot be disturbed for such a small matter! In fact, it might be a good opportunity! Master recently asked me to possess more humans! That colonel or the man he is trying to protect would be perfect targets!" commented Mehlroth.


    "Mmmm"


    "Mehlroth is right. We can strike two birds with a stone this way! But neutralizing the colonel without killing him will not be that easy!" said Roy


    "As long as two of you help me, this will be an easy task! But we must act quickly! The guards are coming, and they might have also asked for more reinforcement from the city!" declared Mehlroth.


    Hearing that, Harriet also proposed an idea, "I can send some harpies to scout the path to the city!"Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Good! Let''s go then. Master will be pleased!"


    The tall figure covered in the black cape started to float towards the exit. He was quickly followed by the frogman and another monster that looked like a pile of moving goo. These two did not have much battle strength, but they were extremely good at pinning down their opponents and so, were the best choice to deal with the colonel who they did not want to kill.


    "Stay here! I''ll speak to my sisters and come back," said Harriet before quickly taking her leave.


    Now, Five was left with 5 other monsters who were quietly looking at the screen, three of which were leader monsters. Five naturally recognized Roy who pretended that he never saw him before. As for the other two, one looked like a Lionman and the other looked like a young child, but her hair and body were completely green; she was a dryad!


    Only the Lionman seemed to have brought followers but Five was wondering if lizardmen like Roy could also blend with their environment and so, be invisible.


    The atmosphere was heavy, and no one seemed to care about him. But Five was very careful nevertheless. On the surface, he looked very focused on the screen but in reality, all his mind was thinking of was the defenseless dungeon core on the pedestal.


    He estimated that there were less than 5 meters between him and the dungeon core but Five highly doubted that he would be able to reach it before Kroff''s monsters would react. He carelessly readjusted his posture, getting closer to the dungeon core by 20cm but stopped there.


    He still had time and did not want to attract suspicions.


    On the screen, the colonel was swinging his hammer around him, smashing the monsters head on the ground. He just wanted to retreat and bring the general''s son to safety but upon the request of the latter, he ended up continuing to push forward, killing monsters left and right.


    The colonel naturally came to the dungeon countless time in the past and had even gone as far as the 52nd floor but never did he see the monsters that the adventurers were killing. In his mind, he was starting to celebrate! A new type of monster meant an unexplored area! That meant that many treasures were probably hidden nearby, and he was currently the strongest person present.


    While he wanted to protect the general''s son, he also did not want to miss the treasures. After debating with himself, he estimated that he would be able to handle the monsters. In the worst scenario, he would just bring the general''s son away and flee. By now, the guards had already caught up and were actively helping in exterminating the monsters.


    Many players died in this messy fight but the majority was still alive. That was especially true for the Gem Family who stuck to the general''s son and took advantage of the NPCs'' strength.


    It looked like they would have a great harvest, but at that precise moment, a sudden cloud of black smoke flew towards the guards and the players. The smoke was so dense that they could no longer see anything. Many players panicked but the guards were very calm; they had been trained for this kind of situation. The worst thing to do was to panic since they might end up hurting a comrade by doing so.


    But a few seconds after the black cloud surrounded them, many players started to loudly curse before falling one by one, "F*ck, this smoke is poisonous! Don''t inhale the smoke! Use your antidotes! Quick!"


    "Our antidotes are useless!!"


    "The items. Someone please pick up my items!"


    "Captain! What do we do!?"


    Cries of despair filled the corridors as the players fell one by one. The black cloud was, in fact, the frogman''s skill: [Poisonous Miasmic Cloud], a powerful skill that could be used to both blind and poison his opponents. His poison was so potent that a specific antidote was required to get rid of the poison.


    While all the players perished one by one, the guards managed to survive. They were stronger and had better vitality. But more importantly, they also had items to help them resist the poison. While they could not completely cure the poison, they could temporarily suppress its effect.


    However, being alive now was not necessarily a good thing as several monsters took advantage that they were blinded to attack them.


    The colonel was also blinded and naturally heard the shouts of the adventurers. His first instinct was to go back to the general''s son, but he could not pinpoint his location. Without hesitation, he took out a small item from his storage bag before smashing it on the ground.


    A small explosion was heard but more importantly, the black cloud with a radius of 10m of the colonel was blown away. He used a special explosive which did upon detonating, would release the air compressed inside. The colonel successfully caught sight of the general''s son who was unconscious, but he was still moving. The general''s son was lying on the floor, but a greenish arm was pulling him by his leg.


    "D*mn!" shouted the colonel as he charged towards the general''s son. [Aura of light: Protection] He immediately used a skill, projecting a powerful aura that could suppress his enemies. The greenish arm froze for a second but then, three more green arms appeared and hurriedly grabbed onto the general''s son.


    An alarm rang in his head as the colonel charged to help the general''s son but at that moment, he instinctively chose to jump to the side! And his instinct did not fail him as a projectile flew and landed precisely on the path where he was going.


    "Sh*t! There''s more than one monster!"

 Chapter 28: World Scavenger

    Seeing the situation getting out of hands, the colonel immediately activated his skill, [Aura of light: Spirit Knight]. At the same time, a bright light shone from his body and a few seconds later, a perfect replica of the colonel was standing next to the original one. The only difference was that it was a copy was made of light and looked shiny.


    The Spirit Knight quickly raised its hammer and charged at the source of the previous projectile. As for the real colonel, he finally made it to the general''s son and smashed his hammer to take down the green arms.


    After being smashed, the green arms quickly dissolved into nothing, leaving no trace of the monster. Fortunately, the black cloud was starting to disperse, and the colonel could see his surroundings. He saw his spirit knight fighting a frogman in the corner of his eyes. The frogman was not too strong in direct confrontation or else, his spirit knight would have dissolved already. The spirit knight was a copy of himself that held only a portion of his true power; it was useful when one needed to fight on two fronts.


    But in front of him, the colonel saw the monster that owned the green arms. "A World Scavenger!" internally screamed the colonel. This monster was quite rare. In fact, they could be considered to be extinct in the Dominion Empire and yet, one was standing in front of him.


    World Scavengers were widely hunted in the past due to the gel they would leave behind upon death. It was an essential material to make a particular potion that could greatly improve one''s constitution!


    "If I can bring the gel back, the general will definitely reward me generously! His son would need that potion in the future!" thought the colonel. When he saw that the situation was getting under control, his mind naturally started to calculate his benefits again.


    The guards behind him were able to hold their ground against the normal monsters and his spirit knight would be able to keep the frogman distracted for at least five more minutes! It was more than enough to deal with the World Scavenger.


    The latter went extinct for a particular reason, they were very resistant to physical assault and most types of magic. But there was one type of magic to which they were extremely vulnerable! Light Magic! World Scavengers were very sensitive to light. In fact, they could not survive under the sunlight. Even artificial light would reduce their abilities slightly.


    And that was precisely why the paladin was so overjoyed. While he was a paladin, he selected a specific branch of that class that allowed him to learn some light magic and to incorporate it in his attacks. This was why most of his skills were termed: "Aura of light".


    The World Scavenger shot out 3 spikes out of its deformed body. Its body had the ability to take any shape and consistency it wanted and so, it could turn into sharp edges and use that to attack its enemies.


    The colonel quickly reacted and raised his shield to block the spikes. He took the opportunity to take a look at the general''s son who was still lying unconscious behind him.


    "You can''t escape!" shouted the colonel as it charged towards the World Scavenger. [Aura of Light: Mystic Barrier]


    It was yet another skill that could create a barrier within a certain radius. The colonel used it to prevent the World Scavenger from escaping. However, the latter did not even seem to try to flee. Instead, it continued to throw hardened parts of its body at the colonel.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    [Aura of Light: Banishment]


    This skill caused a powerful aura to spread out of the colonel''s body and push any harmful threats away from him. As a result, all the green spikes embedded into his shield flew back towards the World Scavenger.


    There was a reason why that monster bore that name; its body could literally dissolve anything and that included the Colonel''s shield. The latter could not allow the World Scavenger''s body to stay in contact with his shield for too long or it would start to dissolve.


    The World Scavenger shivered in frustration for a moment but still did not choose to escape. Instead, it assembled all its body parts and shaped its body into that of a human. The consistency of the monster completely changed. He was now fully solid and a part of its body even turned into a sword. It took a stance just like a normal human, preparing to meet the colonel.


    "Try all you want! As long as I add some light element to my attacks, you won''t survive for long!" shouted the colonel as his hammer violently stroke the World Scavenger''s sword.


    On the side, the frogman was desperately trying to get rid of the Spirit Knight but to no avail. The Spirit Knight was a spirit and did not care much about taking damage, but the frogman was different and was unwilling to sacrifice its life!


    "Ha! You should have run away when you could!" shouted the colonel as he took a large step forward continuously attacking the World Scavenger.


    Suddenly, the World Scavenger''s body once again changed shape. Its lower body did not change but its upper body coalesced for a second before transforming into a very sharp spear thrusting towards the colonel. It was a weird sight, the World Scavenger now looked like a pair of legs standing there with a long spear protruding from its crotch.


    At that speed, there was no way for the colonel to dodge; he was already too close! However, the colonel never planned on dodging. Instead, he activated his ultimate skill. Although he chose to branch out of the main paladin path, that did not mean that he completely disregarded it and his ultimate skill was precisely a pure paladin skill.


    [Gaia''s Wrath]


    The colonel''s hammer shone brightly! It even seemed to increase in size! It was about to strike the spear flying towards him but suddenly, a tall caped figure appeared behind him.


    [Chains of Torment]


    Mehlroth who appeared at the last possible moment to save the World Scavenger immediately activated its skill. Dark ethereal chains covered with a black aura emerged from the ground and wrapped around the colonel''s arms.


    "F*ck!" screamed the colonel but there was nothing he could do. He already felt a chill down his spine as soon as Mehlroth appeared, but it was already too late for him to change his course. What was worse was that the spear from the World Scavenger was still thrusting towards his chest.


    Instinctively, he closed his eyes as he waited for the attack to take his life. However, the pain never came. As he opened his eyes, he saw a creepy decomposed face floating only centimeters away from his own face. However, he could not move his eyes away from the creepy blue pair of eyes on the decomposed face.


    They were not even real eyes to begin with, but temporary ones created by Mehlroth¡¯s possession skill. The colonel tried to escape but his arms and legs were firmly held by the Chains of Torment. No matter what he tried, he simply could not move and more importantly, he was starting to feel dizzy.


    Behind him, the guards naturally noticed what happened and rushed to his rescue. However, they could not even run 10 meters before being mercilessly pierced by the World Scavenger''s spears. Even the Spirit Knight was pierced from behind, dissipating its remaining energy.


    All along, the World Scavenger never went all out. There was a reason it was one of Kroff''s leading monsters. It''s role just now was only to bait the Colonel and attract his attention, giving a faint window for Mehlroth to act when the Colonel would least expect it. But right now, it was way too close for comfort. Even if it was ready to use its special lifesaving skill [Mitosis Dissociation] in case it was hit, that was something it was reluctant to do since there were severe consequences. But fortunately, Mehlroth appeared on time and successfully restricted the Colonel.


    As the guards died one by one, the corridor gradually turned silent. Mehlroth was intently concentrating on the Colonel, possessing such a high-level individual was not easy, but with the right conditions, it was possible. Ten seconds later, the Chains of Torment finally disappeared as the body of the Colonel lifelessly fell on the ground.


    "It was a success! We should leave him on one of the lower floors. His body will gradually recover. For now, let''s move on to that little guy there," said Mehlroth.


    The three monsters started to relax, the hardest part was done. How could that young guy be hard to possess? By looking at him, he was at best at level 20.


    The monsters were all inwardly relieved and overjoyed. They had successfully defended their home against a crisis and did not even have to ask their master. Furthermore, they even managed to eradicate a large army of guards and possess their leader.


    However, before they could express their feelings, a sense of crisis suddenly rang into all the monsters'' mind including those that were in the Throne Room; even Kroff who was in deep conversation with the Cyclone Alliance Leader could not help but suddenly stand up and leave the meeting mid-way without any explanation.


    "This feeling... My core!"

 Chapter 29: Threats

    Inside the Throne room of the dungeon, all the monsters focused their attention on the screen as soon as Mehlroth and the others left.


    Although it looked like nobody was looking at him, Five did not dare to start moving yet. He knew that these monsters were very sensitive and so, it was better to wait for the right time. The most important thing he learned at his training was to always look for the best opportunity! While it was sometimes necessary to take risks, he still needed to have a fair probability of success.


    In this case, there was no rush! The screen was the perfect distraction he needed.


    When he looked at the screen, he could see the Colonel rampaging through the monsters; countless monsters of all types were lying dead on the floor. Just with the loss of these monsters, Kroff had already taken a blow; he was not sure, but Five could estimate the cost of these monsters at about 100000 DP.


    "I did not expect the guards to be that strong... Well, at least the gunpowder was not wasted."


    When he threw the container of gunpowder from the Harpy''s floor, he never expected such a reaction to occur. His only goal was to threaten the guard, by causing an explosion at the camp, they would have naturally suspected something and would have sent guards inside the dungeon. The Colonel was something he did not expect but fortunately, he was useful in baiting out three boss monsters.


    On the screen, they could see the World Scavenger fighting direct battle with the Colonel.


    "Very impressive, it looks like that guy is a Knight of Light! Azik might really be in danger if Mehlroth misses the timing," commented the Lion man.


    "Azik is not stupid, he still has his Mitosis Dissociation! At most, he''ll be crippled for a few months, but I can see Mehlroth is already preparing himself," said Roy.


    At the edge of the screen, Mehlroth could be seen making his way through the smoke. He was being careful to always hide his figure but, his features could be perfectly seen on the screen.


    As for the Dryad, she was silently watching the fight. A few thorns started to move around her and intertwine to form a seat on which she sat down.


    Seeing all the monsters distracted, Five took a short step towards the Dungeon Core and waited. There was still a lot of time! The climax of the battle did not even happen yet.


    "That Knight is lucky we need him alive or else, he would have already been killed!" said the Lion man.


    "Should we go and help? It''s been a while since I got to kill some humans! Look at all these poor guards fighting for their pathetic lives in the smoke"


    "Tsssk, you just want to go kill these ants! Can you even fight this Colonel in a duel?"


    "Of course! Especially if I get to ambush him! His light magic won''t be effective against me" answered Roy showing a proud expression.


    Slowly but surely, Five reduced the distance to the Dungeon Core to 4 meters and no one noticed anything yet. While he sometimes noticed Roy''s large eyes turning to look at him, he was slowly gaining confidence.


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    "Just a little closer and it should be good!"


    On the screen, the World Scavenger now had the shape of a human. The battle with the Colonel was nearing its peak. The World Scavenger, Azik was slowly getting suppressed by the glowing hammer of the Colonel.


    "Now should be the right time!" said the Lion man and as he said that, the World Scavenger took a step back and started to transform.


    Five immediately tensed! The perfect moment was about to come! It was now or never!


    As he saw a bright light appear on the screen, Five immediately started moving. It was the perfect time to move; everyone was intently watching the screen. The bright light was clearly indicating the final attack of the Colonel and everyone wanted to see the outcome. Even Five wanted to stop and look but if he did so, then everything he planned would be for naught.


    He dashed towards the Dungeon Core, making his footsteps as light as possible. Learning how to run and walk was naturally included in the training he received, and it was precisely that technique that he was using. He was muffling his steps as much as possible. It was naturally impossible to make absolutely no sound but since every monster was focusing on the screen, he was less likely to be detected.


    3 meters


    2 meters


    At that moment, the Dryad''s thorn suddenly shook trembled for a second. She immediately turned to look and froze upon seeing the scene. She immediately jumped off her seat of thorns, "Alert!".


    The Lion man and Roy who were focusing on the screen immediately reacted and turned only to see Five running towards the Dungeon Core, there was less than 1m separating the two.


    It was something the monsters never expected! However, they quickly reacted, Roy grabbed his spear and started vanishing. The Lion man crouched and prepared to jump while the Dryad raised her hands as thorns started appearing in the throne room.


    "Wait and don''t move!" loudly shouted Five. At the same time, his hands moved, causing a small harmless recipient to appear.


    The recipient looked completely benign but the moment it appeared, a gloomy feeling fell onto all the monsters! They all had very sharp instinct and clearly knew the meaning of this feeling. Their lives were at risk!


    Five finally stopped, merely 20cm away from the Dungeon Core and raised his head to look at the monsters. The thorns were threateningly crawling a few meters away while the Lion man stood not too far from the pedestal.


    "You should all retreat a few steps! I get scared very easily! And Roy, you should make yourself visible!" said Five as he let out a cold smile.


    In his left hand was the recipient of gunpowder while in his right hand was a lighted torch. He was standing a few centimeters away from the Dungeon Core but the items were right next to it.


    A dungeon core was normally the most precious component of the dungeon. If it was destroyed, then the dungeon itself, including all the monsters, would also perish. As such, dungeon cores would often be placed in the safest room of the dungeon and would be protected by layers of arrays or similar defense mechanisms.


    However, with Five''s identity, he was able to directly enter the throne room. As for the defense mechanism, it was up to the dungeon master to set them up and configure them. But in this case, Kroff temporarily deactivated these defenses! And that was to allow Mehlroth, who was supposed to guard the dungeon core, to be able to easily monitor the dungeon.


    Normally, since the monster''s life was attached to the dungeon core, they would never even think of harming it. Instead, they would give their all to protect it at all cost.


    "I am not very patient, Roy! You and the other lizards should quickly reappear!" declared Five as he brought the torch closer to the recipient.


    The lion man and his subordinates were already standing 5 meters from the pedestal while the Dryad''s thorns were not too far either. Only Roy did not make his appearance yet.


    "Haha! You really think that we are that stupid! The dungeon core has a special protective layer! Even the combined attack of all 3 of us will not be able to break it!" Behind Five, Roy''s figure slowly appeared as he confidently walked towards Five.


    His spear was slightly glowing, he was mockingly looking at Five.


    Five was startled for a moment but he quickly reacted. This was something he was not aware of, but he should have considered it. Since Kroff was a high leveled dungeon master, his core should naturally have a lot of secret defenses! It would not be that easy to destroy it.


    "Really? Well since I already go that far I might as well continue. My life is not worth much anyway! But this protective layer should not be worth too much. At most a few million DP!" said five with a careless expression.


    He looked defeated as his hands started to move but his tone was the exact opposite; it brimmed with confidence and sarcasm.


    All the monsters immediately realized what he meant. They were not stupid and clearly understood the message. If he did not do anything, then Roy would mercilessly kill him. He might as well carry on with his plan. He would die anyway and so, if he could deal a severe blow to Kroff, it would give him some satisfaction.


    The monsters did not know exactly what would happen if the torch met the powder in the recipient. However, their instincts were screaming to them that it was dangerous. The protective layer of the dungeon core was the last line of defense! It could even stop their most powerful attack and buy some time. However, it could only be used once! The protective layer was a powerful spell called [Aegis].


    Kroff bought it at one of the previous auctions at a sky-high price and while the monsters were not aware of the exact numbers. They were easily able to estimate that it could be priced into tens of billions especially since it would provide absolute immunity to the core. Even a level 100 adventurer would need to wait for the Aegis to dissipate itself! In this scenario, they would naturally be accountable for this loss! Hundreds of billions? It represented years of accumulations!


    However, the flame was waiting merely 5cm from the powder! Even if they rushed, there was no way to stop it in time.


    "Stop!!!"

 Chapter 30: Kroff arrives

    "Stop!!!" shouted two different voices. Roy froze upon hearing Five. He realized the meaning behind that but since he was the one forcing Five into a corner, would he not take the entire blame of the situation?


    As such, he instantly shouted while taking a step back. At the same time, the Lion Man also panicked and let out a shout.


    The thorns stopped moving as the dryad displayed a pensive expression. The monsters quickly stopped moving and took a few steps back to show that they had no intention of attacking.


    When he heard the shout, Five internally smiled. The torch briefly stopped a few centimeters from the powder before quickly moving back. The flame was literally about to lick the wick, but it did not. In fact, at the speed he was moving, there was no way for Five to retract the torch in time upon hearing the shout. It was a predetermined action; he was not even going to light up the gunpowder.


    To Five, it was clearly a huge gamble. There were so many factors he was not aware of. He did not know how the monsters would react. He did not even know if the gunpowder would deal enough damage to be a threat to the core. In the end, he only had a relatively small recipient in which the powder was compressed. To add to the lethality, he added some pieces of metals that would fly across the room if the gunpowder detonated. Even then, there was no guarantee that it would represent a significant threat.


    However, his gamble paid off. The monsters instinctively panicked and decided to retreat! The Aegis was an unexpected factor but, in the end, it did not matter. It was the lifeline of the dungeon! If it was lost, the dungeon core would be at risk and Kroff would naturally not let the matter go! More importantly, that would mean wasting years of hard work!


    "Don''t be too hasty, Five! There is no reason for you to do that," said Roy while taking a step back. At the same time, two other lizards appeared behind him.


    All the monsters were looking at Five with both angered and terrified expressions. They did not know what the weapon of Five was, but their gut feeling was warning them. Not only did they risk harming themselves, if Five was too impulsive, they would also have to shoulder the blame for the loss of the Aegis.


    As for Five, he simply smiled, he knew he had the upper hand! Despite that, he did not relax and kept the torch 20cm from the gunpowder; this way, he would be able to react before any monsters would reach him.


    "What are you talking about? At this point, I have nothing to lose... I might as well end it all here!" said Five.


    For the first time, the dryad stepped forward and spoke, her voice was very charming, to the point that Five''s focus wavered for a moment, "Five, there is no need to be impulsive! Look, we won''t attack! Let''s discuss this out!"


    "Oh? But I don''t want to talk to you! And you should remove your thorns! I am very scared of plants. I might accidentally let go of the torch!" threatened Five. His back was drenched with sweat. The dryad was definitely dangerous, if he continued to talk to her, he might lose focus.


    ¡°She probably has some skills related to her voice! There is no way I¡¯ll be attracted to a child!¡±


    Dryads were powerful monsters that sometimes used their charms to attract clueless adventurers. As the adventurers would lower their guards, the dryads would devourer their bodies and use these nutrients for their own growth. As such, Five was very careful when dealing with the dryad. It was a very dangerous situation and he did not want to lose focus.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "You¡­ We are only talking... why are you so aggressive?"


    "Enough! From now on, the lion guy will be the one talking. If anyone else does anything, then I can already say farewell to you all!" interrupted Five.


    The monsters were all naturally very anxious and although the dryad was not pleased with the outcome, her thorns quickly retracted back to her. The Dryad and Roy frowned upon hearing Five''s request; they clearly knew that the Lion Man was a blockhead who only knew how to fight. How was he suitable to negotiate with Five? However, in this situation, they could only allow it.


    "What is it that you want?" politely asked the Lion Man. He was still crouching on the floor, ready to jump.


    "You all became extremely polite all of a sudden?" commented Five. He slightly relaxed upon seeing the outcome of the situation. It was not exactly what he planned but it was better than he expected. "So this is why kamikazes are so fearsome..." said Five to himself. Although he wanted to deal a heavy blow to Kroff, Five knew that if he did that then he would also perish but in the end, at least, he would make Kroff pay for being so unfair!


    Five did not want his journey to end there. He still had people he needed to deal with in the outside world. But with the way it was going, he would either end up bound to the Cyclone Association or heavily indebted to Kroff. Five easily realized that Kroff wanted to get him severely in debt with the arrangement. This way, it would further delay his own growth since he would need to repay back!


    If he silently accepted that, then he would never be able to succeed and accomplish his goals. All the other dungeon masters would already have a good foundation by the time he would start his own! There was no way he would accept this and so, he decided to risk everything.


    He never expected to play the game to begin with. Even if he died, it would not be a big loss. However, if his planned succeeded, things would be completely different. He now held the initiative!


    The Lion Man was dumbly looking at him, not knowing what to say but at that moment, the Throne room''s door wildly opened and Kroff rushed in.


    It was not just the monsters that had an ominous feeling when Five took out the recipient of gunpowder; as the owner, Kroff naturally had a connection with the dungeon core and felt it when it was in danger.


    He immediately left the room he was in to rush back here. Kroff was previously in a conference meeting with the Duke and the other members of the Cyclone Alliance. But when he felt that his core was in danger, he left everything without even giving an excuse. The decorum did not matter since his own life was at risk.


    As soon as he entered, Kroff anxiously looked at his dungeon core and saw Five standing in front of it with a cold smile.


    "What is happening here? Five! What are you doing? Do you even know what it implies!?" angrily shouted Kroff as he took large strides forward.


    "Master! You are finally here!" said the three monsters as one. They quickly allowed Kroff to pass through.


    "Hey, old man! Stop right there if you don''t want me to accidentally let go of this torch!"


    "Old man? How dare you? I am your teacher! Did you already forget everything I taught you?" angrily said Kroff. Nevertheless, he stopped moving towards the dungeon core and kept a respectable distance.


    "What did you teach me? All you did was repeat what I already knew. And most of it were self-explanatory. I do not need a teacher to tell me that," said Five with a grin.


    "In that case, you should have just said it! There was no need to do such an impulsive act. Quickly step down, let''s talk this through."


    "Are you stupid? I don''t stand any chance against any of the monsters! Won''t they instantly kill me if I move just a little bit away from the dungeon core?" Five.


    Kroff angrily looked at Five and the other monsters. How could such a situation happen? He gnashed his teeth but did not dare move forward. He knew that if Five was to act, then the Aegis would be activated. That spell would only act at the very last second and was his lifeline!


    Kroff knew very well the value of this spell. If it was to be activated for such a matter, then it would be a terrible loss! Billions of DP could go down the drain if he took the wrong decision.


    As both Kroff and Five were looking at each other, Mehlroth, the frogman and the World Scavenger quickly arrived at the entrance of the throne room and stared at the scene. As soon as they felt that the dungeon core was in danger, they all rushed there as soon as possible. As for possessing the general''s son, they already forgot about that insignificant figure. The fate of the whole dungeon was more important!


    "It looks like you planned everything from the start, right?" asked Kroff. Although his tone was polite, anyone could detect the hidden anger in it.


    "If you were a good teacher and honestly helped me grow, I would never have done this, but you forced me to. I am not stupid to the point that I do not notice things. Me dying from the goblins was something you planned, right?"


    "You are smarter than you look but yes, you are right! If you accepted to join the Cyclone Alliance, none of that would have happened..."


    Five smiled, "But that is not something I want to."


    "Sigh... Then since you planned all of this, speak... What is it that you want?"

 Chapter 31: The deal with Kroff

    Hearing Kroff, Five could not help but smile. ¡°I might have underestimated the value of this protective layer."


    "So you want to negotiate now?"


    "Naturally, this is what you were after, but we will swear an oath that you will not harm my dungeon core or any of us present here!" said Kroff.


    When Five first started to think about his plan, his only goal was to be able to safely leave the dungeon without having any debts or restrictions. In the end, he only wanted freedom and did not want to lose any more time in the dungeon.


    However, now that he was having the upper hand and learned a bit more about the dungeon, he asked: "My demand would be simple... Just give me some DP to make up for what I''ve lost."


    "Hmmp," Kroff frowned upon hearing the request but quickly moved his hands. Although the dungeon core was in front of Five, Kroff did not need the dungeon core to make the transaction. He had with him a pseudo-dungeon core that had all the functionalities of the actual dungeon core. Kroff made it so that he would be able to control the dungeon when he would be visiting the floors; sometimes, immediate changes would be required, and it would be a waste to always go back to the throne room to do them.


    As such, his hands quickly moved and Five quickly received a system prompt.


    [System prompt: Dungeon Master Kroff has initiated a transfer, do you accept it?]


    At the same time, a faint screen appeared in front of Five showing the number 1000 which represented that Kroff was willing to give him 1000 DP.


    "Only 1000 DP? Are you really a miser? Do you think the protective layer is only worth that much? Don''t tell me that you took the sentence ¡®Make up for what I''ve lost¡¯ literally?" asked Five.


    Kroff frowned, "Due to the contract''s restriction, I can only give you up to 20000DP..."


    "I already know that, please do so!" replied Five with a smile. He remembered that Harriet mentioned that detail in the Harpy''s communal room.


    20000 DP was not much to Kroff but his pride was hurt. "Then let''s swear the oath first!" said Kroff. He was willing to give the 1000 DP to show his willingness but now, he determined that it would be better to be on the safe side.


    "Sure, if you meet up my 3 requests, then I will naturally not harm any of you!"


    "Three? Are you crazy?"


    "Relax, old man. I am sure that they are things you can easily achieve, and their value should not exceed that of the protective layer! 20000 DP is clearly not enough!" declared Five.


    "Mmm," Kroff thought for a second before agreeing. "Alright, but only if the requests are not excessive!"


    "Sure, let''s do it then!"This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "I, Five swears to not activate my weapon as long as Kroff will agree to three reasonable requests of mine. May Sancus witness my oath."


    Kroff attentively listened to the oath. Finding nothing wrong, he quickly followed up and made his own oath, promising to not harm Five. The oaths were short and did not contain a lot of details; for example, the term "reasonable" was very vague but there was nothing Kroff could do. He could try to negotiate with Five but as long as they were not excessive, Kroff would naturally agree; the last thing he wanted to see was his Aegis being wasted.


    When they saw the oath being made, all the monsters relaxed. It looked like the situation was under control. Although they would still have to face Kroff''s anger, the Aegis was safe for now.


    "Good! Then accept the trade of 20000 DP and state your next request," said Kroff. He had to bite the bullet for now and only wanted this to end as quickly as possible.


    Five looked at the screen that was now displaying "20000" and quickly accepted it. Although he could have asked Kroff to allow him to kill some monsters to increase his DP, he did not want to push Kroff too hard since that would be unreasonable.


    But now was time for the hardest part, his second request was something he was not confident Kroff would agree. He quickly checked his own DP to confirm that he received the amount before saying:


    "Then the next request naturally is about the monster I am supposed to receive!"


    "Hmmmp! You really did your research? Speak what type of monster do you want?" said Kroff.


    "Isn''t that obvious? The monster I want is Harriet!"


    "Impossible! I cannot give you one of my core monsters! We said that the request should be reasonable! This is clearly not!" immediately declared Kroff. Harriet was one of his leading monsters. Despite the appearances, she held a lot of responsibilities in the dungeon, he could not simply allow her to leave like that.


    "Is it really unreasonable?" asked Five with an enigmatic smile.


    "Obviously! She is one of the pillars of the dungeon! Losing her is not any worse than losing the Aegis!" said Kroff while furiously looking at Five. "That guy really thinks he can have anything?" thought Kroff.


    "Then what if I add in the formula to the bomb I am holding? You should know that it is quite valuable! I only had access to very few DP and yet, it is strong enough to pose a serious threat to your dungeon core!"


    Hearing that, Kroff paused for a moment and suspiciously looked at Five. Harriet meant a lot to him, she was very competent at her job but that did not mean that no other monsters could replace her. In fact, in the pyramid of monsters, they were competing daily to make contributions and climb the ladder. Having a higher post also meant their race receiving more resources and being more sheltered.


    Kroff knew very well of the abilities of his monsters and so, he tried to balance the pro and cons of this transaction. He was already aware that the recipient in Five''s hand was dangerous. With the feeling he got, it was definitely a threat. He could not precisely judge the strength of the bomb but was very intrigued by it. His feeling was after all very vague, it was like having a blade placed on his neck but be it an ax, sword or a small dagger, all of them would feel exactly the same if the same amount of pressure was applied.


    He was very intrigued at how Five got his hand on this weapon. As far as he was aware, this was not available at the Dungeon Shop and when he looked at the transactions made by Five, all Kroff could see was a bunch of worthless materials. But if the weapon was made of these materials, then that would be a great discovery.


    "Why would I be interested in that formula? I already know what you bought with my DP in the pseudo dungeon core, why would I need that?" said Kroff.


    "Old man, none of us is stupid. Do you really think that all the materials I bought with your DP are used? It would take years to obtain the correct combination and ratio! But if you are not interested, then nevermind! Just give me a level 30 monster!" answered Five.


    In the end, he wanted to have Harriet simply because he believed that she would not try to backstab him. If Five asked for other monsters, then there was a risk that this monster would communicate with Kroff behind his back. Although the risk still existed with Harriet, he believed that it was much lower after having made some observations. But if he could not obtain Harriet, then he would simply aim for a high-level monster and kill it for some DP!


    Kroff did not answer immediately. Upon seeing that Five was not insisting on the matter, doubts filled his heart as he reconsidered his options. A few seconds went by in silence. None of the monsters present dared to interrupt but they were all on alert! Although Five was negotiating with Kroff, most of his attention was directed at the different monsters. He feared that one of them would suddenly appear and take out the gunpowder and so, was extremely vigilant.


    Finally, "Can you guarantee that we will be able to make this weapon easily?" asked Kroff.


    "As long as you are not completely stupid or clumsy, it should not be an issue!" answered Five. As soon as he heard the question, Five rejoiced in his heart.


    "Then hand over the formula and if it is as you say, then I can agree to allow Harriet to leave! But she must agree too. It is up to her to agree to become your monster. That is something even I cannot force!"


    Yet another unexpected factor popped up. It was something Five was not aware, he has heard about trading monsters from Harriet, but it never occurred to him that the monsters would also need to agree to be traded. However, that was something he was not too concerned about; he believed that Harriet would agree and so, he did not mind giving the formula first,


    "Alright then, if she agrees, we can consider the second request as fulfilled or else, I will just take a level 30 monster!" said Five.


    "Good! Mehlroth, call Harriet!"

 Chapter 32: Harriets choice

    Harriet was currently at the Avian Cavern. As soon as she left the throne''s room, she immediately came here and dispatched a few sisters to go scout the road between the dungeon and the city. She needed to make sure no reinforcement was coming from the city.


    The harpies were very chatty and asked about what was happening, but they all quickly listened to Harriet and went to scout. Harriet herself flew out. She went down to observe the guard camp at the entrance of the dungeon. She was surprised to see that most of the guards there had left; that could only mean that they all entered the dungeon, but she was not worried.


    With all 6 leading monsters in the Throne Room, the situation was well under control, the guards themselves were not strong enough to take over the dungeon. Only if the general and his direct subordinates came would there be some trouble but that was extremely unlikely.


    Harriet flapped her long black wings and went back to the Avian Cavern when suddenly, she felt a powerful ominous feeling. Although it was the first time she was experiencing it, Harriet immediately knew its meaning! The dungeon core was in danger!


    "What could have happened at the throne room?" asked Harriet to herself.


    But she was not the only one to have felt that, all her sisters also felt it and became anxious. Harpies were very sensitive, to the point that one of them even started crying thinking that they were all doomed.


    "Do not worry, Elena. I am here! Everything will be fine!" said Harriet as she recomforted her sister with a gentle hug. Although she felt that she needed to go to the throne room, she believed that her presence would not matter much especially since the other six were there to protect the core.


    And so, Harriet stayed with the other harpies and recalled back those that went to scout. She was like a mother looking after all her little daughters.


    A few minutes later, when she was looking after Ariel who had finally calmed down, Harriet received a message from Mehlroth asking her to come to the throne room.


    His tone was gloomy but did not betray his thoughts. Harriet asked why she needed to come but Mehlroth only drily answered back and asked her to hurry up.


    Full of doubts and unease, Harriet left her sisters and went to Kroff''s room. It was not very far and so, she arrived in less than one minute.


    ...


    As soon as she arrived, she was startled at the tensed atmosphere of the throne room. She frowned upon seeing the scene; she could see Five mockingly looking at the other monsters while holding a lighted torch in his right hand and a white recipient in his left. What surprised Harriet was that right in front of Five, was Kroff''s dungeon core. All the monsters were all focused on Five''s hands while Kroff was motionlessly standing in front of Five.


    Harriet was quick-witted, she immediately built up a scenario in her mind: "Oh Five... What did you do again!?" said Harriet to herself.


    When she entered, the monsters quickly looked at her, but their eyes were filled with hostility. It was the first time she was getting this type of looks and it was not pleasant.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Seeing her arrive, Kroff immediately said: "You finally arrived Harriet. There is something we need to ask you."


    Sending a questioning look to Five, Harriet answered, "What is it? Master?"


    "I have made a deal with Five and was wondering... Will you agree to be traded and become Five''s monster?" asked Kroff while staring at Five. Since she entered the room, not once did Kroff look at her and more importantly, the tone of the question was devoid of expressions; that could only mean that Kroff was currently extremely furious.


    "Master... May I ask what is happening, I..." started Harriet but she was immediately interrupted by Kroff.


    "Just answer the question! Yes or no?"


    Hearing that, Harriet immediately became conflicted. She already got an idea of what was happening and no matter what choice she made, she would end up making at least one enemy. She was already living a comfortable life and had a good position at Kroff''s dungeon and so, there was no need for her to move out.


    On the other hand, Five was her friend and she had seen how he had a lot of potential and could become a better dungeon master than Kroff. If he was given enough time, his dungeon might turn out to be much more developed than Kroff''s. If she agreed now, it would be equivalent to securing one of the highest posts! But these were only if she was completely alone! And Harriet was precisely not alone! She had all her sister harpies with her.


    It was normal for monsters to abandon their kin, but harpies were different. They were a societal race and while they all had different personalities, Harriet was caring and considered all the harpies here as her daughters since they were effectively born out of her. She was their leader and their mother! They looked at her for many things but if she left now, how would they do without her? What would happen to them if she leaves? Won''t the status of the harpies go down the drain?


    There were many things to consider and Harriet simply could not abandon her sisters behind like that! And that was something Kroff was well aware of! It was precisely why he mentioned these conditions. As her master, Kroff knew Harriet very well and took advantage of that to obtain the formula for free!


    As for Five, he started to feel nervous as he saw Harriet hesitate so much and even started to question his decision. He was already starting to feel tired. The torch and the recipient were not heavy, but he had been holding them for so long and his arms were starting to ache. In the end, he simply asked: "What is it, Harriet? Is there something holding you here?"


    "I am sorry, but I cannot leave like that... My sisters... They will not be able to survive well without me!" said Harriet with a quiet and sad tone. She looked at Five, conflict and sadness could clearly be seen in her eyes.


    "Ha! It looks like she refused! We can only go with the second option then," said Kroff. He was delighted to see that this was going as he wanted. He was at least reducing the losses he was making but as he was internally rejoicing, Five ignored him and asked Harriet:


    "Your sisters? Is the reason you don''t want to come, your sisters?"


    The latter lowered her head slightly as she answered, "Yes, how will they live well without me? I have a stable position here and we have good living conditions! If I come with you, what will happen to them? I cannot leave them like that, I am very sorry, Five."


    "But if you leave? Won''t all the other harpies be freed? Aren''t they bound to the dungeon core by you? If you leave, surely the entire link will be broken," said Five.


    "Why are you still talking? Didn''t she already refuse? I will give you a level 30 monster, let''s move to the third request!" said Kroff but the two completely ignored him.


    "I have never heard of that. Can you guarantee that my sisters will also come?" asked Harriet full of doubts. It was something she had never heard of, while she was with Kroff, she had never actually witnessed a trade and so, did not know the specifics of this act.


    "There is no guarantee. I also have limited information about the dungeon trades! But if you look at Kroff, it is clear that he wants you to quickly refuse! Give it some thoughts."


    Hearing that, Harriet fell into silence. She did not know what to do. She could not read through Kroff either. It might be true that the other harpies would be freed but even in that case, there was a lot that she would lose. It was asking her to take a huge gamble and restart her life from scratch! Although she did not have the best life right now and was at risk every day of facing a powerful adventurer and dying, wouldn''t that also be the same if she goes with Five?


    After waiting for a few seconds and seeing that Harriet was still undecided, Five could not help but sigh internally. He seriously believed that Harriet would be willing to come with him but in the end, that he had been too optimistic. He did not take in consideration Harriet''s feelings for her sisters and even other things. There was no guarantee that he would be able to build a good dungeon and if he considered Harriet her friend, would that not be too risky to ask her to risk everything to come with him?


    "Forget about it. Since you think your life is comfortable here, I won''t ask for more, sorry to have troubled you Harriet!" said Five. In the end, it was like Harriet previously said! Only his own monsters could be trusted. He needed to raise his own monsters to obtain trustworthy and powerful ones, trying to use a shortcut would not easily work!


    However, when she heard that, Harriet trembled for a second.

 Chapter 33: The cores reaction

    Kroff was internally delighted when he heard Five speak. On the spur of the moment, he forgot about that detail of the trading of monsters. He never traded one of his leading monsters. In fact, dungeon masters would normally never part with their leading monsters and so, not much information was available about that.


    But in the past, there had been one case when one of the dungeon masters lost a terrible battle. In the end, he had to give one of his leading monsters to the winner and the result was that not only did he lose the monster but also the entire race!


    It was not just the fact that he could no longer purchase monsters of that race from the dungeon shop, but he also lost all the already summoned monsters! It was later found out that all these monsters had been naturally teleported to the leader monster at the winner''s dungeon. They were all unharmed and that had been a disastrous blow to that dungeon master.


    Kroff momentarily forgot about that detail since it was an isolated case that nobody mentioned. It had long been forgotten but when he heard Harriet talk about her sisters, this incident naturally appeared in Kroff''s mind and he could not help but start sweating. Now, all he wanted was to quickly move on to the third request. He could afford to lose Harriet since there was a lot of other strong monsters that would be able to assume her responsibilities but losing an entire race? That was a heavy blow to his strength.


    "Wait no, I just want to be sure that my sisters would also be able to safely leave this place if I agree," said Harriet. She had been hesitating for quite a while, but it was understandable since it was a tough decision to make. She was usually very composed and confident but now, Harriet looked like a young graduate still unsure of the direction to take in her life.


    "I already said that I cannot confirm that. Only Kroff knows the answer but let''s forget about that. I understand your standing," answered Five as he carefully observed Kroff. He himself was very curious about that question but Kroff remained silent. He did not even try to stop the two from talking fearing that he might reveal some information or give out some hints.


    At this point, finding the answer to that question was more important than actually recruiting Harriet. She was the only one who supported him during his time here and Five naturally wanted to help her but seeing her hesitation, he started doubting himself. He was not necessarily looking for blind obedient monsters, but he hoped that Harriet would have trusted him from the start.


    Five knew that Harriet was extremely powerful but if there were no trust between them, then it would be completely useless. He understood her behavior and made a mental note about it.


    "Master, can you tell me the truth?" asked Harriet while looking at Kroff. She knew Kroff very well and carefully examined him to look for an answer.


    "How would I know that? Were you not with me when I traded? I never encountered this sort of situation, so I would naturally not know" plainly answered Kroff.


    With everyone looking at him, the latter was uncomfortable but tried to appear as normal as possible without letting out any emotion.


    Harriet was carefully looking at Kroff and although she could not confirm her suspicions, she could clearly see that Kroff was acting differently from his usual self! That meant that he was hiding something but what could it be? When she took in consideration the fact that Kroff previously tried to quickly end the deal, Harriet could not help but think that what Five might be true; that all her sisters might accompany her if she agreed.


    However, Harriet was also aware that no matter which choice she made, her hesitation already cost her a lot. Kroff would definitely not be pleased with the fact that she did not immediately refuse the offer and that might affect her position at the dungeon! Similarly, Five might also not trust her too much now since she hesitated a lot. In the end, she ended up building a few walls between her and the dungeon master she would choose.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    "In that case, I have made my final choice! I agree to the trade," solemnly said Harriet.


    Hearing that, all the other monsters tensed. They were partly anxious and partly pleased since there would be less competition among themselves but Kroff would definitely be enraged later and they would have to suffer from that.


    On the other hand, both Kroff and Five remained expressionless. "Are you sure about that? What about the other harpies?" asked Kroff with his composed face.


    "I have made my choice master! Please make the trade!" decisively said Harriet. She already said it, but she knew that if they continued to argue, she might want to change her decision. She was not a 100% sure of herself and there was a lot of risks and so, she wanted it to end quickly.


    "Hmmp! Alright. This is your choice, but you can still say it if you change your mind before the end of the third request!"


    Kroff felt his heart ache as soon as he heard Harriet''s decision, but it was too late to say something. He had already said that this request was fair and could not go back on his words now. It was his own mistake for forgetting about that incident and paid the price for that!


    He was grinding his teeth as he started another trade with Five.


    The latter quickly received the system prompt and directly accepted it. He showed no expression since he was having mixed feelings. In the end, Harriet agreed to join him, but could he really trust her especially considering how long it took her? He doubted that Harriet was a fence sitter but Mehlroth could have been sending her telepathic messages during that time! He needed to be careful, but he would think about that later. There was still the third request to deal with but that was also the easiest!


    When the trade was concluded, Harriet felt something inside her heart. The faint connection she had with Kroff suddenly vanished and was replaced by one with Five. The feeling was completely different; the connection was fresh and vivid, she could feel Five''s feelings at the moment. Since she had made her decision and was now Five''s monster, Harriet slowly flapped her wings and stood silently behind Five. She tried to look at her new master to apologize but the latter was firmly looking at Kroff.


    It was still a high-pressure situation for him. He could not relax now that he was so close to succeeding!


    "Speak! Your last request!" said Kroff. He was clearly more impatient; he made a huge loss today and only wanted everything to end but Kroff had one last trick up his sleeves that he could not wait to try!


    "Yes, it is the simplest one of the three! My request is simply to get the right to leave your tutoring whenever I want!" said Five.


    Hearing that, Kroff froze for a moment. "That little bastard! He really thought about everything..." thought Kroff. His last trick was very simple: To kill Five as soon as all the three requests would be fulfilled!


    Once the three requests were completed, that would mean that Five''s threat was gone! He would no longer be able to use that weapon and would be defenseless. Since all his leading monsters were gathered there, killing him would be extremely simple. After Five''s death, Kroff would simply continue to kill him over and over, and since he was already level 1, no one knew what would happen if he reached level 0.


    It was the last net Kroff had and yet, Five already saw through it. By asking for the right to leave immediately, he would be able to dodge this last trap! That meant that Kroff would really make a huge loss today.


    In Kroff''s mind, he thought that Five would make some sort of excessive requests like a powerful artifact or equipment. The right to leave was something that never crossed his mind. But now, Kroff finally realized something! He could have simply used that item to directly end his tutoring period and as a result, Five would have immediately been teleported outside the dungeon!


    It would have saved him all this trouble if only he had thought about it! It was yet another benign solution that people would often forget under stress but would immediately realize it when the stress was gone!


    "Dam**t"


    The request was obviously reasonable. He had no valid reason to refuse and using the item now would make no difference! Kroff could only take out an item from his pseudo-dungeon core and toss it to Five.


    The latter instinctively pulled back the torch and the recipient in his inventory as he grabbed the item. Fortunately, none of the monsters acted. They simply watched Five and waited for Kroff''s order.


    When the item landed in his hands, an information screen immediately appeared next to it:


    [Teleportation Crystal]


    Crush it to teleport to a pre-determined location.


    Note 1: This item can only be used by the player "Five".


    Note 2: Crushing this item signifies the end of the tutoring period. Please use it only when you are confident in your own capabilities.


    As he read the description, Five let out a smile. He was safe and could leave now! In the end, he had made huge profits and would even be able to leave without any harm.


    "Since I have agreed and completed the 3 requests, that means my part of the agreement is fulfilled!" said Kroff.


    "That''s correct!" answered Five. He already placed the gunpowder back into his inventory and only had the teleportation crystal in his hand ready to be crushed. He gently tapped the dungeon core with his right hand and mockingly said, "It''s a pity I will not be able to blow this up!"


    Hearing that, Kroff naturally became enraged, his dungeon core was being belittled in front of him, "All of you! Attack now!" shouted Kroff, his patience had already reached its limit! Now that the bomb was gone, he could finally vent his anger! In fact, if Five did not crush the teleportation crystal in time, he might even perish here!


    However, Five did not even react upon hearing Kroff''s shout because the second his hand touched the dungeon core, something woke up in him! It was not precisely in him but rather, in his inventory. His own dungeon core which was intrinsically connected to him trembled and for the first time, sent him a sort of message.


    It was not really a message but more a vague feeling of what he wanted! And what his dungeon core wanted right now; it was to devourer Kroff''s dungeon core that was inches away from Five.

 Chapter 34: Meeting Gaia again

    Five froze when he saw his dungeon core''s reaction. Did it want to eat Kroff''s dungeon core? However, now was not the right time! In the corner of his eyes, Five could see that all the monsters started moving.


    He was well aware that his threat was gone. With his current strength, it would be a miracle if he could damage the dungeon core right now! It was something he already predicted; he would be attacked as soon as the deal was completed, and it was why he asked for the right to leave immediately.


    In his right hand, the teleportation crystal was already ready; all he needed to do was to crush it and he would be teleported away. However, his dungeon core was screaming to him to allow it out! It was an extremely powerful feeling! The core that seemed defenseless and friendly, revealed its fangs for the first time and it bared them at Five.


    Behind him, Harriet was panicking at the sight of all the monsters attacking them. Since she was now Five''s monster, it was her duty to protect him even at the cost of her life. She immediately opened her wings and floated right between Five and the Lion Man. In her hand, a bright red dagger was glowing.


    She was not aware of the things Five was experiencing, all she knew was that she needed to protect him. It was the choice she made in choosing him as her dungeon master and she had no regrets. From the moment she was asked the question, no matter what decision she made, her status was already being threatened!


    In Five''s mind, the dungeon core was oppressively asking to be taken out. It was the first time he was experiencing that force and on the spur of the moment, Five naturally moved and the dungeon core appeared in his right hand.


    At this moment, a bright red glow surrounded Five''s dungeon core while a dark blue glow surrounded Kroff''s!


    "No!!!" shouted Kroff as he felt a dangerous feeling.


    Five did not know what was happening! He was confused but there was one thing he knew; 5 thorns were flying towards him. If he did not crush the teleportation crystal now, he would definitely die!


    Even Harriet was already being attacked from three different directions!


    Despite the oppressive feeling of his dungeon core, Five decisively crushed the teleportation crystal. As he did that, a bright light surrounded his body; it was so dazzling that all the monsters there had to protect their eyes!


    A few moments later, when they reopened their eyes, the monsters found no trace of Five.


    ...


    When he crushed the crystal, Five felt the familiar feeling of anti-gravity and at the same time, the oppressive feeling of his dungeon core vanished. He could no longer feel the ground beneath his feet and it was hard to breathe but as he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in an ethereal room.


    ¡°What happened? What is this place?¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    It looked like the floor and the walls were made of clouds. There was no roof and the room was modestly decorated. It was very bright; completely different from what he became used to in Kroff''s dungeon.


    In front of him, Five noticed a delicate figure looking at him from a throne. He immediately recognized her; it was the same person that threw him into Kroff''s dungeon, Gaia.


    The latter looked like a queen seated on her throne. She was wearing a short white dress, in her hand was a little piece of paper.


    "Greetings, Five! It looks like you made good use of your tutoring period!" sarcastically said Gaia as she crossed her legs momentarily flashing her white thigh.


    However, Five did not care about her seduction attempt. He did not even greet her, "Where is Harriet? Was she not supposed to come with me?" asked Five.


    "Oh? You are worried about that harpy? Don''t worry! She is perfectly fine and all her ¡®sisters¡¯ have also left the dungeon! You will meet them again when you go back to Zero," answered Gaia.


    He let out a sigh of relief. Five was worried for a moment that he might have been too late but it turned out that Harriet was safe! What just happened was just way too close for comfort.


    Recalling the last second event, Five took out his dungeon core that magically returned to his inventory. As he looked at the new information stats, he immediately noticed a difference!


    [Core of Madness](Grade 1)(Upgradable)


    Activate to found a dungeon at a specific location. (Cannot be used within 1 km of another dungeon core)


    Effect 1: 100% chance to drop upon death


    Effect 2: DP gained +3%


    Skill: [Frenzy]


    Not only did the DP gained increase by 3% but he was also given a skill:


    [Frenzy(level 0)]


    User temporarily sacrifices part of his Intelligence and Wisdom in exchange for an increase in Strength and Dexterity:


    Intelligence and Wisdom -2


    Strength and Dexterity +3


    Duration: 2 minutes


    Can only be used once per day.


    When he saw the skill, Five did not know how he should react. That skill was a double-edged sword. It was sacrificing some attributes for others. The skill was definitely powerful but at the same time, had a huge weakness.


    But a skill was still a skill. It did not mean he had to use it. It was still good to have more options.


    "I see that you have already upgraded your dungeon core, congratulations!" said Gaia as she looked at Five''s action.


    "What was that? At the last minute, I felt a powerful force, as if a monster was sleeping inside the dungeon core," said Five.


    The beautiful lady giggled, "You are not wrong, there is a powerful monster in your dungeon core! But that is something you''ll discover later on. For now, since you are the very first dungeon master to have completed his tutoring, I''ll give you some information!"


    Without waiting for an answer, she continued, "Your dungeon core can mutate and become stronger. You should have noticed how your dungeon core went up a grade! It does so by eating other dungeon cores. If you want to become stronger, go and eat other dungeon cores!"


    "Eating dungeon cores? Does that mean that Kroff is dead now?" asked Five.


    "Fufu, it looks like you are not really fond of your teacher! But no, he is not dead. Your dungeon core was too weak! It was only level 1, how could it devourer a level 61 dungeon core in one go? It only absorbed an extremely small portion of Kroff''s dungeon core but that was enough to allow it to upgrade itself," explained Gaia.


    "Really? Then what are the consequences for Kroff?"


    "That... I can''t tell you. I already said a lot by telling you how to upgrade your dungeon core!" said Gaia with a teasing smile. "Don''t ask for too much. Let''s move on to the reason you are here."


    As she said that, Gaia moved her hands as a giant map appeared in front of Five.


    The latter wanted to ask for more information, but he immediately shut his mouth upon seeing the map. He did his best to memorize it!


    "Now, you are going to set up your own dungeon! But you are given a chance to select its location. This is a map of Zero. Just point out where you want to spawn. You can see that there are some cities and towns marked on the map. You can make your own game plan. You can select any zones, but I would recommend going for the blue ones! They are the one where players are right now! The yellow zones represent the areas near capitals and are highly guarded. The red zones are the one that will be opened in later expansions but well, you can pick them if you want but it''s at your own risk! As for the dark ones, they would only open when the players would reach level 60. If you are confident enough and patient for that to happen, then go ahead! You are smart. Make your choice!" said Gaia.


    Five was immediately flooded with information, his mind processed quickly what Gaia said. A few seconds later, he asked; "What you told me does not matter, just tell me where they are, I''ll go there!"


    "Oh? Still very persistent. I see but that''s some private information! I cannot tell you too much, but a hint would be, the Sylvester Empire"


    With Gaia¡¯s clue, Five''s eyes immediately combed through the map. He quickly located the Dominion Empire where Kroff''s dungeon was built. To its west, was an archipelago of islands and even further west, he finally found the Sylvester Empire.


    "Which city?"


    "I already gave you the empire. Don''t be too greedy!" answered Gaia with a teasing expression.

 Chapter 35: Farewell

    "Alright, then I will just spawn there," said Five as he randomly selected a location in the blue zone, not too far from the red zone. There was no real reason for this choice since he could not tell much from the map he was looking at.


    "No problem. I can send you when you are ready! Just set up your dungeon as soon as possible! Remember that there will be a sort of test at the end of every month!" said Gaia.


    "Yes yes, this is just some minor details! Now that I have access to the open world, I can finally look for revenge!"


    Gaia giggled, "You can do whatever you want. You already have a head start! Although you are still level 1 which is quite abnormal, you managed to get a powerful monster as a starting one and even its subordinates came along! That is quite impressive!"


    "It was just pure luck! There were many things that coincidentally turned out the way I wanted. There were many factors I simply could not predict! As for Harriet, I see her more as a friend than as a subordinate! I saw how she hesitated to join me but it''s also thanks to her that I was able to get out of the dungeon with so much profit," answered Five.


    "Luck is also part of someone¡¯s skills! But yeah, be careful when dealing with her, betrayal is always a possibility! I would suggest that you give up on the harpies.¡±


    ¡°What? Why would I do such a thing?¡± exclaimed Five.


    Gaia let out a mischievous smile, ¡°I am not supposed to tell you that but since I invested in you, I cannot let you go to waste. The monthly test that you will go through¡­ Its difficulty is based on several factors, including the monsters that are present at your dungeon.¡±


    ¡°As real as this place looks like, this is still a game and the system will balance things out. If the system really allowed you to keep at level 56 Boss monster and fifty level 40 harpies, wouldn¡¯t it be completely unfair to the other players? You will definitely be penalized in one way or another.¡±


    ¡°Harriet is powerful, but will you be able to level up your dungeon to her standards in just one month? Kroff took decades to build his dungeon like that. Of course, the system will take in consideration that you have just started, etc etc. But it will still significantly increase the difficulty.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to suffer the consequences, then I will suggest letting the harpies go, at least temporarily. The system will naturally reward you if you do so. It will provide you with a powerful monster that will be more adapted to you. Don¡¯t let me investment go to waste.¡±


    Her words struck a chord in Five¡¯s mind but before he could say anything, Gaia continued:


    ¡°But well, this is probably the last time we are meeting, is there a last thing you want to ask me?" asked Gaia with a smile.


    "Does this really matter? Won''t you just say that you can''t give me the information I want again? Every time I ask a question, I always get the same answer," said Five. The scene felt familiar. It was just like when he first woke up in this game, although they were saying different things, the atmosphere was no different. He was irritated when he first met Gaia and he did not like the way she was hiding information but, in the end, he was grateful to her for allowing him to play the game instead of rotting in prison.


    "It is just for the formality. Since there is nothing you want to ask, I will teleport you to the Sylvester Empire!" declared Gaia as she stood up. She waited for a moment but seeing no reaction from Five, she raised her hands and started casting a spell.


    The latter remained silent. He did not have anything to say. As he saw Gaia about to finish casting her spell, he let out a quiet "Farewell" as he vanished from the room.


    The beautiful lady, now left alone, let out a smile. She sat back on her ethereal throne which started to float. The throne moved across the empty room and finally stopped in front of several screens. There were exactly twelve screens, each one showing a different player performing various actions.


    Gaia momentarily focused her attention on the fifth screen. The character on the screen just appeared in the middle of a vast plain, that person was Five.


    ...


    As he opened his eyes, the first thing Five noticed was not the landscape but rather, the dozens of harpies flapping their wings with confused expressions. They were all quietly waiting at the Avian Cavern when they all felt a weird feeling. With their instinct, they immediately understood what was happening; their master was being changed. They did not know what was happening in the Throne room and so, could only wait for Harriet to come back to explain but then, they suddenly found themselves standing in the middle of this plain right under the sun.


    As soon as he appeared, Five received many different looks from the harpies; they naturally already felt the connection between them and Five. But they had mixed feelings about it. Some were not pleased of being stripped of their comfortable life at the dungeon while some were glad to be free and to have the opportunity to see the outside world.


    Under the looks of the harpies, Five could not help but doubt his decision. Was it the right choice to ask Harriet to come with him? He basically just changed the life of an entire community. It was not just Harriet but also all the other harpies that were affected but at least, that meant that he was right. The harpies were indeed linked to Harriet and without her, Kroff would no longer be able to have harpies at his dungeon.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    Before he could say anything, Harriet quickly made her way towards Five. She was very sensitive and felt that her master had arrived. She was still stunned when she came to herself; she was previously on the verge of dying under the combined attacks of three monsters but suddenly found herself in this safe environment. When she saw her confused sisters, she quickly started explaining to the harpies near her what had happened.


    "Five, no... Master, you were indeed right. All my sisters are here! But what should we do now?" politely asked Harriet.


    "No need to call me Master. Just call me Five as you usually do!"


    The latter was delighted to hear that; it was a weird feeling to suddenly have to change the way she addressed him, especially when her "Master" was now far weaker than her.


    "As for what we are going to do, I will leave it to you, you are free to do anything!" continued Five while looking at Harriet.


    "What do you mean by that? Are you not going to set up the dungeon? We need to look for a good location, it is essential if you want to build a good dungeon!" said Harriet.


    Hearing that, Five let out a faint smile. "No, that''s not it. I am releasing you! I now realized that I made a mistake. I disturbed your peaceful lives by asking you to come with me. This was something I did not want to do and so..."


    "Wait Five," interrupted Harriet, "Why are you saying that? Did we do something wrong?" She looked at her sisters in case they were the one that did something, but none of them said anything.


    "It is not that. Did you not say that you once wanted to explore the world? I remember when I was imprisoned in my dungeon core and you took care of me; you were saying you really wanted to look at the sea and more importantly, you want to go back to the chain of mountains you come from," said Five with a sad smile on his face.


    "That is true..." said Harriet as she recalled these moments, "But I cannot do that, I must respect the contract our ancestors made, I have to stay here and protect your dungeon!"


    "My dungeon? Who said I was going to set up my dungeon? I am giving you the opportunity to be free! You should take it!" answered Five.


    He was not exactly lying. Five did barge into the harpies¡¯ life and pulled them into a mess. They were homeless at the moment and Five felt guilty because of it. At the same time, the last few words of Gaia were still clear in Five¡¯s mind.


    The harpies would greatly influence the incoming test. Had he gone through a proper tutorial, Five might have had the confidence to keep the harpies but now, he was not certain he would pass the test if he kept the harpies. Furthermore, Five also had a hidden agenda; he never forgot the reason he agreed to enter the game. He did not care about the dungeons, all he wanted was to quickly meet his enemies.


    "Of course you need to set up your dungeon! This is your role as a dungeon master! Don''t you have a dungeon core?"


    "Indeed, I do have one but when was it said that I absolutely need to use it? To me, founding my dungeon is only secondary, there are people I need to find first! Only after that, will I set up the dungeon. I did not choose to become a dungeon master, but I went with the flow to get the chance to come to this world. Now that I am free, I need to accomplish my own goals first¡­ The dungeon is only secondary to me," answered Five.


    That had been his final goal from the beginning; to take revenge. The dungeon core he obtained was only due to the circumstances. He played along the game but now that his movements were no longer restricted, he should naturally start working on his goal!


    "As you can see, I have no dungeon for you to protect! And going around this empire will be quite hard if I am accompanied by all these harpies! Take care of your sisters, I will give you back your freedom."


    Freedom? Harriet stared blankly at Five as she realized what was happening. Wasn¡¯t freedom what she had always been looking for? She was sent to the dungeon in order to protect the rest of the harpies and her ultimate goal was simply to survive and return to her clan once everything was over.


    Now that the opportunity presented itself, why should she not take it? A faint smile appeared on her face as she thought about all her loved ones she left back at home. She could finally reunite with them, with her mother and more importantly, her lover.


    A deep feeling of guilt emerged from within as Harriet thought about leaving Five alone. How could she leave him alone after he paid a heavy price to let them go? Doing so was equivalent to burning the bridge after crossing it. As she realized that she was smiling, Harriet quickly hid it and convince herself that she needed to stay with Five. At the very least, she needed to pay back her debt.


    However, it was too late. Five¡¯s sharp eyes had already noticed Harriet¡¯s behavior. He sighed. Indeed, it seemed that it was better to rely on himself. He did not intend to test the harpy queen but as it turned out, she really wanted to go back home.


    ¡°You are dodging the question! At least tell me why you do not want us to remain by your side!¡± exclaimed Harriet.


    Five hesitated for a moment, ¡°I have my own reasons. It might sound crazy, but this is my choice. I know that I risked a lot for this and having you by my side will give me a huge boost but was it the right thing to do? You might accept it, but you are also forcing the situation on the other harpies.¡±


    ¡°That makes me no different from the people I am looking for! So, you are free to do what you want but at least, allow the other harpies to go back to the place they belong! I don¡¯t want to force them into serving me. I know that they were forcefully stripped of their comfortable life because of my selfish motives but at least, they should be free to return to their homeland.¡±


    As he spoke, Five opened his interface to look at the monsters he owned; right now, this section only contained the profile of Harriet. He was about to press the release button, but Harriet stopped him.


    "Do not do that, we will accompany you, we can stay at a high altitude, no human would notice us! Besides, if you release me, the contract of our ancestor would once again come into effect and I will be sold to another dungeon master! As long as I am not freed by the death of my dungeon master, then the contract will still be effective," explained Harriet with a saddened expression.


    Although she was glad to hear that Five was willing to give them their freedom, deep inside, she could not help but think that it was because she hesitated when Five made his offer. Was it because he did not trust her? Harriet clearly knew that she no longer had any contact with Kroff or any other monsters but even if she said that, would Five trust her?


    She wanted to apologize for her behavior and protect Five''s dungeon and help him grow but before she even got to see the dungeon, Five was releasing her. It was not shameful to be released, in fact, it could be considered an honor. Yet, Harriet was anything but happy.


    "In that case, I will just keep you as my monster. This way the contract will not come into effect and you will still be able to return to where you come from with your sisters! Do not worry about me, I can take care of myself! You should instead take care of them!" said Five and without even waiting for an answer, he turned to walk away.


    It was painful to have to let go of Harriet, after all, she was a powerful monster and had many harpies. Yet, it was still the choice he made. He wanted to look for revenge and so, needed to be as discreet as possible. At the same time, he also felt guilty when he saw the accusatory looks of the other harpies.


    He did not know the real reason for his choice. It was a combination of several factors, but it brought peace to his heart. In the end, he decided to leave behind Harriet; at least, she would be able to live a happy life when she will get back to the chain of mountains. Harriet was strong but not indispensable.


    ¡°At least go and bring your sisters safely to their homeland. If you really want to stay by my side, you can come back afterward when the dungeon will be ready. Look after your sisters.¡±


    "Farewell."


    A faint murmur left his mouth as he slowly walked away from the group of harpies. As developed as the harpies¡¯ sense of hearing was, they were unable to hear his last words.


    The harpies themselves wore confused expression. Now that they were really free to do whatever they wanted, they did not know how to react. They lived in captivity their whole life, the sudden change naturally had an impact on them. They felt lost. Many turned towards Harriet to ask for advice, but the latter was also shaken.


    She did not know what to do! She knew that she needed to protect Five but at the same time, she needed to look after her sisters. Harriet looked at Five''s disappearing silhouette. She then looked at her sisters. Still unsure of herself, a painful expression appeared on her beautiful face. She let out a sigh.

 Chapter 36: The town

    On the vast grassy plains of the Sylvester Empire, a young man was slowly making his way towards Etora Town. It was a strategically positioned town which was governed by a rich and powerful baron. The region was not very rich in resources, but the town represented the border of the human kingdom of the Sylvester Empire.


    A few kilometers away, the landscape would drastically change; instead of the plains, one would find the largest swamp of the continent; the Marlose Swamp. In another direction, were the barren lands which were the territory of the Orcs.


    The Marlose swamp was full of treasures for adventurers. Although it was not too far from the Orc''s territory, many adventurers came here daily to hunt the monsters and collect the unique plants.


    In the distance, the sun was slowly disappearing. The young man was taking uncertain large strides. He was visibly exhausted, but determination could be seen in his eyes. That person was naturally Five.


    Two days have passed since the incident at the Algate Dungeon. Since then, Five slowly made his way towards the closest town.


    In truth, when he left the harpies and walked away, he picked the wrong direction from where he was planning to go. When he later realized that and walked back, the harpies were long gone. He was relieved to see that the harpies left but at the same time, his heart ached.


    In the end, he wasted an opportunity to obtain so many monsters but at least, he was at peace and could now act on his own. It had to be said that Five developed an anti-social behavior over the past years. Considering the harsh training he went through and the incarceration, it was normal for him to prefer to stay away from others. Harriet succeeded in bridging the gap but when it came to the other harpies, Five preferred to keep some distance.


    Since he did not see the harpies, he continued on his way towards Etora Town, the closest town to his spawn point according to the map he looked at. Unfortunately, his spawn location could not be too close to the town and as a result, it took him two days to arrive at the town.


    It was over these two days he realized how lucky he was to be a dungeon master. He started by quickly using the DP he obtained from Kroff and accumulated over time to level up. With that sum, he reached level 9 in one go and was left with about 2500 DP.


    Each time he leveled up, he obtained 1 stat point to allocate to any of the five stats and additionally, when he reached level 5, all his stats increased by one. Now, his stats were:


    Name: Five


    Race: Human/Dungeon Core


    Level: 9 (0/4500)


    Class: Dungeon Master


    Title: None


    HP: 90/90


    MP: 80/80


    Strength: 9(-1)


    Dexterity: 9(-1)Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Vitality: 9


    Intelligence: 8


    Wisdom: 8


    Stat Points available: 0


    Skills: [Frenzy]


    Fatigue: 67%


    He used his stat points to balance his character. He found it alarming how his vitality was so low and immediately invested most of the stat points in it. As for the other stats, Five did not really know in which one to invest.


    It was not that he was clueless about the game, but he could not decide which one would allow him to make the most out of the dungeon advantage he had. He originally wanted to be a rogue since it was similar to what he had trained in, but he ended up giving up this idea.


    He still knew how to be stealthy and discreet but when it came to battle, he was not very experienced. After all, in the modern era, few would use cold weapons like daggers or cross bolts. He only knew the basics of the basics when it came to these weapons. What he really trained in was gun fighting and sniping. However, these weapons were not available!


    They could actually be bought through the dungeon shop. However, their prices were exorbitant, costing as much as 100 million for a simple pistol! It was highlighted in the description that the price was highly inflated due to the difference in the technology of this era! Later, when guns would reach the game, the price would slowly decrease to an acceptable level.


    And so, Five now had a very balanced character. It was the best option for the early game and at the same time, as a dungeon master, he was not supposed to be involved in fighting a lot. It was just that his own decision to delay the founding of his dungeon.


    But even without setting up his dungeon, Five could still have access to the dungeon shop and used his remaining DP to purchase a small dagger. It was in no way comparable to the Harpy''s Blood but it still had decent stats.


    As he made his way through the plains, Five encountered many wild animals and monsters. As soon as they noticed him, they all immediately charged at him and attacked. They were powerful to some extent, ranging from level 8 to level 15.


    Five could easily deal with low leveled ones but when it came to monsters at level 15, he had no choice but to run. In the beginning, he even had to use his hard-earned DP to purchase smoke bombs at the dungeon shop to escape. It was heart-breaking to see his DP rise before going back to zero as soon as he encountered a powerful beast.


    Fortunately, the monsters there gave him a higher amount of DP than those at Kroff''s dungeon. The weaker monsters would give 100 DP when dying while level 11 monsters could give 200 DP.


    Additionally, he occasionally received a sudden influx of DP. Five was surprised when he saw that but quickly deduced its source. It should be his monsters; the harpies were probably killing some enemies along their way resulting in him receiving DP. As long as he or his monsters killed other living beings, Five''s DP would receive a portion of the monster''s worth.


    It was thanks to the harpies that Five succeeded in making his way through the plains, especially at night!


    He realized that even if many things were comparable to real life, the game also had limitations. In particular, the fatigue system! Once his fatigue reached a certain level, he would receive penalties to his stats and eventually collapse, resulting in his body being defenseless. He would be at the mercy of any nearby wild animal which could be disastrous to his dungeon core!


    Thanks to the dungeon shop, he gained access to some Fatigue Recovery Potion. But even if his stats improved, his mental fatigue did not. He was already tired and stressed from the events at the Algate Dungeon but he could not simply sleep in the middle of the wild!


    It was the DP influx from the harpies that saved him. Five did not know what the harpies were doing but the sudden increase of 10000 DP made him smile. He was tempted to level up to level 10 but he chose to take a good night of rest first and used all the DP for a protection array!


    The array was relatively weak considering its cost, but it was more than enough to resist the monsters of this area. The array was strong enough to resist the attacks of anything below level 20 but it would only last for 6 hours. Fortunately, that was more than enough to get a good rest and that was all Five was looking for.


    When he woke up, he was surprised to see a pair of level 12 wild coyote scratching the protection array. Only 15 minutes were left before the end of its duration but Five was very relaxed. He simply spent a few DP to purchase some food and calmly ate in front of the coyotes.


    When he looked at his DP, he was disappointed since he only had 2000. "Sigh... Maybe I should have asked the harpies to kill some monsters along the way!"


    In the end, he could not rely too much on the harpies to provide him with DP. He knew that when the harpies would eventually reach their home. He would then not receive any DP anymore or it would be a negligible amount.


    ...


    The two days felt very long but now, he could finally see Etora Town right in front of his eyes. He did not know much about the situation of the game since he spent most of his time in the dungeon and was therefore very curious!


    The town was very large and looked like a medieval town with huge thick castle walls. It was not too different from Algate city that Five saw from the harpies¡¯ floor. The main difference was the moat that surrounded the walls and the bridge that connected the town to the land. The town definitely stood out of the landscape.


    On the side, a lot of tents were set up. People could be seen moving things and starting fires for the night.


    "Strange... Why don''t they simply go to the town?" thought Five.


    He slowly made his way towards the entrance of the town. However, as he approached, Five finally understood why people were setting tents outside. The bridge was slowly being raised, preventing people from both entering or leaving the town.


    As he walked forward, a guard who was standing nearby stopped him.


    "Halt young man! The town is closed for the night! Please come back tomorrow at 6:00 if you want to enter Etora Town," bluntly said the guard.

 Chapter 37: Staying at the camp

    "What? Why can''t I enter? I already have been walking in these plains for days and I am tired!" exclaimed Five.


    "Not my problem. It is the town''s policy to close after 18:00. Please come back tomorrow during the open time to enter! You can stay at the camp there for the night if you want," said the guard while showing the numerous mounted tents.


    Five frowned, "Is there really no way to enter?"


    Hearing that, the guard immediately drew his sword, "Do you think I will be bribed like that? Move out of the way now!"


    "Ok ok! Calm down," answered Five while slowly moving back towards the camp.


    "Haha young man. Nice try!" commented an old man who was sitting in front of his tent not too far away.


    "You are not the first one to try but that guy is a compass! He won''t allow you in no matter what you try!"


    "Mmm" Five nodded. "Is there a way for me to get a tent? I will have to spend the night there."


    The old man stood up before pointing in a specific direction. "Go this way, you''ll find a burly man. His name is Andre, he''s in charge of the camp! You can ask him for a place to stay. As long as you fork out some gold, he might give you a good spot too."


    "Thanks."


    With this information in mind, Five walked in the given direction. He was carefully looking around him. People looked like pioneers, covered with dust and dirt from their journey. In the distance, more and more people could be seen arriving. It seemed that it was not uncommon for people to miss the opening hours of the town and to have to sleep in the outside camp.


    However, Five had some trouble: he did not have any gold! He could convert his DP in gold, but that would result in a terrible loss! He would need 1000 DP to get 1 gold and that was something Five was not willing to trade.


    But since he was already there, he might as well try his luck. Five quickly arrived at a bonfire and quickly noticed the man named Andre. It was easy for him since he could just rely on the game system and look at the characters'' name and level.


    Additionally, Andre easily stood out of the crowd due to his large muscular physique and the dark dragon tattoo on his right arm. Many people were coming to ask him for accommodation and Five could clearly see many of them tossing a few coins in Andre''s hand. In return, Andre would then give them a specific tent to rest.


    Soon, it was Five''s turn.


    "Hello, I would like a tent to spend the night," said Five as he approached Andre.


    "Hmmp," Andre looked at him for a moment, clearly expecting something. But he was disappointed when he saw that Five did not move.


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    He was assigned by the town to look after the camp and provided shelter for anyone who would enter the town. The town was locked at night for safety reasons; incidents happened in the past and this policy had since been applied.


    To reduce people''s anger, the town decided to set up a camp for them to wait during the night and it was for free. However, they knew that many poor people would abuse this service to live freely and so, they asked someone to organize and look after the camp and that person was precisely Andre.


    Getting a tent was free but the quality of the tents and locations also varied! And it was up to the discretion of Andre. Naturally, with time, Andre started developing his own system to increase his end of month pay! As long as one would give him some gold, he would be nice and give a good tent but if he received nothing...


    "Go to tent A38" drily said Andre.


    "Thanks!" answered Five as he started looking for his tent. The tents were orderly arranged, it was easy for Five to find his. "It was not too bad after all. Didn''t that old man say I need to pay?" said Five to himself.


    However, his expression changed as he approached his tent!


    "Sh*t!"


    He only arrived in front of tent A31 but already, a heavy foul smell assaulted his nostrils! Five naturally recognized that smell! It was the distinctive strong smell of urine mixed with the foul smell of poop!


    "God! What is that..." cursed Five.


    He slowly walked forward, and the smell kept getting stronger and stronger. While players like Five were exempted from the necessity of using the toilet to make the game more enjoyable. It was not the case for NPCs! They still needed to relieve themselves and so, a toilet had to be set up in the camp.


    Right next to tent A40, Five could see a series of small sheds and he naturally understood their purpose.


    "Damn... Are these never cleaned!?"


    However, as much as he hated it, he understood the rules. He was extremely weak at the moment and did not have much authority. If he wanted a better tent, he would have to fork out some gold. Although his life was not pink, he at least always had a roof to sleep under and naturally all his accommodations, even the prison was in better conditions than this.


    "There is no way I can live like this..." exclaimed Five. He could not help but grind his teeth, it looked like he would have to convert his remaining DP into gold.


    He was about to open his dungeon shop and look for the option but before that, he swiftly browsed through the items if he could find something that would help his situation. Finally, he stumbled onto a possibly useful item!


    [Smell Sensory Inhibition Potion]


    Paralyzes the user''s sense of smell.


    Duration: 6 hours


    Cost: 1000 DP


    With this, he now had two options: to purchase the item or pay Andre to get a better tent. However, now that he had angered Andre to some extent, there was no guarantee he would actually be given a better tent.


    The tent itself was not the best but it would be considered decent; it was clean and had some leaves arranged to act as a bed. Without the bad smell, it would have been considered as a normal tent. And so, Five settled onto buying the potion. Even if he would need to buy two, at least, he would spend a good night without anyone nearby to disturb him.


    As for whether he would himself smell after the night, that was something he would worry about later.


    However, he would do that later. For now, he went to the bonfire and sat in a corner to silently eat his food. A few people were there; mainly adventurers who just came back from the Marlose Swamp. Some of them were even players and were discussing among themselves. Five was quietly listening, trying to obtain some information about the situation of the empire.


    He already noticed how the players were mostly level 12 while he himself was level 9. They did not come to talk to him. Many had witnessed the scene where he was attributed one of the worst tents of the camp and so, they flagged him as a poor and weak player. Adding to the fact that he was three levels below their own, they would win nothing in bonding with him.


    Five did not mind their attitude. He calmly ate his dinner as he was listening to their conversations. He opened his interface to look at the forum. It has been a little over one week since the players joined the game. To his surprise, a post had actually been made on the forum dedicated to the dungeon masters!


    It was short but at the same time, convey a clear message: "To all of you rebels of the society! We have been segregated by society, left to rot in prisons for the rest of our lives. But now is our turning point! I have already started my dungeon and is on my way to make them pay us back! I have settled in the Arstan Empire and would like to invite all of you to join me! It is only together that we will be able to withstand the oppression of those corrupted politicians! You are all welcomed to come! Let''s join hands and together, we shall regain our freedom!"


    "Pfff, another rallying message!" sneered Five as he saw the post in the forum. He quickly closed the interface and with nothing else to do, he went back to his room. His fatigue was already quite high and the best way to reduce it would be to sleep! He sluggishly made his way to his tent but before that, he stealthily downed a pink bottle.


    ...


    "Hmmp! That guy really does not know the way of this world," said Andre as his eyes followed the disappearing silhouette of Five.


    "Don''t worry, Andre. It is obvious what kind of people he is! Look, he does not even flinch to the smell. Don''t bother with those low-class plebians!" said one of the NPCs.


    The nearby players naturally heard their comments and could not help but look at Five in disgust. He was lowering all of their statuses!

 Chapter 38: Identification

    The next day, Five woke up as the first ray of light hit his tent. It was still 6:00 and everyone was sleeping in the camp, but it was also the opening time of the town. From 6:00 to 18:00, the town was open, and people could freely enter and leave.


    The first thing Five did when waking up was to check his interface. He closely monitored his DP and was surprised to see that his DP current amounted to 12489. Over the past few days, he found that the DP he generated daily had increased to about 1100 after he leveled up. From that, Five easily concluded that the higher level he was, the more DP he would get.


    With this balance, Five was tempted to level up to level 10 but he chose to restrain himself. Leveling up would cost 4500 DP, but considering his situation, he could not afford to use them now. He was entering an unknown territory and might need gold to pay for his expenses. With the Dungeon Shop, he would need 1000 DP for a single gold, it was clearly not profitable. But when facing the unknown, it was better to have enough money just in case. 4.5 gold did not sound like much, but it still represented more than 30% of his current "fortune".


    "It looks like the harpies are facing some difficulties... They killed quite a lot in just one night..."


    After checking his balance, Five bought a light breakfast via the dungeon shop before leaving his tent. When he came out, he saw a few men standing near the toilet, loudly grumbling. They all noticed Five and could not help but look at him in disgust.


    However, the latter did not mind. He was not disturbed at all by the smell. The Smell Sensory Inhibition Potion was very effective and was still active. The only inconvenience was that Five had to wake up in the middle of the night to drink the second one due to the relatively short duration of the effects.


    Five quickly made his way through the camp and walked towards the town. The camp was very quiet since most players were sleeping but a few people could be seen here and there, coming out of their tents and walking towards the town.


    Many merchants were already preparing their carts to move in; they needed to quickly enter to set up their stall at the market.


    When he arrived at the gate, Five saw that the bridge has been lowered. There was already a relatively long queue of people waiting to enter.


    A few guards were blocking the way but no one seemed to mind. A few seconds later, a large crowd of people could be seen walking out of the town.


    The crowd mainly consisted of adventurers and merchants going on a journey. They needed to leave quite early if they wanted to come back before the city was locked again. And so, to maintain the order, the guards were stopping people from entering for a moment, allowing the crowd to leave the city first.


    This process did not take very long and quickly, Five''s queue started moving. There were about 20 people before him, but the queue was moving very quickly.


    He could see that those entering the town were briefly stopped by the guards on the bridge and then allowed in.


    Two minutes later, it was now Five''s turn.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    As he arrived in front of the guards, one of them stopped him and asked: "Halt, present your identity crystal and pay the entry fee please!"


    Puzzled, Five asked, "Identity crystal? What is that?"


    The guards immediately frowned, "You don''t have an identity crystal? Did you not register in the city?"


    Behind the line, the players were curiously looking at him. An identity crystal was generally the first item one would obtain when they arrived in the open world. Not having one was definitely abnormal.


    "Ehhh, I did not go to the city... I wandered around and eventually found this town, so I decided to come," awkwardly answered Five. He could not just tell that he was a dungeon master and spent the previous week learning how to manage monsters to kill all the players that would ever come to his dungeon.


    The guards paused for a moment, but a tinge of hostility appeared on their face. A few seconds later, the captain of the guard stepped forward.


    "What is happening there? Why is this queue not moving?"


    "Sir, this man says that he does not have an identity crystal. We cannot allow him to enter like that..." said one of the guards while keeping his eyes on Five.


    The latter was in a rather awkward situation. He did not know how to react; it was especially embarrassing since the whole queue was now looking at him and more and more people were joining that queue.


    "Then bring him to register! We prepared a post for that! Didn''t we?" said the captain.


    "I know we were told to prepare for this situation but isn''t it strange that someone actually did not go to the cities first?" argued a guard.


    However, the captain was short-tempered, "Enough, there are always a few idiots that get lost... Bring him in and issue the identity crystal. Don''t block the queue anymore."


    The guard that just spoke grumbled but he could not answer to his boss. Instead, he turned towards Five, "Follow me, we''ll do the necessary procedures. No need to block the queue."


    The latter nodded and quietly followed, he did not like the idea of having dozens of people angrily staring at him.


    And so, Five crossed the bridge escorted by two guards. As soon as he passed through the gate, the guards turned right where a small building could be seen. The building looked rather old and dirty. It was clearly not frequently cleaned, and some graffitis could even be seen on it.


    When he looked on his left, Five could see the town. It was similar to one of those medieval towns and was actually quite lively considering that it was just 6:10. He could see some smoke coming out of the different chimneys and even some people walking out of their houses.


    "Stop wasting time. Go in!" roughly said one of the guards behind Five.


    "Hmmp" Five quietly entered the building and was brought in front of a floating crystal ball. One of the guards went to ask the person in charge to come and quickly after, another guard came.


    "Just go and place your hand on the crystal ball and wait a few seconds," declared the guard with a tired expression.


    "Is that it?" said Five to himself.


    He quietly walked forward and place his hand where he was told to. Strangely, as his hand came into contact with the glassy surface of the crystal ball, he did not feel anything. Literally, it was as if his hand was not touching anything and yet, Five could see his hand on the surface.


    "How strange..."


    A few seconds later, a reaction occurred. A greenish mist suddenly appeared inside the crystal ball and rotated like a small twister. From the corner of his eyes, Five could see that the guards were not alarmed.


    But suddenly, the green mist stopped rotating and started to darken. The green color quickly disappeared and was instead replaced by a deep dark color. The mist restarted spinning but this time, in the opposite direction.


    Five did not know what was happening but something was clearly wrong. He could see a shocked expression on the guards'' face. Without saying anything, the guard in charge of the building stepped forward and grabbed his sword.


    "This might just be a mistake! This sort of things has a chance to happen. Just remove your hand and place the other," said the guard with a cautious voice. He let out a hesitant smile. Five clearly saw the change in the behavior of the guards but he did not know what was wrong.


    He could feel the nervousness and hostility coming from the three guards. The fact that they all drew their weapons especially alarmed him.


    However, he still did as he was told. Five removed his right hand and placed his left hand on the crystal ball. As he did that, he also readjusted his position. "I have a bad feeling about this... Maybe I should not have come here," said Five to himself.


    The greenish mist once again appeared and started to rotate but a few seconds later, the mist once again turned black.


    Immediately, Five cautiously looked at the guards.


    "You demon! You dare to try to infiltrate Etora Town!" loudly shouted the guard as he aggressively raised his sword.


    Behind him, the two other guards also raised their blades and started to move to surround Five.


    Five frowned, "D*mn... Could it be that they can tell that I am a dungeon master? This crystal ball..."


    However, there was no time to think. He needed to get out of here fast, but the exit was already blocked! The worst part was that he was only level 9 while the three guards were all level 20.

 Chapter 39: Escape

    "F*cking Demon! You thought it was that easy to enter the town!?" angrily shouted one of the guards. He immediately moved to the right, blocking the direct escape route to the door from which they entered the room.


    Another guard quickly rushed out of the room; his intent was clear, he wanted to alert the other guards in the building.


    "Crap!" thought Five. He himself drew his small dagger and got into position but no matter how he thought about the situation, there was absolutely no way for him to escape. The only way out was the door, there were no windows in the room. But one guard was blocking the way while the other was charging at him.


    Immediately, Five acted. He used the dungeon shop and quickly bought smoke bombs. After escaping from monsters countless time, Five already knew instinctively where to find these bombs in the dungeon shop and could easily buy them in a fraction of a second.


    Two smoke bombs appeared in his hand and he immediately threw them on the ground.


    "D*mn! Adam block the door!" shouted the guard who was charging at Five. As the bomb exploded, he was forced to stop and raise his arm to protect himself from the smoke.


    As for Five, he did not rush directly for the door. Instead, he went for the nearby table and tossed it at the guard at the door.


    The latter was taken by surprised. He was already totally blinded by the smoke and simply tried to use his body to stop Five from escaping. He never expected to suddenly be hit by a hard flat surface. The shock caused him to lose his balance and be knocked away by the table.


    With the guard out of the way, Five immediately dashed outside. He could hear the loud hurried steps of other guards running down the stairs.


    There was no time to lose! He quickly ran out of the building and charged towards the gate. He could have gone towards the city, but he estimated he would be more likely to escape by the gate. If he hid inside the city, the guards would continuously look for him and would eventually catch him.


    Five ran as fast as possible. The building was not very far from the gate and actually, no guards could be seen near the building. The building was just a rest place for the guards on duty. At this time of the day, all the guards were busy at the gate monitoring those entering the town.


    Five quickly went through the gate where a few guards were standing. By now, all those who wanted to leave the town had already left, the majority of the people at the gate was trying to enter and so, the guards were focusing their attention towards the bridge.


    It was only when they heard the running steps that they turned to look but it was too late. Five already ran past them. However, he was not safe yet. In front of him, half of the bridge was full of players and NPCs trying to enter the town. A few guards could also be seen on the other side of the bridge and on the bridge itself.


    "Stop him! He is a demon in human form!" shouted the guards who were running behind Five.


    "What?"Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    "Kill him! Anyone who kills that man will be awarded 50 gold!" shouted another guard.


    Just like that, a bounty of 50 gold was placed on Five''s head.


    The guards at the gate quickly reacted and gave chase. At the same time, those on the bridge naturally heard the shouts and also reacted.


    It was not just the guards, even the players were greedily looking at Five and drew their weapons. They did not know what happened, but they did not care. All they saw was an opportunity to obtain 50 gold!


    Five had just escaped from the building and yet, he was now in an even worse situation. It was jumping out of the pan only to fall into the fire. No matter where he looked, Five only saw players and guards. He was only level 9 while all the other players were at least level 11.


    "Stop him!"


    "Arrest him!"


    Several shouts sounded and Five was slowly surrounded. At this point, he was standing in the middle of the bridge. He couldn''t run in either direction. A white light suddenly appeared, flying towards him.


    Five only threw himself on the ground, barely dodging the [Mana Bolt] launched by one of the players.


    "F*ck!"


    Five frowned, he was completely surrounded, and the guards were quickly approaching. He thought about the different items in the dungeon shop, but he could not find anything useful. At best, he would be able to delay his capture, but to escape safe and sound? That sounded impossible.


    Left with no choice, Five chose the only thread of hope he had. He could not run in either direction, but he could simply jump off the bridge! The only problem was, the moat was not a safe place! It actually housed a species of carnivorous fishes that could cleanly eat a whole human body in less than 15 minutes, leaving behind a complete skeleton.


    However, Five knew he would not be able to escape from the players, the only chance he had was the moat and so, Five closed his eyes and jumped under the looks of dozens of people.


    "Sh*t!"


    "Don''t let him escape! Rangers! Mages!" shouted the captain of the guards.


    Five''s body violently dove into the moat which was luckily relatively deep. But due to his hurried jump, he naturally was not able to make a proper dive and as a result, the impact with the water brought him a lot of pain.


    [System prompt: You have taken damage from falling: HP -25]


    As much as his body was in pain, Five could not afford to remain idle. He quickly swam back to the surface to get some air and hurriedly dove back and started to swim away from the bridge.


    As he came to the surface, his ears were assaulted by a series of explosion and splashes.


    "Boom! Splash Splash"


    The archers and the mages were all firing projectiles at Five. Luckily, the latter was only hit by two [Mana Bolt] which reduced his HP down to 40.


    On the bridge, the guard captain angrily ordered, "Quick! Everyone! Get moving and surround the moat! He will have to get out soon or he will perish to the carnivorous fishes." He himself raised his spear and lead the way running along the bank.


    In the water, Five worriedly scanned his surroundings. He was swimming under the surface to protect himself from the projectiles the players might send at him but by doing so, he could also see dozens of eyes hungrily looking at him.


    These eyes naturally belonged to the carnivorous fishes.


    "F*ck! If only I had known that they would be able to tell that I am a dungeon master, I would never have tried to enter the city! D*mn Gaia... She made it so that I cannot enter a city and is forced to build my dungeon."


    His heart was bleeding, he felt betrayed. But Five could not afford to complain right now. He hurriedly swam to the bank and got out of the water. There were no other options, the carnivorous fishes were much faster than him and could easily close the gap. When he saw that the carnivorous fishes were all level 30. Five quickly decided to leave the water. Between level 20 guards that would kill him instantly and level 30 fishes that would eat him slowly and painfully, there was no need for debate.


    Fortunately, Five managed to reach the riverbank safely. The area was empty, Five did not see any of his pursuers and heaved a sigh of relief. He hurriedly bought a Health Potion from the Dungeon Shop and pulled his HP back to 60. The wind blew against his face, causing the green grass on the bank to dance along with it.


    However, this moment of peace did not last for long. In the corner of his eyes, Five quickly noticed the movement of a shadow.


    A tall muscular figure appeared and quickly rushed towards Five. The latter quickly recognized him. It was the captain of the guards. Behind him, a group of guards was furiously charging with their weapons drawn.


    "D*mn, there''s no time to rest!" Five quickly got up and immediately rushed in the opposite direction.


    Behind him, he heard a series of curses. "F*cking demon! Come here and taste my sword!"


    Five broke into a sprint. However, he quickly realized that the situation was even worse than he thought. In front of him, another figure with a dark dragon tattoo appeared; it was Andre, the person in charge of the camp outside Etora Town.


    "F*cking rat! So this was why you could sleep while smelling shit! It probably smells like a rose for the people like you!" mockingly exclaimed Andre while raising his shield and a large spiky mace.


    This time, Five really did not find any escape route; on one side was the guard captain, on the other, Andre and a group of guards and behind him was the moat full of carnivorous fishes.


    The situation looked grim.

 Chapter 40: Mysterious cloaked figure (1)

    Five thought quickly about his options. He did not know if it would work, but he still decided to go all in. He immediately brought back his dagger in his inventory and chose to take out the remaining gunpowder he had and the torch.


    Seeing the new items, Andre became wary and raised his shield in front of him. He did not need to take any risks. If he waited just a little bit, Five would end up completely surrounded.


    "Be careful!"


    However, the latter could not afford to do so. He coldly smiled as he set the wick on fire. He immediately tossed the small box of gunpowder at Andre and took a few steps back. There was no specific reason for aiming at Andre rather than the guard captain, it was just that by doing so, Five could also take revenge for being given such a crappy tent at the camp.


    Time seemed to slow down as the recipient was flying towards Andre. The NPCs did not know what this box contained but they were very cautious. The box slowly fell on the grassy ground just in front of Andre as the wick was being devoured.


    The NPCs were nervous. They all immediately took defensive stances and tried to avoid the item by going around it to charge towards Five.


    The latter did not move! Instead, he calmly took out his dagger again and waited at a relatively safe distance from the gunpowder.


    A few seconds later, seeing nothing happening, the guards started to think that it was just a bluff and disregarded the box. But it was at that precise moment that the wick was completely burnt out and the flame met the powder.


    "Boom!"


    A strong shock wave swept through Five but when he opened his eyes, he did not expect to see such a negligible area of damage. The direct zone of the explosion only had a radius of 5 meters and as a result, only a few guards were actually seriously injured.


    Many had dirt on their face, but only five guards, including Andre had severe burn marks and were lying on the ground, unconscious. Besides these five guards who were bleeding, all the other guards looked completely fine; they were just shocked by the sudden explosion.


    Five was disappointed. He knew very well that the gunpowder would not cause a ton of damage. He knew that even with the help of the system in grinding the materials, they would not be as effective as in real life. But when he recalled how Kroff and the other monsters were so scared of the gunpowder, he expected something completely lethal. Now that he thought about it, the explosion was hardly enough to cause serious damage to Kroff''s core. As far as he was aware, he did not make any changes to it except for adding a wick so that the powder would not explode right in his hands.


    The HP of the guards severely dropped; their 200 HP bar was drastically reduced in the tens. They were all bleeding and slowly losing health, but that was it. Dozens of other guards were completely unscathed and were now cautiously approaching Five. A few other guards quickly ran to their injured comrades and tried to pull them away to give them first aid.


    "Be careful! He has demonic weapons!"


    "Surround him and push him towards the moat!" shouted the guard captain who managed to close the gap. He naturally saw the explosion and had a tinge of fear in his eyes.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Instantly, two [Mana Bolt] flew towards Five, he managed to dodge one but the other directly took out a quarter of his HP.


    "D*mnit!"


    He was forced to retreat towards the moat! A wall of paladins was formed, all of them were raising their shields towards Five. Behind, mages and rangers were ready to fire at any time.


    Five continued to walk backward but soon, he could not continue to retreat. One more step and he would fall into the water. He did not need to look behind him to know that the carnivorous fishes were eagerly waiting for him. He could hear moving water and a few splashes.


    "Don''t take any risk! Push him in the water!" ordered the guard captain. He was still wary of the weapons Five might have; he just wanted to minimize the damage his team would take.


    Three rangers shot their arrows, hitting Five''s leg, "-16","-12","-14"


    His HP reached a critical state. Five knew very well he did not have any escape route left!


    "Is this how it is going to end? D*mn, if I had known, I would have just founded the dungeon!"


    He was full of regrets, his decision of trying to take revenge as quickly as possible backfired. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place.


    Seeing his look of despair and regret, the guard captain gained confidence! He stepped up with his spear and charged at Five. The latter was only level 9 while the guard captain was level 30.


    Five knew he was already doomed; he remembered how on one of his missions, one of his teammates found himself ambushed and was about to be captured. However, to avoid revealing the identity of the organization, his teammate chose to kill himself by swallowing a pill of cyanide.


    "Was this how he felt at this moment?" thought Five.


    He looked at the guard captain who was grinning. The latter raised his spear and thrust it towards Five. At the same time, he activated a skill called [Rapid Thunder Thrust]


    Wind rotated around the tip of the spear as sparks crackled all over its body.


    Seeing the violent attack coming his way, Five knew he would not escape. At least, he would die in a single hit. It was better than being slowly eaten by the carnivorous fishes behind him. He simply closed his eyes full of regrets, waiting for the shock.


    But to his surprise, the expected painful stab never occurred. Puzzled, Five opened his eyes only to find the headless body of the guard captain standing in front of him. It was not just his head that was gone, his arms that were thrusting the spear had also been chopped and were flying in the distance, still firmly holding the spear.


    "Gasp"


    Not knowing what happened, Five looked at the other guards. But they were not paying any attention to him. Instead, they were all looking upwards to the right.


    Five followed their eyesight. Floating in mid-air, a tall lonely figure was slowly approaching the group. His features were completely hidden, he was wearing a long dark cloak that completely hid his body, not even his legs could be seen. As for his face, he was wearing a hood that projected a dark shadow, making him appear faceless.


    The guards immediately raised their weapons at the floating figure.


    "Who are you? Why are you protecting this demon?" shouted a guard.


    Nervousness appeared in the eyes of the guards; their powerful level 30 captain had been slain with a single attack. They did not see the origin of the attack, all they saw were two transparent wind blades suddenly cutting through the captain''s neck and arms like butter. Even as the protective amulet of the captain displayed its effect, the wind blades instantly dispersed the barrier.


    Another guard stepped forward and raised his shield, "I am the vice-captain Evans, please identify yourself!"


    Currently, none of the guards wanted to confront this person. It was clear that he could easily kill all of them. The vice-captain doubted that this person was a demon. If he was, he would have already slaughtered all the guards. The fact that he did not, already proved that he was not merciless and was inclined to negotiate.


    The tall figure slowly approached, "Let him go!" said the person with an old aged voice. The voice sounded genderless, but the tone made it sound rather old.


    "Sir, we are executing the empire''s order to eliminate all demons who try to infiltrate our kingdom! This is the territory of Baron Ansel. Please refrain from interrupting our operation!" answered the vice-captain.


    Immediately, an aura of hostility was emitted by the floating figure. "Do you really want to test my patience?"


    "Sir! The baron has already heard of this event and is on his way. I don''t think you want to confront the Baron directly?" cautiously asked the vice-captain.


    Baron Ansel was well known in the region and even at the capital. The reason his territory was so close to the orcs was simply that he had similar temperaments to them. He was known to be ruthless and merciless. He was also violent at times and anyone who fought him would either die or be crippled for the rest of his life.


    But to his surprise, the mysterious cloaked man was not even scared of the threat that Baron Ansel represented, instead, he simply coldly laughed.


    "Do you think I am scared of a puny baron?" coldly said the man. At the same time, a powerful aura appeared around the cloaked figure causing the guards to shiver.


    The guards immediately knew what that meant; even Five saw a change. As the aura was emitted, he saw the cloaked man''s level appear above his head!


    It turned out that the man was level 56!

 Chapter 41: Mysterious cloaked figure (2)

    In the Sylvester Empire, just like most of the other empires of Zero, obtaining a noble title required not only meritocratic actions and having a good backing, one also needed strength! The nobles were normally seen as the face of a territory; they could not be weak.


    However, a baron was at the bottom of the ranking of nobles and so, Baron Ansel who was seen as a monster by the local community, was in fact one of the weakest nobles of the empire. He was only a level 44 NPC.


    The vice-captain was naturally aware of that and gasp upon seeing the cloaked man''s level. If he was on the town''s wall, he might have been confident in dealing with the old man and that was simply thanks to the different formations and weapons found on the wall.


    Although they were relatively close to the wall, right now, they did not have any protection and could be easily killed. The vice-captain was hesitating on what to do. It was his duty to die for his country and kill demons but at the same time, he valued his life and that of his subordinates.


    Five was confused at the new developments, "Who is this old man? Why is he trying to save me?"


    The headless body of the captain in front of him twitched before falling on the ground with a "thum". He stared at the corpse of the powerful captain; thanks to the censorship of the game, no blood could be seen coming out of the corpse, but it was still a scary scene.


    He raised his head and watch in awe at the strength of the man.


    "Let him go. Now!"


    But at that moment, another group of guards appeared in the distance. The vice-captain immediately let out a sigh of relief. Not just because reinforcement has arrived but also because the person leading them was the baron Ansel himself, the most powerful person within dozens of kilometers.


    The mysterious old man did not seem nervous at the appearance of the baron. He did not say anything and even slowly lowered his altitude and waited for the baron.


    "Halt! Who do you think you are? Going rampant on my territory?" angrily shouted the baron. Despite clearly seeing the difference in power between him and the old man, the baron could not repress his strong pride. This was his territory! He was the strongest, yet, a random stranger just came and blatantly displayed his strength.


    "My identity is none of your concern. Just let him go and we shall end this matter here," said the cloaked man with a calm aged voice.


    The Baron quickly turned to look at Five who was standing just in front of the water of the moat. The guards already surrounded him, forming a wall of shields around him.


    "Why are you trying to save a demon? They are the enemies of our race!" exclaimed Baron Ansel while looking back at the cloaked man. He grabbed 2 long swords behind his back and prepared himself to fight.


    "You don''t need to know the reason. Just release him."


    The old man was not anxious at the idea of fighting Baron Ansel and all the other guards together.


    The baron was internally conflicted; he did not really want to fight the cloaked man. He already knew he was weaker but that would mean losing his face! He first thought of ordering his men to quickly kill the demon. However, others might not notice it, but the baron did. Thanks to his high level and the class he chose, [Storm Swordman], the baron was able to detect a faint air current rotating around the demon.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    He already knew that it was a skill of the cloaked man and would without a doubt be able to protect the demon and cause ravages.


    The baron gritted his teeth and stared at the man. He valued his reputation and naturally had some special items that could help him deal with the old man but there was still a massive risk since the cloaked man might also have powerful items. In fact, it was extremely likely that he had some!


    "Do you promise to leave this place and not attack Etora Town again?"


    "Naturally¡­ I want nothing from this tiny filthy town."


    A trace of fury appeared in the baron''s eyes when he heard that his town was qualified as tiny and filthy, but he kept it inside.


    "Men! Let him go!" shouted the baron with reluctance.


    All the guards looked at the baron in surprise. It was the first time, they were seeing the baron lower his head! It was something they never expected. In fact, many of them were preparing to flee in case the baron ordered them to fight the cloaked man.


    Hearing the order, the guards slowly backed off and moved to the baron''s side. They felt relieved that a deadly fight had been avoided.


    Five looked at the moving guards and frowned. He did not understand what was happening. Who was that man and what were his motives? Five clearly knew that there were no free meals in this world; that man definitely wanted something from him.


    However, as he saw a path open for him, Five briefly looked at the cloaked man, who did not react, before making a slight bow to thank him. Following that, he quickly ran through the path the guards made. He clearly did not want to stay here a second longer.


    "D*mn, it looks like I will owe that man a favor. It would be impolite to stay here and ask that old man for his motives. I will just get away from here as fast as possible. Considering his strength, he will easily find me!" thought Five.


    The old man did not say anything as Five quickly ran into the distance. He quietly stared at the guards and the baron in front of him. The latter was nervous. He could not see the expressions of the man under his cloak and did not know what to expect.


    "Since we fulfilled our part, please sir!" said the baron while nodding.


    "Mmm"


    The mysterious cloaked man did not say anything and slowly, he started to float higher and higher. His cloaked figure slowly levitated and drifted in the direction Five took.


    The guards let out sighs of relief, they really thought they would have to fight that powerhouse! Their hearts were still beating fast at the fright they had. However, the cloaked man suddenly stopped and turned to look at the guards again.


    A chill went down the spine of the baron as he saw the old man suddenly raise a hand. For a fraction of a second, the baron saw a white delicate finger appear. It clearly could not belong to an old man but as the baron was staring with a confused look.


    A sphere of wind suddenly appeared in front of the finger and flew towards the guards. The guards tensed. It was clearly an attack, but they knew they would not be able to resist!


    "D*mn that old man! He still wanted to kill all of us!"


    However, the sphere suddenly curved and compressed itself to an even smaller sphere like a bullet. The guards stared at the bullet flying at them and followed its trajectory just to see it explode right on Andre''s head.


    It was the same Andre that took most of the blow from the gunpowder, the one who was brought a few meters away and was lying on the ground. He just received some first aids and was showing signs of recuperating, yet, that sphere of wind abruptly ended his life.


    The baron clearly knew that powerful skill. It was a level 45 skill that belonged to the wind mage class, [Compressed Air Bullet]. Although one of his men was killed, he did not say anything and watch the old man quickly hide back his finger before carefreely starting to gain altitude again.


    Quickly, the mysterious cloaked figure disappeared in the clouds. All the guards suddenly felt the pressure on their shoulders vanish. Many of them simply felt their legs become weak and sat on the ground. Even the baron who usually looked valiant and violent, had a terrified expression on his face.


    "Sir, why did you not use the sealing array you own? We might have been able to seal that man''s level down and defeat him," asked one of the close guards of Baron Ansel.


    "Idiot! Do you not read the reports? In the last two days, anomalies had been reported in the plains. The wild beasts there were behaving strangely, all converging to a specific point. We did not know how and why but that old man had been confirmed to be the reason behind that. Two nights ago, our scouts found that mysterious cloaked man slaughtering several powerful monsters of the plain. He simply moved his hands and tornados would appear, quickly killing any monsters."


    "We don''t know his motives, but I clearly do not want to risk my life to deal with that man. It is better this way! They might belong to an evil cult and I want nothing to do with these lunatics. I don''t want Etora Town to be destroyed."


    "Just forget about today''s event! This demon and the cloaked man never came here, and we were not forced to let them go!"


    The baron wore a tired expression. He walked a few steps and turned to the guards. "We are returning to the town! Bring the deceased bodies, I will give them a proper funeral. Their families shall be compensated."

 Chapter 42: Barbarians

    Five ran as far as possible from Etora Town until he could no longer see the huge town walls behind him. He determined that he was already at a fair distance from danger and started to slow down.


    He continued to walk forward but at a much slower pace to allow the mysterious cloaked man to catch up. If he was not wrong, that person should have some motives behind saving him and he would eventually come again.


    But to his surprise, even after two hours, he did not see the silhouette of that person again. ''Strange? I was certain he would come immediately!''


    Five decided to wait for a moment in the surroundings in case the man would show himself. But as time went by, Five concluded that either something happened to the man, or he simply would not come. And so, Five continued to walk in the direction opposite to Etora Town.


    ...


    Two days later, Five suddenly halted as he saw a village in front of him. The events that happened last time he tried to get into Etora Town was still clear in his mind. The village was located just outside a forest. He could see that it was made up of about 200 houses. The village was different from Etora Town; it looked more rustic, built with clay, wood planks and thatch.


    When he saw the village, Five immediately wanted to change direction but before he could, he heard the loud rumble of horses sprinting towards him.


    Five tall tanned men quickly surrounded him and trapped him in a circle as they made their horses go around him. It was clearly an attempt to intimidate him.


    "Who are you, Townsman? Why have you come to our village?!" asked a burly man with a rough voice.


    These men were completely different from those at the town. They were tall and muscular. They were wearing rough clothes made of animal fur and were holding massive axes in their huge hands. Their faces were square-like giving them a very intimidating look. Their eyes were sharp and their eyebrows looked like thick triangles giving them a constantly angry appearance. Around their neck, Five could see fangs of animals attached to a necklace.


    "Sir! I was just lost and ended up here, I meant no harm. I will leave immediately," said Five. The last thing he wanted was to anger these men; they looked savage and bloodthirsty, looking at him as if he was just a prey.


    "You are violating the treaty with the Barbarians by stepping on the territory of the Black Iron Tribe! Leave at once!" shouted the burly man while swinging his ax as a warning.


    But at that moment, another horse rider approached the group and shouted, "Don''t be rash, brother! I will take care of him for now!"


    "Brother? We should quickly kick him out of the territory." The tall man answered as he turned toward the newcomer.


    "Return to the village. I will talk to him," said the newcomer. He was not shouting anymore and looked calm but strangely, his words seemed to have more power than the man who wanted to kick Five away from the village. The burly men looked at Five before quietly leaving. They obeyed their leader''s order, but their eyes were still burning with fury.


    "Greetings, townsman. I am Achi, the chieftain of the Black Iron Tribe. May I ask why you came here?"


    Five was quite overwhelmed by the developments; he was first violently approached by these 5 barbarians and asked to leave the territory but now, their leader who had the same imposing appearance was having a normal chat with him as if nothing happened.


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    "As I said to your brother, I just got lost. I did not know this was a forbidden territory! I apologize for everything and will leave immediately," politely said Five.


    Achi silently looked at him for a moment, "The night is about to fall, and the plains are not safe. How about spending the night in our village? You can leave tomorrow morning."


    Hearing that, Five hesitated. It would indeed help him a lot to be able to sleep at the village; when he slept in the wild, he needed to constantly use his DP to set up defensive formations just to sleep safely. He would be able to save a good amount of DP by sleeping there but at the same time, he was intimated by those barbarians.


    After a few seconds of doubts, he finally decided to agree. He wanted to see some form of civilization again and since he could not go to towns, he could try this village.


    After having been chased out of Etora Town, Five decided to postpone his plan of revenge for now. It was clear that it would be difficult to find the people he was looking for, especially if he could not even enter a town and so, he decided to found his dungeon for now.


    ''This village might be a good spot'' thought Five.


    He was quickly escorted by Achi on his horse. As he entered the village, Five saw several similar looking men butchering some wild boars at the central place of the village.


    "The hunters just came back with those wild boars today. We will now take out the fur, teeth and bones before using the meat to make a good meal," explained Achi on the side.


    Five watched as the burly men were easily cutting through the boars like butter. They were wielding large knives that looked like dirks and could raise an entire boar with just one hand. Women were also present, helping to collect the fur and cleaning it.


    Compared to the burly men, the women were different. They were not oversized and were quite pretty. Their tanned skin and the fact that they were wearing oddly colored clothes gave them an exotic look. Five easily noticed how the older women were wearing long dresses, covering most of their bodies while the younger ones were exposing a lot more skin.


    "Do you go hunting like that every day?" asked Five.


    "Yes! We need to in order to feed the entire tribe. But as a result, we also have a lot more fur and teeth than we need. Our women are quite skilled and can turn the teeth and bones into beautiful accessories," answered Achi.


    Five immediately attracted the looks of the tribesmen; he easily stood out with his white skin and equipment. The men looked at him with hostility while most of the women wore curious looks.


    "How long till the meal is ready?" shouted Achi.


    "One hour! We just started the fire!" shouted an elderly woman on the side. Next to her, a group of young women was actively pouring water into a huge cooking pot.


    At that moment, a group of children suddenly stormed over the place. The boy in the lead happily shouted, "I am first! I won!" Behind him, a group of at least 20 children was panting, completely exhausted by their race.


    The children quickly went to help their parents; most of them sat with their mother and helped to pour water while a few older ones learned how to properly butcher the animals.


    A young girl, of about 8 years old rushed to Achi and jumped in his arms. "Daddy!"


    "Hello Mira! How was your day?" asked Achi while kissing his cute daughter.


    "Brrr," Mira trembled as the spiky beard touched her cheek but quickly answered, "It was great! We went to play near the river and we found a small cave there. We have not explored it yet, but we''ll do it tomorrow."


    "That''s good. But be careful! Let your cousin take the lead, alright? He is strong enough to protect you in case of danger," said Achi as he placed back his daughter on the ground.


    "Yay!!" the carefree Mira happily shouted as she turned and towards the group of women and hugged one of them.


    Achi turned back towards Five, "Sorry about that, she is my daughter!"


    "Haha, don''t worry! I understand perfectly," answered Five while laughing.


    "Since there''s still a whole hour, let me show you where you''ll sleep!" Achi said as he led Five through the village.


    ...


    That night, Five was peacefully resting in the small house allocated to him. It was very rustic and did not even have a bed. Instead, he was lying on a pile of fur which strangely, did not have any wild odors. He was very grateful to Achi for the warm meal and shelter he was given but was still wary that he might be attacked.


    There was no reason for Achi to suddenly invite him to stay at the village; they were barbarians and did not look like hospitable hosts. He should definitely have some motives to provide this free shelter but Five doubted they wanted to kill him. After all, if they wanted to eliminate him, they would have already done so when he was encircled. And so, Five knew he could spend a peaceful night there without spending any DP for his safety.


    At the same time, in another house which was much larger and better decorated. A torch was lighting a room as Achi was taking a direct sip from a bottle. In front of him, his brother, Toba who previously wanted to drive Five away, was also drinking from his own bottle.


    "Brother! Why did you allow that townsman to stay at our village? Do you not remember how our ancestors were massacred?" angrily said the man. Under the influence of alcohol, he was shouting even louder than before.


    "Shhh! Don''t shout. Mira and Ly are trying to sleep," said Achi. "Times are changing. I am simply listening to the Shaman''s advice. We cannot rely only on hunting in our forest and trading with the other tribes. We need to open ourselves to some extent with the Townsmen and trade in some food."


    "This winter will be harsh! I heard that a wildfire devastated some of the Blue Eagle Tribe''s fields. We need to secure some food and the only way to do that is by trading. We have the teeth and bones necklace to trade as well as our excess fur, but we need to build a good relationship first!"


    "This man is definitely more important than he looks. A normal townsman would never be able to travel alone and survive that long in the plains. He must have a powerful backing; it is better to make him have a good impression of us. Maybe he is from one of the merchant guilds and could refer our tribe to others. I don''t know but we need to start allowing people in."


    "The wildfire might not be an isolated case! It is better to be safe. Just don''t be impulsive as long as those townsmen don''t mean any harm!"


    Toba completely emptied the bottle of wine, "Ahh, do whatever you want! I will just go out hunting and stay away from these guys! As long as they don''t hurt the tribe in any way, you do what you think is good."

 Chapter 43: The cave

    Five woke up as the first rays of light entered the small house. "Ahhh!"


    He quickly got up and checked his interface. After spending a few hours last night on planning what he would do next, Five finally decided that this village should be suitable to set up his dungeon. The only problem was that the barbarians were strong, too strong; Achi himself was level 35 and should be able to clear the dungeon without any problem.


    But Five decided to take a risk! He wanted to make use of the children of the tribe to gather some DP first. It was usually not advised to found a dungeon in a city or village and that was because when starting, one would not have many monsters to defend the core. They would obtain a lot of DP since a lot of people would readily be able to come to the dungeon but then, they might put their core at risk.


    Usually, one would build their dungeon in the wild where the beasts would attack the dungeon and the dungeon master would obtain their initial DP from them. Wild Beasts were attracted by the dungeon cores and wanted to eat them. They were technically the cores of powerful demons and by consuming them, the beasts were able to evolve.


    If he followed the normal procedure, Five would have first killed the wild beasts and earned DP to grow his dungeon. Eventually, adventurers would discover his dungeon, resulting in more people coming in. As more people would come, they would eventually build some facilities nearby to make the dungeon hunting more pleasant and finally, these facilities would grow up and end up as a city.


    This was how most cities were built. A city would only be successful if there was a lot of resources near it and dungeons were naturally a large reserve of resources, ready to be collected. The strength of the city was proportional to that of the dungeon.


    The most powerful cities like the capitals would even have several dungeons nearby. Dungeons could not be built within a radius of 1km of each other, but one could build one just outside that radius. This was the method used by Five to try to locate the dungeons. He would simply try to found his own and if a dungeon was nearby, he would receive a system prompt informing him that it was invalid. If there were no dungeons, then he would simply decline upon receiving the system prompt asking for a confirmation.


    Five quickly got out of his house and was surprised to find the village already lively. The men were preparing to go out hunting; some were checking the quality of the nets while others were sharpening their blades. The women were also preparing to go to the river; they needed to do some cleaning and to bring water back.


    Five quickly walked by the barbarians and found Achi giving some orders to some barbarians.


    "Achi! I''ll be leaving, I have something really important to do," said Five.


    "Are you not going to eat something first?"


    Five smiled, "No need. I need to go. But thank you for your hospitality! I will definitely pay you back. I can guarantee that life here will improve!"


    Achi looked at Five. He could not read through the enigmatic smile but seeing the determination in Five''s eyes, he simply nodded.


    "Then, I''ll be waiting! You can come back at any time," said the tribe leader.


    Five waved at the barbarian before quickly leaving the village. He needed to move fast before the women would arrive at the river. The other barbarians simply looked at him with strange expressions; it was weird fort to wake up that early. But none of them stopped him since Achi told them to let him go safely.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    Five was planning to use the cave mentioned yesterday by Mira. Since it was an unexplored cave, he could use it to his advantage to build his dungeon there. He ran through the green forest as quickly as he could. The river could be seen entering the forest from the village but Five did not want the barbarians to suspect that he was going there.


    And so, Five simply ran for about 100m in the forest before turning left where the river was. A few minutes later, he stopped just in front of the stream of water and observed his surroundings. The river could barely qualify as one; it would be more accurate to call it a stream of water. The water was not very deep making it very convenient for the women to easily wash the clothes. The children could also safely play in the water but if they went down the stream, the water would become deeper.


    He did not have any map of the place and did not know where the cave was but taking into consideration that the children were allowed to play there, it should be relatively close to the village and safe.


    Five walked down the stream as he looked around him. The forest was very peaceful, no beasts could be found, except for some rabbits running around. But very quickly, a very distinguishable sound resonated in his ears, ''A waterfall?'' thought Five.


    He continued to walk forward and a few seconds later, he stopped on top of a cliff. Next to him, the river came to an abrupt stop and released all its water down the cliff. Below, a small pond could be seen which poured its water into another stream going deeper into the forest.


    It was a breath-taking sight; Five could see the forest from above. A few strong beasts could be seen drinking downstream. It was as if the forest was divided into two parts by the cliff. It was hard to believe that a village was found merely 300m away from this wild environment.


    ¡®The cliff is a natural barrier. The forest above should be a safe area while the one below is the hunting grounds of the barbarians.¡¯


    ''If there is a cave down the river, it should be around here. Most likely near the waterfall!'' said Five to himself.


    After taking a few seconds to admire the scene, he started to look for ways to climb down the cliff.


    ¡®There should be a path somewhere which links the upper part of the forest to the lower part.¡¯


    Five looked everywhere and quickly found a way to climb down. The rocks were arranged such that a small path was formed but it did not go all the way down. Going down the path only led to a dead end. Five paused for a moment. Moss and a few bushes were growing on the path. To his right, he could see the forest and could jump down to dive into the pond. To his left, was the rugged cliff wall.


    "Where is that cave? Behind the waterfall? But there is no way to access it unless I jump down!" thought Five.


    He had no way to confirm it but Five was certain that he was very close to the cave Mira mentioned. He heavily doubted the children dived into the pond or else, how did they climb back up? But more importantly, this dead end was strange. It was not very noticeable from above and could easily be missed when looking from below due to the moss and bushes. The green color allowed the path to easily blend with the cliff making it hard to notice.


    Five looked around him and thought for a moment, ''This strangely looks man-made''. Something was definitely fishy, it was weird for there to be such a random path down there that led to a dead end. And so, Five started to examine the moss on the wall and the bushes.


    A few minutes later, he finally found what he was looking for. Hidden behind 2 large bushes, the small entrance to a tunnel could be seen, blending perfectly with its surroundings.


    "Found it!"


    Five quickly crouched and crawled inside the hole. Unfortunately, the entrance was a small hole and Five was forced to crawl to get in. What greeted him inside was complete darkness! All he could hear was the waterfall flowing outside.


    The inside of the cave was fresh and humid but beyond the hole, the cave quickly became larger, allowing Five to stand up properly. Five quickly took out a torch and lit it up. He started to explore but to his disappointment, the cave was completely empty.


    He walked for about 5 minutes through the tunnel which kept becoming larger and larger, until he finally met a dead end. However, at that dead end, Five found a small entrance that led to a small room.


    To his surprise, the small room actually turned out to be the house of someone and the owner of that place was staring at him as he entered. The only thing was that the owner was already dead; he was now merely a lifeless skeleton sitting on a chair, staring at the entrance. There was also a bed and a rotting table. A faint air current could be felt coming from the roof of the room.


    "What is this place?"


    He looked at this old place with a trace of pity. That man should have been someone powerful to have been able to create this place, but he was now dead, forgotten by all. There was no doubt that the room used to be cozy and well decorated but now, it looked completely in ruin.


    But in this ruined room, there was one thing that attracted Five''s attention. He quickly raised the torch and placed it on the stand on the wall before walking to the bed. Next to it, was a small rusty chest; its lock was completely covered with rust and even the paint was scratched off.


    "Since you already passed away, I suppose you would not mind if I take what''s inside?" said Five while briefly looking at the dead skeleton. It naturally did not react at all and Five easily opened the chest; the lock gave in as soon as some force was applied, revealing the treasures inside.


    Apart from a pile of dust, only one item was peacefully resting in the chest.

 Chapter 44: Founding the dungeon

    Five slowly bent down and picked the item. It was a short black staff with a skull at one end. The staff was made of some sort of wood, it was carved to make it look like the body of a snake was wrapping around the entire staff; the head of the snake was entering the skull from under. In short, it looked like it belonged to one of those ancient shamans who made human sacrifices.


    [Necromancer''s Death Wand (Grade 2)]


    Magic Damage + 5


    Skills Cooldown - 10%


    Skill: [Death''s Feast]


    [Death''s Feast (Grade 1)]


    Absorbs the Mana out of corpse: recovers 20% of remaining Mana of the body before death.


    Cooldown: 1 hour


    "A good item!" exclaimed Five. It was just a pity he was not a mage, but he could change that in an instant by purchasing skills in the dungeon shop.


    His current DP amounted to 56149. Right after he ran away from Etora Town, he noticed that his DP suddenly skyrocketed which could only mean that the harpies encountered a strong opponent.


    But before anything, Five checked if nothing was hidden under the dust and dirt of the chest. And effectively, his diligence was rewarded as he found a small ring completely covered by the dust.


    [Rusty ring (Grade 1)]


    Vitality +1


    Note: This accessory has been eroded over time. After significant maintenance, it will regain its former appearance, grade, and stats.


    "Mmm better than nothing! A ring like this would cost at least 2000 DP," said Five to himself as he equipped it.


    Having obtained the treasures of this place, Five went back near his torch. "This looks like a good place for my dungeon. The environment is quite nice and well hidden. There is a village not too far away. I am guaranteed to get people to quickly come to the dungeon."


    He especially liked the idea of having a waterfall nearby. With his dungeon core, he would be able to easily dig through the rocks and use the waterfall to his advantage.


    And so, Five took out his dungeon core.


    The latter shone brightly in his hands; it was eager to build the dungeon.


    [System prompt: You have activated the function of the Core of Madness. Do you want to proceed forward? Bear in mind that the process is irreversible!]


    "Yes!" declared Five.


    As the word came out of his mouth, the dungeon core suddenly started to shake violently! A bright light was emitted as Five felt an invisible wave coming out of the dungeon core. The wave went through his body and covered the entire room, but it did not stop there; it continued to diffuse into the ground.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    It continued for a moment and suddenly stopped. Suddenly, Five felt a strong connection with the surroundings,


    [System prompt: Congratulations player Five for founding your dungeon. You are the 1396th player to found a dungeon. Please name your dungeon.]


    "A name?" thought Five as he heard the system prompt. He was still overwhelmed by the sudden change. He could feel the excitement of the core as it was releasing the wave and felt that this entire place now belonged to him.


    It previously felt like entering an ancient hidden place, but now, this place felt like home.


    "I am bad at naming... What about the dungeon of Black Iron? The tribe of the barbarians is the Tribe of Black Iron. It is like calling Kroff''s dungeon the Algate Dungeon because it was found next to Algate City."


    In truth, Five did not really care about the name of the dungeon. And so, he hurriedly entered "Dungeon of Black Iron" but at that moment, the core shook as if expressing its disapproval.


    "What? You have a better idea?" asked Five.


    The dungeon core flashed for a moment like it was speaking in the morse code but Five had no idea what it was trying to convey. After a few seconds, the core finally stopped trying this method and suddenly, letters started to appear on his interface.


    "Dungeon of Madness"


    "Tsssk! You call it like that because it''s your own name! But fine. I don''t really mind." Five pressed the confirm button.


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five for naming your dungeon. You are awarded a reward to help you get started. Reward: One Monster Lottery Ticket]


    The dungeon core trembled before starting to float in the middle of the room. It stopped just on top of the table next to the skeleton and stayed there like it was its spot. The dungeon has now been founded; it could no longer leave the cave.


    "Well. Since we started, let''s set up the dungeon properly before those children arrive but first, let''s use the Monster Lottery Ticket," said Five.


    ¡®This should be what Gaia talked about. After letting go of the harpies, it should be something good!¡¯


    The Monster Lottery Ticket was an item that cost about 100000 DP. It was used just like a lottery and always gave out a prize. As its name suggested, it would provide a monster and it would also allow the user to purchase that type of monster from now on.


    To purchase monsters with the dungeon shop, one first needed to unlock the monster by paying a fee and then one would have to buy the monsters individually. Currently, Five could only buy harpies which had been automatically unlocked since Harriet was his monster.


    It was one of the perks obtained when unlocking a Boss Monster; it would also unlock the normal version of the monster. Harriet was a harpy queen and by having her, Five automatically unlocked the harpies.


    An important detail about the harpies that Five did not miss was that they all had black wings! And that was because Harriet came from the Black Wing Clan. If he wanted to purchase other types of harpies, he would still need to unlock them in the dungeon.


    Five took out the Monster Lottery Ticket and decided to use it. It was better to see what he could obtain now and possibly implement the monster to the dungeon. It would be a pity if he started building the dungeon and the monster obtained would turn out to be inappropriate for this environment.


    The Monster Lottery Ticket was activated and in front of Five, the interface showing all the monster races he could purchase opened. A small yellow box appeared and framed the icon of the monster at the top left of the screen. That monster was naturally the weakest one: it was not even a monster but a beast; The Level 1 Rabbit.


    The yellow box then blinked before quickly moving over all the other icons. The box moved extremely quickly but eventually, it started to slow down. It spent a brief amount of time where the powerful boss monsters'' icons were but as it slowed down, it once again returned to the region of the beginner monsters.


    The box moved from icon to icon, the further it went, the stronger the monster Five would obtain and eventually, the yellow box completely stopped moving.


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. You have unlocked the Boss Monster: Level 5 Firefly Queen, this monster can now be purchased at the dungeon shop. One Firefly Queen is ready for summoning]


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. Due to unlocking the Firefly Queen, you have unlocked the Monster: Level 1 Firefly, this monster can now be purchased at the dungeon shop]


    "What? Wasn¡¯t I supposed to obtain a powerful monster that would replace Harriet and the other harpies? F*ck¡­ At least it was a boss monster..." said Five to himself.


    The Monster Lottery was naturally just like the lottery in real life. The probability of getting a powerful monster was quasi-null. The ticket would give out monsters below level 10 in 80% of the cases; it could already be considered lucky to obtain a boss monster since that would mean unlocking two monsters.


    The worst part was that it was possible for the yellow box to land on a monster already unlocked; playing a lot would not increase the chance of unlocking a powerful monster. In that case, the player would simply be able to summon the monster immediately.


    So why even purchase the item? Because just like the lottery in real life, there was a small probability of earning big. Unique monsters that could instantly kill someone like Harriet could be obtained if one was lucky enough.


    Five quickly used the dungeon shop and summoned the Firefly Queen. Instantly, the room became brighter as the monster appeared in front of Five.


    It looked no different from normal fireflies, except for its larger size and brighter light. It danced in front of Five for a moment before buzzing.


    "Looks like you cannot speak. But that''s fine! You are the first monster I summoned. I will give you a name. Since you emit a lot of light, I shall call you: Lumen!" declared Five.


    ...


    Outside the cave, the beasts who were calmly drinking down the stream all raised their heads as Five founded the dungeon. They all felt a change in the environment and looked with greed at the waterfall.


    They could feel that something that could help them was lying there. They needed to obtain it! But now was not the right time. Many beasts stared at each other with hostility before quickly returning into the depth of the forests.

 Chapter 45: Dreidus

    Hearing her new name, the firefly queen flapped its wings and flew in circles around Five.


    "Good! I will think of a way to implement fireflies to the dungeon!" said Five. Lumen was not a combat type monster. It was mainly a decorative monster that could only emit light. In fact, a firefly only cost 1 DP and would consume about 0.1 DP¡¯s worth per day.


    Fireflies could pester the adventurers but dealt 0 damage. Lumen was a boss monster but could only deal a maximum of 5 damage per attack. It was even less than what normal combat type monster could deal.


    However, considering that Five''s dungeon was a cave, he could make use of Fireflies to add dynamics to the dungeon. They could be used to light up the surroundings or even act as decoys while other monsters would attack. He just brainstormed some ideas but needed to refine them before implementation.


    His original plan was to build up a self-sustaining ecosystem with 2-3 species which would feed on each other to survive. It was a way to build up a strong foundation for the dungeon which would minimize the amount of DP he would need to spend.


    However, it was easier said than done. This could have been easily achieved if he had a lot of DP but although 56000 sounded like a lot, it was barely enough to properly accommodate a few floors. It was like being a start-up with a lot of potential but not enough funding to sustain itself.


    Five could spend all his DP on building a perfect first floor with a good ecosystem, but what about the next ones? It would result in placing his dungeon core at risk. Like when setting the foundation of a building; the deeper the foundation, the higher the building could be built. But if all the money and time were spent on the foundation, nothing would be left for the actual building.


    He needed to compromise and so, he decided to first collect some DP. He would make a few generic floors like Kroff to generate some DP before building the dungeon he wanted.


    "It''s the best compromise I can find. I will use the first 5 floors to gather DP quickly and the rest will be my real dungeon!"


    He looked at the skeleton, "I hope you do not mind if I turned this place in my headquarters. I won''t destroy this place or anything, your body will be buried properly!"


    But at that moment, a system prompt appeared:


    [System prompt: You have found the remains of a powerful mage in your dungeon. Due to the nature of the mage and the circumstances, it is possible to turn the remains into a monster. Would you like to proceed?]


    "A powerful mage? Is it that man? Is that the monster Gaia talked about?" thought Five.


    "What are the conditions?"


    [System prompt: The mage used to be a powerful necromancer whose body was predisposed to become a Lich. It is possible to activate the transformation process and turn the body into your monster. The cost of the transformation is 15000 DP]


    "A lich? What about the level of the monster?"


    [System prompt: Information not available]


    "Mmm What should I do? A monster for 15000? It is not that expensive if it is a boss monster. From what Gaia said, it should be able to rival Harriet in the future," thought Five.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    He hesitated for a moment before decisively accepting. 15000 DP disappeared and instantly, a dark deadly glow appeared around the skeleton. Lumen was scared by the sudden change and quickly went to hide behind Five.


    The skeleton shook and suddenly, all the light surrounding the skeleton was violently absorbed by it. A few moments later, two gloomy light balls appeared in the skeleton''s eye sockets.


    "Crrk crrk"


    The sound of noise cracking could be heard as the skeleton started to move its hand and turned to look towards Five.


    "So you are the one who revived me? Why did you do that?" slowly asked the skeleton with an ethereal voice.


    "I did it. Because I am looking for monsters to defend my dungeon. I discovered this place and decided to turn it into my dungeon. But since your body was already there, my dungeon core gave me the opportunity to turn you into a lich," earnestly answered Five while looking at the lich.


    The latter looked no different from before except for the light in its eye sockets. Five could faintly feel a connection with it since it was now its monster, but he could also feel that the lich was not exactly happy to be reborn.


    "I never asked to be reborn! It would have been better to leave me to rot in this place. If you wanted to turn my home in your dungeon, that would be fine. But you should have left my body in peace!" said the lich. His voice was devoid of emotions. Five could not feel any anger, all he perceived was a tinge of melancholy.


    It was an awkward situation; he just used 15000 DP but the monster he obtained was not very enthusiastic about joining him.


    ''The monsters really have their own personalities... I should take that into consideration for next time,'' thought Five.


    "But I know you paid a great price in summoning me. And in fact, I am grateful for taking me out of the purgatory. I will help you as I can but don''t expect much from me, I only recovered a portion of my strength," continued the lich.


    "The purgatory? What is that?" asked Five.


    The skeleton looked strange as its jaws kept moving up and down with cracking sounds. "Let me explain. I used to be a middle-tier necromancer and formed part of the Necro Valley, the holy land of necromancers. It is the one place that could survive through the storm as necromancers were purged by the empires because we were associated with the demons."


    "However, something happened, and I was forced to run away from Necro Valley. A curse was placed on me which would activate as my soul would disperse! This was the last thing I wanted and so, I decided to trap my soul at the purgatory instead of leaving it to disperse. The purgatory is usually the place where souls would undergo purification before being dispersed. But I cursed myself, preventing the purification to take place. I passed away decades ago and since then, my soul has been undergoing purification without making any progress."


    The skeleton trembled as he finished his sentence. Five could easily feel that there was more to the story than it looked.


    "I restricted the use of my powers to go undetected, but decades have passed, and they probably forgot about me. But that does not mean there are no risks! Necro Valley might attack this place if they discover that I am still alive. Please bear that in mind if you want me to defend your dungeon," said the lich.


    Five looked at him before quickly nodding. It looked like more troubles would be coming his way in the future, but he could not let go of 15000 DP either.


    "When time will come, this place will protect you! Since you are one of my monsters, I will do my best to protect you. But my ambitions do not stop at just defending this place! I want to be able to walk through the empire without any fear! If you join me, I might one day be able to overturn Necro Valley!" confidently declared Five.


    He meant what he just said! Although he postponed his plans of revenge, they were still lying in a corner of his mind. He needed to be powerful enough to do whatever he wanted; his enemies would probably hide inside powerful cities of the empire. A holy land should not prove too challenging when compared to entire empires.


    The lich nodded. It was moved by his words but was skeptical. "This is your choice. I will do what I can, but my powers are limited. Only with time, will I recover my original strength!" declared the lich.


    At that moment, a system prompt was heard:


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the lich Dreidus has agreed to serve you.]


    At the same time, a window opened, showing Dreidus'' stats:


    Name: Dreidus


    Race: Undead


    Level: 20 (0/10000)


    Class: Necromancer


    Title: Survivor of Purgatory


    HP: 360/360


    MP: 600/600


    Strength: 20


    Dexterity: 25


    Vitality: 36


    Intelligence: 60


    Wisdom: 55(+2)


    Special Skills: [Rise of the Dead]


    [Information]


    [Rise of the Dead (Grade 2)]


    Summons 3 level 15 skeletons to fight for the user. Skeletons last up to 3 minutes.


    Mana Cost: 30


    Cooldown: 5 minutes


    Five smiled with satisfaction. The lich turned out to be a powerful level 20 monster! His stats were impressive, especially when compared to his own. Boss monsters were usually attributed thrice the number of stats as their player counterpart.


    He also noticed the +2 next to wisdom but Five did not ask anything. That was without doubt due to the equipment the lich was wearing. At first glance, he looked completely naked, but a tiny ring could actually be found on his ring finger.


    "Welcome to the team Dreidus! I will do my best to help you when the time will come," said Five.


    "Thank you, my lord! I will likewise protect this place with my all!" answered Dreidus.


    Five quickly took out the Necromancer''s wand that he previously placed in his inventory. "I think this is yours."


    Dreidus'' skull tried to make a smile but that resulted in a scary expression, "Thank you, my lord! It is a pity my necromancer''s robe already turned into dust."


    "That is fine. I will buy you a proper one! But first, there are some things we need to do."


    Dreidus nodded. He silently stood next to Five waiting for his new master''s move.

 Chapter 46: The first floor

    Exploring the cave and speaking to Dreidus did not take very long but Five knew time was limited. He wanted to take advantage of the fact that the Barbarians'' children would soon come to the dungeon to explore; it was an opportunity to earn some DP.


    He looked around him and sighed, "I really need to make myself a decent room." Five could not help but compare himself to Kroff; he knew that the latter slowly built his dungeon over time but reaching that level seemed almost impossible.


    Five sat down on the bed but immediately, "Crackk"


    A loud crack was heard as the bed''s legs gave up under the weight.


    "Boom!", "F*ck!"


    Five loudly coughed as a cloud of dust covered the room.


    Lumen and Dreidus could only look at each other while keeping quiet. They both found the scene quite funny as Five was now sitting on the floor in the middle of the remains of the bed, covered with dust.


    "Cough cough! Never mind. Let''s focus on the dungeon for now!"


    Five ignored the previous incident and opened the dungeon interface. Now that his dungeon was founded, he could control anything happening in it. Like Kroff, he now had an interface on which several options were available.


    For now, his dungeon only consisted of the cave which was essentially a long corridor getting wider and wider, and the room he was actually in.


    Five was currently at level 9 which meant that his dungeon could have a maximum of 9 floors. The first floor was unlocked for free, but each subsequent floor would cost more and more DP. Unlocking the second floor would cost Five 2000 DP which he could afford.


    However, Five wanted to take things gradually and focused on what to do with the first floor. He did not want to change the entrance since the children already came there. According to what Five heard, the children found the entrance but did not explore the inside yet. But if the entrance suddenly changed, the children might be suspicious and decide to not take any risks.


    As a result, Five chose to leave the entrance untouched. He looked at the map of the floor which consisted mainly of his room and a long tube linking it to the entrance.


    "I should first earn some DP from the children. The Barbarians are too strong... Although I can buy harpies, they are quite expensive."


    Harpies were the safety net that Five had. According to his interface, Five could summon a normal harpy for 10000 DP. It was expensive, but the harpies were powerful monsters that had the potential to grow! Simply by staying in the dungeon and killing people, their level would increase.


    "Let''s turn the first floor into something that can attract the Barbarians... As long as the children stay there, it would be fine!"


    Five thought for a moment before starting to play with the interface. He first added some branches in the corridor and linking them together. He spent 3000 DP on removing most of the dirt and rocks, making tunnels big enough for people to walk through. Large persons like the barbarians would probably not be able to walk through at ease but they could crawl through.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Five was not planning on making the first floor a hostile one. What he planned was to make the dungeon look like a mine! This way, the barbarians would have some incentives to spend some time without killing monsters.


    His finger quickly moved, placing a few ores here and there. He allowed a few to appear on the surface but most of them were hidden behind a layer of soil and rock. However, ores were expensive; Five only placed cheap ones like iron which cost 15 DP per unit but considering the size of the dungeon, he had to spend about 3000 DP to put enough iron ores to make the dungeon look resourceful.


    But that was not all. In addition to the iron ores, Five also put a lot of coal on the first floor. It was just a way to make the place look rich in minerals. Naturally, coal was cheaper than iron and only cost 3 DP per unit.


    Soon, Five found the first floor to be in a decent state. Right now, it simply looked like an abandoned mine which still contained a decent amount of ores. Five did not know much about the Barbarians but he knew that they would definitely not be stupid to the point of ignoring resources.


    They might be a tribe relying on hunting to live but they could use the iron to make their weapons and coal to warm their home. It would be a complete waste if they ignored what was readily available to them and instead purchased everything.


    "I hope that they are not that stupid. Achi does not look too bad, but his brother is definitely a muscle-head."


    Only the room Five was in was left untouched but that was intentional. Five wanted to use it later as a hidden room. For now, Five simply swept through the interface and looked for the option to purchase some monsters.


    He purchased 100 fireflies and released them in the dungeon. "Lumen. You are in charge of the fireflies. Let them roam around for now but later, they will have a mission!"


    Lumen buzzed and flapped its winged in front of Five as a sign of acknowledgment. Now that the first floor looked acceptable, Five moved through his interface and purchased the second floor.


    Kroff''s dungeon was a tower type dungeon where the floors were growing upwards. But Five went for an underground dungeon which meant that his second floor would actually be found deeper into the cave below the first floor.


    The reason was simply to keep the dungeon out of sight. If he chose to build a floor upwards, he would without a doubt breach the surface and become visible by all. It was definitely an option to consider in the future, but for now; it was better to be discreet.


    2000 DP disappeared as a new floor appeared on Five''s interface. The stairs linking the two floors together were found right next to the room he was in. Without hesitation, Five walked out of the room with the dungeon core, followed by Lumen and Dreidus.


    Behind him, a wall started to rise from the ground, completely hiding the room.


    He quickly walked down the stairs perfectly carved by the system and arrived in a 5mx5m room. It was the only room on the second floor which was automatically provided by the system. He now needed to shape the floor.


    "Dreidus! You are my strongest monster at the moment. Since you are a necromancer, do you think you have the skills to lead some undead monsters for me?" asked Five.


    "The strongest monster? I can clearly feel that another monster who is even stronger than me is also linked to your dungeon core?" answered Dreidus with a curious expression.


    "Ah!" Five was stunned for a moment. "The boss monsters can feel each other?" said Five to himself. For a moment, he thought about Harriet and wondered what happened to her and the other harpies.


    "Yes, but I gave that monster its freedom. For now, I can only rely on you," answered Five.


    "Then, I have used several undead monsters in the past and even ghost-type monsters. But here, they will clearly be weaker. This environment is not optimal for undead monsters, but they will still be powerful indeed."


    "That''s good! I was thinking of turning my second floor in a labyrinth. One with skeletons roaming around and possibly some other undead monsters," explained Five.


    Dreidus nodded. "Be at ease, this should be very easy for me to manage. This is a very common defensive measure used at Necro Valley."


    "That''s perfect then." Five quickly opened his interface and projected the map. The children did not arrive yet, but the first floor was already ready.


    Five quickly used 8000 DP just to remove all the rocks and dirt in front of him. A huge cavern similar to the Avian Cavern appeared before him; the only difference was that its height was merely 5m while the Avian Cavern was at least 200m high.


    Following that, Five used more DP just to cover the surface of the cavern with a hard material. This was to prevent the barbarians from digging through the walls. In the case of the first floor, this was not relevant since Five precisely wanted the Barbarians to waste time mining but on the second floor, he could not allow them to use shortcuts.


    Furthermore, the same material had to be used to make the walls of the labyrinth. Designing the labyrinth was fairly simple. Five simply picked a correct route first and then simply added bogus ones and added branches to the correct one that would only lead to dead ends.


    Five quickly drew lines on his interface which indicated the positions of the walls of the labyrinth. As soon as he would finish, the labyrinth would immediately take place. The rule was that as long as no players or NPCs were on the particular floor or at a higher one, the changes would take place instantaneously. Else, he would have to wait for the night cycle for the changes to take place.


    It was that particular rule that discouraged people from going to dungeons at night. If they did, the dungeon masters could simply make abrupt changes which could prove to be deadly to the adventurers.


    While Five was making his plan, in the corner of his eyes, he finally noticed some silhouettes appear at the entrance of the dungeon. The dungeon core was projecting the real-time image of what was happening at the entrance while Five was doing his work.


    Five calmly smiled, "The children are finally there!"

 Chapter 47: Exploration of the children

    At the same time, at the Black Iron Tribe.


    "Clip Clop Clip Clop!!!"


    The loud sound of horses'' hooves running down the path of pebbles resounded in the distance. Most women and children had already left the village to go to the river for their daily chores. The men also left to hunt in the forest but about 30 vigorous barbarians were still there protecting the village.


    They immediately noticed the approaching riders in the distance but after being instructed by Achi, none of them threateningly rushed to meet them. Instead, ten of them jumped on their horses, including Achi and prepared to receive them at the entrance of the village.


    The person leading the group of riders was actually a player; his IGN was Iron Shark. He was tall and charismatic with long hairs floating in the wind. He was leading a group of 10 players towards the Black Iron Tribe.


    "Greetings, townsmen. May I know the purpose of your visit!" exclaimed Achi when the group of players arrived at a reasonable distance.


    "Greetings, chieftain! We are here to investigate the whereabouts of a criminal! A member of an evil cult, who is potentially a demon, has been spotted at Etora Town 3 days ago. He escaped in this direction and we are chasing after him," said Iron Shark.


    "A criminal? Can you describe that person''s appearance?" asked Achi while holding the reins of his horse.


    "Of course! Here is a wanted picture," said one of the players next to Iron Shark. She was a beautiful young lady who was wearing barely enough clothes to cover her private parts. With a swift movement of her hand, a scroll appeared in her hands which she opened and showed to Achi.


    Achi let out a surprised expression; on the scroll, the portrait of Five could be seen, drawn with ink and brushes.


    "Indeed, that person came to the village just yesterday," answered Achill.


    "Really? That''s great! Where is he now? We need to quickly capture him to complete our quest!" declared Iron Shark.


    "Unfortunately, he left the village a few hours earlier and I don''t know where he went. He went towards the forest but that is all I know," said Achi.


    "What? How could you let this demon go? He is not only a criminal but also a demon! You know how they almost exterminated humanity a century ago," exclaimed the young woman.


    In truth, Achi did not care much about the war that occurred in the past. He only knew about the teaching of the Shaman of the tribe which did not mention it. He naturally knew about the demons, but the Barbarians never considered them as enemies.


    Seeing Achi''s reaction, Iron Shark quickly reacted, "That''s enough! I am sorry chief. We are just very tired and on our nerves after such a long chase from Etora Town."


    Achi smiled, "That is fine! You can rest in our village! If you want, we will arrange a tent for you to recover from your journey!"


    "That would be perfect."


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    Quickly, the group of players was brought to the village.


    "Wow! They look like one of those African tribes!"


    "Yeah! I have seen movies where there are people like them who hunt for food every day!"


    The players were commenting among themselves, making sure that none of the barbarians could hear their conversation. They did not want to get into trouble with those burly muscular men who all held heavy axes or longbows.


    The only one remaining silent was Iron Shark. He was closely observing the village. "Chief, are there any items that we can buy there? Things unique to your tribe?"


    "Of course, of course! I am glad you said that. I will show you what we have but you should first rest. You had a long journey!"


    "Naturally. There is no rush," answered Iron Shark. The other players were confused at Iron Shark''s behavior.


    But the latter simply sent them a private message via the party''s chat: "This is a good opportunity! We are probably the first players to get here. We can use this to buy exclusive items from the Barbarians. With that, we can secure a source of income for our Blue Lagoon!"


    ...


    At the top of the waterfall, a group of children was happily chatting while observing the wild nature in front of them. Mira was cheerfully following her older cousin, Zeke. She remembered her father''s warning and like an obedient child, she stuck to her cousin, who was also Toba''s son.


    Zeke was the leader of the group; he was only 14 years old, but his physique was already that of a young adult in his prime. His body was well developed and muscular after all the physical work and training set up by his father.


    "Stay behind me. Did you bring everything?" asked Zeke. He was already standing just in front of the two bushes hiding the entrance.


    "Yes. Here are the torches, the animal fat and the flint and steel!" said one of the children. Just like Zeke, he was also well built and was carrying the materials for exploration.


    All the young men also had some sort of weapons with them. Zeke had a smaller version of his father''s ax while many others held short daggers at their waist. Even Mira had a small knife, ready to be drawn at all time.


    "Good! In that case, let''s go!" Zeke quickly swung his ax, chopping the bushes blocking the entrance. Very soon, the small hole was completely exposed, and the torches were ready to be used.


    The other children had already smeared the torches with enough fuel to hold for a while. But they could not light it up right now since the entrance was very tight. They would have to crawl to get in and doing so with a lighted torch could be very inconvenient.


    "I''ll lead the way!"


    Zeke quickly crouched and started to crawl through the hole. "I am in. Give me the torch and the flint."


    Mira immediately tossed the requested items through the hole and a few seconds later, the children outside could see that the torch had been lit up!


    They all became excited and one by one, they started making their way in the cave.


    "You should all stand behind me. We don''t know what this place hides!" warned Zeke. He calmly waited for the 20 children to get into the cave; 5 of them were holding torches.


    Mira was excited at the idea of exploring the unknown. She did not find the cave creepy or scary but instead, she found it mysterious and secretive. She closely followed behind her cousin who was opening the way.


    "Wait! What is that?" exclaimed Mira. She suddenly saw a faint light appear in the distance before immediately disappearing.


    "What is what?" asked one of Mira''s friends.


    "I saw a small bright dot appear over there, but it is gone now!" answered Mira.


    "Don''t worry, it was probably the reflection of the torch somewhere!"


    But at that moment, another bright dot appeared in the distance and this time, several children saw it.


    "What is that? That light can move!" exclaimed the children.


    Zeke frowned, it was the first time he was seeing something like that. He raised his ax and waited as he saw the light dot slowly zigzag towards the group.


    Another child next to Zeke raised the torch to be able to see further and quickly, Zeke finally saw the source of light.


    The children who were previously scared by the floating light all immediately relaxed. In fact, they found the scene quite funny; they were all scared to death by a small insect.


    It turned out that the dot of light was merely a firefly. It was their first time seeing one but when they saw that it was merely an insect that did not even try to attack them, the children quickly lowered their guard.


    Some even laughed at themselves for their reactions, "Haha! We were scared of a small insect!"


    "I feel stupid now!"


    Mira also relaxed. She looked at the firefly that seemed to be flying without a goal. The small firefly flew around her before briefly landing on her arm. The little girl was scared at first but since nothing happened when the insect touched her, she laughed. She initially thought that since it was emitting light, the insect would be burning hot but to her surprise, she only felt a tingling sensation when the insect landed.


    "We should resume the exploration. This place is larger than expected. We should not waste too much time," said Zeke.


    "Yes! Mother said to get back before lunch. We should start moving," said another child.


    And so, the group of children resumed their exploration with a new friend buzzing on Mira''s arm.


    The children were slowly progressing; they were wary of this place and took their time. A few minutes later, they arrived at an intersection and stopped.


    "Where should we go? Right or left?" asked one of the children.


    "It does not matter but we should mark the way we came from to avoid getting lost!" said Zeke. At the same time, he bent down to grab a piece of rock on the floor to scratch the wall and leave a mark.


    But to his surprise, the rock had a weird texture; it still had those sharp ends, but it also felt smoother than a regular rock. More importantly, Zeke felt that his hand was dirty just from touching the rock. Intrigued, the young man approached one of the children holding a torch to examine the rock.


    "Wait... Isn''t that coal?"

 Chapter 48: Earning DP

    "This indeed looks like coal! Let me have a feel," said the child who was holding the torch.


    Quickly, the children passed the piece of coal to each other. They were very familiar with it since it was commonly used in the village. Although they used a lot of dry branches from the forest when making a bonfire, there would always be a layer of coal under the branches.


    "We should not waste more time. Our mothers would be worried if we take too long!" said Mira.


    Zeke nodded and took back the piece of coal. With a quick swing, he drew an arrow on the wall, indicating the direction of the exit.


    "Let''s take this turn. It is our first time here, I think it is better to stay as a group!" said Zeke. He was already acting as a true leader and none of the children wanted to go against him. He was indeed the strongest person in the group and when facing the unknown, it was safer to be with him.


    The children went deeper into the tunnel. Quickly, they found several other tunnels linked to that one, but these ones were different. They were smaller, the side-tunnels only had a diameter of about 1.2m which was barely enough for Mira and the short girls to enter but not for the boys.


    Despite their age, the boys already looked like young adults; even Zeke was at least 1.8m tall. He could naturally enter the side-tunnels if he bent down and crawled but that would be a very uncomfortable position and as a result, they decided to stay on the larger tunnel.


    "D*mn. Why are all the tunnels so small! It looks like it had been made for children!" complained Zeke.


    Mira was silently walking behind her cousin. She kept poking the firefly which strangely chose to stick to her. Along the way, they also met a few other fireflies but none of them approached the children. They simply flew around in a random manner and would simply evade the children who would try to catch them.


    "Look! There''s something in this tunnel!" suddenly exclaimed one of the children at the back. He was holding one of the torches and decided to have a look inside the tunnels. To his surprise, he saw something shiny stuck on the roof of the tunnel.


    "What is it?" asked Zeke who quickly stopped moving.


    With a quick look, the children found that there was effectively something shiny in the tunnel. It was not very far; about 20m away from the main tunnel. In normal circumstances, they would have never gone inside those small tunnels, but now, they were all curious about what that shiny thing could be.


    "I will go!" declared one of the young boys. He was merely 10 years old and was also the shortest one among the boys. Coincidentally, he fitted perfectly inside the tunnel and could walk normally.


    He quickly grabbed a torch and ran to the shiny thing. The children were all watching him with curiosity.


    "What is it?"If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Did you find anything?"


    The children shouted but the boy did not answer. Instead, he drew out his knife at his waist and started poking around the shiny thing. The children did not understand what he was doing but a few seconds later, he ran back, carrying with him a shiny stone.


    "What is that?" asked Zeke while snatching the stone from the boy without moderation.


    He grabbed the stone and closely examined it. It was his first time seeing something like that; the stone looked just like a piece of rock except for a few shiny grey marks here and there.


    "I have never seen anything like that! We should bring this back to our parents. They might know more about that," commented one of the children.


    "Let''s continue to explore. If we find other rocks like this, we shall take them back to the village," declared Zeke.


    ...


    Five was ecstatic. While he was focusing most of his attention on making the labyrinth, the corner of his eyes could still capture the children''s actions. He could see how they were slowly progressing in the tunnel. In fact, he was delighted to see them pick up the piece of coal and the iron ore.


    More importantly, Five could see his balance of DP slowly growing up! The number would refresh every second and kept climbing up. It was his first time seeing that and he had to admit that the feeling was just like receiving his first paycheck.


    The number was not increasing very fast, but it was steady. DP could be obtained from any living organism in the dungeon that did not originate from the dungeon itself.


    As a result, both players, NPCs and even monsters from the open world would generate DP as long as they were in the dungeon. Alternatively, if these were killed by Five''s monsters when they were outside the dungeon, he would still obtain some DP.


    The stronger the individual, the more DP they would produce per hour. For each level, an enemy would produce 20 DP per hour in the dungeon and if they were killed, they would produce 1000 DP per level. It sounded like a lot but considering the cost of the monsters, there was really not much profit.


    More importantly, the DP produced was also dependent on the fatigue level of the individuals and so, the longer they stayed in the dungeon, the less DP they would produce. There was also a cap to the amount of DP an individual could produce per day. This was set up to prevent the dungeon masters from simply imprisoning others inside the dungeon to use as DP farms.


    Right now, there were only 23 children in the dungeon but even as children, the weakest one was still level 6 while the strongest one, Zeke, was level 12. Together, they produced about 4000 DP per hour. It sounded like a lot but that was simply because the children were currently not killing any monsters.


    Only a few minutes went by since the children entered the dungeon but Five already obtained more than 200 DP. This rate was extremely fast compared to when he was hunting slimes at Kroff''s dungeon.


    Five was delighted as he saw that the children were already producing so much DP. When the adult barbarians would come, just how much would he obtain?


    At the same time, Five finally finished the plan of the Labyrinth. He silently walked through the empty cavern, followed by Lumen and Dreidus. The two monsters were both very calm and instinctively knew what their master was about to do.


    When they arrived at the other end of the cavern, Five finally pressed the confirm button on his interface. Suddenly, the amount of DP he had plummeted by 4000 as walls of solid indestructible materials rose from the ground behind him. To save some DP, the walls were relatively thin, but they would still be able to achieve their purpose.


    "Rumble rumble!" The ground shook slightly.


    Just like that, the labyrinth was now ready. That alone already cost him 12000 DP and he did not even add death traps or summon monsters to wander in the labyrinth yet!


    It was an extremely high cost for just a second floor but that was because Five went for a floor that could still be relevant in the future. A labyrinth could still be useful in the future and could stall for time. He was lucky that the harpies came across some enemies and funded him some DP.


    Five was now left with a little over 15000 DP, it was less than 30% of his original balance but fortunately, the children were producing some DP.


    "Dreidus. I doubt they will reach the second floor today. But let''s summon some undead monsters just in case," said Five.


    Next to him, Dreidus nodded. "Then, I suggest summoning some skeletons. They are the simplest and most common undead and are easily controlled. I myself can summon some!"


    "Good! You can look after them then, but don''t show yourself. I don''t know your strength, but I doubt you will be able to survive if the barbarians were to come there."


    "Of course, master! I will be very careful. I don''t need to personally be there to control the undead monsters. As a necromancer, I have a skill that allows me to communicate with undead telepathically, [Dead Mind]."


    Five nodded and without waiting, he opened the interface where monsters could be bought. After speaking with Dreidus, he had already filtered the monsters he was looking for. In front of him, only icons of undead type monsters could be seen.


    He did not hesitate and promptly unlocked "Skeletons". Another 5000 DP disappeared from his balance.


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. You have unlocked the monster: Skeletons. They are now available for purchase!]

 Chapter 49: Deal with the barbarians

    At the same time at the Black Iron Tribe


    "This is not a bad place! What do you think?"


    "Looks outdated! I prefer the town. Here, it''s too crude..."


    "Yes, there''s no shop. Everyone here looks wild like animals!"


    In the tent where Five previously stayed at, Iron Shark and his team were calmly resting as Iron Shark asked the question.


    "I am not asking in term of the place! D*mn. You guys only think about this! Think in terms of resources! Have you not seen what the chief showed us?" exclaimed Iron Shark.


    On a small table in a corner of the room, a small pile of items could be seen. There were a few clothes made of animal fur, a few crude looking pieces of jewelry, some artisanal products like baskets made of weeds and finally, knives made of animal teeth.


    These items looked very ordinary and were handmade by the barbarians. While most of the men went hunting, the women not only did the chores, they also spent a lot of time crafting! These items were mainly used to trade with other tribes but with Achi''s new orders, they were now looking to trade with the townsmen too.


    What was special about these items was that even if they were not good looking, most of them were actually Grade 1 items!


    In New Earth, items were divided in terms of grade. The weakest being Grade 0 which was commonly used by players ranging from level 0 to 9. Grade 1 items were suitable for level 10 to 19. Grades were naturally just a rough estimate of the power of an item. It was not abnormal for people to use lower grade items due to their unique effect.


    About two weeks have passed since the start of the game and right now, the strongest player of the Sylvester Empire was still just level 14. Grade 1 items were, therefore, a hot commodity and could be sold at a high price.


    "These things? They are not bad, but I won''t use them! They don''t have anything related to magic!" said one of the players.


    At the same time, another player tapped his head. "Idiot, not for you! It''s to sell in the town! These guys here are just barbarians, it should be easy to get a good price!"


    "Indeed! Leader Shark is so smart!"


    Iron Shark remained pensive, "Then, let''s go speak with the chief! We can determine the price with him!"


    "What about the quest? Are we not losing track of our initial purpose of coming here?" one the girls.


    "It does not matter. We just need to capture or kill that person to get the item he will drop but well, how are we supposed to find him now? He could have gone in any direction! At least, we traced him until there. We can at least get 30% of the quest''s reward!" answered Iron Shark


    "You are right! The benefits of the quest amount to what? Just a few items, but if we succeed in making a good deal there and obtain the monopoly of the trade, the benefits would be immense!"


    ...


    Central place of the Black Iron TribeIf you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Achi was sitting on the grass while crossing his legs. Two other burly barbarians were quietly sitting on at his side; the one on the right looked careless and was smoking a long pipe while the one on the left was deeply frowning while looking at the players in front of him.


    "As I said, we are not interested in gold for now. What we want is food! If possible, vegetables and other types of food that can last for long... Spices and herbs are also welcomed," explained Achi.


    "We can provide pickles. What about two of these necklaces for 1 kg of pickles?" asked Iron Shark.


    "Townsman, do not take me for a fool. I know very well that in terms of gold, these necklaces could easily fetch at least 10 gold! 1 kg of pickles is worth how much? 1 gold at most?" said Achi with a serious expression.


    "Haha, chief... I know that, but we have to take in consideration the travel costs, security issues, and the taxation problems! I can reduce the price to 1 necklace for 2 kg of pickles!"


    The negotiations continued, and it went on for each item they could trade. It was like bartering and they had to fix prices for each exchange. After more than an hour of discussions, both parties were finally satisfied with the arrangements.


    "Good to do business with you!"


    "Happy cooperation!"


    Achi and Iron Shark shook hands to seal the deal. Barbarians did not have anything like contracts and all resided on this verbal agreement.


    As soon as the deal was concluded, the players took out most of the food they had in their inventory. Since they took a hazardous quest before coming there, they stocked up quite a bit of food just in case they would end up spending days in the wild.


    This decision turned out to be beneficial to them since they could readily exchange for a few items and bring them back as samples.


    "Good!" commented Achi and at the same time, he commanded one woman to bring some necklaces and one dagger made of animal bones.


    "There will be more in the near future. As soon as we get back, we will get the items evaluated and come back with more provisions for your tribe," said Iron Shark. He courteously smiled at Achi but then, he noticed something.


    Achi was no longer looking at him! Instead, he was looking behind him as a large smile was growing on his previously stern face!


    Iron Shark did not know how to react, he turned to look behind only to see a bunch of children storming the place. This time, only 6 children were running towards their father. Behind the children, a large group of women was coming back, carrying clean clothes and buckets of water. The children looked gloomy like they have been scolded by their mother.


    Before Iron Shark could react, he suddenly saw a small shadow almost hit him. He jumped to the side and was about to scold that child when he saw that it was actually a young girl and that she jumped into the arms of the chief.


    "Daddy!"


    "Mira! Why are you soaked like this?" asked Achi with concern. His previous serious appearance suddenly vanished as soon as he saw his daughter appear.


    "Mom forced me to take a bath..." explained Mira with a pitiful expression. She looked like a little cat having made a mistake.


    Achi did not know how to react to his daughter''s cute expression. He could never resist when she would do that face, "Go back to mother, I will come soon!"


    "Ok" Mira looked reluctant to go but as she saw the group of players looking at her, she understood the situation and quickly disappeared.


    "Sorry for that!" said Achi who returned to his serious expression.


    "Haha, that''s fine. We are done here. T know that Chief has a lot of work to do."


    "Thank you for understanding. Feel free to spend the night at our tribe! We will have a feast tonight!" declared Achi.


    ...


    With the players gone, the barbarians held an emergency meeting!


    "Explain what happened! It is not normal for all of you to be forced to take a bath," exclaimed Achi. He had already obtained a short explanation from his wife, but it was better to hear it from the mouth of the children!


    Many other couples were also looking at the group of 20 children standing in the middle of the place.


    Zeke, who was the leader of this group, quickly stepped forward, "It''s like that." With this simple sentence, Zeke took out a bag and opened it; a few pieces of rock instantly dropped on the ground.


    "What is that? Where did you pick this trash?" asked the adults as they grabbed the rocks to examine them.


    They all noticed that the rocks were not normal; they could see the shiny glow on them, but they did not know what they were. The only thing they immediately recognized was coal!


    "Coal?" asked one of the barbarians.


    "Yes! You remember the small cave we found yesterday that we went to explore this morning? This cave is full of coal and rocks like this. In fact, some of them were embedded in the walls of the cave and we could not take them out!" explained Zeke.


    "Full of coal? You mean the cave is a coal mine?" exclaimed one of the barbarians.


    At the same time, an elder voice was heard, "Cough cough! What is happening there? Why are you having a village meeting?"


    Everyone was stunned at the old dishevel appearance. The old man''s skin looked pale and thick dark circles could be seen under his eyes. It was clear that that person did not see the sun for days!


    "Ah Great Elder!" exclaimed one of the barbarians in shock.


    Achi noticed the arrival of the elder and quickly opened the way for him. "Great Elder, look at what the children brought! There''s some trash but look, they found coal and they say there''s a cave full of it," respectfully said Achi.


    The great elder was one of the few people with who Achi was extremely careful and respectful. He was well aware of the achievement of that person in his youth and more importantly, that person was currently the Shaman of the tribe!


    The old man looked weak and had to use a cane to walk. But to everyone''s surprise, the Shaman suddenly raised his cane and smacked Achi''s head!


    The latter was surprised but he did not dare to dodge. He could only close his eyes a loud "Pak!" sounded across the place.


    "Idiot! What piece of trash!? Can''t you see that these are Iron Ores!!! I know the Black Iron Tribe had declined since we moved from away from the mountains, but I did not know we have fallen so low that the chief would not even recognize an ore!!! Do you think we are called the Black Iron Tribe for nothing!"

 Chapter 50: Story of the Black Iron Tribe

    "Ah, great elder... Please give me some face!" pleaded Achi with a low voice.


    "Hmmp! Anyway, let me have a closer look," declared the Shaman. All the Barbarians moved aside, allowing the old man to pick up the "Trash".


    The crowd held their breath, they did not really understand what was happening but according to the tone of the Shaman, these rocks might be extremely valuable. The children were impatiently looking at the old man as he was picking each ore one by one and closely examining them.


    "Not only are they iron ores, but they are also high-grade ones!" exclaimed the Shaman as a bright glow appeared in his eyes. "Children! Quick, tell me where you found these." He turned towards the children next to their parents and looked at them with expectations.


    The parents quickly urged the children to speak but seeing the Shaman look at them with this strange glow, all the children were scared witless. They were usually not only respectful of the Shaman but also scared of him; there have been cases in the past where some perfectly healthy children would go into the Shaman''s tent and come out either physically or mentally disabled.


    Rumors said that the Shaman used the children as test subjects for his strange experiments and each year, one child would be chosen to go through all these tests. It was usually the naughtiest child but just the fact that the Shaman "tortured" other children was enough to leave traces of fear in the children''s mind.


    Now that the old man was looking at them with the same eyes as he had when he picked the annual child for his experiment, the children could not help but cower in fear. They were previously courageous and daring to explore the cave but in front of that old man, they immediately hid behind their mother''s figure. It was a funny sight as in some cases, some boys had larger frames than their mother.


    "Cough Cough, great elder. We just found a cave near the waterfall and decided to explore it this morning. There are a few rocks like these ones and coal in there, but the tunnels are not very wide," answered Zeke with a nervous expression. Nobody noticed it, but Zeke''s mother discreetly pinched him and forced him to step forward.


    "At the waterfall? That''s not very far..." mumbled the Shaman. He stared at the children for a moment before saying: "Good good! You all did a great job! All the children will receive a Body Strengthening Potion as a reward! But from now on, you are all forbidden from going there!"


    "A Body Strengthening Potion? Thank you, great elder, thank you!"


    Quickly, all the parents gratefully bowed to the Shaman; they clearly knew the value of a Body Strengthening Potion. It was a rare potion that could improve their strength. Although the improvement was not ground-breaking, it was still significant and was necessary if one wanted to become a prominent figure in the tribe.


    As for the parents of the obedient children who did not go to explore the cave, they could only grind their teeth. Body Strengthening Potions were rare such that only 20 could be produced per year and now, it seemed that the entire annual reserve was already spent.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Achi! Follow me. There is something I need to show you. Also... Send someone to fetch the guys that are hunting. There is something more important to do!" declared the Shaman.


    "Alright! You guys quickly go to the forest and look for Toba and the others!" said Achi as he followed behind the old man making his way back to his tent.


    ...


    In the Shaman''s tent, a strong pungent smell was lying all over the place. Strange objects and materials could be seen everywhere. Achi calmly sat in the middle of the mess while the Shaman was rummaging through the pile of stuff.


    "D*mn... Where is it?"


    Hearing the shaman complaint, Achi asked, "Father. Are you looking for something?" When they were in private, Achi did not need to call him "Great elder" anymore; he could drop the formalities.


    "Ah! There it is!" exclaimed the Shaman and a few seconds later, he took out a huge bag made of animal fur. The bag looked heavy but despite his small frame, the old man easily lifted it up and dropped it in front of Achi.


    The old man looked abnormally energetic and excited. He usually looked stern and depressed, like a walking zombie but since he came back to his tent, he was emitting a strange aura. It had been years since Achi last saw his father act this way; it was to the point that he was doubting if it was a good or bad thing.


    "You did a good job in dealing with the townsmen but the iron ores the children found is the real deal! Listen, before you were born, the Black Iron Tribe did not live there. We used to live further north, near the mountains. We were a powerful tribe who controlled many mines and had access to a lot of resources. At that time, I was only a child, but I could tell our status, we did not need to hunt and instead did a lot of trading with the other tribes."


    "We were in fact, the number one tribe of the barbarians! And that was all due to our forging techniques. The Black Iron Tribe was famous for its weaponsmiths, such that even the townsmen lowered their head to make deals with us. Unfortunately, it was precisely these techniques that led to our fall. When the war broke out, we naturally became one of the prime targets of the townsmen; our weapons were too dangerous. I watched as my friends and family died one by one."


    "In the end, we decided to migrate far away and leave behind everything to start a new life. This is when we, the once famous black iron tribe was reduced to a normal tribe that can barely sustain itself through hunting. We decided to forget about forging and live a peaceful life, but the fact remains that forging was once part of our culture!"


    "The ancestors could not bear to completely abandon our roots and as we moved there. The tribe¡¯s knowledge was recorded on these animal skins. Some of them are simply information about the different ores and weapons we once forged but some of them are also our ancient forging techniques."


    "Although we once said that we will forget forging, times are changing. If we do not do anything, the black iron tribe might very well disappear. I am giving all these documents to you and I hope that you make good use of them. The mine the children discovered is a real treasure. With it, we might not even need to trade with the townsmen."


    "The choice is yours, but I would suggest that once Toba and the others come back, you lead an expedition to explore the mine!" said the Shaman. After the long explanation, the old man sat down and looked at his son. In his eyes, the light of hope could be seen; while he said that he was allowing his son to choose, deep inside, he was hoping to see the black iron tribe prosper once again and return to its previous peak state.


    Achi calmly listened to his father. It was rare for the old man to be so excited.


    "Father, I know what you are thinking... But don''t you think it is strange for it to be a mine here that we never discovered before? As far as I am aware, it has been 70 years since we moved here but how is it possible that in all this time, a mine was lying just a few hundred meters from here?" said Achi. He was looking at his father with a strange expression. He could clearly tell what his father wanted but he was reluctant to do so.


    The tribe had already adapted to its new lifestyle. It would be hard to shift from hunting to forging in just a few days. The change was too drastic, and he was certain that the tribesmen would not be willing to get out of their comfort zone.


    "It is possible that our ancestors simply missed it. According to the children, the cave was quite well hidden!"


    "..."


    "..."


    "Sigh... Alright, I will give it a try, but the tribe will still rely on hunting for now. We don''t know if this cave is safe. Even if the children did not encounter anything, we can only be certain if we explore it ourselves," said Achi. In the end, he chose to comply with his father''s wishes. The Shaman had never been wrong in his decision making and when he saw the expecting look of his father, Achi simply could not say no.


    The Shaman let out a rare smile. "I can guarantee that going back on the path of forging is the right decision. It will be hard at first, but it is the only way for us to move forward. Our daily catch became scarcer and scarcer recently. Our intensive hunting might have hurt the forest..."

 Chapter 51: Skeletons

    Five was anxiously waiting at the end of the labyrinth. It has been two hours since the children safely left the cave but until now, no one came back. "Did these children keep the ores to themselves?"


    The children spent about two hours in the dungeon which resulted in 7500 DP. This small influx of DP was greatly welcomed by Five. He was in desperate need of more DP and was wondering if he made the right choice.


    The way he designed the second floor was extremely expensive; normally, he would simply use DP to remove the dirt and create tunnels and rooms which would cost about 3000 DP. But Five went for a greedier design and created a large room which drastically increased the cost. Adding in the cost of the labyrinth wall, this floor was as expensive as the higher floors of Kroff''s dungeon.


    With the 7500 DP, his balance was back to 17500 DP and was ready to spend them; he needed to summon some skeletons to protect his dungeon! The reason Five did not immediately summon monsters was that he wanted to keep 10000 DP as an emergency reserve.


    Harpies were the most powerful monsters he could summon. They cost 10000 DP. In case a powerful barbarian was to come, he wanted to be ready to summon a harpy. Although harpies were usually summoned at level 20 and had growth potential, it was possible to summon one at level 33 but doing so would result in the harpy unable to level up anymore.


    Being able to summon harpies was his trump card and his last line of defense. He was naturally reluctant to summon a harpy whose level was capped but if his dungeon core was in danger, then he would have to.


    "Dreidus. I''ll summon 50 skeletons. Use them accordingly," said Five and quickly, his finger pressed the confirm button.


    A bright light shone as 50 silhouettes materialized themselves. 50 perfectly immobile skeletons stood in front of Five and Dreidus. They looked very similar to Dreidus¡¯ current appearance. They were slightly smaller, whiter and did not have bright lights in their eye sockets.


    The lich nodded, "I will immediately position them accordingly." He raised his hand and spoke with a hoarse voice in an unknown language. He walked right into the labyrinth and a few seconds later, all the 50 skeletons suddenly started to move and followed behind him.


    They strangely did not make any sound but the sight of a line of skeletons was quite creepy. Five nodded at the scene as he leaned against a wall to rest. Two floors were completed but he could not create the 3rd one yet.


    "I hope it will be enough, I wonder where the children are..."


    Lumen was quietly flying around Five. She gently landed on Five''s knee and closed its eyes to sleep. Five was amused at the scene but he allowed the firefly queen to do what it wanted. The queen felt more like a pet than a monster; Five had no reason to push her away.


    He sat down and opened his interface. A notification could be seen that 50 skeletons were bought, and on the map, he could see green dots moving around the second floor. The dots represented the skeletons. He saw the skeletons divide themselves into groups of 2 or 3 and a few roamed the labyrinth alone.


    The way they divided themselves were based on their levels. Compared to the other types of monsters, some undead did not have a fixed level. For skeletons, when they were summoned, their level was randomly generated; their levels could lie anywhere between 10 and 16 but the majority were at level 13. The levels could be described by a Gaussian distribution. According to the lore, the skeleton''s level would depend on what it did when it was still alive.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    A single skeleton would cost 100 DP which was quite cheap for a level 13 monster but that was because skeletons needed weapons to display their real potential. Even cheap daggers or swords could increase their lethality but right now, Five could not afford them. Even without weapons, the skeletons could still prove to be a threat to the children and players.


    As for the reason Five summoned only 50 of them, that was simply because despite being undead monsters, skeletons still needed to feed themselves. They were different from other monsters who literally needed to eat food; skeletons simply needed to absorb dark energy to restore themselves and that energy was provided by the dungeon. One skeleton would typically absorb 10 DP''s worth of dark energy daily.


    It was the same for Dreidus, he only needed to absorb energy, but he naturally needed a more substantial amount.


    An hour later, Dreidus finally came back.


    "Master, the skeletons are well scattered now, I spread them in such a way that the group of skeletons can help each other!"


    "Good job, I already looked at the map. It looks alright, all we need now is to wait for the barbarians to come," said Five.


    ...


    Another hour went by and according to the interface, it was already noon and Five bought some food from the dungeon shop. It was cheaper to purchase ingredients and make his own food but unfortunately, Five was a horrible cook. He could only buy some ready-made meal for 10 DP.


    At that moment, the interface in front of Five finally showed some movements. On the screen, a group of tall and burly barbarians could be seen just outside of the entrance. Leading them was a young man that previously explored the dungeon. Five immediately recognized him since he looked like the one who was making all the decisions for the children.


    "They are finally here... Fiouf, I really thought everything was going to go to waste." Five heaved a sigh of relief. It was yet another gamble he took when choosing this location. There was no guarantee the children would bring back their parents there but, in the end, it paid off.


    At the entrance of the dungeon, Zeke stopped and pointed at the small hole. "It''s in there. Beyond this hole, there''s a long tunnel and it is where we found the rocks!"


    "Good job my son!" loudly declared Toba as he tapped his son''s back.


    "Pak!" While it was not intentional, the light pat looked more like a horrifying slap that could disable normal people.


    Without waiting, Toba took off the huge hammer behind his back and dropped it on the ground. "You all take a step back. I''ll make a real entrance for us! There is no way I''ll crawl to get in this sh*t hole!"


    There was a total of 20 barbarians behind Toba. They all backed off a few meters. They were previously hunting and carried bows and spears but after speaking with the Shaman and Achi, about half of them were not carrying hammers and old pickaxes. Compared to their usual weapons, these tools looked like they were purchased at a clear off sale; some rust could be seen on the pickaxes as the handle of the hammers looked completely distorted.


    However, despite their appearance, the tools were extremely resistant.


    "Boom! Boom Booomm!!"


    Toba flexed his muscles and violently swung his hammer a few times. Everyone watched as he slowly widened the entrance; the wall of the cliff was not very resistant and, in a few seconds, the entrance became wide enough to allow Toba and the other barbarians to casually enter the cave.


    "Now that''s better! Let''s go!" shouted Toba. He did not look tired at all after swinging the heavy hammer a few times and quickly made his way into the tunnel.


    While the entrance was enlarged, it was not the case for the rest of the tunnel. Toba, who was taller than an NBA player would often have to lower his head along the tunnel. But the real problem arose at the intersection where the children marked the entrance with the direction they should take.


    When they looked at the tunnel the children picked, they could see that it was slowly shrinking. It was not a problem for the children but for adult barbarians, it would be a hassle to go this way.


    "Anyway! Since you guys already explored this one, let''s have a look at the other!" said Toba. Fortunately, there was still the other tunnel which was larger and did not seem to become smaller.


    The other barbarians quickly nodded. They also did not want to have to bend or crawl down. They followed Toba who was opening the way with a large burning torch. Compared to those used by the children, these torches were much larger and even looked more like cudgels; they emitted more light, allowing the barbarians to see farther away.


    ...


    On the second floor, Five and Dreidus was quietly watching the barbarians as they made their way through the tunnels.


    "Dreidus, do you think the skeletons would be able to stop the barbarians?" asked Five. On the screen, he could see that even the weakest barbarian was already level 20 while the strongest one, Toba, was level 32.


    "They will definitely lose in a one vs one but as a team, in the labyrinth, they might be able to kill some. As for stopping all twenty of them, skeletons alone would definitely not be enough," answered Dreidus with his usual emotionless voice.


    Five nodded. "Got it, a few should be enough then!"


    Saying that, he gently nudged Lumen who was silently sleeping, "Wake up Lumen. It''s your time to shine!"

 Chapter 52: Use of the fireflies

    "Hahaha! It is true! There are a lot of ores there!" exclaimed Toba!


    Ten minutes elapsed since the barbarians entered Five''s dungeon and after following the long tunnel, they came across several intersections. Some of the tunnels were smaller and the barbarians directly ignored them, but others were of the same size as the same tunnel.


    Since their task was just to explore the mine and ensure that it is a safe place, the barbarians decided to split into different groups and right now, they were separated in 3 groups; one of 10 barbarians and two of 5 barbarians. They simply split into two when they met an intersection.


    Although only ten minutes have passed, Toba already came across an iron ore embedded in the wall. It only took a few swings of the pickaxe to pull it out. He did not really understand the importance of these pieces of rock, but he knew he needed to bring as much as possible back to the village. Both the Shaman and Achi heavily emphasized this; they did not need to take a lot of risks and just needed to explore this place and bring back the ores and coals they would find.


    "Let''s quickly continue!" said Toba. The other 9 barbarians quickly followed. After another 20 minutes, they already collected another ore and 2 pieces of coal. In fact, they could have collected much more if they went into the small tunnels; whenever they would see another tunnel, the group would usually try to see as far as possible inside and often, they would catch a glimpse of something shiny. But due to their large frame, they did not really want to do so and decided to come back later; it was not like the ores would suddenly disappear.


    Zeke was walking just behind his dad, "Ah, those annoying fireflies... Go away!" said Zeke with an annoyed expression. He violently clapped his hand right on top of a small firefly and instantly squished it.


    "F*ck those insects... Why are there so many of them..."


    When he first came to the mine, Zeke naturally encountered some fireflies but this time, it looked like there were so many of them! More importantly, he felt like he was being targeted by the fireflies as they would often fly around him. Some even tried to land on his arm and were violently killed by the young barbarian.


    The other barbarians would simply laugh at the sight of Zeke venting his anger at the small fireflies.


    Very soon, they came across yet another intersection.


    "Let''s divide into two groups. Baltra, choose your men," said Toba. Baltra was another barbarian but compared to the others, he was not burly or muscular but had a slimmer figure. He was, in fact, a powerful ranger; his shots would always be accurate to the point that the other barbarians would often just have to pick up the dead preys.


    Baltra could be considered as the second in command of the team and everyone respected him despite his appearance. "I choose you, you..." Quickly, Baltra picked four barbarians.


    "Alright! You guys go into this tunnel. You know what to do. No matter what, return at the entrance in three hours. Also, don''t divide again."


    "Got it!"


    Baltra and his men quickly disappeared in the dark tunnel. Aside from their loud steps, Zeke heard one of them comment, "What a pity, it would have been nice to stay next to Firefly man; with him, we don''t even need a torch, hahaha"If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    His expression turned gloomy, but his father tapped his back, "Let''s go, we don''t have much time left!"


    ...


    30 minutes later, Toba''s group now had 5 iron ores in their hands. They kept all the ores and coals they picked in a bag of animal fur which Zeke carried. Two fireflies were circling around him and although he kept pushing them away, they would simply come back and continue to annoy him.


    "Zeke, stop being so agitated, it''s just some insects!"


    "You are not the one targeted by them," answered Zeke as he continued to try to get rid of the fireflies. But with one hand occupied by the bag, he could no longer kill them easily. The other barbarians did not bother to help him and instead use him more as a distraction.


    But suddenly, while Zeke was wildly swinging his free hand, the two fireflies stopped circling around him and instead both flew away in front of the group. Zeke was puzzled, the fireflies had been harassing him for a long time but now, they suddenly chose to leave.


    The fireflies emitted a bit of light and could easily be seen in this dark tunnel. They were about to disappear at a turn when a brighter light appeared there.


    Toba and the other barbarians became cautious. They immediately drew their weapons, ready to strike at any time. The light at the turn was becoming brighter and brighter as if the light source was getting closer but they could not hear any footsteps.


    "Baltra! Is that you? Don''t scare us like that!" asked Toba as he observed the turn at the end of the tunnel. He thought that the two tunnels could simply reconnect at some point and therefore, it was possible that it was simply Baltra.


    The two fireflies could clearly be seen as they started to dance in mid-air and a few seconds later, the barbarians finally saw the light source. They were surprised to see a group of fireflies suddenly appear at the turn and join the two fireflies in their dance.


    "What is happening? Why is there so many of these?" said Zeke, he was anxious as the thought, that all these fireflies would dance around him, crossed his mind.


    "Calm down son, look carefully! There''s a bigger one in this group!" calmly said Toba. He was holding his usual heavy ax in one hand and a lighted torch in the other.


    Hearing his father, Zeke focused on the fireflies and effectively, he noticed that one of them was at least 5 times larger than the other. All the other fireflies seemed to be dancing around the bigger one.


    After a few seconds, the group of fireflies flew back to where they came from. They disappeared at the turn, but the barbarians could still see the light they were emitting.


    "What was that? There is a whole colony of these fireflies?" asked one of the barbarians.


    "I thought this place was deserted but if there are creatures like fireflies. There should be more things deeper like plants and water for them to survive!" said Toba. He did not know much about fireflies but if there is life, there should also be food and water not far away.


    "Let''s follow them then. At least, we won''t be exploring randomly anymore," commented another barbarian.


    Toba looked at his son who clearly did not want anything to do with fireflies anymore before saying, "That''s a good idea!"


    Quickly, the barbarians made their way through the tunnels, following the fireflies was easy. They were not very fast and were very visible. In just a few seconds, the barbarians were now walking just a few meters away from the fireflies.


    "Do we really need to stay near these insects?" asked Zeke who was worried that they might suddenly choose to attack him again.


    "Zeke! You are a man. How can you be scared of insects..."


    His complaints were fruitless, and he could only quietly follow behind the fireflies. Strangely, the insects did not go into any of the smaller tunnels and kept picking the larger one whenever they would meet an intersection.


    They were flying at a relatively slow pace but in a little over 30 minutes, the group finally saw a change in the environment. The tunnel suddenly enlarged itself and turned into a large room. The place was deserted but at the end of the room, the barbarians could see stairs going down.


    They stared at the scene in amazement. This room was much larger than the tunnels and even looked like it was man-made.


    "Just what is this place? How come we never discovered it before?"


    As one of the barbarians were commenting, the group of fireflies suddenly sped up and disappeared down the stairs. It was so sudden that the barbarians could not even react


    ¡­


    On the second floor, Five was observing the barbarians'' movement. He was delighted to see them separate into groups as this was something he was hoping for. He wanted to lure some barbarians to the second floor to get some more DP by killing them; it might be a greedy attempt, but he could not remain eternally passive.


    He wanted to use this opportunity to send a strong message to the barbarians that the second floor and below were dangerous! It was clear that the barbarians were already interested in the mine and would come to collect the ores; this was something he easily determined by observing their behavior and how they picked every single ore they could reach.


    The ideal scenario for Five was to keep all the barbarians on the first floor but it was something impossible. Deterring the barbarians from moving to the next floors was his goal which is why he targeted the weakest member of the group which was Zeke.


    He asked Lumen to lure him down and use him as an example, but he never expected that the big boss of the barbarians, Toba would also form part of the same group. Luring Toba was the worst possible scenario. He was level 32 and could easily kill his way through the labyrinth!


    It was too late for regret, Five could only bite his nails as he anxiously observed the barbarians who were deciding on what to do next.

 Chapter 53: Going to the second floor

    "Dreidus. Make a few skeletons patrol near the entrance! Make it look like the labyrinth is full of skeletons and dangerous," said Five. He anxiously looked at the barbarians discussing among themselves.


    There was a high probability that they would take a look at the second floor and if he could make the place look menacing, it might deter them enough.


    "Yes master, that should be easy!" answered Dreidus and at the same time, he activated his skill, [Dead Mind].


    Five did not need to ask anything, he simply looked at the map and immediately saw the skeletons start moving. For extra precaution, he spent more DP and summoned 60 other skeletons but this time, he equipped them with a sword and a shield; 10 of them were even given helmets for additional protection.


    A little over an hour has passed since the barbarians came to the cave and already, Five''s DP increased by 14000. It was what Five was looking for; the barbarians were all relatively high-leveled and produced a lot of DP. If he could manipulate them to some extent, he could earn huge profits! It was a high-risk high reward decision.


    Unfortunately, 10000 DP instantly vanished as the new skeletons appeared in front of him. Although it might have been better to summon a different monster like a boss for the labyrinth, Five still felt like it was the right choice. With only 40 skeletons, the labyrinth was mostly empty. The 60 new ones would fill up a lot of the empty spaces.


    Under the guidance of Dreidus, the new skeletons quickly entered the labyrinth and started to patrol the corridors. With 100 skeletons, the labyrinth could not be considered well-guarded, but would it be enough to stop the barbarians?


    ...


    "Let''s go! These stairs are clearly man-made and that means that people lived there before. They probably left treasures and resources there, but we don''t know if there are any traps. But don''t fret, during all the time the tribe was there, we did not see anyone wandering in this region. That can only mean that the people who once lived there are most probably already dead and it should not be a problem for us!" declared Toba.


    It did not take long for the group to make a decision. Although this place looked strange, it was not in their nature to cower in fear. They were not scared of fighting the most powerful beasts of the forest, just exploring a cave should not be too hard, right?


    The five barbarians quickly walked down the stairs and closely observed their surroundings. Their weapons were drawn and ready to be used. In just a few seconds, they arrived on the second floor and stared at the new environment.


    It was not much different from the first floor in terms of appearance, but the tall brown walls did give off a strong impression. The walls simply looked like they did not belong to this world. The strange designs on them were slightly creepy and more importantly, the walls were emitting light! There were walls on both sides, acting like a corridor and just a few meters away, was an intersection.


    "Be careful and stay behind me!" said Toba. He was preparing to walk a step forward when suddenly, a shadow appeared at the intersection.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The barbarians tensed up and got into a defensive stance. They watched in silence as a skeleton appeared at the right corner. They simply did not know how to react; it was their first time seeing an undead.


    The skeleton did not look scary and did not even turn its head to look at the barbarians. It continued on its way and soon disappeared in the left corner. However, as soon as it disappeared from the view of the barbarians, two other skeletons emerged from the right corner and just like the first one, they lifelessly continued their patrol.


    These skeletons were the weakest of the labyrinth which was why they were positioned near the entrance. The barbarians did not feel any threats from the skeletons but seeing undead monsters for the first time still made an impact on them. The barbarians were still on their guards as they watched the skeletons walk on their way without a sound.


    However, something unexpected happened that sent chills down Zeke''s spine; just as the last skeleton was about to leave the barbarians'' sight, it suddenly stopped in the middle of the corridor.


    Slowly, the skeleton turned its skull and stared at the barbarians for a second. Zeke panicked when it saw the lifeless eye sockets look in his direction, but the other barbarians did not react. The skeleton only paused for a few seconds before following the other ones.


    "What is this place? Why are there skeletons there?" asked Zeke, his tone indicated his nervousness.


    While Zeke was shaken by the skeletons, the other barbarians displayed completely different expressions. "Is this one of the legendary dungeons!?" exclaimed one of the barbarians. He looked at the others unsure of himself.


    "It looks like a dungeon. Just like what the elders described. We struck gold!!" Toba shouted. Excitation was evident in his voice and it quickly spread to the other barbarians; they also became excited and eager to explore this place.


    The only one not sharing the excitement was Zeke. "Father... What is a dungeon? Why are you all like this?"


    "You don''t know? Dungeons are extremely rare! They are the source of wealth of the townsmen. I only heard about them from the great elder but apparently, dungeons contain a lot of resources like ores, plants and even monsters you can kill to gather materials. All towns are built around dungeons and since there is one so close to our village, we might soon be able to get the status of a town!" said Toba.


    Another barbarian quickly continued: "Your father is right. Among the barbarians, only one tribe in this region lives in a town and that is because they control a dungeon. With this, we might be able to elevate our status and become the second town. If we had a dungeon before, we would not have lost the war."


    "Let''s not waste any time. These skeletons do not look very strong. We might be able to conquer a few floors," said Toba.


    "Should we not go back and inform the others? A dungeon is a dangerous place. We don''t know what can happen," commented another barbarian. He was completely loyal to Toba but in this scenario, he valued his life and was reluctant to continue since he had already seen that monsters were there.


    Toba was not pleased with the barbarian''s behavior. "No! We are the first to come here. Think about all the things we can collect first! We will naturally share with the tribe but if we find some special unique items, we can keep them for ourselves!"


    Without waiting, Toba rushed forward and turned left where the skeletons went. The other barbarians could only follow their leader. They knew he was impulsive, but he was also the strongest among themselves.


    "Mark the way we are taking with the coal. We don''t want to get lost!" shouted one of the barbarians and quickly, Zeke took out a piece of coal and marked the wall.


    As Zeke and the other 3 barbarians turned left in the corridor, they were startled to find the 3 skeletons already lying dead on the floor. Toba was standing in the middle of the stack of bones left by the skeletons with his ax leaning on his shoulder.


    "Huh, this is too easy!"


    "Toba! Don''t rush. It''s a maze! We should mark our way to make sure we are able to come back!" said one of the barbarian. He was not worried that Toba would lose to the skeletons; he was more anxious at the idea of getting lost and wandering endlessly in the labyrinth.


    ...


    At the end of the second floor, Five was staring at the screen. He anxiously watched as Toba decapitated a skeleton with a single swing of his heavy ax. The attacks looked effortless and yet, the skeleton did not even survive.


    "Lumen! Did I not say to lure the weakest guy here? Why on earth did you bring this monster?" exclaimed Five.


    Lumen, who just arrived, looked at Five and felt wrong. She could not speak but her attitude and her eyes were clearly saying: "How is that my fault? You only told me to bring that guy and he is clearly there; you never mentioned anything about the big boss!"


    Lumen looked towards Dreidus asking for help, but the latter kept a straight face and ignored her. In the end, the firefly queen could only pitifully buzz.


    On the screen, Five felt his heart ache as he saw Toba and the rest of the barbarians make their way through the labyrinth. It did not matter if they encountered skeletons or not since none of them could even survive a single strike.


    The most worrying part was that the barbarians were actually taking the correct way! At this pace, if they continued to make the right choice, they might arrive at Five''s location in less than 30 minutes!

 Chapter 54: Battle form

    "Cling!"


    "Bang!"


    Five anxiously watched as Toba single-handedly smashed one of the skeletons with a helmet to the ground. It had already been 10 minutes since the barbarians entered the labyrinth and they were progressing faster than expected!


    None of the skeletons could stop the group and already, more than 20 were smashed to dust. Of the 5 barbarians, only three of them needed to act and that was only when they were attacked on both sides.


    Dreidus manipulated the skeletons to make them attack sneakily from behind but the barbarians were not taken by surprise.


    Now, it looked like they would reach Five''s location in less than 15 minutes and there was nothing they could do. The difference in level between the barbarians and the skeletons was simply too large and more importantly, the axes used by the barbarians were also of higher quality than the swords of the skeletons.


    While the skeleton with a helmet managed to survive 2 hits from Toba, it barely bought a few additional seconds.


    Five looked at Dreidus who was still completely calm. "Do you think you will be able to stop the barbarians?" asked Five. Seeing how calm he was, it felt like he was not even taking the barbarians seriously.


    "There is no guaranty." Dreidus gave out a short and direct answer which did not help at all.


    With a quick look at his balance, Five had 15000 DP and could summon some more monsters and even a harpy but from the looks of it, only a level 33 harpy might be able to stop Toba. But that was just statistically speaking; it was clear that Toba had some fighting experience and with the help of the other barbarians, the harpy might not last for long, especially in an environment like a labyrinth.


    Five thought quickly, he wanted to quickly open up the third floor which would cost 4000 DP. It looked like a waste but this way, he would not only be able to run further but also give a more favorable environment for the harpy to fight!


    Compared to the labyrinth, an open space was more appropriate for a harpy and if done appropriately, the stairs could be a good hunting spot for her. It would be harder for the barbarians to dodge her attacks and position appropriately on the stairs.


    While Five was racking his brain to find a solution, Lumen was not feeling any better. The poor firefly queen was pitifully buzzing on the floor next to Five''s knee.


    Soon, the barbarians arrived at the central place of the labyrinth. It was not positioned exactly at the center but acted like a central hub which was connected to several other corridors. Five planned to use the center as a resting place and possibly put a treasure there in the future.


    The barbarians either already knew this place or were simply too lucky; not once did they take a wrong turn.


    If Five did not do anything now, it would be too late. Having already thought about it, he opened the interface and was about to unlock the third floor but at that moment, Dreidus calmly stood up.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "Master, leave it to me. Although I am not at my peak yet, I should be able to deal with those barbarians!"


    Hearing that, Five was stunned. He never expected Dreidus to say something like that. He was only level 20; fighting level 30 barbarians was equivalent to suicide! He knew that boss monsters would simply revive later but he felt inhuman at the idea of using them as sacrificial pawns. In the end, that was the concept of a dungeon; to send monsters to their death and become stronger.


    "Don''t do something stupid, Dreidus! Stay behind, I will summon a harpy to deal with them, it would be efficient and safe this way, you can help her when she will battle the barbarians," said Five.


    However, instead of complying, Dreidus shook his head, "I know that summoning a harpy now might not be beneficial to the dungeon. I will ask you to trust me. You already summoned skeletons for me to command and I will make sure to stop these barbarians there."


    "Although I am only level 20 now, remember that I was much stronger than that and even if my body is now weak, I still have the knowledge I acquired through all these years. Also... There is something you don''t know about boss monsters and I think it is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate that."


    For the first time, there seemed to be some emotions in Dreidus voice. It was a strange mixture of melancholy, sadness, pain and at the same time some excitement.


    "Something I don''t know?" asked Five with suspicion.


    "Well, it''s not true for all boss monsters but you will see. It''s better to demonstrate than to explain it... Please allow me to go."


    "If you are confident you can win this battle, then go," said Five. He was curious about what secret the boss monsters could have and also, he felt that he should trust his monsters more. It was the foundation of his dungeon; if he could not even trust the monsters he raised, then he would go nowhere.


    "Win? I cannot say I am confident of that... But stopping them should be fairly easy..."


    ...


    With Dreidus gone, Five could only wait and see the results. He needed to trust his monster but could not help but feel the tension building up inside of him.


    He quickly opened the interface and looked at the map. The skeletons of the labyrinth were slowly making their way towards the center under the orders of Dreidus.


    "I hope Dreidus knows what he is doing."


    On the screen, the barbarians took a quick rest and reviewed their harvests. In addition to the ores and coals, they also picked up the equipment dropped by the skeletons upon death. Although these swords were of bad quality, it was still metal and could be used to trade.


    Furthermore, the barbarians also collected the bones of the skeletons. They could pick up one or two bones from the skeletons before the rest of the body would suddenly turn into dust and slowly disappear. Skeleton bones were actually useful items that were different from human bones. They were commonly used when crafting poison since they contained a trace of dark energy which was an excellent catalyst.


    In front of Five, several screens were opened: one focusing on the barbarians, one on Dreidus and one representing the map of the second floor. At the moment, Five was focusing on Dreidus; he was very curious about what he could be hiding.


    Dreidus was quickly making his way towards the barbarians, using the Necromancer''s Death Wand as a cane. While he looked carefree, he was actually coordinating all the other skeletons, making sure they were ready to intervene at his call.


    "Master! I know you are watching. Please excuse me for not telling you about it earlier but I also only just learned about it. It is a strange power that I only obtained upon becoming one of your monsters.¡±


    "..."


    "Well, enough talking. I have never been a man of many words when I was alive," said Dreidus. At the same time, he arrived at an intersection and as soon as he turned left, he would come into view of the barbarians.


    Suddenly, the cold and dark aura around Dreidus changed. A strange green light appeared around him as the light in his eye sockets became brighter. A sudden air current started to swirl around him, carrying the green light and slowly, Dreidus got off the ground. The air around Dreidus completely changed; it was as if a spectral aura was looming over him.


    Something in Dreidus suddenly ignited and a green transparent flame completely covered the whole skull. Around the rest of his body, the green light slowly solidified, forming a ghastly mantle, just like a necromancer''s robe. On the screen, Five felt like Dreidus was now a completely different monster.


    "Master... This is... my Battle form..."


    "1 minute... 1 minute is my limit..."


    "But to deal with those pathetic humans, 1 minute is more than enough!!!"


    ...


    At the end of the labyrinth, even Five was stunned by the sudden change in Dreidus. His battle form really looked much more powerful and threatening; compared to his previous skeletal appearance, he now looked like a real lich!


    He had to admit that Dreidus now even looked a bit scary but with a quick look at the interface, Five did not see any change in Dreidus'' stats; it was as if only the physical appearance changed but not the stats.


    However, Five also felt that his connection with Dreidus became stronger! He was not confident in his judgment, but it felt like the Dungeon Core was now supplying Dreidus with this new strength.


    "I hope that Dreidus will be fine..." quietly said Five as he stared at the screen. It was obvious that this strength had a cost; from Dreidus'' tone, it felt like he was in pain and struggling to contain something.


    Especially the last sentence he spoke; it was as if he suddenly unleashed the mad bloodthirsty personality he was hiding.

 Chapter 55: Battle of the Labyrinth (1)

    At the center of the labyrinth, Toba and the other barbarians immediately felt the change. Everything was calm until suddenly, a powerful ghastly aura appeared right at the corner of the corridor they were about to take.


    Barbarians were people who relied a lot on their instincts. They spent most of their time in the wild and were very keen on estimating threats. When they felt that dark spectral aura, they immediately knew that something dangerous was coming; their instincts were screaming to them to avoid fighting.


    Even though Toba did not feel completely overpowered by the aura, his instincts were telling him that the being that was coming could be as strong as himself. In this scenario, he was confident in his own strength, but what if his son was targeted! He could defend himself, but he could not protect his son at the same time.


    "Zeke, you go back and warn the others about this."


    "What? How can I go back now?" exclaimed Zeke. He was not stupid and knew something powerful was coming but wasn''t he already strong? Wasn''t he the strongest of the young generation?


    Toba looked at his son. "Zeke, go now. If you go, next week I''ll go to the Scarlet Crows Tribe to officially match you with that girl!"


    Hearing that, Zeke froze. He clearly knew what his father was talking about but his behavior was strange. In the past few weeks, he had been completely against him marrying someone from the Scarlet Crows Tribe saying that it was an inferior tribe but now, he suddenly changed his mind?


    "What is happening, what can this thing be to make you want me to leave so badly?" asked Zeke. It was the first time his father was actually behaving like this. Normally, apart from the marriage with the Scarlet Crows Tribe, his father would always side with him and back him up, even if he wanted to do something reckless like cliff diving from the waterfall or come to hunt with him.


    Yet, as soon as he felt this aura, his father''s attitude completely changed to the point that he even took out the marriage card to make him leave.


    "Zeke! Leave quickly! It''s an order!!!" angrily shouted Toba. He did not have any more time to look after his son. In front of him, a ghastly tall figure covered with a green glow suddenly appeared. A transparent mantle was covering its body but the skeleton behind it could clearly be seen. Its skull was ablaze while in his right hand, was a long gloomy scepter.


    "Be careful! It''s a lich!" shouted one of the barbarians on the side.


    Without warning, the lich suddenly pointed its wand towards the barbarians and activated a skill, [Mortal Coil]


    A green jet of light suddenly shot out of the wand and flew in a straight line. It looked like a living green skull ready to devourer anything on its path; as it was flying, it left behind a faint green light.


    Although the lich''s move was fast, the barbarians reacted accordingly. Toba violently swung his ax, slicing the flying skull in two but as soon as it shattered, the skull released a potent green gas towards the group of barbarians.


    "Cough Cough! What the hell is that!?" exclaimed one of the barbarians.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    As for Toba who took the brunt of the gas, he simply ignored it and instead asked, "Is Zeke gone?"


    "I already pushed him away as soon as the lich appeared. I told him to inform the others! It looks like he is gone for now!"


    Toba nodded gratefully. With his son gone, he could finally focus entirely on fighting this monster, "Good! Let''s do our best then!"


    Without a warning, he broke into a sprint and charged towards the lich. There was about 20m separating the two parties and no matter how fast Toba was, he could not cover that distance before the lich activated another skill:


    [Rise of the Dead]


    Instantly, 3 dark runes appeared between Dreidus and Toba and moments later, they disappeared as abruptly as they appeared only to be replaced by 3 tall skeletons. Compared to the other skeletons of the dungeon, these three were taller and were wearing a complete set of armor. Under their armor, their bones could be seen as they were shining with a deadly green glow.


    "Tak"


    As soon as the skeletons appeared, an arrow penetrated the skull of the middle one. But aside from forcing the skeleton to take a step back, the arrow had absolutely no effect. It instead turned its attention towards Toba who was charging forward.


    The barbarian at the back cursed. His arrow was aimed at the lich but unexpectedly, that skeleton appeared in the middle of the trajectory and completely blocked it. The other two barbarians closely followed behind Toba.


    The barbarian at the back, grabbed a second arrow as he observed the lich, looking for an opening. Suddenly, he felt a chill down his spine and turned, only to see a group of 3 skeletons making its way towards him.


    "D*mnit!" He loudly cursed and could only focus his attention on the newly arrived skeletons.


    Toba wildly swung his ax, pushing away the skeletons in front of him. Although he used all his strength, the skeleton managed to survive the attack and only fell down. The other two barbarians quickly engaged the rest of the skeletons to keep them away from Toba.


    At that moment, they heard the archer''s curses. With a quick look at each other, the two barbarians took a decision; one of them retreated to help the archer while the other continued to deal with the skeletons.


    ...


    After pushing the skeleton out of his way, Toba quickly arrived in front of Dreidus who was still emotionlessly watching the scene.


    Toba grinned and jumped while activating his own skill, [Hack of the Wild]


    The giant ax seemed to become even bigger and start to shine with a yellow glow. It violently swung towards Dreidus'' rib cage but the latter did not even try to dodge.


    Dreidus kept floating where he was and waited for Toba to strike him. His lifeless eyes watched as the giant ax was rushing towards him.


    At the very last moment, the Necromancer''s Death Wand shone; a thin, almost undetectable line appeared between Dreidus and Toba.


    [Primal Link]


    At the same time as Toba''s ax smashed through Dreidus'' rib cage, the skill was activated and took effect.


    "-225"


    "-75"


    Toba suddenly felt an unbearable pain on his side; it was so prominent that he could not help but close his eyes and weaken his grip on his ax which was still embedded in Dreidus'' rib cage. When he looked at the lich, coincidentally, he was feeling an indescribable amount of pain coming from the same spot where he hit Dreidus.


    [Primal Link]


    Links the user to a target. The target shares the damage taken by the user in the ratio: user: 75%, Target: 25%


    Duration: 1s


    Mana Cost: 150 MP


    Cooldown: 4 minutes


    Without this skill, Dreidus would not have survived even one attack from Toba. Even with the skill, his HP dropped down significantly; he now only had 135 HP left.


    As Toba was stunned and distracted by the sudden pain he received, Dreidus quickly activated yet another skill: [Death''s Stare]


    [Death''s stare]


    Stuns the target who meets the user''s eyes for 10 seconds, apply "Terrified" status.


    Duration: 10s


    Mana Cost: 200 MP


    Cooldown: 6 minutes


    As soon as Toba recovered from the pain and opened his eyes to look at the situation, the first thing he saw was the deep green light swirling around the lich''s eye sockets. As he saw them, he was unable to look away. As much as he tried, he simply could not move his sight or even just close his eyes.


    He felt absorbed by the bright light and suddenly his surroundings completely changed; he found himself standing in the middle of a village on fire. In front of him, he saw his son and his wife screaming in fear. They were standing in the middle of a green fire, attached to some wooden pillar, as a group of fire imps was dancing around them. The scene looked like a sacrificial ceremony and obviously, his family was the sacrifice.


    "Ahhh"


    "Help me!! Father!!"


    Toba heard his family scream for help as the scorching flames were slowly licking their lower body. He desperately tried to rush to their help but no matter how hard he tried, he could not move his body.


    He wanted to shout and help his family. However, his body was completely immobile, not responding to his instructions. All he could do was stare at the scene as his wife and son screamed in pain and struggled to free themselves.


    "Toba! Toba!"


    "See what happens when you are so reckless!"


    "Father! Help!"


    Shouts rung in Toba''s mind but no matter how he struggled, he still could do nothing but watch the scene in front of him unfold.

 Chapter 56: Battle of the Labyrinth (2)

    In the Labyrinth, Toba was motionlessly standing in front of Dreidus. His hand was still grabbing his ax but his face was devoid of expression; a strange light appeared in his pupils and took the form of skulls.


    With Toba now completely out of the battle for 10 seconds, Dreidus quickly attacked.


    [Life Drain]


    Quickly, Dreidus'' HP started to regenerate while Toba''s was plummeting. Compared to the other skills used by Dreidus, this one was a low-level one and as a result, it did not have spectacular animations and did not cause much damage. But the reason he chose that skill was that it was the only one he knew that could restore his own health.


    Slowly, Dreidus'' HP went back to 200 while Toba''s dropped to 170. Toba was getting dangerously low on HP. If it continued like that, he would not last for long as there was still 5 seconds left on the stun.


    Fortunately, the other barbarian finished dealing with the skeletons summoned by Dreidus, "Toba! You filthy monster! What did you do to Toba?"


    He rushed towards Dreidus and swung his ax to interrupt the [Life Drain].


    Dreidus quickly stopped his skill and floated a few meters backward to avoid the ax.


    "Toba! Toba!!" As soon as Dreidus moved away, the barbarian quickly grabbed his leader and retreated a few steps. He shouted his name and violently shook him to try to wake him up but in vain.


    "D*mnit, how could even Toba fail!" cursed the barbarian. He clearly knew that his leader''s condition was only temporary and as long as he could protect him for a moment, then everything would be fine.


    Although barbarians were not the smartest people, when it came to fighting, it was like they were born for it. He already knew that the lich was severely injured and that just one or two strikes would be enough to finish it. He could naturally attempt to be the hero and take it down but doing so would expose Toba to his attacks. The safest option for him was to simply stall for time until Toba would be back up.


    However, Dreidus would naturally not let his plan succeed. While he was fighting, he was coordinating the skeletons, sending groups after groups to the two barbarians still at the center of the labyrinth to delay them.


    At the same time, two skeletons wearing helmets appeared behind his silhouette and started making their way toward the stunned Toba.


    On the clock, there were just 40 seconds left before Dreidus'' battle form would expire. He could not afford to waste any time.


    With two new skeletons helping him, he raised his finger and pointed it at Toba. As long as he took down the strongest member of the group, then his chances of winning would increase exponentially.


    The barbarian quickly noticed Dreidus'' action. He could only curse loudly but to protect Toba, he could not attack. Instead, he put back his ax on his back and grabbed Toba''s body with his 2 arms; this way, he would be able to dodge the next attack!


    He intently watched the lich''s finger move as his eyes suddenly became red.


    [Death Ray]


    The barbarian was already flexing his legs, ready to jump on the side to avoid the attack but he was totally stunned when he saw the lich''s move. Instead of targeting him and Toba, the [Death Ray] flew straight towards the central place of the labyrinth!If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    He wanted to shout to alert the others but when he turned his head to look at his friends, it was already too late.


    ...


    At the central place of the labyrinth, the archer was wildly shooting his arrows.


    "Tak Tak!"


    The skeletons were slow and were easy targets but despite not missing his shots, the skeletons did not seem very affected by the arrows. He needed at least 3 arrows to take down the skeletons and at this rate, even if he kept walking backward, the skeleton would catch up to him.


    However, he suddenly saw a shadow in the corner of his eye. The shadow went pass him and swung his ax in a circle, pushing away all the skeletons.


    "Thanks, Anken!" exclaimed the archer. He immediately recognized the barbarian who came to his rescue. The archer was delighted to receive some help but there was no time to rest. On the side, he could see more skeletons slowly making their way towards the two.


    The skeletons were timed such that as soon as they would defeat one, another one would emerge from one of the corridors such that both of them would be unable to focus on the lich.


    If they left this place, they might be cut off from the exit! Anken and the archer were feeling their frustration build up as more and more piles of bones were forming all over the place.


    Suddenly, instead of the usual one skeleton at a time, 5 skeletons appeared together. 4 of them walked together in a group while another one came out of another corridor in the distance.


    "Take care of the one at the back. I''ll deal with those four!" shouted Anken as he rushed towards the group of skeletons.


    The archer nodded and focused his fire towards the lonely skeleton. He was fully trusting his teammate as he knew his abilities; Anken was strong and only needed one hit, at most 2 hits to take down a skeleton and that was without using any skills.


    Anken stomped the ground and jumped to land right in the middle of the group of skeletons. They all immediately reacted and turned towards him, attacking from 4 different directions but at the same time, Anken activated his skill, [Tornado Cleave]


    He violently spun on himself, while holding his ax horizontally. By doing so, the ax would slice anything in a circle around him which was why he positioned himself right in the middle of the skeletons.


    The ax easily went through the first skeleton and sliced its body in two. Anken put in so much force that he did not feel any obstruction. Even as he was cutting through the rib cage of the skeleton, to Anken, it felt more like he was cutting through butter.


    The second skeleton did not last much longer. It was holding a shield and a sword but the items were nothing in front of Anken''s ax.


    However, as he was about to strike the 3rd skeleton, Anken suddenly caught sight of something red flying towards him. His instinct was warning him to dodge but it was too late; he was in the middle of a skill and no matter how hard he tried, it was impossible to stop it midway.


    "Boom!"


    Before Anken could take down the third skeleton, an explosion occurred on his chest as his body was blown away. An intense pain paralyzed his arms; he tried to open his eyes but all he saw was two shadows move in front of him.


    The next second, his two legs screamed in pain as the rest of his body convulsed.


    "Anken!!!"


    The archer screamed! He saw the entire scene play in front of him but was unable to react! After initiating his skill, Anken was suddenly hit by a red beam and his body was blasted away in the direction of the remaining two skeletons.


    When he saw that, the archer wanted to immediately shoot some arrows, but it was too late. The two remaining skeletons brought down their swords and sliced Anken¡¯s legs.


    In addition to the two bloody lines on his legs, Anken''s chest was completely exposed as a huge burn mark was imprinted on it. Despite all these injuries, the barbarian was still alive and struggling to survive; he had a lot of vitality but now, his HP was dangerously low.


    ...


    While this was happening, Dreidus was calmly floating in front of Toba and the other barbarian. Although it seemed like one of the barbarians was about to fall and that the balance was going to tip in his favor, it was not really the case.


    After using so many skills in quick succession, Dreidus'' mana pool was completely depleted. While he was just level 20, he had been using higher level spells which quickly used up all his mana. As a magic class, there was nothing worse than running out of mana.


    To add to the problems he had, the effects of [Death''s Stare] finally ran out and Toba could once again join in the fight.


    He woke up in a daze from the arms of the barbarians and quickly stood up. He was confused and disoriented at first but he quickly got himself together. Although his HP was already low, Toba felt like he had just been reborn. His face was displaying a renewed determination and courage. At the same time, he looked at Dreidus with intense hatred, like he had just seen his nemesis.


    "F*cking monster! How dare you try to trick me! I will let you experience the same things you showed me! Anyone who dares to threaten my family!!! I will exterminate them all!"


    ...


    At the end of the labyrinth, Five was looking at the fight anxiously. He was first surprised by Dreidus'' power and how despite the 10-level difference, he could deal with the barbarians. However, it was clear that he was at a disadvantage, he trusted Dreidus but no matter how he looked at it, it did not seem like he would be able to win!


    ¡®So this is the power of the monster that will match Harriet in the future. I suppose it was not too bad to let go of the harpies. The system really compensated me. The effects of his title are just too strong!¡¯


    [Survivor of Purgatory]


    Effect 1: Allows the title holder to keep the memories of his previous life, including skills and profession.


    Effect 2: Lowers all damage taken by 5%


    Effect 3: Increase the damage of all Dark attribute spells by 10%


    Dreidus was already out of mana while 3 barbarians were still able to fight without any problem. Furthermore, less than 50 skeletons were still alive after the massacre of the barbarians.


    "D*mn Dreidus! Looks like I''ll need to act myself! Since you already engaged in the battle, I might as well be there!" exclaimed Five. He hurriedly stood up and ran towards the labyrinth.


    Behind him, Lumen wore a confused look as she slowly flapped her wings to follow her master.

 Chapter 57: Battle of the Labyrinth (3)

    [Starlight Shot]


    As he saw Anken in danger, the archer wildly fired his arrows, finishing the lonely skeleton and immediately activated his skill. The arrow in his hand brightly shone and as it was released, it pierced through one of the skeletons, shattering the spinal cord in just one shot.


    He immediately drew another arrow and aimed at the other skeleton. However, even if the archer was fast, the second shot was not instantaneous.


    The few seconds it took for the archer to shoot the second arrow was all the time the second skeleton needed to once again swing his sword at Anken.


    The latter had already been severely injured and was weakened. He desperately tried to evade the attack but, in the end, he could only watch as the gloomy sword descended right on his neck.


    "Woosh!"


    At the same time, an arrow exploded the skeleton''s skull but Anken''s throat had already been slit open.


    "Anken!!!" The archer shouted as he rushed next to his friend''s side. It was the first time he was witnessing the death of one of his friends. Despite hunting almost every day in the wild, never did one of his comrades pass away during the hunt but now, seeing his friend lying on the floor, the poor archer did not know how to react.


    He felt both pained and frustrated at himself! If only they did not come here, Anken would have never suffered like this. If he was not so weak to have to rely on someone to fight the skeletons, Anken would still be alive and well!


    However, no matter how pained and troubled he was, he could not give up now. More skeletons were coming and if he did nothing, Anken might not be the only one to fall there!


    "Bastard! I will kill you all!!!"


    ...


    Meanwhile, Toba was rushing towards Dreidus with renewed strength, [Primal Instinct]


    Without hesitation, he activated his skill and increased both his awareness and dexterity. With a single swing of his ax, he decimated the 2 skeletons in front of him.


    The other barbarian was also closely following behind Toba, ready to provide assistance at any time.


    As for Dreidus, he was completely calm and if he still had a proper face, he would actually be smiling! The death of Anken was precisely what he was waiting for. He did not simply waste his mana to kill this barbarian!


    [Death''s feast]


    As soon as he saw Anken pass away, Dreidus immediately used the wand''s skill. Anken was a barbarian and therefore, did not have a huge mana pool but during the fight, he did not use a lot of skills which left him with a decent amount of mana at the time of his death.


    However, Dreidus was not targeting only Anken''s body! He was also targeting all the skeleton bodies around the place! Even if they only had a small amount of mana, considering that there was more than 20 skeleton remains nearby. Together, they still had a significant amount of leftover mana.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    In an instant, Dreidus'' mana shot up to 240 MP. He was now able to cast spells again and immediately retaliated.


    In his battle form, Dreidus was internally struggling. He overestimated himself. He believed that with all the spells he knew and the secret power he obtained from the dungeon core, he would be able to turn the tables. However, reality was cruel. It did not matter how much power he had, without mana, he was simply unable to use all his spells!


    He knew that he did not unleash the power he obtained yet and that was because he was scared of it! That power simply felt like a giant reservoir. Right now, he was standing in front of that reservoir and made a small opening, allowing a small stream of the water to flow out to satiate his thirst.


    He was greedy for more but if he made a larger opening, he might simply be flooded by the flow of power and drown into it. Even with the actual small stream, Dreidus was already feeling negative emotions building in him!


    At the moment, the power he was obtaining was simply increasing the strength of his magic attacks. It was why, despite being 10 levels behind the barbarians, he was able to take out three-quarters of Anken''s HP with just one attack.


    Dreidus knew he could replenish his Mana instantly by allowing more power to flow into him, but by doing so, he might not be able to control himself. He was facing the dilemma of taking in more power or fight with the remaining Mana he had.


    In the end, he made his decision just as Toba was about to slice him in two. "I already said I was not guaranteed to win. But as long as I stop them, it should be fine. Isn''t it just death? I won''t even need to go to the Purgatory this time. Since I am now linked to the dungeon core, Master will simply revive me later on!"


    As Toba''s ax was already slicing through the green mantle of light, Dreidus'' eyes suddenly shone! The green balls of light, turned completely black as he raised his hands towards the ceiling.


    [Death and Decay]


    Suddenly, a black ball appeared in front of Dreidus and as his body was sliced in two by Toba''s ax, the black ball detonated!


    A thick and pungent black gas emerged from the black ball and spread through the entire corridor. The cloud was so thick that Toba and the other barbarian were completed blinded.


    At the center of the labyrinth, the archer immediately noticed that something had happened. It was especially noticeable as the two skeletons that were walking towards him with their swords drawn, suddenly stopped for no reason.


    Despite being showered by the arrows until their death, the skeletons remained immobile. The archer was puzzled. He quickly finished off the skeletons and turned his attention to the corridor where the lich was.


    To his horror, he could not see anything! A black cloud suddenly appeared and completely covered that specific corridor. A few fumes of this black cloud were also escaping towards the center of the labyrinth.


    The archer got a bad premonition. His instincts were warning him to not touch that dark cloud at all cost! He could only stare at the corridor and shout: "Toba? Krishaw? Is everything alright?"


    The archer quickly looked around him and was relieved to find that no other skeletons were making their way towards him but internally, he was nervous! What could have happened to Toba and his other teammate?


    Suddenly, the thick cloud moved, and a tall figure rushed out of the thick cloud!


    As soon as he saw the person, the archer quickly rushed towards him to lend a hand, "Krishaw! Are you alright..."


    "Cough cough! Get away from me! Don''t touch me!! Cough Cough! We don''t know if this thing is contagious!" exclaimed the barbarian as soon as he emerged from the black cloud.


    As he stepped into the center of the labyrinth, Krishaw felt like all his forces had been drained. He mustered all his energy to escape from this black cloud and now, he could only let go as he body crumbled on the ground.


    The archer listened to Krishaw and stepped aside. He did not understand what was happening but a few seconds later, he understood why; Krishaw''s arms, legs, and even face were covered with black spots.


    The archer first thought that these were simply dirt or dust due to the cloud but to his horror, some of these spots were moving and even growing! It looked just as if he was suffering from gangrene but in this case, the black spots were simply everywhere trying to cover his entire skin!


    "Cough cough!"


    "Krishaw! Just what happened?" asked the archer who was desperately trying to calm himself down. He was looking in horror at how the black spots were moving but fortunately, a few seconds later, the spots actually stopped moving and remained still.


    Krishaw was slowly catching his breath as he was lying on the ground, not bothering to answer. And seeing his conditions, the archer did not push him any further. It did not matter if Krishaw explained the situation. The black cloud was already dispersing itself.


    As he was expecting, the black cloud quickly disappeared, revealing the desolate sight of the corridor. He first felt relief as he saw the corpse of the lich that brought doom upon them. Its body was easily recognizable as it was holding the Necromancer''s Death Wand.


    The light in its eyes completely disappeared and the fire that was burning around its skull was also gone. Instead, the lich''s body had been split into two at the level of the pelvis and an ax was deeply embedded in the skull. The lich now looked more like a skeleton than the powerful being it previously appeared as.


    However, as the archer moved his eyes down the handle of the ax, he felt his heart sink. Another body was lying right next to the lich''s but this body was completely black! It was lifeless and unmoving, but the archer immediately knew that it was Toba''s body. Not only was the frame much larger than the other skeletons he had seen, but even in his death, he was still holding the ax he used to smash the skull of the lich.

 Chapter 58: Post-battle

    "F*ck, F*ck, F*ck!" The archer loudly cursed at himself for not bringing any medicine with him. Normally, when they would be hunting, they would always have some form of medication in case one of them was hurt but when they came here, they thought exploring the mine would just be a walk in the park and did not bother to bring any.


    Fortunately, after a few more seconds, he noticed that the black spots on Krishaw were slowly shrinking, some were even disappearing. Seeing that reassured the archer. It seemed that the black spots were dependent on the black cloud, now that Anken was no longer in contact with the gas, his body was slowly recovering.


    But it was clear that the black spot took a heavy toll on Krishaw. His face was pale and looked sick like he had just vomited. He was left with less than 20% of his total HP.


    "Come, Krishaw, let''s go!" said the archer as he moved and placed Krishaw''s arm over his own neck.


    "Don''t worry! The black spots are disappearing, so it''s not contagious," declared the archer as he saw Krishaw trying to resist but as he heard the archer, Krishaw immediately stopped and allowed himself to be carried.


    Slowly the two made their way towards the exit of the central place. Krishaw was weak but with the support of the archer, he was able to walk slowly.


    "Go! What if the skeletons come again? You should leave quickly and alert the others. Cough cough" murmured Krishaw with a tired voice.


    Just as he mentioned the skeletons, "Woosh!"


    A crossbow bolt pierced through the central place and went straight for his leg. Although he heard the warning sound of the bolt, he was too weak and was unable to react in time.


    "Ahh!"


    He could only yell as his body lost its balance and fell on the cold floor.


    The archer frowned and took out his bow to look at the enemy. From one of the corridors, a skeleton holding a shiny crossbow was making its way towards him. At the same time, two other skeletons appeared from a different corridor with swords and shields.


    ¡®They even have crossbows now?¡¯


    On the floor, Krishaw said with his weak voice, "Go! There are too many for you to handle! Leave me behind. If you die here, no one will know what happened here. You need to go and warn the others."


    Hearing that, the archer was in another dilemma; he witnessed his comrades die one by one and now, he was asked to abandon yet another?


    "I cannot do that... Krishaw..."


    "Just p*ss off! Do you think I am that weak? Go now! You never dared to talk back to me before!" declared Krishaw as he used his arm to put himself in a sitting position.


    "Now go! You will only hold me back..."


    Upon seeing the scene, the archer was flooded with emotions. He was really too weak, the weakest of the group and all his teammates sacrificed themselves for him. If he stayed there, he would probably die and all their efforts would be in vain. Yet, he could not bring himself to leave. but when he saw the last dazzling smile of Krishaw, he grinded his teeth before rushing towards the exit.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ...


    At the entrance of the dungeon, a group of barbarians was calmly waiting as they observed the forest. A wild tempest was raging outside the cave. When they arrived there, a few hours earlier, the sky was clear and calm and yet, when they came back to the entrance, they were greeted by the strong winds.


    The wind was so strong that sometimes, even the decades-old trees would be forced to bend along with it to survive. However, aside from the strong wind, there was absolutely no rain. When they saw the situation outside, they chose to stay inside the dungeon where they were sheltered from the wind, but they could not help but worry about their families.


    It was scheduled for them to meet here four hours after they first entered the dungeon but they came here early since they encountered dead-ends. Since they took the wrong path, it was normal for them to go nowhere.


    Along the way, they saw many smaller tunnels but did not explore them due to their huge frame. While they were not very knowledgeable about the outside world, one of the barbarians commented that this mine might have belonged to the dwarves which was why so many tunnels were so small. In fact, it was one of the effects Five was aiming for; by making smaller tunnels, not only would it add to the authenticity of the mine, but it also reduced the cost since he had to pay per meter cube of dirt he removed.


    Soon two other groups of barbarians arrived, and they also made the same observation. After all, the first floor was not gigantic, just a few hours would be enough to walk through each tunnel.


    The barbarians were discussing near the entrance, complaining about the weather when suddenly, they heard erratic footsteps. They quickly turned their attention towards the tunnel only to see Zeke running to the exit with a pained expression.


    "We need to go and help my father! His team is trapped in a dungeon!" exclaimed the child.


    "A dungeon? What do you mean? There is a dungeon there?" asked Baltra. He was naturally the one who spoke since he was considered as the second in command.


    Zeke made a quick pause to recover before explaining, "I heard my father say that it is a dungeon. We went down a tunnel and at its end, there were a large room and some stairs going downstairs. We took the stairs but down below, there was a giant maze filled with skeletons. The skeletons were weak, and we easily killed everything on our way until we met that monster!"


    "He was terrifying and as soon as he appeared, my father ordered me to run away. I did not want to go but Anken pushed me toward the exit and threatened to not fight unless I leave. He said that we would all die if I remained there... After that, I simply ran till here..."


    The barbarians listened to Zeke. As incredible as the story was, it did not look like he was lying.


    "What should we do?"


    "Of course we should rescue Toba and the others! We are brothers!" exclaimed Baltra. He quickly made his decision and together, the 15 barbarians all followed behind Zeke.


    As they were leaving, the storm outside suddenly weakened until it completely disappeared. In less than 5 seconds, the situation outside changed from a raging tempest to a calm and gentle summer breeze


    The barbarians were fast and jogged behind Zeke. Although he wildly sprinted over that long distance, Zeke was still energetic and showed no sign of weakness.


    They quickly arrived at the large room but as they entered, they noticed a frail figure leaning next to the stairs. It was the archer; he looked tired, desperate and in pain.


    "Raph! What is happening there?" exclaimed Baltra as he walked towards his friend.


    "Baltra? Dead... They are all dead! They died to allow me to run away!" said the archer while sobbing. He immediately grabbed Baltra''s arm and broke down in tears.


    "Impossible! You are lying! My father is not dead! He was the strongest! He would never die!" wildly exclaimed Zeke.


    In the middle of his sobs, the archer murmured, "I saw it with my own eyes, his body was completely charred, he would have never survived in that black cloud!"


    "Liar! You are lying! He promised me to come back!" shouted Zeke. For the first time, instead of displaying the usual calmness of an adult, he was showing the unruly behavior of a child. He broke down in tears, unwilling to accept the death of his father.


    On the side, the barbarians sympathized with him and tried to comfort him but in vain. Even them were pained but they knew that the archer was not lying.


    "What should we do now?" asked a barbarian.


    "Should we go and look for their bodies? At least, we should bring them back to be buried right?" said another barbarian.


    "What if they are still alive? Maybe a miracle happened?"


    At that moment, Baltra suddenly realized that they were all looking at him to make a decision. He realized that he was now the new leader! Toba was dead and as the second strongest barbarian, he was naturally the ablest for this position.


    When he heard one of the barbarians say that Toba might still be alive, wouldn''t that mean that he would again end up as the second in command? He previously did not mind working under Toba and was even very loyal to him. But now, even it was just momentarily when he felt that feeling of being the leader of the team, he became reluctant to give it away.


    If they went down and really found Toba alive, wouldn''t he be reduced to a normal barbarian again?


    "No! We don''t know what this place hides... We need to go back and speak with the shaman!" said Baltra.


    "But what if Toba is still alive?" argued a barbarian.


    "Then what if there are more of that monster? Wouldn''t we all die there? Who will go back to warn the others? Do you want our tribesmen to come here one by one to their death!?" declared Baltra with a tinge of impatience.


    "No no..."


    "Good! Let''s quickly go back then. We need more information about this place before exploring it! When they learned that there was a dungeon down there, they should have come back to tell us! I am sure they were trying to go down first to collect all the treasures and keep it for themselves!"


    Hearing that, the barbarians could only agree. They knew that Toba and the others went down there out of selfishness. Although leaving would leave a bitter taste in their mouth, it was still the decision they took.


    On the side, Zeke was completely unleashed and kept punching whatever was near him. The archer was quietly sobbing on the floor. But in the end, these two could only join the group and return to the village.

 Chapter 59: Earnings

    Despite the slow pace of Zeke and the archer, the group of barbarians returned to their village in less than an hour. Without waiting, Baltra quickly went to report to Achi and the Shaman.


    "Toba is dead? That bastard! Why was he so careless... He should have just come back!" exclaimed Achi as he punched the ground next to him.


    As for the Shaman, he was calmly listening to Baltra''s explanation with his eyes closed. As Baltra concluded the report, the Shaman opened his dark eyes, "A dungeon you say? The description you made indeed make it look like a dungeon. I wonder if the mine is also part of it..."


    The old man quickly stood up and went to rummage through his tent. "Give me a minute, I will be back!"


    With the Shaman gone, Achi took the opportunity to ask more questions about his brother''s death. As wild as Toba was, he was still his brother and if needed, he would take revenge for him. Zeke had already been sent home where his mother was taking care of him. Additionally, Mira and Ly, Achi''s wife were also there to help him recover.


    In a little over one minute, the Shaman finally came back and dropped another bag of animal fur. "This is all the information our ancestors have about dungeons. Although we never had one, we took our time to study them since they were the strength of the townsmen!"


    "I am not sure, but it seems like the monster they encountered was probably a one-time monster. If he was much stronger than the others, then that means that that monster was the key to unlocking the next floor. Now that he is dead, it probably means that we can also find another staircase to go to the next floor!"


    "Our records are blurry and inaccurate, but this is my understanding of the dungeon. You said that Zeke brought back skeleton bones? Let me have a look!" said the shaman.


    Quickly, Baltra complied and opened the stash the barbarians brought back. There were 22 iron ores, 41 coals, and 27 skeleton bones.


    The shaman quickly picked up one of the skeleton bones and examined it, "Indeed! This will be an excellent catalyst to make poison! Now I understand why townsmen are so prosperous. If dungeons have a lot of items like that, we will be able to drastically improve our strength!"


    "But great elder, what about the monster?" asked Baltra.


    "Didn''t I already say that it was probably just a one-time monster? But you are right. We should not be too greedy to start with! We will start by mining the ores! These iron ores are enough for initial tests, but we will need more if we want to grow back into a smithing tribe. I know it is a hard shift but if we persist, our tribe will without a doubt prosper!" said the Shaman.


    "I will make the proper arrangement! I already picked a few people who are interested in forging," said Achi.


    "Good good! Also... Tell the pickers to stop being too conservative! They can just bring back as many herbs as possible. I can start refining a lot of poison later when we will get skeleton bones! There is no rush, but it is good to make preparations now," said the Shaman.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Pickers were the lowest class of barbarians. Barbarians were a group of people that prioritized strength but naturally, not everyone was born with a strong physique or were willing to train their body. As a result, the weaker barbarians were called pickers and their job mainly consisted of collecting herbs, fruits and other plants from the forest. They were basically those who brought back vegetables.


    Achi and Baltra quickly left the tent of the Shaman to allow him to rest. The old man seemed energetic, but they knew he was tired.


    "You did a good job today! Go and rest, no need to take any actions today! I will first study these records first and we''ll make an action plan tomorrow!" said Achi.


    "Thank you chief! I again apologize for my incompetence..."


    "That''s fine. Stop blaming Toba''s death on yourself. We will make a ceremony to honor their death soon. For now, I still need to deal with those townsmen. They should be leaving tomorrow. After that, we can focus on that dungeon!"


    ...


    In the dungeon, Five stared at the center as Krishaw was stabbed to death by two skeletons. He was already too weak to fight and it was clear that he only wanted his comrade to escape. Five did not really mind letting one leave since this way, the barbarians would know that this place is more dangerous than it looked.


    Only when Krishaw''s body was lifelessly lying on the floor did Five step out of the shadows. He looked at the desolate scene covered with piles of bones and bodies, feeling a sense of emptiness and guilt.


    The skeleton that held the crossbow bowed to him and handed up the crossbow. "It''s good, you can keep it!" said Five nonchalantly. He was, in fact, the one who shot that last bolt but to remain hiding, he simply passed the crossbow to a skeleton near him and observed the scene.


    He just bought the crossbow with 5000 DP. This was just the price of a peak Grade 1 equipment. It was the best equipment he had but Five was not a fan of crossbows and so, he chose to give it to the skeleton.


    Five stopped in front of the corridor where Toba''s body and Dreidus'' were lying. "Sigh... You said you would stop them but still... I did not expect you to have a skill that would harm even you in the process..." murmured Five.


    Through the interface, he was able to clearly see as the black sphere detonated, the black gas not only corroded Toba''s and Krishaw''s body but also Dreidus himself.


    "Guess we will have a chat in 24 hours... Gaia was right¡­ Dreidus is really powerful."


    In the end, he briefly looked at the bodies before leaving. He did not touch the scene since he did not know if the black cloud still had some residual effects. He was disgusted at the idea of having his skin slowly eaten by the black spots.


    However, the one good thing that came out of this battle was that his DP balance shot up! He now had 120000 DP. It was an astronomical value and just the death of the 3 barbarians contributed 87000 DP. Killing was really the fastest way to get DP but by doing so, he was also reducing the number of people who would come to his dungeon.


    In fact, now that Toba and his group were dead, Five was wondering if the barbarians would still dare to come to the mine. If they didn''t, then his dungeon would simply be unable to develop.


    Although he now had a lot of DP, just reviving Dreidus would cost him 50000 DP which amounted to almost half that amount. After killing the 3 barbarians, Dreidus leveled up to level 23.


    ¡®The system could have been more generous¡­ He dealt with opponents 10 levels above his own after all¡­¡¯


    Five quickly went back to the end of the labyrinth, pondering on what to do next. It was time to develop the dungeon. He now had a substantial amount of DP at his disposal. Even if he kept 60000 DP in reserve, 50000 for Dreidus and 10000 in case of emergency, he still had another 60000 ready to be spent.


    However, he did not immediately start building another floor. He needed to plan ahead, and he also wanted to ask Dreidus for his advice. During this battle, Dreidus proved his capability at leading the skeletons; he was able to keep two barbarians out of the fight.


    If Dreidus was confident in commanding more undead monsters, then Five would naturally make use of that advantage. He knew that by focusing on only one type of monster, all the monsters would mutually benefit each other.


    For example, in the dungeon shop, there were specific items that could buff one type of monster. If used properly, he could easily improve his overall strength. Since he already started walking down the path of undead monsters and had a competent monster to lead them, it would be beneficial to continue this way.


    He wanted to create an ecosystem for the monsters to reduce his DP cost but by focusing solely on undead monsters, he was also doing so. Undead monsters emitted that ghastly cold aura which mutually benefitted each other. It was like having a pile of ice cubes and placing ice cubes at a distance from each other. In the end, the pile of ice cubes will take longer to melt than when they are individually placed at a distance from each other.


    Five doubted that the barbarians would try to attack again today but he kept his guard up, monitoring the entrance. He leaned against the wall while looking at the different monsters he could buy.


    He did not know much about undead monsters but now that he had time, it was a good opportunity to learn a bit more about their stats and abilities.

 Chapter 60: The truth behind death

    The next day, Five woke up, still lying on the floor at the end of the labyrinth. He lived a frugal life and did not mind sleeping on the floor. In the past, he had to sleep in much worse conditions than that.


    He woke up just in time to see a group of barbarians appear at the entrance. He quickly shook his head to remove all traces of sleepiness and focused on the screen.


    The barbarians were carefully entering the mine with the few leading ones carrying their axes. Aside from the first five, most of the rest were carrying pickaxes, shovels and large bags. They clearly came here with the intention of mining as many ores as possible.


    Seeing the barbarians, Five felt relieved. At least, they were not scared to death to the point where they would not come to the mine again.


    He quickly glanced at the first floor and saw that there was still a lot of ores spread over the mine. However, the majority was hidden beneath the surface. If the barbarians wanted to get them, they would have to use their muscles.


    Since he had a lot of DP, Five decided to spend some to place a few ores at the surface, to encourage the barbarians and make sure they at least get back with something.


    The barbarians quickly got to work and started mining near the entrance. They stayed as a group and were on their guards in case some monsters would attack them.


    From their facial expressions, Five concluded that they were not very satisfied with their job. They were after all powerful hunters who could easily kill the beasts of the forests but now, they felt like they had been demoted to simple miners.


    While they understood that it was for the good of the tribe, they still felt like they have been punished to work in this dark and humid environment while a few other barbarians were still able to go hunting.


    However, although they were not very happy, they were still very efficient at mining. Their large muscles were not just for show and they were easily able to break the walls. But since they were mining near the entrance, only a few ores had been placed there.


    Five sighed since the barbarians were mining in an area where only a few ores were. He could only quickly play with his interface to add a few ores where they were mining.


    He spent the entire day watching as the barbarians were tirelessly mining through the first floor. At first, they were all mining close to each other but as time passed, they slowly understood that there were indeed no monsters there and increased the distance between each other.


    A few barbarians kept watch with their ax ready, but the tension visibly decreased. Five was glad to see that they were sticking to the first floor; it seemed that Dreidus made the proper decision and only scared them enough to keep them at bay.


    While the barbarians were mining, Five had to constantly add ores and coal, here and there. He did not mind adding those since the DP he was getting from the barbarians, largely outweighed the cost of the ores.


    Furthermore, Five was internally laughing when he saw how the barbarians were enlarging all the tunnels. It felt like they were working for free for him by doing so. Five never planned to use the first floor for monsters but if the barbarians enlarged it enough, then he might be able to do so.


    After a while, Five looked at his DP balance and was overjoyed. He had already collected 230000 DP and that number was still increasing.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    He made the right choice in founding his dungeon there and using the barbarians to gather DP. Not only did the barbarians produce 3 times the amount of DP a normal player would but they also were not even killing any monsters. If the barbarians suddenly decided to go and kill the skeletons, then he would inevitably face some severe losses as the barbarians did not even need one second to kill a skeleton; a single strike was enough.


    Fortunately, the barbarians were satisfied with just mining for now but Five clearly knew this would not last for long. The dynamics of the game were centered around the players. They represented the majority and sooner or later, they would come to his dungeon. He needed to cater his dungeon for them and that meant to turn the place into a huge pool of exp for them to harvest.


    ...


    An hour later, it was finally the time Five had long been waiting for. He quickly opened his interface and paid 50000DP.


    His dungeon core suddenly shone and turned completely black. A few seconds later, a black sphere moved out of the dungeon core and fell on the ground. Without the black sphere, the dungeon core returned to its usual appearance with its blue galaxy swirling at its center.


    The black sphere slowly became larger and larger until finally, it took the shape of a skeleton.


    "Ahh... Greetings Master!" said Dreidus with his usual expressionless face.


    "It''s good to see that you are fine Dreidus. You should have warned me! That last attack was too reckless..." said Five as he observed the skeleton. After being revived, Dreidus was back to his usual appearance; he looked just like any other skeleton but with two bright lights in his eye sockets.


    "I am sorry but there was not much time for explanations at that time. Now that the dungeon is clear, I can explain everything to you," said Dreidus.


    Five nodded, he was very curious about the abilities displayed by Dreidus, "Then, first explain to me the battle form you talked about."


    "When I became your monster, a connection was formed between me and your dungeon core. This connection is proof that I have been acknowledged as one of your monsters, but it can also act as a link to give me power! I can use the link to borrow power from the dungeon core. For example, I used the dungeon core to increase the strength of my magic attacks, but I could also use it to increase my stats, use special skills or even defy death."


    "As soon as I use a bit of that power, I can turn into the battle form... It sounds amazing, but I found that using that power has a terrible cost. While I was using it, I felt like it was slowly harming me. It is hard to explain but it¡¯s like suddenly having all the temptations of the world. Even with just the little bit of power I used, I almost lost control and went completely berserk."


    "This was why I said that I would only use it for 1 minute. Any longer and I would have probably lost my sanity. Maybe I just need to get used to it but unless absolutely necessary, I am not willing to use that battle form again," explained Dreidus. He turned to look at the dungeon core and frowned.


    Five''s expression also turned dark when he heard the explanation, was it even possible for such a thing to exist even in a game? "There is such a thing? Mmm if you can, avoid using it then. Even if you die, I will just revive you. There is no need to take unnecessary risks."


    Hearing that, Dreidus shook his skull, "Since we are talking about revival, I would also advise to not send your boss monsters to their death or if they happen to die, at least, revive them as soon as possible!"


    "What? Is there something else I am unaware of?" asked Five.


    "Indeed... I am not sure of myself, but during the 24 hours I was dead, I felt like I was imprisoned in a dark room. If I am not wrong, that room is found inside your dungeon core and I felt like I was slowly being devoured. It is hard to explain but it is as if, an unseen creature was constantly circling around me, slowly absorbing something from me."


    "I don''t know if I really lost something, but I am certain that a creature was there trying to drain me. As a necromancer and a lich, I am very sensitive to this sort of thing, I could feel that the monster was eating a part of me. Although it only lasted for 24 hours, I felt that if you took longer to revive me, that monster might have taken a larger part of me!"


    Five frowned. "There is indeed a monster inside the dungeon core, but I don''t know anything about it..." He looked at the dungeon core with suspicion. But the latter simply blinked a few times as if saying that it is innocent.


    "Then it is better to be safe. At least, don''t just send your boss monsters to their death!"


    Five nodded, "Well, enough of these gloomy talks. Can we go near the barbarians'' corpse now to take the items? I was not sure that the black cloud did not have any hidden effects, so I did not dare to go there."


    "Yes. It is perfectly safe now. That skill can only last for 1 minute. After that, the black gas will just decompose by itself. I would just like to say that these skills are all powerful necromancer skills and I am only able to use them because I learned about them in my past life. But as you saw, my mana pool is not large enough for now!"


    "I don''t need to know your secrets. Everyone needs to have a few trump cards! Let''s go and pick up the Necromancer''s Death Wand!" said Five.


    The two quickly made their way to the center of the labyrinth. Once they got there, Dreidus quickly picked up the wand and caressed it like it was a treasure. Meanwhile, Five made his way to the corpses and stored all their equipment in his inventory. The barbarians were actually using Grade 2 equipment which could be considered a luxury to Five.


    "By the way, Master... Do you have any plans for the corpses of the humans?" asked Dreidus.


    "Not really. I was just going to dispose of them. Do you need them for something?"


    "I can try to turn them into undead monsters, but the skill required has a heavy downside! It can only be used once per day and if I use it, I will be unable to fight for at least 24 hours!" explained Dreidus.


    ''More undead monsters?'' Five quickly became excited at the idea of getting more monsters for free.


    "Then go ahead! As long as you are still able to speak later on, you can do whatever you want. I will need you later to make the 3rd floor!"

 Chapter 61: The third floor

    "Namuzak Ahiffa okafec...."


    "..."


    Dreidus was slowly reciting the chant for his skill as Five was staring at the scene from the back. That ceremony was one of the deepest secrets of Necro Valley but since Five was now Dreidus'' master, he did not mind performing the ceremony in front of him.


    Turning someone into an undead was not difficult but this particular skill was different. It did not simply turn the target into a brainless undead; it allowed the undead to keep its previous personality to an extent while becoming completely obedient to the caster.


    Five had already given his permission for using the barbarian as test subjects. Unfortunately, Toba''s body was not suitable for the ceremony; anything exposed to [Death and Decay] for a long time would simply corrode to nothingness. Even if his body still looked intact, the inside was actually completely gone; it was just an empty dark shell.


    And so, Dreidus turned his attention to the next strongest which was Anken. When he was still alive, he was a level 30 barbarian. Now, his body was lying at the center of the labyrinth with its hands and legs spread like a star.


    Dreidus was slowly walking in a circle while reciting the chants. Five did not understand anything but it was clear that he should not disturb him. The scene was similar to a ceremony of an evil cult.


    After five whole minutes, Five suddenly saw Anken''s lifeless body twitch for a moment. He stared in amazement at the body that suddenly opened its eyes and stood up. Above his head, "Anken" was gone and was replaced by "Living Corpse".


    On the side, Dreidus finally stopped chanting and sat on the floor to rest. By his posture, Five guessed that he was completely exhausted; the ceremony not only drained all his mana but also his HP.


    "It''s all done master! Now, I just need to rest for a while," said Dreidus with a tired voice.


    Five nodded and stepped forward to examine the living corpse. Anken was standing straight like a statue, looking right in front of him. His eyes were devoid of pupils. The rest of his body looked completely fine and if one did not see the strange eyes, he could easily be mistaken for a regular barbarian.


    The Living Corpse''s level was 27 which was the average between his original level when he was alive and the caster of the ceremony, Dreidus. A level 27 monster was a powerhouse in his dungeon; it was definitely a great addition to his monsters.


    ...


    A few minutes later, Five and Dreidus returned to the end of the Labyrinth. Behind them, Anken was silently following like a loyal butler. In his arms, he was carrying the body of Krishaw which would also undergo the ceremony tomorrow to become a Living Corpse.


    "Now that we have this out of the way, we should start improving the dungeon! We have a lot of DP. It is better to use them now than to wait for an emergency to happen," said Five.


    Dreidus nodded, "You are right, Master. As you requested, I had a look at the undead monsters you can buy, and I have a rough idea of how to make the 3rd floor. It should be slightly harder than the labyrinth but is more adapted for the "players" you mentioned. I will suggest making a graveyard."Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    "We can make use of the fake black sky that increases the strength of all dark attribute monsters and the graves and tombs decorations that would strengthen the undead monsters," said Dreidus. He carefully explained the details to Five.


    The two had a brief discussion where Five explained to him what the goals of the dungeon should be. As he was an expert in necromancy, he easily determined what would be the appropriate undead monsters to use. They had a lot of DP now and they could start making an environment suitable for undead monsters.


    Before focusing on the third floor, Five started by summoning more skeletons with weapons to replace the dead ones. Compared to the previous one, this group had weapons and armors to protect them. Since he was not lacking in money, Five did not mind spending more DP to protect his dungeon.


    Now, a total of 150 skeletons roamed across the labyrinth, of which, 50 wore armors and had weapons. 50 other skeletons only had weapons and the remaining 50 did not have any items and patrolled near the entrance.


    Five knew the labyrinth was still lacking but for now, it should be enough. He quickly activated his interface and unlocked the third floor for 4000 DP. The familiar vibrations occurred as a huge gap appeared on the wall in front of him.


    In a matter of seconds, finely cut stairs appeared which led to the third floor. They quickly walked down the stairs and arrived on the third floor which consisted only of a small room for now.


    "Then, I''ll begin!"


    As the words left his mouth, Five quickly manipulated the interface. He spent 15000 DP just to remove all the dirt. He first created an open space similar to the one he made on the second floor for his labyrinth but this time, he made the cave twice as high. On the second floor, the ceiling was only 4 meters high but on the 3rd floor, it was 8 meters high! Also, compared to the second floor, the ground level of the third one was not perfectly smooth; there were some intentional holes, slopes and hills.


    Following that, Five covered the surface of the cave with the resistant material to prevent anyone from digging through the floor. The material was also emitting a bit of light which made the place look less gloomy.


    Then, for the first time, Five went to the section of the shop called "Decoration". The items sold there were not really decorations and had effects associated to them but without monsters, these were indeed just decorations.


    Compared to monsters, decorations did not need to be unlocked and could readily be bought at the mentioned price. Five quickly found what he was looking for: graves and tombs which cost 100 DP and 200 DP respectively.


    The graves actually had the effect to increase all the stats of undead-type monsters by 5% within a 5m radius, while the tombs did the same but within a 10m radius. A 5% increase was not very significant but the effects could stack and often, the monsters would benefit from 2 or 3 decorations at a time.


    He quickly picked the two and randomly spawned them on the third floor. Five did not bother to arrange them in order. The space was so large such that if he did so, it would take ages. In addition to the tombs and graves, Five added other decorations like lamp posts, rusted fences, dead trees, and statues. These ones were cheaper and so did not come with any bonus effect.


    In just 10 minutes, the entire empty space completely transformed and now looked like a real graveyard. The messy arrangement of the graves actually made it look more sinister, but the graveyard was not even complete yet!


    After spending 20000 DP just on the decorations, Five spent another 10000 DP to cover the ceiling with a dark starry sky. As soon as the ceiling became dark, Five felt like he was actually standing in front of a graveyard. The scene was really realistic and even sent chills down his spines. The dark sky blended perfectly with the rest of the cave, making it look just like a real sky.


    On the side, Dreidus commented, "This looks good! This is a good environment for undead-type monsters. In fact, it looks very similar to the training grounds of Necro Valley!"


    Five nodded, having received the acknowledgment of Dreidus, he felt relieved.


    Five''s floors had an extremely high cost; normally, the dungeon masters would not be able to afford this type of floor before their 15th floor. But thanks to Five''s risky strategy, he was able to gather a lot of DP quickly. Furthermore, Five did not care about spending a lot because he was building for the long term.


    This floor was meant for players ranging from level 15 to 20. It was quite a large target range and he was confident he would be able to obtain a lot of DP in the future.


    Now, all that was missing were the monsters.


    But as he was about to unlock the monsters, a thought crossed his mind. He just realized that his dungeon was becoming creepier and as the owner, he would be forced to live in this.


    He was used to spending time in dark gloomy places like graveyards for his previous job but if he had the choice, he was naturally reluctant to live or even go to such a place. Especially since this place would soon be full of horrifying looking monsters; even as their master, he was still human and would prefer to be surrounded by living beings.


    "Well... I already made this decision... I guess I will have to build a good throne room like the one Kroff had and maybe some nice looking living quarters that would look more normal. I can simply start building the secret passages too! This way, I won''t necessarily have to walk through the graveyard every time," thought Five.


    As he was thinking about that, he realized again that his DP was not sufficient. Although he still had 150000 DP, all of these could be gone in a matter of seconds if he was not careful. The more DP he had, the more wants he had!


    As if sensing his master''s thought, Dreidus turned towards him, "I know that it is hard to get used to undead monsters, but I am confident that it is the best decision."

 Chapter 62: New monsters

    Having already discussed with Dreidus before, Five already knew what monsters to unlock. He quickly browsed through to the first one: Zombies.


    Zombies were undead monsters who just like skeletons, had varying levels. It''s level also ranged from 14 to 20. Zombies were stronger than skeletons. They had their flesh to absorb more damage, resulting in higher HP and Strength. Their only downside was their speed.


    Five quickly unlocked them for 5000 DP and spawned zombies all over the third floor at the cost of 300 per zombie. They were thrice as expensive as skeletons since they could not use weapons, but zombies had another thing going for them. They had variants; it was possible to evolve them into stronger zombies.


    He quickly spent another 5000 DP, evolving 5 of the zombies in level 20 Plagued Zombies. Compared to the normal ones, Plagued Zombies were slightly larger and had a green glow surrounding their body; their attacks would now poison their target. According to Five''s plan, these 5 zombies would act as mini-bosses for this floor.


    With about 150 zombies grunting all over the place, the graveyard already became quite lively but Five moved on to the next monster he wanted to summon: level 16 Spectral Hounds


    Spectral Hounds were not undead monsters but rather, ghost monsters. However, Five felt that they fit in well with the theme and could compensate for the zombie''s sluggishness. Spectral hounds were ghosts in the form of dogs. They had two forms; their casual form and their aggroed one.


    In their casual form, spectral hounds looked like cute puppies. They were completely transparent and emitted a faint blue light. They would usually be playfully biting bones in the graveyard and would look completely harmless but that was until enemies would get into their aggro range.


    As soon as someone it did not recognize would get near it, the spectral hound would change form and would look like an adult wolfdog. In this form, it would lose any traces of its previous cuteness and instead, ruthlessly attack the invader.


    They were perfectly adapted to an environment like a graveyard and were very fast. They could easily help the zombies take care of the players that might enter this floor. Additionally, since they were ghost-type monsters, they took reduced damage from physical attacks!


    Five quickly summoned 20 Spectral hounds and spread them in the graveyard. He did not want to put too much of them since the main theme of this place should be the zombies.


    Finally, Five moved to the last monster he wanted to summon on this floor. He felt that 3 species of monsters on one floor was appropriate. Even though right now the monsters were not feeding on each other to survive, there was some sort of symbiosis where each species could help each other.


    The last monster he wanted to summon was the level 18 Wraith.


    Wraiths were monsters that felt both in the category of an undead and a ghost. But the reason Five wanted to summon them was that they dealt magic damage! So far, all his monsters currently only dealt physical damage which was good in the early game but later, when everyone would be able to afford heavy armors, he would definitely suffer.


    Wraiths were the perfect candidate since they blended well with the theme of the graveyard. Five quickly summoned 30 wraiths and let them roam through the floor. With that, the 3rd floor was complete!


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    It looked just like a real graveyard coming out of a horror movie. It was slightly toned down such that it was not too scary it looked extremely realist, especially the dark starry sky which was adding to the atmosphere.


    "Good! Since the 3rd floor is done, let''s move on to the 4th one!" said Five.


    At that moment, Dreidus spoke, "Master, I think we should go slowly! I know that you still have about 120000 DP but I think you should build your living quarters first! This is your dungeon and you should at least feel comfortable to live there! At least build one floor where there will be no undead!"


    Hearing that, Five lightly coughed, ''Dreidus is very keen...¡¯


    "Fine, I''ll build a good place to live first," answered Five.


    "Also... I took the liberty to check the monsters you could summon! I would suggest summoning a few harpies! If you summon them now, they can already start absorbing energy from the dungeon and level up. This way, when it would be time for them to fight, they would be stronger than level 20!" said Dreidus.


    Five widened his eyes, it seemed like Dreidus already thought about everything. "Alright, I''ll do that!"


    ¡®I focused on quantity rather than on quality this time. I hope that by using their numerical advantage, the monsters will be able to deal with the barbarians if they suddenly decide to attack.''


    ...


    For 6000 DP, Five unlocked the 4th floor and stared at the empty room. "Sigh... My new home..."


    Using the 4th floor as his living quarters did not mean that the dungeon would only consist of 3 floors. This was only temporary; he could still unlock the next floor and simply swap it with this one for some DP. It was inefficient but if he did not do so, then he would need to wait until all his floors were completed before building his home which could take ages to happen.


    After clearing his thoughts, Five decided to spend about 10000 DP on his living quarters. He started by spending 2000 DP to remove the dirt and make the rooms and the corridor connecting them. With that amount, he was able to make 15 rooms, but these were quite large, about 8m x 8m x 4m.


    Since this was where he was going to live for an indefinite amount of time, Five was not shy at spending for the comfort. The rest of the 10000 DP all went to furnishing the different rooms. He was not great for this and made all the rooms the same.


    Unfortunately, while doing so, Five ended up spending another 10000 DP just on the decoration. The furnitures were abnormally expensive; all the rooms including his own only contained a bed, a wardrobe, a bookshelf, a table, a pair of chairs and a sofa! Apart from that, there were a few items like a painting to brighten the atmosphere of the room since there were no windows.


    But as soon as Five sat and lay down on the bed, he felt that it was all worth it! The bed was so soft and smooth, it was like he was being gently caressed by an angel. Even though the room was not even painted and there was no connection to the outside, he felt like it was an excellent home for him.


    "Dreidus! The rooms are done. Pick one you like!" said Five as he was lying on the bed.


    On the side, Dreidus was awkwardly looking at his master, "Okay, I will take the one at the end of the corridor! As an undead, I know it would be better this way," and without waiting, he quickly left the room.


    Now left alone, Five took some time to relax before sitting back up on his bed and opening his interface. He started by making the secret tunnel he was thinking about. He spent 10000 DP just to make a long tunnel and stairs, connecting all the 4 floors together, with a secret exit on each floor. The tunnels and the stairs were of decent size, but they were nowhere near the secret tunnels of Kroff''s Dungeon.


    Also, Five could not yet afford teleportation platforms, he would need to take the stairs for now. Each one of those platforms would cost 100000 DP and he would need two of them to use. For now, his secret tunnels were good enough.


    There were still 90000 DP in his balance which was more than enough to summon a few harpies. However, Five decided to only summon 3 of them for now. With his dungeon growing, 10000 DP as an emergency reserve was no longer enough. He wanted to summon harpies to see if they could adapt to this environment. At the same time, he wanted to summon them at level 20 and give them time to level up.


    Having made his decision, Five pressed the confirm button and instantly, 3 summoning circles appeared in front of his bed. One second later, 3 winged silhouettes appeared as the circles were glowing.


    The circles completely vanished, revealing 3 beautiful young girls standing in the middle of the room with confused expressions.


    The 3 harpies all had black wings and were wearing a long white dress. Compared to the harpies he saw at Kroff''s dungeon, these ones looked much younger like 15 years-old girls. They were brimming with youth and although they were all extremely beautiful, they were still showing signs of carefreeness.


    The one on the left was the tallest of the three, she had red hair and piercing eyes. From one look, Five could tell that she most probably had a fiery temper. She looked like someone eager to discover new things, unafraid of the unknown.


    The harpy on the right was the exact opposite. She had pale silver hair and looked calm and gentle. Adding to her cuteness, around her, was a soothing aura acting like a protecting barrier. Once she grew up, she would definitely look like one of those gentle beauties.


    As for the last one, Five was completely stunned when he saw her. She had a frail slender figure, long purple hair, and a flawless white face. She was definitely a beauty of her own but what struck Five was that she looked exactly like Harriet, a younger immature version of Harriet to be precise! If he did not know that it was the harpy he had just summoned, Five might actually believe that it was Harriet.


    When his eyes fell on her, Five fell into deep thoughts, pondering about what could have happened to the harpy queen.

 Chapter 63: Development of the dungeon

    "Greetings Master"


    "Master??"


    Hearing the smooth immature voices, Five quickly got himself together and coughed embarrassingly. The 3 harpies were looking at him in a strange way. He had been absently staring at them for an unknown amount of time.


    "Cough Cough! Hello," awkwardly said Five as he observed the harpies'' reaction.


    "Do you know why you are here?" asked Five as the harpies were staying silent.


    "Yes! We are here to protect the dungeon!" said the red-haired harpy. The silver-haired one silently nodded while the one looking like Harriet smiled and added, "And you are the dungeon master we need to serve?"


    Five nodded, "Yes, you can call me Five! May I know your names? It will be easier to talk this way!"


    "A name?" murmured the red-haired harpy. "I don''t remember my name! I know I had one, but I forgot..."


    "It is the same for me, I am trying to remember but I simply can''t! Why don''t you just give us new names? I think it is the custom for dungeons..." said the one looking like Harriet while the silver-haired harpy was still silently nodding.


    "Give names? I am terrible at naming."


    "It should at least be better than calling us by ''You'' every time or even call us Harpy 1, Harpy 2..."


    Facing the request of the 3 harpies looking at him with expectation, Five did not have the heart to refuse them. "Alright! But don''t blame me for getting horrible names," said Five.


    He then turned towards the silent silver-haired harpy, "You... I will call you Angela!" said Five as he continued in his mind, "because you look just like an angel!"


    The silver-haired harpy blinked her beautiful eyes before letting out a faint smile. For the first time, she timidly opened her mouth, "Then, my name is Angela!"


    Seeing her satisfied expression, Five then turned to the red-haired harpy, "Mmm, your name shall be Alice!", ''because you remind me of someone...''. Without waiting for her reaction, he then looked at the remaining harpy.


    "And you..." Five suddenly stopped himself. He was instinctively going to say "Harriet" but fortunately, he stopped himself in time. "Ariel! We will call you Ariel from now on!"


    "Mmm these are good names... Why were you saying you were bad at naming?" asked Ariel with a confused look.


    "Well... Anyway, since you are here, let me show you around the dungeon!"


    ...


    The arrival of the harpies to the dungeon was followed by a long peaceful period of two weeks. During the first week, the barbarians were content with mining on the first floor. All Five had to do was to spend some DP to replenish the ores. During that period, he was making huge profits and did not mind making the barbarians happy by increasing the ores they would find. As long as they were motivated, he would also benefit from it.


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    Instead, Five''s troubles came from the side of the harpies; dealing with the undead monsters who had absolutely no wants was easy, but it was a totally different case for living beings. While Angela was very quiet in his presence and only opened up when she was alone with her sisters, Alice was the exact opposite. The second she saw that the dungeon was full of undead monsters, she started complaining.


    She also pestered Five to change the decoration of her room. Naturally, she said it in a playful and joking way but it was still annoying. Five was no pushover. He ignored her comments but that was until she went into what Five described as her cute puppy mode.


    Seeing that Five would not change anything, she completely changed her attitude and appeared as a pitiful and sad harpy, feeling constantly ostracised by the undead monster. When she was in that mode, Five felt that it was even harder to reason with her. In the end, Ariel mediated the case and Five promised to give the Harpies 100 DP every day each to spend as they wished.


    Having won the battle, Alice immediately went back to normal and slowly, all the harpies started customizing their rooms. 300 DP per day was not much to Five, especially since the barbarians were a great source of DP at the moment.


    After the period of familiarising themselves with their new environment, the harpies started to feel restless. They were bored. There was nothing to do. Five spent a lot of time with them, reminding himself of his first week when he joined the game. He told stories about himself and of Earth, while the harpies would try to recall their own life and would share some anecdotes. However, despite that, the harpies still needed to vent their energy.


    And so, Five allowed the harpies to leave the dungeon under the cover of the night. He gave them a lot of freedom and after the harpies went out for the first time, Alice strangely became more docile. She still displayed her fiery temper, but it was clearly toned done by a notch. Ariel did not change much but Angela seemed to make more efforts in communicating in Five''s presence; she would sometimes utter a few words before returning to her usual silent self.


    The harpies were each different and had their own temper but Five enjoyed the time spent with them. After all, it was much better than spending time staring at the interface as he could not communicate with undead monsters. Dreidus also sometimes joined the conversations but he usually kept to himself.


    After a week, all the harpies already leveled up to level 21, a bit more and they would already reach level 22. It seemed that summoning them early was indeed the right choice.


    With the harpies, Lumen felt restless and started to seek more attention from Five. As a result, Five ended up buying more fireflies and released them in the graveyard. The fireflies actually fitted in quite well and turned out to be a great addition. After a few days, Lumen quickly familiarised herself with the harpies and would now spend some time playing with Angela.


    Five also worked on developing the dungeon. He started by improving the second floor by adding 2 new monsters.


    The first monster was a level 13 Shade. Just like spectral hounds, they also had two forms. They physically looked like a black puddle of water but as a living thing would get close to it, it would transform into a huge shadow and attack the invader.


    A few Shades were added to the labyrinth. That monster would only be effective during the first encounter; as soon as the players would understand that the black puddles were monsters, they would be more careful when approaching them. The black puddles were very visible with the pale brown background but considering that it was his first floor with monsters, Five decided to leave it like that.


    The other monster he added was a level 15 Mimic. They physically looked like treasure chests full of loot, waiting to be picked. But as a player would get close to it, the mimic would reveal its teeth and attack!


    To add to the illusion, Five also added a few genuine treasure chests to the labyrinth containing a few Grade 1 equipment. They were mostly placed near dead ends and in the secret room! After a whole week of accumulation, Five decided to add a secret room at one of the dead ends of the labyrinth. As long as the player would simply touch the wall at the end, the secret room would be revealed!


    With these additions, he felt that the labyrinth was mostly complete. He could still add other physical traps, but it was better to keep it easy to not discourage the players when they would come.


    Apart from improving the labyrinth, a new floor was also added and was swapped with the one dedicated to the accommodation. The new floor, the 4th one, was made into a large grassy plain. Although it was a plain, Five made the cave, 12m high to allow the harpies to play there; it was not the floor where he would use the harpies but for now, it would do. The same starry sky as the graveyard was also used to hide the ceiling and create a mysterious vibe.


    The grassy plain housed level 22 Death Knights. They were essentially skeletons wearing full heavy armor, riding a skeletal horse. Without the skeletal horses, they might even be mistaken to be normal knights. This was the reason why the harpies agreed to practice there; at least, they did not have the disgusting look of the other undead monsters.


    The grassy plain was also where the two Living Corpses were staying at. So far, apart from absorbing some dark energy daily, they did not do much and acted more as emergency reserves.


    Apart from the monsters, a few plants and herbs were also scattered over the plains, ready to be collected. Just like ores, they were incentives for people to come on that floor.


    Behind the scenes, the secret tunnels and passages were also widened and improved to allow more people to go through at the same time.


    Lastly, a few miscellaneous items were also bought like Health Potions, Antidotes and Mana Potions in case of emergency! Five would always carry these with him at all time in his inventory.


    After that week, Five already had a reserve of 300000 DP but he was not going to use them right away. He could naturally make more floors and improve the dungeon, but it felt unnecessary at the moment. If he bought more monsters, their daily consumption of DP would also increase. He was still getting a good amount of DP from the barbarians, but if they came to change their behavior, his income might be affected.


    As a result, Five decided to simply save his DP for later use while planning his next floors.


    As the dungeon was growing, the barbarians were also adapting to their new lifestyle and at the end of the first week, they mustered enough courage to once again head to the second floor.

 Chapter 64: Development of the barbarians

    During that long week, the barbarians spent a lot of time learning the craft of their ancestors. They took out the old records and tools the Shaman kept and started learning. With the huge influx of iron ores, the barbarians were able to practice without worrying about the lack of resources.


    The barbarians who accepted to try forging mostly consisted of those not satisfied with their current living conditions. The glorious hunters would naturally prefer to spend time in the forest where they could vent themselves but not everyone was gifted as a hunter. With the opportunity to try something new that might considerably improve their living conditions, a few barbarians decided to give it a try.


    As it turned out, they were actually gifted for this. They faced nothing but failures on the first day and ended up being treated as the ridicule of the tribe but on the second day, the first weapon was successfully crafted.


    While the weapon could barely be called a Grade 0 weapon, it was still a weapon! It was proof that the ancestors'' records were real and effective. In a mere two days, someone who never touched a forging hammer before actually succeeded in making a small dagger.


    The most impressive was the person who crafted the dagger, who turned out to be a woman. Her name was Elsa. She was a young woman who married into the tribe a few years ago. Coming from a smaller tribe, her life was supposed to be comfortable and easy once she joined the Black Iron Tribe but unfortunately, her husband passed away just one year after they married.


    Elsa now had a two-years-old son and stayed at her in-law¡¯s house. While she was allowed to stay, she was also considered as a parasite as she could not contribute much to the household. When she learned that the Shaman was allowing anyone to practice forging, she immediately volunteered herself to be able to provide a better environment for her son. As it turned out, it was the wisest decision she had ever made.


    On the day the first weapon was created, Achi personally came to reward her. He also displayed the dagger in front of the whole tribe saying: "Look at this dagger! This is the first weapon of our tribe created from the craft of the ancestors! Yes, it is just a basic weapon but to us, it represents a milestone! If in just two days we were able to make a dagger like this, what would happen in a few months? And so, this dagger is a symbol, the proof that we can achieve great things by using the ancestors'' record! The dagger shall from now on belong to the entire tribe, it shall become the relic to be passed on to the next generation!"


    The tribe was stunned when they heard that the dagger was becoming one of the relics of the tribe. This was no small matter but since the Shaman and the elders also agreed, they could not object. It sounded like the dagger was forcefully taken from Elsa but in truth, there was no greater honor for her to have her craft recognized to the point to be considered as a relic!


    Since that day, she worked even harder; in just one week, she practiced forging as much as she could and was now a peak Grade 1 Blacksmith. Her status soared exponentially such that even the Shaman and Achi stepped out personally to protect her. She was just a woman and they were afraid that her in-laws might try to take advantage of her now that she was important to the tribe.


    When they saw her success, many other barbarians also decided to try forging and the result of 1 week of forging was 8 Grade 1 Blacksmith and 23 Grade 0 Blacksmith. It was an extremely good result considering that the village consisted of about 300 adults which meant that at least 10% of the barbarians had some skills when it came to forging.


    Aside from forging, the barbarians also made their first official trade with the townsmen. As they previously arranged, the players brought back a large variety of food and spices that could be stored for long while the barbarians took out furs, necklaces and other items crafted from the animal parts.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Although a group of barbarians went to the mine on a daily basis to collect ores and another group would practice forging, the barbarians still had enough men to bring back a sufficient amount of food. They also already had a year-long reserve of animal fur and teeth ready to be traded.


    Having secured a source of food for the winter, the tribe felt safe and peaceful for the first time. However, it was precisely that feeling of security that sowed the seeds of envy. Many barbarians realized that they were sitting on top of a mine of gold and were still just scratching the surface!


    It all happened because of the players'' behavior. Initially, the barbarians were unaware of the dungeon and simply asked for some rations to survive smoothly through the winter. But since they wanted to do business, the players brought back a lot of other food that the barbarians had never seen like seafood, special vegetables and even just animals that came from different regions.


    They made their own advertisement by sharing some food when they were all eating together at the bonfire and the barbarians seemed to really like it. After one week, they all knew that the dungeon was a source of wealth and if they could just tap a little more from it, then they would be able to eat delicious meals like that every day!


    Their reasoning was straightforward and quickly, the barbarians made the request to Achi to go to the second floor. The latter naturally agreed; it was something they would naturally do at some point, exploring early was not a bad idea.


    ...


    And so, during the second week, Five ended up watching the barbarians roam through the labyrinth. They were very careful at first and stayed in groups despite being several levels above the monsters. They were fearful that the undead monster that killed Toba''s group would still be lurking in the shadows but after their initial exploration, they concluded that the Shaman was right and that it was just a one-time monster.


    The barbarians were too strong for the second floor. Even the Shades and the Mimics who took the barbarians by surprise at first were unable to kill even one of them.


    They quickly adapted to this new hunting environment and mercilessly slaughtered every monster in the labyrinth. Five had to constantly respawn them and after careful observation, he set up specific respawn timers.


    The dead skeletons would respawn every 10 minutes while the shades and mimic would do so every 15 minutes.


    However, despite the relatively long respawn time of the monsters, Five''s income took a severe blow. The barbarians could clear the entire labyrinth in less than thirty minutes if they tried their hardest. They also looted all the treasures scattered in the labyrinth but fortunately, they still did not discover the secret room.


    Every day, they would go back with huge bags full of skeleton bones, shade essences, and enchanted woods. These were all items commonly used in different crafting disciplines and with them, the tribe was starting to shift from their traditional hunting habit to crafting and exploring the dungeon, just like the townsmen were doing.


    ...


    Five was calmly relaxing in the common room of the living quarters. After the arrival of the harpies, he realized that they were missing an area where they could spend time together and eat their meals; always bringing these girls to his room was not very appropriate. A common room was built at the end of the corridor where they would all usually chat and relax.


    ''It had been very calm recently'' thought Five. His interface was opened on his side, displaying that it was already 23:59 but he was not focusing his attention on the screen.


    He was instead chatting with Ariel. After the two weeks, she was now a level 24 harpy while Angela and Alice were still level 23. He asked the harpies about the reason for the difference in their levels and they simply said that it was because Ariel was putting in more effort in her training. As he heard that, Five felt some warmth; these girls were not just carefreely leeching off him, they were also training to be ready for the future.


    "It''s almost midnight! I need to go and see my sisters," said Ariel as she stood up from her chair.


    "Are you going out again tonight? I did not know harpies were nocturnal creatures," commented Five.


    "We are not nocturnal, but we like to fly in the sky under the moon. We are natural hunters and have night vision. Also, it is more convenient since there are no humans that might see us. Did you notice how Alice became a lot more patient these days and how Angela started speaking more?" playfully said Ariel.


    "Of course! I am not blind, but what is the relationship between you going out and the change in their behavior?"


    "... Nothing... It''s just that it is good for us to be free to fly in the wild. No offense but although the dungeon is our home, we cannot really call it home for now..."


    Five nodded, he understood what she was talking about. Although it was where they were born and spent most of their time, the environment was not adapted to them. They could barely fly and use their wings; they were basically birds in cages. He knew it was the case but when he heard Ariel, he could not help but feel a twinge of sorrow.


    "I know... But in the near future, I will definitely make you a wonderful home!" declared Five. He already had 500000 DP as a reserve but if he were to make something like the Avian Cavern, all that fortune would disappear in an instant.


    "I know! I am waiting for that day. But for now, I''ll go find Angela and Alice!" answered Ariel as she waved goodbye.


    At that moment, the clock ticked and displayed 0:00 and at the same time, a world announcement rung at Five''s ears.

 Chapter 65: Trial

    [World Announcement: Greetings to all Dungeon Masters! By now, you should have all already settled and founded your dungeon. You are all walking down the correct path. However, as I previously mentioned, you will have to face many trials during your growth!]


    Hearing the voice, Five immediately focused. He easily recognized the owner of the voice; it was the same person that brought him into the game, Gaia.


    [Since it is the very first trial, I have decided to graciously warn you. Now, you cannot complain about forgetting about it.]


    [The trial you will face will vary from dungeon to dungeon. Now let me tell you a secret... The location you chose for your dungeon, not only determined how many people would visit your dungeon but also the difficulty of the trial!]


    Five listened in silence; although he was starting to feel annoyed by Gaia''s speaking manner, he could only listen because what she said might determine his fate. It was clear that Gaia was taking this announcement more as a conversation than a speech, she even seemed to be enjoying the feeling of teasing thousands of dungeon masters.


    [One week... Your trial can occur at any time during the next week! I hope you are not too stressed by the news. But just a gentle reminder that this trial will determine whether you can continue to live in this game and possibly your fate in the future. I wish you the best of luck!]


    The world announcement ended but Five was still deep in thoughts.


    ''The trial is based on the position of the dungeon? I picked the blue zone which should be the easy one but after I ran from that town, I am not sure if I crossed the border. I am probably very close to changing zones...''


    But what did it mean? The only thing that came to Five''s mind was that the trial would consist of the nearest enemy attacking. And in his case, it was the barbarians. If they really attacked, it would be a disaster!


    Only four barbarians almost succeeded in completely erasing the dungeon just 2 weeks ago. Even if the dungeon was not considerably stronger, none of his monsters was still able to fight the barbarians. Fortunately, he made a considerable reserve of DP for cases like this, but would 500000 DP be enough for him to survive if the entire tribe was to attack?


    ''It is just the first trial... It should not be too hard, right?'' thought Five.


    ''Let''s be safe and at least warn Dreidus about it... I should also warn the harpies about it...''


    ...


    It was already past midnight but as an undead, Dreidus did not need to sleep. It was one of the few advantages of being an undead. He usually spent entire nights meditating and thanks to that, he was able to advance to level 26.


    Dreidus was silently meditating, gathering the dark energy that loomed in the dungeon when he suddenly heard a few knocks on the door of his room.


    "knock knock knock"


    "Please enter, master!" said Dreidus. He instinctively knew that it was Five.


    The latter entered quickly, "Sorry to bother you Dreidus but there is something I have just been informed about."


    "Please speak master, there is no need to ask for my permission for things like this."Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Five looked at the lich before sitting down on the sofa. After the 2 weeks, the lich was already showing some physical changes; he was still looking like a skeleton but surrounding the bones, a few patches of skin could be seen especially near the skull. Ligaments and muscles also started to appear; he started to look more like a zombie.


    It was apparently completely normal. As the monsters were getting stronger, they would slowly change and evolve. In the end, Dreidus would return to his original form and look like a real lich. Similarly, the harpies would also grow as they level up, they looked like 15 years-old girls but later, they would turn into mature women like Harriet.


    "In the incoming week, we will face a strong enemy. Just a few moments ago, Gaia warned all the dungeon masters including me that we would have to face a trial. I don''t know the nature of the enemy yet but..."


    "..."


    "Mmm. Thank you for warning me! It will indeed be hard for us to survive if all the barbarians turn against us. 400000 DP is clearly not enough but we should be able to make a good fight!"


    Dreidus was the unofficially appointed war commander. He had a better knowledge of the undead monsters than Five and was reliable. He kept a close eye on the monsters and reported to Five whenever it was required.


    "But are you sure it will be the barbarians? If so, wouldn''t that be equivalent to killing our own source of DP? It is just the first trial and I think they would be more lenient than that," said Dreidus.


    Five nodded, "But in any case, it is better to be safe."


    "True but by summoning more monsters, the daily DP consumption would also drastically increase! Remember that monsters above level 20 are much more expensive than the ones below level 20. It might affect the later development." said Dreidus.


    400000 DP sounded like a lot but this amount would disappear very quickly. Above level 20, the price of monsters significantly increased. The level 22 Death Knight, for example, cost 75000 DP to unlock and 5000 DP to summon one. They also consumed a lot more DP per day than the other monsters.


    Although they were pricey, they were also a lot stronger than the other monsters. The Death Knight consisted of two monsters and killing just one of them was not enough. Even if the mount was killed, the knight would continue to fight and if the knight was killed first, the skeletal horse would then continue to fight to avenge its rider.


    Level 20 represented a milestone and at the next milestone, level 40, the price would increase even more!


    "In that case, what about unlocking a boss monster? I think it is time to get someone else apart from me. The dungeon is growing, and I will not be able to look after so many floors. It would be good to have someone to help."


    "A boss monster?" murmured Five. It was indeed true that at the moment, Dreidus was handling the undead monsters but as their number increased, Dreidus might not be able to supervise so many.


    Unlocking a boss monster also meant unlocking its normal version but boss monsters had prerequisites before being summoned.


    "I had a Banshee Queen in mind... Her only requirement is a good environment like the graveyard on the third floor. I know that placing her there would be too much, but we can make another floor for her later."


    Banshees formed part of the group of monsters having both the undead type and the ghost type. They existed in the form of spirits and were always shrouded by a white layer of particles.


    Five quickly browsed through the dungeon shop. There was indeed a Banshee Queen. Normal Banshees were level 20-23 monsters while the Banshee Queen would start at level 20 but would then be able to grow to a certain extent; her level cap was level 30.


    But since she was a boss monster, unlocking her would cost 150000 DP and summoning her would add another 50000 DP. Just like that, almost all the DP accumulated by Five would disappear.


    On one side, it was dangerous to put all his eggs in a single basket but at the same time, it was best to summon the Banshee Queen early so that she could start leveling up.


    "If you think it is the best option, then let''s do it!" said Five.


    "The rest of the DP shall be used to summon a couple more monsters. Thank you for trusting me Master! I will always do what I think is best for the dungeon!¡± sincerely declared Dreidus. In the beginning, he was frustrated at being forced to join the dungeon and working under someone but as time passed, he became used to this place and acknowledged it as his home. He was now ready to do anything to protect this place.


    ...


    In the middle of the night, Five made his way through the graveyard. The zombies, wraiths and spectral hounds all looked at him when he entered the place, but they did not attack. They were all smart enough to recognize their master and quickly backed off.


    Dreidus followed closely behind. As the two arrived at the center of the graveyard, Five opened his interface and searched for the Banshee Queen. His heart was aching at the idea of having all his hard-earned DP disappear but before he could doubt himself, he immediately pressed the confirm button.


    A summoning circle appeared in front of him as the graveyard suddenly turned silent. All the other monsters stopped moving and all turned towards Five. The circle started shining as white fumes started to rise out of the entire graveyard; from the tombs, graves and even just the soil, the white fumes all converged to the summoning circle.


    A few seconds later, in the middle of the concentrated cloud of white fumes, a frail figure appeared.


    "Master..."


    The Banshee Queen finally revealed herself as most of the white fumes disappeared in mid-air. Contrary to Five''s expectation, the Banshee Queen looked just like a regular human being. She had white hair and a very common face. She wore plain clothes which made her looked like a normal servant.


    She was respectfully bowing to Five as the white particles around her were slowly settling down, creating a strange white halo.


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the unnamed Banshee Queen has agreed to serve you.]


    Name: -


    Race: Banshee


    Level: 20 (0/10000)


    Title: Queen


    HP: 500/500


    MP: 490/490


    Strength: 10


    Dexterity: 30


    Vitality: 50


    Intelligence: 49


    Wisdom: 75


    Special Skills: [Wails of Sorrow]


    Seeing the information window pop up, Five smiled. "Well, welcome to the team!"


    Behind him, Dreidus blinked his eyes and discreetly reminded Five, "Master, you should give her a name."

 Chapter 66: Strange behavior

    After being prompted by Dreidus, Five ended up naming the Banshee Queen, Lyra. She was a quiet girl who quickly adapted to her environment. After moving into the room next to Dreidus'', she went with him to learn more about the dungeon. Five let Dreidus do the introduction since he was the one in charge of all undead monsters; he was the most qualified to do so.


    As for Five, he anxiously waited for the harpies to come back. The enemies might suddenly attack, and the harpies were alone in the wild. Fortunately, nothing happened, and the 3 harpies came back safely after a few hours.


    He felt relieved seeing them come back and informed them of the situation. He wanted them to stay in the dungeon for a week but to his surprise, the harpies categorically refused to. They were hell-bent on continuing their nocturnal excursions and argued with Five and even proposed to act as scouts. It was to the point where even Angela stated that she wanted to continue to go out.


    Five was worried about them. It was not just that each harpy was expensive but after two weeks of interactions, he unconsciously became attached to these girls. After a few minutes of lively discussions; "Fine, but for this week, you can only go out for 3 hours each night! And you won''t get your daily allowance!"


    "Alright! It is better than nothing," said Ariel on behalf of the other two.


    Although Five was unable to make them stay at the dungeon, he at least limited the time they would spend outside. He felt a headache as he could not bring himself to argue much with them. He felt like a father trying to convince his unreasonable daughters.


    ...


    Two days went by without any signs of trouble. The only change was that the barbarians started venturing on the third floor. The graveyard did not represent too much of a challenge to them, but they were careful since there was no sign of the powerful one-time monster of that floor. The number of barbarians entering the dungeon was slowly increasing as the days went by. Now, about 60 barbarians came in daily.


    In the graveyard, the evolved zombies were no match for the barbarians. The only monster that could probably deal with them would be Lyra, the Banshee Queen. However, under the orders of Five, she stayed hidden in the graveyard and did not show herself. Her job was only to peacefully level up and wait for her own floor to be built.


    Meanwhile, at the Black Iron Tribe, the players were back for the second round of trading. Iron Shark was leading the party and this time, more than thirty players came.


    As he saw the players, Achi quickly jumped on his horse to welcome them, "Good morning brother Iron Shark!"


    "Good morning, Chief Achi! I am sorry for being late for the trade but as you see, I brought more people!"


    "It is fine, brother! As long as you do not forget! We have some more items to trade with you now. Come, let me show you!" happily said Achi. How could he not be happy that more food was coming his way?


    The players were quickly brought to the center of the place and first took out the items they already planned to trade before. After the quick trade that was already arranged, Achi brought a few more items and showed them to Iron Shark.


    The latter''s eyes shone as he saw the items. As, he first turned his attention to the opaque bottles, an information window popped up, displaying all the properties of the potion. Iron Shark did not need a lot of time to realize the value of these potions.


    Most of them were poisons, each of different type; there was the regular poison that simply dealt damage, the paralyzing poison, the weakening poison, a poison that could freeze and slow down. These were all rare but could still be purchased at a high price but then, Iron Shark grabbed another bottle.


    It was a unique poison: a strengthening poison. The user would receive a boost in strength but would also lose some HP every second. It was basically a double-edged sword but if used correctly, it could prove to be very useful.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    "Very interesting!" commented Iron Shark as he shifted his gaze to the next pile of items: weapons. There were all types of weapons, ranging from low grade 0 to peak grade 1 but what they had in common was that they were all made of metal.


    Coming from a barbarian tribe, that was quite rare. The previous weapons they traded were all made of animal parts and refined stones. The fact that there were suddenly so many metal weapons rose suspicion.


    The weapons were definitely eye-catching, most of them were axes but they had a special air around them, making them look out of this world. The peak grade 1 weapons were naturally the most refined ones, with strange and attractive patterns.


    ''Such a pity they are not enchanted... If they were, they would definitely be Grade 2 weapons! But... I can simply find an enchanter later,'' thought Iron Shark.


    "Magnificent! These weapons look like they were forged by an expert!" excitedly exclaimed Iron Shark.


    Hearing that, Achi and the other barbarians let out a smile, but they did not say anything. There was still one item left to be reviewed!


    Iron Shark looked at the final item which looked like a rag. It was a simple white piece of cloth but it was clearly torn at several different spots. He did not know how to react when he saw it but nevertheless took it to examine it; he wanted to be polite.


    But as the information window popped up, Iron Shark''s eyes almost fell out. The torn piece of cloth turned out to be a Grade 2 equipment, [Cloth of the Night]. Its special effect was to improve the skill, [Stealth] which was the signature skill of rogues!


    [Cloth of the Night] was the most recent equipment crafted by the Shaman. He only had time to make one of them since its primary material was the piece of cloth dropped by the wraiths. The barbarians only recently started hunting wraiths and therefore, the shaman did not have much time and could only make one [Cloth of the Night].


    The Shaman knew the players would be interested in it. Not only did it reduce the cost of [Stealth] by 30%, it also increased its duration by 4 seconds and reduce the probability of being detected by 30%. Its only downside was the crappy defense stat it provided but the effects easily made up for it, especially since it was designed for offensive rogues.


    Iron Shark clearly knew that this item was extremely precious! It would greatly help him and Blue Lagoon to make a name for themselves. With all the different poisons and these new pieces of equipment, he basically found a huge gold mine!


    "This is incredible!" exclaimed Iron Shark. He was momentarily dazed by looking at all these items, but he quickly got himself together. "But chief, I suppose that you did not just take these out for show. What do you want to trade them with?"


    Achi felt proud as he saw Iron Shark''s reaction. "These are the items I would take out for the next trade. I know you did not prepare and do not have many things with you at the moment. So, I..."


    "Wait Chief!" exclaimed Iron Shark, "We actually have some more food with us if you want to trade. As merchants, we naturally always have some excess stock with us to take care of unexpected events like this one."


    "Oh? Really? But I doubt you have enough with you. As you have seen, these items are quite precious and naturally, just a few pounds of food won''t be enough to trade for them!" said Achi as he observed Iron Shark.


    "Don''t worry chief! Let''s discuss the price!"


    ...


    After a whole hour, the two parties finally came to an agreement. They would trade a few weapons for more food this time but as for the next trades, the players would have to bring more resources like special ores, firestones, clothes and other materials.


    Unfortunately, the [Cloth of the Night] was not traded that time; Iron Shark could only look at it with envy.


    "Chief! Your tribe is more resourceful than I thought. I did not know you were also craftsmen," said Iron Shark.


    "Haha, you are wrong. I have a friend from another tribe who is good at forging and another one who is a poison master. I made a pact with them and I am just trading those goods for them. We just focus on hunting, but I hope you don''t mind that I act as an intermediate for those tribes?" asked Achi.


    Iron Shark frowned for a second before answering, "Do not worry chief, we shall naturally share the profits! By the way, since our cooperation is growing, would you mind if I leave a few men here so that we can keep in contact more easily? You can just speak to them and I will immediately know what you need. This way, I will always be able to bring the appropriate items for trading."


    "Unfortunately, I cannot allow that at the moment. My tribe is just starting to open up. I fear that some of the tribesmen might cause a riot or rebel if they see townsmen every day. They are already against our trading, but I managed to convince them. With time, when they realize that trading is good for the tribe, then there won''t be any issue with you setting up something here. For now, why don''t you just set a camp at the Tolden Encampment? It is the closest town of the townsmen.


    "Sure Chief! If there is nothing else, then I will return with my friends to the tent. I am exhausted after traveling that much" said Iron Shark.


    "Haha! Sure, this way please..."


    ...


    A few minutes later, Iron Shark was back in the tent with a dozen players from Blue Lagoon.


    A short girl immediately exclaimed, "Haha boss! You were right! Trading with these barbarians was a genius idea! With all that poison, our rogue division would definitely become the most powerful one of the empire! And if we even get the [Cloth of the Night], we might even secure our spot as the number 1 guild."


    "Mmm"


    "Boss... why don''t you look happy?" asked another member of Blue Lagoon.


    Iron Shark took a deep breath to calm down before answering, "The barbarians are definitely hiding something from us. They said all these items came from other tribes but that''s impossible!"


    In truth, the reason they were late and why they brought so much food was because they also had deals with the other neighboring tribes! After making the first deal with the Black Iron Tribe, the members of Blue Lagoon realized that that would not be enough for them to prosper. And so, they thought of the other tribes with which they could also trade.


    Although trading with just one tribe did not bring up a lot of profit, when put together, that amount became quite significant. Iron Shark was planning to move to other tribes after trading with the Black Iron Tribe but when he saw all these rare items, he changed his plan.


    With all these items, Iron Shark was naturally curious about where they came from. If he was right, that meant that there was a source of natural resources nearby! If he could put his hand on it or even just benefit a little from it, then Blue Lagoon would become even stronger.


    "There are still a few hours before the sunset. I want you all to investigate the Black Iron Tribe. Find the source of all these items!"

 Chapter 67: Start of the trial

    Meanwhile, after leaving Iron Shark, Achi went straight to the Shaman''s tent. "Father, you were right! They indeed had more food with them than we asked for. It is highly possible that they were thinking of trading with the other tribes."


    The Shaman turned his attention to Achi, "This is to be expected. We cannot be the sole beneficiary of this trade. Sooner or later, the other tribes will also know about it and at that time, it might strain our relationship with them if we don''t tell them about that. But I believe that we can still make about two full trades with them before having to reveal it to the other tribes."


    "Wouldn''t that be hard? I did as you asked and kept the [Cloth of the Night] but for the next trade, they will definitely bring enough food and resources to trade for everything. At that time, they will have enough to go to the other tribes," said Achi.


    "Don''t worry about that, I will just craft one more item... I haven''t used that spectral goo yet and I know precisely what to make with them!"


    Achi naturally knew he was speaking about the item dropped by the Spectral Hounds, but never would he have thought that it could also be useful. In his eyes, the bluish goo was just garbage. "It is hard for you, father. Crafting all these items... I hoped I could have helped..."


    "Don''t worry about it. Although I am old, this body is still strong. During this week, I will select a disciple to learn my craft, this will make it easier for me. You don''t have to worry about me... Focus more on those guys, make sure they don''t do anything reckless at the dungeon. If we lose a team now, it will be disastrous... Don''t rush to the next floor yet," calmly said the old man.


    "Yes father... I''ll make sure they don''t let success get to their head!"


    ...


    A few hours later, a large group of barbarians was making their way back to the tribe.


    "Brother Achi... I am sorry, the catch today is only these few rabbits... I don''t understand what is happening, there were absolutely no traces of any beasts..." said Baltra with an apologetic expression.


    After Toba passed away, he naturally became the new leader of the hunting team. Everything was fine at first, he made great catches every day and the whole team respected him but that was until two days ago. Since then, he always came back empty handed. No matter how hard he looked, he did not find any traces of beasts and it was the same for the other hunters.


    This repeated itself for two days and finally, to avoid embarrassment, they could only turn to the rabbits in the upper forest which was usually left behind for the children to train themselves.


    "Don''t worry, Baltra. It is normal to make bad catches sometimes... Take it easy now that we have food from the townsmen. I am sure that tomorrow, you''ll make a killing!"


    ...


    At the same time, in another part of the tribe.


    Iron Shark was quietly resting while looking at all the items he obtained from the trade. Although some unexpected things popped up, it was not detrimental to Blue Lagoon. If he was able to continue bringing so many items back to the guild, his status there would definitely rise!


    Suddenly, a group of players stormed into the tent. "Boss!"


    "Boss, we might have found something," said one of the players.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Iron Shark quickly got himself together, "What did you find?"


    "I was staying at the entrance of the tribe when I saw a huge group of barbarians coming back. There was at least 50 of them but the interesting part was that they were all carrying bags full of stuff. I did not ask any question, but they seemed to be coming from the river. If I am not wrong, the men would rarely go there and only women would do their chores by the river. In my opinion, this is definitely suspicious!"


    "The river? Did any of you find anything else?" asked Iron Shark but to his disappointment, the players all stayed silent.


    "Alright! Pack up! We are leaving now..."


    Without waiting for an answer, Iron Shark quickly left the tent. He was deep in thoughts as he made his way to the center of the tribe. There, Achi was speaking to the hunters when he saw Iron Shark.


    Iron Shark quickly displayed a casual expression, "Chief! Unfortunately, an emergency happened in my guild. We will need to leave as soon as possible. I hope you can excuse me for not toasting with you tonight!"


    "An emergency? Well... If something happened, then no need to waste time here, brother. Solve your issues quickly but I hope our deal still holds."


    "Of course, chief! The emergency has nothing to do with our deal. It is just that some idiots went to look for trouble and now, I have to deal with it," answered Iron Shark while acting like a furious man.


    "Sure, to next time then!"


    ...


    The group of players left the tribe as the sun was setting. The night cycle was about to start which made monsters more powerful than normal, but they did not seem to care.


    They took the direction of the closest town and rode their horses for a whole hour before suddenly changing direction.


    "It should be fine. Even if the barbarians sent people to follow us, they should have given up by now!" said Iron Shark.


    Hearing their leader, all the players commanded their horses to turn, "Everyone! Head to the forest!"


    To avoid raising the suspicion of the barbarians, the players voluntarily took a longer route and slowly, they entered the forest.


    It was already 21:00 by the time they stopped in front of a slim stream of water.


    "Good! Now, let''s walk our way up the source!" ordered Iron Shark.


    The forest around the players was extremely quiet. It was abnormal for there to be no monsters during the night cycle; it was normally the period where they were the most active.


    Slowly, the players followed the stream and even after 5 minutes, they did not encounter any monster yet.


    "Ahh I am so hungry! Can''t we eat our fill before looking for the barbarians'' secret? We even skipped dinner!" said one of the girls with a pitiful expression. She tried to look charming and coquettish to Iron Shark, but the latter''s face did not even twitch.


    "Fine... Let''s continue!" said the girl with an annoyed tone.


    Everyone was hungry, but no one wanted to be the one to contest Iron Shark''s order. They knew that now was a critical time and even if it seemed unreasonable to not have dinner, they also did not want to set a camp in the middle of this forest full of beasts.


    The stream of water was slowly getting larger, but the players knew they were still very far from the barbarians'' village. After all, the forest was vast, so vast that several tribes were actually relying on it to feed themselves while never clashing with each other.


    Iron Shark was leading the group of players who were quietly chatting with each other. When suddenly, he felt that something was wrong. He immediately stopped his horse and drew his sword.


    "Huh? What is happening, boss?" asked one of the players.


    Iron Shark ignored the player and surveyed the area. He turned his horse to look at the players but did not find anything standing out of the ordinary. "Strange... Did I make a mistake?" thought Iron Shark.


    The player who previously spoke looked at his boss. He was about to speak when suddenly, his vision became blurry, he felt an intense pain on his neck as he suddenly saw the trees moving at an insane speed in front of him. The next second, his vision turned dark as he received a system prompt announcing his death.


    Iron Shark clearly saw the scene and was horrified. He stared at the now headless body of the player still sitting straight on the horse. When he was about to sheath back his sword, he suddenly saw a shadow jump out of nowhere and strike the player at his neck before running away with the head.


    Iron Shark panicked. He was about to shout an order when he suddenly saw the other players'' expression. They were all looking at him with a horrified expression, then he realized that they were not looking at him but just above his head. He twitched as his eyes involuntarily saw that a huge shadow was covering his own!


    But before he could turn around, his vision suddenly went dark as he received the system prompt informing him of his death.


    ...


    A few hours later, 3 slender figures flew out of the cave near the waterfall. They quickly flew under the cover of the night and followed the cliff for a few minutes before finally landing in front of a cloaked figure.


    "We are here!" joyfully exclaimed Alice.


    The cloaked figure smiled, "Angela, you look even prettier today!"


    With a timid voice, the silver-haired harpy answered, "How is that possible? Didn''t we just see each other yesterday? How can I change so much in just one day?"


    "You are cute... Didn''t you just level up? Be more at ease!"


    After chatting for a while, Ariel asked, "What are we doing tonight? Are we practicing the secret skill again?"


    The cloaked figure was about to answer when suddenly, a gentle breeze blew over the cliff. "Mmm, not tonight! You need to go back to the dungeon!"


    "What? Why?" asked Alice with a stunned expression.


    "Because they are here... The trial you talked about... It is starting!"


    "You are saying enemies are coming? But what will you do? It will be safer to all go to the dungeon!" said Ariel.


    The cloaked figure shook his head, "No... I will go and divert their attention!"


    "Then... Can you tell us who are these enemies? At least, it will help master," asked Angela with a shy expression.


    The cloaked figure slowly started to float in front of the cliff, "I need to go now, or it will be too late! Go back to the dungeon. You never faced them, so you probably never heard anything about them but if it can help... Tell him... The four Beast Kings of this part of the forest are coming!"

 Chapter 68: Defence

    "What? Are you sure about that?" exclaimed Five.


    A few seconds ago, he was calmly lying on his bed and was about to finally fall asleep. The days were pretty boring especially since he spent most of his time studying the monsters. He was trying to be a good dungeon master and so, it was imperative to know the monsters he could summon.


    Today, he spent some time browsing through the forum, hoping that someone had released some information about the trial but unfortunately, nobody did. Apart from a few threads where everyone presented themselves or asked to join a particular alliance, the other dungeon masters did not use the forum much.


    Five was nervous. ¡®This trial should not be too hard, right? According to what Gaia previously said, after I gave up on Harriet and the harpies, the difficulty should have decreased significantly.¡¯


    Five was lying with his eyes closed when suddenly, he heard his door being flung open as the three young harpies stormed the place. Alice was naturally the one leading the group and she quickly came to the side of the bed while shouting, "Master! There are monsters coming! Wake Up!"


    Five was stunned by seeing the 3 harpies rush to him but although he was about to sleep, his mind was clear. He immediately got up before asking for an explanation.


    Ariel explained how they were flying around the forest when they saw a tide of beasts coming.


    Five could only curse to himself, ''D*mnit, I was so focused on the barbarians that I forgot about the beasts of the forest... It is true, I forgot about it when they did not come as soon as the dungeon was founded... Normally, they should have been the first to come to the dungeon, but it seems that the system kept them for the trial...''


    "Alice, go inform Dreidus and Lyra. They also need to know about this," said Five as he quickly grabbed the dungeon core. The precious dungeon core basically stayed in Five''s room most of the time.


    He did not have a throne room like Kroff but only now as Dreidus and Lyra also entered the room, did he realize that they were invading his private space. He made a personal note to later, make a throne room to avoid having to meet all his monsters in his own room. He quickly got up and brought everyone to the common room where there was enough space for everyone to sit down.


    "Are you sure that the beasts are coming here? The entrance to the dungeon is quite hard to reach, maybe they are just running away from something?" asked Dreidus.


    "Isn''t it too coincidental? With the warning of the trial, I think they are really aiming for the dungeon. We just need to wait for a few minutes and they will arrive!" said Ariel.


    After a brief moment of silence, Dreidus nodded, "Then what kind of beasts did you see? We can probably start making some preparations just in case..."


    As they heard the question, the three harpies did not immediately answer. Instead, they looked at each other unsure of themselves. "We..."


    "We did not see what beast they were... It was dark and only saw shadows moving but we are confident that they are beasts!" explained Alice.


    Lyra suspiciously looked at the harpies but did not say anything. She was sitting next to Dreidus, looking more like a maid waiting to receive orders.


    Although he did not receive any answer, Dreidus did not get angry at the harpies, "Fine... In that case, we can only wait and see!"The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Five nodded, there was not much they could do even with the information of which beasts were attacking. He used the dungeon core to open a large screen, displaying the entrance of the dungeon.


    As the barbarians were constantly mining the first floor, the entrance and all the tunnels were considerably enlarged. They were already large enough to be considered as a real first floor.


    A few minutes later, as the harpies had said, a group of beasts wildly rushed through the entrance. The camera of the dungeon was limited to only seeing the inside of the dungeon; as such, they had no idea of how many monsters were making their way to the dungeon.


    On the screen, all Five and the others saw was an unending stream of Wild Boars pouring inside the dungeon. The Wild Boars ranged from level 13 to level 16. They were not very strong individually but at the moment, they were charging as a group; it would be hard to stop them!


    Five tensed up as he saw the beasts, there seemed to be an infinite amount of them. In just a few seconds, he already lost track of how many wild boars entered his dungeon but fortunately, the interface displayed that information. In less than 10 seconds, 25 boars already entered and there were no signs of them stopping.


    The first floor was completely defenseless and so, the wild boars progressed through the floor, unhindered. The scary part was that the wild boars always took the right tunnel that led to the stairs!


    "Dreidus! Are the skeletons ready?" asked Five.


    "Yes! I already used [Dead Mind]!"


    "Good! Make them wait just behind corners. The wild boars will be forced to slow down to make the sharp turns in the labyrinth! It will be the best moment to strike them," commanded Five.


    The wild boars were charging at their top speed and quickly, the first one arrived at the stairs. Meanwhile, at the entrance of the dungeon, another group of beasts entered the dungeon. That group consisted of Apes ranging from level 16 to level 19!


    By now, Five''s interface displayed that 100 wild boars entered the dungeon and quickly, the number of Apes soared! Compared to the wild boars, the Apes were much slower but that was not necessarily a good thing.


    At the end of the first floor, the wild boars were madly charging down the stairs. They were strangely able to avoid falling down and messing their formation. However, when facing the relatively narrow entrance of the labyrinth, some wild boars were forced to stop.


    The corridors were only wide enough to allow two lines of wild boars to charge in at a time, the other lines needed to wait. The loud steps of the wild boars resonated through the labyrinth as they blindly charged in but as they reached the end of the corridor, the first wild boars were forced to slow down.


    The corridors of the labyrinth were all positioned at 90¡ã angles to each other which made it hard to successfully turn at high speed. As if the entire group of boars was in synchrony, they all started to slow down such that they would not bump into each other.


    However, as the first wild boars finally reached the end of the first corridor, they were greeted by 6 skeletons, 3 on each side who without hesitation, started to claw at the wild boars.


    As they saw the skeletons, the wild boars did not even consider them as enemies, they simply charged and stomped them on the ground without putting in much effort. These skeletons were just the ones patrolling near the entrance; they were all level 10 which was 3 levels below the weakest wild boar. It would be a miracle if the frail skeletons were able to stop them.


    The wild boars again all turned left, taking the shortest path that led to the end of the labyrinth. At each turn, they always ended up picking the right one!


    Along the way, the wild boars encountered several groups of skeletons which were progressively becoming stronger, but it was not until they were close to the center that the wild boars had to actually fight seriously to get rid of the skeletons. The ones near the center were level 14 skeletons using swords and shields.


    They lasted for a good amount of time against the wild boars and even took down a few of them but in the end, they were overwhelmed by the never-ending stream of wild boars. The other monsters also did their best but were not very effective.


    The shades would jump out of the black puddles and would claw the nearest wild boars before sneakily returning to their puddle form. With their sneaky nature, the shades were able to avoid the attacks of the wild boars, but the beasts were not stupid either. After seeing that they could not harm that monster, they simply ignored all the shades they met.


    The monsters were free to attack the wild boars as much as they wanted but unfortunately, the shades were not very strong and could only inflict a limited amount of damage to the pack of wild boars.


    As for the Mimics, they did not last long in front of the wild boars. The beasts did not care about the loot they might contain, they mercilessly stomped all the mimics they encountered. Having lost the element of surprise, the mimics were not very useful in holding back the wild boars.


    It was only at the later portion of the labyrinth that the number of wild boars considerably decreased. The skeletons there were all rather high leveled and wore armors to protect themselves while using decent weapons. The wild boars actually had to fight them to death before being able to continue on their way. Their number gradually dwindled from 100 to 20 as they were about to reach the end of the labyrinth.


    At that moment, a thought crossed Five''s mind. He suddenly exclaimed, "Now that I think about it since it is the night cycle, I should be able to modify the dungeon! What if I change the walls of the labyrinth to force the wild boars to the portion of the labyrinth where there are still skeletons?"


    "Great idea, master!" exclaimed Alice.


    Dreidus silently nodded. He was not very satisfied with the performance of the skeletons. He hoped that they would at least be able to deal with all the wild boars but as it turned out, they failed.


    Five quickly opened the dungeon interface to try his idea. Unfortunately, it seemed that the system already saw through him as he received a system prompt:


    [System prompt: Due to special circumstance, you are unable to immediately modify the second floor. Would you like to save the changes and apply them at the end of the trial?]


    "D*mnit..."

 Chapter 69: Arrival of the kings

    The wild boars suffered a lot of damage, but they nevertheless succeeded in crossing the labyrinth. Despite their injuries, they rushed down the stairs to the third floor.


    They did not hesitate to enter the gloomy graveyard despite seeing the numerous enemies staring their way. However, as soon as they put a step in, their vision blurred as large torn pieces of cloth flew before their eyes.


    Just above their head, a group of wraiths suddenly appeared and started draining the wild boars'' life. The wild boars stomped the ground, trying to attack the wraith but no matter how hard they tried, they were unable to jump high enough!


    The wraiths were free to continue attacking without fear of retaliation!


    ...


    Meanwhile, Five was anxiously looking at the screen as the number of beasts entering his dungeon kept increasing. The line of Apes was long but that was mainly due to their burly size. They moved relatively slowly in a formation, like an army of trained soldiers. As there was so many of them, the ground would lightly tremble every time they took a step.


    A total of 50 Apes entered the dungeon but behind them, yet another type of beast appeared: Forest Tigers.


    The Forest Tigers calmly followed behind the Apes without attacking them. They maintained their formation and calmly followed the Apes.


    The rest of the dungeon became quiet as the last Wild Boar fell to one the spectral hounds'' bite. Now, Five only had to focus on these beasts who were clearly stronger than the Wild Boars.


    The Apes were rather tall; they were using their long hairy arms to walk just like gorillas would do. The Forest Tigers also strangely looked more disciplined, like someone had tamed them to follow the Apes.


    Slowly, the number of Forest Tigers increased and reached 25. The Forest Tigers ranged from level 20 to level 22. They were extremely fast such that even the barbarians were careful when encountering them.


    But more importantly, behind the Forest Tigers, two large silhouettes appeared. One of them looked like a larger version of the Apes, the only difference was that its fur was completely white, with the exception of its fists which were pitch black. It was a level 26 Ape King.


    Next to the Ape King, a larger version of the Forest Tigers was carelessly entering the place while swinging its long tail behind it. Compared to the regular Forest Tigers, this one was larger, and its fur was shinier but the difference that stood out the most was that it had long saber teeth coming out of its mouth. The Forest Tiger King was a level 28 boss.


    The two bosses were continuously grunting and roaring to themselves like they were having a conversation. Unfortunately, neither Five nor the other monsters could understand the beast language.


    "Hahaha, I did not know those dirty pigs would be so stupid!! They even believed us when we told them that the Wild Boar King ordered to charge head in."


    "Yes, haha! At least, they were useful in this way. They should have opened up the path a little bit! I can''t wait to get my hand on that core!!!"


    "Do we really have to share it with the other two?"


    "Why are you thinking about that? As long as we get it, we can use it immediately! Those two might die when facing that scary woman... At least, they will be injured and by that time, we would have already evolved and would not fear the Cobra King anymore!"


    ...


    "Master... There should be a fourth type of beast..." said Ariel as she was nudged by the quiet Angela.


    This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    "A fourth type of beast?" murmured Five as he was focusing his attention on the formation of the beasts. Just like the wild boars, these beasts were also always taking the right path and before long, they would reach the labyrinth.


    "Then, can you tell us what kind of beast? A bird? An aquatic beast?" asked Dreidus.


    "We don''t know... But please trust us that there should be another group of beasts coming..." answered Ariel.


    "It''s alright, there''s no harm in taking some precautions... Dreidus, Lyra, you will have to deal with those two bosses..." said Five as he turned his attention to his own boss monsters.


    "What do you think? Which one are you more confident in dealing with?" asked Dreidus while looking at the Banshee Queen.


    The latter was silent for a moment, examining the two beast kings. She has just reached level 21 after many efforts but it seemed that she would be forced to fight another boss several levels above her own, "I think I will be able to delay the Ape King... As for defeating him... Maybe if I fight into the graveyard where I can receive the help of the other monsters?"


    Dreidus shook his head, "Fighting in the graveyard is dangerous. Although you get a small buff there, it is safer to fight in presence of the death knights. You don''t need to worry about defeating the Ape King. As long as you delay him long enough, I will deal with it after I finish the Forest Tiger King."


    "But isn''t that too risky? Even the Forest Tiger King is stronger than you..."


    "Don''t worry about that, I have my battle form. Remember to use your own but don''t tap too much into it or you might get crazy! Try not to die but dying is better than losing control of yourself," said Dreidus. He sounded confident and wanted to cheer Lyra, but he knew this fight would be hard.


    Previously, he was able to deal with 4 barbarians well above his level but that was because as a boss monster, it was normal to be able to deal with several mobs of the same level and he also had several skeletons to divide their attention. But now, he was dealing with another boss who would also have minions by its side.


    "Do what you can and try not to die," said Five as he focused on the screen.


    "We will also fight! At the grassy plains, we''ll be able to attack safely!" said Alice. Ariel and Angela nodded.


    "Alright but be careful. Don''t do anything silly and end up dying!"


    ...


    As time went by, the group of beasts slowly made their way through the mine and reached the labyrinth. They walked into it without facing any difficulties. Dreidus commanded the remaining skeletons to move and intercept them but naturally, they were only able to delay the group of beasts by a few minutes.


    Strangely, the beast kings stepped out of the formation of beasts. Instead of going down the stairs, they waited for a moment at the large room at the end of the mine.


    Suddenly, a tiny hole appeared behind the beast kings. Another hole appeared and then another. Very quickly, the ground beneath their feet was riddled with holes and from them, cobras swiftly emerged while hissing.


    "What took so long?" asked the Forest Tiger King.


    In response, all the cobras started hissing at the two kings and after a moment, they all started to make their way down the stairs.


    "Mmm, it seems like we were right! There is indeed an impenetrable layer surrounding every floor!" commented the Ape King.


    "It would be too easy if the snakes could just enter any floor... Where is the fun in that? I cannot wait to see who the dungeon master is..."


    ...


    Twenty minutes later, the Apes finally stepped into the graveyard. Behind them, the Forest Tigers were calmly following while the Cobras excitedly hissed. Further back, the two beast kings were making their way through the labyrinth.


    The entrance of the graveyard was filled with corpses of Wild Boars but none of the Apes cared about them. They mercilessly stepped on the corpses of their comrades before rushing towards the nearest zombies.


    Just like the Wild boars, they were greeted by the wraiths and spectral hounds but this time, the Apes were able to push on their legs to jump high enough to hit the wraiths.


    As for the spectral hounds, they were immediately stomped to the ground by the Forest Tigers. The Tigers were too fast but fortunately, as ghost-type monsters, the spectral hounds took reduced damage from physical attacks.


    The Cobras quickly followed and started to bind the zombies while spraying their venom at the wraith that would try to attack them.


    Compared to the labyrinth which had a clear path to follow, the graveyard was like an open space. One just had to walk in a straight line from the entrance to reach the exit. But this time, all the monsters of the graveyard were converging towards the beasts, including the evolved zombies.


    Fights were occurring all over the graveyard, but it was clear that the beasts were winning. The beasts had the level advantage while the undead monsters had the numerical advantage.


    However, as the two beast kings stepped into the place, they quickly tipped the balance completely in their favor. The Ape King ruthlessly pulled out the decorations and threw them at the wraiths who were attacking from a safe distance. While the Forest Tiger King charged and viciously struck the evolved zombies.


    "Pouahh disgusting... This tastes like rotten sh*t" roared the Forest Tiger King.


    The graveyard was easily cleaned up by the beasts. Even as all the monsters were uniting to fight, they were unable to resist the absolute strength of the beast kings.


    ...


    In the common room, Five sat alone in front of the screen projected by the dungeon core. All the other monsters needed to prepare themselves and went to the fourth floor; it would not be long before the beasts would reach them.


    Five was anxiously looking at the interface. Although the graveyard failed to stop the beasts, it significantly reduced their numbers and now, 32 Apes, 17 Forest Tigers, and 12 Cobras were left. Most of the snakes actually fell after the fight of the graveyard as they stayed in contact with the Plagued Zombies for too long.


    Slowly, he felt the tension building up. He quickly opened his interface to summon more monsters. After killing so many beasts, his DP balance drastically increased to 400000 DP, if he could summon a few other monsters, then he would be guaranteed to survive the trials.


    Unfortunately, the system was once again a step ahead of Five.


    [System prompt: Due to special circumstance, you are unable to immediately summon or respawn any monsters]


    "D*mn, looks like the system is not happy at the idea of having the dungeon masters react accordingly... They probably want dungeons to already be ready and avoid last minute changes..."


    He felt powerless. Although he was the dungeon master, he could do nothing to protect his own dungeon and had to rely on his monsters. Five did not like the idea of being unable to do anything by himself.


    He anxiously stared at the screen as the beasts started going down the stairs to the fourth floor.


    "D*mn... If I cannot do any changes to the dungeon and am even unable to summon any monsters, then let''s see if you also thought about that..."

 Chapter 70: Clash

    Five manipulated his interface and quickly, he opened his own character window. "If I cannot do anything about the dungeon... What about myself?"


    He was still level 10. After founding his dungeon, he did not bother leveling up since it was not necessary. Increasing his level would only be relevant later as he would need more floors to accommodate more monsters.


    And so, as a level 10 player, he was helpless in fighting the beasts but if he could level up, he might become relevant and be able to turn the tides!


    Five quickly selected the option to level up. He was frustrated at the idea of not being able to do anything and pressed the button in rage but to his surprise, the following system prompt came in:


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. You have reached level 11. You are awarded 1 free stat point.]


    His eyes shone, he might be able to participate in the fight after all. Leveling up to level 11 cost him 10000 DP and leveling up to level 12 would cost him 20000 DP. It was becoming more and more expensive but thanks to the death of the beasts, he already replenished his DP.


    However, Five did not blindly level up as much as possible. He knew that at most, he would reach level 18 but even at that level, how much would he be able to contribute in the fight?


    As such, knowing that he could now modify his own character, Five started browsing through the dungeon shop. He did not bother to look at the monsters and went directly to the section dedicated to skills!


    There was a wide selection of skills for several different class but as a dungeon master, Five was able to learn any of them. But at the moment, Five did not know which one would make the best choice: A physical skill where he could use things he learned as an assassin to kill the beasts? Or magical skills to help the monsters while staying at a safe distance?


    He was overwhelmed by the choices. But in the end, he settled on the skill he believed was the most appropriate not for this situation but for the dungeon as a whole. The dungeon shop was a huge cheat that could allow him to even purchase skills meant for higher level players, but he could not change the rules of the game, if he did not have enough mana, he would not be able to cast the skills.


    And so, Five quickly spent his DP to level up to level 15 before spending 300000 DP to purchase just one skill from the dungeon shop. He did not hesitate to activate the skill book and learn the skill, but he could not cast it yet.


    But as he leveled up, Five spent all his free stat points into Intelligence which increased his mana pool. Now, he was able to cast his skill once but just that one time would be able to turn the tides!


    ...


    On the grassy plain, Dreidus was leading Lyra and the three harpies to the center. "You three, you better be careful. Help the Death Knights as they fight the beasts and try to stay in the air most of the time. If something was to happen to you, I will have to face master''s wrath!" said Dreidus to the harpies.


    Ariel nodded, "Don''t worry, we will do our best! We are not just freeloaders. You will see, we will contribute enough for Master to acknowledge us!"


    The harpies quickly flapped their wings before disappearing from view in the dark sky.


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    "Anken! Krishaw! You two will protect Lyra... Make sure nothing happens to her," ordered Dreidus. Out of nowhere, the two living corpses appeared and stood behind Lyra like two bodyguards.


    "What about you? Will you be fine alone against that Tiger? He looked really agile and fast..." said Lyra.


    Dreidus stayed silent for a moment before answering, "Don''t worry! I will use another version of my battle form... Remember to use yours and be careful!"


    Just as he finished his sentence, swift shadows started to appear at the entrance of the grassy plain.


    ...


    Apes, Forest Tigers, and Cobras swiftly stepped onto the grassy plains and charged at the nearest monsters. Under the command of Dreidus, the Death Knights started to retreat and gathered in one single formation. They slowly baited the beasts further from the entrance.


    The two beast kings appeared at the entrance and watched with confused expressions as the monsters were retreating. They did not understand what was happening until suddenly, all the Death Knights moved and charged towards the beasts.


    Just one second ago, they looked like a messy group of riders, running away from danger and yet, with just one swift command from Dreidus, the Death Knights arranged themselves into a perfect formation and swiftly turned to charge at the beasts. The Death Knights emotionlessly lowered their spears, ready to skewer any beasts they might encounter.


    "Roarr!" The Forest Tiger King loudly roared to warn its kin to avoid the attack but it was too late. The Death Knights were picking up speed; the grassy plain was the perfect environment for a charge like this!


    Th2 kings roared in rage and charged towards the monsters; they needed to avenge their kin!


    However, as they were charging towards the beasts, they suddenly detected two powerful auras on the side!


    "F*ck off! I don''t have time to play with you!" loudly roared the Forest Tiger King in the beast language. He knew he would be intercepted by these powerful monsters if he continued in a straight line and so, he swiftly jumped and charged towards the weakest of the two auras.


    The Beast Kings were very sensitive to the aura of the monsters and could easily tell which one was the strongest. It was the habit of the Forest Tiger King to always take down the weakest one first. In this case, it jumped and charged towards a woman surrounded by a white halo. Her hair was completely white as her eyes'' pupils were disappearing. Her arms and lower body were turning transparent as she slowly started to levitate.


    "Kriiii!"


    The Banshee Queen let out a piercing scream as more white particles gathered around its arm. It was clearly the casting of a skill.


    But the Forest Tiger King was fast! Extremely fast! It quickly closed the gap between him and the Banshee Queen! However, in his way, stood the two living corpses who swung their axes at the Forest Tiger King.


    The latter roared as it crouched to dodge the first ax and jump to avoid the second one. It did not bother to attack the living corpses and quickly went past them. After having turned into living corpses, Anken and Krishaw became slightly weaker and lost a lot of dexterity, they were not as fast and agile as before and could not stop the Forest Tiger King.


    It was about to jump at the Banshee Queen when suddenly, his instincts alerted him; something was about to hit him if he jumped! The Forest Tiger King could only grind his teeth as he was forced to jump on the side to avoid the strike.


    It jumped on the left and a few moments later, a fiery sword struck the spot it was about to jump from.


    "Don''t attack her... I''ll be your opponent!"


    The Forest Tiger King frowned as it looked at the newcomer, it was the other powerful monster that displayed its aura. In front of him, a tall skeleton, wearing a full body armor was slowly raising back the fiery sword while looking at him with contempt.


    Wild orange flames were covering its entire body and were leaking out of the armor. In the skeleton''s other hand, it was holding a large oval shield which was also lighting up with the orange flames. The skeleton had a devilish look as if, it walked straight out of hell.


    This was Dreidus'' battle form. This time, he was using the power from the dungeon core to improve its defense and physical abilities. He was supposed to face the Forest Tiger King and knew that its greatest strength was the speed and agility it possessed. If Dreidus fought as a mage, he would not hold for more than one minute but now, as he was fully armored, his chances of winning increased considerably.


    Dreidus knew that the biggest weakest of agility type beasts was that they typically dealt less damage per hit and so, with a good enough defense, he would be able to hold on his own. Despite the appearances, Dreidus actually had some experiences as a knight. As a necromancer, he could enter the mind of undead monsters and take control of them. At some point, he naturally tried to control monsters like Death Knights.


    With the Forest Tiger King distracted by Dreidus, Lyra flew towards the Ape King with the two living corpses. She did not need to exchange any word with Dreidus as they were already telepathically linked through [Dead Mind]


    "Do your best Lyra... I will coordinate the living corpses..."


    With the bosses entangled with each other, the Death Knights were free to charge into the pack of beasts. With the momentum they had, they easily pierced several beasts before being forced to stop.


    The charge was effective and took out a good portion of the beasts but unfortunately, as soon as they were brought to a stop, the Death Knights were immediately assaulted by the beasts. The Forest Tigers jumped and pushed the Knights off their horses while the Cobras would wrap around the horses'' legs, causing them to fall down.


    Although the charge was effective, the Death Knights were lacking something essential: there were too few of them! Five never expected to use the Death knights so soon and as it turned out, he only summoned 25 of them. If there were more, the battle would have already come to an end.


    The Death Knights were now being ruthlessly attacked by the beasts but at that moment, thin wind blades showered from the dark sky, slicing the throat of several beasts.

 Chapter 71: Sacred Ground

    The harpies slowly lowered their altitude as they activated [Wind Blade]. They would have preferred to stay out of reach near the ceiling but [Wind Blade] had a limited range. The further the blades traveled, the thinner they would become and the less damage they would deal. In order to contribute to the fight, they needed to get closer to the danger.


    "Don''t use too much mana! It is fine as long as the Death Knights are winning," said Ariel. The harpies were not at a very high level and therefore, had a limited amount of Mana. They needed to be conservative in case something unexpected happened. Fortunately, they succeeded in learning some wind magic before this fight or else, they would need to physically attack the beasts.


    With their help, several Death Knights were freed from the beasts and joined their comrades into fighting the enemies. The beasts were strong but under the suppressing attacks of the harpies, they were forced into a defensive stance.


    Meanwhile, Dreidus was taunting the Forest Tiger King, forcing it to focus his attention on him.


    The Forest Tiger King strangely became thrilled at the idea of fighting a strong opponent. It had been a long time since he fought somebody strong. In the forest, he was the strongest when it came to physical abilities. He was suppressed by the Cobra King only because of its deadly poison and now that he had the opportunity to vent himself, he went all out on Dreidus.


    [Wind Fury]


    Wind gathered around his paws as the Forest Tiger King charged at Dreidus.


    The latter immediately reacted and swung his blade but to his surprise, he cut nothing but air.


    The Forest Tiger King feinted and instead of attacking his right side, it instead attacked the left one. With his extreme speed and agility, the movements were fluid and Dreidus could only clench his teeth as his side was clawed.


    Dreidus tried to push the Forest Tiger away with his oval shield but before he could touch the Forest Tiger King, it already disappeared and was already clawing Dreidus'' back. The beast king was incredibly fast and continuously clawed and bit through Dreidus'' armor.


    Fortunately, his armor was thick and had good defensive stats but that did not stop Dreidus from being flung left and right by the Forest Tiger King.


    "Roar!!"


    The beast continuously attacked but no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to destroy that armor. Even his mighty saber teeth were unable to pierce through them but he did not give up. He was excited; he finally encountered an opponent who could resist all his attacks, but he did not lose track of his original goal in coming here.


    The Forest Tiger King briefly looked at how the Ape King was doing and nodded approvingly. He then glanced at the pack of beasts as his expression turned dark.


    "F*ck... Trying to keep me here as you slaughter all the other beasts! As if I can let that happen!"


    Immediately, the Forest Tiger King let out a deafening roar that resonated throughout the entire plain. A few moments later, the Ape King joined him and roared while loudly smashing its fists on its chests.


    Magically, as they heard the two kings¡¯ roar, all the beasts became excited and wildly started to attack the Death Knights again. The combined roar was the special ability of the beast kings: [Call of the Wild]. It temporarily increased all the stats of all beast-type monsters that heard the call by 10% including themselves. Since the two kings were using it at the same time, the stats increased by 20%.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    On the side of the Ape King, the living corpse, Anken was already lying dead while Krishaw was already covered with bruises. Lyra did not suffer from any attacks and even managed to take out 30% of the Ape King''s HP but clearly, they were at a disadvantage.


    The Ape King used its skill, [Crushing Boulder Fist] to smash Anken into a meatball. With every attack, the sound of bones cracking would be heard until finally, Anken''s HP reached zero. While he was attacking, the Ape King ignored Krishaw who was constantly swinging his ax at him. The Ape King''s fur was extremely resistant and although he felt pain, it was not unbearable.


    Lyra was using psychic attacks but unfortunately, her [Wails of Sorrow] would not work on the Ape King; it was only effective on advanced races like the humans. Against a beast, it was completely useless.


    ...


    In the meanwhile, Five already left the common room as soon as the fight started. He was making his way up the stairs towards the grassy plain when heard a familiar "Bzzz".


    "Lumen? What is it?" asked Five. It had been a long time since he had spoken to the Firefly Queen. She usually spent a lot of time with the harpies and slept with them. Lumen particularly liked to stay with the quiet Angela as Five would often see her on the silver-haired harpy''s shoulder.


    "Bzzz Bzzz!"


    "You want to fight too? Don''t worry! The fireflies already contribute a lot to the dungeon! Leave this battle to the others," answered Five.


    The Firefly Queen landed on his shoulder while buzzing as if saying that she would protect him in case of danger. Five smiled before continuing to climb the stairs.


    Soon, the grassy plains came into view and Five''s expression immediately darkened. He could see that the situation wasn''t in his favor. The Death Knights were being mercilessly stomped to the ground even as the harpies were helping them. Further away, Dreidus was being constantly attacked from all sides without being able to retaliate.


    Five watched as Dreidus used [Rise of the Dead], only to see the 3 skeletons being smashed into piles of bones in less than 3 seconds.


    On the other side, Five could see the last living corpse desperately hacking at the Ape King who squished its body before throwing it on the ground. Lyra was still floating high above the ground as she fired dazzling white balls at the Ape King. Even as these balls exploded on the Beast King''s fur, it did not seem to cause a lot of damage.


    Above their head, Five could see their HP bar, the Ape King still had 50% HP while the Forest Tiger King was at 80% but his two boss monsters were in a bad position!


    "As expected... This trial is not that easy... Did I cross the border and enter a red zone?" thought Five. "Anyway... I can think about this later!"


    He quickly cleared his mind as he started chanting. He was casting the skill he acquired just moments ago and although it was just his first time, his words were fluid and quickly, a strange symbol appeared in front of him.


    [Aura of Light: Sacred Ground]


    A bright light invisible to anyone other than Five suddenly spread through the grass plain. He watched as the glowing light surrounded all his monsters while ignoring the beasts. The monsters could not see what was happening but at that moment, they all felt the same thing; they felt their strength surging as their fatigue wore off.


    The skill picked by Five belonged to the Knight of Light''s class. After recalling how at Kroff''s dungeon, the Colonel Gaydon could use his skills to influence the whole fight, he was inspired to learn buffing skills. He was currently weak and could not join the fight but if he could increase the strength of his monsters, he would be able to contribute in his own way.


    [Aura of Light: Sacred Ground] was a level 45 skill that blessed a certain location, increasing all the stats of allies by 10%. The buff was mediocre for a skill of that level but the reason for that was because instead of targeting a single person, this skill could buff an entire army. The zone it covered was massive and this was precisely why Five chose it. All his monsters on the grassy plain were buffed!


    The monsters instinctively knew that this new strength was coming from their master; they could not let him down now! All the Death Knights aggressively fought back and with the help of the harpies, they once again got the upper hand.


    The Beast Kings immediately felt the change, they knew that the dungeon master had come. The Forest Tiger King was still mercilessly attacking Dreidus. Despite the buff, Dreidus was still unable to hold the tiger down, he kept taking damage and even with the heavy armor, his HP was already down to 50%. If it was not for his battle form, he would have long perished.


    "Oh... There he is..." murmured the Forest Tiger King as his eyes focused towards the very end of the grassy plain. There was quite a distance, but the Forest Tiger King was clearly able to see a small figure standing out.


    "Looks like playtime is over... If we stay there for too long, we''ll without a doubt lose..." murmured the Forest Tiger King. He roared before suddenly jumping to the side.


    Dreidus was intently focusing on the Forest Tiger King. He was being completely suppressed but he still gave his all. After so many exchanges, he was getting better at tracking the beast king when suddenly, he saw the abnormal behavior of the Forest Tiger King.


    For a few seconds, while constantly attacking, the Forest Tiger King looked around himself, as if he was looking for something until his expression changed. Dreidus followed his line of sight and immediately knew what the Forest Tiger King saw.


    Dreidus knew the floor like the back of his hand and knew that the Forest Tiger King was looking at the stairs leading to the 5th floor. Adding that to the sudden increase in power he felt, Dreidus did not need to turn around to know that Five was standing near the stairs.


    Suddenly, he saw the Forest Tiger King jump to the side. Dreidus tensed up. It was clear that the Forest Tiger wanted to break away from him to charge at Five! He could not let him succeed! Dreidus immediately jumped to the side to block the path towards Five but to his surprise, the Forest Tiger King never aimed for Five.


    Unfortunately, it was too late to react! Dreidus could only watch as he screamed, "Lyra!! Careful!"


    He stared in horror as the Forest Tiger King leaped behind Lyra before viciously lacerating her back while piercing her throat with his saber teeth.

 Chapter 72: The fall of a king

    As the living corpse, Krishaw was squashed to death, Lyra was left alone, forced to fend for herself. She quickly attacked the Ape King but the attacks did not seem to be very effective.


    [Spectral Claw]


    A ghastly white pair of claws appeared and stroke the Ape King, taking away a patch of fur.


    "Roar!"


    Instantly, the Ape King roared loudly in pain. For the first time, while fighting the Banshee Queen, he was really hurt. Unfortunately, the Banshee Queen was staying at a good distance from him. She was playing it safe and that angered the Ape King.


    Whenever he would jump to grab her, she would simply float away quickly and avoid the attack. The Ape King was angered but he still failed to grab her.


    An idea suddenly crossed his mind as he bent down and grabbed the corpse of Anken. Without a warning, he suddenly threw the body straight at the Banshee Queen, followed by the ax of the living corpse.


    The Ape King was powerful and empowered by his anger, the projectiles flew so fast that the Banshee Queen did not have time to dodge. Instead, she activated her skill [Misty Body], turning herself into a patch of mist.


    As a result, the body and the ax harmlessly flew through her and went straight to the sky. The [Misty Body] allowed Lyra to be immune to any physical damage for three seconds. It was a life-saving skill.


    But as her body was returning to normal, Lyra saw the Ape King grab Krishaw''s body, ready to throw it. Lyra focused, judging from the Ape King''s position, he was aiming just above her head, expecting her to dodge by going upwards.


    She quickly flew towards the ground and as she expected, a few moments later, the corpse of Krishaw was thrown just a few inches above her head. Thanks to her pre-emptive movement, the Banshee Queen was able to avoid the attack but at that moment, she heard Dreidus'' voice.


    "Lyra!! Careful!!"


    She was alarmed and was about to turn around but before she could, she suddenly felt an intense pain on her back as her body was being pushed towards the ground. Lyra wanted to scream as an intense pain emerged from her throat, preventing her from speaking.


    "Nooo!" Dreidus screamed as he was desperately rushing towards Lyra to help her. But he was too far!


    Although she was critically injured, Lyra was still alive. The Forest Tiger King was 7 levels above her but despite the huge gap in power, the Beast King was not able to kill her in a single strike. It was thanks to her naturally high vitality and the fact that the Ape King had not been able to hit her even once since the start of the battle.


    However, Lyra now barely had 50 HP, a simple attack from the Forest Tiger King would end her life. She could feel the paws of the Forest Tiger King, pressing her against the ground. She tried to move but failed. The situation was desperate, Lyra knew very well that it was over for her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the final strike. Even if she died, she knew she would still revive in a day if they managed to survive the trial.


    She nervously waited for the final attack but to her surprise, it never happened. Instead, she suddenly felt that the weight pressing her body down disappeared. A few moments later, she heard 3 loud "Woosh" above her head.


    ...


    Sensing danger, the Forest Tiger King abruptly jumped to the side, just in time to avoid 3 wind blades coming his way.


    "Roar!"


    He angrily turned to see the 3 harpies staring at him. They were visibly the one who tried to sneak attack him. He was confused; he had long detected the harpies but weren''t they busy with dealing with the other beasts?


    The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He lowered his sight only to see the remains of the carnage that occurred. Of all the beasts that accompanied him, only 2 Forest Tigers were still alive, and they were already surrounded by 4 Death Knights.


    He was enraged seeing his kin being killed but he did not have time to daydream as 3 other Death Knights were charging at him. Of the 25 Death Knights, only 7 were still alive; they were all severely injured while two of them even lost their mounts.


    "F*ck..."


    ...


    Meanwhile, Dreidus rushed toward the Forest Tiger King from the side. ''How dare he sneak attack Lyra like that!''


    Dreidus'' long sword was shining red as he was charging but suddenly, a shadow appeared, blocking the Forest Tiger King from his view. It was the Ape King who angrily raised its fists at him.


    [Crushing Boulder Fist]


    Without hesitation, the Ape King used its skill and violently attacked Dreidus. The latter could only raise his shield to protect himself. As much as he wanted to protect Lyra, that Ape King was not allowing him to pass through.


    "Boom!"


    The shield violently shook as it blocked the attack. Compared to the Forest Tiger King who prioritized speed, the Ape King specialized in strength. Although the attack was blocked, Dreidus still ended up losing 5% of his HP.


    "D*mn... This is bad..." thought Dreidus. Time was running out! His battle form would soon expire! The fight among the bosses went on extremely quickly! Just slightly over two minutes went by since Dreidus used his battle form. After leveling up, he naturally became stronger and was able to maintain that form for a longer period of time, but its duration was still limited.


    To make the most out of the few seconds he had left, Dreidus raised his blazing sword and pierced the Ape King''s right foot. Dreidus'' sword was sharp, allowing him to even cut through the Beast''s hard flesh.


    Dreidus felt some satisfaction at first but when he raised his head to look at the Ape King, the latter seemed amused. An expression of ridicule was being displayed on its face.


    The Ape King had a sharp instinct. Deep inside, he knew that Dreidus'' current form was only temporary. If he could stall just a bit longer, then Dreidus would return to its weaker form. All his senses were screaming at him that it was about to wear off! The second the skeleton returned to its normal form would be the perfect time to attack; it was when it would be the most vulnerable.


    As such, the Ape King did not hesitate to allow Dreidus to hit him. Even as he felt the pain on his right leg, his eyes shone as he raised his right hand, "Now!!!"


    Already, he could see the orange flames dimming, the skull of the skeleton already lost its glow while the originally burning hot blade was clearly becoming colder.


    The Ape King let out a large grin; he had won! He mercilessly raised his right fist and activated his skill, [Iron Smash]


    However, the second the Ape King used his skill, he suddenly felt a sense of crisis! Wind started to blow all over the grassy plain. All his instincts warned him to immediately stop the attack and to jump on the ground.


    The Ape King trusted his instinct and did not hesitate to stop his fist but as he tried to move his legs, he failed. Dreidus'' sword was still pinning him to the ground! Although Dreidus'' was no longer ablaze, his armor was already disappearing, revealing the skeletal body, he was still firmly holding his sword, determined to stop the Ape King.


    ...


    As the 3 Death Knights charged towards the Forest Tiger King, he quietly sneered. He jumped backward before using [Iron Claws].


    His claws shone brightly as he cut through the Death Knights'' armor like butter. None of the Death Knights could survive very long under the Beast King''s attack; even the mounts were mercilessly killed.


    But at the same time, the three harpies moved closer to each other.


    "Let''s do it! Do you still have enough mana?" asked Ariel.


    "Mmm" Angela nodded with a determined expression while Alice did not even wait to start casting the skill.


    The two other harpies quickly followed up and they all put their right hand together. Immediately, the atmosphere turned solemn. The harpies intensely focused; after practicing for more than one week, they only succeeded in using the skill correctly once.


    In fact, it was not even a real skill but more an imitation of one. It was meant to be a powerful level 50 wind mage''s skill but when they joined hand together, the 3 harpies managed to replicate a weaker version of the skill.


    A sphere of wind formed between the 3 harpies'' hand as more and more wind started to rotate in the sphere. The center of the sphere looked just like the eye of a cyclone with condensed air circling around it.


    "I cannot hold any longer... Release it, now!" said Alice and immediately, the harpies coordinated with each other and threw the sphere of wind towards the Forest Tiger Wind.


    [Aeroblast]


    The Forest Tiger King naturally noticed the change. He internally laughed as he jumped to the side to avoid the sphere. Although the sphere was fast, to the Forest Tiger King, it was just a normal speed; He easily avoided it but as soon as he jumped, the Forest Tiger King suddenly realized something. He roared but it was too late.


    The [Aeroblast]''s target was originally him but as he jumped away, the sphere of wind continued on its trajectory in a straight line. However, at the end of the trajectory was the Ape King who was raising his fist to strike Dreidus.


    The alignment of the harpies, the Forest Tiger King and the Ape King was not a coincidence! After they dealt with the regular beast, Ariel asked the Death Knights to precisely charge at the Forest Tiger King to lure him to this particular spot!


    The Beast King did not realize anything until it was too late! He could only watch as the sphere of wind rushed towards the Ape King.


    As soon as the sphere came into contact with the Ape King''s fur, the wind around it started to viciously shred anything it touched. At that moment, the wind looked more like a series of sharp blades constantly circling around the center of the sphere!


    The harpies watched as the skill ravaged the Ape King, "We did it!" exclaimed Alice. All three harpies were brimming with joy. After a whole week of training, their efforts were finally paying off.


    "Roar!!!"


    The Ape King roared in pain as his skin was being shredded. He never felt that much pain before; even when he was clawed to death by the Forest Tiger King, it was not as painful as that.


    He screamed loudly as his HP dwindled but, in the end, the Ape King managed to survive. He almost stumbled on the ground but managed to remain standing. The Ape King had an excellent constitution and a good amount of vitality. Furthermore, the harpies were still young and did not have much experience with wind magic.


    As such, even as he took the full blow of [Aeroblast], the Ape King managed to survive with barely 60 HP left. But the pain was real, the Ape King felt like his entire back had been cut by thousands of blades.


    He just wanted to run away as his HP was already dangerously low but as he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a skeletal hand. His eyes followed down the arm only to see the skeleton that he was ridiculing a few moments ago.


    Already, a green glow was surrounding the skeleton hand. As much as the Ape King wanted to continue to fight, it suddenly felt tired. In the end, they underestimated their opponent. He closed his eyes as the green glow became even brighter. He did not need to see to know what was about to happen.


    [Mortal Coil]

 Chapter 73: Choice of the Forest Tiger King

    The whole grassy plain turned solemn; everyone watched as the head of the Ape King exploded into pieces.


    "Boom"


    At the same time as the huge head of the Ape King scattered all over the place, the rest of its body loudly fell on its knees. Dreidus'' sword already disappeared, resulting in the legs of the Ape King being free to move.


    Dreidus wore a tired expression as he allowed himself to sit down on the grass. Next to him, the headless body of the Ape King stayed on its knees, looking like a huge statue covered with blood.


    Just like that, a beast king has fallen. The ruler of all the apes of the forest was gone forever.


    "Roar!"


    The Forest Tiger King angrily roared! While the Ape King was his rival, they made a pact for this mission and promised to work together. In the end, the Ape King was dead without fulfilling their promise.


    Although the Ape King was dead, the situation for the dungeon was dire. Dreidus was clearly exhausted and Lyra was already bordering death with barely any HP left. The 3 harpies were still healthy but after casting so many [Wind Blades] and the final [Aeroblast], their mana pool was completely depleted.


    As for the monsters, only 4 Death Knights were left on this floor! There was still a few skeletons and shades on the second floor but against the Forest Tiger King, they did not represent anything.


    The Forest Tiger King was well aware of the situation. Although he only had 60% of his HP, he stared at the remaining monsters with anger, ready to shred them to pieces. Even if he was tired, the strength and agility of the Beast King should not be underestimated but at that moment, a voice rang at his ears.


    "I know you can understand me... You are the only one left! Do you really want to fight to death?"


    "Master!"


    "Master! Go back!"


    The harpies quickly flew towards the approaching Five. It was indeed him who just spoke to the Forest Tiger King, warning the beast.


    The harpies knew they were the last line of defense! They needed to protect their master at all cost and so, positioned themselves around him like bodyguards.


    The Forest Tiger King went on his guard. He indeed perfectly understood Five but he could not speak the human language. "So you are the dungeon master... Trying to scare me? All your minions are already on their death bed! And you will soon be joining them!"


    Five looked calmed and confident as he stopped at a reasonable distance from the Forest Tiger King such that he would not be able to instantly kill him. Unfortunately, all Five heard were grunts, howls and a combination of other sounds coming out of the Beast King. He did not know the Beast language and had no way of understanding but at least, he now knew that the Forest Tiger King indeed understood him!


    In response, he simply said, "Oh?" with a surprised tone.


    The Forest Tiger King suspiciously looked at him. For the first time, he felt some doubt; the way the dungeon master was acting clearly meant that he had something in mind! Could it be that he still had some trump card?


    ''Impossible! This dungeon was only set up a few weeks ago! This should be all the resources he has accumulated. It is already impressive to have 3 full floors, but could he have more? If he is here, that means the next floor is where the core is but why does he look so confident?'' thought the Forest Tiger King.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    He was internally debating what to do next. The thought of consuming the dungeon core was alluring! If he really consumed it, he might be able to exponentially improve his strength! But at the same time, he valued his life! What if there really were some unaccounted variables in the equation?


    As for Five, he was calmly looking at the Forest Tiger King simply because he really did have something in mind! It was not a trump card; it was just that as the group of beasts was annihilated and the Ape King had been slain, his DP balance naturally shot up.


    As a boss monster, the Ape King provided 3 times the amount of DP a normal monster would have produced. Five''s DP balance was abnormally high.


    His balance now amounted to 400000 DP! Even the death of the Ape King did not explain how he suddenly got that much but now was not the time to think about the source of the DP.


    He needed to deal with the crisis first!


    "Since you are doubting me, I guess I can show you... I was thinking about saving the DP for the dungeon... But since it is necessary, let me show you!" declared Five.


    Under the Forest Tiger King''s watch, he quickly pressed the confirmed button on the interface window and learned a new skill! Without waiting he started chanting!


    The Forest Tiger King''s eyes widened! He immediately understood what was happening! A skill was being used! He needed to interrupt it, or he would really die!


    He madly rushed towards Five but the three harpies stood in his way. He could fight the harpies but there was no time, a golden rune was already starting to appear!


    Instead, he activated his skill, [Wind Claw]. A transparent claw suddenly appeared right next to Five, threateningly slashing towards his body.


    At the same time, the golden rune suddenly shone! The skill was completed! In the background, loud bells suddenly rang!


    "Ding Dong Ding Dong!"


    The skill Five learned was a high priest''s skill, [Heal Bell]. Just like [Aura of Light: Sacred Ground], this skill was also designed to target all the user''s allies at the same time! The [Heal Bell] could heal and restore the mana of all the allies who could hear the bells.


    Just like [Aura of Light: Sacred Ground], the amount it healed was mediocre compared to other healing spells. But in this situation, it was the best possible skill to use! Five''s monsters were not very high leveled, they did not have huge HP bars or Mana Pools!


    However, the fact remained that the [Wind Claw] was mercilessly making its way towards Five. As good as healing was, if the target was dead, the healing would be for naught! And with Five''s current amount of HP, it would be a miracle if he could survive the Forest Tiger King''s skill.


    Five finally completed the chanting but he did not have time to celebrate! Even if he wanted to dodge, it would be too late to do so. He could only close his eyes and wait to be sent inside the dungeon core!


    At that precise moment, he felt a pair of soft hands press again his body. Surprised, he opened his eyes only to see Angela in front of him; her eyes were closed as she was facing the other way.


    The harpies were naturally sensitive to wind magic and as soon as she felt the [Wind Claw] being cast, Angela immediately moved towards Five. She ruthlessly pushed him away from danger as she took his place! She did not aim to be ruthless but in this scenario, there was no time to think! She only thought of protecting her master! As long as he was safe, the rest of the dungeon, including her sisters would also be fine!


    Out of the three harpies, Angela was the fastest! Although they were of the same race, the harpies had different characteristics and slightly different stats. Alice had the best strength of the three while Ariel had the highest Intelligence. As for Angela, her forte was Dexterity which not only gave her better reaction times but also a faster movement speed.


    Angela closed her eyes and turned her body to minimize the damage. She was scared of the pain but decisively took this course of action!


    "Tchac!"


    The vicious [Wind Claws] lacerated Angela''s side as a trail of blood flew in the air.


    "Angela!!"


    "Sister!"


    The two harpies screamed and rushed to her side. Angela''s HP dwindled but fortunately, it stopped at 11 HP!


    As she pushed Five away, her body did not take the exact original position of Five''s. With the momentum she had, her body continued to move forward and as the [Wind Claw] struck, it was only able to hit her on the side! Thanks to that, although Angela took a lot of damage, it was not enough to kill her.


    In the background, the bells were still ringing and almost instantly, the long wounds on the young harpy''s body started to close and disappeared without leaving any scars.


    Angela''s frail body fell straight on Five who quickly reacted by catching her. The young harpy''s face was still displaying a painful expression. Tears appeared at the corner of her eyes as her small body trembled. She was visibly still mentally affected and so, Five could only hold her in his arms for the moment.


    He angrily stared at the Forest Tiger King who was warily looking at his surroundings.


    The Forest Tiger King instinctively knew the effects of the skills and as he expected, the skeleton who was lying next to the Ape King suddenly stood up and started walking towards him. At the same time, the Banshee Queen who moments ago was bordering death also stood up and approached him.


    "F*ck! I missed my chance!" The Forest Tiger King cursed in his mind as he took a few steps back. He was confident in dealing with any of them in a duel but if they attacked him as a group, he was not guaranteed to win!


    If he was still full HP, he might have fought but with only 60% HP, he was unsure of himself. He could take down a few but, in the end, he had a very high chance of also failing! He valued his own life above everything else. What was the use of obtaining the dungeon core if he was going to die? He was not doing a charity where he would give the dungeon core to the Cobra King.


    "F*ck, I should have left when I had the chance!"


    Now that he had attacked the dungeon master, he might not have the opportunity to leave again! He gauged the skeleton and the Banshee Queen and knew that they could once again turn into that powerful form. Facing them together would be really bad for him, especially if the harpies and their strange technique were added in the mix.


    He was ready to fight to death when to his surprise, the dungeon master looked at him with contempt, "You are still here? Looks like you really want to fight seriously?"


    The Forest Tiger King froze, his brain slowly processed what was happening, was he free to go even after he attempted to hurt the dungeon master?


    Although it was just a supposition, the Forest Tiger King started to retreat and seeing that nobody was moving to stop him or even attack, he quickly stopped caring and ran at full speed towards the exit. He just wanted to get away from here and save his life.

 Chapter 74: End of the trial

    "Master! Why did you let him go? He harmed Angela!" exclaimed Alice while stomping the ground.


    Ariel was also frowning. She was currently kneeling next to Angela, grabbing her small hand and examining where her sister was hurt.


    "If we fight him to death, then one of you might really die! Can you say for sure you will be able to defeat him without dying?" asked Five. He himself was frustrated but he knew the decision he took was the correct one.


    Although he made a lot of losses as most of his monsters were dead, none of the main ones died! The losses would become really disastrous if he was to lose any of the monsters still alive!


    The harpies were still normal monsters and could not be revived. They were not as important as Dreidus or Lyra, but Five felt a sense of attachment towards the harpies. They were the first race he encountered after joining the game and also spent most of his time with them.


    Thankfully, he purchased some miscellaneous items in the past in case of emergency. The [Aura of Light: Sacred Ground] completely emptied his mana pool but fortunately, he had Mana Potions in his inventory or else, he would not have been able to cast [Heal Bell]


    As she heard the question, Alice could only silently grumble; she did not have any answer to that.


    "Dreidus! Lyra! Are both of you fine?" asked Five.


    "Yes, master! It was too close for comfort, but I think that we did well¡­" answered Dreidus after confirming the situation with Lyra telepathically.


    "That''s good! But be careful! As long as I don''t get the notification, the trial is not considered to be over," said Five. He then turned his attention towards the silver-haired harpy who after being comforted by her sisters, finally calmed down. Her eyes were still closed but at least, she stopped crying.


    Five felt in pain as he saw Angela''s expression. He realized that monsters were really not just brainless beings to use to kill. They had their own personalities and could feel both pain and happiness. Although it was abnormal to see one of his monsters act like that just after receiving just a single attack, Five did not feel disappointed. Each monster had their own feelings, Angela already made a huge sacrifice by pushing him to safety, he could not ask for too much!


    "Ariel, Alice, can you bring her to her room? It will be more comfortable for her... And also, please cover her body properly..." said Five as he faced the other way.


    As Angela''s side was viciously clawed, her plain white dress was naturally shredded to pieces and momentarily exposed her chest.


    While it was very tempting to stare, now was also not the right time. The trial was still ongoing, and he could not be distracted; something unexpected might happen!


    Ariel and Alice heard him, they quickly brought their sister away. Strangely, Alice did not make any comment about the last part but that was probably because she was not in a mood to joke.


    With the harpies gone, Dreidus turned to Five, "Is the trial over yet?"


    "Not yet, it is probably because the Forest Tiger King is still in the dungeon. Let''s wait and see."


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    He opened the interface and projected a screen on which the Forest Tiger King could be seen running at full speed through the graveyard.


    Dreidus and Lyra silently watched as the Forest Tiger King ran all the way to the exit of the dungeon. They had to admit that the beast king was really fast and as soon as the Forest Tiger King disappeared, they both turned towards Five.


    "Nothing yet, I did not receive any notification..." said Five.


    The monsters became worried, could there be another monster hiding somewhere under their nose? They waited another 5 minutes but still, nothing happened!


    ...


    The Forest Tiger King swiftly left the dungeon without looking back. He jumped from the cliff and landed in the lower forest before disappearing between the trees.


    He heaved a sigh of relief! He was safe! The dungeon master really allowed him to go back! But now, as he was safe, he started having second thoughts, "F*ck that puny human, he dares to be so condescending in front of me! If only the Cobra King and the Wild Boar King were there, his dungeon would have already been erased from the surface of the planet!"


    "Speaking about them, where are the two other kings? Don''t tell me it was a trap to lure me and the Ape King inside the dungeon? No... They would not have sent so many minions in that case..."


    The Forest Tiger King needed to vent his anger and who else could make a better target than the two other kings? Didn''t the operation fail because they were distracted by someone else?


    He quickly made his mind to find the two kings and ran through the forest, following the path they took to go to the dungeon. The Forest Tiger King was fast. In less than 5 minutes, he arrived at the spot where they separated. He then swiftly followed the traces left by the two beast kings.


    It was really easy to do; the Wild Boar King left massive footprints wherever it would go. In 15 minutes, he finally arrived at a clearing but as he stepped out of the thick bushes, the Forest Tiger King displayed an expression of horror.


    "What is that... Why... Who could have done such a thing!!!" exclaimed the Forest Tiger King. He stared at the bloody scene in front of him.


    The clearing was littered with bodies of beasts; Apes, Wild Boars, Forest Tigers and cobras. Everywhere he looked, the Forest Tiger King only saw the beasts lifelessly scattered all over the place; the expression of the beasts was still showing how much pain they felt at the moment of their death.


    Next to him, even the Wild Boar King was already lying dead on the ground, his body was covered with blood and wounds. The usually jovial and naive king had turned into a dead corpse.


    "A massacre..."


    In the center of the clearing, two figures were staring at each other. The Forest Tiger King easily recognized one of them as the Cobra King. His body was covered with wounds and even his hood had been chopped off. It was the first time he saw the Cobra King in this state. He was the strongest individual in the forest. No one dared to attack him due to his deadly venom and yet, the Cobra King now was only a shadow of his former mighty self.


    Suddenly, the other figure seemed to have sensed the Forest Tiger''s presence and turned his way. That person was the mysterious cloaked figure who appeared out of nowhere while they were leading the pack of beasts. As a result, the Cobra King, the Wild Boar King and a few other beasts separated from the group to chase after that person.


    "Look who we have here... Isn''t that the mighty Forest Tiger King?" mockingly exclaimed the cloaked figure.


    The Forest Tiger King immediately sensed danger. His instincts were warning him not to mess up with that person. He started to tremble as he lowered his head to show some respect, but he did not even get to speak as a wild wind started blowing over the clearing.


    The Forest Tiger King fearfully raised his head only to see a sphere of wind gathering in the cloaked figure''s hand. He whimpered. His eyes trembled as he recognized the skill; it was the exact same one that brought the Ape King to his doom, except that this one looked far deadlier.


    "So... Not only did you attack this dungeon... You also dared to harm that girl! I know everything that happened there, the wind carried all the sounds from the dungeon all the way to my ears! Now... It''s time to pay the price! With your life!" shouted the cloaked figure and without waiting, the sphere of wind shot towards the Forest Tiger King.


    [Aeroblast]


    The Forest Tiger King was horrified, the sphere was at least 5 times faster and 3 times larger than when the three harpies used it together! Even if he wanted to dodge, he would fail!


    In a matter of seconds, the entire body of the mighty Forest Tiger King was torn to pieces.


    The cloaked figure only let out a "hmmp" before turning back to the Cobra King. However, the Cobra King was nowhere to be seen. Instead, only a hole was left at the position he was standing at. From the hole, a faint hissing sound echoed.


    "I will be back! I will inform the mother queen about the events that happened here! Live in fear, woman and wait for the judgment of the mother queen!"


    Seeing that the Cobra King took advantage of the distraction that the Forest Tiger King provided to escape, the cloaked figure started to float in the dark sky.


    "What a pity... All this loot will be lost... Well... I''ll see what I can do."


    ...


    At the dungeon, 20 minutes after the Forest Tiger King left the dungeon, Five finally received the system prompt he was waiting for.


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, you have successfully passed the first trial! You are awarded One Monster Lottery Ticket as a reward! Another announcement will be made at the end of the week when all the dungeon masters would have passed their respective trials!]


    "Finally! It''s over! Dreidus, Lyra! I received the notification. You can relax now," excitedly said Five. He had passed the first trial! It was hard and he almost lost one of the harpies but in the end, he succeeded.


    "Congratulations master!" said Lyra with a relieved expression.


    "Congratulation master! I think, you should quickly go and tell the harpies about it..." said Dreidus.


    "Sure sure! They also need to know!" answered Five as he quickly made his way to the living quarters.

 Chapter 75: Brewing storm

    Inside Angela''s room, Ariel and Alice were sitting on the bed while gently comforting Angela. The young harpy was already feeling much better and was now calmly sitting with her sisters. Lumen also joined the group and was quietly buzzing on Angela''s shoulder.


    "Is it over? Did we pass the trial?" asked Alice as she saw Five rush into the room.


    The latter nodded, "Yes... The trial is finally over!" He naturally turned his attention towards Angela and was relieved to see her gently smiling. It seemed that she recovered to her usual self but there was no way to confirm that.


    Behind Five, Dreidus and Lyra also entered the room and enquired about Angela''s state. Everyone was relieved, but the victory left a sour taste in everyone''s mouth.


    It was way too close for comfort. All the normal monsters were dead while Angela almost perished too... The dungeon really needed to improve considerably. But that had to be postponed for another time.


    The atmosphere was quite gloomy as everyone was still concerned about the young harpy. To brighten the mood, Five simply went to the desk of the room and opened his interface. Angela''s room reflected her personality; a lot of flowers and decorative objects could be found everywhere. There was especially a lot of plushes of cute animals; the young harpy was even hugging one at the moment.


    Without a word, Five browsed through the dungeon shop and madly purchased a bunch of items. The monsters naturally noticed, "Master... What are you doing? This is so expensive!" said Ariel.


    Five did not answer, he simply smiled and continued. Quickly, the desk was filled with delicacies from Earth. Dishes coming straight out of 3 Michelin stars restaurants appeared out of nowhere. The individual portions were small but Five was not stingy and bought several of them.


    The dishes were all sparkling as they emitted their fragrance, tempting everyone to take a bite! All the senses of the harpies were stimulated. The delicious fragrance made them salivate as their eyes were feasting on the glowing color of the food. They could feel the warmth of the dishes from a distance as their ears heard the melodious sizzle of some dishes. Even their taste buds were affected.


    "We won a battle today. This is your reward! Don''t worry about the price, didn''t you all say that you''ve always wanted to try food from my world but that it is too expensive? Here''s the opportunity you have been waiting for. Let''s celebrate our victory!" said Five as he prompted everyone to join him and eat.


    In fact, all the harpies were already salivating. They indeed always wanted to try these special foods, but they were just too expensive. A normal meal would cost about 20 DP, at most, it would go to 100 DP if they were fancy but the dishes Five just purchased, the cheapest one would cost 2000 DP! What was so special about them was that not only were these dishes delicious, they also had special effects!


    Seeing the monsters'' hesitation, Five continued, "Come on, this is the one and only chance you have! I am motivating you to work harder. Come and..."


    "Gurgle gurgle!" out of nowhere, as Five was tempting the harpies, the loud rumbling sound of an empty stomach filled the room. Alice immediately flushed red as she tried to hide her face.


    At the sight of the usually daring harpy behaving shyly, everyone broke into a friendly laugh.


    "But, there is not much DP left, right? And we also need to be ready to fight tomorrow... Although we went through the trial, nothing is stopping the barbarians from coming to the dungeon tomorrow too..." said Ariel.


    "Don''t worry about that! There is more than enough to summon the regular monsters. As for the barbarians, it''s not as if they were immediately threatening the core. It is fine to take a day of rest. You all deserved it"


    Finally, as the harpies were still hesitating, Dreidus stood up before grabbing a bowl of shark fin soup. He was an undead monster and did not have any taste buds. It would be a waste if he drank it but in front of everyone, Dreidus handed the bowl of soup to Lyra who shyly took it.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Although the Banshee Queen was also an undead, she was closer to a human being that Dreidus and still had a body.


    Seeing the scene, Five decided to change his strategy. "Fine, if you are not hungry, I can finish all of it myself! I get really hungry when I am stressed, this should be enough to calm me down..." said Five as he turned to grab the nearest piece of Foie Gras.


    At that moment, Alice could no longer hold it in. "Ahh how dare you! Don''t take everything for yourself! You are so selfish!" She quickly stepped forward and started serving herself.


    As their sister already paved the way, Ariel and Angela also followed and quickly, the atmosphere turned to a more relaxed one.


    ¡°By the way, Dreidus, I should also reward the undead monsters, but I don¡¯t know what they would like¡­¡±


    ¡°There is no need for rewards master! But if you insist¡­ I will think of something!¡±


    Dawn was only a few hours away, but no one was thinking about the barbarians who would come to the dungeon. For now, they were all enjoying themselves with good food and the good company.


    ...


    Capital of the Sylvester Empire, Saint Cathedral


    An old man was quietly sitting on a sparkling throne covered with jewels. Behind him, three statues of jade could be seen standing with different expressions; one of them looked ferocious and bloodthirsty, another looked calmed and composed while the last one seemed to be deep in thoughts.


    On the left of the old man, a group of devoted followers was expressing their most fervent prayers. The room of the old man was separated from the praying area of the followers by a thin wall and a one-sided mirror such that the old man was still able to see the followers, but they could not see him.


    Although he was separated by a wall, the old man could clearly hear all the prayers of the followers:


    "Oh Lord and Savior! Please bless my child and save him from the hands of that seductress! My son is innocent, under the temptation of the demons, his faith wavered but God is merciful! It is all because of the demons, these sinful creatures..."


    "Oh God! Thank you! Thank you for saving our village from the demons! My people will forever be faithful..."


    "..."


    Hundreds of devoted followers were loudly reciting their own prayers and although they were all saying different things, the old man was able to clearly hear each and every one of them clearly. All the prayers were either asking for help or expressing gratitude for the help received but all these prayers had one thing in common! They all mentioned the demons.


    While the old man was listening to all the prayers, he was intently focusing on a crystal ball placed in front of him. The crystal ball was completely empty except for a few white particles dancing in it. However, the old man kept staring at it with great attention as if he was able to see something within that emptiness.


    Suddenly, in the middle of the prayers, a faint "knock knock" resonated through the room.


    The old man frowned before touching one of the runes on the side of the throne. Magically, the room became completely silent as the door at the end of the room opened by itself.


    A few muffled footsteps were heard as a young man walked to the side of the old man.


    "Your Grace! I am here to report!"


    The old man nodded without a word.


    "Just as the oracle predicted, starting three days ago, several abnormalities have been observed all over Zero; random beasts tides, rebellions, exterminations of random groups of bandits and even the destruction of a town!"


    "In the Sylvester Empire itself, during these 3 days, our agents reported more than 400 cases, but we don''t know how many had occurred unnoticed!"


    "The other empires are also reporting the same thing. There is no concrete evidence that these events are linked to the demons. More investigations are required!"


    As he said the last two sentences, the young man suddenly felt a chill on his shoulders and immediately stopped his report.


    The old man was staring at him. If stares could kill, then the young man would have long been lying dead on the floor.


    "Are you insinuating that the oracle of the Pope might be flawed? The Pope himself stated that this was a vision from the gods! Are you doubting his words?" the old man clearly spoke each word, especially stressing the last sentence.


    "Your grace! I would not dare. I am just reading the reports, I will tell those informants to be more careful about their choice of words next time," respectfully answered the young man while sweating.


    Immediately, the atmosphere of the room returned to normal, "For one second, I thought you were one of those spies, but your reaction was genuine... There are no doubts that these incidents are all linked to the demons!"


    "As the pope stated, new dungeons, the house of the demons had spawned! These incidents must have something to do with them! They all probably occurred near the dungeons! This is our chance to deal a heavy blow to the demons!"


    "Please give the orders, your grace!" said the young man while bowing. He already closed the scroll containing his report as he was listening to the words of the old man.


    "This is more complicated than it looks. We cannot simply send our troops to destroy the dungeons... That would both break the thin balance between us and the demons and also expose ourselves to the other potential threats..."


    "..."


    "I remember that you said that the recruitment exercise is going well. I was thinking of using these young recruits to destroy these dungeons. They are all relatively weak and would not arise suspicion from those high demons... Are you confident in training them to a level where they would be able to destroy those dungeons? The dungeons are relatively new and are obviously not at the same level as the ones we are used to..."


    "Of course, your grace! We will give it our all to train the recruits properly!"


    "Good good... One month! I will give you one month to train well before attacking those dungeons... They are not strong enough at the moment but if we delay the operation too much, then I don''t know how the high demons would react! They will probably shelter those with high potential... It is best to crush them when they are still weak!"


    "Yes, your grace! I will immediately pass the order!" quickly said the young man.


    "Wait a second... What about those otherworlders... I heard that you recruited some fine men recently... What was the name Oden praised already?"


    "Two, your grace! His name is Two!"


    "Good... Train him well and his friends... With their ability to naturally revive, they are perfect for this operation! We can easily reduce our losses! Pass my orders! Train those otherworlders but keep an eye on them for any suspicious movements! Especially on that Two... If the reports are accurate... Then he might be extremely useful in dealing with that hidden faction!"

 Chapter 76: The meeting of the Harpies

    In the middle of the night, the forest was strangely calm and peaceful; not a single beast could be seen roaming around. The trees gently danced under the moonlight when suddenly:


    "Finally! We are free! Ahhh it has been so long!! Hmmp, Master is so unfair, he sounds like an elder! How could he give us a house arrest!"


    "Stop complaining Alice, he just wanted to protect us, and it was just for three nights. You cannot say you did not enjoy lying in bed the entire night."


    "I know... But it was so boring... He said we might be in danger, but nothing happened, we ended up spending three nights doing nothing. Isn''t he being too cautious? And now, mother is probably anxious since we did not meet her for so long."


    "I am sure mother already knows the situation. Let''s quickly meet her at the usual place."


    "..."


    Three delicate figures swiftly jumped out of the waterfall, breaking the silence of the night. Without hesitation, they spread out their black wings and quickly flew East.


    ...


    A few minutes later, the 3 harpies finally caught sight of a lonely person sitting at the edge of the cliff. Revealing expressions of joy, the 3 harpies happily charged towards the cloaked figure, hugging her from three different directions.


    Although the harpies did not intend to harm the cloaked figure, they were flying so fast that they a subtle "bam" was heard. Fortunately, that person did not seem to mind and did not even try to avoid the harpies. Instead, she warmly opened her arms and gently caught the 3 little girls while her cloak inadvertently fell off from the gust caused by the charge of the harpies.


    The purple-haired harpy, Ariel, brightly smiled as she looked at the person''s face in front of her. Under the moonlight, it was hard to see the differences between the two faces such that one would immediately think that the 2 women were twin sisters.


    The lonely person that waited on the cliff was naturally Harriet. Her eyes were shining with motherly love as she saw how the 3 harpies missed her after just 3 days. Compared to her other ''daughters'', she did not get to spend much time with the 3 harpies, but it did not create much distance between them. She was relieved to see that the three harpies did not treat her differently because of that.


    The scene was beautiful; it looked like 3 daughters meeting their mother for the first time. The forest was silent, no one was willing to interrupt this reunion. No one, except for the rebellious Alice.


    She was the first to break out of Harriet''s embrace. With a seemingly angry face, she pouted: "I missed you so much mother. Master was so mean, he forced us to stay in the dungeon. If we did not beg him to let us out tonight, who knows when we would be able to meet. It''s been so long since I''ve been out, let''s quickly fly across the forest."


    With a tinge of reluctance, Harriet slowly let go of the two other harpies and looked at Alice, "I know, I also missed all of you. But look at you, you have all grown so much in these past three days. I did not expect you to change so much."


    Harriet immediately noticed the change in the harpies'' body. Initially, they looked like sixteen years old girls but after the last battle, they all obtained a tremendous amount of experience which allowed them to level up. As a result, their bodies also grew, giving them a more mature look. They now looked more like blooming young adults. It was especially true for Ariel who could now almost be considered as a carbon copy of Harriet both in terms of appearance and temperament.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "I know everything that happened. Don''t blame Five too much, he is just cautious. It is the first time he is going through a trial and I doubt he knows there''s a short grace period after each trial." She then turned towards the quiet Angela, "I am sorry I could not be there when you needed me. Do you feel better now?"


    The silver-haired harpy lightly shivered as she remembered the past event. She spent the last three days with her two sisters and successfully overcame this mental barrier. "I am fine now," declared Angela with an assertive voice but although she sounded confident, her eyes betrayed that she was scarred by the event.


    Being experienced, Harriet naturally caught this small detail. "It is good but don''t push yourself too much. You know, monsters don''t necessarily have to stand on the front line and fight the adventurers to be useful to a dungeon master. You have to keep in mind that everyone is unique with their own personalities and talents! In the 3 dungeons I''ve been to before, there were several monsters who never fought but were essential to the development of the dungeon. I am talking about the craftsmen!"


    "As far as I am aware, there has never been a harpy that displayed an aptitude for crafting, but we also never bothered about that. If you don''t want to fight every day, you should consider this path, Angela. Don''t think that being a craftsman is humiliating, if you are able to create useful items or artifact, you will make a greater contribution to the dungeon than I will ever be able to do. Think about it and if you like the idea, just mention it to Five, I am sure he will know what to do."


    The eyes of the 3 young harpies sparkled as they heard their mother''s idea. They were all aware that Angela was not very comfortable fighting against others, she was generally very gentle and did not like to engage in bloody fights, but she still did so since she did not want to simply leech off others. Now that another path opened itself to her, she was naturally tempted by it.


    "mmm, I will do my best!"


    Ariel nodded and encouraged her sister, "I am sure master will agree and with your talent, it will not be long before you make something extraordinary!"


    Alice gently tapped her sister to encourage her. As everyone was silent for a moment, she quickly took the opportunity and excitedly exclaimed, "Since we are all here, let''s go and fly! It has been so long that I already feel rusty. Let''s go, that technique you taught us previously was really effective, how about you teach us another one?"


    "I would like to teach you more skills but that will have to wait a little bit. I have been waiting for you to come to tell you that I will have to leave for a few days," said Harriet.


    Immediately, the expression of the three harpies changed, "What? Did something happen? Could it be that you have been injured when dealing with those beasts?" exclaimed Ariel.


    Angela blinked her beautiful eyes and quickly examined Harriet for any signs of discomfort.


    Seeing their exaggerated reactions, Harriet could not help but laugh as she felt a warm feeling inside. "Don''t worry, these beasts were nothing to me, I could have instantly dealt with most of them if I did not take care to attract Five''s attention. Also, before you come up with any more absurd ideas, I am not abandoning you!"


    "It is just that I need to repay my debt to the thunder eagles. After all, it is thanks to them that I was able to travel to the Black Wings clan and come back here that quickly. Without their help, the trip, back and forth, would have taken at least 2 weeks, but they reduced the time by half. Now, I need to honor my words and help their chief, it should not take very long, at most, one week. I promise that once it''s over, I will be back immediately. Sigh..." said Harriet while looking at the harpies with concern.


    "... In that case, you should quickly help the thunder eagles and come back. We will wait for you here every night!" declared Ariel. She was naturally reluctant to see Harriet leave but she could not ask her to break her promise for no reason.


    "It''s good that you understand. You should always honor your words. So don''t make promises that you cannot hold. Without your integrity and dignity, we are no better than normal beasts."


    While Ariel and Angela quietly nodded, Alice pouted, "hmmp, all because of that jerk. What is so good about him that made you want to go back to eagerly..."


    "Alice, you should not talk about Ivan like that. If it was not for him, we might have never met. Also... One day he might even become your..."


    "No! Never! I will never accept him as my father! Didn''t he say he would look after you? How come he never contacted you in 3 years? And don''t tell me that he could not find you in all those dungeons, I am sure that with his ability, he surely already knew where you were!" declared the red-haired harpy.


    Hearing her accusations, Harriet did not get angry but instead, gently smiled, "I know what you are thinking but I am sure Ivan had his reasons. And even though we have not seen each other for 3 years, he was still my fianc¨¦ before I was summoned to the dungeon. We only spent one year together but that year was still the most beautiful year of my life. Before judging him, I should at least meet him, don''t you think so? And now that he himself has been summoned to a dungeon..."


    "Hmmp, don''t talk about him. At least, you should not leave master right after you find him! You are our mother and we support you, but we should still be loyal to master!" said Alice while crossing her arms. For a brief moment, it seemed that their roles were inverted as Alice was the one lecturing Harriet.


    "I know. It might be selfish for me to come back only because it is my only chance to find Ivan again. But I won''t hurt Five in any way. Maybe that''s why he asked me to leave at that time... Maybe he saw my desire to go back home to see him again..."


    An awkward silence settled down among the harpies as the 3 young harpies did not know what to say while Harriet lost herself in her thoughts.

 Chapter 77: Shooting stars

    Right after being asked by Five to bring all the harpies back to the Black Wings clan, Harriet was initially conflicted in her heart, but in the end, her duties triumph over her feelings. She left the group of harpies to go back by themselves while she secretly protected Five from the shadows.


    It took all her self-control to not immediately return with the harpies and instead stay with Five. In her mind, she promised to only protect Five for a short period of time; until he would found his dungeon. With the skills he displayed, Harriet was confident that Five would then be able to protect himself with his dungeon and she would then be able to return to the Black Wings clan with her heart at peace.


    The only reason she wanted to go back was for the winged man that once captured her young maiden''s heart. Before being sent to the dungeon, Harriet was raised as the little princess of the Black Wings clan and interacted with the different races. As a beautiful princess, she naturally had a lot of suitors but one that particularly caught her attention was the first prince of the Azure Feather clan, Ivan.


    He was not very different from the others as all her suitors were all handsome and had a good background. In fact, when mixing among the other ''nobles'', Ivan would easily blend in the crowd. But the truth was that that winged man was extremely daring and that was precisely what attracted the innocent Harriet. He would even go as far as to sneak into the Black Wings clan and secretly meet Harriet in the middle of the night. For the young and innocent Harriet, this was a real display of love as Ivan had to take a lot of risks just to meet her. If he was ever caught, his punishment might go as far as to be disinherited.


    By acting as a perfect prince in public but a rogue in private, Ivan slowly captured her heart and the two lovebirds were officially engaged. However, their happiness did not last for long. Just one year after their official engagement, Harriet was chosen to be summoned to the dungeons. The couple was distressed but there was nothing they could do. Before being separated, the couple met one last time. It was then that Ivan swore to find Harriet at all cost and to stay with her forever; if needed, he was even disposed to become one of the dungeon master''s monsters just to stay with Harriet.


    The latter was touched by this declaration and no longer struggled to leave the clan, after all, she would soon be reunited with her beloved. However, it turned out that she was completely wrong. Even after three years, Harriet did not see a single trace of Ivan. She impatiently waited for him; he was one of the reasons she gave it her all in defending the dungeons but in the end, Ivan never came.


    When she finally got the opportunity to return to the Black Wings clan, Harriet was naturally curious and wanted to ask Ivan why he never came to meet her. But it was then that she learned that Ivan had also been selected to be sent to a dungeon.


    The news struck Harriet like thunder. Was it because of that that he never came to find her? But the timing did not line up; she had been staying at dungeons for three years while Ivan was only gone for 6 months. Two and a half years should have already been more than enough for him to find her and since that was not the case, Harriet firmly believed that something must have happened to her beloved.


    Since Ivan was no longer there, the only reason for her to return to the Black Wings clan had completely disappeared. She had already ensured the safety of the harpies and was free to roam around but she could not forget about that winged man.


    Hoping to find him once again, Harriet decided to once again muddle in the dungeon society. It was the fastest way to find Ivan, but she could not really just appear in front of Five and ask him to take her back. As much as she wanted to, her morals prevented her from doing so. In the end, she chose to stay near the dungeon and secretly protect it until she would be ready to once again meet her master.


    ...


    "Anyway, let''s forget about these, for now, we can discuss again when the time is ripe. For now, I still need to go to the thunder eagles. I waited for you to give you these..."


    As she broke the awkward silence, Harriet swiftly took out a small bag from her cloak. She quickly opened it and from it, took out a small pile of fangs and tusks.


    "Woah! What is this thing? How come so many things can be stored in such a tiny bag?" excitedly asked Alice.


    "Don''t be so surprised, it is a small storage bag. It was made with space magic and can store about one-meter cube of items. These items are what I took from the beasts during the trials. There is a lot of meat and fur that could have also been harvested but since I have no means of storing them properly, I only took the non-perishable ones. I don''t know if the items are still there, but you can still go and have a look this way," answered Harriet while pointing to the direction she fought the two beast kings.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Ariel quickly grabbed one of the tusks and started examining it. "What are we supposed to do with all these items? There are so much, just how many beasts did you take down?"


    "Don''t worry about it, I only picked a few items, so you can bring them all back to the dungeon in one go. Give them to Five, at best, he will keep them as they can be used for crafting, at worst, he will just sell them for some DP in the dungeon shop."


    "Oh, then Angela should just keep all of them, right? Since she will be crafting anyway, we might as well save them for later?" asked Alice.


    Harriet calmly turned toward the silver-haired harpy and explained, "You are right, but these materials are a rather steep starting point... Also, if I am not wrong, they are mainly used by blacksmiths... It''s not that I don''t want you to become a blacksmith, Angela. But I don''t want to see you get an oversized arm after hammering for an entire day."


    "Oversized... arm..." murmured Angela. At the same time, she made a mental note to herself to avoid blacksmithing. While she was willing to try crafting, she was reluctant to deform her body for that.


    "Good, you all know what to do. I just have one last thing to give you before leaving." After saying that, her cloak slightly moved, revealing a slim pair of black wings but before she could do anything, the daring Alice immediately assaulted her.


    "Wow! Your wings are so smooth, I want to caress them forever... When will I get wings like that, mother?" said Alice with a jealous expression.


    Taken by surprise, Harriet was flushed red as Alice continued to shamelessly caress the pair of black wings.


    "Cough Cough, that''s enough!" declared Harriet with an embarrassed expression as she pulled back her wings.


    As for the two other harpies, they blankly stared at the scene, not understanding what was happening. Deep inside, they also wanted to get a feel of the beautiful pair of wings, but they were not as daring as their sister.


    "Ahhh, I wish I could touch more..." murmured Alice with a saddened expression as she looked at her hands. Ariel and Angela did not know how to react to their sister''s behavior but what happened next surprised all the 3 harpies.


    Without hesitation, Harriet decisively plucked out 3 of her feathers from her wings and presented her feathers to her daughters.


    "Mother... What are you doing? This is dangerous!" exclaimed Ariel in panic but Harriet was still as calm as ever.


    "Don''t worry, it is just three feathers. In 2 weeks, they will already grow back. Keep them as a token from me. They will remind you of me when I am not there," said Harriet. Seeing that the harpies were not reacting, she forcefully pushed the black feathers in the hand on her daughters.


    "But... Does it not hurt? Your feathers... are precious... won''t it affect your flight..." asked Angela with a timid voice.


    "Haha, it''s fine, I am already used to it. This is yet another thing that you don''t know about and you can also tell Five about it. You know how adventurers come to hunt monsters. They do so to collect part of their bodies that can be used for crafting. In our case, they aim to collect our feathers to make some sort of cloak. They usually kill us before taking out the feathers, but we can also simply pluck some of them out by ourselves. However, it might hurt a bit to do so and while I can take out 3 feathers every two weeks, remember that you can only take out one every two weeks!"


    "All monsters are the same, they are able to take out part of their body without harming themselves too much. After a brief period of time, their body part will grow back as if nothing happened. But be careful, adventurers look for 2 things when hunting us. Our feathers which we can take out and also our heart. While we can give off some feathers, we only have one heart and if it is taken out, we will immediately die! It is the same for all monsters, they have some drops that they can give out occasionally but also some drops that will only appear when the monster dies!" explained Harriet.


    "Mmm, then, should we also start plucking out our feathers every 2 weeks?" hesitantly asked Ariel.


    Harriet gently smiled, "You can if you want. My previous masters all asked me to take out 3 feathers every 2 weeks. I am already used to it, so it does not hurt too much but since it will be your first time, it will hurt quite a bit." As she was speaking, Harriet remembered how painful her first time felt. She was forced by her first master to do so and was almost bedridden after doing so. But after doing it countless time, Harriet no longer felt much pain, just some discomfort. It was similar to waxing, while the first time was extremely painful, after a few attempts, your body would already get used to it.


    "Mmm, we should also try then. This way, we can help master more!" said Ariel. Although she was scared of the pain, she still felt that it was the best decision.


    "Do what you think is best, you are already old enough to take care of yourselves. With that said, it is time for me to go. I will miss the meeting time if I stay there any longer..." said Harriet as she looked at her daughters. She barely got to talk to the harpies for a few minutes and yet, it was already time to say goodbye.


    "mmm"


    "..."


    Seeing her two sisters stay silent, Ariel stepped forward, "You can leave without worry, mother. We will wait for you. Please come back quickly!" She was unwilling to see Harriet leave but she knew it was inevitable.


    With a gentle smile, Harriet quickly hugged all the 3 harpies, "It is just for a week! I''ll be back very soon. You should all train well in my absence. Remember that our racial trait will only stand out if you train together! Once I come back, I''ll teach you a few more tricks."


    Angela quietly nodded, "Okay..."


    "Goodbye then! We''ll see each other in one week!" declared Harriet as she deployed her wings and started to slowly rise to the sky. She turned back to look at the 3 harpies who were hugging each other. She knew the longer she stayed, the harder it would be to leave. After taking one last look at her daughters, she decisively turned toward her destination and flapped her wings.


    Merely a few seconds after she started accelerating, she heard Alice''s familiar voice ringing through her ears, "Hurry up and come back! Don''t forget to bring us some gifts from where you are going! We will be waiting!"


    Hearing her daughter''s shameless request for gift did not anger her. On the contrary, Harriet let out a smile as she flew in the distance, she knew it was Alice''s own way of expressing her affection.


    ...


    Harriet quickly flew North, she was already late for the meeting and needed to hurry. She was already tired but there was no time to waste; the faster she completed her task, the faster she would be able to reunite with the harpies.


    However, as she was flying, she suddenly noticed a bright light appearing in the corner of her eyes. Harriet immediately went on alert and turned to look at the source of light. More and more stars of light appeared in the distance, but it turned out that she simply overreacted.


    The stars of light completely ignored her and flew across the sky above her heard. Quickly, the whole sky was covered with these stars, creating a breath-taking scene. Even Harriet inadvertently stopped to enjoy the scenery. "Is this what they call shooting stars? It''s so pretty!" said Harriet to herself.


    Shooting stars continuously appeared at the horizon and flew across the sky. Harriet was completely mesmerized by the natural phenomenon but unbeknown to her, a faint yellow glow started to surround her body.

 Chapter 78: The update

    In the middle of the night, Five was quietly sitting in his newly created throne room. With the few additional DP he had left after the trial, he decided to create this room to make it easier to meet all his monsters and to protect his own privacy. While it was called a throne room, at the moment, it looked more like a modern meeting room with desks arranged in a circle and a blackboard hung on one of the walls.


    Five was anxiously waiting as the clock was ticking. In just a few seconds, the official time period of the trial would end. Although his own trial was already over, many other dungeon masters still had to go through their own but everything would be over in just a few seconds. He already instinctively knew that something would happen when the clock would display 0:00 and so, he was carefully waiting for the incoming announcement together with Dreidus.


    Next to Dreidus, Lyra was quietly waiting, not daring to speak a word. Since the end of the trial, Five noticed that the two boss monsters spent a lot of time together. He was not oblivious to what was happening but chose to turn a blind eye to the two monsters'' relationship. It did not seem to affect the development of the dungeon in any way; there were no valid reasons to not allow them to be together.


    The Banshee Queen was nervously looking around; she felt out of place. Originally, only Dreidus was called by Five so that they could immediately discuss the measures to take after the announcement but under Dreidus'' coaxing, Lyra ended up joining the meeting. With her current attire, she looked like a real secretary ready to take notes of the discussion.


    "In just a few seconds, I will feel more at ease. It has been awfully quiet these days, right? I don''t like being in the dark, do you know why the barbarians suddenly reduced the number of people they send to the dungeon?" asked Five while looking at Dreidus.


    "I have no idea... I only know about the things occurring in the dungeon, as for the outside world, we are completely in the dark. But the fact that only 10 barbarians came to the dungeon during these three days was quite good for us. They quietly mined on the first floor and allowed us to gain some DP. We''ve got more than enough to resummon all the monsters as before."


    "Mmm, that''s alright but we cannot remain in the dark too much. We should also think of a way to prevent that in the future. It was my mistake if the trial was so rough... I did not really understand how this game works. I should not limit myself to just my monsters. We need to be more proactive and start to interact with the barbarians more..." said Five.


    During the past few days, he kept getting a faint feeling of unease. It was not threatening in any way but Five simply did not like to remain in the dark. If there was one thing he learned from his training, it would be that the lack of information could be fatal. He naturally raised an eyebrow when the number of barbarians coming to the dungeon suddenly decreased. Could something have happened to the tribe?


    If so, it was definitely not a good thing. He depended a lot on these barbarians for his DP. Additionally, when reviewing the trial, he realized that he did not make proper use of his environment. Choosing a good environment did not limit itself to just choosing a place that is hard to reach and an advantageous position, it also meant choosing the right neighbors!


    If he was able to somehow involve the barbarians in the trials, it would definitely benefit the dungeon. For example, during the trial, if he had been able to redirect part of the beasts toward the barbarian''s village, he would definitely have suffered fewer casualties. There were no doubts that the barbarians would have been able to deal with the beasts effectively since they essentially spent their entire life hunting them.


    He needed to find a way to communicate with the barbarians, but he clearly could not randomly turn up and say that he was the owner of the dungeon. It was especially true since a few barbarians did lose their life there and as a result, the tribe might be hostile toward him if they knew his identity.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    "..."


    [System Announcement: Congratulations to all dungeon masters, the trials are now officially over.]


    "Wow! I did not expect so many of you to survive! That is quite impressive! Out of the 15000 prisoners who became dungeon masters, about half of you survived!"


    Following the short announcement, the easily recognizable voice of Gaia quickly resonated through the room. Five quietly listened as Gaia continued to speak.


    "While most of you relied on trickery, luck, and even external help to pass the trial, it still counts as a pass. However, I would advise you to build up your own force to survive on your own. I am continuously updating the game and I can guarantee that the next trial won''t be that easy. I will see how many of you will survive the incoming trial in 30 days. Until then, I wish you all the best of luck."


    "Oh! Since it is the first time, let me give you all a piece of information; There will be an auction held for all the dungeon masters right after the next trial. That is all I can say, prepare well for it! Also, it is a coincidence, but the first major game''s update will take place tonight, so don''t be scared if your monsters'' stats randomly changes; it''s all for the sake of fairness. More details about the changes should be given soon. I hope to see you all at the auction, that is if you are able to survive that far."


    Gaia''s announcement ended up as abruptly as it started. Silence filled the room as Five was still listening in case Gaia would come back. It was only after he made sure that everything was over that he relaxed and organized his thoughts. From her tone, it seemed that Gaia was in a good mood; her attitude toward the dungeon masters was considerably better than when she announced the start of the first trial.


    "An update, another trial, and an auction..." murmured Five.


    The update was to be expected; the most successful games would often fix their bugs, balance their characters and continuously add in new content. In the real world, many game companies would perform live updates once per week; now that a whole month has passed in New Earth, the update did not seem to be out of place.


    As for the auction, Five suspected that it formed part of the new content that would probably be added along the update. Not much information was available about that event but from his knowledge, it was obvious that the auction was an important event. Many strange and powerful items would probably be available for sale. It was a clear message from Gaia to start stocking his DP.


    "What do you think about that Dreidus? I thought there would be more information, but it seems that we should just continue to upgrade the dungeon and prepare for the auction..." said Five as he turned toward the lich.


    "Mmm, indeed, we did not learn anything new except for an estimate of the number of new dungeon masters. At least we can confirm the date of the next trial; it is highly possible that the trials would be a monthly event. We should quickly reinforce the dungeon; we barely survived the last trial and she said it was an easy one. I cannot imagine what the next one would be like but at the same time, with the auction coming, we should save about 10% of our DP for that event."


    Five calmly waited for Dreidus to finish speaking before smiling. "You are wrong... It is very likely that the auction is a trap!"


    "What? A trap?" asked Dreidus with a stunned expression.


    "It is just a mind game. If I am not wrong, the reason it is scheduled right after the trial is precisely to reduce the amount of DP we would use for upgrading our defense. It is basically a bait to make our dungeons more vulnerable! She is basically tricking us into saving our DP instead of investing in defenses. If you think about our situation; if I was not over cautious and did not save some DP and instead used them on summoning more Death Knights, wouldn''t the trial have gone more smoothly? The charge would have completely wiped out the beasts in one go and we would have been able to focus on the beast kings. In other words, the trials are not that wrong if we spend our DP correctly. Saving is a wise action but our DP is precisely saved for this type of situation! It was just that we did not expect that most of the functions of the dungeon would be blocked during the trial..."


    After taking a moment to digest the information, Dreidus quietly nodded. The explanation made sense. Although there was no proof, it was better to be safe than sorry and if they did not even survive the trial, what would all the DP they saved for the auction be used for?


    "In that case, should we continue upgrading the dungeon? We did not take any actions for the past three days. I believe it¡¯s time to properly finish the 4th floor," said Dreidus.


    "Of course, the barbarians already went as far as the 3rd floor, they can go to the fourth one at any time. But the lack of information about the barbarians is still bothering me. Are there any undead monster that is suitable to gather information?"


    Dreidus thought for a moment and answered, "Gathering information? Apologies but undead monsters are not very good at that. They are very noticeable especially since they tend to emit a cold aura wherever they go and living beings are generally hostile toward undead monsters. You should try to look more into spirit-type monsters, they tend to have abilities that can be used to gather information."


    "That''s fine, I will have a look later. For now, let''s talk about completing the fourth floor. I would like your opinion about that," said Five.


    As he heard Five, Dreidus shifted his gaze toward the silent Lyra before answering, "Yes master, about that, there is something I would like to point out. I believe that the difference between the third and fourth floor is a little too big. If we follow your plan, we should aim to smoothly increase the power of the monsters through the floors but clearly, the death knights alone are already far stronger than the monsters of the graveyard. I believe it would be better if we add a floor between those two floors... And also... I think that the Banshees would be suitable for that floor."

 Chapter 79: Glowing harpies

    Dreidus lowered his head slightly as he continued, "I think it is time to give Lyra a proper floor to guard but I would appreciate it if Lyra herself could stay away from fights and stay in the background. It is not that she is scared to fight but she is still relatively low leveled, and she probably won''t survive if a group of barbarians attacked her."


    Five suspiciously looked at Dreidus and then turned his attention toward Lyra. The Banshee Queen quietly shifted her body, just enough to hide her face behind Dreidus'' head. Five was not clueless about what Dreidus wanted but he was worried about the state of the dungeon. It was true that the death knights were much stronger than the zombies and Dreidus'' plan made sense. However, his plan also clearly displayed favoritism toward Lyra. Was corruption already appearing in his dungeon while it was still in its initial stage?


    "Mmm. Give me more details about it. I agree that the banshees need a floor to guard but creating an entire floor might be a little expensive at the moment. We only have 100000 DP and considering that many barbarians suddenly stopped coming here..." said Five.


    "Of course, this is just an idea, but I would like to create a floor that looks like a forest. The settings will be similar to a haunted forest with Treants mixed among the decorative trees we''ll put. The banshees will be the main monsters, but we''ll also add some ghouls. Ghouls exists into two forms but for that floor, it would be better to use the one where they have a physical body; they are quite fast and can easily hide in an environment like a forest. I believe that the banshees can already deal enough magic damage while the treants could serve as tanks for them. Also, a forest is a good floor to put some herbs that the adventurers can collect."


    Dreidus explained the details of the floor while keeping an eye on Five. He purposely avoided Lyra''s topic and hoped that Five would agree. However, it was precisely what Five pointed out:


    "It is a good idea, I can agree to this. But there''s something that have been missing from our dungeon. We don''t have a single boss monster that defend the floor. A dungeon needs some milestones and the best way to represent them is to use boss monsters. We have you and Lyra but none of you will be fighting if we follow that plan. Truthfully, I was planning to put Lyra as the 4th floor''s boss."


    Dreidus lightly coughed in embarrassment. "I understand that, but it would honestly be beneficial for the dungeon if we do not use the boss monsters on those floors and only use them as last resort if the dungeon core is threatened. I am not saying that just to protect my own life or Lyra''s but as I previously explained, something strange and dangerous happen as if we die. Compared to normal monsters who just die, we can revive after a day, but I am certain that this revival has a heavy cost. Although I have no proof, I hope that you will trust me for that. I am honestly thinking of what is best for the dungeon and also... Boss monsters are not an absolute necessity."


    Five looked at the lich and the banshee queen. He could see the sincerity in their eyes and according to his experience and intuition, it did not seem that they were lying. But in the past, his intuition has proven him wrong countless time. He had been mercilessly betrayed by the people he trusted the most, including his fianc¨¦e.


    "Are you certain of what you are saying? I really hope that you are not just making up a story..."


    "Master, I am a hundred percent confident. Something bad must happen as we die and revive. I hope that you will trust me, but you are the master. In the end, if you refuse, we will still comply with your orders," declared Dreidus.


    "Alright then... Let''s do as you say. As for the boss monsters, for now we''ll just use higher level monsters for that," said Five. In the end, he still chose to believe Dreidus. The lich was sincere and did not have any reason to lie to him. After what he encountered in real life, Five was not willing to blindly trust anyone, especially if they put forward groundless theories. However, without trust, his dungeon would never grow, and he would never reach his goal.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    He looked at the two boss monsters'', whose expression immediately changed from a fearful and expectant one to an expression of relief and joy. ''Sigh... I am still soft-hearted and cannot say no when people look at me like that... I really hope you don''t betray me Dreidus...''


    "Thank you! Thank you, master. I promise that you won''t regret it," exclaimed the two boss monsters at the same time.


    At the same time, the door suddenly opened, and 3 golden silhouettes rushed into the meeting room.


    "Master! We are back! Ouch that was heavy. Quick master, look at what we brought back. Praise us!"


    "We came back a bit earlier than usual. Sorry to interrupt your meeting."


    "..."


    The two distinct voices of the harpies interrupted the two boss monsters as the harpies stormed in. Without hesitation, Alice rushed forward and dropped all the loot she was carrying on the table in front of Five.


    The latter was overwhelmed and exclaimed with a surprised expression, "What. what are all of these? Did you do something dangerous? Where did you go? You are all glowing like that! What happened?" His eyes quickly moved from the pile of items in front of him and moved from Alice to the other two harpies who were emitting a golden glow.


    Confused, the three harpies looked at each other, not knowing what to say. After a few seconds of awkwardness, Ariel stepped forward and also emptied her arms, "Master, we don''t understand what you are saying. Are we glowing?"


    Hearing her question, Five became even more confused. Ariel, who was now standing right in front of him, was clearly emitting a golden glow. It looked like one of those special effects used to highlight characters in movies. But now, the harpies were saying that there was nothing wrong? ''Did my eyes get damaged after looking at the dungeon screen too much?''


    "What about you guys? Do you notice anything wrong about them?" asked Five to Dreidus and Lyra.


    Unfortunately, the two undead monsters simply looked at him with concern, "Master, there is nothing wrong with the harpies. Are you having hallucinations? Could it be that you are under the effect of a curse or a debuff?"


    The situation was awkward; it seemed that he was the only one able to see the golden glow but that glow clearly did not have any harmful effect. "I have not been exposed to any enemies, so how could I be under the effect of some debuff? It''s something that only I can see... Then it should be something related to the game... Could it be that the harpies were being affected by the update?" A thought crossed his mind, but he was unsure whether it meant good or bad news. An update could mean either a buff or a nerf and considering that the harpies played a huge role during the trial, it was likely that their stats would be lowered.


    To confirm his hypothesis, Five quickly opened the dungeon interface to look at his other monsters and as he expected, the skeletons and zombies were also glowing!


    The monsters were curious, their master''s behavior was simply abnormal; they silently watched as Five randomly smiled after looking at the skeletons and the zombies.


    "Sorry about that. It was just me overreacting. Let''s forget about that, what are all these items? Where did you find them?" asked Five, completely dismissing the matter.


    "Eh? ok..." Seeing Five changing the subject, Ariel chose not to pursue the matter. Instead, she explained the scenario that the three sisters agreed on. Following the request of Harriet, the three harpies decided to lie about the origin of these items to hide the fact that the Harpy Queen was nearby.


    "We were flying through the forest when we saw a group of beasts fighting each other to death. Apparently, they were fighting to become the new Beast Kings of the forest. Since we have killed the Ape King and the Forest Tiger King is severely injured, the other beasts were taking the opportunity to overthrow them. They were focused on the battle and did not notice our presence. In the beginning, we just watched the fight from afar but when we saw that all the beasts were injured, we simply snatched the items and finished a few injured ones," explained Ariel. She tried to keep her explanation as vague as possible; since she was making up a lie, it was better to not go into too much detail to avoid getting caught out.


    Five frowned upon listening, "That is very dangerous. Did I not say to not take risks like that? Were you injured?" While he inquired about their state, Five quickly looked at their HP bar.


    "We are fine! Look at us. How could those silly beasts even hurt us when we can just fly above their head," declared Alice. She quickly spun onto herself and flapped her wings, showing that she was not injured in any way.


    Having already confirmed this through the HP bar, Five was relieved. He then turned his attention toward the pile of items in front of him and the ones still in Angela''s arm. His eyes shone as the information about each item appeared.


    The items were clearly the drops of the beasts of the forest. After the trial, when it was time to clean up the floor of the corpses, Five noticed that he could actually harvest the drops of the fallen beasts from their corpses. Each beast would leave one or two items before disappearing and it was thanks to these items that the dungeon was quickly replenished.


    These items were not very useful to the dungeon but simply by selling them in the dungeon shop, Five quickly made 50000 DP. The trial was not cruel to the point of depleting all of his DP; in the end, he was able to harvest quite a few DP. If he were to compare his gain to the cost of the dead monsters, his profits were actually astronomical. It was just a pity that most of those profits had to be used to purchase skills to guarantee his survival instead of being invested in the dungeon.


    After facing the severe decline in revenue during the last three days, Five was naturally delighted to see free DP coming his way. The most interesting part was that 2 beast cores were quietly lying inside the pile of items. They were without a doubt the most precious items that the harpies had brought back. Just one beast core could be sold for 15000 DP.

 Chapter 80: Influencing the drops

    "That is great! Just what we needed to make another floor!" excitedly said Five. He quickly added with a serious tone, "But don''t do it again in the future. Attacking beasts, even if they are injured is dangerous. Remember that before you reach a high enough level, I would rather have you be observers! Even going out alone at night is already dangerous! If you keep encountering these situations, I would have to cancel your nightly excursions."


    The harpies quickly lowered their heads, not knowing what to say. Clearly, they did not even attempt something dangerous but since the lie was already out, it was too late for regrets. ''Hmmp, you even scold us when we do something good... Master is really a mean person!'' pouted Alice inside her heart.


    "But still, these items can give us quite a bit of DP. Is there something you want?" asked Five in a softer tone. After giving them the stick, it was time to give them the carrot.


    "Really? Can we get to watch more of the TV? Can we watch more Master Chef?" excitedly asked Alice.


    During the three nights of being grounded at the dungeon, the harpies were restless and naturally, they ended up annoying Five. As a result, the latter had no choice but to take out things to entertain them and could finally have some peace as he showed them some movies.


    There were no actual TVs in the dungeon, but the dungeon core could project a screen and display anything. Through the dungeon shop, he simply bought a few movies at the cost of 100 DP. The harpies immediately took interest in those; not only were the movies entertaining, but they also gave them an opportunity to take a glimpse at the real world.


    However, the one downside of this was that Five had no other choice but to stay with them. He spent most of his time studying the different combinations of monsters for his dungeon, but he needed the dungeon core to do so. While the core could certainly do multiple things at once, with the background noise of the movies, Five could not help but eventually join the harpies into watching the TV. To him, it was just like procrastinating. Fortunately, there was no rush in building his dungeon as he needed to wait for more DP; he could take his time and enjoy himself.


    While just three nights had passed, the harpies had already found their own preferences. Alice naturally preferred action and adventure movies while Angela would prefer to watch some drama or romantic movies. As for Ariel, she preferred thriller movies.


    They all had their own preferences but most of the time, they would all agree to watch the TV together and the middle ground they found was cooking shows. After the feast they had, the harpies became curious about what other delicacies there were that they could enjoy. Their everyday meal was already delicious but when looking at all the dishes from the shows, they would salivate and hope that Five would make another feast.


    With the few DP Five gave them every day, there was still a long way before they would be able to afford these dishes. Little did Five know that the harpies not only watched the cooking shows to satisfy their own interest but also because of a little harmless scheme put forward by Alice. Since they could not afford this type of meal, they simply had to tempt Five! And what better was there than to watch those shows right next to him? Based on Five''s personality, Alice firmly believed that if they successfully tempted him, he would at least share with them. Who asked him to give them a taste of these delicacies? They simply could not be satisfied with normal food anymore and could only scheme to eat them again.


    "No. Don''t listen to Alice, master! But we do indeed have a request. Is it possible to teach some crafting techniques to Angela?" asked Ariel as she pinched Alice, warning her to let her speak.


    "Crafting?" asked Five as his face lit up. Indeed, crafting would be a good option for Angela. It was obvious that she did not enjoy fighting but that did not mean she was useless. Just like most popular RPGs, New Earth also had elements of crafting. It was normally meant for players but considering what Five had seen, it might be possible for NPCs to also learn it.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Yes! If you look into the dungeon shop, there are many books that could be purchased to learn the basics of any crafting discipline. There are also recipes and plans that can be purchased!" continued Ariel.


    "Oh?" Five nodded and looked toward Angela. The dungeon shop simply had too many items for sales for him to know about everything. He had been browsing through the shop since day 1 and had yet to uncover all of its content. At the moment, he was not only looking at the monsters he could purchase but also the skills he could acquire to build up his own character. Unfortunately, having a wide range of choices just made things harder for Five as there were simply too many skills.


    Angela shyly stepped forward and spoke with a quiet voice, "Yes master. If possible, I would like to learn some skills to still be useful¡­"


    Seeing the shy harpy speak, Five immediately felt her sincerity. She genuinely wanted to learn some skills and contribute to the dungeon. Angela''s case had been sitting at the back of Five''s mind since that day. The harpies held a special place in his heart and even if Angela wanted to simply stay in her room and do nothing, Five would have allowed it. However, it seemed that she was eager to help and she had already found a way to do so! A faint warm feeling rose in Five''s heart as he looked at Angela.


    "Of course you can. There is no need to ask for my permission. As long as you like it, you can purchase anything related to crafting. What discipline do you want to learn?"


    "Eh¡­ I am willing to learn anything¡­ As long as it is not blacksmithing, you can choose for me," said the harpy as she tried to sound assertive.


    "Anything but blacksmithing?" murmured Five. He did not know why she chose so but it was just a small detail. "Then what about alchemy? I think it would be very useful for us if you can make some elixirs."


    "If it''s ok with you¡­"


    With a kind smile, Five opened his interface and immediately purchase two books; "Introduction to alchemy" and "Encyclopaedia of plants and animals". From their title, they were both appropriate for a beginner to try alchemy. He quickly handed them to Angela who hurriedly bowed.


    "Learn these first. I will keep the items in my inventory for the moment. If you need them, just tell me. We can buy the raw materials from the shop but there are also a lot of herbs scattered in the forest. When you go out at night, try to collect some for your own experiment," said Five.


    The harpy nodded and displaying a bright smile. She looked at the books full of anticipation. It will only be a few days later when she would face constant failure that she would realize that crafting was not that easy.


    "This aside, we have another thing to show you, master," said Ariel. She quickly cupped her hands and approached Five.


    The latter confusedly looked at her and responded by opening his hands.


    "Here," Ariel opened her hands, allowing a black feather to fall within Five''s hands.


    "What is this?" asked Five as he grabbed the feather. The black feather was relatively small, but it was clearly too large to come from an actual bird.


    "It comes from my wings. We discovered that we could pluck out one of our feathers. If we are not wrong, they also count as materials and can be used for crafting¡­" explained Ariel as she tried to avoid Five''s gaze.


    "From your wings?" Five''s mind went blank. ''Weren''t the harpies'' wings considered as their private parts? I know that women like to compare themselves but what were they doing for them to even pluck out feathers.'' A naughty thought crossed his mind as he quickly scolded himself for starting to have this type of thoughts. ''Better not think about how they discovered that¡­''


    It was only after the initial dirty thought went away that Five realized the importance of the feather. He immediately looked at Dreidus who was quietly observing them.


    "Do you know what that means Dreidus? What do you think?"


    The lich moved his hands to his chin; he looked like he was caressing a non-existing beard. "If I am not wrong, the black feather should be an item obtained from the death of a harpy? So that means, it is possible to obtain the drops without killing the monsters?"


    "That''s also what I am thinking but is it just a coincidence?"


    "What coincidence? We can also take out a feather!" exclaimed Alice as she showed a black feather and placed it into Five''s hand.


    Angela also looked through one of the pockets of her dress and took out a black feather.


    "You girls¡­ How could you be so reckless! Don''t just pull out your feathers like that. Who knows if they can grow back?" exclaimed Five as he looked at the harpies with a worrying look.


    "This is very interesting¡­ Does that mean I can also take one of my bones?" asked Dreidus as he examined the feathers.


    "Shall we investigate that? What about using a few skeletons to run some tests?" proposed Five.


    As he heard that, Dreidus'' eyes dimmed a little. The skeletons who were essentially under his commands were going to be sacrificed. While it was true that they were undead monsters and did not really feel any pain, Dreidus was still pained as he saw that Five was going to sacrifice his monsters.


    However, he understood the importance of the test. They could obtain valuable information about the monsters and if Five had decided to sacrifice a monster not serving under him, he would have immediately agreed to it. The problem was that aside from the harpies who were special, there were no other monsters.


    In the end, he knew what he needed to do: "No problem, I will immediately call a few skeletons so we can do some tests, or would you rather summon new ones?"

 Chapter 81: Improving one’s luck

    ¡°Crack crack¡±


    A loud crack resonated through the room as a skeleton expressionlessly snap a bone from his rib cage. He quickly tossed the bone on the desk before being beheaded by Alice.


    ¡°Bang¡±


    The harpy effortless killed the poor skeleton and the next second, Alice pulled out another bone from the remains of the skeletons before they vanished in thin air.


    ¡°Indeed, that confirms our theory! But do the bones grow back and ifs so, how long does it take?¡± said Dreidus.


    6 skeletons had been sacrificed in total, but they now had some understanding of how the drops worked. Skeletons would normally drop 2 bones upon death. With their experiments, Five discovered that once 2 bones were pulled out from the skeletons, they would instantly disintegrate, leaving just the two bones behind.


    When just one bone was taken out, it did not seem to affect the skeleton much. The latter retained its fighting power and did not express any discomfort to Dreidus.


    Still, the tests were repeated a few times to ensure that the results were consistent. In the end, they drew out the following conclusions: it was possible to make the monster take out their own drops without them suffering any backlash. However, they could only take out less than the normal amount dropped upon death. In other words, the skeletons could only take out one bone as the other would cause its immediate death. Taking out the bone would not affect him, but it was unclear if there were delayed side effects. As for whether the bone would grow back in the future, it was still unknown.


    Five was very satisfied with the results. It meant that it was possible for him to control the drops of his monsters to some extent. When he thought about it, in games, the monsters would rarely have a fixed drop. A lot of time, it would rely on RNG but there, it seemed that he was the one who could influence them, and he would make full use of this function.


    But before that, he still needed to see if there were any long-term effects and if the bones would grow back. If they did, then it meant yet another source of revenue! The drops could simply be sold at the dungeon shop and although it would not generate much DP, it was still better than nothing.


    ¡°There is no need to worry about that. Let¡¯s observe these skeletons for a while and see if anything happens.¡±


    ¡°Do not worry, master. If taking out our drops is really harmless, I would not hesitate to do so!¡± sincerely declared Dreidus.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. It¡¯s getting late¡­ Compared to you guys, I still need to sleep. But before that, there is one last thing we need to do,¡± said Five. He smiled and took out an item from his inventory.


    It was the Monster Lottery Ticket he received as a reward for surviving the trial!


    Immediately, Alice¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Sure! Give me a moment, I¡¯ll bring it there!¡± She excitedly flew out of the meeting room and rushed to her room.


    Five expectantly waited for the harpy to come back but the moment she did, his expression changed drastically. Alice happily hopped into the room as she opened a container and displayed it to Five. Immediately, a strong pungent smell assaulted Five as tears appeared in the corner of his eyes.


    ¡°What¡­ What is that?¡± asked Five as he retreated a few steps to move away from the container.


    ¡°What are you talking about? It¡¯s the elixir you asked me to brew¡­¡± exclaimed Alice as she tried to shove the container in Five¡¯s hands.


    The latter could only take it and quickly placed the cover back to stop the smell from coming out. He looked at the others who instinctively moved away from him as they pinched their nose. Even Dreidus who was not supposed to be able to smell, taken a step back.


    ¡°Quick, drink it! If you take too long, the effect will weaken, and you won¡¯t be as lucky as you should be!¡± said Alice as she herself retreated away from the container.


    ¡°Less luck? How is that thing supposed to bring me luck?¡± internally exclaimed Five. Just by looking at the container, he had already obtained the information about the mixture:This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    [Unknown Mixture]


    Effect 1: Deal 20 damage to consumer


    Effect 2: 20% chance of causing hallucinations


    ¡­


    A few nights earlier, right after the feast.


    ¡°I hope you liked the food! Let¡¯s leave, Angela needs some space to rest,¡± declared Five as he noticed that all the plates were empty.


    ¡°Alright but master, what are you going to do about the Monster Lottery Ticket?¡± asked Dreidus.


    As he recalled that he had just received one, Five answered, ¡°That¡¯s a good point, we might as well use it now.¡±


    ¡°Emm what is a Monster Lottery Ticket?¡± asked Ariel with a curious look.


    ¡°It¡¯s an item that allows master to unlock and obtain 1 random monster. However, it is entirely dependent on one¡¯s own luck. He can obtain a powerful monster like you or a useless one,¡± calmly explained Dreidus.


    ¡°Oh, are you just going to use it like that? It is such a waste,¡± declared Alice.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Tsssk tsssk, if you are just using the Monster Lottery Ticket like that, then it would be completely up to fate but what if there was a way to increase one¡¯s luck?¡± said Alice with a mischievous smile.


    Five looked at Alice, trying to determine whether she was lying. What she had just said had caught his interest. ¡°To increase luck? Is that even possible?¡±


    ¡°Of course, the harpies have a special recipe for a potion that temporarily increases our luck! We always drink whenever we have special things to do that requires some luck. If you want, I can make one for you, it should take about 2 days to be ready,¡± explained Alice.


    ¡°Is that true?¡± asked Five as he looked toward Ariel and Angela.


    The latter quietly nodded while Ariel answered, ¡°I do think we have something like that in our customs, but I don¡¯t know the recipe.¡±


    ¡°Mmm, then we can just wait two days to see,¡± answered Five.


    ¡­


    Now that he was facing the ¡°luck¡± potion, Five did not know whether to laugh or cry. Had he known this would happen, he would have immediately used the Monster Lottery Ticket.


    Clearly the potion would only do him harm. He knew that weird customs existed all over the world but this one was unheard of. Was their goal to harm themselves to obtain better reward as a result of karma?


    ¡°Is that really the potion?¡± asked Five.


    ¡°For the fifth time, yes!¡± Ariel and Angela nodded. A faint smile appeared on their face as they waited for Five to drink the potion.


    ¡°Quick master, drink it. Don¡¯t forget to reward me later when you get a powerful monster!¡± said Alice as she mischievous laughed.


    ¡®That girl¡­ Another one of her pranks¡­ You want a reward? Good¡¯


    ¡°Sure, I have thought of a good reward for you. What about giving you the opportunity to use the Monster Lottery Ticket yourself. Not just that, I will gift you the monster you obtain from it!¡± righteously said Five.


    ¡°What?¡± Alice¡¯s expression drastically changed. ¡°I mean, it is not appropriate right? You are the dungeon master and you should be the one summoning the monsters. How can I do so? I will be content with just a few DP¡­¡±


    ¡°No no, I¡¯ll let you do it. It is the same regardless of who uses the Monster Lottery Ticket. The monster will still be unlocked and be available for purchase. With the effect of the potion, we are guaranteed a powerful monster! Don¡¯t you want a monster to serve you? Aside from that, we don¡¯t know if the potion works on humans, what if only the harpies could beneficiate from it? It is better to not take any risk, right?¡± said Five as he gave the container back to Alice.


    ¡°No¡­ I don¡¯t want to drink that¡­ Angela, do you want to get a powerful monster to protect you?¡± Facing Five¡¯s argument, Alice could only turn to her sisters for help. She was not lying when she said that the potion could increase their luck. It was indeed one of the harpies¡¯ customs, but it was evident that the potion was a disgusting one.


    It was only used in extreme cases like when someone would be undergoing a tribulation or some special rituals. There was no way the harpies would consume that think just to temporarily increase their luck. When Alice heard that Five would have to rely on luck, the potion naturally came to her mind and with her usual mischievous mind, she wanted to see Five¡¯s reaction as he drank it.


    To her, it was just a harmless little joke as she truly believed that the potion would increase his luck. However, she did not expect the situation to backfire like that.


    ¡°No. Assume your own actions. Don¡¯t try to take advantage of Angela!¡± said Ariel as she pulled Angela behind her to protect her from Alice.


    ¡°Argg¡­¡± As she was cornered, the red-haired harpy had to take out her final weapon. ¡°Master¡­ I¡­¡± Without hesitation, she immediately turned on her ¡°Cute puppy¡± mode as she pitifully called out Five.


    However, the latter was already prepared and turned around to avoid her gaze. ¡°Hurry up, you said it yourself that the effects will weaken if you don¡¯t drink it now.¡±


    On the side, Dreidus and Lyra quietly smiled as they enjoyed the drama. Alice had been unruly for quite a while and now, it was finally time for her punishment.


    ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll do it but don¡¯t complain later when I will have a powerful monster just for myself!¡± declared Alice.


    ¡®A powerful monster?¡¯ Five internally laughed. He did not really want to harm Alice but making her drink that potion would be a good lesson for her. Since her luck was not really increased, it was safe to say that she would probably get a weak monster ranging from level 1 to 10. There was no harm in giving her one.


    With a last pitiful look, Alice closed her eyes and pinched her nose before downing the potion in one go. As the lid of the container was removed, the pungent smell once again spread through the room and as Five detected it, he could not help but feel bad for Alice. Was he too harsh on her? ¡®Ah, well it¡¯s her who came forward with that idea, it¡¯s good to teach her some discipline.¡¯


    ¡°Cough cough.¡± As soon as the container was empty, Alice immediately coughed as her eyes became watery. ¡°What are you looking at? Hurry and give me the Monster Lottery Ticket!¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± said Five as he smiled at the harpy¡¯s misfortune. He immediately noticed that Alice¡¯s HP went down slightly but it did not seem that she was under the effect of hallucinations. He quickly handed her the dungeon core which was required to activate the Monster Lottery Ticket.


    ¡°Now watch!¡± Alice quickly used the ticket and in front of her, the page of the dungeon shop dedicated to the monsters, suddenly appeared. The same yellow box that Five previously saw started to slide across the different icons.


    Everyone looked intently at the yellow box, hoping for it to stop on a good monster. It was especially true for Alice; she was not really mad at Five for having to drink the awful potion but now, since Five promised that the monster would be hers, she was hoping to make him pay for it.


    A few seconds went by and the yellow box showed no signs of stopping. Clearly, it was going on for much longer than the previous time. Five stared at the box, ¡°Did the potion really have some unknown effects?¡±


    After a whole minute of suspense, the yellow box eventually started to slow down. Alice looked in anticipation as she saw that the box was still within the section of the weak monsters. Judging by the speed, the box had a high chance to end up near the middle-level monsters!


    The next second, the yellow box completely stopped onto the icon of a thin young man and immediately, Five received the notification:


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, you have unlocked the monster: Nosferatu, this monster can now be purchased at the dungeon shop. One Nosferatu is ready for summoning]

 Chapter 82: A new companion

    "A Nosferatu?" said Five as a screen displaying the information of the monster appeared.


    Nosferatus were essentially vampires. Just like the harpies had different clans, the vampires were also divided into clans and the Nosferatu clan was considered as one of the weaker ones. Although they were weak among their race, for Five''s dungeon, they were still powerful. When summoned, there was the option to summon them at level 20 and allow them to grow or to fix their level at 28.


    Alice''s eyes sparkled as she looked at the handsome man being displayed on the screen. "Haha, I told you, master! You cannot take back my reward! I want him as my servant."


    "Sigh..." Five was lost for words. He never expected Alice to really pull out a decent monster. While it was not really a loss for the dungeon for Alice to take the Nosferatu as her servant, it was still an awkward situation. "Sure, I don''t go back on my words. You can summon him at any time but choose the option that allows him to level up."


    "Great!" excitedly exclaimed Alice as she used the dungeon core to summon the free Nosferatu.


    A few seconds later, a summoning circle appeared in the middle of the room as everyone expectantly watched the slim figure materialize. Alice was already grinning at the idea of having a handsome servant. However, the second the summoning circle disappeared, revealing the features of the Nosferatu, Alice''s face froze.


    "My prince... Where is my charming prince? I want a refund!" exclaimed Alice. Looking at the Nosferatu, she felt let down.


    The summoning had actually been successful, and a Nosferatu was motionlessly standing in the middle of the room. It was just that the man in front of Alice was nowhere close to the one displayed on the screen in terms of appearance. The screen showed a handsome man that could easily receive the title of the nation''s husband but just like it was done for advertising in real life, the actual product rarely resembled the one in the photo!


    The vampire in front of them had an extremely pale skin, giving him a sickly look. He was rather skinny and his overall features could only be considered average. The most distinctive feature of his face would definitely be the exaggerated black circles under his eyes.


    "Alice, don''t judge people by their appearance! It is rude," commented Ariel from behind.


    Before the harpy could answer, the immobile Nosferatu suddenly opened his eyes and stared at Five. "A human? So I was summoned by a human?" As he spoke, the Nosferatu did not even try to hide his expression of contempt. In his eyes, humans were inferior to vampires; there was no reason for him to show any respect. Even if Five was a dungeon master, the Nosferatu felt that he did not deserve that title. After all, although he had just been summoned, the Nosferatu was still 5 levels above Five''s, it was unacceptable for him to serve someone weaker than himself.


    Five immediately squinted his eyes but before he could react, Dreidus had already moved.


    "Bang"


    Without showing any mercy, the lich had already smacked the Nosferatu with his staff. The latter could not react in time and fell on the floor. "Who are you? How dare you attack me!?" angrily declared the Nosferatu.


    "Hmmp, show some respect to master! You have just been summoned and are already that unruly. Although it would be a loss for us, it is better to get rid of possible sources of trouble!" slowly said Dreidus as he pointed his staff at the Nosferatu. He sounded calm and composed but his words carried a clear threat.


    "Glup..." The Nosferatu quietly looked at Dreidus, not daring to move. He simply could not understand why someone stronger than him would agree to serve such a weak dungeon master. In his mind, the role of the leader was attributed to the strongest one. As long as one was strong, one could have anything but things were completely different in this dungeon; the weakest one of all was the leader. It simply did not make sense.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Master! I don''t want him! Let me summon another one!" said Alice as she examined the Nosferatu. Not only was he not attractive in term of appearance, his character and behavior were also questionable. There was no way she would want such a servant.


    "A woman? And a virgin on top of that?" said the Nosferatu as he suddenly noticed the harpies. His eyes lit up as he completely ignored Dreidus who was angrily glaring at him. He shamelessly let his gaze roam over the harpies¡¯ body before being smacked again by Dreidus.


    "Hmmp, how dare he look at us like that? Master, I don''t want this pervert near me!"


    "Mmm" Five had been silently observing the situation. It was clear that the Nosferatu''s character did not fit in the current mindset of the monsters. However, it would truly be a waste to have to get rid of him. Also, he could not really judge someone after just one minute of interaction. Being unruly and shameless did not necessarily mean to be incompetent; in the past, Five had met several persons like the Nosferatu but they all turned out to be really talented in their own fields.


    "If you don''t want him, then you won''t have any servants? Only the one you summoned is yours. As for you Nosferatu, I don''t care about your background but I expect you to respect me and all the other monsters too. I am just level 15 but I can deal with you by myself!" At the same time, Five sneakily activated the [Frenzy] skill, emitting a threatening aura.


    The Nosferatu immediately felt the change and instinctively tried to move away from Five. It was not just him that felt threatened, even Dreidus, Lyra and the harpies felt uncomfortable. It was the same as the last time he tested the skill. While it was not mentioned, it appeared that [Frenzy] also caused the dungeon monsters to naturally fear him while the skill was active. Unfortunately, this effect only worked on the monsters belonging to the dungeon or else, he would have already used it during the trial.


    "Good, I hope you understand. Don''t cause too much trouble. Although I am the dungeon master, your mistress will be Alice, you will have to obey her orders!" said Five as he deactivated [Frenzy].


    As soon as the heavy aura disappeared, the monsters felt relieved. "But I don''t want her as my mistress... Can I change to that one?" asked the Nosferatu as he pointed toward Angela. As he was no longer threatened by Five, he quickly returned to his normal character but still kept himself in check to some extent.


    As she heard the request, Alice was naturally angered; she quickly moved and put herself between the Nosferatu and Angela to hide her sister. "What? Don''t you dare have vile thoughts about Angela! Besides, what is wrong with me? Why is she better than me?"


    "You... You have bad breath... I don''t want to smell that every day."


    "What! If it wasn''t to summon you, I would not have had to drink that awful thing!" Alice felt wrong as she complained. It was not her fault if she had a bad breath; right now, she really wanted to attack the Nosferatu but refrained from doing so. ''I should really get a weapon! Hmmp, once Angela will learn some skills, I will ask her for one, then I''ll be able to smack that guy myself''


    Five internally sighed as he watched the scene; if it continued like that, he will end up with a sleepless night. "Okay, that''s enough, Alice, you are in charge of him. Give him a room, Dreidus will help you look after him! For now, just give him a name and let''s call it a day."


    "A name? I have the perfect one for you, let''s call you Dumbo," said Alice as she quietly laughed.


    The Nosferatu immediately wanted to complain but recalling Five''s warning and considering that Alice was 7 levels above himself, he decided to tone it down. "Dumbo? Do you think I am a pet or something? I can agree to serve under a bad-breathed woman but at least give me a proper name..."


    "What? Not happy?"


    "Alice... Give him a proper name, okay?" said Ariel.


    Alice looked at her sister who was visibly tired and just wanted to go to bed. "Fine... In that case, I will name you after someone who gave me the same impression as you. Your name will be Ivan! You should be satisfied with that."


    "Good. Your name is Ivan! You guys give him a room," said Five as he headed toward his own room. It was already very late and looking at the situation, it was likely to continue for a long time. ''Well, Alice and Ivan do have similar characters, but she toned herself down because of the other harpies. Maybe I should summon a few Nosferatus so that they can control each other. I wonder what kind of storm they will create..."


    As he left, he heard Alice loudly exclaim, "Now, you should take the farthest room from ours. Take the one near the end of the corridor next Dreidus'' room, it will be easier for him to make sure you don''t do evil things when we are sleeping!"


    The Nosferatu, Ivan, felt wronged as he stood up and followed Alice who was going to show him his room. Clearly ''Ivan'' was a proper name but why did he feel like there was a deeper meaning to that name. Also, what did she mean by doing evil things? It was normal for him to have heated thoughts when seeing the 3 beauties but that did not mean he would go as far as raping them.


    As for Dreidus, he really wanted to complain to Alice but in the end, he could not find the proper words to do so. How could he tell the harpies that even if he was an undead, he wanted to have some quality time for himself with Lyra? He could not push the Nosferatu away just for that.


    ...


    Back in his room, Five immediately jumped on his bed and rearranged his thoughts. There was a lot of work to do, especially when it came to the barbarians. Something was clearly happening there, and he did not like being in the dark. ''Finding a way to contact them or to gather information should be the next step.''


    Before sleeping, Five quickly browsed through the forum and found an extremely long post describing all the changes caused by the update. With a quick look, he found out that the harpies did effectively get a minor update; their wisdom was lowered by 1. As for the skeletons, they had their vitality lowered by 1 while the zombies had their strength increased by 1.


    Aside from the balances changes, there were also quality of life changes to the dungeon shop. The most notable one was that monsters were now classified in terms of Race, Type, and Attribute. The harpies, for example, would be classified as Race: Harpy, Type: Bird and Attribute: Wind. Someone like Dreidus would be classified as Race: Lich, Type: Undead and Attribute: Darkness.

 Chapter 83: Change of plans

    The next day, the sun was still rising at the horizon, but the Black Iron Tribe''s village was already booming with life. The barbarians were eagerly preparing their equipment for today''s hunt.


    Leaning against one of the houses, Achi was quietly observing the preparations. Everything was going well but he was quite frustrated. Soon, a man slowly made his way toward Achi, "Chief, everything is ready. What should we do?"


    "Mmm, these guys are still lurking around there. Do as usual. Send just 10 men you know where and tell Baltra to lead the rest of you in the forest. It''s fine even if we are not getting much. Just make sure that everyone keeps their mouth shut," answered Achi.


    "No problem chief." The barbarian quickly went back to the hunters and soon, the whole group left the village.


    Achi looked at the few men left to guard the village and sighed. Compared to a few days ago, the village seemed empty. In normal circumstances, even as most of the men left the village, the village would still be quite lively as many barbarians would try their hands at blacksmithing. As a result, now that the village was awfully quiet, Achi felt out of place.


    "If only they were not so curious..." Achi was internally complaining when he felt a light tap on his shoulder.


    "Hey Brother Achi! Thank you for your hospitality but it is time for us to return to our tribe. We came here to bid farewell!" A tall and muscular barbarian spoke as he continued to pat Achi in a friendly manner.


    Behind him, a couple of other barbarians were quietly smiling, waiting for the chief''s decision.


    "You are leaving already Brother Vans?" said Achi with a surprised expression. He quickly looked at the other barbarians and continued, "It looks like you are all already prepared. I won''t delay you much longer, I know that the journey is long."


    "Indeed, I know that you are busy too, it was already a lot to ask to stay for these two days. I hope we did not disturb you too much. In the future, our tribes should continue to work together!" answered Vans. Through his thick beard, a smile that looked more like a grimace appeared.


    "Don''t mention it, you are always welcomed to the Black Iron Tribe!"


    "Thank you, brother. We shall take our leave then!"


    "Alright, have a safe journey brother Vans, my greetings to lady Milee."


    Vans nodded as he quickly returned to the group of barbarians and jumped onto his horse. He waved at Achi before hurriedly leaving with his group.


    Achi watched the group slowly leave the village as his warm expression disappeared, "Those curious spies are finally gone!" murmured Achi. He waited a few minutes to make sure they were completely gone before quickly making his way toward the Shaman''s tent to inform him.


    Outside the village, the small group of barbarians quietly made their way to the north toward their own tribes. As soon as they left the village, Vans no longer wore that warm expression; instead, he was now deeply frowning as he thought about what he had seen.


    "What do you think, Vans? Are they the reason why those townsmen did not come to our tribe?" asked one of the barbarians. His name was Luka, the leader of the Black Vulture Tribe. As the leader of one of the tribes that were contacted by Blue Lagoon, he was naturally anxious as he saw that the players actually missed their meeting. Dealing with them was a once in a lifetime opportunity that they could not let go that easily.


    They waited for the whole day but as they still saw no one coming, Luka ordered his men to investigate the whereabouts of the players and it turned out that their trace disappeared near the Black Iron Tribe.


    It was definitely suspicious but as the Black Iron Tribe was as strong as the Black Vulture Tribe, he could not really cause a ruckus there. And so, Luka decided to call his backer which was the Vicious Rhino Tribe. The latter responded by sending Vans, the vice-chieftain, to investigate the matter. They decided to stay for a few days at the Black Iron Tribe to find out any abnormal behavior but unfortunately, they found nothing. They had already stayed for 2 days and could not come up with any more excuses to prolonged their stay; after all, their tribes had never been friendly with each other to begin with. When they stayed there, they could feel the tension growing but still, no suspicious activities were reported.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "It is strange, but it does not seem that the Black Iron Tribe has anything to do with those townsmen. They have probably also been contacted by them but did not conduct any trade yet. They are still fully focused on hunting and are preparing for winter. But their behavior is quite strange as if they are hiding something from us. Well, I guess that''s normal, we are not really friends and they might just be trying to hide their secrets."


    Luka nodded with a pensive expression, "Then I guess we can only wait for those townsmen to come back. If they don''t come in the next few days, let''s send a few men to the nearby town. Since they have already sent a few men here, it should be alright if we send a few people to investigate. What do you think?"


    "Sure... It is a good idea, just remember to contact us when those townsmen will arrive. We would also like to make a deal with them!" answered Vans.


    "Of course!"


    ...


    "Excuse me, Elder. May I come in?" Achi stood in front of the Shaman''s tent as he respectfully asked for the permission to come in.


    A few seconds went by and just as Achi was thinking that the Shaman might not be at home, a weak voice came from the tent, "Come in."


    ''The Shaman is still as straightforward as always'' thought Achi as he slowly entered the tent. The inside was quite dim, but he quickly noticed the old man sitting on his bed with a tired expression.


    "Did I wake you up? I can come back later to discuss if it is inappropriate."


    "That is fine, don''t worry. From your tone, I guess that we have some good news. What happened?" asked the Shaman. He slowly rubbed his tired eyes with his aged fingers to get rid of his sleepiness.


    "Yes. Those curious bastards are finally gone. They just left the village a few minutes ago, I personally checked their tents; they are completely empty," answered Achi. At the same time, he quietly rummaged through the Shaman''s pile of items to find some food.


    "Really? That''s good news but before we do anything else, make sure it is not just one of their stupid tricks to try to stay here for a bit longer."


    "Sure, but shouldn''t we restart sending some men to the dungeon? Those townsmen should be back soon, and we don''t really have much to trade... It will be quite hard to get them to trade all their items with us..."


    "Mmm... I understand that, but I guess we will just have to change our plans. We''ll just let the townsmen trade with the other tribes. They are already suspicious of us and it is better to keep the dungeon a secret or else, the other tribes might very well fight for it. It will be far disastrous than just blocking those merchants."


    "I suppose you are right. Still, I think that we should send more men to the dungeon. Sending just ten per day is not making much difference. They only collect some ores, but we can''t even use the ores since we tried to hide our blacksmiths. If the Rhino and Vulture Tribe really don''t come back, I will send more men tomorrow and allowed the blacksmith to exercise," said Achi.


    "Mmm youngsters these days are really too impatient, but I guess it is fine. You know what is right for the village but remember that the safety of the tribesmen come first!"


    "Don''t worry, I know what I am doing." After searching for a while, Achi finally pulled out a small gourd containing milk. He quickly poured some for the Shaman who seemed to be slowly falling asleep again.


    "Elder, please drink some, the day has already started!" said Achi.


    "Eh? Right... I still need to sleep... I spent last night preparing the things for Mira. Since we are on the subject, remember to let her sleep in the evening so that she can be ready for the night."


    Hearing his daughter''s name, Achi became slightly worried, "She will be safe, right? Just don''t push her too much, she is still young and is my only child!"


    "I know! But she has great potential, it would be a pity to let her talent rot. It is the first time I''ve seen the elements react so vividly during a Shamanic Test, she will definitely surpass me in no time! But don''t worry, I will just push her a little bit... She is still my granddaughter, I will not let her get harmed in any way," answered the Shaman.


    Achi was not very satisfied with the arrangements, but he knew that it was for the greater good. A few days ago, all the children of the tribe went through a small test to determine who would be the most suitable to inherit the Shaman''s skills. As it turned out, Mira was the one selected.


    Obtaining the status of a Shaman was a great honor that would bring you respect and admiration even when visiting other tribes. However, Achi knew very well how hard it was to actually become one; being talented did not necessarily mean one would successfully become a Shaman. As a parent, he did not want his daughter to suffer the hardships of the training. However, he was a father but also the chief of the tribe, he needed to ensure that the tribe would be under the protection of a suitable Shaman and his daughter was also the best candidate.


    "Put that milk away, I will go back to sleep. I need to recover properly for tonight. One last thing though, you see that small vial on the table?" asked the Shaman while pointing at the small table made of clay.


    Achi quickly turned to look and effectively saw a tiny purple vial. He quickly grabbed it and presented it to the Shaman.


    "This is what I''ve made from the goo. Since we don''t plan on delaying the merchants, we might as well use it for ourselves. Choose a few strong warriors and prepare a hot bath for each one of them. Let the water boil and pour two drops of that liquid. Then just tell them to stay in the bath for at least 5 minutes. The longer the better but if they cannot withstand the pain, it is better for them to stop," said the Shaman.


    "A bath? Just what is that purple thing?" asked Achi with a curious expression.


    "It''s a toxic bath combined with a powerful healing agent. It will destroy the user''s skin and muscles but at the same time, it would heal all the user''s injuries. It is an endless cycle, but the end result should be an overall strengthening of the user. You should use it too. In that vial, there''s enough for 6 people. You will need to bring back more goo for me to make more..."


    "What? That tiny thing is actually that useful?"


    "Yes... Just go and try it, the effect should be instantaneous... Now, if there''s nothing else, let me continue my sleep."


    "Oh okay, sorry for disturbing you then, have a good rest," politely said Achi. He understood that he was being kicked out but he did not mind. Instead, his attention was focused on the tiny vial; he could not wait to give it a try.

 Chapter 84: A new floor

    The sun was already high in the sky when Five finally woke up. With Dreidus guarding the fort, he could allow himself a few additional hours of sleep, especially after the long discussion last night. He quickly prepared himself and dressed up before leaving his room.


    In the common room, Dreidus, Lyra and Ariel were already up, taking their breakfast. "Good morning master!", "Good morning."


    The monsters greeted Five as he went through the door. The latter quietly responded before buying something to eat from the dungeon shop.


    "How was last night? Did Ivan do anything?" asked Five while taking a bite of his croissant.


    Ariel covered her mouth to muffle her laugh, "nothing much, they quarrelled a little bit but it''s harmless. Alice should still be exhausted and is probably sleeping. I know that Angela is already. She is busy reading the books you gave her. Should I call her?"


    "Oh? She is already reading them? That''s good, don''t disturb her but help her if she needs it. Dreidus! If you are free after this, shall we build the new floor?"


    Dreidus'' eyes lit up, "No problem, master. Are there any changes to the proposal or should we go with that?"


    "Looks fine to me, Lyra should also come. Since it will be her floor, she can give her opinion."


    "Really? Thank you, master." The Banshee Queen quietly expressed her gratitude and lovingly looked toward Dreidus.


    "Master? Will it be alright if I come with you too? There is nothing much to do anyway..." asked Ariel. Usually, the harpies would just laze around and chat among themselves. They did not have a floor to defend yet and would often pester Five. Sometimes, they would go to the floor of the Death Knights to cast some spells before returning the living quarters. Now that something new was happening, Ariel did not want to miss it.


    "Sure, you can come and give your opinion too!" answered Five. He did not hide anything from the harpies and was already used to having them follow him around. There was no harm in having the beautiful harpy witness the creation of the new floor.


    ...


    Soon, on the stairs leading to the grassy plain, Five activated the dungeon core and purchased a new floor for 12000DP. Officially, the new floor was the 7th floor and as a result, they did not witness any change but after paying 2000DP to swap the floors, the grassy plains in front of the monsters suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a small cubic room.


    Lyra excitedly looked at the simple empty room. Although it was empty for now, she was still witnessing the construction of her home which was an emotional moment for her.


    Five spent about 22000DP to create a large open space. Since they were planning on turning this floor into a forest, the room was made to be 12m high, resulting in the higher cost. When the materials were removed, Five purposedly made the ground irregular to give it an authentic look as the ground of forests would rarely ever be leveled.


    With the most expensive part of the process done, Five quickly browsed through the decorations and placed quite a few forest trees and bushes. He chose the trees to only be 10m high and chose their appearance to match that of Treants. Fortunately, those trees could not yield any fruits and did not have any benefits associated with them, resulting in a relatively low cost. After spending 20000DP, the floor could already be considered as a forest with a small path leading to the end of the floor.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Is it alright like that? There are some empty spots, but we will fill them with Treants. What do you think?"


    Lyra''s eyes sparkled, "It is already nice as it is. Thank you, master."


    Dreidus quietly nodded and sent a grateful look at his master. He knew that the floor was quite expensive and felt that Five agreed to build such an expensive one for his sake; he felt touched.


    "In that case, let''s proceed." Five opened the dungeon shop and first looked for the Banshees. Just one banshee would cost 1000DP which was quite expensive. According to the size of the forest, 50 Banshees would be the ideal population but at the moment, he only had 83000DP left. If he summoned all of them, he would hardly have any DP left after completing the dungeon.


    Five did not like the idea of not having much reserve but in the end, he decided to use the items brought back by the harpies to gain some DP. Angela was just starting to learn to craft; judging from the level of the beasts, he doubted that these items would be appropriate for a beginner like her.


    He quickly emptied his inventory of any materials, and just like that, his DP increased by 70000. He was surprised by the high price of the items but it seemed that they really came from boss monsters. The only material now left in his inventory would be the harpies'' feathers. Just one would sell for 1000DP but he was reluctant to sell them and now, he had more than enough DP to complete the floor.


    With just one click, 50 transparent women suddenly appeared in the forest. Some of them were pretty while some of them could barely be recognized as women but they were all wearing the same white dress Lyra was wearing when she was summoned.


    The Banshee queen quickly stepped forward to greet the new banshees. She was touched that so many banshees were summoned. As for the banshees, they felt lost as they were not familiar with that environment, but they instinctively knew that Lyra was their leader and quickly converged to her.


    Five, Ariel and Dreidus quietly watched the scene as Lyra was presenting herself and reassuring the Banshees. The scene felt familiar to Five; it was similar to the time when Harriet was comforting the harpies when they were teleported to the plains of the Sylvester Empire.


    After a few seconds, Lyra finally broke free from the group and returned next to Dreidus while giving sending a grateful look to Five. As for the banshees, they quietly bowed to Five who they recognized as their master before spreading through the forest.


    "Good, let''s continue then." Five smiled as he opened his interface and looked for Treants and Ghouls.


    After spending another 40000DP, the forest now housed 50 level 20 Banshees, 35 level 19 Treants and 40 level 18 Ghouls. Fortunately, the treants and ghouls were below level 20 which represented a milestone. Monsters at level 20 and above were considerably more expensive than those lower; it was thanks to that that Five was able to purchase that many. Still, the forest could still accommodate more monsters but that would do for now.


    There was not much DP left but Five still spent some more to purchase some final decorations: will-o''-wisps. They added a final touch of mystery and boosted the ghost-type monsters'' intelligence and wisdom.


    At the thought of having so that many DP spent on just one floor, Five felt his heart ache but he knew it was for the best. He was building the foundation to a strong dungeon and it seemed that Dreidus and Lyra were more than satisfied with the floor.


    "This is what I had in mind, is there anything you would like to add?" asked Five.


    "Oh no, master. Thank you, it is already perfect like that!" said Lyra. She bowed deeply as she displayed a rare bright smile.


    "Then let''s go have a look!"


    Following Five, Dreidus, Lyra and Ariel walked through the forest and found that everything was in order. Each time they would encounter a banshee, Lyra would excitedly chat with her for a while.


    "Mmm, master. It is not that I am jealous but when will we have our own floor?" asked Ariel on the side. The purple-haired harpy was indeed wondering why the harpies did not have a floor yet. They were summoned before Lyra but they still could not actively contribute to the dungeon. It was not that she was not content with her current life, but she did not want to leech off Five forever.


    Looking at the harpy''s large eyes, Five answered: "Now is not the time. As you can see, those floors are meant to last for long. I won''t build up a floor that is not suitable for you and unfortunately, we don''t have enough DP to build an appropriate one for the harpies yet. At the very least, I should give you something at the level of the Avian Cavern... If not better."


    Five sighed, just building the 5th floor of the dungeon was already that expensive; just how much would the later floor of his dungeon cost? When he looked at the Avian Cavern of Kroff''s dungeon; although the design was simple, the cost should have at least totaled 1 million DP. Considering that it would cost 2000DP to dig 1m of material, the Avian Cavern which was more than 100m high would cost more than 200000DP just to remove the material for the room. Aside from the height, Kroff''s dungeon was also longer and wider which would further increase the cost. It was an astronomical cost that Five simply could not afford for now.


    "That''s fine, master. I know you will always do what is best for us!" happily said Ariel, completely dismissing the matter. She had already heard of the Avian Cavern from Harriet and knew that they indeed could not afford something like that. "How great would it be to have a big cave like that just for us? Well, for now, we can just play on the grassy plains," said Ariel to herself.


    Five was still quietly looking around and was satisfied with the results. "It does really feel like a forest; a little bit creepy but that matches with the theme and the banshees seem to like it." Five was murmuring to himself when he suddenly realized that he forgot a small detail.


    ''Arg, I did not put any herbs for adventurers to collect... Should I spend some more DP? mmm. Nevermind, let''s pretend that I did that on purpose and ask Angela later to know which herbs are the most appropriate...''

 Chapter 85: Kidnapping?

    In the middle of the night, Angela quietly sneaked into Ariel''s room. "Ariel, should we still go out even if Mother is not there anymore?"


    "Yes, it will be best to not change our behavior. Besides, I like going outside, it is nice to feel the real wind and to fly freely," answered Ariel with a smile. "Oh, but it''s true that you are busy with studying, it is fine if you stay there to learn, I can go out with Alice."


    "No no, I would like to come... I can use this opportunity to look at the herbs in their natural environment and bring back some for some tests."


    Ariel remembered what Five told her earlier and answered, "Sure, you should come with us then. We can also help you gather some! If we work together, you will have more herbs. In the future, we can also help you gather the material you need. Don''t hesitate to ask us."


    "Thank you. Shall we leave then? We usually go out at about that time..." said Angela. She was glad that her sister proposed her help.


    "Sure, do you know where is Alice?"


    "I think she is with Ivan... Playing in the common room," answered Angela.


    "Good, let''s go then!" happily said Ariel as she pulled her sister toward the common room.


    As the two harpies approached the common room, they heard loud shouts coming from the open door; "No.... You must be cheating! How is it possible to get 21 four times in a row..."


    "How am I cheating? Are you not looking at my hands when I''m shuffling the deck? You are just a sore loser. Hurry up and call me mistress! Remember that you owe me 100 DP."


    As Ariel and Angela entered the common room, the first thing they saw was Alice happily showing a pair of cards to Ivan. They immediately understood that they were playing Blackjack; a game that Five recently taught them to relieve them of their boredom. The harpies naturally understood the situation; Alice cheated.


    There was a reason the two harpies avoided playing cards with Alice; it was because she was skilled and easily learned sleight of hands. When Five introduced the harpies to cards; he tried to show them some magic tricks involving sleight of hands and misdirection but unfortunately, the harpies'' sharp eyes could effortlessly track the cards and they easily busted him out.


    However, Alice became very interested in those small tricks and asked Five to teach her. In just a few tries, the harpy easily replicated Five''s moves which sent the latter into despair. All the tricks he spent years mastering, to increase his own dexterity, were mastered by the young harpy in just a few minutes. How could he not feel dejected? In the end, he could only praise the harpy and teach her more.


    As a result, Alice acquired a few skills in the handling of cards and since then, no one else wanted to play with her as she would simply cheat. Now that an innocent clueless target appeared, how could she let this opportunity go?


    As for Ivan, he could not find the words to answer Alice. It was now obvious to him that the game was rigged but he had no proof. What a great way to start his stay at the dungeon.


    As a nocturnal creature, he had just woken up when Alice pulled him into the common room to play a game. He still remembered what his new mistress said while behaving sweetly, "Ivan, let me introduce you to one of the traditional games of the dungeon. It is said to come from Master''s world and requires not only skill but good strategy! It''s called Blackjack!"


    As he heard Alice excitedly explain the rules to him, Ivan was naturally intrigued and decided to give it a try. He was always open to new things and definitely would not say no to some distractions as he had no task assigned to him yet. But before they actually started playing, Alice added, "While it is very entertaining, we usually add a layer of thrill by betting! Master said that we would all receive 100 DP per day and to heighten the experience and fully embrace the game, we should also place some bets."


    At that time, Ivan was completely oblivious of the mischievous Alice''s plans and now, he was regretting his decision. "I cannot accept this! Let''s go see the master, he will decide. Besides, I am not even sure if I''ll be receiving 100 DP"


    "Huh? Going back on your bets? We can''t just disturb master for some trivial things like that. I am your mistress, do you not trust me? Master treats all of us equally so you should also be allocated some DP! Hmmp, such as disobedient servant..."


    As they heard Alice explain with a righteous expression, Angela and Ariel did not know whether to laugh or cry. They nevertheless stepped forward to save Ivan. "Alice, that''s enough. Come, let''s go outside, it''s time for our nightly expedition."


    "Oh?" asked Alice with a surprised expression, "Are we still going out? Mother is not here for the week."


    Angela nodded while Ariel explained, "Yes, it would be better to keep the same schedule to avoid raising suspicions. Also, it would be good to get some training and help Angela gather some herbs. While Master agreed to buy anything Angela needs, it would be best if we take care of the things we are able to."Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Although she would have preferred to stay at home and continue to tease Ivan, Alice understood the situation and immediately agreed, "Sure, let''s go then. My wings are itching."


    "Um, here are some pieces of cloth... We can use them as bags to gather the herbs..." with her quiet voice, Angela showed 3 pink pieces of cloth and explained their use.


    "Oh, good idea Angela!"


    "Then, let''s go, we should not lose time."


    Seeing the 3 harpies quietly discussed as if they were hiding some secrets, Ivan became curious about where they were going. He could only hear a few words, but he understood that they were planning to go out. As he saw the pink cloth, he could not help but exclaim, "Where are you all going? Where is my piece of cloth?" He expectedly looked at the pieces of cloth in Angela''s hands as his eyes flashed with a trace of envy.


    By doing so, the Nosferatu immediately received Alice''s glare, "None of your business. We are going to play. You should stay here and guard the floor!"


    "You are going outside the dungeon, right? I would also like to go out and see the neighbourhood! Can I come with you?" asked Ivan.


    Alice crossed her arms and maintained a firm expression. The nightly expeditions were something special for the harpies; she was not willing to have a stranger accompany them. "No! You are not allowed to go out. Only us, harpies can! You need to ask master for his permission first."


    Ivan was clearly reluctant to be left alone and persisted. "But didn''t you just say that master treats us all equally? I should also be allowed to go out, right?"


    "Yes, but you still need to ask him. Besides, I am your mistress and I order you to stay there to guard the dungeon since I won''t be there." Alice was speaking as she suddenly got an idea, "Stay there and protect the dungeon, in one week, I''ll let you come with us."


    "One week? Why do I need to wait for a whole week?" Ivan blinked his eyes as he tried to understand the reasons for Alice''s request. Was this another one of her tricks?


    "Don''t ask any questions. How can you treat your mistress like that? I said one week, if you are not satisfied, go complain to Master then!"


    "Arg... Fine, I will wait for one week and then I''ll see..." said Ivan. He was curious about the harpies'' motives, but he understood that he could not disturb Five for such as small matter. However, when he saw Alice''s mischievous smile, he could not help but feel like he had just fallen into one of her traps.


    ...


    As the three harpies flew out of the dungeon, Ariel asked, "I understand why you don''t want him to come with us but why ask him to wait for a week?"


    "Oh? Isn''t it obvious, Mother will be back in one week. Then, I can ask Mother to teach that guy a lesson! How can he be so disobedient, he is supposed to be my servant, but he never listens and spent the entire day sleeping! Hmmp, he needs to be disciplined!"


    Ariel and Angela let out a sigh as they heard her explanation. They chose to drop the matter as they had previously decided to not interfere between Alice and Ivan. They did not want to admit it but they knew that Alice could be overwhelming sometimes and deep inside, they were quite happy that the target of her bullying had now shifted to Ivan.


    As they gained some altitude, the 3 harpies flew in 3 different directions to maximize their efficiency in gathering herbs. Only Angela had some knowledge of herbs, but she simply told her sisters to grab whatever they could; she would just sort them out when they would get back.


    ...


    A few hours later, Angela was now starting to feel tired, but she was quite satisfied with tonight''s harvest. Her ''bag'' was already full and more importantly, she was able to easily recognize most of the plants she gathered. Angela was delighted to see that she did not spend the entire day memorizing the different herbs for nothing.


    ''I should start flying back, I am quite far from the dungeon already...'' said the harpy to herself.


    After searching for herbs for hours, the silver-haired harpy had slowly moved away from the dungeon. Fortunately, Angela was already level 27 and could easily deal with the beasts of the forest even if they were buffed during the night. Only if she was attacked by a boss or surrounded by a pack of beasts would she be in danger but then, she could simply fly away to safety as none of the monsters of the forest had the ability to fly.


    Angela quickly checked that her ''bag'' was safely attached at her side and started to fly toward the dungeon. She was already starting to think about what elixir she could brew when she suddenly felt that something was wrong.


    Intrigued, Angela chose to follow her instinct and lowered her altitude. Since she was already there, she decided to have a look at what was causing that strange feeling; it could possibly be something harmful to the dungeon and in that case, it would be best if she could get a glimpse at the possible threat.


    "Crackk"


    Angela quickly reached the top of the tree as she heard the cracking of a branch and footsteps of someone running. She quietly peeked through the foliage as she observed the scene. Immediately, Angela''s eyes went wide open.


    On the ground, Angela saw a cute human child running away for her life. Behind the little girl, a pack of ferocious Forest Tigers was closely chasing after her. Angela was confused, what was a young human girl doing alone in the forest at night? And even worse, what did she do to anger such a large pack of Forest Tigers?


    However, despite all the questions, Angela could not bear the sight of the young child being shredded apart by the Forest Tigers. She was usually a shy person but as she saw the innocent child in mortal danger, her motherly instinct kicked in; Angela did not hesitate and deployed her wings.


    ...


    A few meters away from Angela, the old shaman of the Black Iron Tribe was quietly observing his granddaughter''s performance. Tonight was Mira''s first task as a Shaman Apprentice; she needed to collect 10 different varieties of herbs. The Shaman was very satisfied with her performance; the night was almost over but Mira had already collected 9 different varieties of herbs.


    Just a few moments ago, she had actually stumbled upon the tenth herb she needed to complete her task but before she was able to collect it, the pack of Forest Tigers emerged from the forest. The beasts were angry at the little intruder and mercilessly chased the girl away.


    The old shaman watched the scene but was not anxious even as his granddaughter was facing more than 10 Forest Tigers. He watched as Mira chose to immediately run away and was chased by the beasts. He was quietly following them when suddenly, he noticed a slim shadow diving toward Mira.


    Seeing an unexpected scenario, the old man immediately panicked and wanted to warn Mira but it was too late. He was just too far from Mira to do anything and the shadow was simply too fast. He could only watch as a winged person grabbed Mira''s petite body in a princess carry before disappearing in the air.


    "Mira!!!"


    He quickly pushed away the bushes and rushed to the spot where Mira was standing before being grabbed by the shadow. Behind him, the Forest Tigers were maliciously starting to surround him, but the old shaman did not care about them.


    "I don''t have time to play with you! If it was not for you, my granddaughter would not have been caught up in this mess!" The shaman angrily shouted as he tossed 2 small vials toward the beasts. His eyes were cold as he scanned the sky, searching for the shadow.


    The vials exploded on the ground, a think green gas was released in the middle of the pack and immediately, the Forest Tigers started to pitifully weep and cough. Their eyes were full of tears as they were retreating, not daring to approach the shaman.


    The latter was completely ignoring the ferocious beasts and instead was looking at the sky. In the distance, he finally caught sight of the black shadow. His eyes were immediately filled with fury.


    "Vile creature! How dare you kidnap my granddaughter under my eyes!"


    The shaman was shouting but he was not expecting the kidnapper to hear him. Now knowing which direction to take, the shaman activated 3 spells on himself in quick succession.


    [Haste]


    [Vector Acceleration]


    [Physical Boost]


    The next second, the old man broke into a sprint in the same direction the shadow was flying to. Despite his old age, the old man''s speed was more than enough to leave any Forest Tiger in the dust.


    The pack of Forest Tigers stared in fear at the empty spot. Their instinct was clearly warning them, that human was not someone to be trifled with.

 Chapter 86: A harpy and a child

    "D*mnit! How could something like this happen?"


    The old Shaman was loudly cursing as he hurriedly made his way through the forest. He was fast and strong such that none of the beasts dared to attack him. However, compared to Angela, he could not fly and had to constantly avoid the obstacles around him and manoeuvre his way through the dense forest.


    "Strange... What is a monster like that doing here? There should only be beasts in the forest..." While running, the Shaman was assessing the situation. It was the first time he was seeing such a monster and was trying to recall if anything was mentioned in the records of the tribe about a winged woman with silver hair.


    Unfortunately, as much as he was racking his brain, he was still unable to identify the monster. The one thing the Shaman deduced was that the monster most probably came from the dungeon. A dungeon could replicate any natural environment and house a variety of monsters. Now that an unknown monster, which was clearly not adapted to the forest, has appeared, it was most likely to come from that place.


    The Shaman looked up to the sky to locate the kidnapper. Despite being forced to take several bad turns, the Shaman was easily keeping up with the shadow''s pace. However, this would not last for long; his buffs would soon expire and he would turn back into an ordinary old man and would be unable to give chase.


    At last, the duration of [Haste] came to an end, significantly reducing the old man''s speed.


    "D*mnit!" In the distance, the black figure was slowly becoming smaller and smaller meaning that it was getting further away from the shaman but there was nothing he could do. The Shaman''s heart sank; this happened only because he had been overconfident and did not properly protect his granddaughter.


    Looking at the disappearing figure, the old man clenched his fist as he changed direction and ran toward the village. It was just as he expected; the flying figure was effectively flying toward the waterfall where the dungeon was located. While there was no definite proof, it was the only thing he could think of and as it was his own granddaughter that was kidnapped, he would leave no stones unturned.


    Regardless of the dangers hiding at that place, it was time to thoroughly explore the dungeon!


    ...


    "Aaaaagh!" Mira screamed in fear as she suddenly felt a pair of arms lift her up the ground. The strange feeling of weightlessness took her off guard as she instinctively closed her eyes and tried to grab something for support.


    Angela looked at the trembling little girl in her arms. She still did not understand why she saved the young human but her heart was at ease. She was initially surprised when the young human screamed and hugged her waist but seeing how scared she was, Angela did not stop her as it would not hinder her flight; instead, she tried to reassure her.


    "Are you alright? Don''t be scared... The big bad tigers are gone... You are safe now." Trying to sound as gentle as possible, Angela quietly murmured at the young girl.


    Unfortunately, a language barrier existed between the two. Mira was trembling in fear as she heard her kidnapper speak. At first, she did not understand anything and thought that Angela was threatening her but after calming down, she noticed that she was already hugging her kidnapper and that the latter was murmuring at her ears with a sweet gentle tone. The words made no sense, but the tone was just like a mother trying to console her child.


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    Mira waited for a moment as her heart was calming down. She could feel the wind blowing over her face and the warmth of her kidnapper''s body. Guessing that her kidnapper meant her no harm, Mira tentatively opened her eyes and was greeted by a beautiful face and a warm smile.


    "You... Who are you? Why did you do that?" said Mira while trembling.


    Angela continued to smile; it seemed that the child was fine, "I am Angela... Everything is fine now... I suppose you come from the Barbarian''s village... I will bring you there..."


    "I am sorry but I don''t understand what you are saying... Can you put me back on the ground?" asked Mira.


    Confused, the harpy blinked her beautiful eyes; it seemed that the child was not understanding her but she could understand the child. The monsters usually communicated in the Demon Language while humans used the Human Language. However, after years of war, the demons slowly began to get an understanding of the Human Language; they could understand the language but unfortunately could not speak it.


    After all, humans once represented the largest population of species on Zero before war occurred; understanding their language was of utmost importance for trading. While humans were proud of themselves, this slowly turned into one of their major weaknesses; all the different races could communicate among each other without being understood by others except for humans who were understood by all. While this was seemingly benign, it later proved fatal as it was much easier for the other races to infiltrate them.


    "I can''t let you down now... There are a lot of dangerous beasts... Let me carry you a bit further..." Angela did not know how to communicate with the child and could only continue to speak. She clearly could not abide by the child''s request; how could she leave an eight-year-old child alone in the middle of the forest?


    ...


    As time went by, Mira kept trying to communicate with Angela. As she saw that Angela was not willing to let her down, she gradually stopped asking for it and instead enjoyed the scenery. It was the first time she was flying and although it was scary at first, it was a unique experience to view the forest from above. As they spoke, they eventually learned each other''s name but that was all Mira was able to understand.


    "You know... I think that you are able to understand me. Thank you for saving me but you did not really need to. My teacher gave me this powder to use in case I was surrounded by beasts. He just told me to only use it when absolutely necessary since it is precious." As she spoke, Mira reached for a small pouch at her side and showed it to Angela.


    The latter finally understood why this young child was wandering in the forest at night by herself. It seemed that she was already prepared. However, she could not just put her back down and chose to continue to fly toward the village. She was already tired but since it was not very far, Angela pushed herself a little more.


    Seeing her saddened expression, Mira continued, "You know, I am grateful that you are here. It was pretty scary to walk like that in the forest but soon, I will become a great Shaman. Tonight was my first task but it is too late now, I have failed it. If only I grabbed that Moon Grass before running, everything would have been fine... At least, this created the opportunity to meet you! I did not know that people could fly. Would you mind if I touch your wings?"


    The innocent little girl was just trying to cheer themselves up and did not notice that the harpy felt troubled. For once, Angela was glad that she could not properly communicate with Mira, or else, how was she supposed to explain that it was rude to touch her wings? That was the job of her parents!


    ...


    A few minutes later, Angela finally could not hold for much longer. She slowly landed at the edge of the forest, not very far from the village. Understanding the situation, Mira quickly jumped on the ground with some reluctance and turned to face the harpy.


    "Thank you very much! I really like it but now, I have to return to the village quickly. The Shaman is probably worried, I need to reassure him and submit my herbs..."


    Angela was not oblivious to the young girl''s disappointment and so, she quickly looked through her ''bag''.


    "This is for you," said Angela while showing a small herb to Mira.


    The latter widely opened her eyes. She could not understand what the harpy just said but she immediately recognized the herb. "Moon Grass? How do you have some on you?" Mira was surprised and confused but she instinctively opened her hand to receive the herb.


    Before she could stop, Angela quickly shoved it into her tiny hands, not giving her the chance to refuse. She gently smiled as she explained: "Take it. With that, you can complete your task and you won''t be punished."


    "This..." Mira did not know how to react. She felt touched that her newly made friend cared about her and gave her a Moon Grass. While it was not very rare, the darkness of the night was not an ideal environment to find it. Mira was naturally tempted but she knew that it was wrong to accept gifts like that and so, she quickly reached for her pouch.


    "There, take these with you. We can count it as a trade." Mira opened the pouch and took out 2 small herbs. Her task consisted only of bringing back 10 kinds of herbs but as she was collecting them, the herbs would often grow in a group resulting in Mira collecting some duplicates. She had no use for them but at least, she could trade with the harpy.


    Understand the situation, Angela gratefully took the herb and placed it in her bag. She initially wanted to refuse but when she saw the expectant look of the young girl, she did not have the heart to.


    It was time to say goodbye but it was clear that Mira would not understand her. Angela gently patted the young girl on her hand while murmuring some words of encouragement. Without waiting for an answer, Angela quickly flapped her wings and left the area.


    Left behind, Mira watched at the departing figure of the harpy. Her eyes sparkled as she remembered the incredible experience she just had; to her, flying had been an unattainable dream until now. "I hope we meet again Angela!" Mira loudly shouted. She quietly watched as Angela disappeared in the sky before quickly making her way back home.

 Chapter 87: Attack the dungeon?

    "Alert! Alert!! Everyone, wake up!! Prepare your weapons!"


    The old Shaman barged into the silent village and loudly shouted to gather everyone. He did not care about his disheveled appearance and quickly brushed away the few barbarians guarding the village.


    "Elder, are you alright? What is happening?" asked one of the barbarians.


    "Get out of my way idiot! This is an emergency! Wake up everyone! There is no time to lose!" The shaman snorted and made his way toward Achi''s tent. Along the way, he did not hesitate to knock on the bells in front of some tents to wake everyone up. Around him, grunts and complaints were heard and already, several heads were peeking out of the tents to evaluate the situation.


    When half of the village was already awake, the shaman finally arrived in front of the chief''s tent but before he could enter, a confused and half asleep Achi stormed out of the tent. Achi had clearly just woken up, his eyes were still half closed and he did not even bother to put in some clothes as his hairy torso greeted the feeble Shaman.


    "Danger? What is happening?" exclaimed Achi. He looked around him and only saw several barbarians giving him confused looks but soon, a thin staff smacked his head.


    "Idiot! How can you be sleeping so soundly when Mira has been kidnapped! Hurry up and gather your man! We are attacking the dungeon!"


    Achi''s sleepiness immediately vanished as he heard his daughter''s name. "What? What happened to Mira? And what does it have to do with the dungeon?"


    "She was kidnapped by a flying monster and it is very likely that it came from the dungeon! There is no time to waste, what if she brought her back to feed the other monsters? Prepare yourself and come to my tent, I''ll go grab some items!"


    "What?" Achi furrowed his brows, "Old man! You promised that Mira would be safe under your protection! If anything happens to her..."


    "I know! There is no need to mention that again! Go prepare yourself quickly or would you rather waste time arguing there?" The old Shaman was also on the nerves. It was true that he was at fault but how could he have predicted that a flying monster would suddenly appear.


    Without waiting for an answer, the Shaman quickly turned around and walked toward his own tent. He was ready to explore the dungeon to save Mira but before that, he needed to collect some important items that might be useful in the dungeon.


    He quickly pushed opened the tent flaps and went straight toward the pile of items. The inside of the tent was still dark and messy but as the shaman was focusing on rummaging through the items, he suddenly heard a childish voice: "Teacher, you are finally here."


    The Shaman froze and quickly turned to look at the source of the voice. It was only now that he noticed that a young child was sitting in the corner of the tent while wrapping herself in a blanket. She was looking at the Shaman with a confused a worried expression. She has heard some shouts coming from outside and was wondering if something important has happened and the next second, she saw the Shaman rush into the tent. Clearly, something was going on as the Shaman did not even bother to look around him.


    In disbelief, the Shaman jumped toward the young child and put his arm around her tiny body. "Mira? Is that you? How??" He did not care about his own image and quickly examined Mira to make sure that it was not an illusion.


    "Teacher... You are hurting me," complained the girl.


    The Shaman was still not believing what he was seeing, hasn''t his granddaughter been kidnapped just a few moments ago? How could she already be back? Unless... It was a fake!


    Realizing that he might be getting tricked, the shaman asked with a serious voice, "Mira, do you remember your father''s and mother''s name?"


    "Huh? Yeah, it''s Achi and Ly," answered Mira. She fearfully looked at the Shaman''s face; just now, the Shaman''s strange behavior and scary expression took her by surprise, he did not look much different from a madman.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    The Shaman did not seem to notice the child''s fear and squinted his eyes, "mmm... Then do you remember when you were born?"


    "On the 12th day of the month of the Mammoth? Teacher... Why are you asking these strange questions?"


    ''What? Could it be that I was wrong?'' thought the Shaman. "Cough cough. I was just checking, you know... I am already old, it is normal to suffer from memory loss sometimes... Anyway, tell me, how did your task go?" asked the Shaman with a dry voice. As much as he wanted to ask what happened to the flying monster, he did not want to directly reveal that he was previously protecting him from the shadows and miserably failed.


    "Oh yeah, it went really well. Look!" answered Mira as she gave the small pouch of herbs to her teacher.


    "Huh?" The Shaman quickly browsed through the content but could not help but let out a small shout of surprise when he noticed the small Moon Grass lying in the middle of the pile. Just where did that last herb come from?


    With a dry smile, he said, "Excellent. Very few people are able to collect all 10 herbs on their first try, you know? Especially the Moon Grass! Did anything happen during your task?"


    "Oh yeah. I would have failed the task if I did not meet Angela. It is all thanks to her."


    The Shaman immediately widened his eyes, the conversation was going exactly where he wanted it to go but before he could ask any further question, he heard loud steps coming from outside.


    "Hmmp, give me a minute," said the Shaman before quickly getting up and checking outside.


    ...


    Outside of the tent, the village was already very lively. Practically everyone was awake and all the men were gathered at the center of the village. In front of the tent, 7 barbarians were anxiously waiting. Among them, Achi, who was now wearing his usual armor, was making his way to the Shaman''s tent while holding a giant war ax on his shoulder.


    But before he could ask to enter, the small head of the Shaman popped out of the tent flaps. "Oh, it''s you. Come in and tell your men to go back to sleep. The attack is canceled. Mira is safe."


    Achi widened his eyes, "Mira is safe? Then... What happened? Why did you make such a commotion?"


    "Enough with those questions. I am still asking Mira, quickly ask your men to go back to sleep and come inside."


    The Shaman''s head disappeared back into the tent flap, leaving Achi with a headache. How was he supposed to explain to the others that it was all for nothing? At least, Mira was safe.


    After calming everyone and saying that it was all just a drill, Achi left the grumpy barbarians to return to their tents while he entered the shaman''s tent.


    "You are finally here, come and sit!" said the Shaman.


    "Mira, are you ok? Is the Shaman treating you well? Tell Daddy everything, ok?" asked Achi with concerned. His heart was at peace as he saw his daughter safely sitting in the corner.


    "Yes yes. I was just telling the story of how I met Angela. I found a Moon Grass near the territory of the Forest Tigers earlier but before I could collect it, they decided to attack me. I was going to use the powder the Shaman gave me but just when I was about to, Angela appeared and saved me. She can fly and she carried me all the way to the edge of the forest, not very far from the village. Also, she gave me a Moon Grass to complete my task..."


    "Angela? Who is Angela? Is she your friend?" asked Achi.


    "Yes. She is very nice and has black wings on her back. It is just sad that I do not understand when she speaks. She can understand me though..."


    "Angela is that winged woman I told you about... If she can understand Mira, she must be an intelligent species," commented the Shaman.


    "Mmm, did she show you where she came from?" asked Achi to his daughter.


    "Maybe she did but I did not understand... Teacher says she comes from the dungeon. I don''t know about that but when she left me, she flew in the direction of the dungeon."


    "Alright... That was very good Mira. Tomorrow, I will teach you some new things, including the language that Angela speaks. Although I don''t speak it too well, there are some records of it in the ancestral notes. We can decipher them together; this way, you can surprise her the next time you see your friend. For now, it is very late. Go back home to sleep," said the Shaman.


    "Really? I will be able to understand Angela? That will be great!" happily exclaimed Mira.


    "Good. You must be tired after your task. Go home and sleep with Mother. I still have a few things to discuss with the Shaman." Achi quickly prompted his daughter to go back home. She quickly agreed but she clearly wasn''t going there to sleep but more to narrate her small adventure to her mother. With how excited she was, there was no way she would sleep any time soon.


    After Mira left, Achi turned his attention toward the Shaman, "I am sorry. I know that you did your best, but Mira is my sole daughter. Please be more careful in the future..."


    "I know. I will be on guard against flying monsters from now on... What do you think? Did that monster come from the dungeon?" asked the Shaman.


    "It is possible but from what Mira said, she is not hostile to us. If we meet her again, we should not attack her if she does not do so first. We are used to fight against beasts and are very vulnerable to attacks from the sky. If there are more of this monster, it will be catastrophic for the tribe."


    "I know... In any case, the dungeon is not to be underestimated. Be more careful when going in there! As for the monster, we need to confirm if it is an ally or an enemy... Try to push for the 4th floor tomorrow but if you find a winged woman, do not attack her and come back to inform me!"


    ...


    At the waterfall, Angela slowly flapped her wings and landed at the entrance of the dungeon. 2 slim figures quickly stepped out of the dungeon.


    With a worried expression, Ariel quickly pulled Angela; "You are finally here! What took so long? I almost thought something happened to you."


    "I am fine... I took a bit longer to carry a child to the barbarian''s village..."


    "A child? What happened?" asked Alice.


    As Angela explained the situation, her two sisters did not know how to react. Weren''t humans their enemy? Why would she save one?


    "Sigh... Only someone like you will save a human. That''s fine, was she cute at least?" playfully asked Alice to dismiss the matter.


    "Yeah... It was just sad that she could not understand me, but I could understand her when she spoke."


    Ariel nodded, "That''s because they don''t know the Demon Language. But you know, you can easily solve that if you buy the Language Orb from the dungeon shop. It costs only 1000 DP and allows you to speak and understand any language."


    As she heard her sister''s suggestion, Angela''s eyes brightened, "Is there such an item? But... It is so expensive..."


    "There are so many items; how can you know them all? You really want to speak with that human, huh?" said Ariel.


    "I just think that it would be nice to be able to speak with anyone..."


    "Haha! Then buy the Language Orb. Didn''t Master say that you can buy anything you need for your crafting? Just say that you need to understand the weird languages to understand the books!"


    "But... That''s not true... And I don''t want to lie to Master like that..."


    "Huh... Then, just ask him tomorrow morning. I am sure he won''t say no to you!"

 Chapter 88: Return of Blue Lagoon

    In the morning, all the important monsters were sitting at the dining table and were taking their breakfast. Strangely, even Ivan who usually slept during the day was also there.


    Amidst the clatter of cutlery and plates, Five heard a shy voice coming from the side: "Master... May I ask for something?"


    "What is it? Did you encounter any difficulties in your study?" asked Five. Without even looking, he immediately knew that it was Angela.


    "It is not about that... I went out yesterday to collect some herbs and should start experimenting on some of them... But, I would like to ask if Master can lend me 1000 DP?"


    "1000 DP? What do you need it for? I told you to buy anything you need, why do you need to ask me?" curiously asked Five. It was rather unusual to ask for such an amount but maybe she had her reasons? Lending 1000 DP was not an issue, especially since this morning, the barbarians suddenly decided to explore the dungeon in a massive group.


    "It has nothing to do with crafting... I would like to buy a Language Orb..."


    Five furrowed his brows, that item should be useless to the monsters, what could they be plotting? "Huh? What do you need that for?"


    Sensing her sister''s unease, Ariel decided to intervene: "It''s like that: Yesterday night, we went to collect herbs but Angela met a young human child called Mira. The problem was that Angela could understand Mira but Mira could not understand her. Angela just wants the Language Orb to be able to understand humans; maybe they will meet again in the future."


    "Mira... That name sounds familiar... Isn''t she just an eight-year-old child? What was she doing in the middle of the forest alone?"


    "Collecting herbs! Apparently, she is learning to become the next Shaman of the tribe. If I am not wrong, she will most probably appear in the forest again in the near future," answered Ariel.


    "The Shaman?" Five''s expression brightened. In the past few days, he had been racking his brain to find a way to approach the barbarians but could not find any reasonable one. That was especially true since his body was apparently now emitting a dangerous aura. According to the harpies, now that he became a dungeon master, he naturally became the enemy of all other races and they all would instinctively view him as an enemy.


    As such, he did not want to directly meet the barbarians as it could be dangerous. But what if he went to meet just the Shaman and his apprentice? This sounded like a better approach that could be explored.


    After thinking for a moment, Five answered, "There are no problems, buy the Language Orb and use it. But I would like you to tell me when you see Mira again. Don''t worry, I don''t want to harm her, I just want to have a short conversation with the Shaman... Don''t you think it would be nice for you to learn to craft under a teacher like Mira?"


    "Thank you Master... But what do you mean by that last part? Do you want to ask the Shaman to teach me?"


    "That would be the best outcome! Don''t worry. Just tell me whenever you see Mira," said Five. He was not exactly lying as he indeed thought of making Angela learn under the Shaman. No matter how good she was at self-learning, Angela still needed some guidance and the nearest knowledgeable person was naturally the Shaman.


    Angela hesitated but quickly nodded, "Alright..."


    Having received the permission, the harpies happily went back to emptying their plates but under the table, Alice swiftly kicked Ivan who had been silent during the whole meal.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "Uh? Yeah! Master, I also have something to ask!" hurriedly said Ivan.


    "What is it? Is Alice treating you well?"


    Ivan did not need to look at her mistress to know that he was receiving a glare. "Yes yes, she is a nice mistress. I would just like to ask if I will also receive 100 DP like the harpies?" asked Ivan with a pleading look.


    "Sure, Alice should have explained it to you. 100 DP to buy anything you want. You can just come to me when you need to use the dungeon shop." While Five was observing the Nosferatu, he could feel there was more to this story; there was no way Alice would have mentioned the 100 DP as a gesture of kindness. However, Five decided to not probe into the matter, Ivan needed to impose himself or else, he would simply forever stay under the harpy.


    "Dreidus, you need to be careful today. A lot more barbarians have entered the dungeon than usual. Stay with Lyra! I can guess that they will probably reach the 4th floor."


    The lich looked at his master and nodded. He understood the hidden message between these lines. Lyra was in a good mood recently since the Banshees now had a floor to defend. However, it also meant that they had responsibilities and it was very likely that many Banshees would perish when defending the dungeon. What Five was hinting at was to look after Lyra since there was a high chance that she would have to witness her kin being slaughtered today. It was their duty but who could accept such a thing? It was better to have Dreidus look after her for now.


    "Don''t worry Master. I know what to do."


    ...


    At the Black Iron Tribe, Achi was anxiously playing with his dagger. He was sitting outside his own tent, using the dagger to peel off the bark of a branch. While his hands were actively working on the branch, his thoughts were directed at his daughter, ''Was it a good idea to allow Mira to learn Shamanism?


    After last night''s events, he started to doubt his decision. Only now that he could see Mira quietly sleeping in the middle of the pile of fur, was his heart at ease. The village was very peaceful as most barbarians were sent to the dungeon; even those who would usually practice forging went there today to bring back as many ores as possible.


    Achi was deep in thoughts when suddenly he saw one of the barbarians stationed at the entrance of the village rush toward him. "Chief, the townsmen are back! There are many more than last time!"


    "The townsmen? Looks like the Shaman was right... They did come back earlier than we agreed on... Come with me!" said Achi as he tossed the branch to the side and raised his giant war ax.


    The townsmen were essential to the development of the village and so, even if Achi disliked their condescending attitude, he was still polite and decided to not make them wait.


    As soon as he reached the entrance, he found familiar faces warmly greeting him. "Hello Brother Iron Shark! How come you are back here so soon? Did you miss our village?" exclaimed Achi with a teasing tone.


    "Haha, Brother Achi! We just happened to have set up a camp not too far from here! We can come back here sooner now!" answered Iron Shark as he dismounted his horse.


    Several other players also did the same to show their respect to the barbarians. "Brother, we brought a lot of items this time! I hope that you do have enough storage space for all of it!" said Iron Shark with a hearty laugh.


    Achi smiled, "Of course! Men, tend to their horses," As he instructed the other barbarians, Achi lead the group of players to the center of the village where trades took place.


    The players were relaxed and carefree. Although their inventories were currently full, they were not anxious at the idea of being killed; for most of them, it was already the third time coming to this village, they were well aware of the procedures. However, among the players, Iron Shark was the only one frowning.


    Other players might not notice small details but as he was one of the leaders of his guild, Iron Shark was always vigilant. The one blatant change he noticed was that the chief of the barbarians leveled up! More importantly, it was not just one level but two. When he first came, Iron Shark remembered that Achi used to be level 35 and even a few days ago when he last came, Achi was still level 35. Yet, in front of him, Iron Shark could clearly see level 37 being displayed. Leveling up was a normal occurrence but skipping one level meant that something special must have happened.


    "Brother Achi, it seems that the village is developing well! I noticed more tents were set up," said Iron Shark.


    Achi courteously nodded, "Yes, as you said, we need more space to store the items."


    "Haha, I look forward to our long cooperation. To show our sincerity, I also brought a lot of other items with me today. I know that you asked mainly for food, but I also brought a lot of materials and books that might be useful to you!"


    "Oh, I will thank you on behalf of our tribe then. We do indeed have enough food from the last trade, but we never know. With winter coming, it is better to have enough stock. As for the materials, I am not very knowledgeable about them. I will need to ask for help from some of my tribesmen."


    "Naturally, if there are any items you need, do not hesitate to mention them! I just want to have a transparent relationship with you and I hope that if you have any new items like the [Cloth of the Night], you will also not hesitate to trade with us," said Iron Shark while avoiding a direct eye contact.


    Achi immediately frowned as he thought about the special liquid the Shaman gave him earlier. He had already used it but there were still a few drops remaining. However, he soon remembered the Shaman''s warning: they did not need to prevent the townsmen from trading with the other tribes anymore. It was better to keep those special items to themselves instead of giving them away.


    "Haha, don''t worry. If we have anything new, we won''t hesitate to trade! As for the [Cloth of the Night], as long as you have enough items, we don''t mine exchanging."


    Iron Shark nodded. ''Seems that you are unwilling to reveal all your cards! But that is fine, I can wait a little more'' said Iron Shark to himself. He was naturally curious about the method used by the chief to level up like that, but he could not directly ask for it. He also understood that the barbarians won''t necessarily trade all their resources with them but that was all part of the game. Sooner or later, he would get his hands on these items.

 Chapter 89: Contact

    "Deal!"


    Achi and Iron Shark shook each other''s hand as they finally concluded their deal. On the side, a huge pile of food items and materials were placed on some animal furs after having been weighed.


    "Please accompany these gentlemen to the storage tents and give them what we agreed on," said Achi to one of the barbarians.


    The latter nodded and soon, most of the players have left the center of the village. At the same time, most of the barbarians left at the village started to move and carried the food to the storage tents.


    "Brother Achi, is there anything else you would like to trade? We still have a lot of items in reserve, it would be best for us to exchange everything," innocently said Iron Shark. He quietly smiled, seemingly unaware that the barbarians might be hiding other items.


    "Unfortunately, this is all we have to exchange this time. You came back earlier than expected. Maybe we will have time to make some more interesting equipment for the next trade. You should save your resources, didn''t you make a deal with the other tribes not too far from here too? They came here a few days ago looking for you, they thought we caused you some trouble," answered Achi.


    "Oh... Could it be that they are your enemies? It was not my intention to cause some tension between the tribes. We are here just to do some business, we can benefit from each other. But you know, I like this place and it is the first tribe I ever visited. I understand that we recently started our collaboration, but it would be ideal if we can have a closer relationship in the future."


    Seeing the sincere display of Iron Shark, Achi warmly smiled, "Of course! I also hope so but there is no need to rush. We should just go with the flow and see what happens."


    "Naturally, I understand. If there is nothing else, I will go back to check on my men. We need to leave soon as we also need to visit the other tribes..."


    ...


    "Elder, the townsmen have just left. The exchange went well!"


    In the Shaman''s dark tent, Achi was quietly watching and only spoke as the Shaman finished his concoction.


    "That is good, we already expected them to go to other tribes. Just be careful with those townsmen. You need to know where to draw the line. Remember that we are barbarians, the blood of our ancestors¡¯ flow into our veins. We are different from the townsmen and we must not be assimilated! It is alright to get some benefits from them, but we must never fall into their traps and develop their lazy and sedentary lifestyle."


    "I know, their leader mentioned making a closer collaboration several times but I declined. I will wait for a bit before accepting. Also, I think that he knows about that strange liquid you gave me; he kept asking if we have any new items to sell," answered Achi.


    "Haha, I told you it was a precious liquid. We just need to wait for today''s expedition to come back. Everything should be fine since nobody came back yet. Let''s wait and see. If everything is alright, I''ll also go out tonight with Mira to see the situation."


    Achi quietly nodded, he looked calm, but his eyes betrayed his nervousness. "Just protect Mira properly. That Angela does not seem to be an enemy, but I know your character. Please don''t antagonize them..."


    ...


    The next morning, Achi once again went to the Shaman''s tent.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "Mira, are you alright? It is time for you to go to sleep," said Achi as he saw his daughter meditating under the watch of the Shaman.


    "Ah? Oh yeah, I''ll go home now," answered Mira. Having spent the entire night wandering in the forest, Mira was already tired and was struggling to even stay awake. It was pure torture to practice, especially since the last exercise was a short meditation.


    After Mira left the tent, Achi turned his attention toward the Shaman, "How did it go?"


    "Don''t ask me... We went to the same place they''ve met but the winged woman never appeared. It was all for nothing..." sadly said the Shaman with a tired voice.


    "It is fine, the forest is vast. She might have gone to another part of the forest. Why don''t you just wait near the entrance of the dungeon? Wouldn''t that be easier?" asked Achi.


    "True. I only went near the Forest Tigers'' territory because we are not sure if she comes from the dungeon. It is just my suspicion, but you are right, I''ll try that tonight!"


    ...


    That night, at the bottom of the waterfall, Mira was silently sitting just in front of the pond, trying to meditate. The young girl was quietly shivering from the cold wind and the occasional splashes of water. It has already been several minutes since she tried to ''feel the elements'' like the Shaman instructed her to but she had yet to succeed.


    Instead, she was just hoping that the Shaman would return quickly so that she could return to the warmth of her house. ''I must focus... It should not be too hard, maybe I should focus on the wind instead of the water! It is so windy tonight," said Mira to herself.


    The young child ignored the loud waterfall and resumed focusing on her task. After 30 minutes, Mira''s shivering became as intense as ever; there was no doubt that tomorrow, she would fall sick. She tried her best, but success was still far from reach. If it was that easy, anyone could become a shaman.


    At that moment, Mira heard a familiar soft voice coming from above, "It''s you Mira? What are you doing here alone? You are going to catch a cold."


    The voice was familiar, Mira has heard it before but something did not feel right. She quickly opened her eyes and looked upward. A bright smile immediately blossomed on her face, "Angela? Why are you here? I can understand you?"


    Angela swiftly landed next to Mira, "I asked my master for something and now, I can speak the Human Language. Now, we can understand each other." Angela was warmly smiling but at the same time, she was feeling some pity for the young child in front of her who was shivering in the cold. She immediately used her power to stop the wind from directly hitting Mira.


    "Angela, is she your human friend?


    "Wow, she is quite cute! Now I know why you save her. Let me play with her!"


    As she heard the voices, Mira looked upward only to see 2 other winged women slowly landing next to her. She did not understand what they were saying but judging from Angela''s expression, they were not enemies. Mira looked at the 3 harpies with envy, more specifically, she was looking at their wings. ''How great is it to be able to fly in the sky?''


    "Yes, this is Mira! Mira, they are my two sisters, Alice and Ariel." Angela quickly made the presentation and said that she would translate for her sisters if needed.


    "What are you doing alone here? More training?" asked Angela.


    Mira nodded, "Yes, tonight, my teacher told me to stay here and to try to feel the elements! Do you know how to do that?"


    Feel the elements? The 3 harpies were puzzled. They were naturally born with their wind affinity and could instinctively feel the flow of wind around them. They never had to actively try to feel anything and so, they did not really know how to explain.


    "Shall we inform master that Mira is here?" asked Ariel.


    "Oh yeah... He did say so," answered Angela before turning toward Mira. "Mira, my master would like to meet you. You don''t have to worry, he is a very nice person and he said has met you before..."


    "Your master?" asked Mira with a confused expression but before she could ask more questions, Alice suddenly deployed her wings and flew upward.


    "Who is there!? Whoever you are, come out of the bush or I will consider you as an enemy!" shouted Alice. Her expression became serious as she took a fighting stance. She slowly levitated toward a particular bush while angrily staring at it. Without any warning, a wild gust started blowing all over the place.


    A few seconds went by without anything happening. Following her sister, Ariel also quickly took off and prepared herself for combat while Angela pushed Mira behind her to protect her.


    Seeing no reaction, Alice shouted once again, "You should come out now! I am not very patient!"


    After a few more seconds of awkward silence, the bush that Alice pointed at suddenly started to move. From it, an old man holding a long staff came out. The old man looked feeble, but the harpies did not let their guard down especially as they saw a vivid light in the old man''s eyes.


    "Teacher??" asked Mira as she immediately recognized the silhouette of the old man.


    The Shaman briefly smiled to his young apprentice before turning his attention to the harpies. "So you could detect me through the foliage? I know that you understand me well but unfortunately, I don''t understand when you speak. I will have to ask this woman to please translate for me."


    The Shaman was suppressing that feeling of unease. He thought that there would be only one winged woman but already, three were flying there in front of him. There were no more doubts in his mind that they came from the dungeon. Just how strong was that place?


    "What should we do?" asked Alice. She knew that Angela was not very comfortable speaking with strangers. It seemed that she was fine with Mira since she was a child but asking her to communicate with the Shaman was probably asking for too much.


    "Stay here. I will go and call Master. Angela, can you ask that man to wait a little bit?" asked Ariel with concern.


    "En" Angela nodded and without saying anything else, Ariel quickly flew back toward the dungeon.


    The Shaman tensed up as he saw the purple-haired harpy suddenly fly up but at the same time, he heard Angela speak, "Can you please wait a moment... She went to look for our master... We think that you two should have a chat..."


    "Your master?" The Shaman squinted his eyes. He thought that the harpies were the strongest monsters of the dungeon and yet, a master was supposed to appear? Just how strong was that master? Maybe it was a bad idea to try to find the origin of these winged women. However, as much as he was reluctant, he had to swim along the flow. Mira was already in their hands; if he left now, who knows what would happen to his granddaughter.

 Chapter 90: Deal

    The old Shaman anxiously waited for Ariel while staring at the remaining two harpies. He could see that one of them did not bother about him but rather focused all her attention on Mira while the other held an aggressive stance against him. He did not dare to move and simply watched as Mira and Angela spoke to each other. Unfortunately, he was unable to hear much of the conversation, all thanks to the harpies using the wind accordingly.


    From his point of view, Mira was safe; all the killing intent of the winged woman was directed at him. In any case, he was ready to fight at any time; hidden underneath his cloak, several small vials of different colors were waiting there to be used.


    Eventually, after what seemed like an opportunity, the Shaman once again heard the flapping of wings. Above his head, he saw Ariel swiftly approach her sisters without even looking at him. A few seconds later, a dark silhouette emerged from the dungeon.


    From where he stood, the Shaman could not distinguish the man''s features but the aura he was emitting was strange. Having encountered a lot of people in his life and being very sensitive to his environment, the Shaman felt as if two entities were standing there. One of which was harmless and weaker than himself while the other entity was far stronger but suppressed. It looked like a beast trapped inside the human body just waiting to emerge; he instinctively felt the need to kill that man!


    However, the Shaman was quick to hide his intentions. It would be bad if the winged women became hostile because of this. He looked up and stared at the man''s silhouette for a moment. The two stayed immobile as they examined each other when suddenly the man made his move.


    The old Shaman widely opened his eyes in surprise as he watched the man jumped off the cliff and land with a loud "Thum" between Mira and the Shaman. He swore in his heart, "Was it really necessary to make such an entrance?"


    ...


    "Thum"


    Five slowly stabilized himself before walking toward the shaman with an expressionless face. He looked calm at the surface but inside, he was swearing to himself: "D*mn... I did not think it would hurt that much... Me and my great ideas..."


    Jumping off a cliff has always been on his bucket list but of all the places, Five did not expect to do so in a game. To top it off, he landed right on the cold hard ground; had it been reality, he would have been completely crippled but since it was a game, Five only lost a few HP.


    By making such a bold move, not only did he deal a psychological blow to the Shaman but was also to conserve his own image! Wouldn''t he look ridiculous if he was carried down by Ariel or if he had to go all the way to the East to be able to get down?


    "I presume that you are the shaman of the Black Iron Tribe?" asked Five with an expressionless voice.


    The Shaman was initially surprised as he saw that Five could speak the Human Language, but he quickly recovered. "Indeed, I am just an elder at the village. May I ask who you are?"


    "Me? I guess you can say that I am the owner of this dungeon," answered Five with a mysterious smile.


    "The owner of the dungeon? The dungeon master? Does that mean the records are true... Someone really pulls the strings behind all our fights..." murmured the Shaman. For a moment, the shaman was unable to control his emotions; he unwillingly released some killing intent as he thought about how 3 of his tribesmen had perished in the initial expedition of the dungeon.


    Immediately, Ariel moved, positioning herself between the two men.


    Fortunately, before the situation got any worse, the Shaman got hold of himself, "I am sorry about that. I just had some unpleasant thoughts..."


    "That''s fine. I am not here to rub salt on your wounds," said Five as he signaled Ariel to pull back.


    "Then, may I ask why you are here?" asked the Shaman.


    Five quietly smiled, "I know you are probably here to probe us, am I wrong? Well, this question will be answered by yourself! You will know the answer by the end of the night."


    The Shaman frowned and secretly grabbed some of the vials under his cloak. "What do you mean by that?"


    "Simple. I am here to make a deal with you! You have been sending your fellow tribesmen to my dungeon for quite a while now. We can already count as long-term partners, don''t we?"This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    "Please go straight to the point!" drily answered the Shaman. An uneasy feeling rose in his heart.


    ''D*mn, can''t you read between the lines?'' said Five to himself. "Of course, but before that, I think it would be better to have a conversation in private." As he spoke, Five pointed at Mira who was intently looking at them with her large eyes.


    "She is just a child but sometimes there are things should be kept away from them. I agree!" answered the Shaman.


    As they heard him give his approval, the harpies started to move. Angela hugged Mira from behind, "Mira, come, let''s leave those adults to their discussion. Don''t you want to see the waterfall from above?"


    ...


    Soon, only Five and the Shaman were left standing near the pond. The latter was tensed, the departure of the three harpies should have lifted a weight off his shoulders but instead, the exact opposite happened. Five was only level 15 and therefore, the Shaman did not consider him as a threat but that feeling of unease kept crawling in. It was like something inside of him was telling him that Five was an enemy.


    "Good, I''ll go straight to the point! I want to make a deal with your tribe!" started Five. Over the past few days, Five had considered the different ways to approach the barbarians and how to enlist them. He easily concluded that he could not directly ask for help and after further considerations, he opted for an indirect approach: To make the barbarians dependent on the dungeon!


    "In short, I would like you to send more men to explore the dungeon in the future," continued Five with an enigmatic smile.


    "What?" The Shaman was surprised, he never expected this sort of request; wasn''t exploring the dungeon equivalent to barging into his house, who would want to invite more strangers inside his own house? Unless this was a trap and his goal was to regroup all of them in the dungeon to wipe them out more easily!


    The Shaman frowned at the thought, "What a strange request... First of all, what would we gain by sending more men there and more importantly, what would you gain? Although we both know that we obtained a considerable amount of resources from the dungeon, it wouldn''t be wise to put all our eggs in the same basket, right?"


    "I understand your thoughts but don''t worry. I welcome your tribe to my dungeon as long as you are just aiming at collecting resources. However, if just like the first few barbarians that came to the dungeon, you try to attempt to take my life or my core, I would not hesitate to retaliate! It is rather unfortunate that 3 barbarians lost their lives in the dungeon, but our deal can precisely prevent that from happening."


    "I will simply make a proposal and if you agree, then we can proceed forward. Usually, there are about 40 barbarians that explore the dungeon every day with the exception of the past two days. I would like to double that number. What do I offer in exchange? I will first guarantee that none of the barbarians will die there as long as they are not blinded by greed! Second, I can increase the ores you like to collect. As for what I will gain, the more visitors my dungeon has, the quicker it can develop. In short, we can depend on each other," said Five. He did not explain everything in detail but rather, he waited for the Shaman to ask him some questions.


    The Shaman quietly considered the offer. There were many dark areas, but the offer was indeed alluring. The reason why they did not send their whole tribe there was mainly to avoid extinction! It was for that same reason why the barbarians never hunted as one large group and would rather spread through the forest in several small groups. As for harvesting more ores, it would greatly benefit the village as they were in the process of training some blacksmiths and needed a lot of material to do so.


    However, the offer looked too good to be true, "It is a very interesting deal but how can I trust your words?" asked the Shaman.


    "That''s easy, we can write a contract like people like to do or even make an oath. Or maybe you have other ways to bind us?" asked Five.


    "Tsssk, contacts are for townsmen! We, barbarians, are different but we can make an oath as long as you agree to stand in my circle of truth when doing so!" said the Shaman.


    Five quickly nodded, he did not have any ill intentions when making the deal; he was ready to make some losses to ensure his growth. However, to seal the deal, he did not hesitate to lie. "There are no problems to that. As I said, I hope that we can depend on each other. I have already shown my sincerity by allowing your men on the fourth floor without making them fight the boss of the 3rd floor. Are you not aware of that?"


    The Shaman frowned for a moment. Previously, the Shaman always believed that they would need to defeat a boss monster before proceeding to the next floor and so, he ordered the barbarians to stay on the 3rd floor. Yet, when they attempted to enter the 4th floor yesterday, they did not encounter any difficulties which could be all thanks to the dungeon master.


    Still unsure of himself, the Shaman took the opportunity to probe a little more, "Then, does that mean that we will have access to all the floors? How many are there?"


    ''Sly old fox, trying to get information from me?'' swore Five in his heart. "Seven. The dungeon currently has 7 floors but I will not open all of them to you at once. I will tell you when you can access the next floors. I hope to keep the deal between you and me, the fewer people know about it the better it would be. It would without a doubt affect your tribe if outsiders heard that you cooperated with a dungeon master like me. If I suddenly open all the floors to you, wouldn''t it look strange?"


    Five did not hesitate to lie. In this situation, it was better to appear as the one holding power and furthermore, there was no way for the barbarians to ever find out if he was telling the truth or not.


    "Mmm, I understand your worries but I am just an elder of the tribe. At the very least, I will have to inform the chief of the village," answered the Shaman. He looked calm but inside, he was struggling to hide his excitement, ''Seven floors? And we only barely reached the 4th floor? There are so many resources waiting for us?''


    "The chief? Achi? That is fine. Besides, I am sure you can speak on behalf of your entire tribe. You might not know about this, but Achi once allowed me to rest for a night at your village. I am very grateful to him for his act of generosity. He should remember me, especially since when I left, I told him that the life in the village would improve in the near future. It seems that I was not wrong," answered Five.


    The Shaman''s eyes flashed in surprise. It was something he was not aware of. "Anyway, your offer is very attractive but let''s discuss the details! How much more ores will we be able to extract per day? If I am not wrong, without us, your dungeon would definitely not have developed that far..." said the Shaman hinting at Five that a satisfactory number should be said.


    It was the shaman''s attempt at regaining the upper hand. After he heard that the dungeon''s development was dependent on the number of visitors, he immediately decided to push this fact to show that he was the one holding the initiative.


    "Haha, Sir, it is true that you did help but without the dungeon, your tribe would most probably still be hunting every day and I seriously doubt that you would have survived the harsh winter. Especially after the recent beast tide where we took down the Beast Kings. Besides, the barbarians are just a catalyst to our growth, not an essential component," said Five. He looked at the shaman, trying to sound as confident as possible.


    Only half of what he said was the truth, they did indeed fight the beast kings during the trials but only one died in the dungeon! As for why Five said that he took them all down, it was because the harpies brought back the drops coming from two more boss monsters, it was safe to assume that the barbarians were not aware of this. As for the second part of his statement, the barbarians were indeed not absolutely necessary for the growth of the dungeon but to meet Five''s schedule, they were the key component!


    The Shaman widened his eyes in surprise. ''The beast kings? Was that why we suddenly stopped catching anything during the hunts? Did the dungeon really take down all Beast Kings? Impossible, even our village would have a hard time dealing with them...''


    He suspiciously looked at the weak man standing in front of him, "Mmm, then, may I ask how you would ensure that no one would die in your dungeon?"

 Chapter 91: A question

    "Are there any more questions you would like to ask?"


    "No... It looks fine to me, as long as you are willing to swear the oath in my circle of truth, we can conclude the deal!" said the Shaman.


    After more than 30 minutes, when Five''s legs were already asking him to sit down, the two men finally concluded their deal. The terms were as followed:


    <ol>


    <li>A minimum of 80 barbarians would go to the dungeon every day unless something important happened. This number will increase in the future if both parties were happy with their agreement.</li>


    </ol>


    <ol start="2">


    <li>Among the barbarians, only the shaman and the chief, Achi would be informed of this deal.</li>


    </ol>


    <ol start="3">


    <li>The barbarians were free to explore the dungeon as long as they did not go beyond a designated floor. At the moment, the barbarians could only go as far as the 4th floor and naturally, this number would slowly increase in the future.</li>


    </ol>


    <ol start="4">


    <li>Twice as many ores would be available on the first floor for mining.</li>


    </ol>


    <ol start="5">


    <li>The barbarians would fight as they wish and as long as they did not blatantly suicide or violate any of the previous terms, none of the monsters would deal fatal blows. Injuries were allowed as long as they were not life-threatening.</li>


    </ol>


    <ol start="6">


    <li>The monsters of the dungeon would also not attack the Black Iron Tribe at their village or in the forest unless one of the previous terms was violated.</li>


    </ol>


    <ol start="7">


    <li>The oath would only last for 1 week as a test. Beyond that period of time, another oath will be made if both parties were satisfied with their outcome.</li>


    </ol>


    Five was very satisfied with this deal. He was not very greedy and as long as he could increase the number of barbarians coming to the dungeon, he would be happy. First, he would get the barbarians accustomed to the dungeon and at the same time, he was doubling his income! In the future, if the barbarians became sufficiently dependent on the dungeon, they would move to protect it by themselves!


    As for the Shaman, he was also in a good mood. After listening to Five, it seemed that the dungeon had a considerable fighting force and contained a significant amount of resources. If he played his cards properly, the tribe could benefit a lot from this deal.


    "We have a deal then! Haha, when I first thought about contacting you, I thought you would immediately attack me on sight! Looks like I was worried for nothing. Well, it''s not as if I would have lost a lot..." jokingly said Five. He looked carefree but between the lines, he was saying: "Don''t think about attacking me, my death is not worth a lot!"


    "Haha, this is normal. Since you have shown your sincerity earlier, I will also do the same. I will help you craft something to hide your demonic aura. This way, you will look just like any normal human; It should be ready in two days!" said the shaman, appearing completely oblivious to Five''s hidden message.


    "Crafting? About that, I would like to make another request!"


    "What is it?" suspiciously asked the shaman.


    "It is about one of the harpies you have previously seen, Angela. She has just started to learn to craft. It would be good if she had someone to guide her, what about..."


    "No! I refuse!" abruptly cut the shaman. "I am sorry, but I am not allowed to teach the ancestral recipes and techniques of my tribe to an outsider. Besides, I already have an apprentice and she is taking all my free time already, I don''t have enough time to teach someone else!"


    Five frowned, he knew it would be hard to get a good teacher for Angela but he did not give up yet, "Please don''t be impulsive. I understand your thoughts but aren''t they too outdated? The world is changing and you need to adapt, aren''t you already starting to shift from hunting to exploring the dungeon? Maybe it is time to open your mind a little bit. Besides, there is no need for you to actively teach her anything, it would be enough if she can be present when you pass your teachings to Mira."This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "No no no, these crafting techniques are very important to the Black Iron Tribe and cannot be easily leaked out. They were accumulated through the blood of my ancestors; how can I give them to outsiders like that?" righteously said the shaman.


    Five paused for a moment and stared at the old man. "Triple the amount of ores!"


    "What? What do you mean?"


    "Triple the amount of ores! If you agree to teach Angela, instead of doubling the amount of ores, I will triple it instead!" decisively answered Five as he examined the Shaman for any signs of weakness.


    "No no, I already said..."


    "Quadruple!" declared Five.


    "This... I really..."


    "Quintuple! That''s my last offer; if you say no, then let''s forget about it," said Five as he appeared to be about to give up. From what he has seen, this amount should be more than enough to move the Shaman.


    The latter froze, deep inside, he was struggling the urge to accept this offer. The tribe could greatly benefit from these ores, especially now that they were training blacksmiths; ores were what they were lacking the most! However, in the end, the shaman desperately held onto his morals, "This... I am very sorry, the offer is attractive, but this is not appropriate. I am afraid that not everyone can learn shamanism and our other techniques. Only one in a thousand barbarians are able to learn our techniques. The harpy you mentioned looked very powerful, but crafting is not just about strength and magical power, it is also about wisdom! You see, the art of crafting does not limit itself to following recipes, you also need to derive your own! Without wisdom, a craftsman can only call himself a journeyman!"


    As soon as he finished speaking, the shaman let out a sigh of relief. Fearing that Five would continue to raise the price, he decided to completely change his argument, hinting at the fact that Angela might simply be unsuitable for learning his techniques.


    This time, Five did not know how to answer, it was true that Angela was not necessarily meant for crafting but there was no way she lacked wisdom! The problem was how to prove that she had the qualifications to learn from the shaman! "This..."


    Five was about to retort when he suddenly heard the distinct flapping of wings in the distance. He turned to look in that direction and as he expected, a few seconds later, Angela emerged from the foliage.


    "Master... Thank you for trying... But can I take it from here?" asked Angela with a firm tone. She looked serious and was even clenching her fist to show her determination.


    In truth, the harpies had been listening to the conversation the whole time! By cleverly controlling the wind, they were able to carry Five''s and the Shaman''s voice to their ears and eagerly listened to the negotiations. When she heard that Five was trying to get her a teacher, Angela was touched but as the conversation continued, it looked less and less likely that he was going to succeed!


    As a result, for once, Angela decided to step up for herself. For once, she would get out of her comfort zone and speak for herself. She could not let this opportunity go and quickly flew to meet the two.


    Five looked at the silver-haired harpy. He immediately understood what Angela was here for and smiled. It seemed that the harpy was slowly growing up, "Sure, go ahead!"


    "Thank you Master... Thank you for believing in me... As for wisdom... I think that I certainly do have more wisdom than someone who would leave his apprentice at the mercy of the forest alone at night like that!" decisively exclaimed Angela. As soon as she finished speaking, she blushed but held her stare.


    "Huh? Are you trying to taunt me? Well, it''s not going to work. I have always been protecting Mira from the shadows, it is just that I did not expect you to suddenly appear to grab her. Mira also has several items on her to protect her, I am sure she knows her limit! As for making her meditate alone near the pond, it is a necessary process. I went through far worse than that to feel the elements; I even had to walk on a path of blazing stones once. Although our methods are crude, they are effective and the only way for us to get closer to nature! If I could, I would never have allowed Mira to endure those, but everyone needs to be tempered to some extent, I don''t want her to become a good-for-nothing," answered the shaman with a sad tone.


    "Ohhh..." answered Angela.


    "Then what do you have to say about wisdom? Do you not agree with what I just said?" asked the Shaman.


    "No... You were right... But as long as I prove that I am at least as wise as you... Would you accept me as an apprentice?" asked Angela.


    "Oh? And how are you going to do that?" curiously asked the Shaman?


    "By asking you a question... It is one that I was able to answer, my master can vouch for me in that circle of truth you were talking about... If you are not able to answer that question, that simply means that I am at least as wise as you..." answered Angela.


    "Answering a question? Haha, that''s one way to do it but little girl, what if I am able to answer the question?" asked the Shaman.


    "Then... we will quintuple the amount of ores... If you are not able to answer the question... You will accept me as your apprentice and we will only quadruple the amount of ores on the first floor..." proposed Angela.


    The shaman thought for a moment, he was very confident in his own wisdom and ability to answer questions. He basically had the cumulated knowledge of the Black Iron Tribe since its creation! What an easy way to gain benefits.


    "Alright, I agree. Ask your question little girl!" confidently said the shaman.


    "Okay... But first, I have to ask you 2 questions... They are very important to my question. Keep in mind that it is the third question that you should be able to answer..."


    As Angela started to speak, Five froze and internally swore, wasn''t this the result he had just asked the harpies a few days ago? ''D*mn, I knew it was bad to teach card tricks to Alice... But who would have known that even telling riddles could be dangerous... It is better to stop sharing things from Earth with the harpies or they might become master swindlers.''

 Chapter 92: What do you say?

    "You are sailing on a ship which gets stranded in a storm... and you land on a small flat island with an area of about one hundred square kilometers ... The island has a tribal population and some cannibals... The Tribal King captures you and issues the following order."


    "You must speak one sentence... If the sentence is true, then you will be thrown to the cannibals for consumption... If your sentence is false, you will then be thrown to our pet dogs for their consumption... What sentence saves your life?"


    After the long question, Angela slowly retreated to catch her breath while she looked at the shaman with confidence. As for Five, he was doing his best to maintain his poker face.


    The Shaman frowned. It was not the first time he was asked this type of questions; in fact, whenever the shamans of the different tribes would meet, they would often ask themselves this type of questions to prove to themselves who was the superior one.


    "This is just the first question, right? I can get it wrong and it won''t affect our deal?" asked the Shaman.


    "Yes... But a really wise person would naturally be able to answer all 3 questions..." said Angela.


    As he heard the harpy, the shaman felt that he had been trapped. This was just the first question, but it was already that difficult?


    The Shaman quietly racked his brain until he finally came up with an answer. After repeating the answer in his mind to make sure he was right, he decisively looked at Angela.


    "My answer is: You will feed me to the dogs!"


    "That... Correct..." answered Angela.


    ''Yes!'' screamed the Shaman in his heart. He was relieved as he got the confirmation of the harpy. While the first question was benign, he was able to save his face. Even Five was impressed, not everyone would have been able to answer the first question.


    It was the correct answer as it was neither true or false. If it was true, then he needed to be sent to the cannibals but the sentence was stating that he was going to be sent to the dogs. On the contrary, if it was false, he needed to be sent to the dog but that was precisely the statement which made it true.


    "Then... Should we move to the second question?" asked Angela.


    "Yes! Remember your promise, if I am able to answer..."


    "Yes, I know. Please ready yourself for the second question," said Angela.


    She waited for a few seconds to calm down before asking:


    "The second question goes as such."


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "After a few years, you have come to know that there is a treasure chest buried somewhere on the island. You''ve already made friends with the tribals, so you''re not captured, but while you''re finding your way to the buried treasure you come across a fork in the road. Two tribals guard the way forward. One way goes to the buried treasure, the other to the cannibal''s colony."


    "You already know that there are two types of tribals: some always speak the truth, some always speak lies. The two tribals are one of each type. They tell you to ask just one question, they will both answer your question. What question do you ask to figure out the correct way?"


    The Shaman''s eyes immediately shone. He had heard a variant of this question before! It came from the old fart of the Rhino Tribe and at that time, no one was able to answer! He remembered this riddle very clearly and quickly answered:


    "The question I ask is <If I were to ask the other Tribal which path leads to the treasure, what would he say?> This way, both Tribal will point at the wrong path!"


    The Shaman was confident in himself and soon, Angela nodded, "Yes... That''s the answer..."


    "Haha, this old me is not that easily fooled! Come on little girl, this is the last question and the one that counts!" confidently declared the old man. After having correctly answered two hard questions, it was normal for his to get a boost in confidence.


    "The third and final question goes as such."


    "Again, after a few years, you come to know that there''s an even bigger treasure on the same island. That treasure is on an ancient tower a thousand meters high. You again come across a fork in the road, one way leads straight to the tower, and the other way leads straight to the cannibal''s colony. This time, the tribals are standing near the fork, and you don''t know what type of Tribal they are. They can all speak the truth, or all may lie, or some might say the truth and some may lie. You''re allowed to ask as many questions as you want."


    "How do you find the correct way?"


    Hearing the question, the Shaman quickly answered, "That is easy, right? It is similar to the last question where you can ask where the other... No, wait... It does not work this way..."


    His voice soon died out as the Shaman wore a serious expression. This riddle was different from the previous one, the fact that both might be lying or saying the truth completely offset the previous answer.


    The Shaman was deep in thoughts; clearly, he did not want to lose! "Maybe I can ask... No..."


    Unfortunately, the shaman was not aware that he had already fallen into Angela''s trap! On the side, Five was sighing for the Shaman; if he did not stop going into that direction, he would definitely lose. At the same time, he was secretly rejoicing, not only because Angela had secured herself a teacher, but also because it was quite entertaining to watch people struggle on the riddles that he already knew.


    A few minutes of silence went by before Angela said, "Mister... You need to give an answer..."


    The Shaman frowned, during the last few minutes, he had been racking his brain about this riddle but had yet to find an acceptable answer! He did not want to admit it, but it seemed that he had been tricked by the harpy.


    "Are you sure you were even able to answer that question? It does not even look feasible to me..." asked the Shaman, trying to find a way out.


    "I am sure I did... You can ask Master if you want..." answered Angela.


    Five swiftly nodded, he was not lying, Angela had indeed been able to answer the question. However, it was all because she had avoided the trap! Compared to the Shaman, when Angela heard the riddle, she only heard the third question! At that time, Five was telling the riddle to Ariel and Alice but Angela only came into the room when it was time for the third question.


    It might seem benign, but it actually completely changed the sense of the question. The first 2 questions were there to not only give confidence to the person but also to lead them into tunnel visioning! Since Angela avoided the first 2 questions, to her, the answer was quite obvious!


    The Shaman''s heart sank, he really could not figure out the answer. "Can''t I get a few more minutes, it is not appropriate to rush people like that or else, they will not be able to demonstrate their abilities," said the Shaman.


    "Oh... Okay... I guess... I thought wise people did not need to think and could give answers instantly... It''s alright, everyone is different..." calmly answered harpy. Giving more time was indeed dangerous but considering how deep the shaman had already fallen in the trap, it was highly unlikely that he would come up with an answer.


    ''D*mn... No need to rub salt in the wound!!!'' swore the Shaman to himself but he quickly focused and resumed thinking about the question.


    As time went by, the Shaman looked more and more agitated until eventually, Angela asked, "Is it okay now? I hope you won''t go back on your words..."


    "Who do you take me for? I admit that I am not that wise since I am unable to answer this question but I will never spoil my reputation!" said the Shaman.


    "Oh... As long as you confirm that you will take me as an apprentice... I will give you the answer..." continued the harpy.


    "As long as it is a genuine answer, I can swear that I will take you as my apprentice! But I will only teach you to craft, you won''t learn anything about our tribe''s rituals!" declared the Shaman. As he spoke, he felt his heart sink as he tried to hide his annoyance.


    Angela thought for a while, finding his promise acceptable, she nodded. Five let out a smile, it looked like the harpy had succeeded; it was time for the grand reveal. Inside, Five was wondering how the Shaman would react; would he casually accept the answer or would he blow up and cause a stir?


    "Alright... The answer is simply: You raise your head and look up..."

 Chapter 93: Circle of truth

    "The island is flat and not that big... and the clock tower, where the treasure is located, is a thousand-meter long... You can just look and see where the tower is... In fact, you could also answer the second question in the same way as you could already see the cannibals'' village..."


    The Shaman froze; was this a joke? He was clearly not satisfied with the answer, "How is that possible? Is that even a question that can gauge wisdom? I can''t accept this!"


    Five understood the shaman''s reaction; everyone would be pissed when they realized that the answer was so simple. The riddle was a rather popular one in the real world; countless people had fallen into the trap.


    He quickly nodded to Angela and intervene, "Didn''t you make a promise, it is not right to go back now that you have lost the bet. You should know that wisdom is not just a matter of finding the right answer, it is also a matter of finding the simplest answer! What is the use of making a remarkable discovery if you are the only one able to understand it? In a way, Angela''s question tested your wisdom and your ability to notice the obvious!"


    "But still... This is too silly!" complained the Shaman, he was reluctant to admit defeat.


    "Regardless, you gave your word! Are you going to take her as your apprentice or no?" asked Five. Next to him, Angela looked at the Shaman with expectation. She was flushed red after speaking for so long to a stranger but at last, her actions were being rewarded!


    The Shaman hesitated, he had been utterly defeated but inside, he was considering his options. Even though he had lost, he could still display his thick skin and go back on his words, after all, the records of the tribe were precious. On the other hand, being shameless now could severely affect the tribe''s future as it would without a doubt strain their relationship with the dungeon.


    Eventually, he conceded, "Alright... I gave you my word, as from tonight, you shall be my apprentice. Can you bring back Mira? I shall make a Circle of Truth immediately."


    Five let out a rare smile and nodded to Angela. The latter quickly departed before returning with Ariel, Alice and Mira.


    The Shaman was relieved to see Mira safe and sound; he quickly pulled her to his side and said: "I have all the materials necessary to make a Circle of Truth. Since you are going to be my apprentice, please observe attentively. As the Shaman of a tribe, I do have some knowledge of many professions. What I will be doing now will be useful for you to grow as an Enchanter. Mira, you should also watch carefully!"


    After he spoke, the shaman walked a few meters away and took out a pouch. The next second, he loosened the pouch and started pouring its content around him. A thin stream of red powder started to flow out of the pouch and with that, the Shaman started drawing a strange circle around him. It was similar to artistic painting.


    Five watched the scene from afar; it was obvious that making a circle of truth was not so simple as the Shaman was following some sort of pattern; he would sometimes pour more powder on some spots and sometimes, he would leave an obvious gap and only fill it up later. Five did not understand the principles behind the shaman''s action but he did not bother to ask; it would be up to Angela to understand this.


    Soon, the circle was drawn and the Shaman took out another item. This time, it was a gourd made of animal skin containing some sort of blood-like liquid! With the crimson liquid, the shaman continued his drawing and immediately, the effects could be seen. The weird pattern drawn by the Shaman started to glow with a faint red light, giving it a mystical appearance.


    "This is the Circle of Truth. It is alright if you did not understand anything, I am just showing you my skills and what you will be able to do in the future. Now, let''s begin, please take place in one of the two spots!" said the shaman. He himself took place inside the circle on one of the two empty spots purposedly left for people to stand on.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The three harpies were silent, they were all still examining the circle, trying to understand how the shaman was able to make such a thing. And before they could react, Five already started to move to the second spot. The Shaman blinked his eyes in surprise, he thought that Angela would have been the first one to enter the Circle of Truth to become his apprentice; yet, it turned out that the dungeon master moved in first. He thought that since it was their first meeting, he would definitely send the harpy first to test the water but it turned out that Five was the one who took the risk.


    It was not that Five was completely trusting the Shaman but if it turned out that the ''Circle of Truth'' was a trap, then at least, if he died, he would be able to revive later on. If Angela went in first and if it turned out to really be a trap, then he would never get to see the silver-haired harpy again.


    "Now, as a reminder, we, the barbarians are very close to nature. Just like the beasts and monsters, we value our oaths very highly, especially when sworn before our totems! Inside the Circle of Truth, all lies are futile, if you planned to trick us, you better leave now before suffering," warned the Shaman.


    "Don''t worry, I was not lying when proposing these terms and also, oaths are very important to me too. As a dungeon master, I guess I can count as a monster too," answered Five.


    "That''s good, in that case, let''s begin!"


    ...


    At the Vicious Rhino Tribe


    In one of the tents specially set up for guests, 5 players were holding a secret meeting. Seated in a circle, they were discussing among themselves while drinking some wine.


    "Boss, this tribe is really rich! We traded all the food we brought with us, but they still have a lot of furs and teeth!" exclaimed one of the players.


    Everyone was in a good mood; after traveling for days, they were finally being rewarded. The gains of this journey would amount to at least 1500 gold; if sold correctly, they might make even more profits.


    "These barbarians are so stupid! They are selling to us at such a low price. When they brought us to this bigger tribe, I thought they would try to bargain with us but it turned out that they gave us even more items to trade, haha!" said another player.


    "Haha, I still can''t understand why the traders do not come here? We should quickly seize the monopoly of the area! Just how much will we earn like that? We need to secure a deal with them before the other players discover this place."


    "It''s because of the past war but since we are not locals, the barbarians do not mind us too much. Also, keep in mind that we have the advantage of having an inventory. It is much safer for us to carry the goods than for the NPCs."


    Iron Shark was quietly sitting with the players. While everyone was happily chatting, he was deep in thoughts, completely ignoring the others; even the beautiful woman who was leaning against his left thigh, was ignored.


    "..."


    "What is it, Boss? Are you not satisfied with the trade we did? You have been silent for quite a while, is something wrong?" asked one of the underlings.


    For the first time, Iron Shark''s eyes focused on the player, "I was just a little bit disappointed. Compared to the Black Iron Tribe, it looks like all these tribes are just selling their excess loot. If I am not wrong, after years of not trading with the towns, they have accumulated quite a few items and are now taking the opportunity to get rid of them."


    The players immediately frowned as they heard his words, who would be happy at the idea of being sold old stuff? "What do you mean?" asked one of the players.


    "Although this tribe, the Vicious Rhino Tribe, look wealthier than the others and have some weapons and artifact, they are not willing to part with them. Maybe it is just because they first want to get rid of their excess items but it does not seem to be the case... When I think of the Black Iron Tribe, it felt more like they were pushing forward their weapons but these tribes, they are reluctant to and even avoid the subject"


    "Maybe we just need to wait for a little bit and see if they will be willing to sell after a few more trades but it feels like that will not be the case!" said Iron Shark.


    The players fell into deep thoughts and slowly realized that what Iron Shark was indeed true. Compared to these tribes, it was clear that the Black Iron Tribe was more willing to make trades as they actively displayed new items; it might just be out of despair to obtain more food to survive the winter but this was very unlikely.


    The female player coquettishly moved closer to Iron Shark, "Then boss, could it be that the Black Iron Tribe has some secrets? It looks to me that they do have a reliable source of material since they are producing weapons! According to the identifier, the weapons we obtained were recently crafted! It might be wiser to focus our trade there instead of this bigger tribe. Although it is bigger and wealthier, it looks like it is stagnating... For such a big camp, I expected to see dozens of craftsmen, but I only saw a handful..."


    "Haha, you are right... But it is better to wait a little bit. Maybe once their warehouses will be empty, they will present their rarer items to us. And for now, let''s try to get closer to the Black Iron Tribe, the more allies we have, the more beneficial it would be for Blue Lagoon."


    Iron Shark slowly caressed the long silky hair of the woman and continued, "Apart from that, did any of you find some information about what happened in the forest last time?"


    "According to the different tribes, there have been some strange movements among the beasts of the forests. They suddenly disappeared for a while before reappearing. The tribesmen did mention that the beasts might just be electing new Beast Kings to lead them and we might have just been unlucky to encounter them while they were fighting for the throne of the forest..." reported one of the players.


    "Are we that unlucky? What about the items that we dropped?"


    "All lost... When we went there, everything was gone. We don''t know if they were picked up by someone or if they simply disappeared because we took too long to get there."


    "Alright, at least, thanks to the system, we were able to keep the majority of our inventory... Sigh... It is quite late now... You should go back to your own tent!" said Iron Shark, indicating the end of the meeting.


    As he spoke, he turned his attention to the woman as his hands continued to play with her hair. The players naturally knew what they were going to do; giving them a knowing glance, the men quickly retreated to their own tents.

 Chapter 94: Fifth floor

    Sitting alone in the meeting room, Ariel was nervously watching one of last year''s blockbusters. Her eyes were glued to the screen; the secret plot of the movie was about to be unraveled. She was so nervous that she unknowingly started biting her nails.


    While the harpy liked to watch tv, especially with the current set up that turned the meeting room into a cinema, she felt like something was missing. The movie was very entertaining but unfortunately, she had no one to watch it with. As enjoyable as watching tv was, it could not be compared with the time spent with her sisters.


    During the past few days, Ariel would barely see Angela who spent most of her time studying; during the day, she would sleep and read some books while during the night, she would go out to learn from the Shaman. As for Alice, she usually spent her time with Ivan, playing different games. Ariel would occasionally join them but would spend most of her time training or resting.


    However, there was a limit to how much one could train per day, overdoing it would cause more harm than good. Normally, Ariel would usually spend her time with Five but a few days ago, her master randomly decided that he would start learning to craft too!


    Since Angela was learning everything but smithing, Five decided to give it a try and since then, he spent most of his days locked up in a specially made room. As a result, Ariel often found herself alone; she wished she could ask Five to summon more harpies, but she did not know how to make this request.


    Fortunately, everything would end tonight! One week has passed since Harriet left the dungeon and tonight, she should finally return. Ariel was looking forward to meeting her; it had so long and she wanted to share the development of the dungeon with her.


    On the screen, the protagonist of the movie was desperately trying to escape from a secret organization. Ariel watched as the protagonist was running through a building, causing panic to spread everywhere. He barely avoided the gunshots of the guards and eventually, he reached the very top of the building. The protagonist quickly locked the door to the roof and quickly started to look for a way out.


    "Boom! Boom!"


    While the protagonist was looking around, the men of the secret agency had already caught up with him. Only the door stood between them but it would not hold for long. Loud kicks could be heard and the door was visibly shaking and was about to give up.


    "Boom! Boom!"


    The protagonist was trapped; there was no way out! "Oh no..." murmured Ariel as she watched the dramatic scene. If the protagonist was caught, who knows what kind of torture he would go through; that was something Ariel definitely did not want to see.


    "Crack!"


    A loud cracking sound was heard as the door exploded! Ariel was so focused on the movie when coincidentally, the door to her left was flung open, blinding the harpy with the light of the corridor. She jumped in fright and retreated to the corner of the room; instinctively, she folded her wings over her body to protect herself.


    Trembling in fear, Ariel peeked through the gap of her wings, only to see a tall dark silhouette standing at the door. Slowly, as her eyes adapted to the luminosity, she recognized that person. "Master, you scared me... Sorry about that," said Ariel as she quickly stood up and straightened her dress.


    Five was confused, he blinked his eyes and simply said, "Sorry about that, I did not think someone would be here. Are you still using the dungeon core? If so, I can come back later..."


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    "Oh, no no, please take it. May I ask what you are planning to use it for?" asked Ariel as she tried to hide her embarrassment.


    "For the fifth floor. We got quite a few DP this week, it''s time to complete the plains."


    Ariel''s eyes lit up with excitement, "Can I come with you then?"


    "Sure, you can do whatever you want."


    ...


    On the fifth floor, Five stood at the edge of the plains with Ariel and Dreidus. The night cycle had just begun which meant that he could now do the modifications he planned.


    "Before we start, did anything unsual happen today?" asked Five while looking at Dreidus.


    The latter shook his head, "Nothing abnormal. 80 barbarians came to the dungeon but just like the previous days, the majority stayed on the first floor to harvest the ores and they brought in some kids to train. They still did not go beyond Lyra''s floor..."


    Five nodded, things were mostly going as he expected. The Shaman was holding his end of the deal but the one detail Five did not expect was that the barbarians would send their children there to train. It was not harmful to the dungeon but it was reducing the amount of DP he could generate as the children were still relatively low in level.


    As for the fact that a lot of the barbarians were staying on the first floor, it all fell within Five''s expectations. In fact, it was one of the tricks Five came up with. Ores were not very expensive compared to the monsters; having the barbarians focus their attention on the first floor was maximizing his profits. Quite a few barbarians were also roaming the forest''s floor in search of herbs that Five added after consulting Angela


    With the sudden influx of barbarians in the dungeon, the daily revenue soared. As a result, two rooms were added dedicated to crafting, one for Five and one for Angela. The rest of the DP was being saved and was about to be all be used.


    Five''s DP now amounted to 237000. It was quite a sum, especially considering that it only took a few days to collect that amount and that no one died in the dungeon during that time.


    Ariel excitedly stood at the back as she watched Five manipulating the transparent screen. She enjoyed watching floors being created; while she was just a spectator, she liked seeing things appear out of nowhere and move under the command of Five.


    Unfortunately, to her disappointment, the next second, several tall figures appeared on the plains. Ariel''s face changed to one of disgust; the monsters that just appeared were tall and burly, similar to giants, but their bodies were twisted and deformed, giving them a horrifying appearance. Those were level 21 Abominations.


    25 Abominations were summoned in total and without a word, they dragged their heavy body and scattered around the plains. Abominations were monsters having a lot of physical strength and vitality. Compared to the Death Knights who were fast and could deal a considerable amount of damage, Abominations were more suited to act as tanks but their attacks should not be underestimated. According to the lore, they used to be normal humans but fell victims to human experiments resulting in their death and the monstrous change in their body.


    Ariel frowned, she was clearly unhappy at the appearance of the new monsters. She had nothing against Abominations but the plains were where the harpies would usually play around and where they would train during the day. They liked this place precisely because no scary monsters were found there. The Death Knights were undead monsters but all their features were hidden by their armors and they were very friendly.


    Ariel would naturally prefer to stay away from the Abominations but they had already ''invaded'' the plains. She was about to complain but it was too late; Five had already pressed the screen and more summoning circles appeared.


    This time, several ghosts, having the appearance of children, appeared and started looking around. While they looked like innocent children, they were far from being harmless! Ariel absolutely did not want to get near them!


    "Master... Why are you summoning so many undead monsters here..." asked Ariel with a frustrated expression.


    "What do you mean? It is the theme of the dungeon, aren''t there undead monsters on all the floors? I am just going with the flow," answered Five with a confused expression.


    "But... Where will we spend our time now? I don''t have anything against them but isn''t the floor a bit crowded now..." said Ariel. She could not criticize others'' appearances out loud.


    "I think this is fine. Don''t you like the Mylingars? I thought women usually liked children," asked Five. He could feel that Ariel was not very happy but he could not point out why.


    The Mylingars were precisely the ghost of the children and were level 22 monsters. They were the souls of children who passed away at an early age, left to roam the world until someone would kindly bury their bodies in a proper graveyard. In the dungeon, they appeared harmless but when an adventurer would get close to the ghost, they would immediately become enraged and recklessly attack. Compared to other ghosts who used magic attacks, the Mylingars preferred physical attacks as they would materialize claw-like hands and viciously strike their enemies.


    Ariel did not know what kind of monsters they were, but her instincts were telling her not to mess with them. "Hmmp, nevermind then... Just continue with what you planned," exclaimed Ariel as she crossed her arms.


    "..." Five frowned but did not say anything. Now was not the time to argue with Ariel; he made a mental note to have a short discussion with her after finishing this floor. With the monsters now in position, Five moved on to the decorations. He wanted to keep this floor simple but at the same time, he wanted to add in a secret room.


    As such, he improved the background by adding a few standing stones. He initially wanted to arrange the standing stones in a similar fashion to Stonehenge but after further consideration, he decided to simply spread spawn a few here and there. Only a small cluster of standing stones was made and hidden beneath it, was the entrance to a secret room.


    All the adventurers had to do was to simply push any of the 5 standing stones arranged in a circle. As soon as any of the stones would move, the hidden mechanism would immediately activate, revealing the secret room. While the mechanism was quite obscure, Five also decided to remove the grass lying around that particular cluster, to arouse the suspicion that something was different about that area.

 Chapter 95: Similar thoughts

    The small secret room was similar to the first room one would get when unlocking a floor. Ariel felt restricted inside the dark room but soon, Five spawned a few Firestones; these were special ores which could be used instead of a fireplace. Due to their low grades, the Firestones summoned by Five would only glow in the dark; they did not generate a lot of heat, resulting in their low cost.


    With a swift movement of his hand, Five quickly filled the room with a few items. He first scattered a few gold coins, the currency used by adventurers and players, and spawned a few cheap Grade 1 weapons. However, the location of the main treasure was left empty. It was not that Five was lacking in DP but rather because of his own pride. Since he started learning to craft, he hoped that one day, only the items produced by the dungeon would appear in secret rooms. It would naturally take some time before he would succeed in making a decent item but the secret room was not that easy to find either. Besides, there was no guarantee that the adventurers would obtain the treasures, especially after he summoned the guardian of this room.


    He was not planning to unlock a new monster; instead, he wanted to use one of the first monsters he unlocked: Liches. At the time he accepted Dreidus as his monster, Five did not immediately realize that liches were actually unlocked too. They were essential dark mages who were biased toward necromancy and as a result, their body slowly decayed into their current state. While Dreidus was able to continuously level up since his original body was at high level, the liches summoned by the dungeon were stuck at level 30 and also did not have access to higher level spells but still, they were a powerful threat since they could summon other undead monsters.


    At the cost of 40000 DP, 2 liches were summoned. Compared to Dreidus, the newly summoned liches had a more repulsive appearance and were only wearing rags as clothes. One of them had a deformed jaw while the other was missing an arm. Their eyes were completely red, devoid of any human expression. They motionlessly stood in the middle of the room, unsure of what to do.


    "Dreidus, you take over from here," said Five.


    "Yes, I know what to do. I will properly instruct them, don''t worry, master!" politely answered Dreidus.


    ...


    Five and Ariel eventually left the secret room and returned to the common room, leaving behind Dreidus to instruct the newly summoned liches.


    After a few moments of silence, Five decided to break the ice: "So, Ariel, what is it that annoyed you?"


    "Nothing. It really is nothing," answered Ariel. Having calmed down a little bit, she now realized that her reaction had been excessive. Sooner or later, Five would build a floor for the harpies. She just needed to be patient, after all, in the future, she would be the one never stepping on those plains.


    "Really? You were really frustrated though. If there is anything you need from the dungeon shop, feel free to buy it. I know that everyone is quite busy recently; Angela is learning from the Shaman and Alice is looking after Ivan. But don''t worry, soon, you will have a floor for yourselves. At the rate at which we are gaining DP, it should not take very long for me to make something like the Avian Cavern or at least its general shape... Making a village will probably need a lot more time though..."Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "I know... Don''t worry about that master," answered Ariel. She lowered her head, afraid to look into Five''s eyes.


    "But, you should continue to train hard! Soon, I''ll summon more harpies and at that time, as the eldest one, it will be your duty to look after them! So don''t start getting lazy!" declared Five.


    The harpy''s wings trembled slightly. She was about to answer when suddenly, the door of the common room was flung open. Lyra stepped into the room, her face clearly displaying her nervousness.


    "What is it?"


    "Master, I would just like to report that the bones of the skeletons, who were used for the test, have grown back. Dreidus told me to inform you when that would happen..." From the moment she entered the room, Lyra kept her head down, with her body slightly shifted in Ariel''s direction.


    "Oh? Really? That''s good news... Wait for Dreidus to come back. He should know what to do. Thanks for the info." At the same time, Five was internally rejoicing, Lyra''s news simply meant that they had found another way to acquire materials and DP. Even if it only represented a small amount of DP, it was still better than nothing.


    Lyra nodded and clumsily stayed silent for a moment. Only when she realized it did she speak, "If there is nothing else, I will take my leave now."


    Five smiled to the Banshee Queen and stood up. "Sure. I have to go too. It''s time for me to return to the forge. Ariel, continue to train for now. As soon as the trial ends, you will have a lot of new sisters and I''ll be counting on you to look after them."


    Watching Five''s disappearing back, Ariel quietly went back to her own room. Her heart was heavy. Although she knew that Five was trying to comfort her, she could not help but interpret his words differently. She felt like she was the only one who was useless in the dungeon as she did nothing apart from training. It was true that she was far from her peak and her level was even lower than the average harpy being summoned at a fixed level. However, it still felt like the training was just an excuse to allow her to do nothing in the meanwhile.


    Angela was already contributing to the dungeon and Alice was at the very least looking after Ivan. But her, what was she doing? She did not have any talent and could not even do the one thing she could do: killing.


    Unbeknown to Ariel, Five was having the exact same thoughts! Just like Ariel, what did he do since the foundation of the dungeon? All he did was to take decisions but what was his active contribution to the dungeon?


    It recently occurred to him that the greatest parasite of the dungeon was none other than himself. It was the concept of the dungeon where the dungeon master would be the weakest and most protected member. But that was something he was not content with. Just like in the real world, CEOs and directors looked to others like they spend their day doing nothing apart from signing documents; it was not very different from what Five was currently doing. However, the truth was that some of these executive figures did not limit themselves to decision making and would often do all they can to contribute to their company and what Five wanted to do was no different.


    He could become stronger but that would consume a significant amount of DP. Increasing his own personal power was equivalent to weakening the overall strength of the dungeon. It was why he needed to look for other ways to help the dungeon and he came up with crafting.


    The dungeon was similar to a production line. Increasing the volume would naturally increase the profits but in the end, there would be a limit to that. The real way to increase profits would be to improve the efficiency of the line. In terms of the dungeon, that would amount to strengthening all his monsters. Unfortunately, their levels were fixed but at the same time, many monsters could use weapons!


    If he could not improve the monsters themselves, what about improving their weapons? Purchasing stronger weapons was no different from spending a lot of DP but what if he could craft them? The essential part of crafting was precisely that it allowed him to bypass the high cost of the dungeon shop!


    However, it was easier said than done. It was a beautiful dream but after a few days of research and attempts, Five still had yet to succeed. There was no doubt that it would take a while before he could be considered as a blacksmith but at the moment, time was the only thing he had.


    Five slowly made his way to his small forge. The room was small and messy; different schematics, notes, and even materials were scattered all over the place. In the corner of the room, an anvil, a bucket of oil and a fireplace could be seen. Aside from a set of tools hanging on the wall, the room was devoid of any decoration.


    All the items in this room were naturally only rudimentary equipment. They were the basics of the basics but for his current level, they were more than enough. Before he would succeed in crafting even one item, Five did not plan on improving his equipment.


    With a serious face, he swiftly tossed a few middle-grade Firestones in the fireplace and grabbed his basic hammer. It was time for his 56th attempt.

 Chapter 96: Crafting

    "Ting Ting!"


    In the dimly lit forge, Five was intensely focused on the piece of metal in front of him. He had already hammered the small iron ingot 45 times and slowly shaped it into a triangle.


    "45 out of 50, just 5 more!" exclaimed Five. His heart was racing, it was almost over and this time, he did not make any obvious mistakes.


    Droplets of sweat started appearing on Five''s front head. It was not easy to continuously hammer a piece of metal while standing in this hot environment. Hopefully, it will be over soon!


    "Ting Ting Ting!"


    Five''s eyes lit up with excitement; just two more hits but the next second:


    "Ting Cling!"


    "Crap!" As soon as he heard the different tone, Five tensed up and as he expected, the small triangle in front of him suddenly cracked and broke apart.


    "F*ck, why is it so hard? They should have made it easier... It is not user-friendly at all, so many people would be discouraged by this system!"


    Five''s heart sank, he dropped the tools down before taking a few steps back away from the heat. He had failed yet again and clearly, it was starting to get on his nerves. Despite the appearance, crafting was not as easy as it looked; a system was set up to help the players, but it did not necessarily help them in a good way.


    From the books he purchased, Five obtained the recipe and techniques to forge basic grade 0 weapons. The books contained several images, explaining the different steps in details and to further help the players, a hologram could also be projected by the book to show the basic forging techniques.


    Every single detail could affect the result and unfortunately, luck also greatly influenced the product. The system would evaluate how the player fulfilled each requirement and determine whether the crafting would be successful.


    First of all, controlling the temperature properly would contribute 20% chance of success. It was essential to heat up the metal and quench it when needed. The temperature could drop quickly depending on the environment and it could affect the quality of the weapon. As a result, the player would need to regularly place back the metal in the fire but overheating it could also have consequences.


    Apart from the temperature, how, where and when the metal was hammered could also affect the product. 40% chance of success came from there; it was essential to not only hammer at the correct location but also exert an appropriate amount of force and to time it correctly. Blindly hammering with all one''s strength would only lead to failure.


    Another 20% chance of success simply came from following the recipes. It was basically free chances of success given to the players as long as one would purchase a recipe and follow it accordingly. 20% did not sound like much but it was also the reason why developing new weapons was not that easy. While a large variety of recipes were available to the players, the game also allowed the players to make their own creation but doing so was naturally not that easy.


    As for the last 20%, they were entirely based on luck. It might seem unfair, but it reflected reality to some degree and introduced some dynamism to the game. The materials used for crafting were naturally not perfect. At the surface, they all looked the same but in reality, they could contain impurities or defects which could influence the product. Unfortunately, there was no way to control this factor; the players could only hope to be lucky.


    A lot of numbers were hidden behind the scene but in the end, the game was fair and as long as they did not mess up, the players would usually obtain around 50% success rate for Grade 0 items. While this gave the chance to even the worst player to successfully learn a profession, it also penalized the skilled players to some extent.


    Fortunately, it was also possible to influence the success rate by using the correct tools. Just like weapons, crafting tools also had grades, stats, and durability; they could naturally influence the end result. Similarly, professions also improved the crafting success rate; the higher the level of the profession, the higher the success rate.


    Statistically speaking, Five should have already succeeded in obtaining the Grade 0 Blacksmith profession. However, it had yet to happen, all thanks to bad RNG and the tricky hidden system.


    While it was nice to give the opportunity to even the worst player to obtain a profession, only the diligent players would be rewarded. To provide a sense of progression to the players, the success rate was significantly decreased for the first 20 attempts. As a matter of fact, it would be almost impossible for one to obtain a profession on the first try unless the player had prior knowledge and sufficient skills to obtain a high success rate.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Furthermore, another important hidden factor that influenced the success rate was resting. Resting itself did not affect anything but crafting continuously for a few hours would slowly diminish one''s success rate. The longer one would craft, the lower the success rate would be; just like in real life, players needed to rest and working for long hours could seriously affect one''s focus and productivity.


    Unfortunately for Five, these factors were not mentioned anywhere and although he slowly grasped the rhythm and technique, persevering and spending hours trying to craft a weapon did not amount to anything as his success rate was secretly dropping.


    ...


    "Sigh... Maybe I should ask the Shaman for some help? He should know a thing or two about this. At least, Angela is making some progress..." Five quietly complained as he opened the recipe for iron arrowheads.


    Iron Arrowheads were the most basic weapons available for crafting; all one needed to do was to shape an iron ingot by hammering it a total of 50 times. Five spent the past few days understanding the basics of forging and at first, he tried to forge some Grade 0 daggers. However, as he only encountered failure, he ended up lowering the bar and opted for easier weapons to make.


    Iron Ingots were easily made using Iron ores but unfortunately, as they did not count as weapons, they did not allow Five to obtain the profession. Despite failing 56 times, Five did not give up; his confidence naturally took a blow but seeing how Angela progressed day by day, he could not accept this result.


    "Okay, second try..." said Five as he once again grabbed his tools and focused. Taking out an iron ingot, he placed it on the anvil and grabbed it using large pincers. After securing the grip, the iron ingot was quickly placed in the middle of the raging fire.


    After just a few seconds, a red-hot ingot was placed back on the anvil and the hammering process started.


    "Ting Ting!"


    To Five, this looked just like playing several mini-games together. He did not spend a lot of time on games in the real world but after practicing that much, he understood the basics.


    "Ting Ting!"


    "10... 11... 12..." As he brought down his hammer, Five calmly counted the number of strikes. His heart was calm but as the number increased, so did his heartbeat.


    "Ting Ting!"


    "48... 49..." Five slowly tensed up; only the last strike was left and then, he would just need to quench the arrowhead!


    "The last strike..."


    "Ting!"


    As he heard the tone of the strike, Five knew that it had been a success. The arrowhead did not break and now, all that was left was to place it in the oil bucket.


    "Tssshhh!" The sizzling sound resonated through the small forge and soon, a small triangular metal object was placed on the anvil.


    Five emotionally picked up the small arrowhead and immediately, an information window appeared.


    [Iron Arrowhead(Grade 0)]


    Can be combined with other materials to make an arrow.


    At the same time, Five heard a short "Ding" as a system prompt appeared:


    [System prompt: You have successfully crafted your first weapon, you have obtained the profession: Grade 0 Blacksmith, congratulations]


    As he carefully examined the small arrowhead, Five slowly felt a heavy weight being lifted off his shoulders. He had finally succeeded! On his character window, he could effectively see his profession as Grade 0 Blacksmith.


    "After so many tries, I finally got it right! From now on, it can only get easier!" said Five. He carefully looked at the small metal arrowhead, treating it as a small treasure; before that, he would never have thought that such a simple tiny piece of metal could have brought him so much satisfaction.


    ...


    At the same time, in the middle of the forest.


    "That''s it! Angela, continue to mix the potion for 30 more seconds but be careful, with the fire... Mira, don''t be so hasty! Take your time when adding the Chirus leaves!"


    Under the cover of the night, 2 silhouettes were quietly mixing the content of the cauldron in front of them. Behind them, an older man was giving out instructions accordingly while thinking, "Such a pity... They are not in sync at all... Maybe I should make them practice one at a time?"


    Angela was continuously mixing the liquid in the cauldron; she was calm and was able to maintain a constant speed. Unfortunately, it was not the same for Mira who had already messed up the timing. Although both mixtures were still red in color, Angela''s potion had a more pronounced color, meaning that her chances of success were much higher.


    Angela''s heart was aching as she watched Mira struggle, but she could not really help her. The harpy had a huge advantage since she could easily control the temperature using the wind to cool down the mixture.


    "Top! Quick, take out the fire and let the potions rest!" said the Shaman.


    "Woosh!" Instantly, a wind gust blew under the two cauldrons, taking out the fires as the two girls lifted off their cauldron and placed them on the ground.


    "Ahhh. Angela, you are so good... Why is my potion not as clear as your..." quietly complained Mira. As soon as the session was over, she immediately compared her potion with Angela.


    With a kind smile, the harpy patted the young child, "It''s alright. You improved a lot too! I am sure you''ll be able to do the same in a few days!"


    "I hope so too..." murmured Mira. The two girls took a step back, allowing the Shaman to more closely inspect the potions. The brewing was already done and all that was left was to bottle the mixture when it would be cold.


    However, there was no need to wait for the Shaman to evaluate the potion! "Good job, Angela, the Health Potion you''ve made should be able to restore about 21 HP. You too, Mira, it''s not as good but there is definitely some improvement; yours should restore about 19 HP."


    "Thank you, Teacher!" answered Angela. She was proud of herself. Grade 0 Health Potion would usually restore an average of 20 HP. Those available at stores were usually brewed following a standardized process resulting in all of them having a fixed effect. However, potions made through crafting would usually vary and clearly, thanks to her wind abilities, Angela was able to make potions above the average standards!


    "Ummm, is it fine if I don''t wait for the potions? I have something important to do... Can you bottle it for me and I will pick the bottles later?" quietly asked Angela. It was the first time she was making such a request and although she had gotten relatively used to the Shaman, just for this time, she reverted to her usual shy self.


    "Something to do?" asked the Shaman suspiciously. "Alright but before that, please take that with you and pass it to your master; he should know what this is. Also, can you tell him that I would like to meet him? Almost a week has passed, and I would like to discuss the terms of the deal with him."


    As he spoke, the Shaman took out a small amulet from his coat and gave it to Angela. The amulet looked like a metallic skull of an animal; it was covered with strange runes that would occasionally glow.


    "This... Okay..." Angela reluctantly took the amulet. She knew that the amulet was harmless, but she nevertheless did not like the idea of touching this kind of object. She carefully covered it with pieces of cloth before placing it in her small bag.


    "You can go, but tomorrow, we''ll meet near the waterfall. There will be a few townsmen coming to the village, it will be safer to meet away from their sights!" declared the Shaman.


    "Are you really going, Angela?" curiously asked Mira on the side.


    Angela nodded to the Shaman and at the same time, she kindly smiled to Mira, "I am sorry, my mother is coming back tonight! I want to be there to welcome her back! I will see you tomorrow"


    The harpy took a few steps back before deploying her wings. She waved at Mira before quickly flying into the distance.


    Left on the ground, the old Shaman frowned, "Mother?"

 Chapter 97: Should not be greedy

    "Come, Mira! Let''s go back, I have a long day tomorrow."


    "Okay!" exclaimed the young child. She quickly let go of the herbs she was examining and stood up. Without even looking back, Mira joyfully hopped toward the village; she could not wait to go back and sleep.


    The Shaman sighed as he saw his granddaughter''s behavior but in the end, he chose to remain silent. ''She is still a child, I''ll just clean up behind her and bring everything back...''


    A few minutes after Mira had already reached her home, the Shaman finally entered the village while carrying 2 small cauldrons. He walked toward his tent and along the way, he saluted the barbarians on guard.


    Seeing that one of them was, in fact, the chief, Achi, the Shaman signaled him to come to his tent for a chat.


    "What is it elder? Do you need my help?" asked Achi with a tired voice. Guarding the village at night could prove to be very taxing on the barbarians; sometimes, standing still doing nothing could be more tiring than actually doing labor work.


    "Sit down. Is everything ready for tomorrow? According to the schedule, the townsmen should be coming," answered the Shaman as he dropped the heavy cauldrons in a corner and took off his heavy coat.


    Achi nodded and went to grab the teapot, "Yes, everything is neatly arranged in the storage tent. We do not have as many animal products to sell but our blacksmiths did improve since the last trade."


    "That''s good, you should take care of it. Remember to maintain a good relationship with them but don''t go too far. I will speak with the dungeon master tomorrow night. That guy does not trust us well, he did not open any other floors yet."


    "Mmm, that''s true but opening more floors would mean that we also need to send more people there to efficiently harvest the items. Or at least, we won''t be able to train the youngsters like we are doing at the moment. The dungeon is a really good place to train them, especially since we have the guarantee that they won''t die. They have the tendency to be rash but now, we can just leave them alone and it would still be fine," commented Achi.


    "You still have to be careful though! The future of our tribe will all depend on tomorrow. If the deal holds on, then we''ll be able to continue in that direction. Just for tomorrow, focus on gathering that goo you brought to me. It is the fastest way to raise the overall strength of the village!"


    As the Shaman mentioned the goo, Achi immediately recalled the painful experience he went through a few days ago. It had been a long time since Achi felt like crying and begging for pain, but nothing could compare to the few minutes he soaked into that bath. The goo of the spectral hound was extremely acidic; when it came into contact with people for a long time, it would generally only leave behind a sack of bones.


    However, when mixed with powerful medicinal herbs, it could be used as a quick way to increase one''s strength. The acidic property of the potion would quickly damage the user''s skin, bones, and muscles but at the same time, the herbs would quickly heal the user''s body. In the end, it was just a shortcut to days spent at the gym; exercising was simply the act of damaging one''s muscles, repairing them and building up on top.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "I suppose you did not call me here just to talk about that?" asked Achi. The trade with the townsmen was important but considering that he was never called by the Shaman before to talk about them, it meant that there might be something more important.


    The Shaman faintly smiled and revealed a serious expression. "Yes... It is about that student of mine, Angela. It seems that there is a more powerful monster than her. Tonight, she left early because she wanted to welcome her mother back. If I am not wrong, that ''mother'' should be at least as strong as Angela. Angela herself is already quite proficient with wind magic. I did not point it out but I can always see her cleverly use the wind around her and it does not seem to be taxing on her! Although I can do the same to some extent, I would not be able to hold for more than 20 minutes but she can do so for a whole session!"


    "Her mother? We already knew that the dungeon must have stronger monsters. Didn''t he say he had 7 floors already? Judging by the increase in power of monsters of each floor, I am not very surprised if the harpies are not his strongest monsters," answered Achi.


    "That''s the thing! I''ve been listening to Angela and Mira when they speak and sometimes, I''ve been guiding their conversations. It does not seem like the dungeon is as strong as he is trying to show us. It was not very clear but apparently, Angela went through a near-death situation recently. If we take into consideration that her mother was not present, that at least means that there are no other powerful monsters. She did mention that she recently arrived at the dungeon and judging by the timing, it could be related to the strange behavior of the beasts we observed last week?"


    The Shaman cleared his voice as he continued, "These are just deductions. I am simply saying that we should not necessarily trust that dungeon master as long as the terms of the deal are not very clear. He tried to make himself look strong. If I remember correctly, he acted as if dying would have no effect on him; he was not scared even when left alone with me when I could easily have killed him! But the truth is he would really die! According to Angela''s words, all the monsters of the dungeon fear death, including the dungeon master."


    Achi fell into deep thoughts, the news of the Shaman was not particularly worrying but it was better to know the kind of person they were dealing with. The deal with the dungeon was indeed beneficial to the tribe and they were initially very pleased with themselves, but it turned out that their new ally was not as strong as he looked. It meant that the tribe could not necessarily use the dungeon as a way to protect themselves in case of an emergency. Furthermore, if their ally was weak, why would the barbarians need to make a deal with him? They could simply seize the resources by force!


    However, Achi had different plans, "I know you are trying to say that we have an opportunity to take over the dungeon but with all due respect, keep your greed in check! I don''t really want to act against them, I would very much prefer to have a peaceful cooperation with the dungeon. We are already getting much more than we ever hoped to get! In just a few years, I am sure that we can rebuild the tribe into what it was before you were forced to move! But we should not be too greedy, we already took a lot of risks, and honestly, I don''t want to put Mira in danger!"


    The Shaman stayed silent for a moment; his eyes were carefully examining Achi''s expression. After a brief moment, he let out a sigh, "Alright, I won''t be too greedy. I know that I want the tribe to grow back into what it used to be but we should not be too hasty. However, I will continue to extract information from Angela. If we can really overtake the dungeon, I see no reason to not do so. I will act carefully for now and we''ll see what he says tomorrow."


    "Sure, we''ll wait. After the death of Toba, I don''t want to take any big risks! That is especially true since there have been some movements at the townsmen encampment, we need to be on our guard. It might just be that new merchant company, but some scouts came back and reported an increase in their armed force and adventurers," answered Achi.


    "The safety of the village comes first and even if we just maintain our deal, we will without a doubt become the strongest village of the region! Even strong enough to deal with the townsmen encampment."


    ...


    As she left the Shaman and Mira behind, Angela quickly flew back to the waterfall. As soon as she arrived, she immediately found Alice and Ariel waiting for her. "You are already there?"


    "Of course! How could we be late? Let''s quickly go to the usual meeting point," excitedly said Alice.


    Ariel nodded and took the lead, "Was everything alright? That old man is not too harsh with you, isn''t he?"


    "It is fine, it is not that hard. I am always with Mira; he does not treat me differently," answered Angela.


    "That''s right, he better treats you well!" declared Alice.


    The three harpies soon arrived and sat down while chatting. They calmly waited but the sky was clear, not a single silhouette could be seen. However, the harpies were not anxious; the night was still long and besides that, Harriet could be slightly late and come back tomorrow instead.


    The harpies waited and waited. A long time had passed and, in the distance, the color of the horizon was already starting to change. Dawn was not very far. "Could it be that Mother will come back tomorrow?"


    "That''s possible. There is no need to be worried. We are the ones who are impatient," said Ariel.

 Chapter 98: Disguised angel

    Hundreds of kilometers away from Five''s dungeon, Harriet was calmly riding a thunder eagle. She could not wait to return to the dungeon but at the same time, she did not want to push too hard on the thunder eagle. The poor beast had already been flying for two days straight without resting, Harriet already felt bad for it and did not want to ask for more.


    While she looked completely fine, in reality, the harpy queen was secretly suppressing her injuries. If Five was standing in front of Harriet, he would immediately see that the debuff, [Injured] was being applied to her.


    [Injured]


    Effect: Reduce all stats by 10% and maximum HP by an additional 10%


    Duration: 23 days and 10 hours


    Note: It is possible to shorten the duration of the debuff by applying the appropriate medicine. As the duration decreases, the effect of the debuff weakens.


    Harriet completely ignored her injuries as she observed the landscape; by now, she was already used to the pain. The thunder eagle was currently flying above a lush forest but a few kilometers ahead of them, Harriet suddenly saw the outskirts of a small town.


    She did not know much about towns, but it was obvious that it was a recently built one that was growing at an insane speed. A lot of empty plots of lands could be found among the new buildings. While the town was surrounded by a small palisade of wood, the foundation of another layer of walls was being set a few meters away. It was obvious that the mayor of the town had great ambitions and was planning ahead.


    The town looked strange to Harriet; it was not as compact as the Dominion City. Instead, there were a lot of open spaces and strangely, some trees could be found along the streets. More importantly, what intrigued Harriet was that as she was nearing the town, she started to feel the presence of a dungeon.


    It was not abnormal for her to found dungeons here and there but it was the first time she was discovering one right in the middle of a town!


    Harriet was carefully examining the town; she was not sure how the dungeon master would react and decided to stay on her guards.


    As the thunder eagle was about to reach the town, a bright silhouette suddenly emerged from the largest building of the town and started to fly in the eagle''s direction. Harriet squinted her eyes as she observed the newcomer. That person was a modestly dressed woman; she looked pure and innocent as she flapped her angel wings. The woman was extremely pretty and wore a kind welcoming smile. At the same time, she was emitting a gentle soothing aura.


    However, Harriet only sneered at the woman and signaled the eagle to stop. With just one look, Harriet saw through the woman''s disguise. On the outside, she looked like an angel but thanks to Harriet''s higher level, she could easily see through the illusion.


    "A succubus?" thought the harpy queen as she waited for the woman to reach her. She understood that she was trespassing onto someone else''s territory; the succubus was probably one of the monsters of the dungeon.


    "Hello! My name is Venus, the guardian of Venetia, the town you see down there," said the succubus as she approached Harriet. Her voice was sweet and enticing but Harriet was immune to it.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "I don''t trust people who wear a mask!" answered Harriet as she crossed her arms.


    "Hmmp," as she heard Harriet, the succubus immediately smiled, dropping her act. The next second, her real appearance was revealed; the angel wings disappeared and were replaced by demon wings, her long white dress transformed into a very revealing outfit, while a slim tail appeared behind her.


    "I should have known that you could see through my disguise. Anyway, this is my mistress'' town and we don''t allow anyone to fly above it! You have already entered our territory, please make a small detour, unless..." said the succubus.


    "Unless what?" asked Harriet. She did not know why but she felt annoyed whenever the succubus would speak and swing her tail. Going around the town would not affect her by a lot, only causing her travel to take an additional 10 minutes but Harriet''s pride would take a blow. It was just a small town and the succubus was clearly weaker than her, why did she need to lower her head?


    "I am sure you have detected the dungeon core under the town! The dungeon was recently founded, and we are actively looking for monsters to join us. What do you think?" asked the succubus. She gently licked one of her fingers while looking at Harriet with anticipation.


    The harpy queen briefly looked at the town and secretly manipulated the wind. "Sorry, just like you, I also belong to a dungeon and if you will excuse me, my master is waiting for me at home!"


    Without waiting for the succubus'' answer, Harriet quickly signaled the thunder eagle to make a detour and left the succubus behind. Harriet was not scared of fighting there but since it was another dungeon, it was better to not randomly create enmities between that dungeon and Five''s. Besides, when probing the town, she immediately found 10 of other succubi hiding in the houses, ready to take action. The interesting part was that each of those normal succubi was at least as strong as Ariel and Alice.


    ...


    The next night, the Shaman and Mira were quietly waiting near the waterfall. "Look at this Wild Seren and remember its appearance! You can easily confuse it with Sunset Clovers but the two plants have completely different effects!" explained the Shaman.


    The two continued their lesson for a moment until a familiar flapping of wings was heard. Mira immediately raised her head, "Angela, you are finally here!"


    "Sorry for being a little late, my master is on his way," answered Angela as she slowly landed in front of the two.


    "No problem, can you take Mira away for a moment and teach her how to distinguish these herbs? I have to talk to your master for a moment," asked the Shaman as he pushed a small pouch full of herbs toward Angela.


    The latter nodded, "Come with me Mira."


    Merely a few seconds after the two girls left, the Shaman detected Five''s presence. He was slowly making his way toward the Shaman. "I see that you are already wearing it," said the Shaman as he raised his hands to greet Five.


    "Yeah, it is indeed effective," answered Five as he touched the amulet in the shape of a skull attached to his belt.


    "Just remember that powerful beings will easily see through the amulet!"


    The Shaman made himself comfortable and waited for Five to sit down. "Let''s talk about our deal. Almost one week has passed, how was it on your side?"


    "Quite good, I have no complaints and I believe it is the same for you?" asked Five while innocently smiling. He already knew what was coming next.


    "The terms of the deal are good, but don''t you think it is time to open up another floor to us? I believe that after a whole week, we have proved ourselves worthy of reaching the next floor," said the Shaman.


    "Haha, I guess I was found out. I just wanted to make sure the deal would hold before showing more of the dungeon but there is no problem. Tomorrow, you can send your men to the fifth floor but be careful as the monsters there are quite strong," jokingly said Five.


    "Thank you, I just wanted to make sure you did not forget about that. As more floors are opened, we will naturally send more people to your dungeon," calmly said the Shaman, trying to probe Five''s reaction.


    As he heard the Shaman, Five internally smiled. The Shaman was indirectly proposing to send more people in exchange for more benefits but Five was no fool. At the moment, it was still in the middle of summer which was the ideal time for the barbarians to hunt and fill their reserves for winter. But soon, the situation would change, it would be pointless to send that many people in the forest to search for food.


    When winter would come, the barbarians would eventually send their men to the dungeon by themselves. There was no real need for Five to provide benefits as this would happen eventually. He just needed to be patient and steadily grow; for now, the amount of DP he was earning was already quite significant. Instead, winter would be a critical period for Five; if he wanted to make an impression on the barbarians and create a dependence on the dungeon, it would be the ideal time to strike.


    "There is no need to hurry, as we interact more, we will naturally change the terms of our deal to suit each other!" said Five as he kindly smiled.


    "Haha, if there is nothing else, shall we once again swear our oath?" asked the Shaman.


    "About that, there is one more thing I would like to ask."


    "What is it?" curiously asked the Shaman.


    "I heard from Angela that some townsmen visited your village today? May I ask a few questions about that?"

 Chapter 99: Invitation

    "I would like to know... Are those townsmen different from what they used to be in the past? And do they have the ability to store object and make them appear at will?"


    The questions took the Shaman by surprise, ''Was he secretly spying on us during all that time?'' thought the Shaman. After a brief moment of reflection, he finally said, "Indeed, we noticed that they could carry a lot of items even without having any storage equipment. In fact, we have recently started conducting trades with each other which is why we are able to hunt in the dungeon so much instead of the forest."


    As he heard the answer, Five''s eyes lit up with excitement, ''As I expected... They have an inventory which means they are players! Only players would bring the game forward and break the barriers between the barbarians and the townsmen!''


    The Shaman naturally noticed Five''s change in expression, "May I ask how do you know that they have this ability?"


    "Haha, forget about it. Were you not informed that people with these abilities would suddenly appear at some point? As a dungeon master, I naturally have some intel," answered Five as he recalled that Kroff mentioned an oracle at some point.


    The Shaman frowned, ''Could he know something?'' He was dying to ask more questions, but he could not be careless and reveal any information.


    At the same time, Five was tempted to make a new proposal to the deal with the barbarians! The increase in the number of barbarians in the dungeon was only a matter of time but bringing players to the dungeon was another matter. While the NPCs represented the present, the players represented the future!


    It was more profitable to earn DP from barbarians at the moment as they were higher leveled but soon, the players would overtake them. It was essential for Five to find a way to make the players discover the dungeon. There was no doubt that once the dungeon was discovered, some players would attempt to farm there.


    However, as much as it was tempting to ask, there was a huge risk as it might affect his deal with the barbarians.


    A few seconds of awkward silence went by until Five spoke; in the end, he chose to delay that matter and not mention the topic. "You don''t have to worry about them, they do not represent a threat to your village. Trading with them will indeed be beneficial for both of us."


    He was trying to lower the Shaman''s guard and quickly change the topic but unfortunately, the Shaman''s expression did not get any better. With a serious expression, the Shaman spoke, "I feel that there is more to it and if you have some information, I would ask you to share it with us as it is essential for the survival of the village!"


    "It is true that those townsmen do not represent much of a threat to us but for the past few days, we have been receiving daily reports about the increasing number of guards at the townsmen''s encampment! And we are not the only one... All the other neighboring tribes have also been making the same observations and earlier today, we received an invitation from the Wild Bull Tribe to discuss this matter!"


    "It might be trivial to you, but this matter is very important to us! The number of guards we saw was more than enough to deal with our village. It might just be a coincidence but at the same time, we cannot allow such a big threat to be there without investigating. So if you know anything about this, will you please enlighten me about that," solemnly said the Shaman.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    It was the first time Five saw the Shaman acting so seriously; it was clear that the situation was a serious one. It would definitely be detrimental to the dungeon if a war broke out as the barbarians would no longer have time to farm in his dungeon. At the same time, if the tribe was damaged, it would have an impact on himself and would strain their relationship.


    Furthermore, while he was listening to the Shaman, a possible scenario popped up in his mind which immediately rung a bell. Could it be that the armed force was there to deal with him? The trials were just two weeks away, the timing might not just be a coincidence. As for the huge number reported, it was possible that other dungeons were not very far from there, resulting in many guards being stationed at the same location for a while.


    In both cases, Five could not stay idle. "I am sorry but the information I have is not about that. I just know that a large number of townsmen with special abilities and terrific growth potential suddenly appeared. Maybe that now that they have the manpower, the townsmen are planning to expand their territories?"


    "What?" exclaimed the Shaman. This was definitely not good news to the Shaman; the balance between the townsmen and the barbarians would without a doubt fall apart in the near future. "And may I ask, if you have anything else to inform us about?"


    "No, that''s it," answered Five with a straight face, trying to hide his emotions; he could not say that he might be the reason the tribes were in danger.


    The Shaman fell into deep thoughts. The situation was more complex than he imagined. He first believed that the townsmen were just doing some military exercises and would soon disperse but even if it was the case, how could he stay calm after learning that such a huge threat was waiting for them in the near future.


    At the same time, the Shaman did not discredit the possibility that Five might just be lying to him. The Shaman had a lot of experience and could easily tell that while Five did not lie, he was definitely not saying everything he knew.


    "Then, we will discuss with the other tribes on the route to take. Thank you for the information. It is in our best interest to resolve this matter appropriately... Also, since you know so much about the townsmen, I would like to invite you to the meeting of the tribes."


    "That is not very appropriate, right? I am not a barbarian after all and I look more like a townsman! Furthermore, I don''t want to interfere in your political matter," said Five. In truth, he was very curious about the outside world, especially since now, he could hide his status as a dungeon master. However, Five could not openly show this and more importantly, he needed to stay away from the politics of the tribes or else, they might end up considering him as a threat.


    The Shaman nodded, "That''s true but the situation is different. The information you have given me is very important for the survival of tribes. It would be best if you report the information in person. I can do so on your behalf but that would end up revealing your identity and possibly the location of the dungeon... I hope that you can understand my position," said the Shaman.


    As he heard the Shaman, Five internally sneered. It was obvious that the dungeon would benefit more if more tribes came to the dungeon; that old man was definitely crafty. When mentioning it in this situation, asking the Black Iron Tribe to share the dungeon with other tribes would make him look bad. If he refused to go now, it would look like he was only looking for benefits which would strain their relationship. In the end, the Black Iron Tribe was the closest tribe to the dungeon, it was better to keep them as allies.


    Fortunately, this situation also created an opportunity for Five to expand his horizons and explore the world a little bit. He was internally rejoicing as it meant that he could take a break from managing the dungeon, but he needed to be careful as the dungeon might be in danger in his absence!


    "In that case, I can only agree. Please look after me during that meeting," answered Five.


    "You don''t have to worry about that. We will do our best to protect you! And in fact, why don''t you bring one of your monsters with you to protect you? I can guarantee that the tribes won''t be hostile to you and your monster. We can even add this clause to the deal if you want! However, I would say that I, myself won''t be going. I am quite old, this kind of travel does not suit me but I will inform our representative accordingly. The meeting is in 4 days, our group will be leaving in 3 days since we are quite close to the location," happily said the Shaman.


    "Alright then, one monster would be good. If there is nothing else, let''s seal our deal for now. I have to go back and make some preparations!" said Five after pondering for a moment. He believed that the Shaman was not stupid and would not openly cause him any harm. But first, he needed to see the new clause of the deal. As for the monster, it was better to be prepared in case unexpected events would occur!


    The Shaman nodded and stood up, "Of course, it is the same procedure as last time but this time, we''ll add the clause that my tribe would ensure that no barbarians would cause you or your monster any trouble and that includes members of our own tribe. Naturally, we won''t be able to protect you if you look for trouble yourself!" The Shaman was expressionless as he took out the raw materials for the circle of truth but in reality, he was internally smiling.

 Chapter 100: Preparations

    Before Five realized it, two days had already passed. In the middle of his small forge, Five dropped the small hammer and carefully examined the small dagger in front of him. A faint smile appeared on his face as Five slowly tossed the dagger in his hands, "Finally, a proper weapon! I will soon be able to move to larger weapons."


    Having finally reached his goal, Five left the forge and returned to his room to rest. The week had been quite hectic for him; as he was leaving for an unknown period of time, a lot of preparations had to be made!


    As soon as he returned to the dungeon from his deal with the Shaman, Five immediately informed Dreidus that the barbarians would start exploring the fifth floor. And as he expected from Dreidus, the lich was already prepared for this event and went there to brief the monsters on the situation.


    Opening the 5th floor would not have an impact on the monsters'' life; the only impact it would have would be to urge Five to build the 6th floor. Before, the 5th floor acted as the last line of defense but now that it was gone, Five did not feel comfortable at all.


    As a result, he quickly used a large portion of the DP he gathered over the week to build a new floor. He initially thought of using the Nosferatus as the main monsters of the floor but after thinking more carefully, he concluded that the difference between the 5th and 6th floor would then be too big.


    It was only after discussing with Dreidus that the ideal 6th floor was built. This time, instead of going with a completely different landscape, Five opted for a simple design consisting of caverns and tunnels, similar to the 1st floor but with the caverns being at a much larger size and with shorter tunnels. Aside from that, a few puddles of water were scattered around the caverns and a small lake was added to one of the caverns.


    The key difference came from the ceiling; not only was it 10m high, Five decided to use a night sky with a bright full moon as the decoration and added a relatively large amount of moving clouds. They were just decorations, but they had some synergy with the chosen monsters.


    The main monsters summoned on the 6th floor were level 25 Cadavers; they were essentially corpses and had a similar appearance to the zombies on the 3rd floor but when they stood directly under the moonlight, then the flesh of the cadavers would temporarily disappear, making it appear as a skeleton. In terms of stats, the cadavers had both the advantages of the zombies and the skeletons; they had a good amount of vitality and significant strength and dexterity to be a threat.


    While the cadavers roamed through the majority of the 6th floor, the cavern which housed the small lake was devoid of them. The reason being that Five decided to turn that small cavern into the habitat of level 26 Corpse Eaters. They were hairless white creatures with an elongated body and 4 thick legs. The face of a Corpse Eater was devoid of any human features aside from the mouth; as a result, they could only detect their prey through heat detection.


    As their name suggested, the Corpse Eaters usually fed on corpses. They were living monsters and needed to be fed and the cadavers were the perfect source of food for them. Cadavers were undead monsters and did not release any heat; on the contrary, they absorbed heat and emitted some coldness, allowing the Corpse Eaters to detect them.


    As for why a small lake was placed in that particular cavern, it was because Corpse Eaters needed a source of water and in the future, Five planned to turn it into a potential entrance to a secret room.


    It was Five''s first attempt at creating a sort of environment for the monsters; while it was not exactly a self-sufficient environment as cadavers would often need to be replenished, it was a perfect testing ground to see the living monsters'' behavior. Each monster was different but Five wanted to see if the monsters summoned by the dungeon would behave like normal ones and hunt for food or they would simply wait to be served something to eat.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ...


    Five entered the meeting room and sat on the sofa for a moment. He took a moment to calm himself and relax. After much efforts, he had finally succeeded in making a dagger; while it was not a prestigious weapon, to Five, it was equivalent to making a step in the right direction.


    Since he would not be at the dungeon for the next few days, it also meant that he would not have the opportunity to practice smithing and so, Five ended up spending most of the past 2 days in his small forge to make up for the time that would be lost.


    Under the stress and pressure, he finally succeeded in making a tiny breakthrough before the departure time. With about 12 hours left before the departure time, Five decided to allow himself to decompress but before that, he quickly checked the time, "Perfect, the harpies should all still be here, I better call them now before they leave for their nightly excursion."


    He quickly stood up and stepped outside the meeting room only to find Lyra making her way to the common room. "Hey, Lyra, can you please call the others for a short meeting? I have something to tell them," said Five.


    "Sure," quickly replied the Banshee Queen before walking into the common room.


    ...


    In the meanwhile, in the common room, the 3 harpies, Dreidus and Ivan were all chatting over a cup of tea. Even Dreidus, who as an undead monster did not need to consume any food to survive, was also enjoying his cup of tea as a way to socialize with the other monsters.


    "Am I the only one or did you all notice it too?"


    "Notice what?" asked Dreidus.


    "I feel like master became more distant recently," answered Ariel while staring at the cup of tea in front of her. Her eyes were fixed on the small spiral in her cup.


    Surprised, Dreidus looked up at the harpy, "I don''t think so? Is it not just because he is learning how to craft? I think it is normal that he spends less time with us. Although I think it would be better if he summons a monster willing to learn to smith, I don''t see anything wrong with master."


    "It''s not what I mean. It has been almost one month since we came to the dungeon. But I feel like master''s behavior toward us has changed a little bit. I don''t feel the same warmth and comfort emanating from him anymore. It''s like he became colder and more distant, even when he talks to us, I feel like his sentences became a bit shorter and even our contact became less frequent."


    "Maybe it''s just your imagination. Master still speaks to me when I see him. He always asks me if the Shaman is teaching me well," said Angela. On her shoulder, Lumen started buzzing for a moment, occasionally emitting some light.


    "I think Lumen is right! I don''t spend much time with master, but I think he changed somehow. Just look at how he announced that he would be leaving soon with someone. He simply informed us about it; although we would not refuse, if it was the old him, I am sure he would discuss with us first and more importantly, he would allow us to choose who he would bring with him and ask for our opinion!" commented Alice.


    "Mmm, now that I think about it, maybe you are right. I obviously spend more time with Lyra now, but master certainly does feel a bit off. I remember how at the beginning, he valued every single one of us; even the most basic skeleton was important. Now look at what happened when he learned that he could harvest some raw materials from us, he did not hesitate to sacrifice some monsters to run some tests and now, we have to submit our loot as soon as they grow back. It might not be painful for you as you just pluck off a feather, but imagine you being in a skeleton''s situation, being ordered to cut off one of your ribs? I know that master was right in making these decisions... But maybe he could have been more tactful when passing the orders or he could have found other ways to test his theories?"


    As Dreidus spoke, everyone fell into deep thoughts. "What about you? What do you think, Ivan?" asked Dreidus to break the heavy atmosphere.


    "Nothing... I only joined recently and did not find anything wrong with master. Although it was my fault, he tried to intimidate me, merely seconds after I had spawned..." answered the Nosferatu who had stayed silent for most of the conversation.


    "Do you guys think that it is just due to stress? I heard that males, especially humans, need to vent out their frustrations sometimes or they become gloomy and aggressive. Maybe one of us should go and relieve him? What about you Angela? You have a nice figure, especially at the level of your chest and beautiful wings, there is no way he would not be attracted if you try a little bit," mischievously said Alice while grinning.


    "Me?" murmured Angela as she lowered her head. As no one could see her eyes, she immediately started comparing her figure with that of her sisters and as Alice mentioned, she indeed was the one with the most voluptuous chest.


    "Alice, this is a serious thing! Stop joking like that!" exclaimed Ariel. She was also visibly disturbed by her sister''s comment; only Alice could say this type of things so openly.


    Even Dreidus coughed in embarrassment, "Maybe it is just because the dungeon is growing. It is normal to communicate less when an organization gets bigger. Before coming here, I was a member of Necro Valley; there, we only got to talk to our superiors and rarely spoke to other divisions. We just need to make sure that we listen to master."


    "In any case, it is very important that we find out if it is just a mere coincidence. Maybe master is facing some difficulties and he is not willing to share his problems with us; as his monsters, it is our duty to help him. One of us will be going on a trip with master for the next few days, I hope that that one person can speak to master a little bit and find out if he is facing any trouble," said Ariel.


    At that moment, the door of the common room suddenly opened, and everyone jumped in fright. Fortunately, all the monsters calmed down as they realized that it was only Lyra.


    Surprised by their reaction, the Banshee Queen suspiciously looked at the monsters, "What shady business were you all doing? Master just told me to tell you all to meet him in the meeting room. He is waiting for us and it is probably about the trip tomorrow."

 Chapter 101: Departure

    Early in the morning, the small village of the Black Iron Tribe was already very active. As usual, the hunters were preparing their equipment and the women were preparing to go to the river. However, this time, while all these activities were taking place, a group of 10 barbarians was brought to the Shaman''s tent and was being coached by Achi on the trip to the Wild Bull Tribe.


    "Remember that the most important thing is to maintain our relationship with the other tribes! Our village is not very far from the townsmen''s encampment, if a war really was to happen, we would be one of the first to be affected. It would be best to avoid the war or at worst, remain friendly with others so that they can help us. I will give you 30 minutes to say goodbye to your families. Meet at the entrance of the village in exactly 30 minutes, I will go bring the guests," said Achi.


    As soon as they received the permission to leave, the 10 barbarians hurriedly made their way back to their tents; they did not know how long the trip would last and wanted to spend their last moments here with their family.


    Baltra was about to leave the Shaman''s tent when he heard the Shaman''s old voice, "Baltra, can you stay behind for a moment. I have a few stuffs to give you that might be helpful for the trip."


    "Yes, elder!" quickly answered Baltra as he returned to his sitting spot. As much as he wanted to go back, he was the leader of this trip; it was normal for him to shoulder more responsibilities.


    A few moments later, the Shaman quietly sat in front of Baltra and took out a few bottles, as well as a few small bags. "Keep them very carefully and give some to the others too. Use them only if necessary! These things are not easy to get," said the Shaman after explaining the use of each item.


    "Thank you, elder!" exclaimed Baltra, excitement was clearly displayed on his face. For the first time, he felt like he was an important member of the tribe, carrying all these powerful items with him.


    The Shaman gently smiled as he waited for Baltra to pack up everything. After making sure that no one else was there, he murmured, "Baltra, the main task of the expedition is to unite the tribes against the potential attack of the townsmen, but I shall give you another personal task to accomplish!"


    Surprised, Baltra answered, "Of course, elder. I will make sure to accomplish it, what is it?" Having just received a lot of items from the Shaman, Baltra was already elated; now that he was even being trusted by the Shaman with another important task, his ego went through the roof.


    "As Achi said earlier, you will also be escorting 2 guests to the Wild Bull Tribe to give a statement. I swore an oath to make sure the other tribes and the members of our own tribe won''t seek trouble after them. Make sure that nothing happens to them, they are very important partners and it is thanks to them that the village is prospering like that. However, I would like you to observe their behavior and also their strength. Also, I only mentioned that no barbarians would look for trouble. You should know what I mean."


    The Shaman spoke and quietly patted Baltra''s shoulder before disappearing between the messy piles of items.


    ...


    At the same time, at the edge of the forest, Five yawned and stretched his arms. It had been a long time since he had to wake up that early and clearly, his body was asking him to return to the comfort of his bed. Next to him, Ariel was quietly observing the surroundings, making sure that no enemies were hiding nearby.


    It was just yesterday that Five finally announced that he would bring Ariel with him. While it looked like a last-minute decision, it was not hard for Five to make his choice. Out of the strongest monsters of the dungeon, she was the most suited to bring on the trip.


    Dreidus was definitely ruled out as he was in charge of all the other monsters; it was all thanks to him that Five could feel safe leaving the dungeon. Ivan and Lyra were also eliminated as they were the most recent monsters, compared to the others, their strength was lacking and while he did not explicitly ask, Five knew that Dreidus was obviously against the idea of Lyra leaving the dungeon.


    Among the harpies, Angela declined the trip by herself. She knew that she was not suited for combat and she still had lessons with the Shaman. As for Alice, the young harpy was very curious about the outside world and was looking forward to the trip but in the end, Five chose Ariel other her as he would prefer to leave the troublemaker at the dungeon. The two harpies had approximately the same strength but in terms of personalities, Five found Ariel''s more suitable to bring on a trip.


    "No ambush, Master. Everything is clear. Should we just wait here?" asked Ariel.


    "Yes, the old Shaman told me to wait at the edge of the forest near the village. We should rest while we can, we will probably be riding horses all day long," answered Five as he sat on the ground.


    Ariel nodded but she did not join him. Instead, the young harpy quietly leaned against one of the trees in such a way that she could see both Five and the Black Iron village at the same time.


    After a brief moment of silence, Ariel finally decided to speak, "Master, was there a need to bring one of us on this trip? After you leveled up, you are strong enough to deal with them, right?"


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    "What? Are you not happy that I picked you? This trip is mainly for us to have a look at the outside world. I believe there would not be any conflict on this trip but we never know. Also, I brought you because you can fly, maybe that ability would be useful to us. After all, there is a possibility that what the barbarians observed has something to do with the upcoming trial," answered Five.


    As he spoke, Five took the opportunity to perform one last check on his character. He did not bring the dungeon core with him but he could still open his character window since he was a player. There has been a lot of changes since the last time he checked it; first of all, he was now level 18, three levels higher than he previously was. After the short meeting with the monsters, Five decided to spend the DP he had collected until now on himself.


    He had long wanted to increase his own strength to not have to rely entirely on the other monsters and this trip was the perfect excuse for him to strengthen himself. Aside from increasing his level by 3, Five also purchased some basic Grade 1 equipment, followed by a series of useful skills. As he was a dungeon master, he was not restricted to any classes but due to his situation, Five decided to focus on mage and priest skills.


    As much as he wanted to contribute to the dungeon, it was clear that he could not fight on the frontline; as the leader of the monsters, his death on the battlefield could have a severe impact on the moral of the monsters. Therefore, Five learned a series of long-distance skills which would allow him to safely participate in a battle. These skills ranged from level 5 to level 20; compared to the two skills Five purchased earlier, the new ones were way cheaper to purchase and did not consume a lot of mana to cast. He could easily use 5 to 7 skills in a row. In total, Five spent as much as 300000 DP on strengthening himself; it was as much as he would normally spend on a dungeon floor.


    He completely emptied his pockets as he then filled his inventory with items that might come in handy during the expedition. Five knew that his strength was limited; he would have to rely on items if he ever had to face a more powerful opponent than himself.


    "Master, someone is coming!" suddenly warned Ariel. The harpy had been on high alert and immediately spoke as she saw a tall burly barbarian making his way toward them.


    As he heard Ariel, Five raised his head to have a look and easily recognized the barbarian. "Mmm, that''s the chief of the village, let''s wait for him," said Five.


    Achi was taking his time to walk to the forest. He did his best to look friendly and made his approach obvious by walking loudly as he did not want Five to misunderstand him. Soon he arrived in front of Ariel who was standing in front of Five, "Hello Miss... Hello Five. It has been a while."


    "Achi, thank you for sheltering me on that night. I am very grateful," politely answered Five as he stood up.


    "Let''s go, everyone is waiting for you, I still need to present you to the team," said Achi. At the same time, he took out a black cloak and handed it to Ariel. "This is for you. The Shaman said that it would be useful to hide your identity. It would be best to avoid proclaiming to the world that you are not human."


    "Oh?" Ariel hesitated to take the cloak but when she saw Five nodding, she quickly took it and put it on. The cloak was not very large, but it allowed Ariel to hide her wings and her aura.


    "Looks good, you look just like a regular human," commented Five as he sized up Ariel. He did not know much about Ariel''s aura but at least, the cloak could conceal Ariel''s identity physically.


    Ariel slightly bowed to Achi, "Thank you for the cloak."


    "Haha, this is our Shaman''s gift. Let''s go to the village."


    ...


    At the entrance of the village, the ten barbarians going to Wild Bull Village were already riding their horses, ready to leave as soon as they were told to.


    Baltra, who stood at the front, shouted, "Make sure you do not forget anything, this is your last chance!"


    "Baltra, do you think the 2 townsmen will be able to ride our horses? They are different from the townsmen''s horses, ours are wild and will often only obey their owners," said one of the barbarians.


    "Hmmp, don''t worry about that, since the Shaman told us to bring them with us, they naturally should be able to ride our horses. If not, I guess we will have to leave them behind or use a cart?" said a barbarian while laughing. To the barbarians, not being able to ride a horse was a clear sign of weakness. It was very degrading for them to have to travel in a cart rather than on their horses.


    "Silence!" shouted Baltra to maintain the order. In the corner of his eyes, he had already noticed the arrival of Achi and the two townsmen.


    After a short visit at the Shaman''s tent, Five and Ariel were finally brought to meet the barbarians going on the trip. "This is Baltra, he is my right-hand man now, if there is anything you need, just ask him," said Achi.


    Baltra nodded to acknowledge Five but he did not bother to get down of his horse, "You look familiar. Have we met before?"


    "Maybe. I came to the village before, you could have seen me there," honestly answered Five. He quickly looked at the other barbarians and nodded to them.


    "Alright, let''s not lose time and set off right now. If we wait any longer, we might have to continue to ride even after the sunset," declared Baltra. With his right hand, he signaled one of his men to bring forward the two horses for Five and Ariel to ride.


    The latter was puzzled. It was the first time she was asked to ride a horse. As she could fly, riding was a useless skill to her and the horse in front of her did not seem to be beginner friendly either. He condescendingly snorted in front of Ariel and turned its head in a snob-like fashion.


    The barbarians quietly smiled as they observed the situation. Baltra showed no sign of wanting to help them either, instead he was thinking, ''if they can''t ride, I''ll just ask the girl to ride with me. As for the man, the cart should be good enough for him''


    Seeing the situation, Ariel frowned, how could a mere level 20 beast act like this in front of her. "So you don''t want to cooperate, huh?" said the harpy as she stepped forward and raised her hand.


    Her actions caused many barbarians to sigh. ''As we predicted, she is going for the soft approach. Unfortunately, it won''t work on our horses.''


    However, as Ariel''s hand was about to touch the horse, instead of gently patting it, she swiftly grabbed the horse''s skin and dug her long nails into the horse. As soon as it felt the pain, the horse opened its eyes in surprise and turned toward Ariel, only to see an innocent face looking at him.


    Ariel looked harmless at the surface, but the horse''s instincts were now warning it not to mess with her. The fact that she could easily pierce its skin with her nails was a clear indication of her strength. If she wanted, she should also be able to quickly end its life. That was clearly something the horse did not want to see.


    Before the horse could do anything else, Ariel swiftly jumped and gently landed on it. To the surprise of the barbarians, the horse did not even react to Ariel''s bold move. Had it been one of them, the horse would have at least screamed in surprise and tried to throw them off. But in front of them, the horse did not even react as Ariel quietly patted the horse''s sides.


    As for Five, there was no need for him to intimidate the horse. As soon as the barbarian let go of the horse, he swiftly jumped on it, grabbing the horse''s mane and tightly closing his legs around the horse.


    The loud neigh of the horse immediately attracted the attention of the barbarians who commanded their own horses to a step back. They watched as Five''s horse screamed, jumped and shook itself to try to throw off Five but to the barbarians'' surprise, Five did not seem to be disturbed by it. He firmly held his position on top of the horse and soon, the poor beast gave up struggling, it knew that no matter how hard it tried, it would never get rid of the human; it was best to be obedient or it might suffer later.


    Five was imperturbable. To him, subduing the horse was an easy task as riding was one of the many skills he had been trained in. As an assassin, he needed to be ready for all sorts of situation and sometimes, the mission might require him to ride horses which were often used in parades or in the wild. Although he did not get to put his skills to the test very often, he still remembered the theory behind horse riding.


    The barbarians'' eyes were wide open. Never did they expect two townsmen to successfully subdue their horses, each with their own method. It was a simple act, but it was enough for the barbarians to have a newfound respect for them.


    ''Looks like they have some skills after all...'' thought Baltra from the side. "Very good, since you all know how to ride, let''s leave quickly!"


    He raised his hand, signaling to everyone to start moving. Turning toward Achi, Baltra said, "We are leaving chief. See you again in a few days!"


    Achi waved his hands and watched as the small group disappeared from his view. He sighed as he made his way back to the Shaman''s tent. He was honestly hoping that this small expedition would go well and that they would all return safely.

 Chapter 102: Meeting the tribes

    "Alright! We made it just in time! You guys wait here for a moment, I''ll go and report to the village. There are so many tribes that are arriving, so we need to keep things in order. Karv, you look after the guests," declared Baltra as he signaled everybody to stop.


    The group of riders let out sighs of relief and a few of them even jumped down their horses. Five and Ariel were naturally one of the first to do so; they were not used to riding and after being forced to remain in the riding position for the whole day, it was normal for their body to ache.


    The journey was pleasant and peaceful for the most part. The only inconvenience of the ride was the fact that Baltra refused to let them stop with the excuse that they would be late if they did so. The barbarians'' horses had an abnormally high stamina, allowing them to run all day long. The horses themselves were not affected by the lack of rest, instead, it was the riders that were.


    As they could not stop, they naturally did not get the opportunity to stretch their sore muscles, nor could they relieve their bladder or prepare their lunch. Fortunately, Five was the least affected by it; not only did he not need to go to the toilet, but he also had the foresight of purchasing some food rations through the dungeon shop and storing them in his inventory. In the end, under the jealous stares of the barbarians, only Five and Ariel had the opportunity to enjoy a quick meal.


    Skipping one meal did not have a lot of impact on the barbarians as they would usually not eat during their hunt, but the fact that Five ate under their nose naturally attracted some animosity. Five and Ariel spent the majority of the journey together at the back of the group. The barbarians also naturally stuck to their group most of the time; it was only near the end of the journey that one of the barbarians, Karv, decided to slow his horse down a little bit and greeted Five.


    After a few exchanges, the two eventually lowered their guards and started chatting about random things. Baltra naturally noticed what was happening and as a result, he ended up giving the task of looking after Five and Ariel to Karv.


    "Ahhh, so many tribes have already arrived. I wonder how many will respond to the call," said Karv.


    "Do you recognize all the tribes there?" asked Five. The Wild Bull Village was only 100 meters away from Five; from his position, he could clearly see several groups of barbarians waiting in the distance like them.


    "Of course, wouldn''t it be a pity if we cannot even distinguish ourselves? Look over there, that group comes from the Scarlet Crow Tribe, they are good friends with our tribe. This one is the Swift Gazelle Tribe, the strongest tribe of the region. The group over there is the Black Vulture Tribe, you should stay away from them, they are not very friendly," said Karv as he pointed to each group waiting in the distance.


    Five observed the barbarians from the other tribes but as much as he strained his eyes, he could not find any feature that would allow him to distinguish between the tribes. They did not have flags or special tattoos, nor did different tribe wear special clothes. Furthermore, all the barbarians had similar physical features and their horses were all identical.


    "How do you distinguish between the tribes? Do you know the barbarians individually?" curiously asked Five.


    "How could I? There are so many of them. As for how I do it, that''s our secret, I am not allowed to reveal it to outsiders," answered Karv as he laughed at Five''s confused expression.


    Soon, Baltra came back riding his horse and quickly signaled everyone to enter the village. As soon as they heard their leader, the barbarians quickly made their way to the village and disappeared from Five''s line of sight. "Huh, you are really abnormal. Anyway, meet us at the central place," said Karv before disappearing.


    "Master, I will also take my leave for a moment," quietly said Ariel before hurriedly approaching a female barbarian. Five lightly smiled as he took his time to observe the village. Compared to him, the barbarians and Ariel did not have the luxury of ignoring nature''s call and after a whole day of restraining themselves, they could no longer wait to relieve themselves.


    ''It was a good thing that Ariel used the Language Orb,'' thought Five as he made his way to the center of the village. The Wild Bull Village had a similar design to the Black Iron Village. Some of the houses were made of thatch and wood but the majority of the houses were in fact tents made of animal furs and cloth, held by wooden sticks.


    While he was walking, Five could feel the stares of the barbarians around him. As the sun had already set, the hunters and the women already came back to the village and were spending some quality time with their children before proceeding to cook a feast for all the guests they were receiving.


    The Wild Bull Village was a well-known tribe of the region, famous for its absolute neutrality which is why it was selected to hold the meeting. As a result, the barbarians around Five simply looked at him but did not show any animosity. From his physical appearance, they could easily tell that Five was not a barbarian but since he was a guest, they treated him well and allowed him to continue on his way.


    As much as he was tempted to, Five did not wander around the village and soon arrived at the central place. To his surprise, a large number of barbarians were currently sitting in groups in the open area, waiting to be served some refreshments by the busy women of the Wild Bull Tribe.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    "So many tribes... There should be at least 100 barbarians from the other tribes and they just keep coming," said Five to himself. In the corner of his eyes, he quickly found Baltra and the others waiting and quickly walked toward them.


    "I am starving!" complained Karv as soon as he saw Five, hoping that the latter would be generous enough to share some rations with him. Unfortunately, Five ignored him and quietly waited for Ariel.


    "Alright, alright. I will just wait for them to serve us food then. I heard that the Wild Bull Tribe is the best host to have! They should be preparing something special for us, there''s no way they will let us sleep while starving," murmured Karv.


    Five nodded, he was also looking forward to the dinner. From Five''s initial observations, none of the tribes had sent their leaders to this meeting. The barbarians of the different tribes stayed among themselves and simply waited. It was different from the scene Five was expecting, where the different leaders would interact with each other or try to befriend others; it seemed that while the different tribes acknowledged each other, none of the barbarians knew each other at a personal level.


    While Five was engaged in a conversation with Karv about the tribes, he did not notice Ariel who quietly sat behind him. The young harpy easily attracted the gaze of the barbarians; she was pretty but more important, she was the only female guest; many barbarians were wondering about her presence but decided to keep it to themselves.


    As time went by, the barbarians slowly started to interact with their neighbors while more and more tribes arrived at the central place. The Wild Bull Village was much larger compared to the Black Iron Village but the sheer number of burly men present there easily made Five feel constricted. Fortunately, the neighboring tribes were quite friendly despite their scary appearance.


    The Wild Bull village soon attended to their guests and campfires were set to roast recently slaughtered beasts. Women started to carry bottles of alcohol and appetizers to the guests. Very quickly, a lively atmosphere started building up as the barbarians were anticipating the feast being cooked in front of their eyes.


    "Clap Clap Clap!"


    In the middle of the barbarians, a muscular barbarian loudly clapped to gather everyone''s attention. "Hello and welcome to the Wild Bull Village. My name is Soren, I am the chief of this humble village. I would first like to thank you all for responding to the tribes'' meeting, as it turned out, all the invited tribes are present with us tonight. I know that you are all exhausted from traveling which is why we organized this modest feast for you all."


    "Please enjoy yourselves for the night and do not hesitate to ask any member of my tribe if you have any queries! After a good night of rest, we''ll naturally get to the serious matter but for now, please enjoy our hospitality!"


    As he finished speaking, the tall barbarian, Soren raised a gourd with his right hand and quickly took a sip of the strong red wine it contained. Immediately, the surrounding barbarians cheered and imitated him.


    "The food will be served shortly!" announced one of the women as soon as Soren stepped to the side. As he heard her, Five shifted his attention to the roasted beast in front of the women. While Five was comparing the different pieces of meat to find the largest one, he noticed a strange movement in the corner of his eyes.


    Soren had been going from tribes to tribes, befriending the barbarians by drinking with them when suddenly, a barbarian of the Wild Bull Tribe pulled him to the side and started whispering to his ears.


    The next second, Soren''s expression changed from his casual and carefree face to a serious one. He quickly left the central place in the direction of the entrance of the village.


    "Did something happen?" asked Five to himself. He turned toward Ariel as he wanted to ask her about the situation, but he quickly found that the harpy was engaged in a conversation with the women of the tribe.


    Ariel kept to herself for most of the time, she did not really want to interact with humans but under the persistence of the female barbarians, she soon gave in and started chatting, after all, she could not be impolite and cause trouble. The female barbarians were especially kind toward her as they pitied her for having to travel for an entire day before reaching their village.


    "Anyway, there are so many barbarians here, there should not be any problem!" thought Five as he turned back his attention to the pieces of meat being distributed by the barbarians.


    Soon it was his turn to be served. Five swiftly grabbed the plate he judged to have the largest piece of meat. He was delighted; he could smell the faint aroma of the different spices. Aside from the meat, Five''s plate also contained a thick stew, some boiled veggies and a piece of bread. It was nothing extraordinary but this meal could easily be considered above average even at the Black Iron Tribe.


    Five was examining his meal, wondering how he was supposed to eat the meat since no cutleries were provided when he heard a loud commotion coming from the other barbarians. He raised his head, only to find that many barbarians stood up to make way for people to walk into the central place.


    Between the tall barbarians, Five quickly spotted Soren, the chief of the Wild Bull Tribe, accompanied by a small group of barbarians. "Didn''t he say that all the invited tribes were already there?" thought Five.


    However, he soon received the explanation he was looking for. "Look, it is the Wandering Ram Tribe!" exclaimed Karv as his eyes lit up with excitement.


    "Wandering Ram Tribe? Is there something special about them?" curiously asked Five. From the barbarians'' reaction, he could easily tell that this tribe was special.


    "Of course, how can you be that ignorant. The Wandering Ram Tribe comes from the Central Plains! They are the one and only nomad tribe who do not have a fixed location for their village! They are only a small tribe but each one of them is at least as powerful as our village chief. It is said that the Wandering Ram Tribe always abstains from interfering in conflicts between tribes but whenever townsmen are involved, they will immediately turn up to protect the barbarians'' dignity! It is thanks to their tribe that we were able to maintain our territory during the last war with the townsmen! According to rumors, whenever the Wandering Ram Tribe would show up, we, barbarians are guaranteed to win!" excitedly explained Karv.


    "So that''s why everybody reacted like that... They are basically the equivalent of the heroes of war..." murmured Five.


    He observed the barbarian of the Wandering Ram Tribe. They did not differ much in terms of appearance, but they indeed had more charisma than the other barbarians. More importantly, compared to what he had observed before, this time, the barbarians of the different tribes quickly tried to approach them and attempted to befriend them.


    The leading man lightly coughed as he was being overwhelmed by the surrounding barbarians, "Cough cough. Sorry to disturb your meal. I just wanted to say that my tribe has already settled a few hundred meters away from the Wild Bull Village. We understand that we were not invited to this meeting, but we treat matters concerning the townsmen very seriously. As we have heard rumors of potential attacks, we have decided to roam around this area and coincidentally, we decided to camp there for the night. I was graciously invited by Chief Soren here to join you but unfortunately, I would have to decline as my tribe has already made preparations. It would be a shame to waste our limited resources, but I still came here to greet you all and to thank you for turning up to the meeting."


    Quickly, many barbarians went toward the man and insisted on him staying for the feast. As he understood the situation, Five quickly lost interest and focused on his meal. Even if it was no longer necessary for him to eat, it was still hard for him to resist the temptation of the appetizing meal. He quickly started digging in, completely ignoring his surroundings.


    The Wandering Ram Tribe leader politely declined the invitations of the barbarians and swiftly made his way toward the exit. But before leaving, he quietly looked at each tribe present, making a mental note of who he would need to interact with tomorrow. As he observed the barbarians, his gaze was quickly attracted to Five and Ariel who easily stood out. His gaze lingered on them for a moment before the tribe leader finally turned around and left the central place.

 Chapter 103: Visitor in the night

    The next morning, Five woke up and quickly pushed the layer of animal fur which acted as a blanket.


    "Good morning Master."


    In a corner of the tent, Ariel had already woken up and was guarding the tent. After last night''s feast, the Wild Bull Tribe kindly provided tents to all the guests; those tents were quite large and could accommodate up to 6 people. Each tribe would normally receive two tents but since Ariel was a woman, it would not be appropriate for her to sleep in a crowded tent full of men.


    Fortunately, the Wild Bull Tribe prepared more tents than needed and Ariel and Five decided to share one tent together. Neither Five nor Ariel found this situation strange; the harpy was brought here to act as a bodyguard, it was normal for her to stay near Five as much as possible.


    "Morning!" answered Five with a sleepy voice. He slowly stood up and stretched his body. "Mmm, the sun is already up. Should we go and get some breakfast?"


    "Yes!"


    ...


    At the center of the Wild Bull Village, each tribe was once again seated in a large circle. However, this time, not all the barbarians were present. In fact, sending 10 people to a meeting was simply too much and most of them were there just to act as bodyguards and to display the strength of the tribe. To avoid overcrowding the central place, a group of barbarians had already departed to take a look at the townsmen''s encampment with a group of scouts.


    The other noteworthy difference was that this time, the Wild Bull Tribe and the Wandering Ram Tribe also joined the circle and naturally, these two tribes held the best spots.


    "Since we are all here, I declare this session open! Our scouts have already departed accompanied by some of your men to bring the newest reports on the situation. They should be back in about 4 hours. Until then, we would like to share the observations that we have made, and I would then invite you to share your own information!" solemnly declared Soren, the leader of the Wild Bull Tribe.


    Five was seated at the back of the Black Iron Tribe''s spot and was quietly judging the barbarians. "It seems that Soren can have the aura of a leader when he wants to. At least, he does not look as carefree as last night," said Five to himself.


    Seeing the different tribe acknowledge him, Soren continued, "As you all know, the closest encampment to our village is the Tolden Encampment. During the last week, our scouts discovered that the townsmen have set up a temporary camp outside their city wall. The camp was small at first but since then, it had grown to a decent size and according to our estimate, it should be housing about 500 individuals. The design of their camp is similar to what we observed during the previous war! There is no doubt that it is a military camp."


    "500 more soldiers do not sound very threatening compared to the 2500 soldiers permanently stationed at the Tolden Encampment but unfortunately, our scouts also reported that the camp at the townsmen''s dungeon was expanded to accommodate 300 more people. Furthermore, we also discovered a temporary camp being built 50km north to the Tolden Encampment. If we assume that some of their new soldiers are staying inside the encampment, then we can estimate the number of soldiers to be at around 5000! If they are still at the same level as during the previous war, my tribe should be able to hold its ground, but I doubt that is the case. What do you all think?"


    As Soren was speaking, he was carefully examining everyone''s reaction, in particular, that of the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader. The Wild Bull Tribe was a large tribe which housed more than 1500 individuals. Soren was confident in the strength of his tribe, especially as he knew that the average barbarian was far stronger than the average townsman soldier. Unfortunately, if the townsmen continued to gather more and more soldiers, the balance would soon tip in the favor of the townsmen.


    It was why he wanted to unite all the tribes against the growing threat and as he expected, as soon as he revealed the numbers, murmurs started to rise from the crowd. The other tribes were naturally worried about the situation, many of them were not as large as the Wild Bull Tribe and would not necessarily be able to protect themselves. Soren was delighted to see the barbarians'' reactions but the person that mattered the most did not react.


    The Wandering Ram Tribe leader did not even flinch as he listened to Soren. Instead, the old man lightly coughed to maintain the order, "Before we come to a conclusion and start a messy discussion, I would like to ask the other tribes located at the border to also report their observations."


    His voice was calm and quiet but had a strange soothing effect. The barbarians quickly calmed down and the next tribe representative stood up.


    "Very interesting!" thought Five. The numbers reported were not absurdly large to him. After all, during the first trial, he had to kill more than 100 beasts. The second trial should at least involve 200 enemies.


    Each time a barbarian would speak, Five would make a mental note to estimate the number of soldiers gathering at the border. In total, 6 invited tribes were located at the border. Five did not know the location of the villages but in total, he estimated that 20000 soldiers were currently guarding the border.


    It was a massive amount of soldiers but Five did not consider it as a huge threat. First of all, the majority of these soldiers were already previously stationed there and Five highly doubted that these soldiers would ever leave the encampments. It would be foolish if the townsmen decided to leave their town defenseless just to capture a small barbarian village.


    Second, Five believed that the townsmen were not really preparing for a war. He knew that this world was a game and to keep players motivated, events were an absolute must. A war was clearly a huge opportunity for the players to participate but he did not find anything about it on the forums!


    Although he could not participate in the regular players¡¯ forum, he could still browse through and read the news. There has been absolutely no discussion about a potential event and there were no threads about the Tolden Encampment either. This area was clearly relatively new and unexplored by the players.


    Therefore, why would such a huge number of soldiers appear at the border? One of the answers Five came up with was the trials! It was what Five concluded from the different facts he observed. In that scenario, these many soldiers did not represent much of a threat to him as many dungeons spawned all over the continent. Clearly, the system was stationing the soldiers there, preparing them to attack the dungeons of the region when the time would come. It was naturally just a theory, but Five''s instincts pushed him to believe he had guessed correctly.


    "The situation is very worrying! The townsmen gathered a significant number of soldiers but that is not yet enough to threaten us! Before we do anything else, I would like to invite the members of the Black Iron Tribe to speak. According to the letter of your Shaman, you have some valuable information to share with us!" said Soren.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    The barbarians quickly shifted their attention to the Black Iron Tribe. They were curious about what they had to say; the Black Iron Tribe was a low-medium size tribe and was fairly popular, but they were situated at a reasonable distance from the border. In normal circumstances, they had no need to scout the border, so what could they have to report.


    Unaware of the situation, Five was deep in thoughts as he was evaluating the situation of the border and pondering on how to react. It was only when Ariel lightly nudged him that he realized that everyone was looking at him. He immediately understood what just happened and quickly stood up.


    "Greetings to you all. My name is Five and I was sent here to share some information with you. I will not hide that I am not a barbarian... However, although I am a townsman, I am against any potential conflicts between the two parties. Many of you might recognize me as my guildmates and I have recently started doing some business with some of your tribes. It should be clear to you that a war will have a serious impact on our business which is why I am standing here!"


    Behind Five, Ariel was rolling her eyes, "Was there even a need to lie like that?" She knew that Five could not reveal that he was a dungeon master but never did she expect Five to impersonate some random merchants.


    To Five, pretending to be one of the players that came to trade was his best option. It would first create a reasonable cover for him and at the same time, reduce the animosity directed at him as many tribes were grateful to the players for providing them with food and materials.


    "I do not have any inside information on the soldiers'' movement, but I do know something more interesting. In short, a large number of humans have been summoned all over the continent and they all have some special powers. In fact, my guildmates and I were also summoned there which is why we have a different mentality. We are different from the other townsmen not only because we think differently but also because we have abilities like this!"


    As he spoke, Five suddenly took out his mage wand from his inventory and showed it to the barbarians.


    "As you can see, I do not own any special items that allow me to store this but instead, I was gifted an ability that allows me to do so. But more importantly, I think that what really separates us from the other townsmen is our ability to revive."


    As he finished speaking, the barbarians immediately started discussing among themselves, not caring about maintaining any form of order in front of the Wandering Ram Tribe leader. What Five had just said was simply too unbelievable. Wasn''t it equivalent to saying that a massive infinite army had just appeared and was preparing to attack them?


    After staying silent for a moment, Five quickly hid his smile and continued, "However, our revival naturally has a severe cost! We can revive but in exchange, we have to give up our levels!" After he finished speaking, Five put back the mage wand in his inventory and crossed his arms waiting for the questions.


    He was well aware that he had just revealed important information to the barbarians but that would not affect him in any way. For this meeting, Five decided to be completely transparent and cooperate with the barbarians. He wanted them to have as much information as possible as he did not want a war to break out! A war would simply disrupt the growth of the dungeon!


    Five did not know the strength of the barbarians which is why he simply revealed everything. He believed that the barbarians would be smart enough to gauge the situation. If they were strong enough, then they could be on the offensive side and get rid of the threat before it grew up. On the other hand, if they were not confident, they could negotiate to maintain the current peace. In both scenarios, Five''s dungeon would stay away from the flames of war.


    "Can you give us more details about the penalty you are talking about? How many levels do you lose?" asked one of the barbarians.


    As Five expected, he was soon engulfed in an avalanche of questions.


    ...


    After asking more than a dozen questions, the crowd of barbarians finally calmed down. They were still worried about the situation but wanted to see the Wandering Ram Tribe leader''s reaction. As a matter of fact, the different tribes were all very polite to Five even if he represented a threat. After all, it was now well known among the tribes that some townsmen started to do business with some tribes, allowing them to sell their old items and purchase essential food and material. Since Five presented himself as one of those merchants, the tribes were all looking for an opportunity to befriend him and invite him to do business with them; they would certainly not antagonize him and would rather have someone else raise the suspicious points. Even the Black Iron Tribe members believed him as their tribe leader only mentioned that they would be escorting two guests and did not give any information about him.


    The only barbarian that remained absolutely calm during the entire meeting was the Wandering Ram Tribe leader. "So you say that those ''players'' might not form part of the new soldiers observed by the scouts?"


    "It is just my assumptions, but I do believe so," answered Five.


    The old man remained expressionless and continued to ask. "How can you be so sure?"


    "It is just a logical deduction, but we can easily confirm this. If you bring me there, I will be able to identify the players there," answered Five.


    "That is good. You don''t seem to be lying and therefore, I believe we should focus on the present situation for the moment. 20000 soldiers represent a significant force but that is surely not enough to deal with all of us..."


    Seeing that the attention was slowly shifting away from him, Five let out a sigh of relief and sat back down. He felt a huge pressure being lifted off his shoulders. He had successfully completed the task he was given and could now stay there without any worries.


    Directed by the Wandering Ram Tribe leader, the barbarians soon started discussing among themselves, formulating some strategies to deal with the townsmen. The meeting quickly became very boring for Five as he was not interested in watching the tribes urging each other to send more men to the battlefield.


    Time went by and the heated discussions showed no signs of stopping. Five and Ariel did not have anything else to contribute and simply watched as they slowly got more and more bored. The barbarians understood the importance of these discussions and were not willing to stop, they did not even stop when the delicious smell of roasted meat started to permeate the air.


    It was only when the scouts sent earlier finally returned to the tribe that Soren stood up and spoke, "Friends, I believe it is time for a short break. My tribe has already prepared freshly hunted beasts for your enjoyment. You will all soon be served, and we can all enjoy a delicious meal as we listen to our scouts'' report!"


    ...


    "Ahhh... So tired... It has been a while since I''ve been into such a boring meeting like that," complained Five as he walked toward his tent.


    "You had many meetings before, master?" asked Ariel who was walking right behind Five.


    "Way too many and most of the time, I do not even understand what they are talking about. Directing a company can be hard sometimes..."


    The day had been very long for the two. During their short lunch, the scouts reported the exact same information that Soren shared earlier. It could be considered as good news as nothing had changed but it was still worrying. The barbarians spent the rest of the day discussing and planning for the war. Naturally, the war to come was still not confirmed, it was just that when facing such a huge threat, the barbarians wanted to be prepared.


    Five had nothing to add to the discussions. It was only at the end that the Wandering Ram Tribe leader suggested the idea to go to the Tolden Encampment to confirm that none of the soldiers were players. Five agreed without hesitation; he was precisely looking for an opportunity to see more of the world and had no reason to refuse.


    After the very long meeting, to the surprise of Five, the Wild Bull Tribe prepared another feast for the barbarians. It was normal for them to receive proper accommodation and food but from Five''s point of view, the Wild Bull Tribe was overdoing it. It was clear that hosting this meeting was not cheap and would consume a significant amount of resources of the tribe.


    As much as it was strange, Five would not say no to a delicious meal. The dinner was rather peaceful as the barbarians would finally relax and many of them took the opportunity to approach Five. Since he presented himself as a merchant, the barbarians of the different tribes tried to befriend him and invite him to their village for business.


    They did not know that Five was lying and the latter politely refused using the excuse that his guild was slowly developing but would soon expand its range of operation. He tried to remain as vague as possible to avoid raising any suspicion but also took the opportunity to ask the barbarians about the location of their village from which he was able to draw a rough map of the region.


    "Master, you need to be very careful. The barbarians are all very strong, especially the old man that lead the meeting today. I cannot see his level, but he should be at least level 50... Which also means that he should be able to see through your amulet..." murmured Ariel.


    Five frowned as he heard the harpy. After a few seconds of reflection, he answered: "You think so? I trust your instinct, he can probably see that I am a dungeon master and that you are a harpy, but he did not attack us! Which means, he can be considered as an ally... At least for now... I think that he wants us to go with the scouts tomorrow to test us!"


    "Oh? Then what should we do?" asked Ariel as she observed her surroundings to make sure no one was following them.


    "Behave as usual. If he is really that smart and wise, he should realize that I am siding with the barbarians. However, I want you to promise me something. The Shaman promised me that no barbarians would target us, but we cannot trust him completely. If that guy attacks us tomorrow, I want you to escape as soon as possible without worrying about me. As strong as you are, you are not able to deal with someone at level 50. I can die... But you can''t..." quietly said Five as he stopped in front of his tent.


    Behind him, Ariel bit her lips and remained quiet, it was a tough decision and she was unwilling to accept this order.


    Five smiled and stepped forward to enter the tent, "At least, I can trust Ariel. She did not immediately accept the order," said Five to himself.


    He was about to push open the flap of the tent when suddenly, Ariel grabbed his arm to stop him.


    "What is it?" curiously asked Five as he felt that the harpy''s grip was strangely firm.


    "Master, there''s some danger. I feel the presence of someone in the tent!" quietly answered Ariel as she pulled Five behind her. She wore a serious face as she carefully examined the inside of the tent by using a soft air current.


    At the same time, a muffled laugh came from the inside of the tent, "Not bad, not bad. To be able to detect my presence, you are quite skilled!"


    Five widened his eyes in surprise. He immediately tried to pull out his mage wand from his inventory but at the same time, he felt a strange invisible force surround his body. Before Five could react, he and Ariel were suddenly pulled into the tent without being able to utter a single word.

 Chapter 104: Totem spirit

    Inside the dark tent, a tall man was motionlessly sitting on a few layers of animal fur. The man looked like someone in his forties, he had a well-defined body similar to that of culturists; his clothes and tattoos highlighted his muscles especially since he was only wearing a pair of trousers.


    It was the first time Five was seeing that man and was wondering about his intentions. While he and Ariel had been forcefully pulled into the tent, the force disappeared as soon as they entered the tent and the pair was gently placed on the ground.


    Ariel was the first to move; as soon as she was no longer held by that invisible force, she immediately pulled Five behind her. Without caring about hiding her appearance, she spread her wings to cover as much area as possible while placing herself between Five and the silent man.


    However, Ariel did not attack and neither did the man. Contrary to what Ariel expected, the man did not even move as she stepped forward. In fact, the man did not even open his eyes and seemed to be meditating. As long as he did not attack, there was no reason for Ariel to make the first move. She instinctively knew she did not stand against him which was why she decided to reveal her identity as a harpy. Not only could her wings allow her to fight at her full potential, but it could also divert the man''s attention from her master, allowing Five to escape in case the situation turned sour.


    As for Five, he quietly stayed behind Ariel and observed the man. Once he calmed down from his original panic, Five started to analyze the situation and tried to determine the identity of the man. "A barbarian? No, his look does not match with the ones I''ve seen and the Shaman swore that no barbarians would look for trouble? Could it be an intruder? The security of this place is really questionable..." said Five to himself.


    The tent remained silent for a moment as no one moved until the man slowly opened his eyes and spoke, "Young harpy? Could you stop charging your attack like that? You are trying to be discreet but if you continue, the barbarians outside will soon notice. You know that I am not here to harm you. If I was, we would not be here talking, right?"


    Ariel''s wings trembled as she heard the old man. She had indeed been discreetly gathering the wind outside the tent to launch an attack just a few moments ago. The wind''s movement was very subtle, yet, the man was able to detect the anomaly in just a few seconds. She was unsure of what to do when she felt Five move behind her.


    "Then may I ask: what are you here for?" asked Five. He slowly moved to the side and directly faced the man at a reasonable distance.


    "You should sit down first. I apologize for approaching you in this fashion, but it was the only way I could think of which would not attract the barbarians'' attention!" answered the man. He spoke with an expressionless face and although he was apologizing, his tone barely conveyed his intentions.


    Five stared at the man, trying to guess his intentions. After a few moments, he turned toward Ariel, signaling her to calm down and let him take control of the situation.


    "It is fine if you don''t want to sit. Since I came here, I suppose I should present myself first. My name is Noon. The reason I approach you is simply that I am looking for a dungeon master and I believe that you are one of them. Am I right? Five?" The man spoke slowly, he was full of confidence and seemed to be laughing internally.


    Five was initially stunned as he heard the words "dungeon master", but quickly recovered. "As expected, since he is strong enough to deal with Ariel like that, he should be able to see through the amulet," thought Five.


    A worried look appeared on Ariel''s face. She initially thought that the man was here to deal with them; at worst, she and Five would die but now, the situation had changed. He knew about Five''s identity which meant that he could have hidden motives.


    "I suppose that this amulet cannot hide my identity from you. Yes, I am a dungeon master. Why are you looking for me?" politely asked Five. He was not feeling very comfortable, but he could not afford to offend that man at the moment.


    "I am naturally here to ask for help! I came here for reproduction purposes," said Noon with a serious face.


    Five was stunned and did not know what to think. "Reproduction?" internally exclaimed Five. He instinctively turned to look at Ariel who was also visibly shaken by Noon''s request.


    However, before the two could say anything, Noon hurried spoke, "No, not that kind of reproduction. Although that harpy is beautiful, I am too old for this kind of thing. Let me explain my situation first."


    "Please go ahead," said Five. He was relieved and quickly dismissed his previous thoughts. Ariel similarly calmed down and let out a sigh of relief.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    "Although I look like a human at the moment, I am not one. I am in fact a totem spirit."


    "A totem spirit? What is that?" curiously asked Five.


    "Mmm, how do I explain that? Essentially, each barbarian tribe has a totem spirit. We were once living beasts or entities who at some point, decided to seal ourselves into special objects. Since then, many of us decided to help the barbarian tribes and in exchange, they prepare sacrifices and offerings for us."


    "You have been at the barbarians'' meeting today. Were you not surprised when the barbarians were not scared of fighting the townsmen even though they are greatly outnumbered and have poorer equipment? That is all thanks to us, totem spirits!"


    Five calmly listened; he had indeed found it strange that the barbarians would fight such a disadvantageous fight, but it turned out that they had such a trump card!


    "Then how is that related to your request?"


    "Isn''t it obvious? I am now just a spirit who can barely stay away from my tribe for more than a few hours. But I was once alive and full of vigor. But in my current situation, I cannot reproduce by normal means. Fortunately, the dungeons would allow me to bypass this small trouble. I am sure you understand what I am talking about," answered Noon.


    Five''s eyes immediately lit up. The situation was very similar to how he recruited Dreidus! It was obvious that Noon was a very powerful monster but somehow, Five felt that things would not be that simple.


    "Haha, don''t get the wrong idea! I will not allow you to mess around with my race. I am the very last member of my race and I take this matter very seriously. I just want you to summon a child to who I can pass my legacy. However, you will have absolutely no control on that child, nor will you ever summon other members of my race!" said Noon with a serious expression. As he spoke, a faint cold air current started to flow into the tent, making Five and Ariel shiver.


    Five quietly nodded, it seemed that he went slightly overboard with his expectations. "It seems that you know a lot about dungeons. Considering your knowledge, why did you approach me? There are several dungeons over the continent and many have existed for quite a while. Why did you not go there?"


    "That''s a very good question. Many other dungeons exist but the majority of them are on the townsmen''s territory. However, a few dungeons also exist on our own territory. Unfortunately, I am not the only one seeking an easy way to reproduce. Although all the tribes appear to be united, several conflicts exist among the tribes and those controlling the dungeons would not allow me to do as I please. Also, there are also a lot of rivalries between totem spirits, these old bastards would never lend me their dungeon. But recently, quite a few dungeons started to appear which once again gave me the opportunity to try to reproduce. You just happen to be the first dungeon master that I encounter, that''s all."


    "Judging from what you''ve said, you are the totem spirit of the Wandering Ram Tribe, right?" curiously asked Five.


    Noon nodded, "Indeed, but that is not too hard to guess."


    "Very interesting. I sympathize with you but isn''t this exchange disadvantageous for me? Not only am I not getting anything, but I am also indirectly creating some grudge between my dungeon and the ones you''ve mentioned earlier?" said Five to test the waters.


    "Huh, I knew that all humans are greedy! Are you not already satisfied with the fact that I am not forcing you into doing that? I could easily destroy your dungeon and wait for you to revive! Because yes, I know that you and some of your monsters can revive again and again." As Noon spoke, a flash of anger appeared in his eyes and quickly vanished. It only occurred for a fraction of a second but Five was nevertheless able to notice it.


    Five and Noon stared at each other for a moment. A few seconds later, Noon let out a faint smile for the first time, "Sigh, alright kid. I was just teasing you. Since that''s the case, I will owe you a favor if you agree and we''ll swear an oath to ensure both parties'' safety, how about that?"


    Five pondered for a moment; this offer was extremely alluring. Although he did not know much about Noon, it was clear that he was a powerful monster. Although he failed to recruit him, if he could ask for his help, then that would make things much easier. As a matter of fact, there was one thing that lingered on Five''s mind for a while: the auction.


    That event that was meant to occur right after the trials was quite worrying. Based on his previous experience, if he started to save some DP for the auction, then there was a huge risk of him failing the trials. However, if he could use the help of someone like Noon, he would be able to easily smooth sail through the trials without investing heavily on the dungeon, allowing him to save a lot more DP for the event!


    As for the flash of anger that he noticed, Five was not worried about it. Although it was intimidating, Five was not threatened by it simply because he felt that it was an empty threat! It seemed that Noon was really just testing him as although the stare was ferocious, it did not contain any killing intent or malice.


    "That is a very attractive offer but shall we discuss the details a little bit more?" asked Five.


    "Alright, the night is still young, we have a lot of time..."


    ...


    [Stellar Transposition]


    Ariel watched as Noon cast his spell and vanished from the tent bringing Five with him. The harpy stared at the now empty spot, unsure of what to do next.


    She spent the last hour anxiously standing behind Five, ready to intervene. The two men had spent almost an hour discussing the details of their deal and as soon as they finished and both stood up, they both left without even notifying her.


    Ariel had stayed on the edge for the whole duration of the encounter with Noon and now that they had both left, she finally felt the pressure on her shoulders disappear. However, that pressure was soon replaced by a strong feeling of guilt.


    She had long wanted to be useful to the dungeon and now that she had finally received the opportunity to do so, she failed miserably. She was way too weak in comparison to Noon and failed to detect a potential threat in time.


    Ariel lowered her head but did not stop staring at the empty spot, wondering if everything was going well on Five''s side.


    She was so focused on her own thoughts that she did not even notice as a slim silhouette appeared at the entrance of the tent.


    "Ariel, is everything alright?" asked the newcomer.


    Surprised, Ariel quickly turned toward the entrance, "Mother, you were here?"


    Harriet kindly smiled and pulled Ariel in her arms, "You don''t have to blame yourself for that. That man spoke to me last night and I allowed him to contact Five. This deal will be beneficial to the dungeon!"


    "You spoke to him before and allowed him to? Why? Why did you do so? It was clearly dangerous for master to talk to him and he even seemed very threatening," asked Ariel as she pulled herself from Harriet''s embrace.


    The latter lowered her head and answered, "If he really wanted to force Five to allow him into the dungeon, even I won''t be able to stop him. I hate to admit it but even with my current strength, I am unable to even hinder him. I cannot even see through his level. Noon has all the qualifications to be arrogant and proud, with his strength, few can rival him on the continent. Moreover, he was quite polite when he approached me. You have to put yourself in his situation. He is the last member of his race and has spent countless years alone."


    "He was indeed a bit rude but think about it. Isn''t it normal for him to be affected after living alone for so long? He barely interacted with others and always stood on top of everyone else; after this long, his communication skills certainly took a hit. Think about it, how would you behave if Angela, Alice and everyone else left you for a long period of time? I think that he at least held his own temper," said Harriet trying to comfort Ariel.


    Ariel once again fell into deep thoughts. She could not imagine her life living alone without her sisters. "I understand but will everything be alright?"


    "It should be. If Five acts smartly, the dungeon will benefit quite a bit from this small trade."

 Chapter 105: So much DP

    High in the sky, right above the Black Iron Village, space started to distort itself and out of nowhere, Noon and Five suddenly appeared. The latter was confused and disoriented, a moment ago, he was still in his tent at the Wild Bull Tribe, when everything around him started to bend. The teleportation process had been short but he still felt nauseated by a strange feeling, similar to riding a rollercoaster while watching a strange combination of optical illusions.


    "This is the Black Iron Village, where is your dungeon?" flatly asked Noon who did not seem affected at all by his spell.


    It was then that Five realized that he was floating in the sky; there was no ground under his feet, just a few hundred meters separated him from the ground.


    "Is this really the Black Iron Village? It is the first time I am watching it from above and am not very sure. You should be able to find a waterfall nearby, my dungeon is located there," said Five.


    Noon nodded and the next second, the pair started to fly in a particular direction. "I found it, it''s not very far. Who would have known that you picked such a small tribe to settle your dungeon? It looks like the Black Iron Tribe won''t remain as a medium tribe for long," commented Noon. He looked at the small village beneath him, wondering whether he should contact the elders of the Wandering Ram Tribe about this.


    "Medium tribe? How do you qualify the tribes?" asked Five.


    "Trying to gather information from me? Tsssk, this is not some confidential information anyway. For this region, small tribes are usually made up of less than 300 people with an average level of 20 and at least someone at level 30. Medium tribes can have a population ranging from 300 to 700 people with an average level of 30 and at least someone at level 40. As for large tribes, anything above the medium size can be considered large. This Black Iron Tribe is relatively small in size with only about 400 people, but it surprisingly has 3 elders... Not bad, not bad."


    Five attentively listened, trying to gather as much information as possible, "if that''s for this region, then what are the standards of the central plains?"


    "Hmmm, the central plains are different, I doubt you will ever go there but the standards are strange. Size does not matter anymore, only overall strength does. My Wandering Ram Tribe only has 200 individuals and yet, we are classified as one of the most powerful tribes. Since we do not really stay in one place for long, it is hard for us to grow but the barbarians are happy like that. Anyway, enough talking, the waterfall is there, where is your dungeon?" said Noon.


    Five had long noticed that they have arrived, after all, the waterfall was not very quiet. With reluctance, he quickly pointed out the entrance and guided Noon inside.


    As soon as they entered, Noon frowned but remained silent. He quietly followed behind Five who brought him to the second floor from which he would be able to use the internal tunnels.


    However, as he arrived at the stairs between the first and second floor, Five stopped and spoke, "Dreidus! There is nothing to worry about him. He is a friend!"


    As Five expected, the very next second, the secret door to the tunnels suddenly opened, revealing a frowning Dreidus and an anxious Lyra. Five was very satisfied with the couple; even in his absence, the two were still looking after the dungeon well and were ready to react in case of an emergency.


    Five quickly tried to create a friendly climate between Dreidus and Noon; he had purposely slowed down as he walked through the first floor in order to give time for Dreidus to prepare. He was worried that the lich would be reckless, but it turned down that he was just planning an ambush.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "Master, is everything alright? Who is he?" carefully asked Dreidus as he stared at Noon.


    "Don''t worry I am not being forced here. This is Noon. He made a small deal with me. Let''s go to the meeting room where it will be more comfortable to talk," said Five as he nodded to Dreidus to reassure him.


    "Mmm, in that case, please excuse my rudeness," declared the lich as he stepped aside to allow Noon to enter the tunnel.


    ''If master has some sort of agreement with that man, then it should be fine!'' thought Dreidus. Although he appeared to be relaxed, he never let down his guard and kept a close eye on Noon.


    The latter was expressionless, he quietly followed the tunnel and soon arrived at the meeting room. "That''s your dungeon core?" asked Noon as he pointed at the floating sphere while frowning.


    "Yes," Five answered as he stepped forward to check on the core. He was not worried that Noon might try something on the core as they were already bound by their oath. However, the closer he was to the dungeon core, the more comfortable he felt.


    "In that case, let''s do things quickly. I cannot stay away from my tribe for very long!"


    Five nodded as he manipulated the dungeon core to open the interface. He was not at ease now that he was allowing Noon to use the core; it would have been best if he had owned a pseudo-dungeon core but unfortunately that was not the case.


    Leaving aside these thoughts, Five looked at the projected interface in front of him but what he saw next stunned him. He now understood why Dreidus was so anxious when facing Noon; it seemed that he had underestimated the value of the Totem Spirit.


    The first thing that caught Five''s eyes was naturally his hourly income which was always displayed in the corner of the screen. At this time of the day, there were no barbarians present in the dungeon and therefore, only Noon, who was classified as an enemy by the dungeon, was generating DP.


    Despite the fact that there was only 1 enemy in the dungeon, the rate of DP generation was showing 60000 DP per hour. The reason Five was completely stunned was simply that Noon alone was generating more DP than the 80 barbarians combined. This left Five pondering about just how high was Noon''s level.


    Normally, an enemy would only generate 20 DP per hour per level. However, levels were not the only deciding factor and special monsters would normally generate more DP. An example would be the Beast Kings that attacked the dungeon during the first trial. The Beast Kings were considered as Boss Monsters by the system and were more powerful than monsters at their corresponding levels; as a result, they generated 3 times more DP than normal monsters.


    The Beast Kings only had a multiplier of 3 but higher-grade bosses could have even higher multipliers. Aside from monsters, even if NPCs came to the dungeon, depending on their roles, they would also have a multiplier. A simple soldier would only have a multiplier of 1 but if a commander came to the dungeon, he could have a multiplier ranging from 5 to 8. If a unique character like the emperor himself came to the dungeon, his multiplier would be even higher!


    Without knowing Noon''s identity or exact level, he could only speculate about Noon''s real strength, but he was without a doubt a force to be reckoned with.


    While the abnormally high number raised Five''s suspicions on Noon''s identity, at the same time, it also tempted Five into delaying the matter at hand. The longer Noon stayed in the dungeon as an enemy, the more DP he would get for free! Compared to the barbarians who also hunted the monsters and mined the dungeon, Noon was idle resulting in a much larger profit margin.


    "Ummm, Noon? Considering your identity, I doubt that I have enough DP to summon a member of your race," carefully said Five. He was not exactly lying as the rarer a monster was, the more DP it would generate as an enemy but at the same time, the more expensive it would be to unlock it in the dungeon shop and to summon one!


    "You don''t have to worry about that. As per our agreement, I will pay for it myself," said Noon as he stared at Five. His left hand moved and out of nowhere, a long golden spear suddenly appeared.


    "What do you think? It''s not just people like you who can store things like this. Take it and exchange it for DP." Noon lightly laughed as he tossed the long spear on the table of the meeting room.


    Five stared dumbfoundedly at the spear. As soon as the spear landed on the table, the information window of the equipment magically opened:


    [The Banisher(Grade 9)]


    Effects: ???


    [Note: Player''s level is too low in order to identify the specifications of the items. Please contact an identifier to reveal the item''s effects!]


    "D*mn!" internally exclaimed Five. A grade 9 item, it was a grade 9 item!!! As a blacksmith, Five naturally knew how valuable such an item was. He himself could only forge grade 0 items and the barbarians with who he has spent a lot of time during the trip also only used grade 2 items. Yet, Noon was able to effortlessly take out a grade 9 item and was ready to sell it!


    "I doubt that it would be enough. I have more in store but please recruit me as per our agreement first!" calmly said Noon. His eyes were shining as he looked at Five''s reaction.


    "Other grade 9 items? How is that possible?" shouted Five in his heart. He nevertheless no longer hesitated and soon:


    [System prompt: Due to special circumstances, the monster, Noon has requested to join your dungeon. Would you like to accept him in accordance with the previously made oath?]


    "Yes!"


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, Noon has temporarily joined the dungeon.]


    As soon as he received the notification, Five quickly opened his interface to look at Noon''s stats but to his disappointment, Noon''s character window was full of "???".


    Name: Noon


    Race: ???


    Level: ???


    Class: ???


    Title: ???


    HP: ???


    MP: ???


    .


    .


    .


    [Note: As per the previous oath, all of Noon''s private information will be kept hidden from the player Five.]

 Chapter 106: A sheep

    "Alright, now please sell this spear for now, then tell me how you buy monsters," impatiently said Noon.


    Since Noon was no longer considered as an enemy by the system, there was no need for Five to try to delay the situation any further. He quickly turned his attention to the spear and opened the dungeon shop to sell it.


    "It''s such a pity, selling a grade 9 item like that. If only I had enough DP, I could have bought it from him," thought Five. There were no doubts that Grade 9 items were extremely rare in this game, even in the late stages, there would be no more than 20 of them for the entire player base.


    The spear''s design was rather simple; it did not have any fancy decoration and was rather light. If Five did not see that it was a Grade 9 item, he could have easily mixed it with other low-level items.


    Through the dungeon shop, he quickly found the option to sell the spear and although he was prepared to see the sky-high price, seeing that many zeros still shocked him. 5.5 billion DP, that was the selling price of the spear. The seemingly normal spear alone costed a thousand time more than all the DP he had gathered since entering the game.


    Furthermore, it was just the selling price, if he wanted to purchase such an item in the future, it could easily be twice as expensive as the selling price.


    Looking one last time at Noon who simply nodded in approval, Five decisively pressed the "Confirm Button" and the spear slowly crumbled into pieces. Just like that, one of the game''s most precious item was gone.


    "Alright, can you show me how to search for monsters? I would like to see how many more items I need to take out to summon a member of my race?" During all the time Five had been staring at the abnormally huge number on his screen, Noon had maintained his expressionless face and simply waited. However, if that continued, he would soon be forced to return his tribe.


    Five quickly recovered and opened the monster section. From that point, he allowed Noon to control the interface. Due to his oath, he will be unable to learn anything about Noon''s race and would certainly not be able to summon them in the future; that was something Noon seriously insisted on. As a result of the oath, the monsters'' icons temporarily appeared to be completely blurred.


    Fortunately, Noon was a quick learner and rapidly stated that he had found his own race and could unlock it for 30 Billion DP! While Five, Dreidus, and Lyra blankly stared at Noon, the latter simply took out a few more items and placed them on the table.


    "Here, this should give you a little over 30 Billion DP. There is more than needed but we''ll also have to factor in the cost for summoning the monster."


    Five no longer knew how to react to Noon''s indifference; his heart was in pain as he saw so many grade 9 items in front of him. "So many good items are going to be sold... Just what kind of monster would require that much DP, it should be one of those legendary creatures?"


    He quickly complied and soon, all the items were sold for a total of 28 Billion DP. The interface now clearly displayed the DP count as 33.5 Billion.


    "All sold, you should be able to unlock the race now," said Five with a pained expression. Although it was not his items to begin with, Five was still pained to watch them all disappear like that just for the sake of one monster.


    "I know. Now, here''s a few more items for you to sell. Summoning a member of my race cost 5 Billion, it should be enough to barely get 1.5 Billion." Noon wore a satisfied smile for the first time. It would not be long before he would no longer be the last survivor of his race. He did not hesitate to take out all his items to sell but at the same time, he did not want Five to benefit from this.


    As a result, the items taken out this time were grade 8 items which were 10 times less expensive than a grade 9 item. When he saw the items, Five immediately understood the situation. He initially thought that he would be able to use the leftovers from the items sold by Noon for his own use but as it turned out, that would not be the case. Even if he could use 1% of what Noon had spent tonight, Five would be satisfied but unfortunately, Noon was absolutely against this.


    The Totem Spirit slowly took out items after items and even took out a few Grade 7 items and in the end, he was able to bring the total amount of DP exactly 5 Billion above the original 110000 that were already there before they arrived.


    Although he did not make any concrete losses, it was still a psychological defeat for Five who had been expecting to at least scrape a few DP from Noon. In the end, he failed and now, only Noon was happy about the situation.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "Alright, we have reached the required amount, I''ll do the summoning!" For the first time, Noon wore an excited expression. He was intently looking at the icons which appeared completely blurred to the others. His eyes shone as he finally pressed the button.


    Five, Dreidus and Lyra were all already used to summoning monsters. They stared at the empty spot as the summoning circle appeared. They were also obviously excited, it was not every day that they could see a monster worth billions of DP being summoned.


    However, what they saw next once again left them dumbfounded. Five initially thought that since such an expensive monster was being summoned, it would be accompanied by some flashy visual effects but as it turned out, the summoning process was no different from when he summoned his own monsters. As for the monster itself, Five remained perplexed as he looked at the innocent little creature in front of him.


    While Five, Dreidus and Lyra looked at each other, wondering if something went wrong during the process, Noon suddenly rushed forward and pull the small creature into his arms. For the first time, the expressionless muscular man became emotional and a few tears even started to appear from the corner of his eyes. "Finally, I am no longer alone!" excitedly exclaimed Noon.


    ''It seems that the process did not go wrong... I should have expected something like that from his tribe''s name...'' thought Five. He scratched his head as he looked at the monster. Unexpectedly, the monster that was summoned was nothing more than an innocent little white sheep.


    After a few moments, Noon finally calmed down and placed the sheep on the floor. The latter had been abnormally quiet since it had been summoned; it did not even bother to look at anyone besides Noon.


    "Alright, since you have done your part of our agreement, I shall also do so but for now, I would like to regain my freedom, as well as that of this little fellow there," said Noon as he returned to his usual expressionless self.


    As soon as he spoke, Five immediately received the system prompt:


    [System prompt: The monsters, Noon and ??? have requested to be released. Would you like to proceed?]


    Five absent-mindedly stared at the system prompt for a moment. He knew that it was part of his agreement with Noon to release him as soon as he would successfully summon the monster. Yet, at that moment, Five felt reluctant to do it. For the first time, he pondered about the consequences of not abiding by his oath. After all, wasn''t that simply a spoken promise? Although it was unethical to break one''s verbal promises, it was different from written contracts. However, Five soon dismissed this idea, at the moment, he was in a game where the rules were different. Besides, he did not want to anger Noon especially after having seen how unfathomable the totem spirit was.


    "Yes!"


    Immediately, the bond between Noon, the little sheep and the dungeon core dissolved into nothing. Noon let out a faint smile before saying, "Do you feel like you did not get your worth in this agreement? I will remind you that we are simply abiding by our words!" With his sharp eyes, Noon had naturally noticed Five''s hesitation when he asked to be released.


    With his experience, Noon quickly associated this behavior with the fact that he had obtained less than what he expected. He was well aware of human''s greed and was almost certain that Five had hoped to benefit more from their exchange.


    Five lowered his head in shame, "Sorry about that. Do not worry, you are free to go but before leaving the dungeon, can I get a few minutes to arrange a few things?" asked Five.


    "Mmm, I will hold my own end of the agreement and will protect your dungeon until the end of your incoming trial. Since I have been looking into reproducing through dungeons, I have naturally investigated them to a certain extent. I am well aware that dungeons regularly go through sudden waves of attack. You don''t have to worry about your next trial, I alone will be able to deal with it. If I am not wrong, you were planning to use me to save some DP, then please do so."


    "I can still stay away from my tribe for 20 more minutes, after that, I will be forced to return. You can do as you wish during that period of time but since you feel like you have been tricked, I shall give you a piece of advice. You should stop using those undead monsters, a few is fine but if you continue, then I doubt your future will be very bright. Balance is key!"


    Surprised by what Noon had just said, Five asked, "What do you mean by that?"


    "That is all I can tell you, now I will wait for 20 minutes, please do what you need quickly!" answered Noon as he picked up the little sheep and sat on one of the chairs.


    When he saw Noon''s actions, he knew that he would not obtain any more information from him. Instead, he turned toward Dreidus, "What does he mean by that? Are undead monsters that bad?"


    The latter was confused, "I don''t know. I have spent a large portion of my life as a necromancer with undead monsters and I can say that they are definitely not to be underestimated. If undead monsters were that weak, Necro Valley would have never existed."


    "mmm, alright. I was originally planning on making a new floor using the Zombeasts, but I think that we should just wait. Since we have secured someone to protect the dungeon, we should start saving our DP for the incoming auction. If we are not reckless, collecting one million DP should not be an issue," said Five as he stared at the dungeon interface.


    Although he was not sure why Noon told him to stop using undead monsters, Five still decided to hold back for now. He did not know what was waiting for him at the auction and since he was safe until then, he might as well wait before making any changes to the dungeon.


    "Where are Angela and Alice? Did they go out?" asked Five.


    "Yes, Angela went to her lessons and I believe that Alice brought Ivan outside," answered Dreidus.


    "Mmm, okay. You did a good job, I don''t know how much longer I''ll stay with the barbarians but it should not be very long. Since I have nothing else to do here, I might as well leave. Take care of the dungeon!"


    The lich nodded as he answered: "Of course, please be at ease."


    Five smiled and walked toward Noon who was casually playing with the little sheep.


    "You are already back? Not even one minute went by," said Noon as he raised his head.


    "Yes, I''ll listen to your advice for now. We should just go back. I have to wake up early tomorrow to go with the scouts," said Five.


    "Mmm, you sound dispirited. I really thought you would have asked me to stay here for the full 20 minutes to milk out as much DP as possible from me," said Noon as he smiled. Now that he had accomplished his task and no longer had to be careful of tricks, the Totem Spirit became friendlier toward Five.


    "That''s true, I would not say no to more DP but it still hurts to think that I missed so many millions from you!" answered Five.


    "Hmmp, I was just being careful. I am not stupid and know that these items are all extremely rare. Besides, I don''t want to leave my mark here. After two weeks, you won''t hear from me again. It does not matter if by then you discover my race, you won''t be able to summon any of them anymore. I simply wanted to hide information about me to avoid any immediate danger while we are dealing with the townsmen."


    "Why are you saying that to me?" asked Five.


    "To waste time. Since you are not happy about it, let us just go. I have already left a spatial anchor here and can teleport back if your dungeon is in danger. In two weeks, it will disappear by itself. Now, prepare yourself," declared Noon.


    Without waiting for an answer, the totem spirit quickly held the little sheep in his arms and activated his skill.


    [Stellar Transposition]

 Chapter 107: Tolden Encampment

    "D*mn, he could have warned me before doing that..."


    When he opened his eyes, Five was immediately assaulted by the strange nauseating feeling. He stumbled a few steps before he felt someone grab his hand.


    "Master, are you alright?"


    Five instinctively tried to free himself from the hand but as he heard Ariel''s familiar voice, he stopped resisting. Just a few seconds later, Five finally felt better and observed his surroundings.


    He had returned back to the tent at the Wild Bull Village where he had previously left Ariel. The young harpy was very curious about the recent events; she recalled how Harriet had praised Noon''s strength. Since her mother herself had said so, then Ariel firmly believed that Noon was extremely powerful and wanted to know the outcome of the deal.


    ''Mother said that a lot of things could happen; in the best case scenario, Master would successfully recruit Noon. In the worst one, they would simply part ways after the deal. But... Judging from Master''s expression, it seems that things could have gone better. Or maybe it is just me?'' thought Ariel as she observed Five''s expression.


    "Master, did everything go well? Where is Noon?" asked the harpy after a brief moment of silence.


    As he heard Ariel, Five quickly looked around him and realized that Noon and the little white sheep were nowhere to be found. "Looks like we won''t meet again. At least, our small deal will allow me to prepare well for the auction. I guess it''s not a big loss," said Five to himself.


    He let out a sigh and sat down on the bed of animal fur, "Everything is fine Ariel. Angela and Alice were not at the dungeon when we went there. We only did the transaction and came back..."


    Ariel sat down on her own bed as she listened. She wanted to answer, "If everything went so well, why do you look so disheartened?" but she did not voice it out. Instead, she said with concern, "Master, if there is anything troubling you, do not hesitate to speak. We are your monsters but we are not just here to protect the dungeon."


    Surprised flashed through Five''s eyes, why was she saying that all of a sudden? "Ariel, what do you mean by that?" Five asked.


    The young harpy lowered her head and hesitated to answer. What should she do? Say directly what she had observed even if it was impolite or just brush it off and continue to observe? In the end, she avoided making eye contact as she answered, "Master, you have been feeling a little bit off lately. You spend a lot less time with us and also give off a colder vibe than before..."


    "Huh? Is that what''s worrying you? I am sorry but some things are inevitable. Although I am the dungeon master, I don''t want to be useless and leech off the dungeon. That''s why I am learning to craft and it takes time. I will try to spend more time with you all, but everybody gets busy. Even you won''t have that much free time when your own floor will be built," answered Five.


    Ariel kept her head low as she placed an animal fur around her shoulders, "It is true; we won''t have as much free time in the future but that is not exactly what I mean. Master? When was the last time you truly laughed to your heart''s content..."


    "Laugh to my heart''s content? Laugh? I have been quite busy these days but when was the last time?" murmured Five. He fell into silence, not knowing what to answer. He looked at Ariel''s figure without saying a word, pondering about the question.


    ...


    On the next day, a large group of riders swiftly departed from the Wild Bull Village in the direction of the nearest townsmen''s camp: the Tolden Encampment.


    This time, the expedition group was much larger than normal, consisting of 250 barbarians. On top of his special mount, the Wandering Ram Tribe leader was leading the group. Compared to the other barbarians, the members of the Wandering Ram Tribe were not riding horses but instead rams. Those mounts were specially bred beasts for combat by the Wandering Ram Tribe; they were just slightly smaller than regular horses but they should not be underestimated.


    It was naturally the leader who had the most eye-catching mount as his ram''s horns were actually gold in color, perfectly contrasting with the animal''s black fur. The beast had a relatively large body and strangely, the sight of the tall elder on the ram did not seem too odd.


    At the center of the formation, Five and Ariel were riding their own horses next to the Black Iron Tribe''s members. Five was constantly looking around; he was thoroughly impressed by how orderly the group was.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    The Wandering Ram Tribe was not the only tribe to have special mounts. The Wild Bull Tribe, the Fanged Wolf Tribe, the Swift Gazelle Tribe and the Sable Antelope Tribe also had their own impressive beasts and they did not hesitate to show off. To the barbarians, having special mounts were a form of status.


    Aside from mounts, several other tribes also brought tamed beasts with them. The members of Scarlet Crow Tribe and the Red-tailed Hawk Tribe all had a bird perching on their shoulders when they were riding. The Rat Snake Tribe also brought along their companions.


    To Five, the current group looked like a moving wild zoo but strangely enough, none of the beasts were showing any aggressive behavior. It was clear that they had all been perfectly tamed; even if some beasts stood at the top of the food chain or at the bottom, they displayed no signs of fear even when running alongside their own predators.


    "How long before we arrive?" asked Five to Karv.


    "About an hour, since you cannot see any tree, that means that we are not very far from the border. All the forests were taken down during the war to build weapons and avoid providing coverage to the townsmen. Now, all that''s left is this vast plain!" answered Karv.


    When Five looked around him, he noticed that the landscape had indeed changed. The terrain was rather flat and devoid of any hiding place. It was not very impressive for a border, but the open area made it easy for scouts to detect the presence of intruders.


    While riding, Five recalled how he was summoned to Zero. The spawn location he had chosen had also been an open plain like this one but at that time, he did not encounter any barbarian scouts. "Maybe it was because I was walking in the direction of the Townsmen territory? I wonder where Etora town is located from here? Maybe it is not very far..."


    ...


    Roughly an hour later, the group had gradually slowed down. "We are almost there, once we reach the top of that hill, we''ll be able to see the Tolden Encampment which is about 3km downhill. From there, we should be able to see if they really did set a camp," said Karv as he noticed the slight inclination of the ground.


    "Top of the hill? Since the Townsmen''s camp is not very far, why did they not set it up on top of the hill? Isn''t it best to have the higher ground advantage?" asked Five.


    "That''s because the hill forms part of our territory. In the past, there was a powerful tribe that resided on top of the hill. However, they ended up perishing during the war; since they were one of the closest tribes to the townsmen, they naturally took most of the blow, but they did not go down without a fight. When they were about to be exterminated, the Shaman of that tribe used his ultimate skill, cursing this hill."


    "You don''t see anything different now because the curse is weakened by the sunlight but at night, strange things happen on top of the hill. Naturally, the Shaman was not stupid and directed the curse only toward the townsmen, we, barbarians are free to stay on the hill all night long. You don''t have to worry about the curse, the sun is high up in the sky and you are with us," explained Karv.


    Five nodded. ''It seems that the barbarians are much more resourceful than I thought. They have a very interesting history too!''


    Soon, the group of barbarians finally arrived at the top of the hill and started to dismount. The representative of each tribe quickly gathered and started to discuss.


    "Release the birds! Let them go and gather some information!"


    "You! Give some water to the horses."


    "Send a few men to the South to make sure we will not be surrounded!"


    Five ignored the barbarians who were shouting the orders. He jumped off his horse with Ariel and turned his attention to the Tolden Encampment.


    At the bottom of the hill, was a small bustling town. When Five saw the town, it immediately reminded him of Etora Town. Both towns had similar design and both had a small camp built next to their walls.


    Farther, in the distance, Five could also see the town''s dungeon not very far from here. It would have been hard to miss it as it stood out of the landscape. It was clear that the dungeon master did not even bother to hide its location. The dungeon looked simple; it was a tall black tower which reminded Five of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. However, based on its height alone, Five knew that this dungeon should not be underestimated; if it was made of regular size floors, then this tower should consist of at least 50 floors.


    Five felt strangely peaceful as he observed the landscape. A gentle wind was blowing and a few clouds were partially hiding the sun. The weather was ideal for a picnic; if it was not for the hundreds of barbarians surrounding him, Five would gladly lay down on the grass and take a nap. Unfortunately, the quietness did not last for long.


    "So, did you see anything?"


    Startled by the voice, Five turned toward its source. The Wandering Ram Tribe Leader, accompanied by the other representatives of the tribes were all staring at him, waiting for an answer.


    "No, it is too far away. I need to get closer to see if they are players," truthfully answered Five; at this distance, he could barely see the moving silhouettes of the townsmen.


    "Okay, but what if you use this?" The Wandering Ram Tribe Leader took a step toward Five as he opened his hand revealing a small artifact.


    ''A Spyglass?''


    Five wordlessly took the spyglass from the elder and extended it. "Let me give it a try first."


    The Wandering Ram Tribe leader nodded and stepped back. He was initially surprised that Five was able to understand the use of the artifact with a glance but soon dismissed the question.


    With the help of the spyglass, Five carefully scanned through the camp outside the Tolden Encampment. It was like the barbarians had reported, the camp was relatively large and was obviously used as a training ground for the soldiers; several weapon racks, target practices and dummies could be found everywhere.


    Five did not bother to count the number of soldiers he saw. He simply focused on what was written above their head. As long as it did not display a player''s name, there was no need to be worried.


    After a full five minutes, the barbarian representative started to become impatient. "How much longer?" "Why is he taking so long? Did he lie to us about being able to distinguish them?"


    When he heard the barbarians'' comments, Five slowly lowered the spyglass and turned toward the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader. "I did not see any player in the military camp but there are a few of them in the town. I would say that they should not be related to this potential attack."


    The elder quietly nodded. He did not say a word and simply stretched his arm, signaling Five to return the spyglass to him.


    The latter quickly complied. Compared to the barbarians, Five did not consider the spyglass as a precious item. Through the dungeon shop, he could easily buy one while the barbarians needed to trade with the townsmen to obtain one.


    "Since they are not involved in this, let''s delay this matter for now," commented the Wandering Ram Tribe leader.


    The barbarians quickly returned to their noisy discussion; now that they could see the situation with their own eyes, the debate was as heated as ever.


    Suddenly, a loud whistle was heard across the group. The barbarian who attracted everyone''s attention quickly pointed at the Tolden Encampment and shouted, "look! Something is happening!"


    Like all the other barbarians, Five focused on the town. From his point of view, he saw a few banners slowly being raised one by one on top of the town wall. The soldiers stationed on top of the walls were slowly raising a banner one after another. ''Looks like one of those cheerleader''s move'' thought Five.


    The barbarians were stunned by the town''s behavior. They did not understand why they were doing so but the next second, the large gate of the town was flung open, revealing a large group of fully armored mounted knights.

 Chapter 108: A player

    "What are they doing? Are they attacking us?"


    "Look! Some soldiers are also coming from the camp!"


    As the barbarians started to discuss among themselves, one of the representatives could not take it anymore. "Quiet! All of you, just wait. It will take them at least 5 minutes to get there. Our horses are much faster than theirs!"


    When they heard the representative speak, the barbarians started to calm down and quietly observed the movements of the townsmen.


    "Tsssk, coward!"


    "Coward? You are the coward, you already started walking toward your horse when those knights appeared!"


    Although the barbarians were ordered to remain silent, they still felt the need to fight among themselves. They needed to distract themselves from the possible threat of the knights. They were just 250 barbarians on a scout mission. Considering that at least 2000 soldiers were stationed at the Tolden Encampment, they would naturally rather avoid fighting them at the moment.


    Baltra swiftly regrouped with the other members of the Black Iron Tribe. As the representative of the tribe, it was his job to reassure them. "Calm down, remember that the Wandering Ram Tribe is here with us! Their leader is here together with 30 other normal members. If he is not scared, that means that those soldiers are not a threat to him!"


    Although Baltra spoke only for the Black Iron Tribe, many of the surrounding tribes also heard him and quickly, murmurs spread out through the barbarians.


    "It''s true, why are we so anxious when the Wandering Ram Tribe is here. Let''s just observe for now!"


    ...


    At the gate of the Tolden Encampment, the leading knight raised a flag and kicked his horse to walk forward. At this distance, Five was unable to correctly see the flag but it was similar to those hanging on the walls.


    To the barbarians'' surprise, the armored knights did not immediately charge toward them with their warhorses. Instead, the group of knights slowly made its way toward them in an orderly fashion. About 50 knights came out of the fortress before the large gates were firmly closed behind them. Although all the knights looked the same when wearing their heavy armor, it was clear from their current formation that they were protecting someone important at the center.


    50 knights did not represent much of a threat to the barbarians but at the same time, another group was walking out of the camp outside the town. Based on their appearance, those soldiers clearly belonged to a different organization; they were completely dressed in white and were holding a different flag from that of the knights. A large variety of classes could be found among this group and more importantly, a few players also formed part of that group.


    Slowly, the two groups merged into a single large formation and steadily made their way toward the barbarians.


    "Whatever their intentions are, they are not here to attack us. Or else, they would have sent a lot more people than that," said the Wandering Ram Tribe leader. "Anyway, I will speak to them when they get to us. For now, just prepare yourself."


    ...


    After what felt like an eternity, the group of soldiers eventually arrived within 50m of the group of barbarians. The atmosphere was tensed but none of the barbarians dared to move without the consent of their representatives.


    The knights appeared calm and did not bother to hide their approach. Instead, it seemed like they were purposely making themselves obvious to show that they did not mean any harm.


    As they reached the 50m mark, the knight formation suddenly stopped moving forward and instead, the knights slowly moved to the side, allowing a short figure to walk in front of them.


    The barbarians'' eyes shone as they recognized that person. After nodding to each other, the barbarian representatives grouped up behind the Wandering Ram Tribe leader and as a group, they walked toward the knights.


    "You see that man? He''s one of the nobles of the Sylvester Empire. Apparently, he''s easy going and does not really care about the law of the empire. The Wild Bull Tribe sometimes trade with the townsmen thanks to that man. I wonder why he is appearing here now," murmured Karv.


    Five and the other barbarians of the Black Iron Tribe were all standing at a respectable distance from where the two parties would meet. From their position, they had a clear view of the knights and would even be able to hear the discussions.


    Five nodded to Karv, thanking him for the information. He looked around him and soon noticed that the Black Iron Tribe was not the only one to have made a few steps toward the meeting point. All the barbarians were curious and wanted to know what was going on. At the same time, they did not fully trust the townsmen and wanted to stay at a reasonable distance where they would be able to intervene in case the situation turned sour.


    ...


    "Baron Marseille! I have long heard of your reputation. May I know what bring you here?" asked the Wild Bull Tribe representative.


    "We come in peace! If you did not come here today, we would have sent some ambassadors to contact your tribes but since you are already there, we can discuss things directly," politely said the baron.


    If he did not remove his helmet, the barbarians would have never guessed that this man was the ruler of this region. He completely blended in with his knights; rumors say that he often trained and ate with them.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    "Peace? Alright, then speak. What is it that you want to ask us?" said the Wandering Ram Tribe leader. His tone contained no hostility but carried a feeling of impatience. The barbarians were naturally not very friendly toward the townsmen. Although the war had been over for several decades, they still bear grudges for losing several territories.


    Baron Marseille awkwardly laughed, pretending to not be bothered by the uncooperative attitude of the barbarians. Aside from the Wild Bull Tribe, the Tolden Encampment did not have any connections with the barbarians and they could not openly display their connection either.


    Five struggled to hear the two parties'' conversation. He tried to lip read but it was hard to keep track of so many people. However, the conversation seemed to be going well; nobody had blown up yet and judging from their facial expression, the barbarians seemed to have calmed down.


    Soon, the knight''s formation opened up once again, allowing a group of soldiers dressed in white to approach the barbarians. Leading the group of soldiers was an old priest dressed in ceremonial clothes.


    Five immediately raised an eyebrow. He was not a religious person but easily recognized the priest''s attire as it was very similar to that worn by Christian priests. The priest was rather old and relied on a long staff to walk. Despite his weak appearance, Five did not feel any sympathy for the priest; had he really been weak, Five doubted that his soldiers would just let him walk like that.


    "I will keep things short. As a faithful member of the church, my mission is to exterminate evilness in all its forms. We have received a report that several devil seeds appeared all over the continent. It is our duty to deal with those possible threats before they grow up. As ordered by the Cardinal, I am leading the 29th legion to cleanse this region. I am well aware of the treaty between the empire and the barbarians but the church takes no side in this matter. The church has always been a neutral organization. Therefore, I kindly request to enter your territory to deal with the devil seeds. As soon as our job is done, we will unconditionally retreat. I swear in the name of the church."


    The priest stopped in front of the barbarians and spoke without restraints. He did not even greet any of the barbarian representatives and simply started to loudly speak. His voice was strangely magnetic and despite the distance, it was clearly heard by all the barbarians.


    Immediately, the barbarians started to murmur among themselves, "Devil seeds? What are those? Are they dangerous?"


    "Is there really a threat hiding near us? How come our Shaman did not say anything?"


    Five frowned as he listened to the comments. ''Devil seeds? Let me guess what they are...''


    The barbarian representatives were also shocked to hear about the devil seeds but before they could say anything, the Wandering Ram Tribe leader stepped forward. "Devil seeds? How come I have never heard of that? If you were able to detect them, there is no reason for us to not be able to detect them too. Are you just trying to use an excuse to invade us?"


    "Blasphemy! I came here with good intentions and you try to frame me? Those devil seeds can be well hidden, had it not been for our special equipment, we would also have failed to find them. Despite that, I find it hard to believe that you have not found any yet. Maybe you are trying to hide something? Are you colluding with those demons?" The priest spoke with a calm voice, but his eyes were fixed on the Wandering Ram Tribe leader, trying to read through his lies.


    "I have not heard or seen any devil seeds," flatly answered the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader while staring at the priest.


    "Mmm, you don''t seem to be lying..." said the priest as he caressed his long white beard. "Were we wrong? Oh... I forgot to say something. Devil seeds are just how we, members of the church call them. I believe that you call them dungeon core. In other words, did some dungeons appear in the region? Mister?"


    A wild smile appeared on the priest''s face as he especially stressed on his last words. It did not take long for him to notice the barbarians'' expression. Some were full of surprise, some remained neutral as if this information had nothing to do with them but at the same time, a few barbarian representatives also betrayed their nervousness.


    Five naturally did not miss this detail and judging by how the other barbarians were behaving, he quickly came to the conclusion: ''I am not the only dungeon master that settled here. Some of those tribes are also farming dungeons.''


    The priest did not say anything and waited for the barbarians'' answer. He had already confirmed that some of the tribes were involved with the dungeons but that was not important. As long as they could clear the dungeons and collect the dungeon core, his mission would be considered a success. Exterminating one or two tribes did not represent a huge obstacle for him but still, the best outcome was still to do things peacefully.


    "Impossible, regardless of what reasons you have, we cannot allow you into our territories. Who knows what devious plans you have? How can we be sure it is not a trap?" exclaimed one of the barbarian representative.


    "Yes, you say that you are here to get rid of the devil but why should we believe you? If you are looking to deal with dungeons, why don''t you take care of that one there?" said another barbarian while pointing at the dungeon tower in the distance.


    "You just want to keep all the dungeons in your territory, isn''t it? You are trying to prevent us from developing our own strength!"


    3 of the barbarian representatives loudly spoke but apart from them, no one else moved. The other barbarians silently listened to the arguments. Compared to the other three, they did not have any connections with a dungeon yet and would not experience any losses if the dungeons were captured.


    "Haha, I have already sworn in the name of the church but if you want, I can also represent the church to swear one of your own oaths. I promise that as soon as we get rid of the dungeons, we will immediately retreat. The church does not get involved with the power struggles of the empire. To answer your question about this dungeon, we have long conquered it which is why we are allowing people to explore it. At the same time, we keep a close eye on its development."


    "However, this will be impossible to do with the dungeons in your territory. We cannot afford to stay there for too long but fear not. My mission is simply to get rid of the devil, not to impede your growth. In exchange for allowing us to complete our mission, we are willing to pay each tribe the equivalent of 1000 gold in any shape or form. In addition, the tribes having a dungeon on their territory will receive additional resources equivalent to 9000 gold."


    The Wandering Ram Tribe leader, who had stayed silent for a moment, loudly clicked his tongue. "Alright, I am done with this. We accept the deal as long as you swear the oath but only your church will be allowed here. Soldiers from the empire will not be allowed here."


    "Elder, how is that possible? We cannot..." started one of the barbarian representatives but before he could complete his sentence, he was swiftly interrupted by the Wandering Ram Tribe leader.


    "This has nothing to do with me. My own mission is to simply maintain the border between us and the townsmen. Since the border is not threatened, I have no say in this matter. Besides, 10000 gold is not a small sum. You should know very well that it could take at least an entire year to gather that many resources from the dungeon."


    "Haha, it seems that some of you are very reasonable," said the priest with a smile. As long as the leader of the group approved, there was no need for him to worry.


    Some murmurs of dissatisfaction rose among the barbarians. It was clear that they were not very happy about the outcome; even if they were receiving a considerable amount of resources, in the long run, they would be the losers of this deal. Furthermore, regardless of the deal, the fact that they were allowing townsmen in their territory was a clear sign of defeat. Many were unwilling to accept the results but since the Wandering Ram Tribe leader had spoken, they could only bite the bullet.


    The Black Iron Tribe members and Five were not satisfied either. To his surprise, Five had been hoping that an argument would blow up and that the barbarians would deny them entry to the territory. He was now certain that the church''s executioners represented the second trial. "How good would it have been if they refused. Well, at least I now know what is going to happen next. If they had refused, the system would have probably found something else to attack the dungeon," said Five to himself.


    The Wandering Ram Tribe leader walked pass the other barbarian representatives with a serious face. "If you are not satisfied, you can deal with them by yourselves but I recommend that you start preparing the materials for an oath. My tribe will not interfere as long as the border is not in danger!"


    The barbarian representatives lowered their head; they could only follow the Wandering Ram Tribe leader''s instructions. They would not necessarily lose if they were to fight the church''s executioners, but their tribe''s foundation would without a doubt be severely damaged.


    Five let out a sigh of relief; the meeting was soon going to be over and he would shortly be able to return to his dungeon. Although the trial was still going to happen, he at least had the opportunity to explore the outside world to some extent and obtained some information about the neighboring tribe. The trip was not a complete loss for him especially since Noon would be dealing with the trial for him.


    He lightly tapped Ariel and smiled. The harpy had been frowning for a while now. Ever since the priest appeared, her instinct had been warning her about a potential threat lurking nearby. She just wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.


    As Five was looking at the harpy, he did not notice a tall silhouette making his way toward the priest. Strangely, none of the knights of the church stopped him as he leaned next to the priest and whispered a few words at his ears.


    If Five did not notice anything, Ariel did not miss the subtle movement and started to panic; her instincts screamed "Danger!".


    Five did not see what was happening around him but when he saw Ariel''s expression he quickly looked up and followed her gaze. To his surprise, a lot of people was currently staring at him, including the priest of the church.


    But more importantly, a tall man in knight armor, standing right next to the priest, was pointing in his direction. At first, Five did not take this matter to heart but soon he noticed that the man was actually a player and his expression did not appear to be very friendly.


    Five deeply frowned. ''Something is wrong with this atmosphere. Why are they all looking at me like that?''


    He was confused but soon, he finally took notice of the player''s name and connected the pieces of the puzzle. The player''s name was Two.

 Chapter 109: Psychic attacks

    "Two," murmured Five.


    As soon as he saw that name, he immediately realized that he was in danger. It could have just been a pure coincidence but the fact that his name was a number highly raised Five''s suspicions. After all, wasn''t he given his own name by Gaia as he was a prisoner before coming here?


    It was very likely that Two was also named by Gaia and more importantly, he could also be a dungeon master. Although they could be considered as fellow players, dungeon masters were always competing against each other.


    The name first raised a flag but now that all the church''s executioners'' attention was directed at him, Five could not help but feel that he was being targeted. From the moment he had learned that dungeon cores could consume each other to evolve, Five had known that dungeon masters would eventually fight each other. It was just that he did not expect it to happen so early.


    Dying now would not cause a lot of damage to the dungeon but Ariel was also present and compared to Five, she did not have the ability to revive.


    Five was not certain that Two was a dungeon master since a lot of players was also present among the church''s executioners. However, if he was just a regular player, why would he target him like that?


    "Two... Now that I think about it... He is probably a real criminal... And he is coming for me..." said Five to himself.


    ...


    "Are you certain he is one of them?"


    "Certain! The pendant given by the Cardinal cannot lie. This man is a devil''s envoy and that woman is not even human. I don''t know how but they are able to hide their true identity but thankfully, we have the pendant, or we would have been deceived!"


    The priest frowned as he whispered to Two. He has observed the barbarians several times during their conversation but even then, he failed to notice the dungeon master hiding among them.


    "Wait a minute! There is one more thing I would like to ask for!" said the priest as he turned his attention to the barbarian representatives.


    "What is it?"


    The priest slowly raised his finger and pointed it at Five and Ariel. "Hand over this man and woman to us! We highly suspect they are the devil''s envoy! If they are innocent, we will not harm them but if it turns out to be true..."


    Immediately, all the barbarians stared at Five and Ariel. It was already uncomfortable when all the knights and the church executioners were staring at him but now, even the barbarians were doing so.


    "Wow wow wow, calm down for a minute. What is happening here? This young man is a guest of my tribe, please explain the situation clearly!"


    Among the barbarian representatives, Baltra was the first to react. He stood between Five and the priest as he spoke. In the end, Five had been brought here by him; he could not remain silent. However, despite his worried look, Baltra was internally smiling. ''I thought I would need to bring the group to hunt a pack of beasts to complete the Shaman''s task but it seems that I won''t need to anymore!''


    "That person is not a barbarian, right? I suspect he is affiliated with the demons! One of our detectors reacted to this man and that woman. However, we understand that our detectors are not perfect and this whole situation might just be a misunderstanding. Please allow us to make a simple test. He is not from your tribe anyway; in exchange for your trouble, I will add 2000 gold worth of resources to what we owe you!"


    When he heard the priest speak, Five instinctively took a step back. The situation did not look good. He did not know how much information Baltra had. If he was in his place, he would have already agreed to the deal. After all, the church would technically soon get rid of the dungeon for them. The barbarians could afford to offend him since according to the church, there was a high chance he would completely disappear in a few days. The 2000 gold was the cherry on top.


    Five could feel the stares of the barbarians on his back. He had made a huge mistake by walking closer to the meeting point to overhear their conversation. Now, there was no clear escape path. When he looked at the black iron Tribe members, all he saw in their eyes was surprise, anger, and pity. Even Karv who befriended him earlier no longer had his usual welcoming appearance; there was no hostility in his eyes but it seemed that he would prefer to keep his distance.


    Baltra frowned and appeared conflicted. He was naturally going to accept the priest''s offer but at the same time, he was looking for a way to appear innocent. He wanted Five to believe he was truly on his side and that he was being forced to agree.


    However, before he could say anything, another person stepped forward a loudly spoke: "Enough! We already agreed to allow your church''s army on our territory. Don''t ask for too much. These two are our guests and I personally promised that nothing would happen to them when they joined this expedition."


    "So unless you are prepared to fight all of us, you should give up on this idea," the man spoke with a clear voice without looking at Five. Unexpectedly, the person who sided with Five was none other than the Wandering Ram Tribe leader. Five never expected such a thing to happen; based on what he had observed, he thought that the Wandering Ram Tribe leader would not move unless the border was threatened but against all the odds, he was the only one to speak for him in this situation.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    The barbarians were surprised by the Wandering Ram Tribe leader''s action but none of them spoke. Regardless of what that man wanted to do, they could only side with him.


    The Knights of the church and the priest frowned. After a few seconds of silence, the latter finally said, "Alright, if you refuse, there is nothing you can do. Then, I will sincerely apologize..."


    As he spoke, the priest slowly turned toward the Wandering Ram Tribe leader and to everyone''s surprise, he deeply bowed. In everyone''s eyes, the priest was sincerely taking a step back, admitting his mistake and apologizing. However, as his face was now out of view, no one noticed the wide grin appearing on his face. ''Since that''s the case, you can only blame yourself for being suspicious! The pendant cannot lie. At the very least, you must have had some sort of contact with the devils. You think you are safe because that old man is vouching for you? Let''s see what he''ll say next. There has never been a need to argue over a dead body!''


    [Mind Blast]


    ...


    Five had been anxiously looking at the scene. He was confused. Why did the Wandering Ram Tribe leader help him? Was it really because he had previously promised that nothing would happen to him on this expedition? Five highly doubted so.


    Although Five found the Wandering Ram Tribe leader''s behavior suspicious, he chose to remain silent and go with the flow. At least, it seemed that he would be able to return unscathed.


    However, something felt wrong! The hostility directed at him did not decrease at all! The priest was still sincerely bowing but his killing intent did not disappear.


    "Now that I think about it, he has been bowing for a strangely long time, hasn''t he?" said Five to himself.


    Ten seconds have passed since the priest bowed down to the Wandering Ram Tribe leader. A full ten seconds was an awfully long time for an apology bow. Even if the Wandering Ram Tribe leader did not say anything, the priest had no reason to continue to keep his head down.


    Two seconds later, the priest finally raised his head back. However, to everyone''s surprise, a long trail of blood was flowing from the corner of the priest''s mouth. His eyes were wide open, staring in shock at the Wandering Ram Tribe leader. Nobody understood what was happening; a few seconds earlier, the priest had been calm and composed and yet, he now looked completely terrified. His hands were shaking as he was frantically looking around him as if he was looking for someone.


    ...


    Despite their weak physical appearance and their reputation, priests were by no means disadvantaged compared to other classes. In the beginning, most of their skills were centered around supporting teammates but after advancing classes, a plethora of offensive skills was opened to them.


    It was especially true for the priest who was actually a level 49 Sacred Priest. [Mind Blast] was one of those offensive skills. It did not have a cast time and more importantly, it could be secretly cast without anyone noticing. It only dealt a modest 200 damage which could be considered quite low for a skill of its level but in the priest''s opinion, it was more than enough to get rid of someone at level 18.


    The priest''s mission was simply to get rid of all evils and since Five had been flagged as someone siding with the devil, there was no way he was going to get away.


    As soon as he deeply bowed, the priest immediately activated his skill. [Mind Blast] had the special property of being almost undetectable and impossible to dodge. It did not have any animation and could instantly strike the target''s soul. For the same reason, it could not be physically dodged and could only be blocked by special shields.


    With the skill activated, the priest kept his head down and waited. He was waiting for a scream or even just the sound of a body falling. If he remained in this position, no one would suspect him as [Mind Blast] was a hard skill to identify. Ideally, Five would simply die on the spot and the barbarians would be left to wonder what on earth has happened.


    And so, the priest waited and waited. After 3 seconds had passed, still nothing happened. ''Strange, did I fail? There''s no way for someone at level 18 to be able to survive my attack, especially after it is buffed by my Wisdom stat. Does he have a piece of special equipment protecting him against psychic attacks?''


    ''No, maybe I probably already fried his brain and he died while standing. That''s why no one noticed anything yet,'' exclaimed the priest to himself. Since he came up with a possible explanation, the priest readjusted his facial expression and prepared to raise his head but before he could move, a piercing painful feeling spread through his body, paralyzing him.


    ''What?? How is that possible??? This is the same feeling as a ... [Mind Blast]''


    The priest was stunned. [Mind Blast] was a relatively rare skill. Not many people chose to become a priest and only a select few would choose the Sacred Priest as their advancement class. The priest crunched his teeth as he endured the pain of the skill. It was not the first time he was experiencing it and although his HP did drop to some extent, the priest was more concerned about how his skill has been used against him.


    At that moment, a muffled voice spoke directly into his mind, "I knew the church was not as righteous as they appear to be, but I did not expect you to sneak attack an innocent like that. Don''t you know the unspoken rule of not attacking someone 10 levels below you?"


    "Who are you? What do you want? I am simply carrying my duty of cleansing the devil''s envoy. I am sorry if I have offended you but please allow me to carry on with my task," said the priest in his mind.


    Beads of sweat appeared on the priest''s forehead. The fact that this mysterious individual could speak directly into his mind was a clear indication that he was an expert in psychic skills. [Telepathy] was another psychic skill but it could only be learned at level 60.


    The muffled voice quietly laughed and answered, "You think I am stupid? I know very well that your pendant is currently transmitting our conversation to your superiors. Give up trying to learn my identity. Instead, you should think about yourself. I am curious about how they will react when witnessing your death. Before leaving, please tell that guy who is still hiding in the camp over there to come out and fight me if he is so curious about me."


    "You''ve made a mistake by sneak attacking that guy. Such a pity... Another human life wasted like that. Since these are your last moments, I will let out experience what you could have become if you diligently trained. Let me show you a real [Mind Blast]."


    When he heard the voice speak, the priest felt his scalp tingle. He knew his life was on the line. Someone that could easily reflect his [Mind Blast] was by no means a weakling. In desperation, the priest screamed in his mind, "Master! Help me! I have always been faithful to your teaching and obeyed your instructions! I only wanted to get rid of the devil for your own merits! Save me! Please!"


    The priest knew he was not alone; someone was definitely listening to his pleas. It was his last chance, if the master hiding in the camp outside the Tolden Encampment made his move, no matter how strong the mysterious individual was, there was no way he would be able to survive the attack of the master.


    However, the only answer he obtained was absolute silence. The next second, an intense feeling of pain flooded through his body. The pain was ten times worse than the previous one; the priest gnashed his teeth as he felt thousands of needles piercing through his mind. He could hear his soul screaming in pain.


    Had it not been for his staff, the priest would have already fallen on the ground, but he did his best to stay immobile. Although the master did not make a move yet, deep inside, the priest was still hoping to be saved. ''The master must be making his move. I must hold on. Just a little more...''


    The needles piercing his soul suddenly disappeared. The priest let out a sigh of relief but to his surprise, the pain did not stop. Instead, the pain only increased as his energy started to leak out of the holes left by the needles.


    At that moment, the priest finally realized that he could no longer be safe. The pain only increased as more and more energy was drained. ''So this is the real [Mind Blast]... The real threat of the skill is not the initial damage dealt to the soul but rather the leaks it leaves behind afterwards... He must have leveled up his skill to at least level 5...''


    At the rate the energy was leaving his body, the priest knew he only had a few more seconds to live. He hurriedly raised his head and looked around him, searching for either the mysterious individual that mortally injured him or the master of the church that could save him.


    He desperately looked around him but all he saw was the confused looks of the church executioners and the barbarians. He wanted to scream to warn his subordinates of the existence of the mysterious individual but no matter how hard he tried to, his body did not respond to him anymore.


    ...


    "Leader! Leader! Are you alright? What is happening?" the knights hurriedly asked as they noticed the priest''s strange expression.


    The closest knight dashed toward the priest, knocking away Two who was standing in the way. The knights stretch his arms to help the priest but as he got near, the priest''s legs suddenly gave in.


    The priest''s body fell right into the knight''s arms. His face was still displaying the terror and pain he went through during the last few seconds of his life.

 Chapter 110: The masters appear

    The air was still. Nobody spoke even when they noticed the death of the priest. The knight holding the priest''s corpse let out a sigh. He slowly closed the priest''s eyes and retreated inside the formation. The priest was the leader of their group, but his death would not affect the knights. Power struggles existed everywhere, and the church was no exception. Now that the priest was gone, the knights no longer had to take orders from him just because he had a higher status.


    Without a word, the atmosphere became tense. All the church''s executioners were carefully looking around them. They did not know how the priest died and although the prime suspect was the Wandering Ram Tribe leader, the latter had not made a single move for quite a while.


    Nevertheless, the knights were cautious. They instinctively tightened up their formation as they drew their weapons.


    The barbarians'' face turned black. The barbarian representatives did not give any command, but the barbarians were already getting on their guards. They all waited for the Wandering Ram Tribe leader who did not seem to be concerned by the events.


    "What a mess... How did the priest die? Now, it seems like a battle is unavoidable and I don''t think the barbarians have the upper hand considering that the Tolden Encampment is just 5 minutes away..." said Five to himself.


    The situation was strange; he expected the Knights to scream or at least accuse the barbarians but instead, they did nothing.


    As Five was thinking about what the best course of action would be, a change occurred in the camp outside the Tolden Encampment. One of the tents suddenly started to glow. Even though the sun was still high in the sky, the glowing tent immediately attracted everyone''s attention.


    Despite the distance, Five was clearly able to see a glowing white sphere suddenly fly out of the tent and immediately rush toward them.


    "Be on your guard and prepare to retreat!" As soon as the glowing sphere appeared, the Wandering Ram Tribe leader unceremoniously broke the silence. He did not appear to be shocked by the sphere. The confidence in his voice was subconsciously calming the barbarians; as long as he was here, there was nothing to fear.


    The white sphere flew very quickly to the hill and in less than one minute, it slowly landed next to the priest''s corpse.


    "Hmmm, he is really already dead... Fascinating... I did not know that someone like that still existed among the barbarians! The gods were right to send me here!" A calm and charismatic voice spoke as the sphere landed.


    Slowly, the sphere became dimmer, revealing the silhouette of a man. The man had an ordinary figure; he was neither tall nor short and did not have impressive physical features. He only wore a light golden armor with a rapier hanging at his waist.


    However, despite his ordinary looks, the man had a powerful aura. Just based on his skin, Five could tell that the man was older and more experienced than the other knights. He was wearing a strange mask, hiding only the top portion of his face. Why is he wearing that carnival mask? Trying to act mysterious?" said Five to himself.


    "My Lord! Lord!"


    As soon as the features of the man were revealed, the church''s executioners immediately kneeled on the ground. They respectfully bowed to the masked man, completely ignoring the barbarians. Only the players did not move but they still respectfully looked at the man. It was clear that the man''s identity was not simple.


    "Are you the real leader?" asked the Wandering Ram Tribe leader as he stepped forward. He was the only one who appeared to be unfazed by the masked man.


    The latter turned his attention toward the barbarians, "Mmm, you are not bad too... I did not know the barbarians had that much strength left..."


    "What is it that you want?" asked the Wandering Ram Tribe leader.


    "From you? Nothing. I observed you carefully, there were no fluctuations around you at that time... There must be someone else," said the masked man.


    The next second, he completely ignored the barbarians and looked at the sky. He spoke calmly but his voice was strangely loud, "Hey! You said you would reveal yourself if I came here? Where are you now? Hiding?"


    "What is he doing? Is there someone stronger than the Wandering Ram Tribe leader?"


    "Who is that guy? Is he crazy?"


    "The lord must have his reasons, just prepare to back him up!"


    "Have faith in the lord!"


    Both the barbarians and the knights started to whisper among themselves. They had no idea why the masked man was acting like that. Even Five was having a headache, "It was a really bad idea to come here... Now I''ll probably get caught in this unnecessary skirmish."


    Despite the murmurs rising up, the masked man remained unfazed. He did not move an inch as he closely observed his surroundings. On the outside, he appeared to be standing up like a statue but in reality, his senses were continuously scanning the surroundings in search of the mysterious voice.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    At that moment, Ariel suddenly nudged Five, "It''s him... He is here."


    "He? Who''s that he?" asked Five. He was puzzled by Ariel''s sudden behavior but he quickly understood what she meant. There was only one ''he'' that Ariel could know who was strong enough to instantly take down the priest.


    The space in front of Five slowly started to distort. Five expectedly looked at the strange phenomenon in front of him. ''Was it how it was when he used it on me?''


    He could still see in front of him, but everything appeared to be distorted. A few seconds later, as Five was expecting, an iconic tall muscular body suddenly appeared in front of him. Five did not understand why he was here but at least, Five knew that he was not an enemy.


    "So you finally appear! Who are you? Were you the one who targeted us for no reason?" asked the masked man as he noticed the spatial distortion.


    "The name''s Noon. Do I need a reason to attack you?"


    "So proud and cocky... I see but you still targeted the church for no reason. We were faithfully carrying the orders of the gods. Even if this priest is already dead, I still need to ask for an explanation," said the masked man.


    The tension was slowly rising as the two powerhouses spoke to each other. It was faint at first but soon, they no longer hid the hostility between them. The knights and the barbarians naturally felt the change and both sides were already ready to fight.


    "Your gods? Huh... Those three idiots are not even gods and yet, you are blindly listening to them. As for Phron¨ºsis, he is even more stupid... If I did not appear, there is no doubt in my mind that quite a few innocent barbarians would perish during your expedition. All because we do not follow your religion... Besides, I have my own reasons for coming here!" answered Noon. He appeared to be calm and confident as he stared at the masked man.


    The masked man warmly smiled, hiding his previous hostility. "I respect your beliefs but please do not blaspheme our gods. Even if you don''t follow them, it is inappropriate for someone of your status to tarnish the reputation of our church. Don''t openly mention the name of the Pope for no reasons either. Trying to sway us is useless; our faith is unshakable. I apologize if the priest offended you in any way. As long as you have a valid reason for dealing with him, we will let this matter slide."


    "Ohhh. I simply protect that man behind me," said Noon as he carelessly pointed at Five behind him. "I have a short deal with him to protect his place for a while."


    "I do not understand, if you are protecting his place then why are you here?" asked the masked man.


    Five was equally puzzled. He was glad that Noon suddenly appeared to protect him but nothing if their deal forced him to do so. He knew that Noon looked hard on the surface but in fact had a kind heart; he could see that from the way he treated the little sheep that was summoned. However, based on his personality, Noon would not have intervened without a solid reason. If he was so generous to do so, why was he so stingy when it came to the few extra DP he could have left when selling his items at the dungeon shop?


    "It has everything to do with this. In just a few days, you were going to invade his place. Compared to him, I am a proactive person and I would rather deal with the problem before it even comes. I have nothing against reactive people but this is just my way of doing things. I have a child to take care of at home, I cannot afford to wait that long at the dungeon; and since you''ve appeared, after I deal with you, I doubt your army will dare to cross the border."


    As Noon spoke, he no longer hid his original intentions. Compared to the masked man who looked like a diplomat, Noon had the typical appearance of a troublemaker. If one did not follow the conversation since the beginning, he would believe Noon was the one looking for trouble.


    "I see. So you are siding with those demons... It is so unfortunate that we stand on opposite sides. However, as I said, as long as the reason is valid, we would let this matter slide. Fighting you right now could be troublesome. However, we won''t give up on the expedition."


    As the masked man spoke, he shrugged his shoulders and took a step back. The barbarians remained on their guard as they watched the masked man turn and walk away; having just witnessed the priest''s behavior, the barbarians did not fully trust the men of the church.


    As it turned out, they were not wrong. Just a few moments later, the masked man spoke without turning to look at them, "It is impressive. Seems that you already no longer trust us. Sadly, although I said I will let this matter slide, it does not change the fact that a devil''s envoy is standing here in front of me; I can see it very clearly and that woman next to him is also a monster. The church''s reputation would still be affected if I let people like them escape. It''s my job to clean up... At least, you are not too bad at level 72. Maybe you''ll be a challenge. Once I deal with you, I''ll take care of the rest of the barbarians and no one would ever know what happened here."


    As he finished speaking, the masked man suddenly turned to face Noon. Nobody knew how it happened, but a small runic stone was now glowing in the masked man''s left hand. The next second, the man vanished.


    "Swish!"


    Five was barely able to process what just happened; he did not see how the masked man did it but now, in front of him, a thin blade was pointing at him, merely a few centimeters away from his face. Noon''s body was still firmly standing in front of him, protecting him from the masked man. However, despite his powerful appearance, Noon failed to block the masked man''s attack.


    The masked man''s long rapier had instantly pierced through Noon''s chest. Even Noon had been unable to react in time. His heart was stabbed in an instant but at least, Noon''s muscular body successfully stopped the masked man''s weapon.


    As he noticed the blade, Five instinctively took a step back. His back was already drenched in sweat. He did not even see how the masked man had attacked. He did not know much about Noon but from his observations, it was clear that Noon was unbelievably strong. ''Could it be that this man was even stronger than Noon?'' thought Five.


    The possibility that even stronger powerhouses existed was enough to scare Five. It would have been fine if they fought each other but the masked man was obviously coming after him. ''This game is so unbalanced... It has only been 2 months and I am already encountering those powerful NPCs? Am I doomed this time?'' As Five was lamenting in his heart, he soon realized that something felt wrong. The rapier had effectively stabbed through Noon''s heart but something was missing; to be more precise, the blood was missing.


    "I am very sorry. It looks like we won''t even get to fight properly. The gods were right in sending me here. I will soon eliminate another devil''s envoy!" The masked man spoke while smiling at Noon. His right hand was still pushing his rapier through Noon''s chest while his left hand was holding the glowing stone.


    He did not notice it at first, but the runic stone was already starting to crack. Its glow was no longer consistent and soon, the rune engraved on the stone started to break apart. At that moment, the masked man widened his eyes in surprise. The runic stone was a rare treasure that would have normally been usable for at least two or three times more. Yet, the stone was already crumbling apart in his hand.


    It could only mean one thing; the people around him were more powerful than he expected. The stronger the people were, the more energy would be consumed to freeze them in time. The runic stone had the unique property of affecting the other people''s time but the energy consumption was absurd. When he first faced Noon, the masked man knew that this fight was not necessarily in his favor and so, he decided to immediately use this treasure to get rid of the major threat of the group. After that, he could easily clean up the rest of the barbarians and that devil''s envoy.


    The runic stone cracking was a big loss but if he was able to take down Noon, it would all be worth it. Afterall, someone who could exhaust the energy of the runic stone should have some good stuff in his possession. However, at the same time, the masked man also noticed something unusual. He did not notice it in the spur of the moment but now that the situation has calmed down, he immediately felt that his rapier was weird.


    It was definitely not the first time he was killing someone by stabbing his heart; he knew how his rapier would feel after each time. But now, that feeling was different. The consistency of Noon''s body differed from anything he had encountered before. He tried to pull the rapier out but felt and strange resistive force. He tried to twist the rapier but failed again; no matter what he tried, the rapier refused to move.


    The masked man started to panic; he had never liked to encounter these unpredictable situations. He slowly raised his head, only to meet Noon''s fierce stare.


    Since the very beginning, Noon did not move a single inch despite receiving the masked man''s powerful attack. The condescending look in his eyes did not vanish at all even as his heart was pierced.


    "Had you really been that strong, I would have been in trouble. But now... You can only do something like that thanks to the Temporal Runic Stone. It''s just too bad. Since you''ve attack first, I guess it''s my turn now! I did not think that the Faith was that weak. You are just like your predecessor... Always using items instead of training yourself."


    A rare smile appeared on Noon''s face as he slowly raised his right hand.

 Chapter 111: Earthbound curse

    "You... Who are you? How do you know my identity?" exclaimed the masked man. Although he was in a tough spot, there were no fear in his voice, only genuine curiosity and a tinge of hostility.


    Noon ignored the masked man and quickly moved his hand, trying to grab him. However, as he was about to touch him, the masked man''s pendant suddenly shone brightly. A golden transparent shield quickly surrounded the masked man, isolating him from the rest of the world.


    Noon did not react to the change. He simply continued to move his hand which was promptly stopped by the shield. The shield started to glow even brighter as if it was pushing Noon''s hand away, but Noon did not seem to care. He continued to press his hand on the shield and just a few seconds later, a crack suddenly appeared on the shield.


    For the first time, the masked man expression changed. His eyes were hidden by the mask, but everyone could see his smile disappear as he clenched his teeth. Now, he was genuinely starting to be worried. When he first saw Noon, the masked man immediately identified him as someone at level 72. However, it was virtually impossible for someone at that level to break his shield so easily.


    Even the masked man himself who was level 79 could not break his own shield that quickly. He once again tried to pull his rapier from Noon but failed. As much as he wanted to retreat, he could not leave behind his rapier like that. After all, it was a Grade 7 weapon and it belonged to the church; if it was lost, he would be accountable for it!


    A few seconds later, the originally tiny crack had already expanded and now covered the majority of the shield. The masked man could only watch as his life-saving shield broke into pieces together with his confidence.


    When the shield finally broke, Noon temporarily froze his hand and said: "Weak! I wonder how many more items you have with you? From the second I saw you, I knew you were one of the Ten Commandments of the Church. Your aura was different from the others and at the same time very familiar to me! I was not sure at first since it did not make sense to me why someone like you would come to such a desolate area of the empire but when after I saw your rapier, I immediately recognized it."


    "How? Just who are you? Only a select few know about my presence here!" exclaimed the masked man.


    While the church was a well-known entity respected by many, only a select few knew about the inner workings of the church. And even fewer knew about the leaders of the church''s army.


    During the rapid growth of the church, the leaders decided to divide the church into 10 separate shrines; one for each human empire with each shrine having their own ideologies, cardinals, and armies. The shrines were named after the fundamental laws declared by God and the leader of each army was bestowed one unique ability. Those leaders were carefully selected to always be loyal to the church and to represent their unique skill; in the end, these leaders became known as the Ten Commandments.


    With their new ruling system, the church grew quickly, so much that new churches were built almost every week. However, it did not last long, and things did not go as the pope expected. If the church had been well received in empires such as the Sylvester Empire, in others, they had been flat out denied entry and harassed by the other existing religions.


    As a result, some shrines ended up settling in other empires but they never merged with the other already existing shrines. The shrine of faith was one of those shrines who had been kicked out of their original allocated empire and ended up settling in the Sylvester Empire. Since that day, several decades had passed, and the shrine accumulated a lot of strength, yet, it was still ranked as the weakest shrine of the church.


    ...


    "I already told you, my name is Noon and I recognize your aura. Now, you should use your special skill. I know that each Commandment was given a special one but to this day, no one knows what the skill given to the Commandment of Faith is. Can you enlighten me on this?" nonchalantly said Noon.


    Completely ignoring Noon''s indifferent expression, the masked man exclaimed, "I don''t know who you are but there are no grudges between us. Why are you doing this?"


    "What about the rapier piercing my chest? Besides, even if you did not attack me, you would not have left this place alive. I have quite a history with the church. Taking down a Commandment would not affect it by much, but it should still have some impact, right? At the very least, it should make those ''gods'' waste quite a bit of energy."


    The masked man remained silent. He wordlessly stared at Noon''s palm for a moment. Nobody knew what he was thinking but a few seconds later, he finally reacted. Dropping all previous pretenses, the flames of fury appeared in his eyes.


    "So you are looking down on me like that? I don''t know how strong you are but it is obvious that level 72 is not your real level. I remained silent as you bad mouthed the church but I cannot do so when you are aiming for the gods. I don''t know how you have obtained all this information about the church. You can look down on me as much as you want but today''s winner has yet to be decided!"This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    As he heard the masked man''s decisive tone, Noon concluded that he would not be able to extract any information from this man. The only option now was to kill him. With the shield gone, Noon attempted to grab the masked man but before he could reach him, the masked man suddenly jumped backward and took out another runic stone.


    "All of you! Listen to my command and take down those barbarians who stand in our way! Don''t be fooled by their words! It is a fact that they are protecting the devil''s envoy! I will take care of this man, you all focus on the barbarians and the devil''s envoy! For each individual head you bring back, you shall be awarded 50 merits! And the one to bring back the devil''s envoy head shall be rewarded with an additional 200 merits!"


    Immediately, the knights reacted. With all their weapons drawn, the knights charged forward in an orderly fashion. They have been trained for years to react to any orders given by the superiors and the effectiveness of this training was clearly displayed as the knights quickly rearranged themselves in an offensive formation with minimal guidance from the captains.


    While the NPCs were well prepared, the players were surprised by the sudden order of the Commandment and took some time to react. At the same time, the Baron and his army, who were a separate entity from the church, did not join in the charge and instead started to retreat. He would gain nothing by participating in this fight; for him, it was better to stay away and avoid casualties.


    At the same time, the masked man firmly pressed onto the runic stone, causing it to crack, releasing a blinding light. The light shot right into the ground a few moments later, a golden dome made of light started to rise from the ground, trapping Noon and the masked man in a relatively small arena.


    "I will admit that you are strong but thanks to the Devil Suppressing Barrier, I should have no problem dealing with you! Not only does it increase my strength by 10%, but it also decreases the strength of all non-members of the church by 20%! Now, you can only watch as your precious tribe members are slaughtered one after another!" said the masked man as he drew another blade to replace his rapier. It was only a Grade 6 weapon, but it was the best weapon he had in hand at the moment.


    "You speak too much! Just use your skill already, I am still waiting!" said Noon. He waved his hand, taunting the masked man. He looked at the masked man who took out yet another runic stone from his storage back but did not seem to be worried. Instead, Noon silently pulled out the rapier from his chest; his face remained expressionless as the blade came out of his body. "If talking does not work, maybe a few strikes will loosen your tongue."


    ...


    Without a word, the knights charged toward the barbarians, avoiding the area where Noon and the masked man were fighting. The captains did not need to verbally order the knights; the church had its own sign code for orders on the battlefield to avoid giving away information to the enemy.


    The barbarians stared at the charging knights while raising their weapons. Many of them were on the verge of charging forward to but since there were so many different tribes, they had to wait for the orders of the representatives of the tribes and in particular, for the orders of the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader.


    The latter calmly glanced at Noon and the masked man, completely ignoring the church''s executioners. The next second, he sighed as his body suddenly vanished.


    "Bang!"


    The leading knight''s body suddenly flew backward right into the knight''s formation. None of the knights saw what exactly happened. They only saw their leader suddenly cough blood as he was thrown back. The knight''s body rolled on the ground as the charging knights quickly reacted to prevent the horses from crushing his body.


    However, it was all for naught. They soon realized that the captain was already dead. His armor was completely deformed, especially at the level of his heart.


    The Wandering Ram Tribe Leader stood alone in front of the knight formation. He was not at all worried that the knights were still charging at him. Instead, his annoyance was directed at his right fist covered in blood. He shook his hand to remove the blood as he spoke, "Looks like I got a bit rusty after all these years."


    Although the captain was down, the knights did not stop the charge. On the contrary, the knights were now more cautious than ever. They did not see how he did it but the fact that a captain was killed through his armor with a single attack was more than enough to label the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader as a dangerous individual.


    The latter jumped to avoid the charging knights as he shouted, "Don''t fight! Retreat! Even if we deal with this batch, they will soon receive reinforcement from the town! Retreat while I delay them!" The Wandering Ram Tribe leader once again disappeared as another "Bang!" rang from the knight formation.


    The barbarians hesitated at first. Their blood was already boiling, and they could not wait to fight but they never expected the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader to order their retreat instead! As for the representatives of the different tribes, they let out a sigh of relief as they quickly ordered their own tribe to retreat.


    They all looked in awe as the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader was fighting the whole knight formation by himself. He was alone, yet he was not scared of the knights. However, despite his courage, he was unable to stop the charge; at best, he could only knock down the captains and create some chaos in the formation.


    The barbarians quickly kicked their horses and ran toward their own territory. Five and Ariel closely followed the barbarians. As he did not know how the Black Iron Tribe would treat him, Five decided to stay at the back of the group which also allowed him to watch the ongoing fight.


    Five was confused; he did not understand the Wandering Ram Tribe leader¡¯s decision but at the same time, he was curious to see Noon¡¯s real abilities. He was a totem spirit who supposedly could change the tide of a battle by himself.


    While riding his horse, he stared at Noon and the Wandering Ram Tribe leader, both engaged in their respective fights. His mind was a mess, of all the possible scenarios, he never expected the meeting of the tribes to end this way.


    He still did not understand the Wandering Ram Tribe leader''s earlier actions. The latter first stated that he would not interfere as long as the border protected. His only role was to protect the border but he did not hesitate to anger the church for his sake. It did not make sense as not only would it result in making their previous deal void, but it would also make the church one of their enemies. In comparison, giving his life away would have resulted in a far more stable border; the Sylvester Empire alone could not deal with the barbarians but if they allied with the church, the balance might tip in their favor.


    "Anyway... He is probably a selfish guy with some obscure personal motives. As long as I get out of here with Ariel safely, then everything would be fine," said Five to himself. The barbarians'' mounts were slightly faster than the Knights''; unless something happened, he would easily be able to get out of there. He was not worried about the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader and Noon. If they dared to step forward to face this small army, there was no doubt that they had some plan in mind, especially Noon who should have quite a few powerful items in his possession.


    However, just as Five was starting to relax, a notification suddenly appeared in front of his eyes:


    [You have been hit by the Player Two''s Earthbound Curse, Earthbound Anchor has been set at your current location. Player Five will be unable to move more than 100m away from the Anchor for 10 minutes]


    "What? What is that?" exclaimed Five. He quickly read through the detail and easily understood the situation. He wanted to curse but before he could, he suddenly felt that he had hit an invisible wall and fell backward. His horse continued forward, unaware that his rider had fallen.


    "Master!" exclaimed Ariel as she quickly directed her horse to turn around. Her eyes were filled with worry, she did not understand what happened, but she knew that her master was in danger!


    "Ouch!" Five quickly tried to get up as he rubbed his nose. Although he did not lose any HP, he still felt the pain from hitting that invisible wall. At the speed at which the horse was running, it only took a few seconds for him to cover one hundred meters.


    However, that was the least of Five''s worries. Behind him, the knights were still charging; their spears were all pointed at him, glowing with a dazzling white light.

 Chapter 112: Battle(1)

    "Thum Thum Thum"


    Despite the disturbance caused by the Wandering Ram Tribe leader, the Knights never stopped charging forward. Instead, they slowly gained momentum and swiftly reached their maximum charging speed. The ground was shaking as a loud rumble resonated through Five''s ears.


    The latter would be lying if he said he was not panicking. He had made ample preparations for many scenarios where the barbarians might turn against him but he never expected a whole army of knights to be charging at him.


    He instinctively wanted to take a step back but at the same time, Five could feel the invisible barrier against his back. The barrier was still there, like an unmovable mountain, blocking his only escape path.


    "F*ck! How did it turn out like that?"


    Five swore loudly as he looked at the charging knights. Coming here was a mistake but the biggest mistake he had made was that he underestimated the players. He never treated the players as a threat, but it turned out that they had been the largest threat all along.


    Compared to the level 40 knights, Five previously thought that the players were only there to spectate the fight. After all, their levels only ranged from 15 to 25. With Ariel at his side, it was easy to deal with them but what he did not take into account was the wide variety of classes the players had access to.


    If the church specialized in priests and paladin related classes, the players did not restrict themselves to these two classes. The skills they could display also had a wide range of effects. The Earthbound curse was one of the skills Five never expected to witness; as its name suggested, it was a curse, the antithesis of the blessings of the church. But more importantly, it was a unique skill that Five had never seen in the dungeon shop!


    Five did not know the origin of the skill but he did not have time to think about this small detail. He quickly browsed through his inventory, taking out a couple of vials. He hoped to never have to use them but considering the situation, it seemed that they were his only hope. The vials were Grade 2 Explosive Potions that Five purchased before leaving the dungeon.


    Each explosive potion could deal a maximum of 60 damage in a 10m radius of the explosion with a 50% bonus damage dealt to beasts. However, one potion was far from enough to deal with the knights. Their class specialized in tanking damage and as they invested heavily in their vitality stats, their HP ranged from 400 to 600. And more importantly, there was a whole squad of healers standing behind the knights; if he did not instantly burst the knights to 0, then all his efforts would be in vain.


    Fortunately, Five bought an entire stock of those explosive potions and had a total of 30 of them in his inventory. Each potion was a one-time use item and cost 5000DP each but compared to his own life, this amount of DP was nothing.


    "Master! Be careful!"


    As she noticed Five suddenly fall from his horse, Ariel did not hesitate and jumped off her own horse and flew toward Five. She no longer cared about hiding her identity as a harpy and spread out her wings in front of Five to protect him.


    "You should leave! All these knights are too much for you!" exclaimed Five.


    "No! No matter what, I will protect you!" As she spoke, Ariel activated one of her skills. She did not have the confidence to stand against the knights but she knew that her mother was hiding not very far from there, waiting for the right time to strike!


    "Alright then, in that case, stand by my side!" said Five. He was holding 5 Explosive potions in his right hand, ready to throw them at the charging knights. He knew 5 potions were far from enough to kill one knight but it was different for the horses! Their maximum HP was slightly lower than the knights and as they were beasts, they all took bonus damage from the explosive potions. For now, his main objective was to stop the charge of the knights!


    However, before he could get into a proper throwing stance, Five suddenly heard a series of "Woosh" above his head. The next second, the horses at the front of the formation suddenly stumbled and fell on the ground. The knights riding the unfortunate horses did not have time to react before they found themselves rolling on the ground, desperately trying to avoid the charging horses of their teammates.


    The previously perfect formation suddenly crumbled as the knights at the back hurriedly changed direction to avoid the fallen knights. This resulted in the compact formation suddenly spreading open and more importantly, they could no longer charge at Five unless they were willing to sacrifice their fallen comrades.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    From his point of view, Five was only able to see a series of rays of light piercing the armored horses of the knights but he easily determined what happened. He quickly looked behind him and as he expected, several barbarians were holding their bows fully drawn as they continued to retreat on their mount. Most of those archers formed part of the Wandering Ram Tribe but what surprised Five was that the Black Iron Tribe also stood among the archers who helped him.


    Just a few moments ago, when he saw the Wandering Ram Tribe members suddenly draw out their bows, Baltra also immediately ordered his fellow tribesmen to do so. The Shaman had previously given him the mission to test Five''s strength and so, he did not hesitate to put Five in danger. However, the situation had changed, the relationship between the barbarians and the church had already turned sour and with the Wandering Ram Tribe leader fighting them, there was no guarantee that the church would take down Five''s dungeon in the future.


    As a result, he quickly needed to reconcile Five and the Black Iron Tribe. Before that, he did not care much about Five as if the church was really going to take down all the dungeons, there was a high chance that Five would naturally disappear but now, the situation was different. Even if Five died, if he could really return to his dungeon, then he might make things difficult for the tribe. And so, even if it was just a few arrows, as long as he showed that the tribe stood on Five''s side, he hoped that Five would not mind his earlier behavior.


    Five could not be concerned by the reasons for the Black Iron Tribe''s actions; for now, he needed to focus on the current situation. He could see the healers at the back quickly raise their staff as they activated their skills. Although the knights changed directions and instead charged after the barbarians, once the fallen knights recovered, the situation might change!


    When he saw the light glow on the fallen knights, Five knew he did not have much time left and so, he quickly tossed the vials in his hand at them before taking out another batch of five.


    "Boom Boom!"


    Five continuously threw his explosive potions all around him. All he cared about was to keep the fallen knights down, but it was clearly a battle he was going to lose. The healers at the back continuously used their skills, forming defensive shields to absorb the damage of the explosions. As a result, none of the knights really died, even after half of Five''s explosive potions were used.


    Five frowned, the situation looked really desperate. His escape items were all being negated by the Earthbound curse and his few offensive items would all be countered by the army of priests. He looked at Ariel who was quietly floating at his side with a resolute expression, but he doubted she would be enough to turn the tides. The only good news was that none of the knights that went pass him turned back to attack him from behind; instead, they continued forward to chase after the barbarians.


    Five did not understand their intentions but nevertheless, he did not mind having fewer knights aiming at him. However, he soon understood their motives.


    A black blur suddenly appeared in front of him. Five quickly jumped to the side, avoiding the blur but he was too late. The blur rapidly materialized into a player. He widely grinned at Five as he quickly drew his dagger.


    Five took a moment to process what happened; he could only stare at the approaching dagger but fortunately, Ariel was at his side and reacted quickly.


    In a flash, she appeared in front of Five. She joined her hands together as she glared at the player.


    [Zephyr Strike]


    The player''s expression suddenly changed. He only noticed Ariel appear at the last moment and before he could react, his body suddenly flew back as it was hit by the [Zephyr Strike]. He did not even see the skill being activated and only felt his stomach being torn apart by an invisible force. The pain was so intense that he could only let go of his dagger as he pressed his hands onto his stomach.


    The next moment, he ungracefully rolled on the ground, trying to move as far away from Ariel as possible. He thought it would be easy to obtain those 200 merit points but he never expected Five to have such a strong bodyguard.


    "Thank you," said Five as he gratefully looked at Ariel. He had already recognized the skill used by the player to appear in front of him. It was the assassin''s skill: [Shadow Dash], allowing its user to dash across any obstacle, dealing damage to any enemies it went through.


    "D*mnit, they are using me to train the players? F*ck!" Five loudly swore as he stared at the assassin. He now understood why the knights did not bother with him; it was because they wanted to use him to test their new recruits! Although it was degrading to be looked down by the knights, it was still good news to Five as the players were weaker than the knights.


    Many of the players had already obtained their advanced class, giving them access to many more skills. For example, Assassin was one of the advanced classes available to rogues while Knight was an advanced class available to paladins. Those advanced classes significantly boosted the attack power of the players. However, it was still a game where they were restricted by levels and in front of the level 32 harpy, the players did not amount to much.


    ...


    At the same time, in the middle of the Devil Suppressing Barrier.


    "Can you really afford to not do anything? Look, your little prot¨¦g¨¦ won''t last very long in this situation!" said the masked man as he parried Noon''s attack.


    "Haha, I don''t think so! You should take a look at your people instead," answered Noon as he pointed in a particular direction. There, the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader could be seen mercilessly attacking the defenseless priests at the back. Although many executioners appeared to protect the healers, they could only delay the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader to some extent.


    The masked man frowned and jumped back to heal himself. Despite the Devil Suppressing Barrier, he was not having a good time when facing Noon alone. He had already depleted a large number of items, but Noon was still standing firm, looking perfectly healthy.


    Both of them suffered some injuries from their fight but it was obvious that the masked man was on the losing side. Furthermore, with his troops being massacred outside the barrier, even if he managed to survive this encounter, how was he supposed to explain this to the higher-ups? He was starting to lose hope when he suddenly noticed Noon''s expression change.


    During this entire fight, Noon had been rather carefree despite facing one of the strongest members of the church. Instead, his attention was more focused on what was happening outside the barrier. To him, the masked man did not represent a major threat; once all his items would be exhausted, it would be easy to capture him.


    However, when he saw the masked man retreat, he suddenly felt a strong suppressive force seal a portion of his power. The Devil Suppressing Barrier was already taking away 20% of his power but now, another 10% was being taken away by this mysterious force.


    20% or 30% did not make a big difference to Noon but the mysterious force gave him a familiar feeling. With his knowledge and experience, Noon easily located the source of the force and soon his eyes lit up!


    ''This... This is the Curse of Weakness of the Cursed Tribe! How can someone from the church use this skill? It is impossible! Unless...''


    Noon''s face lit up as he turned toward the masked man.


    "So that''s why you are here! All this time, I have been wondering why a Commandment would appear at such a desolate area. It''s because of that man! You are trying to bait out the remnants of the cursed tribe!"

 Chapter 113: Battle(2)

    The masked man did not bother to answer and instead focused on healing himself. However, Noon already understood that he had struck the right cord. He fell into deep thoughts.


    ''The Cursed Tribe actually had an heir... And he is not any weaker than any regular member of their tribe. Although his level is low, he already knows a few curses and his Curse of Weakness can even affect me despite our difference in levels!''


    The Cursed Tribe was the very reason why the previous war started. As their name suggested, they were a tribe centered around curses; they were completely different from the other tribes who worshipped their beast totems.


    The curses themselves were not very powerful but they had the unique property of being able to perfectly counter the blessings of the church! With such a huge potential threat hiding among the barbarians, the church naturally did not feel safe. They absolutely needed to get rid of that threat and as a result, led the Sylvester Empire to start a war with the barbarians.


    "Very interesting! Using the heir of the Cursed Tribe to bring them out. It could have worked if only you came a bit earlier."


    "From your words, it seems that the Cursed Tribe had really not been completely eradicated! The famous barbarian''s sacred oath amounts to nothing! You always say that your oaths are absolute and cannot be broken, but this is the very proof that it is not! The pope was right! All this time, you have been hiding the Cursed Tribe!"


    Noon calmly looked at the masked man with a smile; he knew the masked man was just buying time to heal his injuries, but he did not seem to be concerned about that. "You are not exactly right! To end the silly war, the barbarians swore that the Cursed Tribe would be wiped off the surface of Zero and that is the case. It is just that instead of living on the surface, they are now leaving underground. So, the oath still holds. If you came a few years earlier, your plan might have succeeded but now, it is too late, the Cursed Tribe have already migrated. Instead of aiming for the central plains, you should maybe search for them in the empire itself!"


    The masked man frowned as he once again took a fighting stance. "You think you will win just because the tribe leader outside is free to kill all my troops? Let me tell you, you are completely wrong! By now, the executioners left at the camp should have been alerted and should be on their way. No matter how strong he is, he won''t be able to survive the attack of so many knights! Besides, the other barbarians have already retreated, and that little devil won''t last for long. I just need to hold a little bit longer and when the reinforcements arrive, we''ll easily be able to deal with you!"


    Noon remained unfazed by the masked man''s comments. He was not scared by his threats and answered, "Stop talking about that man. Although I made a small deal with him, I do not owe him anything and does not need to protect him. Saying that I needed to do so was just to trap your men into attacking! After all, it would be hard for any Commandment to just ignore a dungeon master, right? I worked so hard to create this situation but you have yet to use your skill. Could it be that the Faith is the only one who was not bestowed with a unique skill?"


    As he heard Noon''s words, the masked man could not help but loudly grind his teeth. However, Noon did not even give him time to answer as he continued, "Since the previous Commandment of Faith died in a duel and he perished without using his unique skill, I thought his skill might have something to do with his allies instead. But maybe I was wrong or could it be that you can bear to watch as the leader of my tribe slaughters your men one by one?"


    "You..." The masked man clenched his fists. He did not know how to react to Noon''s provocation. ''My unique skill... If I don''t do anything, there is no doubt that all the priests out there would die. Even if the reinforcement arrives in time... There is still the problem of that guy. If even I cannot deal with him under the suppression of the barrier, just what would happen once he gets out?''


    ''My skill... I have been told that I have one but just out is it exactly? My wife... Where are you? It has been so long since we last talked. Are you still angry at me after all these years?''Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Unbeknown to the masked man, after he heard Noon''s words, he became lost in his own thoughts. He started to recall the moment he had been officially bestowed his title of Commandment. However, no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember himself receiving any skills!


    ''Could it be that I really do not have any skill and that is why I can only remain at the bottom of the list... No! No matter what, I cannot lose my faith in god! He must have prepared something, he would definitely not lie to me! This must be a trial to test my loyalty! No matter what, I must believe in him!''


    When the masked man finally found his resolve to continue the fight, a few seconds had already passed but Noon had yet to make a move. The masked man slowly raised his head as he faced Noon. "Although you had a chance to attack me, you did not take advantage of my distraction. I would like to thank you for that, but I will not give up! If you think that relying on the tribe leader outside to deal with my men would be enough, you are greatly mistaken! I am not sure how long I can fight you, but at the very least, the tribe leader is going down!"


    As he spoke, the masked man suddenly moved as he drew his blade but to Noon''s surprise, instead of charging at him, the masked man violently stabbed his own left hand! "I did not want to use this, but since the situation has already developed up to this point, there is nothing to lose in doing that"


    "I call upon thee! Thou who have sinned shall now repent! On behalf of the lord, I bestow you this opportunity! Appear and pay the price of your sins!"


    In front of a dazed Noon, the masked man loudly shouted as he shook his arms. His movements looked erratic but in reality, if one looked closely, one would notice that each movement would spray part of his blood around him, roughly drawing a summoning circle!


    However, even after the masked man finished his incantation, nothing actually occured!


    Even after waiting for a few seconds, the masked man stared at the cloudy sky with expectation but to his surprise, nothing actually happened!


    "Wait! Since when had it been so cloudy? Wasn''t the sky clear just a few minutes ago?" exclaimed the masked man.


    "So you finally noticed?" asked Noon while smiling.


    "Noticed what?"


    "Did you really think that the tribe leader was the only real threat out there? That little lass is not too bad. By using the clouds as a cover, she was able to deflect most of my detection abilities. It looks like the help you call for will never actually arrive. Still, I never expected a member of the church, and a Commandment on top of that to ever summon a Fallen Angel!"


    ...


    High up in the skies, a purple haired harpy was quietly observing the situation while sitting on top of fluffy clouds. She had been staying on top of clouds since the very beginning, anxiously watching as the negotiations went by and even as the battle began, she still forced herself to remain calm as she observed Five''s actions.


    She had always been ready to strike; if Five was ever put in real mortal danger, she would immediately intervene. Part of her already wanted to fly down and deal with all the humans attacking her master but at the same time, she knew it was a good opportunity for Five to grow. If he always relied on her, he would never be able to deal with situations like these. She wanted to see just how Five had prepared himself for this kind of situation.


    While this was indeed one reason for her not to act, another part of her was also scared to appear in front of Five. Deep inside, she was feeling guilty for having left her master to return to her clan, but she never expected that she would eventually return. She steeled her heart to remain by Five''s side as a power in the shadows but when she encountered the new harpies, she immediately regretted her decision and yearned to return to the dungeon.


    However, would she not be a complete hypocrite if she just turned up? She just did not know how to face Five and in the end, she still kept her distance. She was always on alert and was constantly watching Five''s enemies but out of nowhere, her instincts suddenly warned her of a terrifying threat approaching.


    It did not take long for her to notice the masked man''s actions and using him as a reference, Harriet immediately determined the location of the summoning.


    Compared to normal summons who usually walked out of their summoning circles, this one was actually coming down from the skies!


    When she raised her head to look up, she immediately saw a black silhouette rapidly flying down.


    Without hesitation, Harriet deployed her wings and flew upwards. There was no time to lose!


    As soon as she saw the black silhouette, she immediately knew what kind of enemy she had to face. "A Fallen Seraphim! 4 wings and he is even level 60... 3 levels above mine..."


    In the world where the angels reside, the number of wings an individual possessed was directly proportional to their own power. The majority of the angels only had two wings while the gods themselves would have twelve wings! The seraphim in Harriet''s field of view only had 4 wings which was only average in the realm of the angels but according to the standards of the world of Zero, the Seraphim was a top tier powerhouse!


    A chill went down Harriet''s spine as she saw the enemy she would have to face but, in the end, she still chose to fly toward the seraphim. If she ever let the Seraphim approach Five, then his chances of survival would be even lower. Even without having to look after Five, Harriet never believed she would be able to defeat the Seraphim. Her plan now was only to distract the Seraphim long enough for Five to be able to escape.


    "Noon! Since I am dealing with the Fallen Angel, I hope you''ll be able to look after my master..." murmured Harriet.


    At the same time, she flew straight at the Seraphim but as they were about to collide, the Seraphim actually dodged her and continued to fly downwards, completely ignoring her.


    "You want to ignore me? Not a chance! Although I am not your match, I can at the very least, force you to remain here for a while!" exclaimed Harriet whose eyes mysteriously turned blood red.

 Chapter 114: Battle(3)

    Battleform!


    Without hesitation, Harriet immediately triggered the connection she had with Five''s dungeon core. She felt a powerful force flow into her, enveloping her body as her appearance started to change. It was not Harriet''s first time using a battleform; having already served other dungeon masters, she was very familiar with the procedure.


    As she absorbed the energy, she immediately noticed that the amount she received was much lower than that offered by the other dungeons. It was to be expected as Five''s dungeon was relatively new, and his dungeon core did not grow much. However, what surprised her, was that the energy flowing from Five''s core was far more sinister than any energy she had ever encountered!


    When she felt the cold energy, Harriet was reluctant to absorb more but given the situation, if she did not take her battleform, she would only be able to buy a few seconds at most.


    She steeled her heart and closed her eyes.


    In front of her, the Seraphim naturally felt the changes in Harriet; he briefly glanced at her but in the end, he chose to continue his descent. He was a proud Seraphim of the realm of angels; even if he had been banished for commiting a mistake, what could a small mortal from a small world do to him?


    He continued to fly downward but just a few moments later, the Seraphim suddenly turned around, raising his shield just in time to block the attack of a frenzied Harriet.


    To the Seraphim''s surprise, the previously innocent looking harpy had completely changed her appearance!


    Her hair was now completely dyed in red and her black wings at her back actually disappeared! Instead, a pair of red wings appeared behind her hips and another pair came out of her forearms, acting as extensions of her body.


    Aside from her wings, Harriet''s hands and feet had also changed, taking a more bestial form with shining elongated claws. The only part of her body that remained unchanged was her beautiful face but from her hair emerged a tiny pair of black horns, contrasting with her long hair.


    Seeing that her attack had been blocked, Harriet immediately reacted and shifted to the right, using her newly-formed pair of wings on her arms as a pair of blades to attack.


    The Seraphim promptly blocked the strike again but when he looked at where Harriet had been floating, he only saw an empty space. The next moment, the Seraphim suddenly felt a huge amount of pain coming from his back. He coughed some blood as he violently swung his spear in an attempt to push Harriet away.


    The latter swiftly dodged the spear and retreated. She looked at her hands in surprise. "This form is really powerful! I never expected my agility to increase that much!"


    The moment she triggered her link with the dungeon core, Harriet had been offered 4 forms to choose from. She was originally a spellcaster who specialised heavily on her Intelligence and Wisdom and one of the battleforms she could take would naturally boost up her magic powers.


    However, Harriet was not facing any opponent; she was facing a Seraphim. Her foe came from a world of magic; since their birth, they had been exposed to all sorts of spells and as a result, the inherent trait of their race was their abnormally high magic resistance! Spellcasters were completely powerless against angels but fortunately, she also had access to other battleforms.


    Without hesitation, Harriet picked the one centered around physical damage and the results surpassed her expectations. Although she only dealt a small amount of damage, it had to be noted that the Seraphim was wearing a complete set of equipment; being able to actually damage him under these conditions was already a miracle!


    The Seraphim furiously stared at Harriet for a moment. His mouth moved as if he was speaking but Harriet was unable to hear a thing. The Seraphim was not mute; it was just that the frequency he spoke at was way too high for Harriet''s ears to be able to capture it. However, just from his facial expression, Harriet already knew that they were not very nice words.


    "We can waste more time after my battleform runs out but for now, take that!" exclaimed Harriet as she opened her arms.


    At the same time, she activated one of her skills, [Feather Storm]


    Immediately, feathers flew out of her wings and started circling around her. Some of the feathers were real physical ones while others were made of magic but very quickly, Harriet created a small storm around her with her feathers randomly around acting as sharp knives.


    She perfectly calculated the distance between her and the Seraphim to make sure he fell into the range of the storm and very quickly, the Seraphim was forced to activate his own skill to protect himself.


    A white halo quickly surrounded his body, absorbing the damage done by the feathers.


    Harriet gritted her teeth, even with the buff of her battleform, the Seraphim was easily able to protect himself. It fell within her expectations, but she was nevertheless disappointed by the results.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    She knew she was a few levels below her foes but as she was considered a boss monster, she could usually deal with enemies at a higher level than her. When facing normal mobs, she could easily stand against 10 enemies at the same level as her. Yet, in front of a single Seraphim, she was utterly powerless.


    She knew the Seraphim was just saving his strength for when her battleform would expire. After all, those battleforms were not permanent ones. They would usually last for a few seconds but when mastered properly, experienced monsters would easily be able to extend their forms for at least 5 minutes.


    The battleforms were equivalent to the change occuring in boss monsters when they would reach a critical amount of HP in other games. It would not last for very long but during that period of time, the monsters were at least twice as strong as they would normally be.


    The Seraphim was naturally aware of that fact and as a result, he chose the safest option; to wait safely until the harpy would return to her normal weak form! Protected by his halo, he simply looked at Harriet condescendingly, challenging her to try to break his halo.


    "Hmmp! Since you asked for it!" Harriet immediately charged at the Seraphim with all her might. She doubted she would be able to do much damage but as long as she completely diverted the Seraphim''s attention to herself, she would have achieved her goal!


    [Aerial charge!]


    [Wing Attack!]


    [Piercing Scream!]


    Without hesitation, Harriet quickly activated a series of skills, one stronger than the other. She acted swiftly, making it appear as a combo but when she looked at the Seraphim''s state, she could not help but feel some despair creep inside her heart.


    Even after exhausting more than half of her mana pool, the Seraphim''s halo had yet to even break. As for his HP, they still remained at a solid 90%.


    ...


    On the ground, Five was not in a much better position either. He could see a large group of players rushing at him. There was still a large distance for them to cover but he knew more threats were hiding nearby!


    He was naturally thinking about the assassins. Since one of them had already attacked, there was a high possibility that other assassins were nearby too, hiding in their stealth and waiting for the right time to strike.


    His stock of Explosive potions was almost completely depleted but seeing that the fallen knights would not die under the protection of the healers, he decided to switch his items.


    Instead of the small vial, a small blue grenade appeared in his palm and without hesitation, Five decisively tossed the grenade at the knights and the incoming players.


    Internally, his heart was bleeding as he thought of all the DP that was being wasted! The grenades he just tossed were Grade 1 Flash Frost Grenades. Although they only dealt 20 damage in a 5m radius, the frost grenade had the property to completely cover its area of explosion with a layer of ice! Those small grenades were only Grade 1 and cost 2000 DP each. Five prepared himself for a variety of situation and as a result, he brought about 20 of these grenades with him; more than enough to cover an area around him with ice!


    The running players were momentarily stunned when they saw the blue item flying at them, but they did not bother to dodge it. After all, there was an entire army of healers right behind them and as they expected, "-20" appeared above their head but was quickly replaced with a "+20".


    However, what they did not expect was that as soon as the grenades would explode, the vast majority of them would instantly slip and fall on the ground.


    With the ground being suddenly covered with ice, the unprepared players were taken by surprise and immediately slipped before sliding down the hill. Five did not randomly choose to use the Flash Frost Grenades. Instead, he purposedly picked this item due to his geographical advantage! He was standing on a hill and the players were trying to climb that hill to attack him, it was virtually impossible for the players to glide onto the ice upward! As a result, the ice was acting as an invisible wall preventing the players from making any more progress.


    While the bulk of the players were facing the problem of overcoming the layer of ice, the few assassins that managed to get within the reach of Five thanks to their high movement speed, were facing another problem: Ariel.


    The assassins first thought she was a silly NPC that could be lured away from Five but they learned at their own expenses that that was not the case. Ariel mainly attacked the players with physical attacks to conserve her mana but when Five was truly about to be hit by someone, she would not hesitate to send wind blades at the assassins.


    However, despite their failures, the assassins did not stop and eventually:


    "Come here my cash cow! Soon, I''ll get enough merits to purchase an entire set of techniques!" exclaimed one of the players as he dashed toward Five with his dagger drawn.


    Ariel looked toward the source of the voice, but she already had her hands full with dealing with 4 other players. Fortunately, Five didn''t. After using all his 20 Flash Frost Grenades, he had finally accomplished his first goal which was to delay the bulk of the players.


    Now that he no longer needed to constantly use his expensive items, he swiftly turned his attention to the nearby players.


    The charging assassin was a level 20 player with the IGN Solblade. Five smiled as he looked at the approaching player. "Since you are so close, you shall be my guinea pig to test all the skills I purchased at the dungeon shop!"


    With these words, Five suddenly charged at Solblade but right as he was about to be hit by the blade, he quickly twisted his body, dodging the blade while placing his right hand on Solblade''s back.


    The latter had no idea what just happened. He was clearly two levels ahead of the player in front of him and as an assassin, his dexterity was very high. Yet, he was unable to understand how Five was able to not only evade his attack but so swiftly escape from his field of vision. However, it was too late for him to react as while his brain was still processing what just happened, his ears rang with the following words:


    "Incinerate my enemies and burn everything on your path! Fireball!"


    "Boom!"


    Solblade naturally recognised these words; it was the incantation required to cast the mage''s spell: [Fireball]. Different from all the other classes, mages were required to recite a few words to cast their spells. They were not required to say them aloud and could simply think of those words, but this technique required some practice.


    Five had only recently started using skills from the dungeon shop but the players were different. Most of them had been playing for almost two months and by now, most of the mages knew silent casting which allowed them to simply think of the incantations, allowing them to hide which skill they were casting.


    The poor player was blasted forward as the point-blank fireball exploded on his back. He had underestimated his opponent and now, he could only watch as his HP dropped by 20. "Ah! Thanks to the new equipment, my magic resistance is quite high now, it can absorb most of the damage of that guy''s spell!"


    However, his joy was short lived as just one second later, Solblade stared in disbelief as his HP suddenly dropped to zero.


    "I am sorry for my incompetence, master! I was busy dealing with the players other there!" said Ariel with a guilty expression. She had never expected so many assassins to appear. With her strength, she could easily deal with the assassins, but the problem was their numbers. It did not matter how vigilant she was, eventually, one player would succeed in reaching Five and the first one to do so happened to be the poor Solblade.


    Five smiled to the harpy. He knew it was not her fault. "Don''t worry about this! Just don''t chase them too far and protect me for a few moments. Once I cast this spell, I won''t be able to move and will become an easy target!"


    "Alright, I will stay with 5m of you master!" quickly answered Ariel.


    "Good!" Five nodded as he quickly scanned his surroundings. 10 player corpses were lying around him, but he still felt that there might be a few assassins left.


    He naturally had a skill to deal with invisible assassins but there was one major problem he would have to deal with: his mana pool! Mages could cast several spells in a short period of time but Five was different.


    He did not benefit from the bonuses of the mage class as his own class was Dungeon Master. That was the major drawback of being a dungeon master; he had access to all the skills he wanted but at the same time, he would not benefit from any class bonus. It was a small drawback but in the long run when the players would stack several class bonuses, he would be the one with a disadvantage.


    With his limited mana pool, Five was reluctant to cast too many spells. He could only cast about 9 spells before completely exhausting his mana pool but fortunately, there was a specific mage skill that could allow him to save a large amount of mana, but the skill naturally had drawbacks.


    Mages were normally safe at the backline, protected by the tanks but his situation was different. Only now that Ariel had returned did he feel safe and consequently, he immediately activated the skill.


    "Oh essence of magic, flow into me as I become one with the earth! Roots of Magic"

 Chapter 115: Battle(4)

    [Roots of Magic]


    Mana cost: 0


    Cooldown: 5 minutes


    Effects: Decrease the mana cost of all skills by 30% and decrease the cooldown of all other skills by 20%


    Note: Roots of Magic will be automatically canceled if the user tries to move his legs or is affected by a strong crowd control effect


    Right after reciting the incantation, with a satisfactory smile, Five lowered his eyes to take a look at his feet. As he expected, he found his lower body surrounded by a layer of semi-transparent threads, connecting his body to the ground. The pale blue threads looked so frail and fragile; for a moment, Five was even tempted to try moving his legs to see if they would really break.


    While this was happening, Ariel was silently observing their surroundings, acting as a strong deterrent to all the assassins hiding in the shadows. Although no one dared to take any actions yet, Ariel did not lower her guard at all; she knew that even with the Roots of Magic activated, the situation did not improve by much. Especially since in the corner of her eyes, she quickly noticed the actions of the other players blocked by the layer of ice!


    The players facing the layer of ice only had two options to overcome it. The first one was to simply wait for the ice to melt; depending on the environment, the ice could last for 30 seconds to 5 minutes and in this case, the ice would melt in just 1 minute. However, even one minute was too long for them and as a result, the players naturally opted for the second option.


    In perfect synchrony, all the mage players began to attack the layer of ice, causing it to crack and melt. The range of a mage was limited and could not reach Five yet, but they could still deal with the layer of ice. Just a few fire spells were enough to completely get rid of it, but the process still took a few seconds which was more than enough for Five to cast the Roots of Magic.


    The latter was naturally aware of the situation but there was nothing he could do about it. He was a lonely man standing against a large team of players. Furthermore, he was even at a lower level than most of the players; aside from the wide range of skills he had, he was at a complete disadvantage.


    Five never thought of being able to defeat the players; his only goal had been to locate the player named Two and to get rid of him! He did not know the conditions to break the Earthbound Curse, but chances are, killing Two would also dispel the curse!


    "First things first. Let''s check if there are any hidden assassins nearby. This meeting is really going to cost me a lot of DP..."


    With a calm expression, Five rapidly took out two small bottles and hurriedly drank them one after the other. The Roots of Magic allowed him to cast a few additional spells, but it was still not sufficient. He could only supplement his lacking using a Mana Recovery Potion and a Mind Boosting potion; one temporarily increased his mana recovery rate by 30% while the other increased his Wisdom by 3 which would impact the damage dealt by his spells.


    If physical classes needed to spend a lot of gold on their equipment to constantly repair them, the magical classes spent more on consumable items that could temporarily boost their power.


    With his mana source more or less secured, Five immediately activated a priest spell: [Light Bulwark]. A faint transparent barrier quickly surrounded him and Ariel; as he could not move, he needed a shield to protect himself. Ariel alone was not enough but with the light bulwark, he would at least be able to block a few attacks.


    Different from other shields, the light bulwark did not absorb a fixed amount of damage; instead, it blocked 5 hits regardless of the damage that would have been dealt. It was especially effective in this situation as in the distance, Five could see several rangers activating their [State of Focus]; the Ranger''s version of Roots of magic that highly increased the user''s range of attack and accuracy.


    "Ariel, are you ready?" asked Five.


    "Yes!"


    Hearing the harpy''s answer, Five quickly used the buffing skills of the priest class: [Empower], [Haste], [Excite], [Open Mind] and [Hidden Strength]. They were all single target spells that would temporarily boost the target''s attributes and naturally, the target in this case, was Ariel.


    Five still had a few other buffing spells in his arsenal but considering that they targeted areas instead of individuals, it would be a waste of mana to use them just to boost Ariel.


    With Ariel receiving a considerable improvement in strength, Five immediately used a mage skill. Mages were particularly vulnerable to sneak attacks, as they stood in the backline, it was easy for assassins to get rid of them; it was especially true if they were immobilized by the roots of magic. Fortunately, the mages were not completely helpless against the assassins; they still had a few spells especially designed to counter them.


    "Wave of truth, flow around me and reveal my enemies. Echo Sounder."


    ...


    [Wind Wall]


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    [Wind Fury]


    When she heard Five casting the spell, Ariel immediately followed her master and used her own skills. She already knew her job was to deal with the assassins nearby but doing so would leave Five exposed. Unfortunately, she focused mainly on aggressive skills and did not have many defensive skills; the only one she knew was Wind Wall.


    [Wind Wall]


    Mana cost: 50


    Cooldown: 10 minutes


    Effects: Creates an invisible wall of wind that blocks all physical ranged attacks for 10 seconds


    Wind Wall was completely useless against spells but at the same time, it was the bane of all rangers. With the skill activated, even with their State of Focus, the Rangers would be unable to harm Five for the next 10 seconds.


    10 seconds was a very short period of time, but it would be more than enough for Ariel to deal with the nearby assassins. The harpy was very confident in herself, especially since Wind Fury boosted both her movement speed and attack speed.


    Ariel quietly watched as a formless wave suddenly flew out of Five''s body. The wave was completely harmless and did not deal any damage; its only effect was to reveal stealthed characters. And as Ariel expected, just a few moments later, several silhouettes appeared around her.


    Echo Sounder only revealed the assassins'' location; it did not provide any information about their levels or equipment. Without hesitation, Ariel charged at the nearest assassin who was crouching on the ground, waiting for a good opportunity to attack.


    Unfortunately, before he could even react, the assassin''s head was cleanly severed by the harpy. The unfortunate player did not even have time to understand how his location had been revealed before he was greeted by the game over screen. He wanted to warn his teammates but unfortunately, as he was dead, he was unable to send any messages.


    Ariel did not waste any time after dealing with that assassin. She quickly looked around her and saw 5 other silhouettes spread around Five. Taking advantage of the fact that the players were still unaware of that their locations had been revealed, she once again attacked the nearest assassins.


    The players were quite smart and very quickly, they understood what had happened. They initially believed that the first assassins had simply made a mistake and consequently revealed his position but when they saw their second teammate being viciously attacked by the harpy, they immediately took actions.


    Although they were all part of the same team, the players were not crazy enough to help their poor teammate. They were all assassins; while their damage output was high, their defenses were laughable. Looking for trouble with an NPC 10 levels above themselves would not be different from directly suiciding.


    Instead, three assassins courageously rushed toward Five while the remaining one chose to quickly retreat and stay away from the crazy harpy.


    The assassins did not believe they would be able to escape this situation. However, even if their fate was sealed, it did not mean that they would go down without a fight; at the very least, they would cancel Five''s Roots of Magic. As long as they contributed to the fight in some ways, they would receive some rewards later.


    Five was aware of the situation and was already prepared. When he saw the blurry silhouettes charging at him, Five immediately started to chant several incantations. The assassins were strong but without the element of surprise, their threat level decreased significantly.


    A series of projectiles appeared in Five''s palms and quickly flew toward the assassins. Five was not expecting to be able to defeat the assassins; after all, they were several levels above his own. His only goal was to delay the assassins just enough for Ariel to deal with them. With all the skills available to Five, even if he had to cast them in three separate directions, the assassins still had a hard time dodging the attacks. They were forced to either dodge and lose a few precious seconds or to bite the bullet and lose some HP.


    Ariel was fast but so were the assassins. In just a few seconds, only one assassin was left standing. However, that one assassin had already managed to close the gap between him and Five. Ariel shook the blood off her right hand and quickly dashed toward the remaining assassin. Although the assassin was not very far from her, covering that short distance would at least take her 1 second.


    Fortunately, Five reacted quickly. It would be troublesome if he was hit and had to cancel the Roots of Magic. The 30% mana cost reduction did not sound like much, but it was thanks to that buff that his mana pool was not empty yet. It was dangerously low, but it was enough to cast his next spell: [Earth Pillar].


    The ground shook as a pillar suddenly shot from the ground. Earth Pillar was usually used offensively; in this case, Five used the skill to create a wall between him and the assassin. It was a really ineffective way to use Earth Pillar as similar skills existed whose sole function was to protect its user like Earth Wall but the major difference between the two skills was the casting time. Earth Wall could raise the ground and create a wall around its user, but the process was slow!


    Had Five used Earth Wall instead of Earth Pillar, as time was limited, he would have at most created a small obstacle for the assassin to jump over but with the Earth Pillar, a giant wall had already been erected between the two. Naturally, as it was a pillar, the assassin could easily go around the earth structure to attack Five but doing so would cost him the precious second, he had and more importantly, he would completely lose the momentum of his charge!


    The light in the assassin''s eyes started to dim. The moment he saw the Earth Pillar, he knew he would not succeed in hitting Five. His options were simply too limited, and he did not even have time to think properly.


    "Since I am going to die here, I might as well try to attack that harpy. I will die for sure but if I can apply a debuff, I should be able to get a few more merit points. D*mnit, if that selfish brat did not run away, I would have easily obtained those 200 merit points!"


    When she saw the Earth Pillar shoot out of the ground, Ariel instinctively let out a sigh of relief. "That was too close... I am such a failure! I should have used my wind blades," said Ariel to herself. Since Five was now out of danger, the harpy had subconsciously started to relax. She no longer considered the assassin as a possible threat. Nevertheless, she still rushed toward the assassin to get rid of him.


    However, to her surprise, even with the earth pillar blocking the way, the assassin did not stop! Instead, he even accelerated before jumping toward the pillar.


    From Ariel''s point of view, the assassin was actually jumping right into the pillar but instead of crashing into it, the assassin suddenly bounced back toward her!


    It was the rogue''s movement skill: [Wall Jump] allowing its user to bounce off a wall horizontally without losing any momentum. The assassin cleverly used that skill to surprise Ariel and at least land one hit! His eyes focused on the harpy as he thrust his dagger forward.


    [Internal Haemorrhage]


    Although she was surprised, Ariel instinctively attacked the charging assassin with her hands covered with blood. With all the buffs active on her, her right hand easily cut through the assassin''s flesh, slicing the poor player in half.


    However, despite losing his lower half and witnessing his HP drop to 0, the assassin did not give up and forcefully pushed his dagger forward. His body flew at a strange angle and by coincidence, allowed his dagger to slice Ariel''s left calf.


    "Success!"


    Despite only dealing 5 damage to Ariel, the assassin brightly smiled as his vision darkened. [Internal Haemorrhage] was not designed to inflict any damage to the target. Its main purpose was to apply a bleeding debuff, dealing 1 damage every 5 seconds for the next 60 seconds while reducing the effectiveness of all healing skills and items by 50%.


    Five naturally noticed the debuff being applied to the harpy. He had been monitoring Ariel''s HP and MP bars during the entire fight. He was satisfied to see that the harpy could still fight for a while.


    "Are you alright?" asked Five. At the same time, he tossed her a few healing potions. Their effects would be reduced but it was the only way he had to help Ariel heal a little bit.


    "I am fine. I can still deal with them!" exclaimed Ariel as she pointed at the wave of players rushing at them.


    "That''s good. Listen, we don''t need to deal with all of them. You just need to focus on one person. There is a curse holding me here but if the caster of the curse dies, then there is a high chance that the curse will be lifted. His name is ''Two¡¯, but I don''t know his appearance yet. Once I find him, I will fire all my spells at him, you will just need to take him out but if you can''t then just leave, I can easily revive later but you can''t."


    "I already know that. You have said it a lot of time but at least, let me do my job as one of your monsters," answered Ariel. She displayed a strong front as she looked at Five. She wanted to prove herself and no matter what Five said, she was ready to disobey him if it meant that her master would survive.


    "Fine. Get ready then, they are coming!" said Five. He downed a few mana potions, replenishing his mana pool to deal with the players.

 Chapter 116: Battle(5)

    "Two! Don''t rush like that! Princeling and his group have all be annihilated. Only one guy managed to run away."


    Two, who was charging in front of everyone slowed down a little bit and turned toward the speaker. The player''s IGN was Firecracker, but his real name was Richard and he used to be a tycoon. As a result, all his close friends called him Richie.


    "What did you see, Richie? You are usually not that cautious," asked Two. Firecracker has been one of the few players to wholeheartedly agree to work with him. Although he did not fully trust him yet, there was no harm in hearing his advice.


    "Although that player sided with the dark side, he is not a nobody. He must have considerable backing. In just the space of a few minutes, he took out at least 30 different items that all cost a few gold. Furthermore, he has already used more than 10 spells. I don''t how he got the harpy, but it is obvious that she is his familiar. He must have a big guild behind him; we might end up offending them," prudently answered Firecracker. They were all knights who chose to join the church for resources, but Firecracker managed to obtain a skill called [Long Distance Vision]. The skill was rather useful and turned Firecracker into the scout of the team.


    "It does not matter how strong he is or what his background is. This is a game and he cannot do anything against us. We have the church to back us up here. They cannot make a move on us unless they want to anger one of the major forces of the game. Besides, there are so many of us; he can at most take down one or two," replied Two.


    "Two, you don''t have to worry about it. As long as I am here, nothing will happen to you. The church will protect you. There is no time to lose, we need to get rid of the evil." A woman''s voice sounded.


    Firecracker looked at the speaker and frowned. Her name was Sophia. She was a pretty young blonde who always followed Two around. She wore a thin cloak that hid most of her features and held a long shiny staff, clearly indicating that she was a Cleric. The surprising part was that Sophia was not a player but rather, an NPC.


    Sophia was the only NPC who joined the group of players. Before leaving the church, the trainers there organized a small tournament to determine who would lead the different teams on the subjugation missions. The prizes that were put up were all extremely enticing, ranging from powerful weapons to even unique skills. All the players fought for the prizes but in the end, Two ended up at the top.


    To everyone''s surprise, the organizers added a special prize to the prize pool: For the duration of the mission, Two will be accompanied by a female attendant that would help him in his daily chores and fight at his side.


    Everybody was immediately stunned and envious of Two. Just by fighting, he not only obtained a bunch of useful items but he also got a beautiful NPC to play with during the whole mission. Sophia was a level 30 Cleric, she was 10 levels above the average player. With her by his side, Two was guaranteed to come back alive.


    Even Firecracker was jealous of Two. Who would not want to have a pretty girl by his side? However, like many, Firecracker acknowledged Two''s strength and decided to stay near him. Maybe the female Cleric would save a few spells to help her other teammates.


    "Charge!" Two yelled loudly as he activated the skill with the same name. He was chosen to lead this time in defeating the evil forces, he needed to be the one leading the way.


    ***


    "Found him!" Five turned his attention at the group of players charging toward him. Contrary to his expectations, finding Two had been extremely easy. When he was cursed, Five believed that Two was a Shaman or a Cursemancer but as it turned out, Two was one of the Knights leading the charge!


    "He might have acquired a unique class that allows him to use curses. It is such a pity that they changed the Gunpowder, or else, this fight would have been so much easier."


    Five sighed. He lamented over the fact that the crafting system had been modified. Gunpowder was the first item Five ever crafted in the game. It was thanks to its powerful effect that he was able to escape from Kroff''s grasp.


    However, at that time, Five was still below level 10 and the crafting system of the game did not apply to him. The game was programmed for players to be able to obtain professions once they left the beginner''s village. This only occurred once they reached level 10; before that, the players'' situation was ambiguous.


    When Five tried to mix the components of the Gunpowder, he was immediately alerted by a system prompt:


    [System prompt: Error! Player must have reached Grade 2 Engineer to successfully craft this item]


    At the same time, a failure message appeared, resulting in the loss of the material. Five was stunned, he did not immediately understand what went wrong. After some research, he discovered that Engineer was a profession that could only be obtained at the capital of each empire. Alternatively, players could also learn Engineering from other races like goblins and gnomes.


    When he looked at the forum, Five saw several players complaining about the crafting system. Even if they had high-level recipes in their possession, they could not use them before advancing their profession. It meant that before Five could once again make Gunpowder, he would need to start as a Grade 0 Engineer and level up to a Grade 2 Engineer. This was an almost impossible task for Five who was banned from all the towns of the empire.


    Since he could no longer make Gunpowder, Five had to resort to buying items directly from the dungeon shop. It was more expensive, but they were also more effective. By the time he left the dungeon, he had less than 10000 DP left.


    "Ariel, I found him. He is the man leading the other players. His armor is very different from the others; there a strange insignia on his armor plate, do you see who I am talking about?" asked Five.


    "Yes, do I need to take him out?" promptly answered the harpy. Her eyes were much sharper than Five. She floated next to her master while preparing to charge at her target.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Yes, but use your ranged skills. It is dangerous to get near them. There are so many players. Even if you have a larger health pool than them, if they all attack at once, you will die before even reaching them," warned Five.


    Ariel did not respond to Five''s warning, but she nevertheless started to float higher and higher. She was well aware that the situation did not look very good. It was two people against an entire army. Even if Five could send a deluge of spells at one target, the enemy''s mages and rangers could also do the same at him.


    The Wind Wall has already expired while the Light Bulwark would not last for very long. Ariel looked in the distance at Noon''s fight with the Commandment of Faith. She did not understand why Harriet had yet to appear. Clearly, the situation was not in their favor at all. The harpy queen has said she wanted to expose Five to some danger but this was simply too much!


    Five has already told her to be careful and to escape if needed but Ariel was unwilling to do so. Just a few moments later, the Knights finally got within Five''s range and without a doubt, the latter activated all his off-cooldown spells.


    Ariel floated high in the sky as she watched the colorful stream of spells fly straight toward Two. Ariel herself did not hesitate and used [Violent Twister], to push back the attackers. However, Two was a strong Knight wearing a robust armor. To top it off, he had a beautiful Cleric that easily buffed and healed him accordingly.


    The harpy frowned and bit her lips. None of the Knights were taking a substantial amount of damage. Their magic resistance was simply too high and they had too many Priests healing them from behind. To successfully kill Two, they would need to deal a massive amount of damage in a short period of time.


    Five also seemed to have noticed that his attacks were ineffective. He deactivated the [Roots of Magic] and took out a short sword from his inventory. It was not that Five was more confident in his physical skills but by fighting directly, he would not be so exposed in the open and would not be an easy target for the mages and rangers. At the very least, they would need to take into consideration hitting their own teammates with their skills.


    Five firmly held the short sword as he charged toward the players. He knew he would immediately lose in a direct confrontation, but it was his only chance at killing Two. As soon as the latter would die, the curse would naturally dispel and Five would be able to use the Escape Scroll he had. The Escape Scroll was a useful item that would teleport its user at a random location 1km away. If it was not for the curse, he would have long used it.


    "You finally ran out of mana, huh? You cannot escape now!" Two shouted as he swung his broad sword at Five. As he was the one leading the charge, he was naturally the first one to clash directly with Five. Unfortunately, he had been forced to cancel [Charge] to use [Divine Shield]. Without this defensive skill activated, the damage he would have taken would have been much more significant.


    Five blocked the first sword strike and took a step back to dodge the second one. He knew he would soon be surrounded by the other players, he needed to end this fast. He had been lucky till now, but it would not last for very long.


    [Frenzy]


    The only buff skill that Five still had off cooldown was immediately used. He immediately felt the strange cold force flow inside his body.


    Two immediately noticed the change in Five. He did not know what buffing skills his opponent used but it was definitely very effective. [Frenzy] reduced Five''s Intelligence and Wisdom by two points while increasing his Strength and Dexterity by 3 points.


    In this situation, [Frenzy] had the same effect as boosting Five by 6 levels! In a direct physical fight, only Strength and Dexterity were relevant. As Five was level 18, he now effectively had the strength of a level 24 character and could match Two who was also at level 24. Neither of them invested heavily in strength and dexterity, resulting in a fairly equal battle.


    "You are strong! But you chose the wrong side!" said Two as he pushed back Five''s sword with his shield and applied pressure on him. "Why did you choose to join the demons? I know this is just a game and most of the characters are only NPCs but is it a reason for you to join a group of madmen? Have you seen what the demons have done to the poor NPCs? They are just monsters that need to be destroyed! Your life was probably hard when you were still in the real world but that is not a reason to now vent yourself on all the others!"


    Five frowned, ''What is he talking about?''


    Five was very cautious about Two. When he saw his name, Five immediately thought of how he himself obtained his IGN from Gaia. It was very likely that Two also received a name from the AI and could very well be a real lunatic that stayed behind the bars for who knows how long.


    "What are you talking about? You are not in the best position to comment on the side I chose and it''s not as if I had a chance to pick. You should realize that this is just a game; don''t mix it with reality..."


    Five wanted to continue but in the corner of his eyes, he noticed one of the knights suddenly appear and smash a huge hammer at his face. Fortunately, under the effects of Frenzy, Five was easily able to dodge the attack and repositioned himself.


    "Hah! I know very well that this is just a game but why side with the demons? Did you not read the lore? They plan to destroy all of humanity. Life will become hell if they succeed. How could you choose to help them? I chose to join the church to make this world a better place. I knew there would be people who would think that they could do anything since it is not reality. My mission is to stop them! And I shall start with you!"


    Five looked at Two with a confused expression. The tall Knight looked very emotional for some reasons. He did not know why he was overreacting so much over such a small detail. "You are just trying to redeem yourself for your past actions, huh? Are you pretending to be a hero?" said Five. He was starting to be annoyed by the tall Knight. Whatever he was saying was completely irrelevant to the fight; what was even the point of this conversation? Was he trying to distract him?


    Five knew he did not have a lot of time. Two other Knights attacked his flanks, but he successfully dodged them. He needed to quickly take down Two but the task looked almost impossible to achieve. Two was skilled in swordplay and could hold his ground despite Five''s swift attempt at aiming for his weak spots.


    "I don''t care about your motivations. You don''t know anything about me, what I''ve been through. Who are you to judge my decision?" exclaimed Five. He knew he needed to end it all here. He shouted and at the same time, lunged him and attacked with all his strength.


    However, despite his strange words, Two was not chosen as the leader for no reason. He raised his shield, deflecting the blade aiming for his head. At the same time, Two twisted his body, slicing Five''s right leg with his own broadsword.


    Five saw his HP go down by 38 but he did not stop there. He spun on himself, once again aiming for Two''s neck.


    "Cling!"


    A sword suddenly appeared, blocking Five''s final attempt. Two himself was surprised to see someone intervening. He had already started leaning to the side to avoid the sword strike but in the end, it was an unnecessary move.


    As soon as he saw his attack being blocked, Five knew that he had failed. His momentum had been completely broken and he had already been surrounded. What else could he do? Use magic? At such a short distance, he would be affected by the explosions of his own spells and considering how high the magic resist of the knights was, he would just be hurting himself.


    "So this is how it ends... Well, it''s just two levels..." said Five to himself. As much as he racked his brain, he could not figure out a way to get out of this sticky situation. He did not have high expectations to begin with; the moment he was cursed, Five knew that it was very likely that he will end up losing a few levels.


    "I told you. You chose the wrong side. Leave the demons or the next time we meet, the outcome will be the same," Two solemnly spoke as he raised his sword. He could see that Five had given up but did not feel any pity for him. He chose to be a demonic player and had to pay the price for his actions.


    However, as Two was about to lower his broadsword, he suddenly heard the flapping of wings above his head.


    In his position, Five and all the other players also heard it. Five''s eyes widened. He already knew who it was. "Why is she still here? Did I not tell her to leave?"


    "Careful!" Another female voice sounded. It was Sophia. The beautiful Cleric raised her hands and activated [Sun Veil], creating a defensive layer above Two''s head. The powerful level 30 spell would normally be considered to be unbreakable at this stage of the game.


    However, to everyone''s surprise, the [Sun Veil] was shattered by a single strike from the harpy.


    During the entire fight, Ariel had been constantly gaining. She was well aware of the situation and knew Five ordered her to escape. But it was something she could not bring herself to do. Instead, she flew up for as high as possible.


    When she finally thought that Five would no longer be able to hold his ground, Ariel took a deep breath before diving down at high speed. She activated a rarely used skill called [Sky Fall]. When used, its user would usually dive straight at their target. The higher their height was, the more damage they would cause.


    The drawback of this skill was that even if it dealt a tremendous amount of damage, once activated, it could not be stopped. Furthermore, the user would effectively crush their target on the ground and would end up harming themselves in the process. Ariel knew she was risking her life but she had long made up her mind about it. Harriet told her that she would intervene at the most critical moment but since she did not appear yet, Ariel chose to act herself.


    The [Sun Veil] exploded as Ariel smashed it with her right hand. Her right hand screamed in pain but she completely ignored it and used her left hand to attack Two''s exposed head. She did her best to maintain her momentum; she was moving so fast that she was even leaving afterimages behind her.


    Five looked up and saw the harpy''s helpless and guilty expression. Before he could even say anything, Five watched as Ariel''s left hand sliced through Two''s neck. Under the terrified stares of the Knights, Two''s HP bar that always remained above 50% suddenly plummeted down.

 Chapter 117: An even more terrifying opponent

    Ariel''s hand had completely sliced through Two''s head. In the real world, his body would have been absolutely unable to withstand the shock. Even in this virtual world, with all the momentum accumulated by Ariel, he should have received at least 250 Damage.


    However, to everyone''s surprise, Two''s HP bar was not completely emptied by the attack. He still had one more HP point. Only one.


    Five immediately saw the opportunity. He wanted to attack but he was too late. Sophia had already reacted and instantly healed Two back to 50% of his HP.


    Having failed her attack, Ariel crashed on the ground due to the effects of [Sky Fall]. Her own HP bar that was full until now dropped down to 50%. Her face twisted in pain from the crash.


    "Ouh, thanks!" Two, who had always worn a rather serious face, was shocked for the first time. He was grateful for having Sophia at his side who always reacted very quickly. He nodded to the Cleric and recollected himself.


    "If it was not for [Indomitable Will], I would have already died here." Two could feel the cold sweat on his back. He normally would not have been able to survive such a powerful attack, but he recently acquired a unique skill. The prize of the tournament of the church was a unique passive skill called [Indomitable Will].


    Regardless of what amount of damage he took, instead of going to 0, his HP would stop at 1. This was a particularly useful passive skill that would protect him from all lethal blows once. After that, he would simply need to heal quickly, giving him a much higher endurance than normal.


    Five immediately felt a dark feeling dwelling in his heart. He knew what would happen next. "No! Stop!" He shouted but the knights were all already moving. They were even no longer interested in him. It was true that Five was worth 200 merit points, but Ariel was a level 32 Harpy. Whoever would kill her would obtain a massive amount of exp.


    Items were important but before everything, there were levels. The game was dictated by the level of the players; the higher it was, the more options they would have.


    Ariel was also aware of her predicament, but she did not care about it. Instead, she lowered her head and smiled faintly. Her eyes connected with Five''s for a brief moment. She tried to speak but before any sound could come out of her mouth, the Knights mercilessly stabbed her with their weapons. Despite having a higher health pool than the players, she was completely surrounded. Under the attack of all the knights, it only took a few seconds for her health bar to be completely depleted.


    Five was only a few meters away from Ariel and was naturally able to clearly see the scene. Ariel was one of his most powerful monsters but before all, she was his friend and confidante. When he looked at Ariel''s last moment, she was still smiling. There were no traces of regret on her face and that alone stroke Five to the core.


    The harpy was willing to die for him, but it was not something Five wanted. The harpy''s death triggered something in Five; it felt as if a bubble around him was suddenly popped. His eyes inadvertently turned toward Two. He was the one responsible for all of this. If it was not for the Earthbound Curse, none of this would have happened!


    It was true that it was all just a game but after more than a month, Five had already bonded with his monsters. They were more than just employer and employee but now, it was all gone.


    Two was already on guard and naturally noticed the changes in Five. He could feel the burning stare of Five. In his eyes, he saw both pain and anger, and all of it was directed right at him.


    Five let loose of the burning rage in him. All he wanted to do right now was to take down all the Knights that were responsible for Ariel''s death. He knew he was outnumbered and would probably die within the next second, but Five still grabbed his short sword firmly.


    He was about to charge at Two but before he could move a muscle, a loud explosion suddenly occurred high in the sky. The clouds in the sky were suddenly blown away, opening a massive gap in the sky.


    2 figures were flying at high speed toward the ground. The battlefield suddenly froze as all the fighters looked up.


    When Five saw the first person, he thought he was dreaming. There was quite a large distance between him and the flying person but Five swore that she looked exactly like Ariel. It was only when they got closer that Five realized that it was actually Harriet. A simple look at her level quickly revealed her identity.


    Behind Ariel, Five saw a handsome man chasing after her. He had 4 large wings behind his back; his long black hair was floating behind his back as he held a long menacing blade pointed toward Harriet.


    Judging from the scene, Five immediately understood that Harriet was in a bad position. However, his own situation was not any better. Furthermore, as a level 18 player, how was he supposed to interfere in the fight of monsters around level 60.


    Harriet was rushing down as quickly as she could. She tried to delay the Fallen Seraphim for as long as she could but she obviously could not hold her ground anymore. Her battle form has already expired, leaving her with no choice but to escape.


    In her hurry, she did not immediately notice the death of Ariel but when she saw the Devil Suppressing Barrier, Harriet loudly shouted, "Noon! You promised that there would be no danger! I already delayed him for as much as I can!"


    Five was stunned. Harriet''s voice was loud and clear but what was she talking about exactly? Five turned to look at Noon who was still facing the Commandment of Faith.


    Noon naturally heard Harriet''s shout. He focused his gaze on the masked man who was still covered in blood. "She is right. I wasted a lot of time here. I should end it quickly."


    The church was not considered as a dominant force on Zero for no reason. They were most probably already aware of the fight going on and reinforcement was probably on its way. Noon was powerful. But against a whole army, he would not stand a chance.


    The masked man suddenly felt a gloomy feeling rising in his heart. He knew he was not Noon''s match but could not escape. However, the Devil Suppressing Barrier would at least trap Noon long enough for the other Commandments to appear.


    "It''s time to get out of this box." As Noon spoke, the leader of the Wandering Ram Tribe had already appeared right in front of the barrier.


    The masked man noticed his movement, but he was not worried about it. What could a level 50 do to him?


    Five was also puzzled. He did not understand the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader''s action. The latter''s face was calm as he raised his hand and pressed it against the Devil Suppressing Barrier. Then, Five suddenly saw a change. The small number above the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader changed; his level actually changed!


    [53.... 58.... 62... 65... 69... ???]This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    The number kept increasing until it finally displayed ''???'', indicating that Five''s level was way too low to read his level.


    Inside the barrier, the corner of Noon''s lips curled up in a smile, "I wasted my time on you. It seems that you really have no idea of what the faith''s ability is. Maybe it really has none. I pushed you to your limits for a while but nothing happened. I guess the Shrine of Faith deserves to be ranked last after all. Stop thinking about using the Devil Suppressing Barrier to keep me here. The barrier itself is strong from the inside but from the outside? A simple pinch can destroy it."


    As Noon spoke, the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader made his move. The Devil Suppressing Barrier; the pride of the church, suddenly shattered. It exploded into countless shards that fell around Noon and the Commandment of Faith.


    The executioners of the church immediately froze. They had been rushing toward the Wandering Ram Tribe Leader to stop him but as soon as he revealed his real level, they were immediately suppressed by his aura. They could not believe what they were witnessing. The Commandment of Faith himself was shocked. He had absolute trust in the church''s power but now, in front of him, his trustworthy barrier just exploded into nothing.


    Noon was the only one who seemed to be unaffected. Without even looking up, he raised his palm as he let out a faint dark aura.


    [Dark Nebula]


    The air became still. Everybody could feel it on the battlefield. A dark sphere appeared on Noon''s palm and launched itself in the sky. As it traveled, the dark sphere started to distort itself and grow in size. The dark sphere shone brightly, spiraling endlessly like a black hole ready to swallow everything; it continued to grow and soon reached the size of a regular human being.


    The sphere seemed to be moving at a slow pace but in fact, no one else was able to move in its presence. The eyes on the battlefields were glued to the dark nebula as they followed its trajectory.


    The dark sphere flew right in the sky toward the Fallen Seraphim. The latter was naturally aware of the threat flying toward him but he was unable to do anything. When he tried to change his trajectory, he felt like he was moving at a snail''s pace. The Fallen Seraphim screamed as his vision was clouded by the dark nebula.


    Without even slowing down, the dark nebula swallowed the Fallen Seraphim whole and continued on its way toward the sky.


    "Gasp" That was the reaction of countless warriors on the battlefield. A level 60 powerhouse disappeared just like that.


    Under the terrified stares of the crowd, the old Wandering Ram Tribe Leader wordlessly walked toward Noon. Even as they were about to run into each other, he did not stop and to everyone''s surprise, the old man started to merge into Noon and was eventually completely absorbed.


    "This... Is it a clone?" murmured the Commandment of Faith but Noon completely ignored his question. Instead, he simply said:


    "Alright. Now it''s your turn. A Commandment''s ability can be a real gamechanger. If you do really have one, then use it now."


    Noon stepped forward and with a single swing of his arm, broke the Commandment''s mask.


    "Ahh!"


    The Commandment was unable to react in time. For now, he had at least been able to block Noon''s attack but it was only now that he was realizing just how wide the gap between them had been.


    "You... You are blind?" said Noon when he noticed the Commandment''s face. He was a handsome middle-aged man but there was something wrong with him. There was a strange mark connecting his two eyes and even though they were open, his eyes were devoid of irises.


    "Tssk... I supposed this is fitting of the phrase: Blinded by Faith," Noon did not give his opponent any time to react and activated one of his skills.


    [Spatial Collapse]


    At first, nothing happened when Noon activated his skill but a few moments later, a massive amount of blood started to flow out of the Commandment''s orifices. He coughed and vomited blood as even more flowed out of his eyes and nose.


    "Looks like I was wrong. Sorry for wasting everyone''s time," said Noon as he disregarded the dying man. Noon had essentially crushed all of the Commandment''s internal organs by crushing the space inside him. Unless he had a trump card of some sort, there was no way he would survive. As Noon expected, the Commandment of Faith quickly collapsed on the floor. He died before his head even managed to hit the ground but there was no fear or anger on his face. All Noon could see was an expression of peace and joy as if he was welcoming death.


    ***


    Harriet was relieved to see Noon finally act. She knew his real power was far above her own and as she expected, Noon did not have any trouble getting rid of the Fallen Seraphim. She was not happy at the idea of being used and quickly disregarded him to look for Five and Ariel. The Harpy Queen''s eyes were sharp and quickly, she found Five surrounded by the knights and Ariel''s corpse.


    "This..." Harriet trembled when she saw Ariel''s state. Although she did not spend much time with her, Ariel was still her daughter. She was almost a perfect replica of her. Harriet felt her heart being ripped apart but she did not show it. It was not the first time one of the harpies under her would die to an enemy. After fighting in dungeons for so long, she became resistant to that feeling.


    There was nothing she could do to save Ariel but the one thing she could do was to avenge her. She slowly floated down as she activated her skill: [Eye of the Storm]


    Five immediately felt it. He was looking in a daze at the Harpy Queen when he suddenly felt a wild air current flowing around him. All the Knights, including Two, were also aware of the situation. They had been momentarily distracted by Noon''s actions but they were forced back to reality as their life was threatened.


    Five felt the air current grow stronger and stronger. Soon, the small air current turned into a giant tornado swirling around him. Five himself did not feel anything aside from the overpowered breeze but it was a different story for all those outside the eye of the storm.


    Two and his comrade were immediately swept away by the tornado. They could not even stick their feet to the ground as the tornado pulled them in its swirling hell. As they were constantly assaulted by the wind, the players'' HP immediately plummeted. It did not matter how high their magic resistance was or how much healing they could use. Harriet was 30 levels above the players''; how were they supposed to survive the attack of such a powerful existence.


    Even Sophia, the beautiful cleric let out a gasp. She held onto Two''s body firmly but in the end, she was unable to resist the strong current and was pulled away by the tornado.


    Five stood at the center of the storm, completely unharmed by its powerful effects. He was not totally surprised by the appearance of Harriet. He had long had some doubts that the harpies did not go very far.


    Since he did not receive any mentorship, Five was forced to discover the mechanics of the dungeon by himself. His main focus was naturally the DP generation. He had asked the harpies to test how much DP they would obtain if they killed monsters outside of the dungeon.


    As it turned out, the further away they were from the dungeon, the less DP they would generate for killing the same monster at the same level. At some point, 0 DP would be obtained from a kill. Based on this observation, Five easily determine that the harpies did not leave him alone. When he first started his journey on Zero, he had obtained a considerable amount of DP out of nowhere. The only source he could think of was the harpies but the amount of DP did not decrease over the course of his journey. What did that mean? It meant that the distance between the harpies and himself did not shrink at all!


    He was not angry at the harpies'' decision. Maybe it was a good thing that he was forced to build the dungeon alone and experience the hardship of an entrepreneur. However, what Five was not happy about was the fact that Harriet had had some sort of deals with Noon and all of it resulted in putting Ariel in a dangerous situation!


    He wanted to ask her what exactly happened. He wanted to ask her why she was no there protecting her own daughter.


    The storm gradually weakened. The thick layer of dust slowly fell down, allowing Harriet to emerge out of the storm. She gently floated down, carrying Ariel''s corpse in her arms. She graciously landed in front of Five. Her beautiful eyes blinked as she nervously spoke, "Five. I am sorry. I should have been here protecting you and Ariel. Can you please take it? I know that is what she would have liked."


    Five chose to remain silent. As much as he wanted to speak, he could clearly see the guilt and pain on Harriet''s face. She was covered with bruises and injuries from her fight but did her best to hide her emotions. She was as affected as he was by Ariel''s death. He had a lot to ask her but that could wait for them to return to the dungeon. The situation was over; there was no need to reveal everything in public.


    Harriet''s black wings stood out in front of Five. She stepped forward, pushing Ariel''s corpse into Five''s arms. The latter immediately understood what she meant. She was asking him to loot her corpse! Due to Noon''s actions, the players did not have time to take her Black Feathers or her core.


    Five knew he would not be able to maintain her corpse for very long. After a while, the corpses of the monsters would naturally disappear unless they were kept in special conditions. He pressed his palm against Ariel''s chest. "Collect."


    Five instantly noticed that 3 new items were added to his inventory. The first two were black feathers while the last one was a small black bead called [Harpy''s heart]. Five could still choose to collect Ariel''s clothes but without hesitation, he chose to leave them on her to not sully her body. He could feel her soft body in his arms gradually getting colder.


    "We will talk when we get back home," quietly said Five.


    "Enn," Harriet nodded, unsure of what to say.


    The storm gradually faded, revealing the landscape around them. The entire area around Five was completely deserted. All the enthusiastic players that chased after him had been wiped out. All, except for Two.


    The robust Knight was the only survivor of Harriet''s terrifying attack and it was all thanks to [Indomitable Will] that allowed him to survive with 1 HP. The passive skill was extremely powerful but it was also extremely rare and could not be acquired by normal means.


    When he saw Two, the burning rage Five buried inside of him once again swell up. He was about to ask Harriet to kill him but before he could speak, a bright phenomenon occurred next to Noon.


    ***


    Noon did not waste any time looking at the dead corpse of the Commandment. There was nothing interesting he could loot from it. He already knew he had pulled Five and Harriet into this situation against their will. As repayment, he would leave the corpse there for them to loot.


    "Too bad... From this, I can only conclude that the Faith has no unique abilities. We should not have any unexpected surprises from now on..."


    He turned his attention at the group of executioners of the church. There was still a lot of NPC Knights on the battlefield. They all had their guards up facing him. In the corner of his eyes, Noon also caught sight of the Baron who had stayed on the sideline form the beginning.


    "You should leave while you can," calmly said Noon.


    The baron was quick to react. He bowed to Noon and rapidly ordered his own troops to retreat even farther away. He had no intention to fight for the church.


    When they saw their only potential ally leave the battlefield, the church executioners knew their doom has arrived. The almighty Commandment has been defeated in a single attack; what could they, normal knights of the church, do against this terrifying opponent?


    Noon was about to attack when he suddenly felt a strange aura coming from behind him. Despite his high level, even he was being suppressed. Noon immediately turned around and saw light particles rising from the ground around the corpse of the Commandment.


    Noon was shocked, he has clearly crushed all his internal organs but in front of his very eyes, Noon watched as the corpse slowly stood up as if nothing happened. The light particles became denser and denser and the once empty eyes of the Commandment shone brightly as a golden mark appeared on them.


    The corpse slowly moved and blinked its eyes as a normal human being. It then turned toward Noon and said:


    "It has been a while... Aries."

 Chapter 118: A glimpse at the lore

    "You? It''s you! How? You are supposed to be trapped in the prison realm! How did you escape?" For the first time, Noon displayed a shocked expression as he looked at the moving corpse. He immediately recognized the aura, but he could not understand how that person managed to take possession of the corpse.


    "What? Did you really think that I would be banished forever? You are aware that the seal is gradually weakening, right? In just 20 years, I won''t need to resort to petty tricks like this one to come to Zero." The Commandment of Faith answered. Although it was a different person speaking, the voice was exactly the same.


    Noon was on his guard, the man in front of him was really terrifying. One wrong move and this might be the end. "This is not necromancy... How did you manage to do to it? Is it the unique skill you gave that man?"


    The Commandment of Faith let out an amused expression, "Bingo. I knew you would eventually learn about it. I treat all those who chose to follow me equally and that includes the Shrine of Faith. Their Commandment is not any weaker than any of the others. It is just that they are unaware of his potential."


    Noon looked confused, "Did you somehow make a link with that man? The seal we made is not supposed to allow you to get through. At most, you can allow your consciousness to escape once every five years, but that is it."


    "That is indeed correct. This is why I had to leave my mark on this man. His gift is called [Absolute Faith]. It requires him to fully trust me to allow me to exchange part of our soul. Naturally, my soul is stronger. In exchange for 33% of his soul, I just have to give him 1% of mine. It''s not a bad deal if you ask me. Now, even if he died, a portion of his soul is still with me in the prison realm. I just need to send it back here to revive him. Not a bad way to revive, isn''t it?"


    Noon''s eyes widened, "Revive... This is not a true revival. You are crazy! You even dare to play with souls like this? This is disrupting the natural order! With the number of Commandments that existed, you should have already given up a large portion of your soul! I knew you were crazy to walk the path of godhood but to even sacrifice your own soul?"


    He looked at the Commandment of Faith as if he was looking at a lunatic. To achieve his goal, that man was really ready to do anything.


    "There is a price to pay for success. If you and your friends did not trap me in the prison realm, all of this would not have been needed! Look at you, despite being much older than me, you are still merely a transcendent being. You are unrivaled on Zero, but when it comes to the grand scheme of things, you are nothing but an ant. You are only a Sacred Beast. What do you know about me? Nothing! You don''t know how hard it was for me to build up the church, you don''t even know why I am working so hard!"


    Noon stared at the corpse. "You are our persecutor; of course, I did my research. I know everything about you. Hundreds of years ago, before the empires were even created, there was a man called Joseph. The world was in chaos, people fought everywhere for their own survival. Joseph was just a regular human being but one day, he decided that he had enough. Humans were at the bottom of the pyramid, they were essentially bullied by all the other races."


    "Joseph could no longer tolerate this. He decided to take his fate in his own hands and started training. He no longer cared about himself and trained like a madman. He traveled through the endless archipelago, he visited the most dangerous regions of Zero and in the process grew stronger and stronger."


    "Soon, Joseph became an unrivaled powerhouse. He could hold his ground against all the races of the continent. The elves were forced back to their forests, the dwarves had to hide in their mountains, the mermaids went back to the depth of the ocean, the orcs retreated to the wastelands and the Giants returned to their canyons. He has succeeded. Joseph became one of the leading forces of humanity and manage to secure a massive territory for humans. However, as strong as Joseph was, he knew he would not last for very long."


    "A human can only live so many years, regardless of how strong Joseph was, the other races just needed to wait for a few years for his strength to plummet. Compared to humans, the other races had a much longer life span; unless Joseph managed to exterminate all the existing races, humans would never truly have their place on the continent."


    "All of Joseph''s hard work would go to waste. Why? Because of the imperfection of being human. At that moment, the seeds of a crazy plan were sowed in Joseph''s mind. Since humans could only live for a limited amount of time; he needed to give up his humanity and become a god! Only gods could live forever. It was only when he would be immortal that Joseph could ensure humanity''s prosperity."


    "His plan was crazy. To become a god, he needed to be treated as a god. As he essentially just saved humanity, it was not hard for him to be acknowledged by all humans. They started to worship him, to pray to him. Joseph absorbed their beliefs, their hope, their aspiration, and their faith. He was the only one who could create an environment for their dream to become reality."


    "Against all the odds, Joseph actually grew stronger and his lifespan was extended. With him alive, humans were able to maintain their supremacy on the continent. As the human population grew, Joseph gained more and more followers and soon, the people worshipping him created the church."


    "The church grew in size over time and soon, Joseph felt that he became strong enough to even fight the original gods and take their place. He went on through the dimensions, directly confronting the gods but as it turned out, he was far from reaching the level of a real god. Defeated, Joseph was forced to return back to Zero. There, he made the decision to go into seclusion to train but he could not leave the church without a spiritual leader."


    "Therefore, Joseph used his own power to create 4 existences to manage the church in his absence. They became known as the four virtues: ''Dikaiosyn¨¥'' the justice, ''S¨­phrosyn¨¥'' the temperance, ''Andreia'', the courage and ''Phron¨¥sis'', the prudence. Those four artificial existences managed the church in Joseph''s absence, maintaining the flow of faith toward the ambitious man."A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    "The continent was at peace, as time went by, the people started to divide themselves and soon, they separated themselves into 10 large regions that became known as empires. New wars broke out and this time, it involved the demons from the shadow realm. They invaded Zero, in an attempt to make a place for themselves but the humans fought back. The church that Joseph created led the armies and fought the invaders."


    "Joseph did not need to personally intervene in this war but soon, he noticed something peculiar in those demons. Just like the powerful monsters of Zero, the demons also possessed a core and could use their core to acquire a lot of power. What was Joseph needing at the moment? It was power, he needed enough strength to face the original gods."


    "The demon cores were powerful items, but they were not enough to enhance his power! Therefore, Joseph decided to turn his attention to the existing monsters on Zero. The stronger the monster, the more powerful its core was. And naturally, Joseph decided to target the Sacred Beasts as they were the strongest ones."


    "However, how could the Sacred Beasts give their life away to their creator''s enemy. The Sacred Beasts were all born out of Gaia and remained on Zero to guard this world. They promised to maintain absolute neutrality but when their life was endangered, they could no longer afford to do so."


    "Both Joseph and the Sacred Beast joined the fray. The battle reached an unexpected level of brutality. Although Joseph was without a doubt the strongest existence on Zero, when the 12 Sacred Beasts fought together, their combined strength matched that of Joseph."


    "The battle was at a stalemate. To break the balance, Joseph took a step back and chose to sacrifice part of his power. He gave up his own divine powers and bestowed unique abilities to 10 loyal individuals who became known as the Ten Commandments. Such a reckless act temporarily weakened Joseph but with the help of the Commandments and the Great Virtues, Joseph was able to get the upper hand on the Sacred Beasts."


    "The Sacred Beasts were in a predicament. They knew they would all perish if they did nothing. As a result, Sagittarius, Aquarius and Capricorn sacrificed their lives and used a forbidden seal. As the 3 Sacred Beasts gave up their life, the power of their spell grew exponentially. By losing three comrades, the Sacred Beasts managed to seal Joseph in a prison realm, far away from Zero."


    "Three Sacred Beasts gave up their lives to get rid of the biggest threat but the rest of the Sacred Beast still had to go into hiding. Despite losing the battle, the church managed to collect three cores of the Sacred Beasts. Using the same technique used by the demons who lost their war, the church decided to use the cores to form a massive dungeon right under their headquarters."


    "The dungeon would serve as a secret training ground for the most loyal followers. At the same time, it would allow the church to bend the rules of the world and obtain a plethora of items. However, as the Beast Cores were not exactly demon cores and due to the church''s inability to properly control them, the dungeon was unstable."


    "The church would need to use a huge regular amount of normal beast cores just to maintain the dungeon. But it was worth it. The benefits obtained from owning a dungeon easily outclassed the price of a few tons of beast cores. The Sacred Beasts managed to get rid of the imminent threat, but they unknowingly gave a terrifying weapon to the church."


    "Unfortunately, as the seal was made in a hurry, it was not entirely perfect. Joseph was still able to communicate with the church once every few years. He knew it would take a long time before he would be able to come back and therefore made several changes to the church. As he was sealed, the faith he would receive became extremely limited. He made an extreme move and decided to convert the church; instead of praying one god, they would pray three different gods. These three gods were the members of the 4 great virtues. The remaining virtue, Phronesis, the Prudence was appointed as the Pope of the church."


    "It was a drastic move, but it was the only way he could avoid wasting all the faith of his followers. The foundation of the church was shaken. It took a lot of time to stabilize it again but the church managed to return to its former glory, even without having a real god behind it. Decades flew by and now, the seal that kept Joseph away has weakened considerably. It would only be a matter of time before he returned and that is the long-awaited event of the church."


    "And that Joseph is none other than you! Your goals were indeed noble at the start. Your only aim was to create an environment for humans to live in peace. But somewhere along the way, you lost track of your real aim. You became obsessed with power! So much that you were even ready to sacrifice your followers to become stronger! Moreover, to achieve your goal, you are aiming to destroy all the other races; you have no plans to live peacefully!"


    Noon took a deep breath as he finished the long explanation. He stared at Joseph who remained silent during the entire explanation.


    Despite the distance, Five was able to clearly hear Noon. He was very attentive to every move made by the mysterious totem spirit. Their exchange revealed a lot of information about the lore of the game; much more than what was explained during the trailer. "So Noon is a Sacred Beast... The Aries... They should have just called them Zodiac beasts instead."


    "Clap Clap Clap."


    Despite the heavy atmosphere, Joseph smiled and clapped his hand with an amused expression. "Not bad, you know quite a lot about me. Just something I would expect from Gaia''s Sacred Beasts. However, I disagree with the last part. I have never been swayed by materialistic needs. It is the gods who persecuted humans. They sent us into this hole and pitted us against other races who were clearly favored by them. I am here to change that. As soon as I surpass the original gods, a new era shall begin! One where humans would truly rule supreme."


    With a fervent gaze, Joseph stared at Noon and continued, "Despite knowing all of that, you still decided to face me. You realize that even if I can only use a fraction of my strength, dealing with you should not be much of an issue."


    Noon stayed on his guards but did not panic, "Then what are you waiting for? Oh, I forgot. Attacking me would probably cost you quite a bit of energy and would delay your comeback by at least a decade. It does not sound like much, but those 10 years might very well be all we need to completely eradicate the church from the surface of Zero. Without the flow of faith, your life span will stop increasing and it will only be a matter of time before you die."


    "You want to threaten me? It does not matter what you are planning. With your death, the church will now have 4 Sacred Beast Cores. Since you are asking for it, then, let us see what you and your friends have prepared for me." The light particles around Joseph became denser and denser as he threateningly took a step forward.


    "I have a bad feeling about this," Five, who was at a reasonable distance from the two powerhouses suddenly had the urge to run away. His instincts were warning him of the danger. Harriet also reacted. She pulled Five''s arm and said, "We need to run away. We won''t even survive the collateral damage of this fight."


    Five nodded. Even if he wanted to have a look at this fight, his life was more important. He quickly searched through his inventory and took out two Escape Scrolls. "I am cursed and I cannot leave this area. You will need to kill him first."


    Harriet looked in the direction Five was pointing at. She was surprised to see that someone managed to survive her attack. She furrowed her brows and moved quickly. Her top priority was to ensure Five''s safety; she needed to quickly get rid of the curse.


    However, before she could reach Two, Five received a system prompt:


    [System prompt: You have been trapped within Joseph''s Dimensional Prison. Player will have all stats reduced by 2. Player is unable to leave the Dimensional Prison.]


    "What? Another skill that will prevent me from escaping?" Five turned gloomy. He did not expect to be pulled in Joseph and Noon''s battle like that. The environment did not change at all, Harriet, Two and even the baron and his army; they were all still there, trapped in the Dimensional Prison.


    "What is this? There is an invisible wall in front of us!" The men of the Baron started to panic. They had been on their way back to the fortress but suddenly, they became unable to proceed forward.


    Two also received the system prompt. He was at a lost. Everybody was just trying to survive but the situation looked grim.


    Joseph and Noon did not care about the others. They focused on each other. "Even if you are proficient in Space Magic, you won''t be able to escape now! You should have run away when you still had the chance to." The light particles around Joseph started to flow around him, concentrating on his arms. In an instant, Joseph unleashed all the light particles at Noon.


    [Armageddon]


    Five was completely blinded by the bright attack. He was not even Joseph''s target but just the collateral effect was enough to completely blind him and lower his health despite the large distance between them.


    Five saw Harriet''s silhouette move. She positioned herself in front of Five and spread open her wings to protect him. However, despite acting as a meat shield, it was far from enough; Five''s vitality was simply too low and, in an instant, his HP dropped to Zero.


    [System prompt: you have been slain by the Joseph, level -2, applying death penalties]

 Chapter 119: Inside the dungeon core

    When Five opened his eyes, he found himself in a familiar environment. His surroundings were foggy but at the same time, felt quite warm and welcoming. He was back inside his dungeon core. In the same empty space where he first spawned at when he died to the orcs.


    He could see through the shell of the dungeon core and could look at the meeting room. The dungeon core was usually left on a small holder in the middle of the meeting room. At the moment, the meeting room was empty; Five looked at the familiar room before sitting down on the cold ground under his feet.


    He suddenly felt exhausted. His trip outside of the dungeon had come to an end. Unfortunately, everything did not go exactly as planned. Five managed to meet other players; he had the opportunity to learn about the state of the game, about the various classes and also had a small glimpse at the lore the developers created.


    However, Five did not expect to encounter so many powerful individuals. His dungeon might be doing well on the barbarians'' territory but in truth, it was really weak compared to the rest of the world. When he saw that the average player he encountered was already above level 20, Five knew his dungeon would not be able to defend against an attack. He needed to quickly expand and make himself relevant.


    He was not concerned about his death. Losing a few levels was irrelevant to a dungeon master as he normally would not need to fight. HIs greatest lost was the death of Ariel and Harriet. The Harpy queen would be able to revive but it would cost him quite a bit of DP. As for the purple haired harpy, she was gone forever.


    "I was too full of myself... I thought I could take the risk and explore... But I should just have stayed at the dungeon. Going outside was dangerous... And I have paid the price for it... Penmark Family... You will have to wait for a little while longer..."


    Five lay down on the cold floor, deep in thoughts. As much as he hated it, his thoughts would always naturally drift toward the death of Ariel. He blamed himself for having pulled the harpy into this mess. At the same time, every time he recalled the scene of her death, Five would also clearly see Two''s face in the background and clench his fist.


    "Whatever happened is my fault... Two is just another player but that does not mean I can allow anyone to kill my monsters..."


    At that moment, a series of system prompts rang in Five''s ears:


    [System prompt: Due to the player''s intervention, the monthly trial of this region will be considered complete. The player ''Five'' acted alone and influenced the trials of several other dungeon masters. 1 million DP will be awarded for completion. 3 Monster Lottery tickets and 1 extra floor are also awarded as bonus rewards.]


    [System prompt: Due to the player''s achievements, an additional reward will be provided. Until the end of the trials, in 8.2 days, the Dungeon of Madness will receive 50% more DP.]


    [System prompt: Your existence has been noticed by the church and the god behind it. You are partly responsible for the death of several members of the church. You have obtained the title: Heathen]


    [Information]


    Title: Heathen


    Effect 1: The members of the church will hold a certain degree of animosity toward the title holder.


    Effect 2: All monsters and demons will hold a certain degree of favourability toward the title holder.


    Effect 3: Increase all damage dealt by members of the church by 10%.


    Effect 4: Title holder will be chased by players holding the title: Arbiter. If the player is slain by an arbiter, the death penalties are tripled.


    Effect 5: If the title holder is a dungeon master, permanently receive a 5% discount on all purchases in the dungeon shop.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    [System prompt: Title: Heathen, has been automatically equipped.]


    Five looked at the system prompts on the small interface. The rewards were a pleasant surprise, but they were not enough to raise his morale. He did not bother to check the details and instead, browsed through his inventory.


    Five''s mood further went down when he noticed that Ariel''s black feathers had dropped from his inventory because of his death. The only token he had left of the harpy was the small black bead, the Harpy''s Heart.


    Five took out the bead from his inventory and held it between his fingers. The bead was cold, devoid of life.


    "Sigh..."


    ...


    Endless Archipelago, Holy Island, Headquarters of the Church.


    In the dark silent meditation room of the Commandments, 10 candles were brightly burning in front of the statues of the gods. The room was still; there was absolutely no sound aside from the breathing of the four commandments engrossed in their meditation. It was a rare opportunity for the commandments to meditate in this room; they would usually have to go out on a mission or would stay at their respective Shrine.


    Suddenly, a light breeze started blowing inside the sealed room. The flames danced to the breeze without being affected, except for one. The flame struggled at the top of the candle; the light breeze seemed to sap away all of its strength and eventually, the flame gave up and died out. It left behind a faint trace of smoke, filling the room with a burnt smell.


    Immediately, the four commandments in the meditation room frowned. Despite focusing on their own meditation, it was impossible for them not to notice that one of the candles went out.


    They all briefly opened their eyes to look at the candles, clearly annoyed that their meditation has been disturbed. When they saw the candles, they all immediately understood what had happened. However, they still chose to remain silent. They did not restart their meditation; instead, they simply sat in silence, observing each other.


    "It was Faith, right? Wasn''t he just acting as an escort in the Sylvester Empire?"


    "There is no danger there. What exactly happened?"


    The two oldest men of the group asked each other with curious expressions. The death of a Commandment could not simply be ignored. Someone would without a doubt be sent to investigate the area.


    "He was just an idiot who could not think for himself. He probably provoked someone stronger than him but since he only knows how to follow orders, he did not change his plans. I told him that Faith and Trust are different things. But he never listened to me." The youngest man of the group spoke calmly. He did not look concerned about the event and closed his eyes to resume his meditation.


    "Tsssk! As the one representing Piety, shouldn''t you be more concerned about your father? He might not be the smartest person, but he was not weak," said an effeminate man as he took off his monocle and rubbed his eyes.


    "Shut up Truth. A man that killed his own wife does not deserve any respect from his son. The worst part is he does not even believe that he killed her. He was just a fool that could not even think for himself. I dare say that we are better without him."


    "You are not wrong, but you still should not speak like that of your father. I suppose I will be the one who will have to investigate what exactly happened. I will have to go to the Sylvester Empire soon. Necro Valley became quite reckless these days. They are no longer restricting themselves to the fallen battlefield. It looks as if they are looking for something and they do not hesitate to grow their army while traveling," answered the effeminate man.


    "Stop looking at me with those eyes, Silence! I cannot be blamed for his death. If you want to complain, just say it, or is it because you can''t?" said the Piety as he noticed the stare being directed at him.


    The only man who had yet to say a word smacked his lips, "I represent the Silence, not the mute. You should ask for permission to go to the Sylvester Empire to at least bring back your father''s corpse."


    "Not happening. I want nothing to do with him. For now, I need to focus on increasing my own strength. I do not have time to consider such trivial things. Besides, If I died, he would have left my corpse to rot in the wild like he did for my mother."


    ...


    Harriet jolted awake. She scene where the bright light blinded her as she tried to protect Five was still vivid in her mind. She tried to stand up but found that her wrists and ankles were chained to a strange monolith behind her back.


    When she looked around her, Harriet found nothing but darkness. Although there was no light source, she was still clearly able to see herself and the monolith. She felt a chill run down her spine. This scene looked familiar, but she could not recall where exactly she had seen this place.


    She was well aware that she had died. Unless a miracle happened, there was no way she could have survived such a powerful attack. Harriet looked around her and examined her new environment. It was not the first time she had died but she did not have a clear memory of coming to this place when that happened.


    Suddenly, Harriet felt something move around her. She turned around but saw nothing but a small trail of smoke. The Harpy Queen went on her guard. She tried to fly but the shackles held her on the ground, preventing her from using her magic.


    Suddenly, a childish and cute voice sounded next to Harriet, "Ouhh, who do we have here? A visitor?"


    "Who are you?" exclaimed Harriet as she panicked. She turned around but still did not find the source of the voice. The voice did not seem to be very threatening but to be able to sneak on her without her realizing it proved the ability of the speaker.


    "Me? You don''t need to know about my identity! You are just my meal. You can struggle as much as you want but, in this space,, nothing can resist me. As the real owner of the core, my powers in this place are second to none."


    "Num... I can''t wait to taste it. Five is such a stingy master. The only real meat I got was that old stack of bones. Apart from him, all I got were basically ants that could barely feed me. If it was not for the stack of bones telling Five to be so cautious, I am sure I would have been able to have decent meals. The next time I see him, I will have to suck him dry!" The childish voice answered but did not show himself yet.


    "Five? Stack of bones? You mean Dreidus? What does Dreidus have to do with you?" asked Harriet as she constantly surveyed her surroundings.


    "What is the point of me explaining it to you? As soon as you leave this place, you will lose your memories anyway. You are lucky that my level is still way too low; I can only eat that much before I become full. Come on, I can see your pain and sorrow. Just let me eat your memories; it is a win-win situation! I get my fill while you no longer have to care about your previous life. When you go back, if you remember anything, tell Five to stop being so cautious. If none of you die, it will take forever for me to break away from my shell."


    "You... you are... Go away!" Harriet wanted to answer but before she could say anything, the darkness around her started to move. In an instant, she was assaulted from all sides. She tried to resist the invasive feeling, but her resistance only lasted for a few seconds. She lost consciousness and fell completely defenseless on the cold floor, at the mercy of the creature hiding in the darkness.

 Chapter 120: Movement from the tribes

    "Are you done? How did it go?"


    "It''s fine. I already spoke to Five. Of course, he was mad at me, there is nothing can I do. I gave him a few bits of information about dungeons. It is not much but it should be enough to act as repayment.


    Two men were standing on a balcony, observing the wild untouched nature in front of them. The first one was a rather old man; he clearly did not care much about his appearance. His hair was greasy and messy, his entire body was covered with strange tattoos and piercing. It would be more accurate to describe his clothes as rags, but he nevertheless exuded a powerful aura.


    The old man gently tapped the shoulder of the other man in a friendly manner. He was careful to touch his right shoulder. "Noon, let''s sit down and have a talk. It''s been so long since we''ve seen each other."


    Noon let out a sigh. His appearance has changed considerably since the last fight. He managed to escape at the last second, using the precious resources he gathered during his lifetime but the price he had to pay was steep. He has lost his left arm entirely. His strong well-built body was covered with burn marks; he looked 20 years older than he previously did. Furthermore, this was only on the outside; he suffered countless internal injuries, causing him to lose HP at a regular speed. Even if he could sustain himself by using items, Noon was well aware that his time here would not last for very long.


    "Alright. I also have a few things to ask you."


    The two sat down, facing each other. Noon poured himself some red wine and without serving his friend, drunk his entire glass.


    "Are you really planning to leave just like that? It will be a pity to lose someone as strong as you. Why don''t you reconsider my previous proposition? You can become the Totem Spirit of the Cursed Tribe. We are the only tribe left that does not have one."


    "No. Duncan, I already told you about it. I am not interested in living for much longer. I used to struggle because I did not want my bloodline to end with me but now that I have a child, I can leave in peace. Although we are friends, I do not want to be at the mercy of your next generations," answered Noon as he quickly filled his glass again.


    "I have already transmitted the information I have to the other Sacred Beasts. We lost the previous battle because we did not expect the unique abilities of the Commandments to be so impactful. Now that we know the majority of their trump cards, the incoming battle should be in our favor. I have no regrets. My sacrifice was not in vain. I also delayed his return by a couple of years."


    Duncan nodded. He had met Noon a few decades ago and was familiar with his temperament; he did not have high expectations about this proposition. He simply listened to Noon''s rants.


    "I don''t have very long to live. I saved your tribe''s heir and brought him back here. Do me a favor and look after Aery. That child is still innocent and carefree. Let him have a peaceful childhood for as long as he can. And do not trick him into serving your tribe. Let him be free. Can you do that for me?" said Noon with a heavy expression. Noon looked calm; he did not care about his pitiful appearance and looked straight at Duncan.


    "I promise you. We won''t take advantage of Aery. Noon, you saved the Cursed Tribe in the past and we still remember your help. The Cursed Tribe would have long been history if you did not intervene. Although we have lost the majority of our population, the Cursed Tribe is not weak. Aery can stay with us for as long as he wants. I can swear on it on the curses of the tribe."


    Noon was relieved, he understood the customs of the Cursed Tribe and knew that they would not harm his child in his absence. "Good. I still cannot believe how the church was unable to find you here. I guess the best place to hide is to be right under their nose. But your heir... You should be careful with him. Take your time and show him the proof. He must have been brainwashed to some extent while staying at the church."


    "I know. You don''t need to worry about it. As long as we show our sincerity, he will be moved by it. We took a gamble by asking for Gaia to find us an heir. The Cursed Tribe is already prepared to soar to the heavens or to vanish forever."


    "Let''s not talk about that. We should drink while we can! This way, we can send you off."


    "Sure!"


    The two old friends emptied three bottles of wine in one go. They did not speak much and simply enjoyed the peaceful environment.


    "Duncan, if you do not mind, I would like to spend the last few minutes with Aery."


    Duncan nodded. He did not say anything and quietly left the room. A few seconds later, a few light footsteps were heard as a white silhouette jumped into Noon''s lap. It was a fluffy baby sheep. Noon directly held Aery to prevent him from running everywhere. Aery was a timid but energetic child; when there were no strangers, Aery would run around Noon until he was completely exhausted.


    "Kyuu!"


    "Aery... Calm down for a moment, I have something to say."


    Confused, the baby sheep looked at his parent and stopped trying to escape Noon''s grasp.


    "Listen, I am going to have to leave soon for a very long time. You should stay here. Duncan will take care of you. I won''t be here to look after you; so you cannot go around causing trouble. Promise me to not leave this place before reaching level 60, okay? Level 60 is the bare minimum to be able to walk around freely," said Noon with a solemn voice.


    "Kyu?"


    Aery noticed the change in Noon''s attitude. He felt that something was wrong but could not figure out exactly what. He felt that Noon was sad and purred while placing his paws on Noon''s chest.


    "I''ll leave behind my core. You can use it to increase your strength significantly but since it''s not your own strength, you won''t be able to make much progress afterward. Look after it and use it only if necessary. You remember the skill I taught you, right? Keep it in that small space. It will be safe there."


    Noon spoke gently. He was not very good at farewells. Noon pressed his remaining hand against Aery, causing it to fall asleep.


    "Goodbye Aery. Live well."


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    He caressed the fluffy wool as he sighed. At the same time, his HP reached 0. His time has come.


    Small green particles started to escape from Noon''s body and soon, only a pale green sphere was left, floating above Aery. The green sphere coincidentally fell right between Aery''s paws as the baby sheep felt its warmth and grabbed it in his sleep.


    It was only 5 minutes later that Aery woke up and found the green sphere in front of him. He did not completely understand what happened, but he no longer had the energy to play. He felt a wave of sorrow wash through him. Aery lowered his head and pull the green sphere toward him. He was no longer in a mood to play. Remembering Noon''s last words, he held the green sphere in his mouth before heading back to his own room.


    ...


    [System prompt: you have been slain by the Joseph, level -2, applying death penalties]


    [System prompt: you have been afflicted by a mysterious technique, your respawn point has been changed]


    [System prompt: your body has been treated using the necessary material. The flare of cursed body has been successfully suppressed. Progress to next flare: 10%]


    "What is this?" Two opened his eyes, still dizzy from the blinding scene he witnessed. His [Indomitable Will] was on cooldown and even he was unable to survive the powerful attack of the two powerhouses.


    "Oh, you are awake. Please be careful."


    Two immediately noticed some movements in the corner of his eyes. He instantly went on his guards; according to the system prompt, his respawn location had been forcefully changed. He did not know if the people there were allies or enemies.


    A young woman rushed to his side. She had a fairly average appearance, but the right half of her face was completely covered with tattoos, giving her a mystical aura. Above her head, a faint: [Morgan, level: ???] was displayed.


    Morgan grabbed Two''s arms and help him sit up. "Are you feeling alright? Are there any discomfort?"


    "I am fine. Who are you? Where am I?" asked Two. He did not trust Morgan at all. He briefly looked around him and did not recognize this place. The room was stuffy as it did not have windows. A strong smell of mold and medicinal plants lingered around the room. Two''s first impression was that he was in an underground alchemical laboratory.


    ''The flare has been cured but it is already 10% in the next one. How long has passed since my death this time?'' thought Two


    The tattooed woman gently smiled, "My name is Morgan. The elder said that you will be fine as soon as you wake up. Come with me. I am sure you have a lot of questions." She pulled Two toward the exit who did not display any form of resistance. He was eager to find out where he was; for that, there was only one way to find out.


    Morgan guided Two through a series of long corridors. "We are definitely underground. The lighting is all artificial and there is basically no air flow," said Two to himself.


    "Oh, Aery. I am sorry. I cannot play with you right now. I have to meet the elder. I will come and see you later tonight, alright?"


    "Kyuuu"


    Along the way, Two did not see a single living soul. It was only when he was close to his final destination that he saw a cute white sheep roaming around the corridors with a lonely expression. Morgan immediately crouched next to it and patted its fluffy wool.


    Two observed the little pet with some interest. The sheep was definitely not ordinary. Despite being just a baby, he was already level 21! But what really attracted Two''s attention, was the glowing green sphere in Aery''s mouth.


    [Sacred Beast Core]


    Rarity: Unique


    Effect 1: Can be used to immediately upgrade a dungeon core and unlock 10 monsters related to the bloodline of the Aries.


    Effect 2: Can be combined with two other Sacred Beast Cores to obtain the dungeon master class and to found a dungeon.


    Description: The core belonging to a Sacred Beast. It is a highly coveted item that many monsters would kill for. It can be used directly but is also an excellent material that can be used to craft unique items.


    "Dungeon? An item related to the devils," said Two to himself.


    "We have arrived," said Morgan. She opened led Two inside a small office where an old man was patiently waiting for him.


    "Good morning Two. I hope that it was not inconvenient for us to bring you here," said Duncan.


    "Who are you and why did you force me to respawn here?"


    "It is useless to speak like that. No matter what we say, you will never believe us. Have a look at these items first, then we will speak." Duncan did not waste any time and took out a few herbs and monster parts.


    Two immediately saw the description of the items. His eyes shone as he suspiciously looked at Duncan. "What are those? Did you spy on me?" Those items were precisely the ones he had been fervently looking for.


    "Just use them to upgrade your Cursed Body to Grade 2 first. Once you do so, you will unlock the Curse of Truth. It is only then that you will start to believe what I say."


    "My Cursed Body? How did you know about it? I never told anyone about it."


    "We are just a small group of people that are trying to free themselves from the shackles of fate. Many people forgot our name but in the past, we used to be called the Cursed Tribe; we obviously know about the Cursed Body. In fact, we are the one who asked Gaia to give it to someone."


    ...


    Black Iron Tribe


    The atmosphere was heavy in the chief''s tent. Achi was having a hard time negotiating with the guests. Behind him, the Shaman and a granny were quietly observing the situation; they were supposed to help him make this important decision, but they did not speak a word since the beginning of the meeting.


    The chiefs of the two nearest tribes, the Scarlet Crow Tribe and the Forest Fox Tribe, have come to discuss important matters with the Black Iron Tribe. It was no secret that the Black Iron Tribe had direct access to a dungeon. All the tribes were well aware of the value of such a resourceful place; they could not allow a single tribe to monopolize it. They wanted their share of the cake.


    Since the warriors returned a few days ago, Achi had been constantly mediating with the other tribes. While the Scarlet Crow Tribe and the Forest Fox Tribe were on friendly terms with their tribe, there were other tribes that were quite jealous and had bad intentions.


    After a brief moment of silence, the Shaman finally decided to speak.


    "I have listened to all your requests. It is impossible for us to allow your tribes to migrate here. The ancestors'' decree stated that the tribes shall remain on their own territories to guard them. Other tribes are not allowed to settle their camps on our territory."


    "However, I do have a proposition. I suggest merging our three tribes into a single one. We will guard this area together and help each other. What do you think?" said the Shaman while observing the guests'' reactions.


    As he expected, the guests were not happy to hear this proposition. "Impossible. Do you want us to leave behind the land of our ancestors? We just want to get access to the dungeon, why do we need to merge together? My village is only half a day of walk away from the dungeon. We do not need to relocate," said the Forest Fox Tribe Leader. He crossed his hairy arms and turned toward the Scarlet Crow Tribe leader.


    The latter did not immediately voice out his opinion. He carefully considered his options. His position was different from the Forest Fox Tribe. The Scarlet Crow Tribe was considered one of the weakest tribes among the barbarians. Their territory was small and did not have many resources. He was naturally unwilling to leave behind the land of his ancestors but joining the Black Iron Tribe might very well be the only way he could improve the living conditions of his tribesmen.


    "Let me hear the full proposition first. What will be the terms?"


    "Simple. The three tribes will merge together, giving us the strength close to that of large tribes. The new tribe will be ruled by a council made up of 9 people. It will change over time as we merge but I will suggest 3 people from each tribe as a start. All the tribesmen will be treated equally. Together, we can share our expertise and become stronger."


    The Forest Fox Tribe leader grunted. "What will happen if we refuse? You know the Black Bear Tribe and the Vulture Tribe are also aiming for your dungeon. As a single small tribe, you are bound to have heavy casualties if you fight alone."


    The Shaman smiled. It was indeed one of the reasons he wanted the other tribes to join them. He needed to be strong enough to protect his own resources. "I believe the Black Iron Tribe will be able to survive alone or else, how do you think we managed to obtain so many resources from the dungeon unscathed?"


    "Are you trying to suggest something? Are there things that we do not know about?" Both tribe leaders became thoughtful; they could tell that the Shaman was hinting at something. The Black Iron Tribe had been hiding so many things behind their back. There might have been so secret deals taking place without anyone knowing; if they agreed to merge the tribes, wouldn''t they be able to benefit from whatever secrets there was too? They believed they could stand on the side-line and observe the situation but if they did not seize the opportunity in front of them, they might return empty-handed.


    "I cannot tell you more about it but trust me. After all, as you have seen, we dare use the dungeon as the training grounds for the youngsters. Please go and discuss with your elders first. I know this is not a decision you can make alone. We shall meet again tomorrow."


    When he saw the other tribe leader return to the guest tents where their respective elders were waiting for them, Achi let out a sigh of relief. He felt the heavy load lifted off his shoulders. "Father, are you certain you want to merge our tribes?"


    For the first time, the old granny spoke, "Achi, our tribe is different from the others. If we decided to shift our focus from hunting to crafting and trades, do you think we would not do something as trivial as this? This is something inevitable. To grow our tribe, we will need to merge with others. Unless you are willing to wait for several generations to increase our population, it is the only way to move from being a small irrelevant tribe."


    "Granny is right. We are taking some risks, but the Scarlet Crow Tribe and the Forest Fox Tribe are not stupid. They know what will benefit them the most. Besides, I truly wish for all of us to work together. We have always been allies. I do not see why we cannot work together. The dungeon is a huge gold mine. It is too much for us to take alone but if we allow the large tribes to intervene, we will end up with nothing. It is the best solution for all of us," added the Shaman.


    Achi was not used to seeing some many changes occurring in the village. He had a rather conservative mindset but would always listen to the pieces of advice of the Shaman. "May I ask what you have planned exactly?"


    "It depends on whether or not the tribes agree to merge with us. For now, I am thinking that it is time for me to meet Five once again. The dungeon has been quiet for a while. Angela did not behave any differently even if you told me that Five has been killed near the Tolden Encampment. Either they are hiding it very well or Five really has the ability to revive."


    "In any case, I will ask Angela to arrange a meeting for me. If Five is truly dead, then I do not see why we cannot take the dungeon for ourselves and become its true owner. If Five is still alive, then I will properly apologize and make a few gifts. I should also seek a few more benefits since we will be sending a lot more people soon. Even if the tribes refuse to merge, winter is almost there. The hunters'' catch is becoming worse and worse. It will be more useful to send them to the dungeon instead."

 Chapter 121: Balance is key

    "Lumen! Stop flying around like that. We need to go. They are all waiting for us." Angela grabbed the Firefly Queen and placed it on her left shoulder before hurriedly leaving her personal lab.


    The atmosphere at the dungeon had been quite heavy during the past few days. Angela was surprised to see Five suddenly appear in the dungeon. She also saw Harriet appear a few moments later but somebody was missing!


    Angela did not need to ask to know what happened to Ariel. Alice was also present and hugged her almost immediately. The harpies cried a lot on that night and remained depressed for the next few days, but they could not continue to do so for too long. They needed to move on and return to their task.


    The harpies did not blame Five for bringing Ariel to such a dangerous place. They could see that he was affected too just by seeing how he holed himself in the forge for the whole day and rarely spoke to anyone.


    However, as time went by, Five gradually returned to his normal self. A few days have passed since they came back from their outside expedition, but the dungeon remained exactly the same. The absence of Ariel did not have much of an impact on the dungeon''s activity. She did not have to fight on the floors and was free to do what she wished but her absence still had an impact on the emotions of the monsters.


    Five did not make any changes to the dungeon since his return. He knew he needed to quickly upgrade the dungeon. Currently, there were only 5 floors that the barbarians could farm on. He had planned to make a floor dedicated to Zombeasts, zombified monsters that died to black magic.


    Five currently had more than 1.5 million DP in his inventory but he was unwilling to use any. The dungeon already worked well. It was already generating as much DP as it could, and he did not need an additional line of defense. As long as Harriet was here, she alone could defeat the entire Black Iron Tribe.


    Five was not being stingy in saving all those DP. He could easily build 3 to 5 floors, but he knew he would soon need all the DP he could gather. The auction was approaching and according to the system, would take place in just two days after the end of the trials.


    According to the information Five had and the description from Harriet, the auction was a unique event that could allow him to obtain a lot of rare items and monsters. Many things that could not be purchased in the dungeon shop would be available there and it would be an opportunity to compare himself with the other dungeon masters.


    He did not know how well the other players were doing but if he did not want to return empty handed, he needed to save as much DP as he could.


    Besides, increasing the number of floors and monsters would not do him any good at the moment. As long as the daily number of barbarians inside his dungeon remained stagnant, the DP he would obtain daily would remain the same but his cost would increase as he would need to feed the new monsters.


    Before adding a new floor, Five would need to ask the barbarians to send in more people but it was just a matter of time before that happened. Winter was almost there, and Harriet had already reported that the number of beasts in the forest decreased considerably.


    He had already planned 3 floors for the dungeons and had discussed the idea with his close monsters. However, his plan would need to be slightly tweaked. Earlier this morning, when Five was asking Harriet for more information about the dungeons, he suddenly saw a bright light being emitted from the meeting room.


    The monsters first thought that it was an attack of some sort but when he got close to the source of light, to Five''s surprise, he heard Noon''s voice.


    "Uhm... Is there anyone here? I left an anchor point in this meeting room. If anyone hears this, can you please ask Five to come and speak to me? If no one answers me, I will come back in two hours."


    When Noon first spoke, only Dreidus was nearby and heard the voice. The Lich immediately called the other monsters and Five. Just a few moments later, Five entered the meeting room and in front of everyone, unleashed a stream of insults at the source of light.


    Five spoke to Harriet over the past few days and learned the truth behind everything. He learned how he was essentially used as a bait and how Noon had promised to protect him and Ariel during the battle. Who would be happy at the idea of being used by others? Furthermore, Noon even failed to properly protect them, causing the death of the harpy.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    It was only after he vented his bottled-up frustration that Five finally calmed down and they were able to discuss properly.


    Five was unable to see Noon''s figure but he could feel the distress in his voice. Although he managed to survive, he was not in good shape. To make up for his mistakes, Noon agreed to share some information he had about the dungeons.


    The most important information he got was that balance was key!


    The monsters he chose would not only affect the dungeon but also, he himself. According to Noon, the dungeon master''s personality would also be shaped along with the dungeon to reflect the monsters there more. Over the years, several dungeon masters changed drastically after founding their dungeon, resulting in the creation of some alliances and enmities.


    The dungeon master''s personality would reflect that of his monsters. According to Noon, Fire attribute monsters tended to be more vocal and daring. Water attribute monsters were more open-minded and caring. Earth attribute monsters were peaceful and carefree. Wind attribute monsters were more cheerful and lively. Light attribute monsters were stubborn but honest while the Dark attribute monsters were lonely, aggressive and territorial.


    Five could not believe what Noon was saying. It sounded so over the top. How could a game actually morph someone''s behavior? At the moment, Five''s dungeon was highly leaning toward the dark attribute, but he did not think that he was lonely, aggressive or territorial. After thinking about it more carefully, loneliness could be associated with the fact that he now spent most of his time alone in his forge, aggressiveness could be seen in his actions to constantly try to move to the player''s towns. As for being territorial, everyone would want to protect their own home and right now, the dungeon was his home.


    It was possible that the game was using psychological factors to affect the player''s behavior. In particular, it was using the "We all want to fit in" factor. Humans were social creatures and would generally adopt similar behaviors to others to blend into the groups. When thinking about his monsters, if he truly only had Dark attribute monsters, Five would have nobody to hold a real conversation with. The Undead monsters did not say a word while Dreidus was a man of few words who was very protective of Lyra. Without the harpies to liven up the dungeon, he might very well have been depressed by the dull atmosphere.


    "It is scary... but it is only a hypothesis. It is very possible that the game is actually not doing anything. However, now that I heard of this... I will start to worry about it... Stupid me, I should not have read all those psychology books."


    Noon explained that this was the reason why in the past, many old dungeon masters stopped their own development. They did not want to be affected by their own monsters and had to introduce new races to balance it out. The easiest way to reduce the impact of the monsters on their own behavior was to have an equal number of monsters of each attribute in the dungeon.


    Five did not fully believe Noon''s statement. It might be true for the NPCs, but he was a player; the game company, Valor would not take things so far as to actually brainwash the players.


    Five had been planning to focus on making undead monsters. They were cheap and did not cost much to maintain. However, it seemed that he would have to change his plans. He did not want to take the risk to really change himself.


    After speaking about the monsters'' attribute, Noon revealed another important piece of information. The dungeon cores were not as simple as they looked. Noon did not know much about them as his own core was different but when he was at Five''s dungeon, he felt a strange gloomy aura coming from the dungeon core.


    This was immediately backed up by Dreidus who also added that it was somehow related to the monsters dying. As someone from Necro Valley, Dreidus had a good knowledge of Necromancy; he could tell that something had happened when he died but he could not pinpoint exactly what.


    All they knew was that the dungeon core represented a threat that could very well cause Five''s downfall.


    Noon could not hold the communication channel for very long. He was clearly weakening as he spoke and Five eventually cut the conversation short. He had obtained a few useful pieces of advice from Noon. Although he was not happy that Ariel died for this, there was nothing he could do.


    ...


    "Let us begin." When Five saw that all his main monsters have arrived, he immediately started the meeting.


    "Following what Noon has said, there will be some changes to the dungeon. We will continue to summon more undead monsters, but they will be restricted to the first 10 floors. After that, we will have to change. We will discuss this in more detail after the auction. It is useless to make plans now that we cannot execute them and maybe we will stumble onto useful items there."


    "Let''s focus on today''s main topic. Harriet, please."


    The Harpy Queen nodded, "I have scouted the surroundings of the dungeon. I was able to find three dungeons within a radius of 50km. Two of them are underground dungeons like ours but the third one is a spatial crack. By going through the crack, we will be sent right into a dungeon space and will then have to climb floors as usual."


    "I did not go in their dungeons and could not determine what monsters they have but the tribes they are near to are the Bramble Deer Tribe, the Prairie Dog Tribe, and the Rat Snake Tribe. The first two are small size tribes like the Black Iron Tribe but the Rat Snake Tribe is a medium size one. I have also noticed several movements from the tribes sending messengers to each other. It is obvious that they are debating about the ownership of the dungeons."


    Five quietly listened. He was curious about the other dungeon masters in the surroundings. Harriet was not exactly an expert at scouting, but she was the best suited for this kind of job at the moment. While Five just needed to wait for winter to come to receive more NPCs in his dungeon, he needed to be careful of the actions of the other players.


    He was completely in the dark; it would be useful to know their strength for when it would be time to engage in PVPs. It was not exactly a precautionary measure; Five was also looking for opportunities to dominate the region. The one who took the initiative would definitely be at an advantage.


    Furthermore, Five was well aware that it was a very sensitive period. Although none of the dungeon masters in his region would go through the trials, the auctions would take place in just 2 days. Five did not have much information about the auction but he knew one thing; all the dungeon masters were saving as much DP as they could for the event, resulting in an overall weaker dungeon than normal. Secondly, all the dungeon masters would be teleported to a different place for the dungeon. He did not know how smart the AIs were but chances were, it would be much easier to raid other dungeons in the absence of the dungeon masters.


    Five was not tunnel visioning on the auction. There were two ways to make a profit from this event; stock in as much DP as possible to purchase unique items or spend all his DP on an army of monsters and secretly raid his neighbors, obtaining even more DP and monopolizing the region.


    The question was which way would Five choose. Should he go the conventional way or take advantage of the event? Both methods would provide him with a significant advantage in the future; he needed to choose wisely.

 Chapter 122: Mini Update

    [System Announcement: Congratulations to all dungeon masters, the trials are now officially over.]


    [System Announcement: A mini update targeting the dungeon masters will immediately take effect. For more details, please read through the document that has been automatically added to your inventory.]


    [System prompt: With the end of the trials, the auction will take place in exactly 24 hours. Please prepare for the event. Each dungeon master is allowed to bring one monster to the event.]


    [System prompt: The event will last for two days. On the first day, the players will bid together with the NPC dungeon masters on various items. Players are free to bid but are discouraged to do so as the NPCs have acquired a much larger amount of DP. All the NPCs will return to their respective dungeons at the end of the day but the players will be allowed to stay for another auction targeting the young dungeon masters on the next day. We recommend that players focus on acquiring the items at this venue instead. For more details, please consult the document that has been automatically added to your inventory.]


    [System prompt: Are there any items or monsters you are willing to auction? You might receive a good price.]


    The long-awaited system prompt sounded next to Five''s ears who immediately took out the two documents. He first opened the document about the incoming auction. Although the document about the update was important; Five needed to learn more about the auction; it would determine whether or not he would be saving his DP or not.


    "What is your decision, Five?" asked Harriet who had been quietly waiting on the side.


    "I think it is okay! We will have a two-day period to act. Do it," answered Five. He did not hesitate to press "No" to whether he wanted to auction anything and turned his attention to the new documents in his inventory. He briefly scanned through the document and after finding the desired details, he nodded.


    Harriet did not disturb Five any longer and quickly left the meeting room. There was not much time to prepare; if they wanted to succeed, she needed to act quickly. Harriet swiftly left the dungeon in the middle of the night and flew deeper into the forest.


    Five was left alone in the meeting room. He anxiously bit his nails, not sure whether he took the right decision. In the end, Five opted for the second option; he would sneakily attack the nearby dungeons during the auction. It was a risky choice but risks were often associated with high rewards. He did not know how well the other dungeons were performing but he knew that his greatest advantage was Harriet.


    The level 57 Harpy Queen was the greatest asset he had at the moment. She was a powerful monster that was able to decimate an entire squad of knights with just one attack. Five was willing to bet more on Harriet''s strength than the fact that his dungeon managed to acquire more DP than the others.


    Based on how his tutorial phase went on with Kroff, the other dungeon masters might have agreed to join the alliances and received help from their mentors. With that, they should have been able to secure a decent amount of DP but it was a different story for the monsters they owned. The old mentors would not be so generous as to give a level 57 boss monster to their students; at most, they would have a level 30 boss monster.


    It was too late to come back on his decision; Harriet has already left the dungeon. The ball has already started rolling; it would not be so easy to stop it midway.


    Five turned his attention toward the second document.


    [Mini Update]


    [We are not satisfied with the current design of most dungeons. To take advantage of the DP generation, we observed a tendency of long, empty areas to increase the time spent in the dungeon. Alternatively, some dungeons consist only of powerful boss monsters that leads to unhealthy gameplay.


    Fix 1: We are reducing the DP produced by enemies per level per hour from 20 to 10.


    Fix 2: We are reducing the DP produced by the death of enemies per level from 1000 to 500


    Fix 3: New DP generation method: DP is now generated each time an enemy loses HP. 1 DP per HP.


    Fix 4: New DP generation method: Monsters now refund 10% DP upon death within the dungeon.]


    [To address the issues of the design of the dungeons, there will now be an additional ''rent'' to pay based on the total size of the dungeon. The numbers will change in the future based on our future observations.


    Fix: Every 30 days starting from now, the dungeon master will have to pay 1 DP per meter cube. Failure to do so will result in the automatically selling of random items or monsters in the dungeon.]


    [We aim to discourage direct trading between dungeon masters. There will now be a 10% commission fee to all the direct trades between dungeon masters. If items or monsters are traded, the appropriate amount of DP will be subtracted from the trader.]


    [We have observed several other practices where some dungeon masters would send their monsters to suicide at other''s dungeon to transfer some DP. The DP obtained from this practice will now be significantly reduced.]


    [Minor adjustment to the price of the monsters.]


    [Update to the UI of the dungeon shop.]


    It was a rather short concise document and did not contain as many changes as the previous global update. Five frowned as he saw the changes. It was clearly a heavy nerf at the amount of DP his dungeon would generate.


    1 DP per HP sounded like a lot, but a player would generally have about 100 HP at this stage of the game unless they invested in the Endurance stat. It meant that to make up for the loss in DP, the player would need to lose enough HP to die twice within one hour.


    The dungeons were growing way too fast compared to the average player population; they needed to be slowed down and the best way to do so was to reduce the amount of DP they could obtain.


    On the other hand, the changes opened the door to a brand-new type of dungeon. DP would be generated as long as the enemies would lose HP. It meant that if they took fall damage or even just damage from the traps, DP would be generated. Until now, traps were mostly used around the dungeon core as a last layer of defense but now, it could be fully incorporated into the dungeon.


    Similarly, the lower floors were now more relevant as the weak monsters could now generate a few DP even against the high-level players. Before, the first few floors were only used to waste time.


    A few changes will be needed but for now, Five needed to focus on unlocking the monsters. Since he had made the choice to conquer the other dungeons, he would need to build up an army first.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Five called Dreidus to discuss the monsters to use to attack. Monsters had different characteristics; some of them were more suited for defense while others excel at attacking.


    Dreidus took a step back from the leadership since Harriet came back. He understood that the Harpy Queen was not only much stronger than him, she also had good knowledge of dungeons. Dreidus did not mind taking a step back; he got more time to spend with Lyra but when it came to undead monsters, Dreidus was always the first person Five would consult.


    He was the expert when it came to necromancy and was also adept at military tactics to some extent. The two discussed this problem many times before but this time, they would need to make a decision.


    "I suggest simply choosing the monsters that we have planned for the next few floors. It will save cost and the monster we chose turned out to be quite good at attacking. We have about 1.6 million DP at our disposal, it would be plenty to build up an army. However, I don''t know what kind of effects this would have on your behavior. We should be careful about who we pick," said Dreidus.


    Five nodded, "I understand. For now, let us use the Monster Lottery Tickets and see if we get anything interesting. It will only last for a few days anyway. As soon as I return from the auction, we will make a significant amount of changes."


    He took out the 3 Monster Lottery Tickets that he obtained for completing the trials. He jokingly asked Alice if she wanted to be the one to use them but as soon as she heard this, the harpy left in a hurry with Ivan, the Nosferatu.


    The 3 Monster Lottery Tickets were activated at the same time. Five had been quite lucky with these items but this time, the results were disappointing.


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, you have unlocked the monster: level 2 Rabbit, this monster can now be purchased at the dungeon shop. One Rabbit is ready for summoning]


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, you have unlocked the monster: level 1 Gold Fish, this monster can now be purchased at the dungeon shop. One Gold Fish is ready for summoning]


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, you have unlocked the monster: level 2 Lizard, this monster can now be purchased at the dungeon shop. One Lizard is ready for summoning]


    He could not always be lucky. Five felt that it was a pity, but he had already obtained a decent monster in his previous draws.


    "Let us forget about those and unlock the relevant ones," said Five. At the same time, he opened the dungeon shop and browsed for the monsters he was looking for. Soon, another series of system prompt rang in Five''s ears:


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, you have unlocked the monster: Zombeasts. They are now available for purchase!]


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, you have unlocked the monster: Level 26 Bonemare. They are now available for purchase!]


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, you have unlocked the monster: level 28 Haunting Ghost. They are now available for purchase!]


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, you have unlocked the monster: level 30 Defacer. They are now available for purchase!]


    4 new monsters were unlocked in a row for the total cost of 418000 DP. Five was making a massive investment in these monsters but they were all extremely powerful. Unlocking monsters was not cheap and he still needed to actually buy them.


    Zombeasts were the remnants of beasts that have been converted into undead monsters. Just like skeletons and zombies, their level could range from 20 to 25. One Zombeast cost 7000 DP and its stats varied a lot depending on which beast it was when it was still alive.


    Bonemares were essentially monsters made up of a stack of bones. They were very similar to skeletons but were much larger in size and had a more bestial appearance. One Bonemare would cost 10000 DP but it was not only fast but also had a high amount of HP. Furthermore, Bonemares could also be used to substitute as mounts.


    Haunting Ghosts were another race of monsters that stood on the line between the undead type and the spirit type monsters. They were similar to wraiths and Mylingars but were much more powerful. One Haunting Ghost would cost 14000 DP. Haunting Ghosts were expensive and were actually weak during the day but they had the unique ability to be able to attach themselves to a target without being detected. The problem was that as soon as their target would see the sun again, they would be inevitably hurt and be unable to maintain their disguise.


    Finally, Defacers were human-like undead monsters who simply did not have a face. They were obsessed with killing others to steal their faces. Defacers were powerful monsters who excelled at sneak attacks; one of them would cost 18000 DP.


    Five felt his heart ache as he watched the numbers. Almost one-third of his DP was already gone just by unlocking the monsters but he knew he was emphasizing the quality of his monsters instead of the quantity.


    He could have simply purchased a massive amount of skeletons for his army which would have been much cheaper but Five was also looking at the long term development of his dungeon. He had a little over 1.1 million DP left but it was clear that they would not last for very long.


    "Let''s make a list of how many monsters we are summoning. I will summon them all tomorrow before leaving."


    "Are we spending all the DP we have in reserve?" asked Dreidus. He was excited; having been a necromancer in his previous life, he knew just how strong those monsters were.


    "Yes. It is expensive, but we need to do it to succeed. The other dungeons should have at least one level 30 monster guarding them. Furthermore, you need to be careful as you will be moving next to the other tribes. They should also have a few level 30 warriors and maybe even someone at level 40."


    "Yes, master. If we encounter the barbarians, we will make sure to bring their corpse back. I might be able to turn them into Living Corpses like last time. This should not violate our agreement with the Black Iron Tribe since we will be targeting the other tribes," said Dreidus.


    Five nodded, it would indeed be of great help if Dreidus could simply create more undead monsters for free.


    "As for the number of monsters, I will suggest 50 Zombeasts, 30 Bonemares, 15 Haunting Ghosts and 8 Defacers. We should also increase the number of liches we have from 2 to 8. As we are leading an army of undead, I also suggest summoning a few hundreds of skeletons and zombies to swarm the enemy. The total should come up at a little over 1.1 million. We can use the DP we will generate tomorrow to summon the cheap troops. What do you think? If it is too much, we can decrease the number of Haunting Ghosts. I was planning to leave them at the dungeon to protect it in our absence anyway. We cannot leave the dungeon completely exposed to others."


    Five listened quietly and made a few quick calculations. "It is fine. We shall do as you say. You are the expert, not me."


    One skeleton would cost 100 DP to summon. It should be easy to summon a few hundreds of them, but they would only be useful as cannon fodder. Without weapons or armors, the actual strength of the skeletons would be significantly lowered.


    At that moment, the door was flung open as Harriet and Angela entered the meeting room. The latter had just finished her nightly lessons with the Shaman and coincidentally met Harriet on her way back.


    However, the two harpies were not alone. 3 more creatures followed fearfully behind them. When Five noticed their entrance, he quickly turned toward them and looked at the character name displayed above the creatures head.


    "Wild Boar King, Ape King, and the Forest Tiger King... One is missing?" commented Five as he looked at the three kings of the forest in front of him. As the previous kings have all died during the first trial, new kings were elected among the beasts to represent them. They have learned not to mess up with the dungeon and were scared witless when they suddenly saw Harriet appear. They valued their life and did not dare disobey the orders of the Harpy Queen.


    "According to those three, the Cobra King ran away and never came back since the last trial. I can confirm that he ran away and I did not find any representative among the Cobras of the forest," answered Harriet.


    "That is fine. Since you are here, you should already know what we are expecting of you. If you agree, I promise to treat you well. What is your choice?" asked Five as he looked at the three beasts.


    The Beast Kings trembled. They were not particularly scared of the man in front of them, but the Harpy Queen was simply too terrifying. If she wanted, she could easily destroy the entire forest. There were only two choices: submission or death. Reluctantly, they were forced to accept her proposition.


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the Wild Boar King has agreed to serve you. All the Wild Boars of the forest will now be considered as your monsters. Wild Boar has been unlocked in the dungeon shop.]


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the Ape King has agreed to serve you. All the Apes of the forest will now be considered as your monsters. Ape has been unlocked in the dungeon shop.]


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the Forest Tiger King has agreed to serve you. All the Forest Tigers of the forest will now be considered as your monsters. Forest Tiger has been unlocked in the dungeon shop.]


    Over the past few days, Five spent a lot of time with Harriet. The Harpy Queen basically acted as his mentor and taught her everything she knew about dungeons. She was quite impressed that Five was able to build some sort of relationship with the Black Iron Tribe but she also criticized him severely.


    "We are monsters and our survival is at stake. There is no need to always use soft methods. Do you know why towns and cities are always built very close to the dungeons? The obvious reason is that it is a place rich in resources that people would like to monopolize but the real reason is that there are no monsters or beasts in their immediate surroundings! That''s because the first thing dungeon masters usually do when they found their dungeon, is to either recruit the nearby boss monsters or simply destroy them! Not only do they get rid of the potential threats, but they also force the humans nearby to actively explore the dungeon since there is nothing else to do in the surroundings."


    Following Harriet''s advice, Five decided to recruit the beasts of the forests. If things went as she said, not only was it a cheap way to obtain a large number of monsters in a short period of time, it would also force the Black Iron Tribe to rely on the dungeon as the forests would house fewer beasts from now on. Nature would take its course and other beasts would appear but then, Five would just need to repeat the process a few times and the forest would then be completely devoid of all animals.


    Five was very satisfied as he looked at the logs. He obtained 3 powerful boss monsters ranging from level 25 to 28. Furthermore, according to the interface, he now had 189 Wild Boars, 112 Apes, and 65 Forest Tigers. That was a lot of beasts but with it came a very high maintenance cost. For now, it would not have an impact on the dungeon as the beasts could still feed in the wild; but when winter would arrive, Five would need to spend some DP to keep them alive.


    "Harriet has already told you about the incoming operation. Please go and warn your brethren. The undead monsters will lead the charge, but you will also need to participate," said Five. He had a powerful army, but it was not easy to maintain it. The only way to do so was to reduce the number of soldiers he had, which was equivalent to sending them to their death.


    The three beast kings immediately felt the connection being built between them and Five. They were now bound to the dungeon; no matter what they did, their race would be live and die with the dungeon. They left quickly under the stares of Harriet to warn the other beasts. Even if they were not happy with the situation, they would have to go with the flow to survive.


    When the beast kings left the meeting room, Angela stepped forward and spoke. She was no longer so timid as to always hide behind someone to speak. "Master. My teacher, the Shaman requested for you to meet him. He says that he wants to revisit the deal you have with him a little bit."


    Five''s eyes shone, "Changing the deal? It is finally time..."

 Chapter 123: Departure

    "I heard that you wanted to speak to me?"


    In the middle of the night, Five walked out of the dungeon under the guidance of Angela. The silver-haired harpy led Five to a small clearing where the Shaman was still waiting for Mira to finish brewing her last potion.


    The Shaman''s eyes widened when he saw Five''s figure but he quickly recollected himself, "It is true! He can really come back from the dead," said the Shaman to himself.


    He turned to Angela, "Angela, please look after Mira, I will have to speak to your master in private."


    Five and the Shaman walked to a reasonable distance from Mira. "I would first like to apologize. We said that we would guarantee your safety on this expedition but in the end, we failed. I know that it is not much, but I brought a few items here to show my sincerity."


    The Shaman proceeded in taking out a few items from his pouch. He was well prepared and very quickly 11 small bottles appeared in front of Five.


    "What are those?" Although he asked the question, Five immediately obtained the information about the potions. They were all stat-increasing potions. Each potion would increase the stats by 1 but they were all unique. There were the Grade 1 and the Grade 2 versions of each potion. Five has already seen these potions in the Dungeon Shop and they were not exactly cheap. The Grade 0 version would cost 1000 DP, the Grade 1 version would cost 10000 DP and the Grade 2 potion was 10 times more expensive.


    The potions were very useful, but they were not worth the price. Furthermore, when Five was looking for ways to improve his monsters, he found that the potions would only have half their effectiveness when used on monsters.


    "A few potions that can help you get stronger. I have already taught the Grade 0 version to Angela but she still needs to practice a lot to obtain an acceptable success rate. She is quite talented; I am happy to have her as my student," answered the Shaman.


    He then pointed at the last remaining bottle. "This contains a viscous gel that can be dissolved into water to form a special bath. It will help improve your physique. I hope it will make up for your losses."


    Five quietly nodded and sent all the items in his inventory. They would be very useful to him. He clearly understood that the Shaman had had some intentions in sending him to represent the tribe at the meeting but at that time, he was blinded by the idea of finally leaving the dungeon and meet some players.


    "Now, shall we get to business? I would like to increase the number of people we are sending to the dungeon. But naturally, we will need to obtain a few more benefits too."


    Five internally sneered, ''Tssk! You know very well that your people would not need to go to the forest anymore. You think that just a few potions would be enough to grease my hands?''


    "What kind of benefits?" asked Five.


    "We are planning to send at least 300 people every day. However, we would like you to open two more floors and we would appreciate it if we could find some resources on those floors. For example, the ores on the first floor are useful but we would like to be able to harvest more advanced ores too. The same goes for the 4th floor. We can pick a few herbs there, but they are the basic ones," said the Shaman. He wore an innocent face as he expected Five to immediately agree.


    "300 people?" murmured Five. It was a huge increase in the current number of visitors he had but Five was still not satisfied! He wanted all the tribes of the surroundings to come to his dungeon. "An interesting proposition. I will open one more floor for you. As for the ores and herbs, I can indeed spawn them in the dungeon, but it will depend on the rarity of the herbs you are looking for."


    "Of course, it will all be useful items that Angela will also need in the future. At the moment, she is using the herbs I provide but she is consuming more than I expected. The plants are not so rare, but neither are they too common in this region. I am mostly asking you to provide resources that are usually harvested by the other tribes," answered the Shaman.


    "I don''t have any problem in providing more resources, just give a list to Angela. Is there anything else?" asked Five. He had long been planning to increase the variety of resources that could be available in the dungeon; now that an expert was giving him pieces of advice on which one to choose, Five would not say no to some free information.


    "I have one more request to make. Since we will be sending so many people to your dungeon; we would like to ask for your protection in case we are attacked," hesitantly said the Shaman.


    Five furrowed his brows; he knew the Shaman would not come here just to talk about the increase in the number of people. Five was not completely clueless about the situation. 300 people represented the total population of a small tribe. Unless the Black Iron Tribe was planning to send all the women, elderly and children to his dungeon every day, Five could easily guess that the tribe came up with some sort of partnership with other tribes.


    "Have you not decided to ally with other tribes? Why do you need my protection?" asked Five with an innocent expression. Not only did Harriet notice the delegations of the other tribes arriving at the Black Iron Village, but Dreidus also notice that a few barbarians wearing different outfits have been roaming through the dungeon these past few days.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ''He knows!'' instantly thought the Shaman. "Yes. This is the only way we will be able to send in more people. However, as you already know from the tribes'' meeting, all the tribes are already aware that we have a dungeon. Many are eyeing the dungeon and will start by targeting us. If the Black Iron Tribe falls first, then the tribe would monopolize the dungeon. They will only send in their own tribesmen; at most a few hundred per day."


    "Oh? And you are not planning on monopolizing it?" sarcastically asked Five. He was not new to this sort of behavior. To him, it did not really matter which tribe was visiting him; however, he might be able to take advantage of the situation.


    "No no no. We are already agreeing to share with our partners. We will just like to get a few benefits as we are the ones who discovered the dungeon. In the future, we will naturally allow others to enter the dungeon," awkwardly said the Shaman.


    "Interesting... Will you also allow the players with who you''ve made a few trades to come here?"


    The Shaman froze. He was willing to share it with the other barbarians as it would benefit them as a group but if the players were allowed in, wouldn''t they just bring all the resources back to the townsmen''s territory? It would badly influence the economy of the barbarians.


    Seeing the Shaman''s hesitation, Five continued, "Since you have already decided to start opening yourself to the townsmen, why don''t you just build some sort of inns for them to stay at? You can allow the players to go to the dungeon and simply charge them a fee at the entrance. What do you think?"


    This was precisely what Five was after! He obtained a decent amount of DP from the NPCs but the one consistent source of DP was the players! The NPCs would roam the dungeon to collect resources but the players were focused on farming exp! They did not particularly focus on resources; the players represented a different kind of customer. Furthermore, the barbarians'' level would take forever to increase while the players would do so rather quickly, increasing the DP they generated.


    "This... I will need to carefully think about this before giving a definite answer, but I do not see why we would not allow them in. We might not do so immediately but in the future, we will. However, I know that the other tribes are not as open-minded as the Black Iron Tribe, I know they will definitely not allow those players to go to the dungeon."


    Five could see the Shaman''s nervousness. In the end, he simply answered, "I will help in defending your village, but I will not put the lives of my monsters at risk for nothing. You have obtained quite a few materials from the monsters of the dungeon and I can see that you have been trading actively. In exchange for a few of those items, I do not mind assisting in the protection of your village, but you should not expect me to do all the work."


    The Shaman paused for a moment. He has been the one making most of the items highly sought by the players. He knew their value but at the same time, the lives of his tribesmen were priceless. "Alright. I agree but we will have to make a few more changes to the contract. Since there will be two other tribes joining us, I would also request to allow them to know of your existence."


    Five nodded, "Sure. I have nothing against this... Let''s hurry up then. It is already late."


    ...


    After the discussion with the Shaman, Five returned to the dungeon and immediately went to sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.


    When he woke up, Five immediately checked the time. There were still a few hours before he would be teleported to the auction and he needed to get ready. He sat down to eat his breakfast with his monsters and at the same time, quickly checked the amount of DP he had.


    1255986 DP were currently sitting in his inventory. There has been a massive increase in DP last night as Harriet and the Beast Kings killed all the beasts that dared to rebel against them. Although it looked like a lot, Five knew that they would all disappear in an instant.


    Five chatted with Harriet, trying to obtain as much information about the existing alliances of the dungeon masters. Since he would be interacting with them, it would not harm Five to learn a little bit about them.


    Soon, only one hour was left before the countdown would reach 0. Five took out the dungeon core and brought it to the 6th floor where the cadavers and corpse eaters were.


    Using the interface, Five quickly spent all his hard earned DP and summoned the previously agreed monsters. The usually wide cavern became suddenly crowdy. The atmosphere became stuffy as the tall menacing undead monsters appeared one after another. Their aura was imposing; had they been in the wild, a fight would have probably immediately been started but in the dungeon; they all instinctively knew that they were allies and immediately recognized Five as their master.


    The scariest monsters were without a doubt the Defacers. It was not just because they had the highest level but also because Five would feel a chill whenever he would look at the completely empty face.


    "Dreidus here will lead you during the next few days. Please listen to him," commanded Five. The monsters grunted in approval as none of them could actually speak.


    The group then walked out of the sixth floor and climbed the stair upward to the fifth floor. Five had already warned the Shaman to ask the barbarians to leave the dungeon during that period of time. He did not know how they would react if a large army of undead monsters suddenly appeared.


    The barbarians were strong but against such a large army, they would not stand a chance without the help of their totem spirit.


    Fortunately, the Shaman took Five''s warning seriously. As they arrived on the grassy plains of the fifth floor, not as single barbarian could be seen.


    "Dreidus, you take it from here. You know what to do!" said Five.


    "Don''t worry! It is not the first time I am doing something like this. The dungeon will operate as normal in our absence," answered Dreidus.


    The lich grabbed the dungeon core and swiftly departed. Once he arrived on the first floor, he would then summon 500 skeletons before passing the dungeon core to Lyra.


    Five nodded as he watched the army of undead monsters loudly make their way to the stairs leading to the fourth floor. The usual monsters did not react to this army and respectfully stepped out of the way. They all looked at Five in reverence, knowing that he was the dungeon master.


    Only Alice and Angela were left by Five''s side. Harriet had already left the dungeon earlier to gather the beasts. She has already started her journey toward the nearest dungeon; the one located at the Prairie Dog Tribe. Compared to the undead, the beasts were living creatures who had limited stamina. The Undead monsters could continue their journey during the night without feeling tired, but it was a different story for the beasts.


    Fortunately, the beasts traveled at a much faster pace than the undead monsters; it was especially true for the wraith and the liches. In the end, both armies should have arrived and probably also raided the Prairie Dog Tribe''s dungeon by the start of the second auction.


    Five bit his lips as he slowly made his way back to the meeting room. He was still wondering whether he made the right decision. If he could choose to attack the other players; they could choose to attack him too.


    Five did take some precautions by leaving behind the Haunting Ghosts, 3 liches and the rest of the monsters as usual. Lyra was also staying at the dungeon to look after the monsters. They should be enough to defend against regular attacks but who knows what will happen if the attackers decided to go all out. On the other hand, he also had the barbarians to help defend his dungeon in case of emergency.


    As the Beast Kings killed a few beasts last night, Five had still about 60000 DP as leftovers. It was the only budget he had for the auction, but he was not planning to use it anyway.


    ¡°If there is an emergency, do not hesitate to use all the DP left.¡±


    Alice, Angela, and Five sat in the meeting room as they waited for the countdown to reach 0. There were still a few minutes left but they felt like an eternity.


    This time, Angela would the one to accompany Five on this journey. He was allowed to bring one monster with him and although he would have preferred to bring Harriet with him, Five knew that she was indispensable to the success of the raid.


    Typically, dungeon masters would bring monsters that specialized in crafting with them to the auctions. Some of the items sold there were often rare materials that only craftsmen could identify and use. At the same time, the craftsmen usually had a better understanding of the value of items and could help the dungeon masters estimate the prices.


    Angela was already a Grade 0 alchemist. It was not much but she was the best Five had. In the end, Five was not really going to the auction to buy useful items; his pockets were completely empty. His only hope was that the raid would be a success.


    Soon, the countdown reached 0 and in a flash, Five and Angela vanished from the meeting room leaving Alice alone.

 Chapter 124: Merging the Tribes

    "May I ask why you suddenly requested all our men to retreat from the dungeon? What could possibly be so dangerous that we need to wait so far away from the dungeon?"


    The chiefs of the three tribes, as well as their elders, were all sitting around a campfire in the middle of the village. The Forest Fox Tribe Leader and the Scarlet Crow Tribe Leader had both sent a few men in the dungeon to evaluate its potential; they would usually roam around and observe the surroundings but would not take part in the action.


    To their surprise, in the middle of their inspection, Achi made a strange request for everyone to get out of the dungeon and to return to the village. The tribesmen immediately reported it to their respective leaders which led to this situation.


    "It was the request of the dungeon master. He said that he would not be responsible for what would happen to those who did not leave. As we are about to enter a partnership, I simply wanted to alert your men," answered the Shaman. He did not have any more details about the reason for the evacuation.


    ''To ask us to leave the dungeon for thirty minutes, what on earth is he doing?'' thought the Shaman.


    The chiefs were displeased. They wanted a satisfactory explanation but clearly, the Shaman was unable to give them one. They did not agree to merge their tribes yet. Although they realized the potential of the dungeon, they were not hasty in making their decision. The chiefs took the decisions, but they also needed to look at the response from their tribesmen.


    Suddenly, a few scouts rushed into the camp and interrupted the meeting. "Chief, chief! There is a big army of skeletons walking out of the dungeon!"


    "Chief! Just one minute ago, several skeletons left the dungeon and walked to the West."


    The different scouts each reported their information to their respective tribe. The chiefs were stunned. ''An army of skeletons? Was that the reason why we had to leave the dungeon?''


    The Shaman was equally surprised by the news but instead of staring at the others, he took out a small pouch from his coat and tossed it in the flames of the campfire.


    "Boosh"


    A tiny explosion occurred as the flames greedily devoured the small pouch. A few moments later, the campfire started to emit a thick grey smoke. A small cloud of smoke started to form above the fire and to everyone''s surprise, an image appeared in the middle of the cloud.


    It was the entrance of the dungeon. The cloud acted as a screen, showing any nearby area according to the Shaman''s wishes.


    The image in the cloud showed countless skeletons neatly arranged in rows of four walking out of the dungeon like soldiers. The stream of skeletons seemed endless.


    As the Shaman willed it, the image moved, moving down the stream of skeletons. In front of the long line of skeletons, several other monsters appeared in the image of the cloud. The cloud showed the Zombeasts walking behind the Death Knights. The liches, defacers and the wraiths were sitting on the Bonemares, using them as mounts. At the very front, Dreidus was leading the way on top of the largest Bonemare.


    Silence fell on the camp as the barbarians observed the army of undead steadily making its way West. They all had their own thoughts. Achi and the Shaman were both relieved to not have attempted a crazy raid at the dungeon. ''Fortunately, we did not dig in too deep in the dungeon; the entire tribe might have been exterminated if we fought such an army without the help of the totem spirit.''


    As for the leaders of the two other tribes, they reconsidered the offer of the black Iron Tribe. Seeing how Achi had ordered the retreat of the barbarians to allow the army of undead to go through, it was clear that there was some sort of relationship between the dungeon and the Black Iron Tribe. The dungeon was not weak! If they had such an army protecting them, wouldn''t the safety of their tribe be guaranteed?


    The average barbarian''s level would fall between 25 to 30 which was about the same level as those monsters. However, the barbarians understood they would inevitably lose when facing those monsters in a one-on-one duel.


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    "I have a question though... If the army protecting the dungeon has already left, why don''t we seize the opportunity to attack the dungeon?"


    The Scarlet Crow Tribe leader broke the heavy silence as the cloud showed the long line of skeletons disappearing in the distance. However, no one answered him. His proposition was simply too crazy; he wanted to take advantage that the main forces of the dungeons were not here to raid it!


    The Scarlet Crow Tribe leader felt awkward. Nobody was responding until one of his elders said, "Naive thinking. If he is sending out such an army, it means that there are still a few monsters guarding the fort. The real question should be: where exactly is this army headed to? It is made up of enough monsters to cause serious damage to any tribe."


    "You are right. I am against making a move against the dungeon for now. Don''t forget the winged woman we noticed the other day. She is nowhere to be seen in this army and might be guarding the dungeon core. If she is the one to make a move, I doubt even our totem spirit would be able to fight her."


    One of the elders nodded. They did not want anything to do with fighting against Harriet. They were old enough and had enough experience to recognize a fight they could not win. "I suggest sending a few scouts to follow the army. It would be useful to see what the aim of the dungeon master is."


    "I agree with this proposition and I will also add that the Forest Fox Tribe agrees to merge with the Black Iron Tribe under the condition that the dungeon master will also protect us," carefully said another elder.


    The Scarlet Crow Tribe Leader furrowed his brows. He briefly looked at his elders before saying, "The Scarlet Crow Tribe will also agree to merge with the Black Iron Tribe under the same conditions."


    Achi and the Shaman were both surprised by the sudden turn of events. They thought they would have to go through a lot more negotiations for their tribes to finally merge. The tribes all had different backgrounds and habits, it was not easy for them to merge with others but as soon as they saw the huge army, the two chiefs no longer hesitated.


    "Excellent! You have made the right decision. Together, our tribe will be invincible! From now on, we are just a single large tribe!" excitedly said Achi.


    ...


    Five looked around him and found himself in a luxurious modern hotel room. He was taken aback, having spent two months in a medieval world, seeing an actual modern room shocked him.


    "Where is this? It looks exactly like a five stars resort." Five looked around him reminiscing the memories of Earth. He crouched down to look inside the small fridge and let out a smile when he saw the iconic soda drinks and beers of Earth.


    Next to him, Angela looked nervous and confused. She did not dare to touch anything and stood straight like a doll. Her wings were completely retracted, a clear sign that she was uncomfortable.


    "Don''t worry. This room is perfectly safe. You wanted to see how Earth is, right? Well, this is an example of how hotel rooms are. You can try the bed if you want," said Five. There were no instructions on what to do. Since he appeared in such an environment, there was no harm in letting the harpy try the modern items of Earth.


    There was a pair of twin beds that could be brought together to make a single large bed. Angela hesitantly touched the large white blanket and soon found how soft it was. She jumped onto the bed and started rolling around like a child.


    Five looked around him. He was waiting for some sort of instructions but still did not get any system prompt. He walked to the door to the balcony and slid it open. A fresh salty smell of the sea assaulted his nostrils. From the balcony, Five could see the beach and the sea; a few boats could also be seen in the distance but there was not a single human being in the entire scenery. There were similar private balconies to his right and left that belonged to the other players who were also teleported to the auction.


    Five was curious. He wanted to see if there were really other players. The balconies were quite close to each other, it would be easy for him to jump over. However, it would be rather impolite and before he could do anything, a system prompt sounded next to his ears:


    [System prompt: All the dungeon masters have arrived at the location of the auction. You are free to use all the facilities of the hotel for the duration of your stay but for now, please proceed to the reception by following the guidance on the map that has been automatically added to your inventory.]


    [System prompt: The auction will start in exactly thirty minutes. A cloak and a mask have been provided to the players for the duration of the auction. Feel free to use it to hide your identity.]


    [System prompt: We remind all the players that attacking others at the venue is strictly forbidden. The hotel has an arena for players to resolve their conflicts.]


    "Interesting... They gave us items to hide our identity?"


    Five walked back into the room and closed the door behind him. Angela was still observing her surroundings. She was in the bathroom, examining the different lotions and soaps.


    "Angela. We need to leave soon. The auction will take place downstairs."


    The harpy jumped in fright. She quickly let go of the plastic bottles and sat on her bed. Five internally laughed; it was obvious that the harpy was very fond of the bed and the pillow.


    When he looked at the door, Five quickly noticed a long red coat and a clown mask on the coat hanger. They were the two items mentioned by the system prompt. Without hesitation, Five picked the two items and looked at the information:


    [Red Coat]


    Effect: Invincibility-Mitigates all damage taken by the user.


    Note: This item will be automatically discarded when leaving the auction venue.


    [Clown Mask]


    Effect: Hides the user''s physical features and character details.


    Note: This item will be automatically discarded when leaving the auction venue.


    None of the items provided any stats but they were both extremely useful. The problem was that there was only one set of items; Angela would be unable to hide her identity.


    ''The rules say that we are not allowed to attack other players... But does that mean that the monsters can fight each other?'' thought Five. He quickly equipped both the coat and the mask and looked at himself in the mirror.


    ''I just look like a shady person...''


    He then turned toward Angela who had been quietly observing him while hugging her pillow. "Let''s get moving. There should be a lot of people going there; we might need to queue up at some point; it is better to go in early to secure a good spot."


    "En."


    The pair left their room and walked down the corridor to the main building. Angela looked around her like a curious child; her eyes would sparkle whenever she would walk past a window.


    As Five expected, there were quite a few people making their way to the main building. Along the way, he saw several players wearing the same red coat as him. Their masks were different, but one could easily mistake one for another.


    The most interesting part was naturally the monsters accompanying the dungeon masters! As there was only one set of cloak and mask per player, the monsters'' details were fully revealed to the other players.


    Five briefly looked at them. There was a large variety of monsters but all of them ranged from level 30 to 40.


    "As I expected... Most of the players should have brought their strongest monster with them but none of them is at the level of Harriet."

 Chapter 125: Start of the auction

    "Two for one! Two Talisman for the price of one! Just 1000 DP for two talismans! Hurry up, our stock is running out!"


    Loud shouts resonated through the reception as Five and Ariel arrived at the designated location. There was an endless queue of dungeon masters and monsters making their way to a large dark hall.


    The long queue consisted mainly of players and monsters but near the entrance, Five could see a second queue where the NPC dungeon masters were lining up with their own monsters. The NPCs were not wearing any cloak or mask.


    At the entrance, six red devils were examining each dungeon master before allowing them inside the building. The process was relatively slow, but no one was complaining.


    Five quickly joined the queue of the players; in front of him was a rather short man accompanied by a level 33 Tar Slime. Five did not think too much of the Tar Slime; it did not look very menacing but Five knew that the innocent looking slime was a powerful Boss Monster.


    At his side, Angela was nervously comparing herself to the other monsters. She noticed she was one of the weakest monsters there. Furthermore, she was not even a Boss Monster and felt guilty to be embarrassing her master.


    As they were queuing, several imps were running up and down the line, waving small pieces of papers to the dungeon masters while shouting, "Talisman! Just 1000 DP for 2 talismans!"


    The red imps would actively harass the dungeon masters into buying their talismans. They were not cheap and furthermore, nobody knew their uses. For the first time, the system did not give any explanation about the use of the talismans. They were not even good sellers; their appearance was quite repulsive, and they would constantly drool everywhere. Nevertheless, the imps would still manage to make a few sales as the players would give up a few DP to keep the drooling imps away from them.


    Angela was intimidated by the persistent imps but Five managed to keep them away. He stood firm and did not give away a single DP. His DP was precious; he did not have much and was not planning to spend any at the auction. His only goal was to have a look at the monsters brought by the players and look at the items that would be displayed.


    The queue moved at a snail pace but eventually, it was Five and Angela''s turn. They stopped in front of the devils who took out a bracelet. "Put this on." The devil''s tone was firm with a tinge of annoyance.


    Five quickly complied.


    [System prompt: Prisoner Bracelet has been equipped. Bracelet will be automatically unequipped upon leaving the venue. The dungeon shop and all forms of transactions of DP will be disabled.]


    "Interesting... They don''t want players to pool their DP together to increase their purchasing power..." said Five to himself. His gaze then turned toward the bracelet.


    Several characters suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the previously white bracelet. A large ''E384'' and ''61849'' was clearly displayed on the bracelet. The first line of characters did not change but the last one kept slowly increasing.


    "Your seat is ''E384'', please hurry up, there are many other people waiting behind you," impatiently said the devil as he signaled Five to enter the building.


    The latter nodded. It was not hard to understand that the first line of characters would represent his identity at the auction while the second line represented the DP he had available for this event.


    Five and Angela quickly walked into the building; it was a large circular room with a large platform at the center. There were countless rows of seats arranged in concentric circles around the platform. ''E'' represented the row he was allocated to while ''384'' represented his seat number.


    There were several winged devils floating everywhere in the hall. "Will you please follow me, sir?" As soon as he entered, Five was greeted by a winged devil. Despite its name, the winged devil was polite and welcoming. He happily escorted Five to his seat as he introduced the auction to Five.


    The hall was abnormally large; such a building could have never been built in reality but in the game, everything was possible. It took several minutes for Five to arrive at his seat but when he saw the person sitting next to him, Five froze.


    "Is there a problem with your seat, sir?" asked the winged devil. He took great care of his guests and noticed Five''s abnormal behavior.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "This... Will it be possible to change seats?"


    "I am sorry, but seats cannot be changed. May I request, sir, to please take your seat. There are many other guests we need to look after," answered the winged devil with an apologetic tone.


    Five knew he could not stand in the middle alley for too long. He thanked the winged devil and reluctantly made his way to his seat with Angela. As soon as he saw his left neighbor, Five had been unwilling to take his seat but he was left with no choice.


    As he walked past his neighbor, Five suddenly heard the voice of the elderly man, "It has been a while, Five. I am surprised to see that you are still alive."


    Five felt the cold stare of the man on his shoulders. His tone was frosty and sarcastic. The last few words seemed to have been forcefully stressed out.


    All the neighboring dungeon masters turned their gaze toward Five. He became the center of attention with just these two sentences.


    "Kroff... Looks like your dungeon core was not too damaged," drily answered Five as he sat next to the elderly man.


    Five''s neighbor was none other than the previous mentor he had been allocated to. As he started the game, Five had to go through a tutorial period under Kroff''s guidance but in the end, things fell through between them. Kroff had his own agenda of trying to recruit Five into his alliance. As Five refused, Kroff refused to teach him anything useful to avoid grooming a future threat to his alliance and even made things difficult for him. In the end, to escape from Kroff''s grasp, Five had no choice but to plot against him and severely damaged his dungeon core.


    His plan succeeded and Kroff suffered quite a lot from his actions. At that time, Five was protected by the system but now, Kroff could easily get rid of him. He was reluctant to come into contact with him before he accumulated enough monsters to be able to defend himself. Although he was immune at the venue, he did not want Kroff to remember him and think of taking revenge.


    The tension was building up between the two men as they silently stared at each other. The conflict between them was not simple and all the neighboring dungeon masters were curious about what happened between them.


    Kroff naturally did not say a word about having been tricked by Five. If he did so, his status would go down the drain. All he reported to the Cyclone Alliance was that Five refused to join and have been left to survive on his own.


    All the dungeon masters could tell that Kroff was Five''s mentor. The seat arrangement was set up such that the players would once again meet their mentors as a chance to catch up on what they accomplished since they left the tutorial. It was something many players were looking forward to but to Five, it was the exact opposite.


    Kroff''s piercing eyes briefly stared at Angela who shivered in fear, before turning to Five''s bracelet. "Hah! This is what you get for refusing my offer! Only 62000 DP? How pathetic, you won''t even be able to buy the cheapest item here!" exclaimed Kroff with a demeaning tone.


    Five frowned but did not answer. The facts were laid bare in front of Kroff, he really only had about 62000 DP at the moment.


    Murmurs rose from the other dungeon masters.


    "Look, this is what would have happened to you if you refused to join our alliance. He can already be considered lucky to have survived but 62000 DP? That is pathetic."


    "Sometimes you have to lower your head. Look at how much you''ve earned from us. You have ten times more DP than him."


    "See? And you were complaining about how your growth is slow compared to your friends... "


    The dungeon masters all warned their students about the situation. They used Five as a warning to the others; they wanted the players to think that they needed the NPCs if they wanted to safely grow. Without them, they would just end up as poor beggars like Five.


    Five could feel the judgemental eyes of the crowd but he paid them no mind. It was true that he did not have much DP with him but that was because he never planned on buying anything at the auction.


    "You boast quite a lot... How much DP do you have? Enough to buy yourself another [Aegis]?" calmly answered Five. He did not like how everybody was looking down on him. He knew he did not hold an advantage but that did not mean he should just lower his head.


    "Hmmp. More DP than you''ll ever see in your life." Kroff grunted and shifted his body. Every fiber of his body wanted to crush Five to death. However, Kroff was still sane and was aware that the winged devils would not allow a fight to break.


    "Harriet probably died protecting you and you don''t even have enough DP to bring her back! Or else, why would you just bring a regular harpy?"


    Five did not bother answering anymore. The less he spoke, the better it would be. He briefly looked at the monster to Kroff''s left; it was the Dryad he had previously seen in Kroff''s throne room. She sat quietly next to Kroff as her green eyes examined Five.


    An awkward silence fell into this part of the hall. Both Five and Kroff were looking in opposite directions, avoiding any form of contact. The other dungeons masters were quietly observing the situation while murmuring among themselves. None of them were allies while some did belong to the same alliance, there was still some conflicts of interest. In the end, they would often compete to obtain items for their dungeons; the auction was a place where alliances did not really amount to much.


    There was not much to do. The other dungeon masters were quickly catching up with their mentors or disciple but Five obviously could not do so with Kroff. They did not even try to communicate aside from their initial exchange.


    More and more players entered the hall and took their seats. Eventually, the auction officially started as a bright light suddenly shone from the top of the platform and a giant hologram appeared above it.


    On the platform, a tall devil confidently walked in front of the entire audience with a microphone. His tail gracefully swung behind him as he took large strides. "Good morning ladies and gentlemen! I am your host, Amour. Welcome to the Noxamus Auction! This time, we have the pleasure of welcoming a whole new generation of dungeon masters! We hope that you will enjoy our services."


    "Today, we have a total of 128 items, 28 of which have been auctioned by your fellow colleagues. We take your feedback very seriously and as you previously requested, this time, we are proposing a much wider range of items. Without further ado, let the auction officially begin!"


    Amour, the devil flicked his fingers and immediately, a sexy female devil graciously walked onto the platform, carrying a long scepter on a red cushion.


    Five''s seat was quite far from the platform. He could not see the platform very well but there was a giant hologram of the same scene being projected right above the platform.


    [System prompt: Two additional functions have been added to the Prisoner''s bracelet.]


    [System prompt: The auction has officially begun. If you are interested in any items, please use the Prisoner''s bracelet to input your bids.]


    ''Two new functions?'' thought FIve. He quickly glanced at the bracelet and sure enough, there was another option called [Examine].


    [Examine]: Instantly reveals all the information about the items being auctioned. 2000 DP will be deducted per use.


    As Five read the effects of [Examine], he suddenly had a bad feeling. His eyes turned toward the scepter being auctioned but his vision was soon clouded by a series of "???". Absolutely no information about the scepter was revealed; not even the name of the scepter was displayed.


    [System prompt: The player''s level or expertise in the profession is too low. Please contact an identifier to examine the item]


    "D*mn... To have to pay just to see what kind of items are being auctioned? This is a complete rip off! It will cost 200000 DP just to have an idea of the effects," internally complained Five. He realized the importance of the accompanying monster. This was why the dungeon masters would often bring along monsters specialized in crafting. These monsters would have a chance of identifying the items on sale!

 Chapter 126: Blood

    "Looking at your face, I can tell you finally realized the gap between us! You cannot even afford to look at the items'' effect!"


    Kroff''s sarcastic voice sounded next to Five. The latter ignored him, he knew there was nothing he could do. The auction was bound to be extremely boring if he could not read through the details of any items.


    "I am a merciful person you know? I am still willing to recruit you into the Cyclone Alliance but naturally, the terms this time would be a little different from before," said Kroff as he stared at Five.


    "No need. I am not interested. Don''t waste your time," Five bluntly answered. He had no interest in joining any alliances. Although he might benefit from it in terms of resources, in the end, he would never be able to surpass the other dungeon masters.


    "Well said, kid! Don''t join those sissies. We, the Tempest Alliance recognize your true worth!" exclaimed one of the neighbors.


    "Shut up, Elsie! You do not have a say in this matter," angrily said Kroff.


    Five did not bother about the dungeon masters'' bickering. He focused his attention on the platform where the bidding had already started! ''M183 - 1.5 million'' was currently being displayed right above the hologram, indicating the current bidder and his bid.


    The auction was just starting but the bid was already so high! Even with his previous amount of DP before he summoned the army of Undead Monsters, Five would not have been able to purchase such an item!


    ''No wonder the system prompt advised us to not try to bid during the first auction. It is pointless for any players to do so!'' thought Five.


    The bid continued to increase until it finally settled at a whopping 11.9 million DP. The scepter was just the first item but it already had such a high price!


    The next item was quickly brought up for sale; it was a strange statue of a bearded man. Again, the game refused to display any information about the statue and in the end, it sold for 10.4 million DP.


    The third item went on, followed by the fourth and so on. All the items stayed in the range of 10 to 15 million.


    When the tenth item went on, to Five surprised, he was able to see all the information he wanted about it. It was not really an item but rather, a monster: a Blue Scale Dragon. The monster did not actually come on stage as it was way too big but the dragon was clearly displayed in the hologram.


    The Blue Scale Dragon was trapped in a transparent cage, unable to break free from his prison. It was a powerful monster, but the cage was suppressing its abilities.


    "The Blue Scale Dragon has been drugged for the sake of the auction. We apologize as it will be impossible for us to display a Blue Scale Dragon in its natural state. As you all know, the destructive power of such monsters cannot be underestimated!" excitedly introduced Amour.


    Name: ???


    Race: Blue Scale DragonIf you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Type: Dragon


    Attribute: Wind and Earth


    Level: 50 (0/50000000)


    Title: Blessed by nature


    HP: 10480/10480


    MP: 9000/9000


    Strength: 258


    Dexterity: 211


    Vitality: 316


    Intelligence: 259


    Wisdom: 303


    Special Skills: [Dragon Aura], [Hibernate], [Gluttony]


    [Information]


    [Dragon Aura(Grade 5)]


    Can suppress the creatures having a lower grade of Dragon Aura.


    [Hibernate]


    Hardens the scales, increasing both armor and magic resist significantly.


    Goes into a deep sleep for a period of 2 months and cancels the effect of [Gluttony].


    At the end of the sleep, permanently increase both HP and MP by 100.


    [Gluttony]


    Needs to consume a significant amount of food or DP daily.


    Five felt dizzy as he looked at the numbers. The Blue Scale Dragon simply had too many stats! He was only level 50 and had a lot of room for growth. In comparison, Dreidus who was level 35, only had stats in the eighties. There was a massive gap between the two monsters that could not be bridged just by leveling up!


    However, the Blue Scale Dragon had a price! The daily amount of DP it needed could not be ignored which is why it would generally spend most of its time hibernating. When asleep, the dragon would not need any food and would even become stronger. The key was timing; to keep the dragon asleep except for the time it would be really needed.


    Without any surprise, the bids skyrocketed!


    21 million


    139 million


    357 million


    .


    .


    .


    The bid went on at a much higher value than the original bid. The Blue Scale Dragon was sold for 539 million. The price was relatively cheap for a monster. Monsters would usually fetch a lower price at the auction due to the variables associated with them. It was possible that the monster would not fit in the dungeon or would simply have a bad temperament. In that case, the dungeon master would make a terrible loss as he would have to resell the monster.


    The Blue Scale Dragon could also directly be unlocked in the dungeon shop but there were several conditions to be achieved before being able to do that. By purchasing the monster at the auction, the dungeon masters were able to bypass the requirements and directly unlock the monster.


    After the Blue Scale Dragon, the auction quickly became dull once again as none of the items would display any information. Five sat down and observed the bids that kept rising and rising.


    Next to him, Kroff had yet to make any purchase. He placed some bid but eventually had to give up. There were so many dungeon masters but only 128 items; it was to be expected that not everyone would be able to obtain an item.


    The auction went on and every tenth item, a monster would be put on for sale. It was only then that the system would give Five some information. Five did not spend a single DP yet; on the contrary, his DP count has been steadily rising.


    A total of three hours went by and finally, the last ten items were going to be auctioned. As soon as they appeared, the monster around became agitated. They became reckless; the desire in their eyes was not concealed in the slightest.


    When the first bottle came out, Five did not think much of it. He was just surprised by the excitement of the dungeon masters. The price kept rising and the tiny red bottle ended up selling for 4 billion.


    The next bottle went up and this time, Angela reacted to it. The silver-haired harpy remained quiet for the whole duration of the auction. She was unable to identify any of the items that were put up; she felt ashamed to not be able to give any advice like the other monsters were doing. As they were neighbors, Angela would often notice how the Dryad would whisper to Kroff occasionally.


    For the first time, Angela moved and was attracted by the tiny red bottle. She did not voice it out but it was clear that she wanted it! Angela had never made any requests for anything like that before; she only requested a few items that would be useful for training her craft but apart from that, she was a pretty frugal person.


    Five became curious about the item. It was rare for the harpy to react like that and he wanted to know just what kind of item could make her do so.


    After paying 2000 DP to the Prisoner''s bracelet, the information about the item appeared.


    [Virgo''s Blood]


    Can only be used on monsters with the Virgo''s bloodline.


    Effect 1: Instantly level ups the monster and gain additional stats based on the monster''s bloodline.


    Effect 2: Increases the level cap of the monster based on the monster''s bloodline.


    Effect 3: Has a chance of obtaining a special skill.


    Effect 4: Has a small chance of evolving the monster.


    Effect 5: If used on a boss monster, all the servant monsters would also benefit from the blood.


    "An item that can push back the level cap?" Five''s eyes shone. Many monsters had the ability to grow and increase in level. However, there was a limit to how strong they could become and that limit was determined by their bloodline.


    Angela was a harpy who was summoned at level 20 but had the potential to grow up to level 45. It would take a lot of time to reach this level but eventually, she would. Harriet, the harpy queen was also summoned at level 20 but her level cap was 60. As she was already level 57, she was not very far from reaching her limits. After that, no matter how hard she trained, she would be unable to level up.


    While the harpy''s bloodline was quite advanced, others were not that fortunate. Ivan, the Nosferatu could also level up, but his level cap was set at 35.


    "Not all monsters are reacting to this particular bottle. Very interesting... I suppose that none of my monsters has the bloodline of the Aries."


    Five was naturally interested in the Virgo''s Blood but with his current finances, he knew it was useless to try.


    In the end, the Virgo''s blood was sold for 4.1 Billion.

 Chapter 127: The four alliances

    The tiny red bottles went up for sale one after another and each time, different monsters would react to the blood they contained. In the end, it was time for the hundredth item, the final item provided by the system.


    Five was excited, he was only able to see the information of each tenth item as they were monsters, but this time was different. The monster that came up was an egg. The shell was blue and red; giving it an alien-like appearance.


    Contrary to Five¡¯s expectations, this time, the system treated the egg like any other items. It blurred all the relevant information about it.


    "Such a stingy system. The host could have at least given a small description," commented Five. He chose to ignore the egg despite the excitement that appeared on the dungeon masters'' face.


    A few minutes later, the egg was sold for an unprecedented bid of 28 billion. Five gasped as he thought about how many floors, he could build with that much DP.


    "The first part of our auction has come to an end. I hope that you enjoyed it. Please do not hesitate to leave us your feedback. We shall now proceed into the second part of the auction which will involve the items your colleagues wanted to auction."


    Amour waved his hand as a purple monster made its way to the platform. Five could once again see the information of the monster but he did not bother to look at the monster. He was mentally exhausted. There was no point in looking at things he could not buy. He could already obtain all the information he needed about the monsters in the dungeon shop interface.


    The auction has already been going on for almost four hours. There had been no breaks between the items. A few items were sold in a lot which hastened the process but the whole auction still took a lot of time.


    Five knew he would not be able to purchase anything today. He was already having a headache from having watched the hologram''s constantly changing number for hours. He just wished that the auction would be over soon and that tomorrow''s auction would not take that long.


    The entire first auction had been completely pointless to Five. The game was not as forgiving as he thought; without DP, he would not be able to achieve much. The other players were not very different; they also considered the first auction a waste of time but at least, they obtained the opportunity to meet their mentors again.


    The auction came to an end and without asking for anything else, Five quickly got up and walked out of the room.


    "Wait a minute. My master would like to talk to you."


    Before Five could leave, a silhouette stepped in front of him, blocking the way. It was the Dryad, Kroff''s monster.


    "Not interested. There is nothing to say between us. I won''t join the Cyclone Alliance."


    Five stepped to the side, avoiding the Dryad. She looked like a child as she raised her hands trying to block him.


    "Really? Are you not making a hasty decision? You do not even know the terms and conditions of joining the Cyclone Alliance."


    Another voice sounded behind Five, but it was not the one he expected. It was not the monotonous elderly voice of Kroff. The speaker sounded younger and naiver.


    "Who are you?" Five looked at the speaker.


    A short teenager was standing there accompanied by five other dungeon masters, including Kroff. He was the youngest out of the group. The teenager was quite handsome; his most attractive feature was his blazing red hair.


    "My name is Shercliff. If you don''t mind, shall we move to a more private area to speak?" said the red-haired man. He innocently smiled, looking completely unfazed by the strange stares he was receiving.


    ''Shercliff? I''ve heard of this name before...'' Five rummaged through his brain until he recalled where he had heard of this name. Shercliff was the name of the leader of the Cyclone Alliance. He was the dungeon master who mingled with the humans and earned the title of Duke in the Millenium Empire.


    ''How can a shorty like that be a duke? D*mn...'' thought Five. He briefly looked at Shercliff and answered, "If you have something to say, just say it here. I won''t go anywhere out of sight with you where I''ll be at risk."The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    At Five''s side, Angela uncomfortably bit her lips. She could feel the stares of the dungeon masters and their monsters. All the monsters were strong intimidating; she would not stand a chance against them. Furthermore, as they noticed the commotion, all the neighboring dungeon masters also started to look in their direction. Shercliff''s red hair stood out of the crowd; everybody was curious why the leader of the Cyclone Alliance was interested in a newbie.


    "Haha. But if we speak here, nothing will stop my competitors from making competitive offers. Since you started with Kroff, I will give you a chance to join the Cyclone Alliance again. Look at your performance until now, and look at my disciple here," said Shercliff and at the same time, he signaled a man to stepped forward.


    The man had a nerdy look. His face was covered with acne. He was quite short and chubby but Five did not find him very menacing. The dungeon masters were all supposed to be prisoners, but Five simply could not associate any form of crime with that man.


    "This is Clark. Clark, show him your bracelet," said Duke Shercliff.


    The nerdy man obeyed. Five was taken by surprise when he saw that this man was so confident that he did not hide his appearance with the coat and the mask. Five did not bother to look at this seat number but he did briefly check the amount of DP he had. It would be useful to compare how he was doing with someone who had joined an alliance.


    "1.7 million. He did not get as much as I expected. It''s a little above what I had before but he should have obtained quite a bit of help. Since he is the student of the leader of the alliance, I should expect that he is the one who received the most resources," said Five to himself.


    Duke Shercliff smiled. "As you can see, Clark is quite successful. I won''t reveal the details of his dungeon, but he has been growing at a decent rate. He already has more than ten floors! If you join us, we can at least double the current traffic at your dungeon. All we ask for you is that you swear loyalty to the Alliance and that you respond to our calls for arms in case of war or special operations."


    Five frowned. Having ten floors was quite impressive but his profit was not very high. Five only had five floors current generating DP but he was producing almost as much DP as Clark.


    Before he could answer, another voice sounded from the side, "Tssk, Shortcliff! You are trying to scam youngsters into your Cyclone Alliance? Kid, I don''t know about your situation with them but since you refused to join their alliance when you were Kroff''s apprentice, I can see that something went wrong. Why don''t you forget about them and join us instead? We are the Storm Alliance and we will offer better terms than Shortcliff."


    "Did I not say to not call me Shortcliff? Abaran, you should stick to your own students. Stop poaching from others!" exclaimed Duke Shercliff. He stared at the newcomer with a firm expression.


    "How is that poaching? You are the one who failed to recruit him. Look at Kroff, it is his student, but it does not look like he is in favor of recruiting him. Kid, he is just trying to trick you. If you are not from the Dominion or Millenium Empire, don''t bother to join them."


    Five felt a headache as he watched the two dungeon masters argue in front of him. "Thanks for the offers but I won''t join any alliances for now." He quickly walked away before the dungeon masters could say anything.


    "Hmmp! That guy, how ignorant! We are giving him a lifeline but he did not even consider it. Such a waste!"


    ''This auction is turning into a recruitment event... And it looks like I am not the only one. Several other dungeon masters refused to join the alliances and are now being invited again,'' thought Five. As he walked through the hall toward the exit, Five could see several other players being stopped by dungeon masters. Even after rejecting Shercliff''s offer, as he was walking, other dungeon masters also stepped forward to invite him.


    ''Do they think I am stupid? I can read between the lines. To have to answer their call for arms for each war... Isn''t that the equivalent of asking me to act as cannon fodder?''


    There was a total of four alliances. According to Harriet, the four leaders all originated from the Howling Abyss in the shadow realm. The Alliances were named after the divisions the demons belonged to before coming to zero: Cyclone, Tempest, Storm, and Hurricane.


    All the alliances were powerful and existed throughout Zero but they all focused on particular empires. The Cyclone Empire focused on the Dominion Empire and the Millenium Empire. As for the Sylvester Empire where Five''s dungeon was located, the prominent alliance there was the Tempest Alliance.


    Five stepped out of the auction room and asked the devils for the directions to the beach. His head was heavy; all Five wanted right now was to relax and not have to think about anything. The best place to do that was the beach, away from all the dungeon masters.


    "Sir, will you be interested in attending the friendly competition this evening? We are inviting all the dungeon masters staying at our hotel to compare their monsters in a spar at the arena," said the winged devil.


    "Thank you for the invite, but I will pass on this one."


    "As you wish." The winged devil politely bowed and left.


    Five lazily made his way to the beach followed by Angela. The silver-haired harpy remained quiet for the most part but Five did not blame her. Even he could feel the pressure exerted by the dungeon masters; they had clear hostile intentions. Five was aware of Angela''s shy character and her weaknesses.


    The harpy was not fit for combat both physically and mentally. It would be useless to bring her to the arena this evening as it was almost certain she would be defeated. Furthermore, compared to the other monsters Five had seen, Angela was one of the weakest.


    "This is the beach! One day, our dungeon will also have one."


    Angela''s eyes sparkled as she caught sight of the yellow sand beach. The waves constantly crashed against the shores. The beach was deserted and peaceful. In the distance, the sun was slowly setting, painting the sky and sea in orange.


    Five nonchalantly stepped on the sand and walked toward the sea. On the other hand, Angela hesitantly stopped on the rock path. She tentatively touched the sand with her hands before following behind Five.


    "It''s so pretty. I wish my sisters could see this..."


    Five nodded but did not answer. Instead, he lay down as the breeze was blowing against his face and closed his eyes. He did not want to think about anything for now. He just wanted a peaceful environment to rest for a while; the auction had been long and draining. Furthermore, there was nothing special with this beach; sure it was pretty, but it was very similar to any beaches of the real world.


    While Five was unfazed by the beauty of the scenery, Angela was excited. She brightly smiled as she deployed her wings and started to fly around. She flew above the water, forming a trail behind her. It was the first time she was seeing the sea; to her, it was a unique experience.


    ...


    "Kimmy! We are finally alone!"


    As soon as they entered their room, a succubus excitedly swung her tail as she pounced on her cloaked mistress. She was still wearing the red cloak and the clown mask provided by the system.


    The succubus playfully pushed the woman on one of the beds before she could remove the items. "The auction went on for so long! I thought it would never end. Tell me, did you find the person you are looking for?"


    "Venus. I told you to stop doing that," answered the woman. She took out the red cloak and her mask and tossed them on the other bed.


    "Stop rubbing me with your tail. The venue was just too big. I did not have the opportunity to look at everyone. Furthermore, if he is here, it is very likely that he was wearing the red cloak and the mask."


    Venus smiled and hugged the woman, "It is fine. You have me. You don''t need that Christopher."


    The woman lightly laughed but her expression remained firm. "I thought I would get to see him if I came here but maybe it was just wishful thinking... I wonder where he is... If he is still alive."


    "Stop thinking about this. Rest for a bit. Then, let''s go and check out the competition with the other dungeon masters! I can beat those guys to the ground. If you want, I can even suck them dry afterward. We might get a few DP from this. Why not take advantage of the event?"

 Chapter 128: Bugtopia (1)

    The next morning, Five and Angela enjoyed a quick English Breakfast at the hotel''s restaurant. Five was in an excellent mood this morning. Spending the night in a luxurious hotel was indeed refreshing but the real reason for Five''s mood was because his DP increased! He now had 459290 DP. When taking into consideration the average DP generated by the dungeon, Five only expected to have a little over 100000 DP.


    It could only mean one thing. The dungeon raid was a success!


    This was further confirmed by the system logs. As he checked his notifications, Five noticed that he received quite a few system prompts in his sleep but the most important one was:


    [System prompt: One of your monsters have conquered ''Bugtopia''. Half of the DP owned by the defeated dungeon master have been transferred to you. Please bring the defeated dungeon core to the Core of Madness for further rewards.]


    This was an excellent piece of news! His army was proving to be more effective than ever. Based on the amount of DP he obtained, Five estimated the dungeon to be an average one.


    "There is a chance that they might be able to conquer a second dungeon before the end of the auction. Conquering three dungeons is just wishful thinking but two is definitely possible. Bugtopia... An insect type?"


    ...


    A few hours earlier, the sky was pouring over the Prairie Dog Tribe. As winter was coming, it was within the expectations of the elders that the weather would start to degrade. It would start raining more often and soon, it might even start snowing.


    However, tonight''s weather was quite abnormal. It suddenly started raining heavily, severely reducing the visibility of the guards. Fortunately, the night had long fallen on the Prairie Dog Tribe''s village. They were not inconvenienced by the rain but they still hoped that the weather would improve by the morning.


    The elders and the guards did not think much of the heavy rain. Sometimes, Mother Nature could be capricious. As simple mortals, they could only suffer in silence.


    A few kilometers away from the village, a large group of beasts was resting in preparation for the raid. They were tired after having had to run for almost eight hours and were grateful for the long break they had.


    Harriet was also lying down on the grassy plains. Her eyes were closed but she was on alert. The group had already been waiting there for more than three hours but there was still no sign of the Undead Army.


    She hoped that nothing wrong happened to the Undead Monsters. According to the plan, the beasts would have a little over three hours to rest comfortably before raiding the dungeon. On the other hand, the Undead Army would not get any time to rest. This was the advantage of the undead; they did not need to sleep or rest.


    For the past three hours, Harriet had been constantly using her magic, blowing all the clouds around toward the Prairie Dog Tribe''s village and the dungeon. Harriet did not know how the Prairie Dog tribe would react if a large army suddenly appeared on their territory or if their precious dungeon was raided. They had invested a lot in this raid and could not allow it to fail. As a result, the harpy queen decided to cause the heavy rainfall around the region to reduce the barbarians'' awareness.


    Naturally, she kept the patch of land, where she and the beasts were resting, dry. "Are your subordinates rested? We should soon begin. Dreidus and the Undead should not be very far."


    "Yes. We are all ready... What will happen if the Undead army does not turn up?" hesitantly asked the beast kings.


    "Then it will be just us raiding the dungeon," bluntly answered Harriet. She could see that the Beast Kings were reluctant to raid the dungeon. Having already tried conquering Five''s dungeon in the past, they were already aware of the power a dungeon could hide. They definitely did not want to experience the same thing.


    "If only the Cobra King was here, we could have used him to scout the dungeon," commented Harriet. The entrance of the dungeon was not very far from their location. It was effectively a massive hole in the middle of the plains. At the entrance, there was a huge spiral staircase going down into the darkness.


    Harriet nervously bit her nails as she stared in the distance. Time was tight. She knew they needed to start the raid soon if they wanted to meet the schedule. Ideally, she wanted to get rid of all the three other dungeons in the region to allow Five to monopolize the area. The problem was that they only had a two-day period to act. At most, they would be able to take down two dungeons before the dungeon masters would be able to return. At the moment, the dungeons were at their weakest; they needed to act quickly.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    At that moment, Harriet noticed some movement in the distance. She deployed her wings to have a look. A faint smile appeared on her beautiful face as she approached the group. "Dreidus. You are a little late."


    "Sorry about that. You did not take into consideration the terrain in your planning. But we are here now. Have you scouted the dungeon?" asked Dreidus as he saw the harpy queen.


    "I briefly sent in an air current. According to what I heard, the dungeon should be filled with insects... I am afraid the beasts are not going to be very effective in this battle. We will have to rely mostly on your undead."


    ...


    Soon, the raid started. The Undead Monsters did not need to rest. Harriet once again controlled the wind and pushed away the clouds above the dungeon. She did not want the rain to affect the raid.


    "Let''s begin!" Dreidus raised his hand and the skeletons rushed into the dungeon through the staircase. Harriet calmly waited next to Dreidus.


    Using [Dead Mind], Dreidus could directly communicate with the Undead Monsters. The skeletons poured into the dungeon. There were no lights in the dungeon; the dungeon walls were not made of any luminescent materials like Five''s dungeon. However, it did not hinder the skeletons in the slightest. All the Undead Monsters usually lived in a pitch-black environment.


    "The first floor... Some tunnels... The monsters are level 4 Grasshoppers." As soon as the first skeletons encountered the monsters, Dreidus directly mentioned it aloud. He was directly connected to all the Undead and knew exactly what was happening in his army.


    "The second floor. There are Giant Ants ranging from level 6 to 8 but no signs of an Ant Queen."


    "The third floor. I see Termites up to level 10 but again, no Termite King."


    Each time the skeletons made progress, Dreidus would faithfully report it to Harriet. "This should be the limit of the skeletons. It is time for the Wraiths and the Dead Knights to go in."


    Harriet quietly listened to Dreidus. She was not worried about the lack of boss monsters. Everything was going as she expected. The Boss Monsters were probably all grouped together by now and would be the final defense line of the dungeon core.


    "The fourth floor. Level 12 Praying Mantises."


    "The fifth floor. Level 14 Spiders. There are several types of different colors."


    "The sixth floor. Level 16 Giant Centipedes and Level 17 Web-spinners. It should be time for us to start sending our elites; the Death Knights should only be able to go through one or two more floors."


    "The seventh floor. It is the first floor that is not just a bunch of tunnels. It looks like a small forest. Level 19 Snakeflies, Level 20 Crickets, and Level 21 Stick insects. I also see a few other species from the lower floors."


    So far, the raid had been going smoothly. The Undead Monster had no problem making their way through the floors. The skeletons sacrificed themselves, soaking all the damage dealt by the insects while the wraiths and Death Knights could continue to attack safely. Two hundred Skeletons have already perished from the fight but compared to the number of dead insects, it was nothing.


    The Undead still held the level advantage but as they reached the eighth floor, the Level 23 Black Beetles were able to stand their ground against the Death Knights. The Black Beetles were giant black armored insects that used long spears as weapons.


    Fortunately, the Death Knights swiftly received the reinforcement of the Zombeasts and the Bonemares and were able to maintain their push.


    "It should be time for us to go in, don''t you think? The final floors should not be very far," said Harriet as she listened to Dreidus'' report.


    "Yes, but I don''t think you will like this dungeon very much. The tunnels are quite narrow. There is no space to fly at all. I will suggest getting the beasts to start moving. It does not look like they will be required for this battle, but we have lost a significant number of skeletons. It would be wise to get the beast in position for raiding the Rat Snake Tribe''s dungeon, don''t you think?" said Dreidus.


    "I agree. The environment here is not adapted at all for the beasts but it should be fine for the dungeon that uses the spatial crack as an entrance. It does not look like an underground dungeon." Harriet turned toward the three Beast Kings who had been quietly waiting for the orders.


    "You should start moving North East toward the Rat Snake Tribe. We will join you midway as soon as we finish here," ordered Harriet. She could tell it would be pointless to ask the beasts to rush into the insect dungeon.


    Having already informed the Beast Kings, Harriet and Dreidus entered the dungeon. Behind them, the liches wordlessly followed as they all summoned their own skeletons.


    Meanwhile, the Zombeasts pushed the Black Beetles away as they stormed onto the ninth floor. They felt the wet mud under their feet and immediately, a loud buzzing sound resonated through the floor. Countless Level 25 Blood Sucking Mosquitoes and Level 26 Dragon Flies rose from the mud and plants. The ninth floor was a giant swamp.


    The Zombeasts charged forward but were stung by countless Mosquitoes. Although they did not have any blood, the Zombeasts lost a significant amount of HP as they went through the cloud of mosquitoes. Killing those insects was very troublesome. Not only were they fast, but they were also relatively tiny. For the large Zombeasts and Death Knights who could only use physical attacks, it was a nightmare to actually hit them. It was even worse for the Bonemares who were filled with holes.


    The Undead Army was completely blocked by the new insects. The swamp boosted the insects'' dexterity, allowing them to easily dodge the attacks. Twenty Zombeasts and Ten Death Knights fell to the Blood Sucking Mosquitoes before Harriet and Dreidus finally arrived at the swamp.


    "If only we had the appropriate materials... I might have been able to turn all these insects into a powerful Plaguebearer," commented Dreidus as he looked at the insects. He did not waste any time and raised his hands. At the same time, all the liches started casting their spells. The Magic casters were the best suited to deal with those insects with their AoE spells.


    Harriet did not act yet. She carefully observed her surroundings for any signs of Boss Monsters. She needed to conserve her strength to deal with them.


    The army proceeded to the tenth floor. Harriet stopped at the entrance of the tenth floor. In front of her, was a room full of mist. She squinted her eyes but failed to see any creatures inside. However, as she was focusing on the room, she suddenly felt an itch on her arms. Her legs quickly followed and soon, she also felt it on her neck.


    She turned her gaze toward her arms and notice several tiny creatures stuck onto her. "Lice?"


    The harpy queen frowned. The lice were weak and only dealt a total of 1 damage to her every second, but this amount would quickly accumulate. Furthermore, her mana was also dropping at the same rate. She also saw the Undead being affected by the lice. They could not feel anything, but their HP was still dropping.


    "Stay here. Let me deal with this floor and the lice at the same time." Harriet flew into the misty room before activating her skill: [Eye of the Storm]


    The powerful wind current started to circulate in the room. The Undead monsters were safe at the entrance and Harriet would remain unharmed as long as she stood in the eye. However, they would still feel the wind current blowing over them. The lice were unable to resist the pull of the wind and detached themselves from Harriet''s skin.


    The storm ravaged the entire floor, dissipating the mist that had been blocking their view. When the storm finally stopped, Harriet found herself surrounded by corpses of Level 28 Demon Butterfly. She was not even aware of their presence but ended up killing them before they could cause any harm. The Demon Butterflies were tiny demons with a similar appearance to imps. The major difference was that they were purple in color and had large butterfly wings on their back.


    Dreidus and the Undead Monsters quickly caught up with Harriet. They did not even spare a glance at the dead Demon Butterflies and went straight to the eleventh floor.


    There, the final line of defense of Bugtopia was waiting for them.

 Chapter 129: Bugtopia (2)

    "Do you even need us? You can destroy an entire floor by yourself."


    Harriet smirked at Dreidus'' comment. "We have just been lucky for now. If they have special traps that deal with single targets, I might be in trouble. Besides, I also need to conserve my mana. It drains very quickly when you use powerful skills like [Eye of the Storm]."


    The Undead army stepped on the eleventh floor, led by Harriet. As the harpy expected, all the Boss Monsters had gathered together to protect the core. The Dungeon Core was not in sight, but she could tell it was not very far.


    "Intruders! You shall not take over Bugtopia as long as I am alive!" A black figure stepped out of the group, aiming his spear at Harriet.


    The harpy queen maintained a straight face. She did not even react as the black figure transformed into its battle form. It was a Black Beetle Knight; the Boss Monster of the Black Beetles. It originally looked like a larger black beetle. After its transformation, it now had a transparent pair of wings deployed behind its back. Its legs became longer and had a double hook near the end. Likewise, its nose became longer and sharper.


    Behind the Black Beetle Knight, the Termite King and the Mother Spider both went through their own transformation as they activated their battle form. The Ant Queen was also present but she was the only Boss Monster who had absolutely no fighting abilities. Her only purpose was to lay eggs.


    Aside from the Boss Monsters, twenty Flame Scarabs ranging from level 25 to 30 also prepared themselves for the final battle. They were only regular monsters and could not transform; only a faint red glow emerged from the gaps of their shell.


    "Not bad. The dungeon has quite a few level 30 monsters. I suppose the strongest monster of this dungeon should be the Boss of the Flame Scarabs. Dreidus, I''ll take care of the Boss Monsters. You deal with the rest. Don''t use your battle form. We still have another dungeon to raid afterward." Harriet deployed her wings and flew toward the Black Beetle Knight.


    [Dead Mind] was instantly used. The Defacers disappeared from the insects'' field of view. Defacers excelled at sneak attacks. They reappeared behind the Flame Scarabs and started attacking.


    The Bonemares roared as they charged toward the Flame Scarab. The liches raised their hand, causing a ghastly green flame to surround their arms. Under the Dreidus¡¯s lead, a massacre begun.


    "Who is your master? How could you take advantage of Ishan''s absence to attack Bugtopia!" exclaimed the Black Beetle Knight. Even in his battle form, he could tell Harriet was much stronger than him.


    "Just surrender and allow me to take the Dungeon Core. If you do, you might live and serve my master," said Harriet. She slowly drifted forward as a wild air current started blowing around her.


    "Over my dead body! You are just cowards who do not even dare to face the strongest monster of Bugtopia! Eyala. Attack!"


    Eyala, the Mother Spider spat out her Spider String at Harriet but as it got closer to the harpy queen, all the string was blown away by the air current.


    "This is your last chance. No matter what you do, you won''t be able to change today''s outcome. Open the way to the dungeon core and you might still live. If you don''t, after your death, there is a chance for you to disappear completely."


    "Don''t listen to her. She is just trying to sway us! If she really did not mind, then why would she try to convince us?" The Black Beetle Knight shouted as he saw the seeds of hesitation being sowed in his friends.


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    "Hmmmp!" Harriet dodged the Black Beetle Knight''s spear and repositioned herself behind his back.


    [Zephyr Strike]


    The Black Beetle Knight coughed blood as its body crashed onto the ground. Its HP dropped down to 20% despite its battle form. "You..." Its body trembled as it attempted to stand up.


    "Very commendable. My master would have like to have someone like you under his command. It''s a pity you chose to serve someone weaker." Harriet briefly glanced at the defeated Black Beetle Knight before raising her finger.


    [Compressed Air Bullet]


    The Black Beetle Knight''s head exploded, covering its surrounding with a greenish viscous fluid. The other Boss Monsters trembled. They did not dare to make a move. The Termite King was utterly useless against Harriet as it did not have any ranged attacks.


    Harriet raised her hand, channeling the wind into transparent blades. She then waved her hand, sending waves of wind blades. The Termite King was sliced into pieces in an instant.


    The Mother Spider took a step back. "I surrender. Please don''t kill me."


    Harriet''s piercing gaze stared at the Mother Spider but she did not attack. She paused for a moment and flew past her. The Mother Spider let out a sigh of relief but did not move her retracted legs yet.


    "I surrender too," exclaimed the Ant Queen. She knew she did not stand a chance against Harriet. The moment she became the target of the Harpy Queen, the Ant Queen did not hesitate and surrendered.


    "Mmm. You will lead me to the dungeon core after we finish cleaning up the Flame Scarabs."


    Half of the Flame Scarabs were already dead but a Defacer had also fallen during the assault. Dreidus could not be blamed for this. He only had eight Defacers and five Liches to deal with twenty Flame Scarabs.


    Bugtopia was by no means a weak dungeon. The fact that it housed twenty Flame Scarab was an iron-clad proof of its strength but they were missing a key element. Their Boss Monster was missing. He accompanied the dungeon master to the auction, leaving a flaw in the dungeon''s defense. Without Harriet, it would have been much harder to conquer the dungeon.


    With the Harpy Queen''s help, it did not take long before the rest of the Flame Scarabs joined their comrades in their after-life.


    "You left these two alive?" asked Dreidus. He walked to the Harpy Queen and observed the two insects.


    "Yes. Once we bring the dungeon core out of the dungeon, it would be considered defeated. They will then have to serve whoever absorbs the dungeon core. In other words, they will become Five''s monsters after he uses his own dungeon core to absorb this one." The harpy queen explained.


    "Let''s not lose any more time. There should not be any threat left. I will lead the Undead Army out while you take everything necessary from the dungeon. This way, we might save a bit of time."


    ...


    After his breakfast, Five made his way to the auction room once again. Angela was quietly nibbling a muffin as she followed her master.


    When they arrived at the reception, Five noticed a crowd of players loudly shouting in a corner. To his surprise, the players seemed to be surrounding the imps who were selling talismans yesterday.


    ''Looks like the situation reversed completely.''


    Five quickly determined that it had something to do with the talismans. They were definitely not ordinary items. He approached the crowd but was pushed back by a player. He was wearing the clown mask and the red coat, hiding his appearance but these two items could not hide his tall stature.


    "Go away! We, the Hurricane Alliance has important business transactions to do!"


    Five frowned but did not leave. He ignored the threats, knowing all well that it was impossible for him to be harmed by other players while he was here. Furthermore, he could see other players surrounding other imps across the reception.


    "Dear customer. Please be patient. Our stock has just arrived. We can now start the sales. Unfortunately, we did not expect such a high demand and I only brought fifty thousand talismans for sale.


    "Quick, sell them to me!" exclaimed a player.


    "Hey! Stop pushing. We all form part of the Hurricane Alliance. Let''s get rid of the outsiders first. As long as the talismans remain within the alliance, we will all benefit from it."


    Five felt the stares of the players but remained firm. The talismans disappeared quickly as the players purchased them in bulk. Five was stunned as he saw the transactions taking place. A player even asked for ten thousand talismans.


    ''Just what are the effects of these talismans?'' The players pushed each other to reach the imp first. Similar scenes were taking place around the other imps. Soon, the imp declared, "Thank you very much, dear customers. Unfortunately, we have just run out of stock. Please come back next time."


    "What? It''s already over?" said one of the players who managed to push his way to the front.


    "Fine. Let''s disperse then. We have already gained a lot from this. Let''s go grab our seats now."


    Five was confused. He saw the crowd of players swiftly leave toward the auction hall.


    "May I ask, what are the effects of the talismans? Why did all the players suddenly ask for them when no one was interested in them yesterday?" asked Five to the imp. The latter was drooling as it cleaned up its now empty bag.


    "They are identification talismans. When used in the auction hall, they reveal all the information about the items for sales. It is very useful for low-level dungeon masters."


    Five froze. ''No wonder they all rushed here to buy the talismans. If only I bought one yesterday... I could have discovered their effect then.''


    By using the Prisoner''s Bracelet, they could also identify the items but each use would cost 2000 DP. On the other hand, each talisman would effectively cost 500 DP. It was four times cheaper to use the talismans!


    Five felt dejected at the missed opportunity to save some DP.


    Five brought Angela to his new seat. As all the NPC dungeon masters were gone, the hall was now half empty. He obtained a seat closer to the platform, allowing him to have a better view of the items.


    Five briefly examined his neighbors. The one on the right brought a Dwarf while the one on the left brought a Living Armor.


    Soon, Amour once again stepped onto the platform. With his slick tongue, he greeted the entire crowd and built up the hype for the first item. However, as soon as the first item was brought up, notifications rang in Five''s ears but there was one in particular that attracted Five''s attention.

 Chapter 130: Karyn, the elf

    "Ben. I just finished trading the talismans with the others. We managed to get 21400. Much more than the other alliances. With that, the Hurricane Alliance definitely has an edge in this auction."


    "Excellent. Divide them equally among our members. It will be unfair to only give them to 214 players when everyone contributed."


    "I approve! The Hurricane Alliance is just average with 743 players having joined their rank but as long as we treat our members well, there is no reason for us to lose to the bigger ones like Storm."


    "Still. We spent more than ten million just on the talismans. I hope that it will be worth it. We met before the auction to pool our DP into a few players before it would be locked. But now that we lost a few of those players, our purchasing power will worsen considerably. How will we fare if expensive items worth millions appear?"


    "I am sure it will be fine. We''ve spent 10 million DP but we are saving at least 30 million by doing so. You have to look at the bigger picture."


    Two players were quietly discussing as the auction started. At that moment, all the players received a series of system prompts:


    [System prompt: The items available at this auction are of lower rarity and grade. The price of [Examine] was been adjusted from 2000 to 400 per use.]


    "Cough Cough."


    As soon as the system prompt was received, the players of the Hurricane Alliance almost choked on themselves. "What the F*ck! Are they messing around with us? We''ve just spent so many DP on the talismans and now, they decrease the price of [Examine]?"


    Ben stood up from the crowd as he loudly shouted. "Where are those bloody imps? I demand a refund!" He was fuming. It was clear that he had just been scammed of quite a few DP. Furthermore, the Hurricane Alliance was not the only victim. All the alliances also fell into the trap laid by the imps to get rid of their stock.


    The auction was organized by the devils and the imps. They were naturally aware of the cost of [Examine] as they provided the Prisoner''s Bracelets. They aimed for profit! They never put the talismans for sale before as it would be more profitable to obtain DP out of the Prisoner''s Bracelets from the older dungeon masters. But now that a new generation of Dungeon masters turned up, it was a golden opportunity to sell the talismans.


    "Sir. I will ask you to please sit back. The auction has already started. No commotion is allowed. The auction is not responsible for transactions with third party individuals. A winged devil flew above Ben and angrily stared at the players.


    Ben grumbled. All the players who wasted their DP on the talismans ground their teeth in silence. There was nothing they could do. The talismans were indeed too good to be true.


    Several winged devils floated above the grumbling players, threateningly pointing their spears at the enraged players. On the platform, Amour seemed to not have noticed the commotion. Adding his grain of salt, Amour exclaimed, "Ladies and gentlemen! The starting offer for this beautiful crown is 100000 DP. Do not hesitate to use the talismans to reveal its information."


    ...


    Five internally laughed as he watched the agitated dungeon masters. Fortunately, he was too late to purchase any talismans or else, he might very well have joined their ranks. It would have been a loss of ten thousand DP for nothing.


    The price of identifying all the items put on sale was proportional to the amount of DP the players had in hand. It would cost Five a total of forty thousand DP to correctly identify all the items; five times less than he previously thought. Now, the auction looked much more affordable.


    As much as the players wanted to complain, they all knew there was nothing they could do. Five quickly ignored the players and focused on the platform. He paid 400 DP and glanced at the information.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    [Elected Crown]


    Effect: Use on a regular monster to transform it into its corresponding Boss Monster.


    Note 1: The new Boss Monster will have all stats permanently reduced by 1.


    Note 2: The crown can only be used if the Boss Monster is still locked in the Dungeon Shop.


    Five''s eyes shone. It was a powerful item that would typically be used on monsters found in the wild. The decrease in stats could be considered to be negligible. The crown would allow the players to save a lot of DP as they would not need to unlock the monster in the Dungeon Shop. Furthermore, if the item was saved for later on, extremely powerful monsters could be obtained at a low cost.


    "100000 DP is expensive but it depends on which monster the players can use it on. Just unlocking the Defacers cost me 120000 DP but unlocking its Boss Monster: The level 35 Faceless would cost me 300000 DP" murmured Five as he made some rapid calculations.


    The bid immediately started going up.


    "150000 DP"


    "200000 DP"


    "260000 DP"


    "280000 DP"


    In the end, the crown was sold to a player for 290000 DP. It was not that expensive and could be considered as a big investment for the future. When Five looked at his 460000 DP, he sighed as he understood that he might return empty-handed. Just the first item was sold for almost two-thirds of his DP.


    The auction continued but none of the items really interested Five. It was clear that most people were still saving their DP for the real treasures as only a few Dungeon Masters would actually bet for each item.


    The final bid kept increasing and even the twelfth item was already out of Five''s range at 510000 DP.


    ''Well, I should have expected something like that. I have already spent all my DP on the raids. At least, I already got rid of a potential threat. Considering that the average dungeon master should have about 900000 DP on them, I should not keep my hopes too high. There are only a hundred items and there are about four thousand Dungeon masters. The competition is going to be fierce.''


    The twentieth item was soon brought on stage. Just like for the previous auction, each tenth item was a monster. This time, a dark-skin elf proudly walked up the stage. She held a longbow in her hand and a whip was hanging at her waist. Her piercing gaze scanned the audience while Amour was hyping up the crowd.


    Name: Karyn


    Race: Dark Elf


    Type: Elven


    Attribute: Wind and Dark


    Level: 30 (0/3000000)


    Title: Exiled Ruler


    HP: 680/680


    MP: 500/500


    Strength: 45(+9)


    Dexterity: 68 (+30)


    Vitality: 68


    Intelligence: 50 (+8)


    Wisdom: 44 (+9)


    Special Skills: None


    [Information]


    [Exiled Ruler]


    Effect 1: You cannot own monsters of the same race as the title holder.


    Effect 2: Provides 30 additional stat points in the chosen attribute.


    Effect 3: After 6 months, naturally evolves into a Boss Monster.


    Effect 4: After 6 months, [Exiled Ruler] turns into [Ruler without subjects]


    "500000 DP!"


    "750000 DP!"


    "1 million DP"


    The bid rose quickly. Five looked at the Dark Elf and sighed. It was clear that Karyn was a powerful monster. Five would have liked to buy her but due to his choice, he could only watch as the dungeon masters fought each other.


    "1.3 million DP"


    "1.5 million DP"


    The number displayed by the hologram kept refreshing but as 1.5 million DP was displayed, the number froze for a moment. No one else made a bid. The reason was simple; very few people would be able to collect that much DP. Those who did were debating on saving their DP for later items or using the right now!


    There were quite a few players who received the DP from the other members of their alliances, but those DP were meant to be used on items that would benefit the entire alliance, not just one person.


    "1.6 million DP" As the whole crowd was expecting Karyn to go to the bidder, someone else actually overbid.


    "Who is it?" exclaimed Ben from his seat. He was the one who bid 1.5 million DP. It was his entire fortune. After having been scammed by the imps, he just wanted to purchase an item early and call it a day but unexpectedly, someone blocked his path. He was already in a foul mood but now, he really wanted to murder someone.


    "1.6 million DP! Is there anyone else?" excitedly asked Amour.


    To his disappointment, no one else put in a bid. Karyn stepped down from the platform and made her way toward her buyer.


    The eyes of all the dungeon masters were focused on the Dark Elf. They were all curious about the identity of the buyer. Five was no exception. He watched as Karyn was greeted by a succubus and was pulled to a seat next to a cloaked figure.


    Five briefly glanced at the rich dungeon master before turning his attention back to the platform. The auction continued. Compared to yesterday, the auction was not as boring as Five could afford to look at the effects of each item.


    They had a wide range of effects but only a few caught Five''s attention.


    The 27th item was a small formless statue.


    [Sacrificial Statue]


    Effect 1: Sacrifice a Boss Monster and permanently locks its revival function.


    Effect 2: Permanently increase the level of all subordinate monsters by 3.


    A very simple item that could be very effective for dungeon masters planning to use large crowds of small monsters to flood their opponent. In Five''s case, he could sacrifice a level 20 Giant Skeleton to permanently buff his skeletons. It would significantly improve the strength of his army, by much more than what a Giant Skeleton could.


    The 36th item was another statue:


    [Statue of fertility]


    Effect 1: Improves the reproduction rate of all monsters below level 10 by 100%


    Effect 2: Improves the reproduction rate of all monsters below level 20 by 50%


    It was a highly sought treasure that ended up selling for 2 million DP. Five was jealous of the new owner of the statue. He knew the real value of this item. Low-level monsters were not very useful in protecting the dungeon, but they were the foundation of all dungeons having a sustainable ecosystem. If he had the statue, he would summon a ton of low-level beasts for the higher-level beasts to feed on.


    The 49th item was also a hot item:


    [Banner of Command]


    Must be held by the dungeon master to activate its effect


    Effect 1: Increase the movement speed of all monsters within 500m by 20%


    Effect 2: When inside the dungeon, reduce damage taken of all monsters by 10%


    All the items could have a significant impact on the development of the dungeons. However, the 65th item was slightly different from others. When Five saw it, he was surprised that very few bids were actually put up for it. People did not seem very attracted by its effects despite its obvious use.


    [Void Contract]


    Effect: Nullifies one oath/pledge/contract that involves the user. The user can then ignore the clauses of the contract without fearing any backlash. The other party will still be bound by the contract.

 Chapter 131: The 101st item

    "Welcome to the team, Karyn." Venus, the succubus, cheerfully stood up and welcomed her new sister. She completely ignored the stares directed at her and even seductively swung her hips while teasing her neighbors.


    "Hmmp." Karyn coldly nodded and dodged the succubus'' embrace. She then tactfully sat next to her new mistress without saying a word.


    "Why are you so cold? Are you angry? Come on, say something. You should at least present yourself to your new mistress," continued Venus as she took the empty seat next to Karyn. She smiled happily as she leaned toward the elf.


    "I only answer to my new owner. Not you," proudly said Karyn without even looking at the succubus.


    Finally, unable to withstand the bickering of her monsters, the woman spoke, "It''s fine. We will arrange everything when we return to the dungeon. Before that, please behave yourself until the end of the auction."


    Karyn closed her eyes and did not react. She completely ignored her surroundings but at that moment, she felt something wrap around her thigh.


    Venus pulled onto her tail, pressing onto Karyn''s reddened thigh as she quietly spoke, "It is fine if you ignore me but you better correct your behavior with the mistress. You should forget about being a ruler for a while. Let go of your pride or else, I''ll make your life a real nightmare." Her eyes shone threateningly as she licked her lips. Venus did not care about being the villain. Monsters bought at the auction had a very high tendency to rebel. The fact that her mistress did not receive any system prompt about her allegiance was the proof of Karyn''s rebellious mindset. If she did not directly put the elf in her place, then all the DP spent by her master would be a complete waste.


    The woman ignored her two monsters and focused her attention back on the platform. Almost all of her DP had been depleted in this purchase, but she was very satisfied. With the number of dungeon masters present, she would be lucky to go out with an item. It would be too late if she waited for the last items; those ones would be way too expensive for her.


    The auction went on and as she expected, she did not find any crucial items. The prices fluctuated a lot but this time, the monstersgenerally  had a slightly higher price. Although the monsters could also be unlocked in the dungeon shop, the ones purchased at the auction were much more powerful. Dark Elves could be unlocked for a reasonable price in the dungeon shop but none of them would have a powerful title like [Exiled Ruler].


    She briefly checked her inventory. She currently had 340000 DP left to spend. With that amount, she would not even have been able to purchase the first item. ''Sigh... The rest of the day is going to be long.''


    She did not have a lot of expectations for the rest of the items but when the 65th item came up, she immediately noticed that the bid of the item was not going up.


    "240000 DP!"


    "250000 DP!"


    Compared to the previous items, the bids were only rising at a snail pace. ''What is happening? I thought it would be one of the most coveted items. With it, all those who joined the alliances would be able to break free while still benefitting from their resources. Could it be that they are bound by their contracts in some way?''


    The woman briefly observed the neighboring dungeon masters. "Looks like I''m right. It should be a golden opportunity for me! If I obtain the Void Contract, I should be able to at least triple the DP generation rate in just one month!"


    As Amour was about to announce the sale of the Void Contract, the woman hastily placed her own bid: "270000 DP!"


    However, not even one second had passed that another dungeon master had already placed another bid: "280000 DP!"


    The woman frowned. She knew other dungeon masters would also not miss the opportunity. The bid was already very high for her but she placed yet another bid. In the back of her mind, the woman knew she needed to save some DP to rearrange her dungeon. The latest mini-update would inevitably affect the dungeon and some DP needed to be invested to counter its effect.


    "300000 DP!"


    "310000 DP!"


    The bids steadily increased by 10000 DP each time. The other dungeon masters could only watch the slow bidding war taking place. Although they were all tempted to directly place a bid, they were unable to do so due to their contract.


    The woman bit her lips. She was ashamed at having to only make the minimum raise on each bid. The amount of DP she had was very limited and it was clear that her opponent noticed that she was close to her limits as he too was only making a minimum raise each time.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Eventually, she could only stop as the other dungeon master bid 340000 DP for the void contract.


    ''If only I did not get tricked by those imps, I might have been able to put a few more bids.'' The woman painfully looked at the stack of talismans in her inventory.


    ...


    Five brightly smiled as he looked at the Void Contract in his inventory. The bidding war lasted forever but, in the end, he obtained the item. He was surprised that very few dungeon masters were aiming for it. At the same time, he also understood that the Void Contract was a very niche item. It would only be useful when dealing with the races surrounding a dungeon. Its value could vary significantly from dungeon to dungeon.


    He was very satisfied. At the very least, he was not going home with empty hands. Now, he only had 120000 DP left but he did not think much of it.


    The rest of the auction was rather uneventful. Occasionally, a few arguments would break out between competing dungeon masters but would quickly be peacefully resolved by the intervention of the winged devils.


    The items'' effect varied but they all paled in comparison to the last ten items. The final items could literally bend the rules of the game.


    The 91st item was a white scroll.


    [Appeal to the court]


    Effect: When used, nullifies the outcome of a dungeon''s trial and instantly triggers another trial within one week.


    Note: Can be used on yourself.


    The effects did not seem to be very useful but when used properly, it could cause the downfall of any dungeon. At worst, the scroll would cause the targeted dungeon master to waste a few DP. Since the first trial was completely negated, all the DP the dungeon master would have obtained from killing the monsters involved would disappear, resulting in a waste of monsters.


    However, the best way to use the scroll would be when planning to invade a dungeon! Not only would they have an additional army to help take over a dungeon, but during trials, the dungeon shop and several other functions were also locked! The dungeon would be significantly weakened during that period of time.


    The 93rd item was a metallic gauntlet.


    [Challenger Gauntlet]


    Can be used to challenge another dungeon master. The dungeons of the involved dungeon masters will be transported into a separate realm and would be connected to each other. The challenged dungeon master is unable to refuse the challenge. The winner will be awarded the surviving monsters and structures, DP and Dungeon core of the losing dungeon master.


    The 96th item was yet another scroll.


    [Relocation Permit]


    Can be used to relocate the dungeon and dungeon core without suffering from any penalties.


    Usually, dungeon masters would only have one chance to select the location of the dungeon. But with this item, not only could they relocate their dungeon to a better environment after draining their previous one of resources, but they could also use it as an escape means during attacks! If the dungeon was bound to be destroyed during a raid, using the [Relocation Permit] would instantly put the dungeon core out of reach of the attackers.


    But out of all the items, the most game breaking one was definitely the 99th item:


    [Sub Core]


    Can be used to create a second dungeon. The DP and dungeon shop will be shared with that of the existing dungeon.


    To be able to create two dungeons instead of one. Not only would it mean doubling one''s revenue, but it also meant controlling a much larger territory and having a much larger army!


    All the final items were sold for more than five million DP. A single dungeon master would be unable to purchase these items; it was only after pooling resources together that they managed to do so.


    Five could only look at the items with envy. He knew very well how useful they could be. The lucky dungeon masters getting these items would definitely pull ahead. ''I am so far behind them. I need to work harder to attract more people. The barbarians are not enough. If I want to be able to compete with the others, I need the players to come to my dungeon.''


    Then, came the 100th item. To everyone''s surprise, the monster stepping onto the platform was actually a human! Furthermore, its stats were terrible, to say the least, but the effects of its title were enough to make it a priceless monster.


    Name: Bach


    Race: Evolved Human


    Type: Humanoid


    Attribute: None


    Level: 20 (0/10000)


    Title: E26 Carrier


    HP: 280/280


    MP: 200/200


    Strength: 15


    Dexterity: 18


    Vitality: 28


    Intelligence: 20


    Wisdom: 24


    Special Skills: None


    [Information]


    [E26 Carrier]


    Effect 1: Title holder does not generate DP over time like other monsters.


    Effect 2: Absorbs 2000 DP per minute from any dungeon except the owner''s dungeon


    Effect 3: Transfers 50% of the absorbed DP to the owner of the title holder.


    Effect 4: If killed, returns all the DP absorbed during the past hour to the dungeon.


    Effect 5: Title can be transmitted to Humans through sexual contact.


    Effect 6: Significantly reduces the lifespan of the title holder


    Five froze as he read the title''s effect. ''D*mn... They are asking people to create a pandemic. That''s a broken effect! After some time, only Bach''s owner would be able to generate any DP if the entire human population obtains the title.¡¯


    Five could feel the reckless atmosphere. All the dungeon masters were aware of the value of Bach. Whoever would own him, would easily be able to dominate an area over time. However, the owner would also make himself an enemy of the entire dungeon community.


    ''If only I had enough DP...'' inwardly exclaimed Five as he watched the bid rapidly reach ten million without any sign of stopping.


    Eventually, Bach was sold for 16.3 million DP to the Cyclone Alliance. Five recognized Clark, Duke Shercliff''s student, sitting in the middle of the group who purchased Bach.


    The auction came to an end. The one hundred items had all been sold but to everyone''s surprise, Amour did not announce the end of the auction. Instead, he brightly smiled and said: "Ladies and Gentlemen. I know you are all eager to return to your dungeon. But, we have an unexpected surprise. We have one last item to auction. It was gracefully given to us by the goddess Gaia. Unfortunately, we have nothing to present; the goddess'' offer is not a tangible item. But why don''t we let the goddess herself explain it to you?"


    A dazzling bright light erupted on top of the platform as a crystal ball appeared. "Dungeon Masters. I am happy to see so many of you still alive." The crystal ball''s light pulsed as Gaia''s voice sounded through the auction hall.


    "The last item to be auctioned this time would be Answers! I am willing to answer three questions that you might have. Regardless of the topic, whether it involves the future events or the secret mechanics of the game, or even if you just want to know the best way to improve your dungeon. I am certain that after being thrown into this environment, you must all have a lot to ask. I am willing to answer the three questions of the highest bidder!"


    The bidding war once again started and in a matter of seconds, the price jumped from 10000 DP to 300000 DP.


    Five sighed. He would have liked to be able to obtain an answer but clearly, he did not have enough DP to participate. The value of those answers varied significantly but there were several burning questions that have been on Five''s mind for quite a while. He wanted to know about whether he would really be affected by the choice of monsters around him. He wanted to know what exactly was hiding in his dungeon core after the repeated warnings of Dreidus and Harriet. And finally, he also wanted to know the path to take to meet his enemies, the Penmark family.


    Unfortunately, there was nothing Five could do. He could only stare as the price jumped to 450000 DP.


    ''If only Harriet and Dreidus were able to raid the second dungeon in time. I could have obtained a lot more DP,'' thought Five.


    And at that moment, as if the game was responding to his wishes, a system prompt rang in Five''s ears.


    [System prompt: One of your monsters have conquered ''Tinyland''. Half of the DP owned by the defeated dungeon master has been transferred to you. Please bring the defeated dungeon core to the Core of Madness for further rewards.]

 Chapter 132: Iris

    [System prompt: One of your monsters have conquered ''Tinyland''. Half of the DP owned by the defeated dungeon master has been transferred to you. Please bring the defeated dungeon core to the Core of Madness for further rewards.]


    [System prompt: 584029 DP has been added to your balance]


    Five internally smiled as he read the system prompts. ''Two down. Just in time... If they were late by just a few minutes, the dungeon master might have had time to return to their dungeon. Although we did not get all three dungeons, clearing two is an excellent result.''


    He briefly looked at his DP which now totaled 701059 DP but at that moment, a commotion broke out in another part of the auction hall.


    "What happened to Bryan? Why did he suddenly disappear?"


    "His name also vanished from the chat group! How is that possible? Is it a bug?"


    "Even his dwarf disappeared! Did something happen to his dungeon?"


    Several players were freaking out as they stared at the now empty seat. Many witnessed the sudden disappearance of the dungeon master. The latter only briefly stood up with a shocked expression before disappearing out of nowhere.


    Nobody understood what happened exactly. The Winged Devils were already flying above the empty seat, analyzing the situation.


    "Silence! What is happening here?" exclaimed one of the Winged Devils. Even after having held several auctions, it was the first time they were witnessing the disappearance of a dungeon master. The Winged Devils were intrigued and anxious as it could represent a weakness in their security but before they could come to a conclusion, Gaia''s voice sounded once again.


    "Stop wasting time and focus on the bids. Your friend''s dungeon core was just captured. Losing a dungeon core means that his journey in New Earth has come to an end. Take this as a warning and don''t leave your dungeon defenseless for the next events."


    Five was the only one not affected by the events. It was not hard to guess that ''Tinyland'' belonged to that particular dungeon master. Everyone was panicking as their dungeons were currently without supervision. Since one dungeon master had already perished, it was possible that their own dungeon was under attack right now!


    The Winged Devils quickly calmed down the crowd and the auction resumed but everyone was now hoping to end it quickly. They wanted to go back home to check on their core!


    "450000 DP!" Five directly placed a bid now that he had more than enough DP but to his surprise, the other dungeon masters continued to bid.


    Very quickly, the bid rose up to 800000 DP. Five clenched his fists. ''Just how expensive can those answers get? I did not think people would be so intent on buying them.'' The bid already exceeded all the DP he had. The system prompt brought him hope as his DP soared but unfortunately, it was not enough.


    ''Anyway... Those answers are not too important. As long as I continue playing the game, I should not have any trouble...''


    However, to his surprise, a voice suddenly rose from the crowd.


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    "I have a proposition to make! I only want to ask one question. Is anybody willing to partner with me? I am willing to go up to 500000 DP."


    The eyes of the crowd turned toward the speaker. It was unexpectedly the same dungeon master who purchased Karyn, the elf. From her voice, it was easy to determine that she was a woman.


    ¡®Why did I not think of this?¡¯


    Five''s eyes lit up. Her proposition was indeed very attractive. To be able to split the cost would be beneficial to him. While Five was pondering over her proposition, all the other dungeon masters were sizing up the woman. She had already purchased Karyn for 1.6 million and was able to take out another 500000 DP. To top it off, she did not even belong to any alliance. They were all curious about her; to be able to bring that much DP as a single player, her dungeon was definitely not simple.


    "I will allow you to split the questions!" Gaia''s voice sounded.


    Before Five could answer, another player shouted in response. "I will join you, miss. I am also only interested in having one question and will match your offer."


    Afraid of missing the opportunity, Five hurriedly called out, "I shall join as well!"


    "Excellent! In that case, we shall push our combined bid to 1 million DP." The woman spoke as the bid displayed by the hologram changed.


    The rest of the crowd stared at the trio. Five especially stood out after his conflict with the Cyclone Alliance yesterday. The dungeon masters did not necessarily recognize him but they all remembered Angela who was sitting next to him.


    The dungeon masters murmured among themselves. One million DP was already a lot for three answers. To many, it would be a waste to invest so much DP into just answers. As they were bound to the alliances, they would be forced to go down a certain path.


    Amour looked at the crowd expectantly. "No one else is interested in forming an alliance? The current bid is one million DP! Going once. Going twice?"


    At that moment, another player intervened, "1.1 million DP!"


    "1.2 million DP!" immediately answered the woman. She did not even give the hologram time to display the previous bid. She showed her determination in obtaining those answers.


    Five looked at the crowd in silence. There was not much he could do; he could only hope that no one else would outbid the woman. Although it was expensive, Five did not find those answers to be too expensive. He was different from the others who were bound by contracts, he could make appropriate changes in preparation for the future.


    "Sold!"


    Eventually, the three answers went to the trio. Amour smiled and bowed. The auction had come to an end for real this time.


    [System prompt: The auction has officially ended. A teleportation crystal has been added to your inventory. Use it to return to your dungeon. Dungeon masters are free to stay at the hotel but remember that once your dungeon core is destroyed, you will lose consciousness.]


    [System prompt: Due to having purchased a special item at the auction, you will be teleported to a different area.]


    As he received the system prompt, Five was momentarily blinded. He saw a bright light shine in front of him, forcing him to close his eyes.


    When he was once again able to see, Five found himself standing in the middle of a large library. He was facing a glass window, having a direct view on the beach.


    "What was that?" A voice sounded next to him.


    When Five looked at the speaker, he found five people standing to his right. Two were players and the rest were monsters. Five identified them as the dungeon masters who agreed to partner up to obtain the answers. He could see Karyn and the succubus standing next to their mistress.


    The other dungeon master was a tall man whose features were hidden by the cloak and clown mask. His monster was actually a Cyclops. They were usually giant creatures, but the Cyclops'' size was reduced significantly to allow him to fit into the building.


    Angela hid behind Five while hesitantly looking at the other monsters. Out of the lot, she was clearly the weakest one.


    "Your proposition was great! My name is Ali, arrested for assisting terrorists in their escape. Nice to meet you." He presented his hand to the woman, but the latter did not react. He could feel the questioning stares and quickly added.


    "Sorry, you guys are not from any alliances. This is just how we introduce ourselves there. Your IGN and the reason for your arrest... Naturally, don''t give any other detail about yourselves."


    After looking at the awkward hand being presented to her, the woman finally shook it. "Iris, arrested for murder. I killed the entire household of the man who married me."


    Ali felt a shiver run down his spine, especially when he saw the succubus lustfully look at him while licking her lips as if she was looking at her next meal. He quickly turned his attention to Five and Angela who looked much more approachable.


    "Five. Arrested for mass murder and assassination, trespassing on military ground and leaking national secrets."


    Ali froze. ''D*mn, what kind of madmen are those two. I thought I would look impressive if I said that I was involved in terrorist acts but these two are the real deal.''


    "I joined the Storm Alliance. Would any of you be interested in joining us? We offer..."


    "No!" As one, both Five and Iris interrupted him.


    Five and the woman''s eyes briefly met but at the same time, a door opened behind them.


    Gaia stood at the entrance, widely smiling. "Welcome to you three. What do you think of this place? It is not bad, right? I thought it would be nice if the other players could come here to rest and enjoy themselves. Sooner or later, they would get bored of constantly having to hunt monsters but naturally, they would have to pay to come here."


    She invited the three to the adjacent room, sounding more excited and happier than usual. Five could tell that something was different in Gaia''s behavior, it was the first time he was seeing her behave like this.


    "Let''s not waste time. I am sure you are eager to go and enjoy the resort or maybe you want to go back to your dungeon. Who would like to ask the first question?" asked Gaia as she brought the trio to a circular table at the center of the library.

 Chapter 133: Answers

    "Come on! Why are you not speaking?" innocently asked Gaia once they were all seated around a table.


    When Gaia prompted the trio to ask their questions, none of them spoke. They all only had the right to ask one question and none wanted to be the first to do so. The reason was simple. It was very likely that they all had the same questions and answers and as they were able to hear each other''s questions and answers, whoever went first was disadvantaged.


    "I did not bend the rule and allow you three to come here for nothing! Hmmp! If it was not for the investments I made... You! Ask your questions first!" Gaia pointed at Ali after ranting. She did not care about the dungeon master''s reluctance.


    "Gaia... Isn''t it unfair? Why do I have to go first?" asked Ali.


    "Because I said so. Now, if you don''t want to give up on this opportunity, then we will just forget about your question."


    Ali frowned. "No, I will ask it now. I would like to go back to what you said when we first connected to New Earth, about how we would be given a chance at earning back our freedom and maybe even end up in a ruling position. I would like to ask how this would exactly happen, how will you decide on who will be released?"


    Gaia briefly looked at Five and Iris before answering, "I will give you as much information as the DP you spent is worth. Have you noticed how this game does not have anything like ''Achievements'' that you usually obtain upon completing certain tasks in other games? In fact, New Earth does have achievements and each of them is worth a certain amount of points. The final social classes, when you will get back to the surface, will be mostly decided based on those achievements. Naturally, the achievements are not the only deciding factor and will only give a general idea of your future standing."


    "There is a wide range of achievements which ranges from earning experience and killing a certain number of monsters to spending a certain amount of gold or building certain relationships with existing NPCs. In fact, all the dungeon masters were given a head start as one of the achievements available is to set up a village or a dungeon. "


    "I cannot give you the whole list of achievements as it is continuously being updated when new content is added to the game but I can tell you that as long as you do things that might contribute to society, you will end up with a high position in the future. Do what the system wants you to and you will succeed. It is useless to try to go against the system and try to avoid setting up a dungeon like a certain someone tried. Keep in mind that you are dungeon masters and were chosen to be the villains of the game. I will just say that being a villain is not limited to just destroying everything around you. You should also look for ways to develop and take control of an area rather than destroying it."


    "Furthermore, since you are the one who asked the question, I will give you an additional tip. You are now bound to a contract with the Storm Alliance but if you managed to escape it somehow, that will give you a huge boost in achievement points! Try to get closer to some NPCs and initiate some trade. NPCs often have useful items."


    Ali, Five and Iris quietly listened to Gaia''s explanation. Out of the three, only Ali was really interested in it. Five did not care much about what would happen when he would return to the surface. However, it was still some useful information that could be used to influence the other players.


    "May I share this information with the other members of my alliance too?" asked Ali.


    "Sure, I don''t see why not."


    Having given one of the three answers, Gaia now turned towards Five and Iris. "I suggest that we allow the lady to go last. You wouldn''t mind being a gentleman and ask first, right?"


    Five did not react to Gaia''s teasing. He did not mind going first or last. He had several burning questions but out of all of them, he decided to inquire about his dungeon core. He already came to the conclusion that his revenge with the Penmark family would have to wait. Even if he obtained their exact location, he did not have the strength to deal with them yet. The issue of the dungeon core was more important.


    Having been reminded several times by Harriet and Dreidus, Five was worried about the potential threat that the dungeon core represented. And so, he asked: "I would like to know what exactly the dungeon core is. I know that a monster of some sort resides inside but why are my boss monsters afraid of dying?"


    As he spoke, Five could feel the stares of the other dungeon masters and their monsters. They were all surprised by the question. As for Gaia, she smiled and answered:Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    "So you discovered it? You are right. The dungeon cores all hide a monster that will eventually be released. Let''s take a step back and look at the lore of the game. When they were abandoned on Zero, several demons stimulated their cores to evolve and create their dungeons. However, not all of them succeeded. A large majority failed and ended up dying but their cores were not lost."


    "Each player was given one of the cores of the monsters who failed their evolution. To be more precise, they accomplished their evolution but ended up dying in the process, sealing their consciousness inside their cores. In order to be released, the monsters need to absorb a massive amount of energy from the dungeon monsters."


    "This takes place when they die. Whenever one of your monsters die, they go into contributing to the revival of the monster inside the core. It is why once they die, it is impossible to revive them. On the other hand, your boss monsters are much stronger and cannot be completely eaten at once. This gives you the chance to revive them but if you keep them into the dead state for too long, the monster inside the core will have more time to feast."


    "The monster feeds on souls and memories. After it absorbed what it needs, it would be strong enough to come out of the core and fight. However, this is where things get interesting. The monster is not necessarily loyal to you. When it comes out, it will be up to you to tame it or you might end up losing your entire dungeon in one go."


    "Therefore, you should already start planning for when it would happen, but each monster will react differently. You can consider it as a dating game. Each action you take will influence the relationship between you and the monster. If it is happy with what you''ve done, then it would side with you and help you."


    "As you asked the question, I will give you some tips. Each dungeon core is unique. Yours is the Core of Madness that once belonged to the Mad King Lavenus. Maybe you should make some research about him and learn about his character. Look for things he likes, and he might very well join you."


    "You should have noticed that as your dungeon core leveled up, you obtained a special skill. This skill belonged to the Mad King. As your dungeon core levels up, you will obtain more skills and bring Lavenus closer to his revival. Even if you don''t level up, it will eventually happen."


    "That''s a lot of confusing information. I hope that helps," concluded Gaia.


    "Very interesting. I did not expect that the greatest threat would actually be hiding right inside the dungeon," commented Ali, rubbing his chin.


    "Indeed. May I ask if you can tell us who our dungeon core belonged to?" asked Iris.


    "Is that the question you want to ask? It would be a waste if you did so. I especially bent the rules because of the question you absolutely wanted to ask," answered Gaia.


    Five frowned. What exactly was the relationship between Gaia and Iris for her to bend the rules? He had a bad feeling about this.


    However, unbeknown to Five, Iris was equally confused. ''Bend the rules because of me? Why would Gaia do that?''


    "No, I will find out soon enough to who my dungeon core belonged to based on its name. My original question is more important."


    "Good. I have been waiting for this." Gaia excitedly smiled as she readjusted her position.


    "My question is simple and is not really related to the game. I would like all the information about one person, what happened to him, where he is right now and how can I find him. That person''s real name is Christopher Hathorne."


    Five instantly froze as he heard the question. His hands trembled as he shifted his gaze toward Iris.


    Next to him, Ali lightly laughed, "Very interesting. I never thought of using the questions to ask about someone. It should be a great way to obtain information about an enemy and destroy him. I wonder just who is that poor Christopher Hathorne."


    Gaia did not immediately answer. The corner of her lips gradually curved as she maintained a playful attitude. Her eyes shifted toward Five as she rubbed her hands, wearing a teasing expression.


    Five naturally noticed Gaia''s strange attitude but he did not have time to think about it. His mind was a mess. The name of Christopher Hathorne was very familiar to him. Simply because it was none other than his very own name!


    ''Calm down, Five. It is possible that it is just a coincidence. Christopher is a very popular name and it is possible that someone else happens to have the surname Hathorne,'' said Five to himself. He tried to calm down but he felt that something was not right.


    It was this precise moment that Gaia chose to answer, "Five? Do you want me to answer or are you going to do it?"


    Iris was confused by Gaia''s original actions. But when she heard her replied, she was stunned. She slowly turned her gaze toward Five.


    At that moment, the latter knew that it was not a coincidence. He was the very person Iris was looking for. He started assessing Iris, trying to remember if he had seen anyone with a similar build who would be interested in looking for him. Unfortunately, Iris'' features were hidden by the red cloak and the clown masks.


    Then, it struck him. Her voice was familiar. It was one he had heard countless times and would always remember! It was her! The woman who had caused his downfall.


    "You B*tch! It''s you!" exclaimed Five. He jumped off his seat and rushed toward Iris. He did not care about the decorum. He did not care about the rule that forbids dungeon masters from attacking each other at the venue.


    He jumped forward, raising his hands and aiming for Iris'' throat. However, before he was able to reach her, a powerful hand grabbed his arms, preventing him from moving.


    The succubus firmly pulled his arms, preventing him from attacking. "Hmmp... If you were not my mistress'' lover, I would have already killed you."


    "Chris? Is that you?" asked Iris. Her voice trembled. She was visibly shaken as she hesitantly stood up.


    Five''s eyes burned with fury. He shifted his gaze to the sexy succubus. He could not see her level but that did not mean that Five was afraid. He did not care about the strength of his opponent. As long as he could reach Iris, even if he died, it would all be worth it. He was about to activate [Frenzy] when he suddenly felt someone pull his sleeves.


    It was Angela. The innocent harpy knew she did not stand a chance but still needed to protect her master. "Master... She is at least as strong as Mother..."


    As he heard the harpy''s timid voice, Five was forced to cool down. He had indeed lost his cool in the spur of the moment. He pulled his arms from the succubus'' grip and took a step back. Iris once again appeared in his field of vision.


    "B*tch! Even after destroying my life in reality, you are still looking for me here? That''s good! Saves me the trouble of looking for you. Looks like you also got into jail. Use all the information you can get out of Gaia about me! When time comes, you will need it! This time, we will see who will end up losing everything!"


    He angrily shouted as his burning eyes landed on Iris. He then pulled Angela''s arms. "Let''s go. We have nothing else to do here." Five did not wait for an answer and hurriedly left the library.


    Seeing his departing figure, Iris seemed to wake up. "Wait! Chris..." Without a care for her appearance, she quickly chased after him. She still could not believe the man she had been looking for had been sitting right next to her. The red cloak and the clown mask were really effective.

 Chapter 134: Return

    As he stormed out of the library, Five felt lost. He was unfamiliar with this environment. In front of him was an endless corridor made of a transparent material. Five''s mind was a complete mess. He never expected one of the people he had been looking for so desperately to actually be a dungeon master.


    ''D*mn. I was so careless and did not think properly. If that succubus did not stop me, who knows what kind of penalty I would have received for attacking another dungeon master.''


    ''Where do I go now? I did not even need to walk out of the library. I only had to use the Teleportation Crystal... I need to calm down... Calm down.''


    Behind him, Angela bit her lips. Her arm was hurting from Five''s powerful grip but considering the situation, she did not dare voice it out. Even when Five stopped walking, the silver-haired harpy remained silent. She had never seen Five behave like this and she did not know how to react.


    At that moment, footsteps came from behind. Five and Angela looked behind them and instantly, Five furrowed his brows even more.


    "Chris! Wait. Let me explain myself," exclaimed Iris as she rushed out of the library accompanied by the succubus and Karyn.


    "You again? Did I not make myself clear enough? We have nothing to say to each other anymore," angrily answered Five. As soon as he heard Iris'' voice, he felt his blood boiling once again.


    He took out the Teleportation Crystal and was about to use it but at the same time, Iris took off her clown mask, revealing the beautiful face hidden underneath. Five could not be more familiar with her; even after almost two years, she did not change at all.


    "Chris! Don''t! Let''s talk for a moment. I never did anything to harm you. All the pieces of evidence you were shown were fake. I never did any of these," exclaimed Iris as she rushed forward.


    "As if I could believe you after everything happened? I lost everything because of you, Kimberley or should I say Madam Penmark? I don''t care about how it all happened, the end results are still the same. One day, I will make you pay for everything!"


    Five trembled as he watched the approaching woman. His heart was aching like crazy. How stupid had he been to trust that woman? He decisively activated the Teleportation Crystal before he could lose reason.


    Iris raised her hands, desperately trying to prevent him from leaving but she was too late. Before she could even reach him, Five and Angela both vanished from the corridor.


    Iris froze as she stared at the now empty spot. She trembled but quickly, Venus, the succubus hugged her from behind.


    "He really hates me..."


    "Kimmy. He did not even give you time to explain yourself. I don''t see what is so good about him. If it was up to me, I would have already killed him a thousand times for not respecting you."


    Iris felt defeated. She leaned against the soft body of the succubus for a moment. "Let''s go back to Gaia. She still needs to answer my question. It is fine even if he hates me. I will be satisfied if I can just help him a little bit. No matter what, it is still my fault if he was harmed and became like this. I need to repay him somehow."Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Karyn stood to the side with a confused expression. It was clear that there was some back story going on between the two dungeon masters but as she just joined the team, she was oblivious to what actually happened.


    The trio returned to the library where Gaia, Ali and the Cyclops were still waiting.


    "I see that you missed him. I wanted you two to meet but I did not expect it to end like this. He did not forget what happened." Gaia spoke as she looked at Iris.


    "Is that what you meant by bending the rules? Then what is the investment you were talking about?" asked Iris. She sat back at her seat.


    "You don''t need to know about this. You just need to know that Five is someone important to me. I am doing what I can to heal his emotional scar. Do you still want the answers to your question?" asked Gaia.


    Iris hesitated for a moment. Her eyes momentarily shifted to Ali and the Cyclops who tried to blend into the background. They were just here to obtain as much information as possible.


    Gaia waved her hand and instantly, Ali and the Cyclops vanished from the room. "Now, it is just us. You don''t have to be worried about leaking out Five''s private information." She waved her hand again and Iris immediately received a system prompt, informing her that a new entry had been made to her inventory.


    "Thank you."


    "No need. Just make sure to repair your relationship with him. I know that you are innocent, but he does not know," said Gaia.


    "What can I do? He did not even let me speak. I did not do anything to harm him! I never slept with anyone else while I was with him. All the messages were fake. I never flirted with anyone and leaked out any information about his company."


    "I know but he doesn''t. I will step out of the bounds if I give him any information that is not about the game. Just prove yourself to him. Your parents are quite sinister. For the sake of their son, they did not hesitate to sell you to the Penmark family without caring about Five even after he helped them. Remember this! Even if you somehow mend things up with him, he will not forget about your parents."


    "I know. I have already cut all ties with my family. I thought my brother was doting on me but they obviously do not care about me," answered Iris. She took off her clown mask once again as Ali was no longer here.


    Gaia smiled faintly. "That is all I can do for you. I already overstepped the boundaries by forcing this meeting. It is time for you to go back. I suppose that you are not interested in staying at the hotel."


    "Thank you very much but it is time for me to go back. My dungeon needs me. It is probably a mess at the moment." Iris took out her own Teleportation Crystal and activated it after nodding to Gaia. Her vision blurred and a few moments later, she found herself sitting in her office.


    Karyn looked around her with a confused expression.


    "Karyn, welcome to your new home," happily said Venus. She pushed open the door to the balcony and pulled the dark elf.


    Iris quickly joined them and explained, "This is Venetia, my dungeon and my town. I am the mayor of the town. Many shops here are currently being taken care of by my monsters. We will find something for you too."


    "This?" Karyn was speechless. "I thought it was impossible for dungeon masters to build their dungeon like a town? How do you generate DP if the citizens are constantly inside the dungeon? After a few hours, surely they stop producing anything."


    "You know how dungeons work?" asked Venus with a surprised expression.


    Karyn briefly nodded as her eyes scanned through the busy streets of the town.


    "That is indeed true but there is a simple trick to go around this limitation. I simply divided the town into different sections and only consider a few sections as part of the dungeon. For example, the Trading Area, the Entertainment Area and so on are all located inside the dungeon but the Residential Areas where people only sleep are considered to be outside the dungeon. It is just a matter of defining the boundaries."


    "Tell us what you are good at and we will find a role for you. You can live peacefully here. Kimmy will make sure you get what you need. Look at me, I look after the different brothels of the town and have the opportunity to plunder some male essence when I''m hungry," explained Venus.


    At that moment, the trio heard the flapping of wings nearby. Two beautiful succubi flew up to the balcony. "Mistress, you are finally here. We are waiting for you for the prize ceremony. People are starting to be impatient. Mars is handling the situation for now, but he won''t last for long."


    "Really? Is the competition already over? I did not expect it to end so quickly," answered Iris.


    "The competition is still going on but there is already a clear winner. He captured the Iron Bear King and slaughtered it in front of everyone. The Iron Bear King is the strongest monster of the surroundings, there is no way someone will be able to surpass him," answered the young succubus.


    Iris'' face flashed with surprise. "Alright, bring me there. I am curious, who can deal with the Iron Bear King alone?"


    Venus nodded her head, allowing the two succubi to carry Iris to the central place while flying. She then turned toward Karyn and explained. "We have been holding a competition during the past two days. We invited the adventurers and hunters to bring their biggest catch here. The one who brings the most ferocious beast would be the winner. The only requirement was that the beast needed to be alive and would be slaughtered at the central place. This way, we get the adventurers to bring powerful beasts from outside and kill them inside the dungeon. It''s with this method that mistress was able to obtain so much DP for the auction. We did not even have to work hard and simply got the clueless adventurers to work for us."

 Chapter 135: Bountiful harvest (1)

    A few hours later, Iris finally returned to the mayor''s office. It has been a long day. She had to preside over the prize ceremony and attend the celebratory feast consisting mainly of the slaughtered beasts.


    ''The day is finally over...''


    She sat at her desk. Venus and Mars, her two strongest monsters sat in front of her.


    "What are you planning to do now that you have the information you wanted about Christopher?" asked Venus.


    Iris browsed through her inventory and took out a small document. A projection appeared in front of her, displaying all the information Gaia had about Five: The location of his dungeon, the monsters present on each floor, his level and skills, and even a track record of what he went through since the start of the game.


    "Oh! I know that harpy. I saw her about a week ago," exclaimed Venus as Harriet''s figure was projected.


    "You saw her? Who is she?"


    "I believe she is the strongest monster Christopher has. She is a Harpy Queen. She is stronger than me. She was riding a Thunder Eagle and as she was going to fly above our town, I stopped her. At that time, I asked her to join us, but she refused, saying that she already belonged to a dungeon. I did not think her master would actually be Christopher."


    Mars'' eyes lit up. "Interesting! I would like to spar with her."


    "You aren''t her match. If even Venus says she cannot beat her, what would you be able to do against her?" commented Iris. She briefly read through the rest of the document.


    "I have decided. Let''s put up a quest tomorrow and send some adventurers to look for Vampire Teeth and Blood. We can direct them toward his dungeon. That''s the only way I can help him. We are just too far away from each other. It should take at least two weeks to get there."


    Venus frowned. "What? We just completed the adventurer guild''s building and now, you already want to send people away? That is harming ourselves. He does not deserve your help!"


    "Venus. I already told you at the beginning. I am doing all of this to help him. His dungeon is so far away from the empire''s towns. How is he supposed to get any players to his dungeon? I will just send a few for now. Once we expand our influence, I will find other ways to help him."


    Venus crossed her arms. "Hmmp. Just do whatever you want. When it comes to him, you''ve never listened to me anyway."


    "Thank you, Venus. Don''t worry, I won''t neglect the development of Venetia," said Iris.


    She briefly looked at the document one last time before putting it away. "Now that we have this out of the way, let us talk about the other issues that popped up."


    "I heard from the other succubi that the arena is almost completed. We will let Karyn take care of it. With the new update, we won''t be receiving as much DP from our shopping and entertainment district. But the arena is the perfect solution; there, the adventurers would take enough damage to give us a substantial amount of DP. The best part would be that they would fight each other. Mars, I am counting on you. Look after Karyn and help her become the Queen of the arena. We''ll need someone who appears to be a random adventurer."Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    "As for the matter of Count Desmonds... Venus, you need to send in more succubi to gather information. He has been awfully quiet since I refused to be annexed to his town. I feel like he is preparing something."


    ...


    At the same time, Five finally decided to get out of his bed. When he returned to his dungeon, he locked his room and slept for the rest of the day. His mood was gloomy. He simply could not get Iris out of his head.


    Her real name was Kimberley Corey. In real life, they used to be a couple and were even engaged. They met at the University and got entangled together. Kimberley''s family owned a small media company which slowly grew after using Five''s connections in the business world.


    Five did not mind helping his in-laws; sooner or later, they would all be family. However, in a twist of fate, Five discovered that Kimberley had been cheating on him and even divulged confidential information about the company.


    It started when she became more distant. Kimberley started staying at her parents'' house more often and soon, Five received messages and photos of Kimberley speaking to other men. He did not believe them at first but as there was no end to the photos, Five started to doubt her. Kimberley denied the accusations, but it was too late, the seed of doubt had already been planted.


    He hired several private investigators who all came out with the same results. They hacked her phones and pulled out a series of messages and calls. It turned out that Kimberley had been in direct contact with the Penmark Family, the very same family that had been applying pressure onto him to acquire his company.


    Even when facing the compelling evidence, Kimberley denied the accusations but Five could not hold it anymore. In the end, when his parents passed away, Five lost contact with her and disappeared from society.


    Out of all places, he never expected to see her at the auction. According to her introduction, it did not seem that she was doing too badly. She killed her husband''s entire household.


    ''She should have done so to get that family''s entire inheritance... That devious woman.''


    After spending an entire day cut off from the world, Five finally stepped out of his room. He could not stay holed up for too long. After recalling the auction, Five was alarmed. Iris had more DP than him at the auction. If he did not spend all his DP on building the army, he would have at most 1.6 million DP but Iris easily took out 2.1 million DP. It was clear who was ahead of who and Five could not allow the gap between them to widen.


    He pushed all those negative thoughts at the back of his mind and went to the common room.


    "Master. Are you alright?"


    "Five. I heard what happened. Do you need someone to talk to?"


    To his surprise, Harriet already made it back and was resting in the common room with the two harpies and Lyra.


    "I am fine. You already heard from Angela. Iris was my fiancee. I already told you what happened before. Anyway. I don''t want to talk about this right now. How did the raids go?"


    Harriet nodded. She already knew Five would not want to touch this topic. She took out two Dungeon Cores. "This is the most valuable loot of our raid. We did not eliminate all the monsters we encountered. Some of them agreed to surrender and should be transferred to you as soon as you absorb these dungeon cores."


    Five''s eyes shone as he stared at the shiny dungeon cores. The Core of Madness also responded vividly. When he saw his core''s reaction, Five recalled Gaia''s words. The Core of Madness wanted to devour these dungeon core to evolve and release the monster hidden inside it. The problem was Five did not know whether the monster inside was an ally or an enemy.


    "Tell me about the dungeons. How were they?" asked Five.


    "The first one was the one next to the Prairie Dog Tribe. It was full of insects. Only the last few floors were actually tailored for insects. The strongest monster was a Black Beetle Knight but there was also a societal race there: the Flame Scarabs. I believe the Boss Monster who accompanied the dungeon master should be a Flame Scarab Warrior. There are two Boss Monsters who agreed to surrender: the Giant Ant Queen and the Mother Spider. They should be on their way here but they walk quite slowly."


    "The second one was located next to the Rat Snake Tribe. It was slightly strange. There were only three species: Goblins, Gnomes, and Dwarves. The monsters themselves were not that strong. They all had growth potential and were still young but they were all proficient in Engineering. The main defense of the dungeon consisted of Mechanical Robots designed by the monsters. They were quite strong but I was able to force my way through."


    Five calmly listened. "Interesting. Did we lose many monsters?"


    "Yes but I don''t know the exact numbers. I rushed here as soon as the raid was over to bring back the cores and avoid being detected by the tribes."


    "You did well." Five smiled and turned his attention back to the dungeon cores. He picked the Core of Madness and brought it to the dungeon core.


    The dungeon core shook and a dark feeling rose inside him. It was similar to the time his dungeon core reacted to Kroff''s dungeon core. The Core of Madness was hungry. As it came into contact with the other cores, a system prompt rang in Five''s ears:


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. The Core of Madness has been upgraded to Grade 2]


    [System prompt: The Core of Madness can now display an additional effect. Please choose from the following:


    <ol>


    <li>Entomology - Increase the breeding rate of all insect type monster by 100% and increase all their stats by 2</li>


    <li>Dwarfism - Increase the crafting success rate of all monsters shorter than 1.5m and increase all their stats by 1.</li>


    </ol>


    3. ??? - ??? (Currently locked due to low level)]

 Chapter 136: Bountiful harvest (2)

    "Harriet. Did you say some monsters surrendered? Are there any monsters from the second dungeon?" asked Five.


    Five did not know which option to pick. Both of them had powerful effects. The first option would not only improve the stats of all the insects but also their breeding rate! He could use low-level insects as food for later monsters like birds or reptiles.


    The second choice would have a more significant long-term impact. It would set up the foundation for a crafting team within the dungeon but a lot of DP would have to be invested to make it useful. Furthermore, the increase in stat would also affect a lot of monsters. There were many monsters shorter than 1.5m but most of them were unable to craft; all the beasts of the dungeon fell within this category.


    "We destroyed all the mechanical monsters. The Dwarves and the Goblins fought to death but a few gnomes decided to rebel and surrendered. Unfortunately, the Elder Gnome died in battle. There should be six or seven gnomes. I know what you are thinking but you should be careful. Monsters can learn to craft but you will need to invest a lot of DP in them. You''ll need to pay for materials, books, and equipment. If I am not wrong, Kroff spent millions every week to sustain his crafting team."


    Five bitterly smiled. He knew the path ahead was tough. The easy solution would be to choose Entomology but Dwarfism would be the one that would benefit him the most. He was curious about the third option. Since his dungeon core absorbed three other dungeon cores until now, it was not hard to guess that the third effect should correspond to Kroff''s dungeon. ''I wonder what kind of effect I would get from Kroff...''


    In the end, he decisively picked Dwarfism. Sooner or later, he would need to set up a crafting team.


    [System prompt: You have chosen Dwarfism. Updating the Core of Madness]


    [Information]


    [Core of Madness](Grade 2)(Upgradable)


    Controls the overall operations of the dungeon. Once taken out of the dungeon or destroyed, the dungeon and dungeon master will be destroyed


    Effect 1: DP gained +4%


    Effect 2: Dwarfism - Increase the crafting success rate of all monsters shorter than 1.5m and increase all their stats by 1.


    Effect 3: The Dungeon Master and all the dungeon''s Boss Monsters will also learn the skills provided by the Core of Madness.


    Skill: [Frenzy], [Hysteria]


    [Frenzy(level 1)]


    User temporarily sacrifices part of his Intelligence and Wisdom in exchange for an increase in Strength and Dexterity:


    Intelligence and Wisdom -4


    Strength and Dexterity +7


    Duration: 2 minutes


    Can be used twice per day.


    [Hysteria(level 0)]


    User sacrifices HP and MP in exchange for an increase in Strength, Dexterity, and Wisdom.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    HP & MP - 5/second


    Strength and Dexterity +3


    Wisdom +2


    The skill automatically comes to a stop if the user''s HP or MP is insufficient.


    Can only be used once per day.


    Five stared at the new dungeon core. After its upgrade, the dungeon core became significantly stronger. Not only did [Frenzy] level up, he also obtained a new skill and to top it off, all his Boss Monsters also obtained the skills!


    However, Five did not have time to think as he was soon overwhelmed by a series of system prompts:


    [System prompt: Your Core of Madness has successfully consumed the Core of Entomology.]


    [System prompt: You are awarded 200000 DP.]


    [System prompt: You have unlocked: Level 8 Termites, Level 25 Blood Sucking Mosquitoes, Flame Scarabs, and Flame Scarab Warrior. One monster from each Species is available for summoning]


    [System prompt: Due to failing to protect their dungeon core, the following monsters are forcefully recruited and unlocked: Giant Ant Queen, Meryssa and Mother Spider, Eyala. Both Boss Monsters are now unlocked in the Dungeon Shop together with their subordinate monster.]


    [System prompt: Your Core of Madness has successfully consumed the Core of Dwarfism.]


    [System prompt: You are awarded 200000 DP.]


    [System prompt: You have unlocked: Elder Gnome and Goblins. One monster from each Species is available for summoning]


    [System prompt: Due to failing to protect their dungeon core, seven Unnamed Gnomes are forcefully recruited and unlocked. The monster: Gnome is now unlocked in the Dungeon Shop.]


    [System prompt: You have plundered the following items from the dungeon master: Cube of Resourcefulness and Seed of Ingeniosity.]


    After what felt like an eternity, the system prompts finally came to an end. There was way too much information to process at once. Five sat down and read through the system prompts one by one.


    "Looks like when you defeat another dungeon master, you unlock part of their monsters. It is like annexing a different colony, but the problem is that my dungeon is not adapted for them. I will have to rebuild part of it if I want to implement them in the dungeon."


    Five was naturally delighted to have obtained all these rewards but he knew the headache of implementing all these monsters in his dungeon would soon come. ''I''ll just wait for Dreidus. Together, we''ll sort it out.''


    He obtained 400000 DP from conquering the two dungeons but the most valuable spoils of war were definitely the last two items.


    Five was familiar with the Cube of Resourcefulness. It was one of the items that were auctioned a few hours ago.


    [Cube of Resourcefulness]


    Generate a random source of material at a random location near the dungeon.


    Can only be used once


    It was one items auctioned; its effects paled in comparison to the last ten items but it still had a very useful effect. If used properly, he could obtain a lot of resources or alternatively he could use it to attract a lot of people to the source of material and consequently to his own dungeon. The only problem was the randomness. He did not decide the outcome.


    As for the Seed of Ingeniosity, Five never saw this item before. He concluded that the dungeon master obtained it before the auction somehow. ''This guy must have focused a lot on crafting...''


    [Seed of Ingeniosity]


    Activate to obtain a random formula corresponding to the user''s crafting profession.


    The formula''s level of difficulty is proportional to the user''s profession grade


    Can be used once per month


    Next use: 17 days and 8 hours


    "Five? Did you do something? I feel like something intruded my mind."


    While he was staring at the two new items in his inventory, Five suddenly heard Harriet grunt and complain. Similarly, Lyra also wore a confused expression.


    "Did you receive some skills or something like that?" asked Five as he recalled the description of the Dungeon Core.


    "Yes. How did you know?"


    "It''s the effect of the dungeon core. After upgrading, all the Boss Monsters now have access to a few more skills but be careful when using them. Although they considerably increase your strength, there is also a heavy price to pay," explained Five.


    "I know. I will be careful. It is similar to our Battle form. It is best if we avoid using them unless necessary. What do you plan to do now? You should have unlocked quite a few monsters."


    "For now, nothing. We will wait for Dreidus to come back and then, we''ll plan our floors together. It is time to change the dungeon. The Corpse Eaters are doing fine and can feed on the Cadavers. I think it''s time to build up the dungeon in a more sustainable manner."


    Five spoke and fell into deep thoughts. It would not be easy. So far, there was no need to create an ecosystem. The dungeon consisted mainly of undead monsters who could simply absorb DP from the dungeon but the new monsters were different. They needed food to survive. Not only did he need to unlock smaller monsters to act as food sources, but he also needed an efficient transportation system.


    ''I think it might be time to summon a few Corrupted Servants.''


    "By the way, Harriet. Have you heard of a demon called Mad King Lavenus?" asked Five.


    "Mad King Lavenus? I am sorry but no. Maybe I can ask a few old monsters about it but since it¡¯s a demon, I doubt any normal monster would remember them. If you really need information about him, I would suggest getting into contact with the old Dungeon Masters. They are the only one to have accurate information about the demons."


    Five frowned. As he expected, it would not be easy to obtain the information he wanted. "That''s fine. I will think about it later. For now, did anything happen at the dungeon in our absence?" asked Five as he looked toward Alice and Lyra.


    The latter answered: "Nothing out of the ordinary. We were very vigilant but aside from some movements from the Black Iron Tribe, nothing unusual happened. However, the Shaman came to the Dungeon this morning. Alice went to speak to him and he asked to speak to you as soon as possible. As we knew you were coming back today, we arranged a meeting for you tonight. He mentioned something about introducing you to the other elders of their new tribe."

 Chapter 137: Meteor

    Under the cover of the night, four sneaky silhouettes swiftly made their way to the entrance of Five''s dungeon.


    "Teacher? Are we going to be safe?" asked a young man.


    An old woman briefly looked at the nervous youth. "Don''t worry, Lovin. Old Luke will not harm us. He is crafty but not stupid. There is no reason for him to do so. According to our ancestor''s records, the dungeons do indeed have somebody controlling them from behind. Just keep quiet and let us do the discussions."


    Hearing his name, the old Shaman of the Black Iron Tribe looked at the old woman. "I see that you still hold a grudge against me, Ester. If I wanted to harm the Forest Fox Tribe, I would not need to trick you into coming here. If you don''t want to meet him, then fine, you can just go back."


    "Can you to stop bickering over such trivial things? We have already agreed to merge together. Ester, your tribe is already starting its migration. It''s the same for me. We should let bygones be bygones," said the last person.


    "Fine."


    They soon arrived at the waterfall and under the instructions of Old Luke, they sat down near the pond. Despite their old age, none of the three elders suffered from the cold.


    Lovin, the youth of the group nervously scanned his surroundings. He did not have the experience or strength of the elders. He was wondering where the dungeon master would be coming from but at that moment, the burble of the waterfall momentarily stopped as the waterfall split into two, revealing a hidden tunnel behind it.


    Two silhouettes stepped out from behind the waterfall and approached the elders.


    ''Not bad. It is indeed much simpler to simply walk out like that,'' said Five to himself. He just spent 1000 DP to dig this tunnel and connect it to the first floor. The cost was negligible and it saved him the trouble of looking for a way to go down the cliff.


    The elders'' eyes lit up. However, their attention was not on Five but rather on Harriet who followed him, acting as a bodyguard. They all felt the strength coming out of the Harpy Queen.


    "Hello, Five. Thank you for accepting to meet up. I would like to present to you these three people. They will be part of the new council of our new tribe once their respective tribe completes their migration. This is Old Dale, the Shaman of the Scarlet Crow Tribe."


    Old Luke lightly tapped the shoulder of an old man wearing a patch on his left eye. His face was riddled with scars and burn marks. He faintly grinned as he shook Five''s eyes. "Nice to meet you, Five. I hope we''ll have a peaceful cooperation."


    Old Luke continued, "This is Ester. The Shaman of the Forest Fox Tribe and next to her is her current apprentice, Lovin."


    Five briefly shook their hands. ''A Fox and a Crow... Reminds me of the famous fable''


    "So you''ve really merged your tribes?"


    "Yes. Once they finish their migration, we shall all live at the Black Iron Village. We are currently setting up new tents and even starting to build a few houses. With the arrival of winter, we''ll have a lot of time for that. From now on, we are the Musclewood Tribe."


    "Musclewood? I thought you always used the names of animals?" curiously asked Five.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Old Dale lightly laughed and answered, "That is true but since we are combining our tribes, it is hard to find an appropriate name. Instead, we are using the name of this forest. In case you did not know, it is called the Musclewood Forest. All our tribes depend on this forest and in the future, we might also integrate the other nearby tribes into ours. Besides, it is not rare to name a tribe after its area. The Black Iron Tribe got its name because it was once located on the Black Iron Mount."


    "Very interesting but I believe you are not here just to explain this to me, right?" said Five. From his previous interactions with the Shaman, he did not believe that the old man did not have ulterior motives in arranging this meeting.


    The three elders nodded to each other and Ester spoke. "It is one of the reasons we are here. As from tomorrow, we should be sending three hundred tribesmen to your dungeon. We would first like to request the opening of the sixth floor."


    Five knew it was what they were after. They wanted more resources! "No problem, but in the next few days, I will make great changes to the dungeon. I will still abide by our deal but I will rearrange a few floors. For you, it will just mean more resources. I hope you will send in more people."


    "Of course. Once we finish settling down at the village, we will send in more people. However... We have another thing to ask," hesitantly said Old Luke.


    "Speak. What is it?"


    "I would just like to confirm that you will help us in protecting our village. Tension is rising between the tribes because of the dungeons. To top it off, our scouts detected the undead army you sent to destroy the other dungeons. If we were able to find out about this, there is no doubt that the other tribes will also soon trace the destruction of the dungeons back to you. I don''t know what feud you have with the other dungeon masters, but you did damage our relationship with those tribes."


    Old Dale continued. "Although they are quite far from us, now that you''ve destroyed their dungeon, I believe they will look for revenge. It is very likely that they will join hands and attack us together. We can deal with a few tribes but the number of tribes you angered is not small."


    Five internally smiled. He knew something like this would happen. There was no way the destruction of a dungeon would go unnoticed, but it was a way to attract more people into his dungeon.


    "No problem. As it was stated in our deal, I will indeed help you defend your village. If needed, I will even allow you to retreat to my dungeon."


    Hearing Five''s statement, the Shamans were relieved. They did not completely believe Old Luke but now that the words were coming out of the dungeon master''s mouth, all their previous doubts were cleared.


    Old Dale smiled and casually added. "I heard that one of your monsters is learning under Old Luke but with how busy he usually is, he probably does not spend much time on her. I don''t have an apprentice yet and if she needs help, she does not need to hesitate to ask me. I am happy to help her."


    "I was going to say the same thing. It would be great if Lovin had a study partner. If she needs any help, she can also ask me. I will gladly help her. It is one of the advantages of merging our tribes. Now, we can share the workload," said the female Shaman.


    ''Looks like they are all trying to get on my good side. Well, I won''t complain about it,¡¯ said Five to himself. "Thank you very much. I will inform Angela about it. I am sure she will be very happy. Aside from that, I have a question to ask. Have any of you heard of Mad King Lavenus?"


    "Mad King Lavenus?" The Shamans wore confused expressions. Five did not need to wait for their answers to know that they did not have any idea of who it was.


    "It does not matter. It''s not very important. Since it is our first meeting, let me give you all a gift," excitedly said Five. At the same time, he took out the Cube of Resourcefulness from his inventory.


    "What is this?" exclaimed Ester as her eyes focused on the transparent cube.


    Old Dale''s sole eye twitched. "What a strange energy. It feels like advanced mysticism, but I am unable to comprehend its effects."


    ''Of course, you can''t. If you could, then you would have already turned this place into a paradise full of resources,'' swore Five in his heart.


    "This is a Cube of Resourcefulness. Its effects are to create a random source of resources nearby. The problem is that it is completely random. I don''t know what we will obtain from this but since you kept asking for more resources, I think we all agree that using it would be beneficial to us," explained Five. The transparent cube rotated in the palm of his hand.


    Lovin stayed silent. He was puzzled. It was the first time he was seeing his teacher, Ester, failing to understand the functionality of an item.


    "Since it will help us, then please use it. I am very curious about this item," commented Old Dale.


    Five nodded and activated the Cube of Resourcefulness. The transparent cube spun quickly in his palm and suddenly disappeared. However, nothing happened. There were no crazy animations or even any system prompts.


    The Shamans looked at him with confused expressions. "Did it fail?"


    "I don''t know... The description of the item simply states that it would create a source of material. Maybe it just created a metal vein or something under the surface. As I said, its effects are random, and I have no way of controlling it."


    As Five spoke, the dark sky suddenly got brighter. They all raised their head and to their surprise, a giant ball of fire was falling from the sky. The Shamans stared in amazement at the giant fireball. It was the first time they were witnessing such a strange phenomenon.


    However, it soon dawned on them that the giant fireball was falling toward them!


    ''Is this the effect of the Cube of Resourcefulness? A meteor? Resources from outer space?'' Five could see the meteor falling from the sky. It was so bright that the entire Sylvester Empire should be able to see it.


    "Don''t panic. It is not going to fall right on us. It should fall somewhere in the forest," commented Old Luke. His tone was calm and reassuring but he failed to ease the nerves of the Shamans.


    A few minutes later, a loud explosion resounded through the forest. Despite the distance, Five clearly heard the Meteor explode and a cloud of ashes even blew against him, coming from the area of the explosion.


    ''Well. I suppose I should be happy. With the way the Meteor landed in the forest, there is no way people won''t be attracted by it which means more NPCs or even players should roam the area in the upcoming week. The question now is what kind of resources did that Meteor bring.''

 Chapter 138: Changes

    "Shall we go have a look?" For the first time, Harriet spoke and woke everyone from their daze.


    Soon, the small party arrived at the crashing site. The once dense and lush forest completely disappeared, replaced by a large burnt clearing. At the center of the open space was a large fuming crater.


    Five curiously took a step toward the crater. He could see the debris of the meteor scattered around. They were dark shiny shards that emitted a faint aura. Intrigued, Five grabbed the small piece at his feet. An information window appeared.


    [Helyum]


    Crafting Material


    ''An unknown crafting material... I suppose my knowledge of crafting is too shallow to find a use.''


    Similarly, the Shamans picked up the black shards and inspected them. They all wore confused expressions. Five smiled to himself. At least, he was not the only one clueless about the use of Helyum.


    ''Anyway. The meteor should have attracted the attention of enough people. That was my main goal.''


    "Five. I think you should stay away from the Meteor itself. I feel an energy coming from it. It should be harmful to your body as you are too weak right now," said Harriet.


    "My level is too low? Then can you go there to have a look then?" asked Five. As he took a few steps forward, he indeed noticed his HP decrease by one. He quickly retreated back to safety.


    At his side, the Shamans were unaffected by the radiations of the meteor. However, after just a few steps, Lovin came to a halt as he felt the harmful energy. Similarly, after covering a few more meters, the elders were also unwilling to continue forward.


    Five could not see the elders'' level but he knew from Harriet''s behavior that she was the strongest of the group by far. The Harpy Queen opened her wings and flew above the crater at a reasonable distance. She then gently flew down and disappeared in the crater.


    A few moments later, Harriet flew out, carrying a plain white egg. She swiftly landed next to Five and handed him the egg. "The meteor was split in two. There was this egg in the middle. I think it would be useful to the dungeon."


    Under the stares of the Shamans, Five hesitantly took the egg. It looked like a regular chicken egg but oversized.


    [Nerubian Egg]


    Hatching condition: Unknown


    ''What a pleasant surprise. It looks like the system placed a small safety net to deal with the randomness of the Cube of Resourcefulness. Even if the meteor crashed onto my dungeon, I would have received some form of compensation in the form this egg. Well, it is definitely worth the 550000 DP paid by that guy.''


    ...


    In the distance, Dreidus rode a Bonemare, leading the undead army and the beasts back to the dungeon. They were in high spirits. They have won the battle. They lost a few undead monsters and beasts, but the majority of the losses were the skeletons. Most of the high-level monsters were still alive; their swarm tactics had been very effective.


    Aside from the undead and the beasts, seven gnomes were also riding the Bonemares. They were the prisoners of war but a few hours earlier, Dreidus felt the connection being built between them and the dungeon core.


    They were only level 10 and their profession was still Grade 0. It was clear that they had just been summoned which is the reason why they were not completely loyal to their previous dungeon master. When they were in danger, they defected to the winning side to survive.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Dreidus was constantly monitoring the surroundings. He had long detected the presence of scouts in the distance thanks to the Wraiths. He was not worried that they would be traced back. On the contrary, this is what Five wanted. As long as they were not attacked, there was no need to take any actions.


    At the pace they were going, it would take two more hours before they reach the dungeon. Although he was eager to go back to see Lyra, Dreidus did not press the Undead monsters. They could not get tired, but the beasts could and were already showing signs of fatigue.


    As Dreidus was peeking through the eyes of the Wraiths with [Dead Mind], the sky suddenly got brighter. He stared at the giant ball of fire in the sky. He was not alarmed at first and only considered it to be a beautiful scene but as the Meteor got closer to the ground, Dreidus soon realized that its crashing site would be very close to the dungeon!


    "Beast Kings. It''s time to pick up the pace!"


    ...


    At the Tolden Encampment, Iron Shark and his friends were checking their inventory one last time before going to sleep. On the next day, they would leave the town and go for a round of trades with the different barbarian tribes.


    Having done several successful transactions, Iron Shark''s status soared in Blue Lagoon and now, a total of a hundred elite players were allocated to his team. The weakest one was level 22.


    "Check the new Caravans well. Bring in as many varieties as you can. We don''t know what those barbarians will want this time." Iron Shark commanded his men to load the caravans. Not only did his team grow bigger, but he also used part of his profit to purchase five caravans that had three hundred inventory slots each. One caravan could carry as much as ten players. The most important part was that he could bring a wider range of products.


    However, his success did not only bring him good things. Two new members who joined his team were actually the son and daughter of an elder of the guild. While the daughter was fine, the elder''s son was full of himself and would often order people around, causing a lot of discord.


    "We brought in a lot of exotic fruits, herbs, metal ores, and dyes. Is that really what the barbarians want?" asked one of the players.


    "Yes. They already obtained enough food from our previous trades. The Black Iron Tribe asked for more crafting material this time. Don''t worry. Even if the trade fails, those materials are precious and should be easily sold to the player base here."


    Suddenly, two players barged into the warehouse. "Iron Shark. We have just witnessed a meteor crashing right in the middle of the barbarian¡¯s territory."


    "What? A meteor? What is it? Could it be an event? Explain properly," asked Iron Shark with a puzzled expression.


    "We don''t know but we did not receive any notifications and there is no announcement. We were on the city wall when it happened, and the guards made quite a commotion. If I am not wrong, the new Baron should try making an expedition to inquire about the meteor but due to their treaty with the barbarians, they are not allowed to go on their territory. Maybe it is an opportunity for a quest. What do you think?"


    ...


    While several parties were alarmed by the sudden appearance of the meteor, Five lived carefreely in his dungeon. Two days have passed since he activated the Cube of Resourcefulness and a lot of changes took place in his dungeon.


    With the sudden increase in visitors, his profits skyrocketed from about 70000 DP to 300000 DP daily despite the nerfs to the dungeons. With the massive expansion of the dungeon, three hundred barbarians were barely enough to fully exploit the resources of the first six floors.


    As he received a large influx of DP, Five put his plan in action. He started by shaping the existing floors of his dungeon into a hexagonal shape. In the large room at the end of the first floor, there were now four staircases instead of one. The original one still led to the labyrinth, but the new ones led to completely new areas.


    There were six monster attributes, namely: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Light, and Darkness. And there were six sides to the hexagon. Five started by building other hexagonal rooms attached to the existing hexagonal dungeon. There were now seven separate hexagonal rooms. Since he already started with a dungeon dedicated to Undead Monsters, Five decided that the central hexagon would exclusively house the dark attribute monsters.


    Similarly, each hexagon would house monsters of specific attributes. Five decided to call the hexagons: Biomes.


    As for the last hexagon, Five would not allow adventurers to access it. It would serve as a back room, for the transport of food and resources.


    Developing all the different attributes at the same time would be extremely costly. As a result, Five was now focusing on using the resources he already had in hand.


    The second-floor level where the labyrinth was located now had three additional rooms which could be accessed from the labyrinth or from the previous large room on the first floor.


    One room consisted of a giant 5m deep pond. Aside from the algae, several low-level aquatic animals could be seen swimming in the clear water. There were level 1 Gold Fishes, Level 2 Anchovies, Level 2 Sardines, and level 3 Salmons. They were all extremely cheap monsters as they had no fighting power.


    The barbarians had already discovered this area and quite a few started to learn to fish. The Salmons were a great source of food that the barbarians previously did not have access to. They were quite fond of the fish.


    The second room was an underground forest. Aside from trees, cheap plants could be seen everywhere such as mushrooms and berries. The animals roaming through the forest were mostly herbivores: Level 2 rabbits, Level 1 Squirrels, and level 3 raccoons with the exception of the level 3 Fox.


    This room was very similar to the forest outside the dungeon. However, it had the advantage of not being affected by the weather. Even as winter was coming close, the number of animals in the forest would not decrease. The room was very attractive to the children who just started to learn to hunt.


    The third and final room was a mountainous area. There were a few bushes, trees and shrubs but the area was mostly full of rocks. The animals living there included the Level 2 Lizards, Level 3 Alpine Snakes and the level 4 Mountain Goats.


    When the barbarians discovered this room, they did not immediately attack the fat Mountain Goats. Instead, the barbarians took care of them and even started to feed them wheat and look after them. The reason was simple, they were a great source of milk!


    Five had several discussions with the Shamans and in the end, they expressed the desire to start rearing a few animals. They wanted him to summon the animals for them but Five had a better idea. Why did they not rear the animals in the dungeon itself? It would mean more barbarians in the dungeon!


    Five did not know what kind of rubbish the Shamans told the barbarians, but it seemed that they were really considering the dungeon as a safe place to gather resources; they were even starting to raise cattle.

 Chapter 139: The crafting team

    Aside from expanding horizontally, the dungeon also grew vertically. The dungeon now consisted of ten floors.


    The tenth floor was the living quarters of Five and the high-level monsters. In the past two days, Five summoned nine Nosferatu to join Ivan. He was soon going to make a floor for the Nosferatu and wanted them to start leveling up. Each vampire cost ten thousand DP and were summoned at level 20. So far, only Ivan managed to reach level 23. As he did not have any enemies to kill or fight, he could only slowly absorb the energy of the dungeon core, resulting in his mediocre progress.


    With the new monsters, the living quarters had to be expanded and now had a total of thirty rooms.


    The ninth floor was divided into several workshops for the craftsmen. There was a small laboratory for Angela and a forge for Five. The seven surviving gnomes lived on this floor and worked on both Engineering and Enchantments.


    Although Five already had an Elder Gnome in his inventory, ready to be summoned, he did not do so yet. Instead, he summoned seven Goblins that were unlocked earlier to balance the Gnomes. He wanted the two races to team up just like they were doing at Tinyland and would only summon the Boss Monsters after he would have unlocked the Goblin King.


    He was quite apprehensive of the Goblins. After all, they were the first race to kill him but this time, he was their master; they would be unable to harm him in any way. Goblins were also a societal race that was summoned at level 10. Their main profession was Engineering.


    Gnomish Engineering was completely different from Goblin Engineering. The latter focused on destruction while the former aimed at creation.


    According to the testimony of the gnomes, at Tinyland, the three races worked in harmony to create a large number of robots daily. The Dwarves focused on forging and would create gears and metal parts required for the robots. The Goblins would then turn these parts into war robots and the Gnomes would enchant them, giving them more firing power and defensive abilities.


    Tinyland had already built a perfect production chain but unfortunately, Five could not replicate it for now. Just setting up the workshops and purchasing all the equipment, books, recipes and materials required for beginner craftsmen already cost him a whole day''s worth of profit. A crafting team was a bottomless hole; there were always improvements to be made. At the very least, he did not need to bother too much about finding the materials as they could all be bought using the dungeon shop.


    The seventh and eighth floor housed the new monsters summoned for the raid. The Zombeasts and Bonemares roamed the seventh floor which like the sixth floor consisted of a series of caverns and tunnels.


    The Defacers and Haunting Ghosts protected the eighth floor which was a maze of interconnected corridors. The corridors had a medieval appearance and were filled with old paintings and metallic medieval armors. Some of them were just decorations while others were real monsters: the level 27 Living Armor.


    A few changes were made to the sixth floor which housed the Cadavers and the Corpse Eaters. Five decided to turn the floor into a more humid one with a similar appearance to a marshland. In addition to the two monsters, the floor was now infested with the level 25 Blood Sucking Mosquitoes.


    As for the beasts who agreed to join the dungeon, since they were already used to each other and formed an ecosystem, Five created a room on the fourth floor under the forest biome. The new forest was also connected to the existing forest protected by the Banshees. There was a distinctive boundary between the two forests, but both were at roughly the same power level.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Five also expanded the third floor in the forest biome but he did not make any direct passage between the graveyard and the new forest. This new forest housed: Level 10 Bobcats, Level 8 Porcupines, and Level 6 Hummingbirds. All the different floors in the forest biome were connected to each other and Five gave the beasts permission to travel from one floor to another. They were free to feed on other beasts as long as they did it with moderation.


    In the past few days, the Giant Ant Queen, Meryssa and Mother Spider, Eyala arrived at the dungeon. They both swore allegiance to Five. The latter made a place for the insects in the Mountain Biome. On the third floor, the Giant Ants were allowed to build their colony together with the Spiders.


    Despite the huge difference in level between the two races, Five allowed them to live together for now. The two Boss Monsters had the ability to lay eggs, but they would have to wait for a week before the first batch of monsters would hatch. Only then would the room become accessible to the barbarians.


    There was still the problem of the food of the insects but Five planned to solve this issue with the next floor in the Forest Biome. So far, the forests consisted only of decorative trees but the forest on the fifth floor would be different! It would be an orchard and would produce enough fruits to feed the insects.


    Five was aware of the difference in power level between each Biome but it was all intentional. In just the Darkness Biome, the increment in difficulty between the different floors was massive. But with six different biomes each having a different rise in difficulty between the floors, he would create the perfect environment for the players in the future.


    ...


    Five stepped on the ninth floor accompanied by Dreidus and Angela. He wanted to see the progress made by the Crafting team. Although it was still in its early stage, the gnomes promised to bring out some results in just a few days.


    "Do you like your new laboratory? As a Grade 1 Alchemist, you now need a lot more things. Did you get everything?"


    "Thank you, Master. I already purchased all the equipment needed. I asked the Shamans to let me focus on Alchemy and they agreed," happily answered Angela.


    As soon as she came back from the auction, Angela immersed herself into her studies and to everyone''s surprise, she came out the very next day, having successfully concocted a Grade 1 Antidote. She finally reached the level of Grade 1 Alchemist after persevering for a whole month.


    Angela was happy to be useful to the dungeon. She regularly concocted potions, focusing on Recovery potions. Several chests in the labyrinth now gave out those potions.


    "May I ask where Harriet is? It is unusual for her not to be by your side," curiously asked Dreidus.


    "She went to scout the surroundings. It is as we expected; we found several tribes sending representatives to the Musclewood Tribe. The Shamans informed me of the situation. There is a high chance that they might attack soon and I sent Harriet to track their movements. I''ll need to summon some birds next to do the scouting. Maybe a new Beast King? What about the Brown Eagle King?"


    Dreidus nodded. "It is a good idea but right now is not the right time. I know you are eager to quickly complete the different biomes because of Noon''s warning about the monster attributes. But it is impossible to upgrade the dungeon in all these areas at once. We need to focus on specific areas and right now, I believe that the Crafting team should be our priority. We only have 250 thousand DP at the moment. We need to save them to summon a Goblin King and the Dwarves if you want to replicate what Tinyland did."


    "You are right. I must admit that that guy was quite smart. It is fortunate that he took away all the dungeon''s DP or else, we might have failed the raid."


    As they approached the working areas of the Goblins and Gnomes, he was quickly greeted by one of the surviving gnomes, Eto. Eto enthusiastically introduced Five to the workshop. As the latter observed the working goblins, he could not help but frown. Out of the seven goblins, four were currently lazing around in a drowsy state.


    It was only when they noticed the strangely silent atmosphere that these goblins noticed Five''s arrival and hurriedly jumped to their working station. Five wanted to scold them but stopped himself. He knew it was inevitable.


    Not all societal monsters were suited for crafting. As a matter of fact, even at Tinyland, more than half of the summoned monsters would not be suitable for crafting. These monsters would then undergo some training and would form the fighting corps of the dungeon. Tinyland was not only protected by mechanized robots but also by several Dwarves, Goblins, and Gnomes.


    Five should already consider himself lucky to have found three goblins suited for Engineering out of the seven he summoned. It was all thanks to the new effect: Dwarfism which improved the monsters'' talent for crafting. Without Dwarfism, Five''s goblins would have probably ended up like Kroff''s and become simple low-level monsters.


    As for why all seven gnomes were suited for crafting, it was simply because the filtering was already done at Tinyland. Five gnomes focused on Engineering while the last two specialized in Enchantments.


    Eto excitedly rubbed his hands when he saw Five''s twisted expression. He purposely did not warn the goblins. There was an everlasting rivalry between the two races and he naturally wanted his dungeon master to favor the gnomes.


    Five lightly coughed and asked, "So? What progress did you make so far? You said you would have something to show me."

 Chapter 140: Necromancy

    "Yes! Yes! Let me bring you to my work station," said Eto. He excitedly brought Five to a separate working station. There, Five saw a large piece of cloth, covering a circular object.


    The gnome felt Five''s curiosity and impatience. He did not waste time and pulled the piece of cloth, revealing a small round robot. The robot was about 40 cm high. Its body was large and round. It had an old rusty appearance due to the dull color of the metal; clearly, the gnomes did not bother about the aesthetics.


    "This is our fourth prototype, Alpha 4. I invite you to try to control it." Eto took out a metallic object and handed it to Five. It was a remote control!


    Being familiar with the object, Five pressed a few buttons and the robot reacted. Its movements were clunky, but it nevertheless took a few steps forward and waved its hands. Every time it moved, a loud clanking sound would sound from its fat belly.


    "The movements it can do are limited when controlled by the remote control. However, we are looking for ways to improve it. We know that at Tinyland, they have already developed Voice Recognition. Although we did have a look at the blueprints, the current grade of our profession is too low."


    Five continued to play with Alpha 4 for a while. "Not bad. I am satisfied with it. Please look for ways to improve it. Can this be used for battle?"


    "Not at the moment. It is mostly the goblins who focus on the battle side of Engineering. We will need a bit more time to incorporate weapons into it. However, it can already be used for manual tasks. I heard that you will be summoning Corrupted Servants soon. But we can do it like at Tinyland and use robots to do the work. They are cheap to make and will use less DP as they only consume a few Mana Crystals when operating."


    Eto carefully put forward the positive points of the robot. Although it was weak and could not be used for battle yet, after undergoing some upgrades, it would be perfect to perform all manual tasks.


    "Mmm... Alright. Please continue your work. If you need anything, you can ask Angela or Dreidus for it," answered Five.


    ''Using machines to replace manual workers. Looks like we are going through the industrial revolution. What a brilliant idea!''


    By doing so, Five would save a lot of DP. According to the gnomes, Tinyland was mostly automated. Robots did everything but there was a huge downside to this system.


    Robots could not be purchased in the dungeon shop. They were products of engineering and needed to be manually built. If a dungeon used exclusively robots to fight its enemies, once all the robots were destroyed, the dungeon would be completely defenseless. Therefore, the dungeon needed a massive crafting team to produce enough robots daily.


    Making a robot would take a gnome about twelve hours of work. It represented an entire day as gnomes were not undead monsters; they needed to eat and sleep. Considering that thousands of monsters died every day in his dungeon, Five found it unreasonable to make a floor dedicated to them.


    However, the fighting robots would have another use! The first thing that came to his mind when he saw it was how similar they were to an electronic pet! It was not unusual for games to have pets. There was even the Tamer profession which would allow the players to tame beasts and turn them into loyal companions.


    But what if the small robot was controllable by voice and could fight to some extent. It did not need to deal a lot of damage, only enough to be relevant. Didn''t the robot suddenly look very much like any regular pet? Once gnomes fixed its appearance, then it would make an excellent drop that would attract the players to his dungeon! The selling point was that anyone could own one; there was no need for specific professions or titles!


    Five had always been looking for ways to attract players and now, he finally found it. The players were like customers, he needed to give them a reason to make them come back. One way to attract the players would be to summon a lot of monsters and make them weaker than normal to provide them with an excellent hunting ground. However, this method would cost him a lot of DP but with the robots, he was providing them with a unique drop!


    "Thank you, Master. I promise that we will soon have a fully operational robot," exclaimed Eto.


    Five nodded and left the workshop with Dreidus and Angela. They went to the latter''s laboratory to have a quick look.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Along the way, Five commented, "Looks like we need to invest a little bit more in this crafting team. Such a pity we do not have other monsters capable of crafting. None of the Nosferatu have any aptitude for any profession. Are there any undead monsters capable of crafting?"


    Dreidus pondered for a moment. "Only societal monsters are able to craft. Among the true undead monsters, only the Bonesmen can craft. Coincidentally, they would also benefit from Dwarfism and practice engineering, but their technology mainly focuses on the use of bones."


    As Five listened to the lich, he recalled the information about the Bonesmen. They were essentially a smaller version of skeletons who were able to think for themselves. They were the only societal monster among the Undead monsters.


    "What about Necro Valley? How did the people there craft?" asked Five.


    Dreidus sighed. "To be honest, even I have a profession. It''s just that it is pointless to practice it now. I am a Necromancer."


    "I already know that. What does it have to do with your profession?" asked Five with a confused expression.


    "What I want to say is that Necromancer is both a class and a profession." Dreidus smirked at Five''s confused expression and explained:


    "Most people only know Necromancers because of their class. They can summon undead monsters to fight for them, similar to what summoners do. However, it is possible for us to upgrade the Undead Monsters and this is done by the Necromancer profession."


    "It mostly consists of rituals. For example, I can give classes to the undead. I can turn all the skeletons in the labyrinth into warrior skeletons or archer skeletons. They are not available in the dungeon shop because just like the robot you just saw, they are a product of a profession. The products of advanced professions like Necromancer or Engineer cannot be purchased directly. "


    "The problem is that Necromancers do not only require materials like the other professions, they also require living sacrifices. To evolve a simple skeleton into a Warrior Skeleton, it would require killing a living person and performing a ritual."


    Five and Angela quietly listened to Dreidus'' dull explanation. They were not aware of the existence of such a profession and would have never expected that Undead Monsters could actually be upgraded.


    "Necro Valley specializes mostly in undead monsters but they also look into all Dark attribute monsters. For example, we can turn the Shades of the Labyrinth into Necroshades with the right sacrifices. Sometimes, we can also combine undead monsters. Death Knights can be naturally summoned but they can also be artificially made by combining a Skeleton, an Undying Steed and a regular armor."


    "I know I should have told you about it before, but it would not have had much of an impact. There was no way for us to gather people to sacrifice and even if we can do it now, I am quite reluctant to perform this type of Necromancy."


    Dreidus sighed as he finished his explanation. They had already arrived at Angela''s laboratory and without asking for permission, he grabbed a seat and sat down with a tired expression.


    "Looks like Necro Valley is really a powerful force. Fortunately, it is located quite far from here," said Five. He allowed Dreidus to recollect his thoughts before asking, "May I ask why you are reluctant to perform that Necromancy? It would be greatly beneficial to the dungeon."


    The lich bitterly smiled. "There are two types of Undead. The first type consists of dead souls or creatures being summoned from the Purgatory or Hell. The second type consists of real living people being forcefully turned into Undead Monsters. Unfortunately, I form part of the second category."


    "When we first met, I told you that there might be some dangers in the future. Necro Valley is powerful and that is because all of its higher-ups are immortals who trained for centuries. The truth is that they will still die and their body would still decay but they found a way to transfer their souls into someone else''s body using necromantic rituals."


    "I was just a clueless recruit who trained painfully to climb the ranks, but little did I know that I was just getting closer to my doom. It is the customs of Necro Valley that once a member reaches a certain level, his body would be purified and prepared for the passage of souls. My soul would be destroyed and replaced by one of the old monsters of Necro Valley."


    "I escaped just before but unfortunately, the ritual had already started. I ran all the way to here and dug this cave. I knew I did not have long to live and, in the end, I cursed myself to prevent the soul transfer from happening. Even as my soul went to the purgatory, the elder of Necro Valley was unable to possess my body but, in the end, you called me back."


    "They are naturally furious after losing one of the bodies for the elders. Very few people can climb high enough to become bodies worthy of being possessed and my escape probably ended up in the death of one of the elders. After having gone through the rituals myself, I am reluctant to force other people to go through the same process. I hope that you will understand."


    Five listened to Dreidus'' long explanation. It was the first time he was speaking for so long and was even letting out some emotions near the end. As far as he was aware, Dreidus would only be slightly more open when talking to Lyra, with everyone else, he would always use his dull expressionless tone.


    "I understand Dreidus and as I said before, when time will come, we will protect you from them. It is fine if you do not want to do any necromancy on living people, but what about the dead? I''ve seen you turn two dead barbarians into living corpses without any qualms," asked Five.


    "Messing with the dead is fine. I have been doing this my whole life. Even killing people is fine. As long as the ritual does not consist of turning living people into Undead, I am willing to perform necromancy. Upgrading our Undead would require living people and animals though but that is fine. We will need to massacre an entire village if you want to give classes to the Undead Monsters. That is part of the reason why Necromancers are feared; they tend to kill a lot of innocent people to upgrade their Undead. It would be unwise to kill the barbarian of the Musclewood tribe," answered Dreidus.


    "Is the increase in power of the evolved monsters significant?" asked Five.


    "I would say it increases their fighting power by 20% to 40% depending on which monster. It does not increase by a lot but for normal necromancers, it is a huge qualitative change. Necromancers do not have a dungeon core that allows them to summon an infinite number of undead monsters. They have to improve the quality of the few Undead they have available to be relevant."


    Five nodded and suddenly realized something. "Is the reason you are telling me all of this because you want to help Lyra to evolve? As far as I am aware, she is already level 29 and is very close to leveling up. Level 30 is her level cap. Is your evolution able to raise it?"


    "Although I did not do it intentionally, if I am to perform necromancy, I would indeed like to help Lyra evolve. She can turn into a Wailing Lady and raise her level cap."


    ''I see. I said I would stop summoning Dark Attribute Monsters for now but there is no harm in building an army this way,'' thought Five. He paused for a moment before answering:


    "I can summon humans for you to do it, but it would cost a huge amount of DP. I do not want to touch the barbarians. Decreasing their population would just be shooting ourselves in the foot. However, there are two ways to go around this. All the barbarian tribes should have some graveyards which should be a great place for you to summon more Undead. Alternatively, we can just wait a little bit. If I am not wrong, there should be a lot of barbarians inviting themselves to our dungeon soon."

 Chapter 141: Peace

    "D*mn! Aery, stay hidden! This is not something we can deal with."


    "Kyu kyu?"


    "Shhh! Don''t make a sound and maybe they won''t notice us. Whenever you move, you always attract all sorts of monsters. Make sure to not attract these ones."


    Hidden in the crevice of a cliff, Two and Aery stared at the meeting of the powerhouses happening in front of them. Somehow, they ended up in this situation.


    When Two finally left the hideout of the Cursed Tribe, Aery sneakily escaped and followed him around. The latter was concerned about the little sheep but soon realized that Aery was a great attraction to all the nearby beasts. Wherever he was in the wild, the monsters would naturally move toward him, making it extremely easy to farm.


    The monsters were generally weak, and the pair decided to move to more remote areas where higher level monsters were found. However, they never expected the two big fishes in front of them to appear.


    A single man, completely dressed in white, was facing a huge undead army. His face was serene; he showed no fear even as he was staring at the level 60 Reapers. Two was unable to look at the man''s level but he had already recognized him.


    Having been a member of the church, he would naturally recognize one of the Commandments of the church.


    ''Wasn''t he supposed to be guarding his shrine in the Domogo Empire? What on earth is the Commandment of Peace doing here?'' Two''s mind was racing. He jumped in fright as he felt Aery''s smooth wool rubbing against his legs. The little sheep curiously moved forward to peek at the situation.


    "Necro Valley has been running rampant for quite a while now. Do you think we will not react and let you do as you please? Explain the reason for your actions and go back to your territory at once." The Commandment of Peace loudly spoke. His voice carried over the entire Undead Army.


    Two frowned. He had never heard of Necro Valley but for a Commandment to personally make a move, that organization was definitely not simple.


    "Who are you? Necro Valley is simply taking back what belongs to it. Once we retrieve back one of our escapees, we will immediately return to our territory." A female voice sounded from the back of the Undead Army but the speaker did not show herself.


    "Something that belongs to you? What is it? All the nobles were ordered to prevent people from going to the Valley of Death. No resident of the Sylvester Empire should have stepped onto your territory in the past decades," answered the Commandment of Peace.


    "It was an event that took place decades ago, probably even before you were born. One of our members ran away from his duty. To top it off, he was my fiancee at that time. Recently, we detected his energy wavelength again and my task is to bring him back to Necro Valley. I know you are a member of the church, but this matter has nothing to do with it," answered the female voice.


    At the same time, the undead army split into two, allowing a cloaked figure to stepped forward and face the Commandment of Peace.


    From Two''s point of view, he immediately noticed the woman''s hideous appearance under the cloak. Half of her face was rotten while the other was simply devoid of any skin. Her appearance was closer to that of a monster than a human.


    "Maybe you are right. But what''s your excuse for massacring the four villages you went through?" sarcastically asked the Commandment of Peace.


    "My Undead summons need to eat before going to hunt. It was they who tried to take advantage of a poor lady traveling alone. I only defended myself. Afterward, I got tired of doing so and simply decided to go on the offensive. Furthermore, my lord, you still haven''t presented yourself."


    "Tsssk. Of course, you can say that now that there are no witnesses. My identity does not matter. You did not even present yourself, so why should I do so first?"


    "It is a basic courtesy for a man to do so but fine. My name is Ivanna, Regent of the Eye of Death," proudly said the woman. The Eye of Death was the information agency of Necro Valley. By using Undead monsters, they could easily collect information across different empires.


    "The Eye of Death? If you really lead this organization, there is no way you don''t know me. Or is it that I have stayed at the shrine for too long and people already started forgetting about me? In any case, I don''t have time to continue this conversation. Please return to your valley."


    Silence fell on the mountain. The two parties motionlessly stared at each other. An invisible battle of will was taking place and none wanted to be the first one to break.


    Two could feel the atmosphere getting gloomier and gloomier. Until finally, Ivanna spoke. "I have always been curious about the power of a Commandment. You are praised across the entire continent but many claim that you do not deserve all the attention you are given. I guess it is time to find out the truth."Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    As soon as she finished speaking, the ground under the Commandment exploded as two purple arms grabbed his ankles; it was a level 70 Earth Revenant. At the same time, dark fumes appeared right behind the man as the figure of a level 80 Angel of Death appeared.


    Without a sound, her scythe sliced through the air and cut through the Commandment¡¯s neck. Ivanna smiled as she watched the scene. The Angel of Death was her strongest summon. After countless rituals, a captured Fallen Angel was slowly turned into an Angel of Death.


    However, her eyes widened as she looked at the scythe pressed against the Commandment''s neck. "What? How is that possible? Why did the scythe not slice it?"


    The commandment of peace nonchalantly looked at the Angel of Death before pushing the scythe away with his left hand. "Seems like the world really forgot about me. I am Argen, the Commandment of Peace. Let me help your inferior self understand what happened. In my presence, no damage can be dealt or taken. This is my passive ability, [Armistice]. I incarnate peace and prevent people from harming each other."


    "What? Impossible! What kind of skill is that?" exclaimed Ivanna. She furrowed what was left of her brows and ordered all her monsters to attack. The Angel of Death furiously hacked at the Commandment of Peace. At the same time, the Earth Revenant dug his claws into the Commandment''s legs while two other ghosts appeared and attacked him mentally.


    However, the Commandment did not move at all. "Since you attacked me first, I guess this gives me the right to fight back."


    He smiled as he took a step forward. Ivanna instinctively took a step back. As she saw the man approach. "You! Stop right here!"


    Despite her shouts, the Commandment of Peace did not halt his steps. Instead, he hastened his pace.


    "You! You think necromancers only depend on their summons?"


    [Mortal Ray]


    A bright black beam shot toward the Commandment of Peace but his HP bar still remained untouched. Without a care in the world, he continued to walk forward even as a barrage of attacks landed on his body.


    "You... What are you doing? Didn''t you just say that no damage can be dealt or taken? Why are you drawing your sword?" exclaimed Ivanna. Her voice shook as she hurriedly tried to leave.


    However, the Commandment of Peace did not give her a chance. His long blade sliced through the air, decapitating the poor woman in a single strike. All Ivanna''s summons trembled as they were forcefully returned to the dimension they came from. As their mistress died, they were unable to remain in this world.


    "I represent Peace. Armistices and negotiations do not always work and sometimes, the only way peace can be achieved is by destroying my enemies. This is the real ability bestowed upon me, [Betrayal]. Three times per day, I can attack my enemies. It is just too bad that you are so weak. I only needed one strike."


    Two shivered as he looked at the headless body of the woman. It all happened way too fast. The huge Undead army disappeared in an instant. They seemed invincible and yet, they were all annihilated with a single attack.


    ''So this is the power of a Commandment. No wonder Duncan said the Aries died to collect information about the powers of the Commandments. If they all had powers like that, it would indeed turn the tides of a battle in an instant,'' thought Two.


    A chill went down his spine as his gaze met that of the Commandment of Peace.


    "Come out. I have long noticed your presence. Aren''t you Two? Why did you not return to the church after the battle? You know we have been searching for you everywhere?" The Commandment returned to his usual carefree expression but Two knew very well that he was in danger.


    Since he had already been discovered, he stepped out of the crevice but pushed Aery deeper inside. He knew the church was after the Beast Cores and would not hesitate to take the little sheep''s life for it. Having played with Aery for a little while, he became attached to it and did not want it to die.


    "Are you Sir Argen? When I woke up, I found myself in an unknown area. I will return to the church very soon now that I know the way back. It is just that I have been encountering many monsters on my journey. It is not easy to travel alone," said Two.


    "Really? That''s fine then but why did you say you were alone? Isn''t there a sheep hiding with you? Bring it back with you and submit it to the church. You will obtain a lot of merits. Not only is it carrying the Aries'' core, but it also has a core itself! That''s two cores of the Sacred Beasts!"


    Two bit his lips. The situation was complicated. Aery had indeed been detected for a while now and when facing a Commandment, there was no way for him to protect Aery.


    Seeing his hesitation, the Commandment of Peace said, "What? Is there a problem? Don''t tell me you are planning to protect an Aries? Two, I had a much higher opinion of you. You know I like to resolve things peacefully..."


    Two took a step back. His gaze fell on the crevice where he saw a tiny pair of scared eyes looking at him.


    The Commandment took a step forward. He still looked carefree and friendly but just that one step put a large amount of pressure on Two. He instinctively wanted to step out of the way but forced himself to block the Commandment as he drew his sword.


    "Could it be that you want to fight? You watched what happened to that woman, right? This is a kind reminder that I still have two strikes left today."


    Two took a step back and even almost stumbled on a rock. However, he forced himself to stand firm and refused to move. If he did, Aery would die for sure.


    "Too bad. I knew you were a bad seed. I will send you back to the graveyard where you can go and repent for your actions." The Commandment slowly raised his blade but at that moment, a series of hisses sounded from the ground.


    A hole appeared in the ground from which a woman jumped out. A large cobra was wrapped around her right hand. The woman lightly laughed and said, "Oh, looks like I found someone. You, I have a few questions to ask you." She pointed her finger at Two.


    "Madam, may I know who you are? Please do not interfere in the matters of the church." The Commandment of Peace frowned at the disturbance but calmly asked. He lowered his blade, fully aware of the strength of the opposite party.


    Two stared at the woman. He could not see her level. It was clear she was not just an average person. Her looks were only average, but her eyes attracted Two''s gaze. Those eyes did not belong to a human; instead, they looked more like the ones of the Cobra. She had vertical pupils.


    "Hmmp. Madam? Do I look that old to you? And who are you? Did I talk to you? Go away and wait for me to finish my questioning."


    "Looks like this world is full of cocky women." The Commandment smiled as he repositioned himself.


    "Tssk. Don''t compare me to that Lich. Besides, you did not even kill her and only destroyed her physical body," answered the woman.


    Two froze. The scene in front of him suddenly changed. The Commandment lunged at the woman with his blade fully drawn. Two wanted to warn her but to his surprise, a bright light suddenly blinded him.


    When he opened his eyes again, Two was completely stunned. In front of the woman was a life-size statue of the Commandment of Peace holding his sword in an offensive posture.


    ''No... This is not a statue... This is the real Commandment of Peace! He was petrified!'' exclaimed Two in his heart.


    ¡®Gulp¡¯


    "Now that we have that annoying guy out of the way, do you mind answering a few questions?" asked the woman with a sweet voice as she turned her attention to Two.


    The latter felt a shiver run down his spine. "Yes. Please ask."


    "Well... Did you recently encounter a dungeon master who has a Harpy Queen as a monster? My child here detected a special scent from you," said the woman as she showed the cobra wrapped around her arm.


    "This... Indeed, I did meet them. Why?" asked Two.


    "Just asking. Do you know the way to his dungeon? This fellow wants its revenge but with his terrible sense of direction, it is impossible to find our way back to the dungeon in question."


    "Well... I don''t know the location of his dungeon, but I can show you where I last met them. It was about one week ago. Continue in this direction. Maybe the Cobra will find the trail back once it goes there," said Two as he pointed in a particular direction.


    "Alright. You don''t have to be so nervous. I have long detected the Aries hiding in the crevice but I am not interested in his core. My bloodline is too different. If only he was a Scorpio instead. At least the Sacred Beasts will owe me one now. You can take the equipment of these guys as a payment. Farewell!"


    As abruptly as she appeared, the woman jumped back into the hole and disappeared.


    Two looked at the scene in a daze. Everything happened way too fast; he still did not fully understand what happened. It was only after Aery rubbed itself against him that he woke up. "Aery. Let''s go back to the Cursed Tribe. Going outside is too dangerous. If we did not meet that woman, you might have died. From now on, we''ll listen to Duncan a bit more."

 Chapter 142: Declaration of war

    The atmosphere was tense and heavy at the central place of the Musclewood tribe. After being joined by the Forest Fox Tribe and the Scarlet Crow Tribe, the Black Iron Tribe expanded considerably. The three tribes used to be friends and already interacted with each other through trades. There were no conflicts among the tribesmen.


    However, at the moment, the nine members of the ruling council of the Musclewood Tribe were facing the delegation from the other tribes. A total of ten tribes allied together to face the Musclewood Tribe, much more than they were expecting. Originally, only five tribes were showing hostility toward the Musclewood Tribe but since the destruction of the nearby dungeons, five other tribes declared their intent in getting part of the dungeon.


    "It is fine if you don''t want us to stay on your land. This is the land of your ancestors and we will naturally respect them. However, you will need to hand over a portion of your loot in the dungeon. The dungeon is a natural resource that belongs to all the barbarians, not just the Musclewood Tribe. It is unfair if you monopolize all its resources. Furthermore, there is also that huge fireball from a few nights ago. It should have landed somewhere in the forest," declared Vans.


    Vans was a member of the Vicious Rhino Tribe. The Vicious Rhino Tribe was the second strongest tribe of the region, only falling behind the Swift Gazelle Tribe. However, the Swift Gazelle Tribe was located way too far from the Musclewood forest and here, the Vicious Rhino Tribe was the real tyrant.


    "You want us to give you the fruits of our hard work for free? Dream on. Why should we do so?" exclaimed Ganya. He was the former chief of the Forest Fox Tribe and now sat on the ruling council.


    Luka, the chief of the Black Vulture Tribe answered, "There is no over way around it since you don''t want us to enter your territory. Of course, you can choose to refuse but who knows what kind of things can happen. The harvest of the Blue Eagle Tribe has not been very good this year, you might not receive anything."


    He nodded to a nearby woman wearing a heavy mantle despite the weather conditions.


    "Furthermore, your tribe might also get raided. How do the townsmen call it? Right, they call it a protection fee. If you just hand over part of your harvest, we will protect your tribe and also the merchants who usually trade with you."


    Achi and the other members of the council frowned but they did not surrender to the blatant threat. The Shaman informed them of the deal with the dungeon. With an entity with such a massive Undead Army, they had nothing to fear even if it came from ten tribes.


    An unusual silence fell onto the barbarians until Old Luke, the Shaman decided to speak. "You can drop the act. We all know what you came here for. You better go back before you say too much or else¡­ We do not mind breaking the rules and getting rid of you right here."


    "You think that because you grouped together you might be able to destroy our tribe? The Musclewood Tribe won''t go down without a fight. Come at us if you dare!" The Shaman stared at each representative, showing his determination.


    ''What is happening? Why are they not intimidated by us? Do they have some sort of backing? I know there are two other tribes depending on the Musclewood forest but that is it. Could it be that we have some traitors among our ranks?'' thought Vans. His mind was racing.


    "You are trying to scare us? Then prepare yourself for battle. This is what you get for trying to be greedy. Not only do you not share your dungeon, but you also went to destroy our dungeon to make sure only your tribe can benefit from it!" exclaimed a young man called Rhaell; he was the chief of the Rat Snake Tribe.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "As we already explained it countless time, we did not make a move against your dungeon. It is the war between the dungeon masters that took place. It''s not as if we can order him around," said Old Dale. He appeared calm on the surface, but his single eye angrily glared at Rhaell.


    "We will have to ask you to leave. Continuing these negotiations will lead to nowhere. Men, please escort our friends outside," declared Ester. She raised her hand while nodding to the barbarians.


    "What? But the sun is already setting. You are going to push away your guests like that?" exclaimed one of the representatives.


    "You are not our guests. Leave at once. We will not entertain your tribes anymore."


    The tribe representatives were forcefully escorted out of the Musclewood Tribe. Despite their shouts and complaints, the Musclewood Tribesmen ignored them and left them out of sight of the village.


    From now on, they were no longer friends. All the barbarians were already aware of the events taking place. They also knew that the dungeon promised to protect them. Having all witnessed the huge Undead Army that succeeded in destroying two dungeons in just two days, the barbarians were confident in their strength.


    "What did we just see? These three tribes became arrogant just because they now control a dungeon? How dare they?" exclaimed Luka, trying to instigate the other tribes.


    "Tssk. Let them do as they please. It is the best outcome for us anyway. Why would we need to share the dungeon among thirteen people? Our ten tribes are more than enough to conquer the dungeon. The fewer people we have, the more benefits our tribes would obtain."


    Vans nodded. "Let''s quickly go back to the Vicious Rhino Tribe. I believe they should have also contacted the Bramble Deer Tribe. A dungeon is powerful and the Musclewood Tribe is probably planning to use it to defend itself but what if we get the assistance of another dungeon?"


    "Gather your men for now but we cannot attack yet. There were some merchants staying at their village. We''ll need to wait for them to leave and then we''ll take over their territory. As for how we will share it, I suggest we leave it to whoever contributes the most."


    ...


    "This pointless meeting is finally over. You three should quickly go and meet the merchants. There is no need to talk about transactions. Invite them for dinner and make them comfortable," Ester commanded to the chiefs of the three former tribes.


    Achi, Ganya and a third man called Wesh stood up and quickly went to the guest tents.


    "Things are going to get complicated from now on but if we succeed, we might very well destroy all those hostile tribes in a single move," commented Old Dale while watching the departing figure of the three chiefs.


    They swiftly arrived in front of a well-decorated tent and gently tapped the bell outside.


    "Hello. This is Achi. Is Iron Shark available? We apologize for the delay. Unfortunately, we had to deal with some undesirable people."


    The tent flap slid open as Iron Shark stepped out, looking visibly tired. "Brother Achi! I was just taking a short nap from the journey. Don''t worry. I understand that your tribe is very busy, but I hope it won''t affect our trade much. We also made some deals with the other tribes."


    "Don''t worry about it. Everything will be solved by next week. We won''t stop you from trading with others. Let me present to you these two men. I believe you might have already met. This is Ganya and this is Wesh. We''ve merged our tribes together," said Achi while showing the two men accompanying him.


    "Yes, I''ve met them before. I did not expect your tribes to merge together," answered Iron Shark, unsure whether it was good or bad news to him.


    "Come with us, Iron Shark. We would like to invite you and your friends to our tribe''s meal."


    "Alright but I have to warn you. I brought with me the children of an elder of my guild. They are not very tactful and might offend you. I hope you won''t take to heart what they say."


    "It looks like you are not very fond of them but sure, we will give you some face," answered Ganya.


    Iron Shark gratefully nodded. "Thank you, Chiefs. I have one more thing to ask you before I bring them here. A few days ago, I saw a huge meteor falling from the sky. When going to the nearby tribes, they informed us that it probably fell near your tribe. May I ask if that is the case?"


    "Oh? You are talking about the meteor. It did indeed fall in our territory. We collected some of its shards, but we don''t know its use yet." Achi explained as he recalled the words of the Shamans. They agreed to trade the shards with the townsmen for now until they discovered its use.


    "Really? Then, I would like to ask to have a look at the meteor. The townsmen are very curious about it. They have asked us to gather some information about it."


    "Hmmm. We are willing to trade with you Iron Shark but I believe you are not stupid. If the idea of invading our territory ever crosses the mind of the townsmen, you know very well that our trade will be affected. This ore is definitely precious..." said Achi.


    Iron Shark trembled. As soon as Achi spoke, he saw the barbarian''s opinion of him go down by a notch. Thanks to one of his items, Iron Shark was able to see his relationship level with the NPCs in term of percentage. His relationship with the three chiefs all just went down by 10% because of that one sentence!


    "Say no more, chiefs. I value our relationship. I won''t mention this matter again." The very reason he was able to raise his status was because of his trade with the barbarians. If he somehow angered them, for the sake of just one quest, he would destroy everything he had built.


    "Looks like you are smart. Although we do not want the townsmen to know about these ores, we do not mind selling a few to you."

 Chapter 143: Dungeon meeting

    "Very interesting. I thought this battle would be our next trial but it seems like the system has something else in reserve. It is probably because we are not the target but rather the Musclewood Tribe is," commented Five after he listened to Harriet''s report.


    The Harpy Queen had been spying on the barbarians from the sky and picked up a few interesting conversations.


    "Did you get to check the dungeon of the Bramble Deer Tribe? If they planned to join hands with the barbarians to attack us, it will be better for us to know what kind of monsters they have."


    "I did not. I cannot get close to a dungeon without them noticing me. However, I believe this dungeon consists mainly of fire-type monsters. I observed the barbarians going in and out of the dungeon. They would often come out covered with ashes and burn marks. But don''t take my words for it," answered Harriet.


    "A dungeon that focuses on fire?" murmured Five. He had long noticed that dungeon tended to focus on a specific type or attribute of monsters. It was mainly due to the buffs offered by their dungeon cores, but the Core of Madness did not give him any buffs aside from an increase in DP and a few skills.


    "Does that mean we should summon a few water creatures?" It was Five''s first thought to deal with fire creatures. Unfortunately, the monster''s attribute did not affect the damage they dealt or receive but the environment they were in could. A fire attribute monster would not feel comfortable and would be weakened in a humid environment.


    "I don''t think we need to concern ourselves with the monsters of that dungeon. Why don''t we take advantage that their main force would attack our dungeon to sneak attack him and destroy their core? Once destroyed, all the monsters would disappear," said Dreidus.


    "No. There is no way to guarantee that the dungeon would send all its strong monsters. Besides, without Harriet, it will be impossible to conquer the dungeon quickly and without her, I am not confident in protecting the dungeon either. Also, you must not forget that the raids were easy because of the absence of the dungeon masters. If they were there, they would have spent their DP to summon monsters and impede your progress through their dungeon."


    Dreidus lowered his head. "I spoke too quickly. But still, I don''t think the other dungeon will be a real threat. The real issue is the tribes. There will be so many of them and even Harriet won''t be able to deal with so many of them. Why don''t we attack the nearby hostile tribes now before they rally together?"


    Five shook his head. "It is not that easy. The barbarians look defenseless but the actual strength of the barbarian villages lies in their totem spirit. The beast spirit protecting each tribe is different. Although we know they won''t be at Noon''s level, we should not underestimate them. I spoke to the Shamans. They did not reveal any information about their own totem, but they did confirm that the level of all the totem spirits lies in the range of forty to fifty."


    "I see. Harriet can deal with a few but if ten totem spirits gang up on her, the situation might get ugly," commented Dreidus with a thoughtful expression.


    "I still suggest going on the offensive," said Harriet. Her eyes beamed with confidence. "We already know that after this battle, a few tribes will inevitably disappear and get absorbed by the other larger tribes. There is no harm in causing some chaos. Why don''t you ask the Shamans for some information about the totem spirit of the hostile tribes? If we have the ability to get rid of them, we should do so. It would avoid trouble in the future and considerably weaken the army that will be coming our way."This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Five sighed. He looked at Harriet and Dreidus. "You two are really excited after the successful raids you had. It feels to me that you just want to experience that feeling of power and conquest. But fine. I already said we should not stay passive for too long. We will gather information for now and if we can, I don''t see why we should hold back. Destroying a village is in line with our plan to upgrade our Undead monsters."


    "We shall do as you say, master."


    "On another note, why don''t you summon the Flame Scarab Warrior now? I know the volcanic biome is not built yet but since you have one available for summoning, you should let him start leveling up. He might be useful in the upcoming battle," said Dreidus.


    "Maybe but now is not the right time. We will wait for the volcanic biome to be ready first," said Five. He has been holding back on summoning the Flame Scarab Warrior in his inventory. He did not have anything against the monster, but he did not want the presence of a new Boss Monster to affect the dungeon.


    The dungeon was still relatively small. Having too many captains on board of a ship would only lead to disaster! At the moment, Dreidus was essentially taking care of all the Undead monsters while Harriet was looking after the rest of the dungeon. She delegated her job to Angela and Alice. The former looked after the crafting department while the latter oversaw the other monsters like the Nosferatu.


    If a Flame Scarab was summoned now, he would have nothing to do and could break the harmony of the dungeon.


    "In that case, we can only wait," answered Dreidus. He was not offended that his proposal was rejected. "Do any of you have anything to add?"


    "I do." A timid and hesitant voice sounded from the corner of the meeting room. It was Ivan, the Nosferatu. As soon as he spoke, Alice shot him a glance, but the Nosferatu ignored her.


    "It''s like that. We are very happy with our living conditions but when are you going to summon the Corrupted Servants? We, the Nosferatu have been doing all the transportation work for now, but it is time to start looking for an actual solution, right?"


    Five did not answer the question. Instead, he turned to look at Eto, the gnome.


    The latter felt Five''s stare and spoke, "I asked master to postpone the summoning of the Corrupted Servants. We are making a lot of progress in our research. We should soon have a fully functional robot capable of transporting items. By using robots, it will save the dungeon a lot of DP. We need to bite the bullet for the greater good."


    Ivan wore a frustrated expression. "Fine, gnome. But don''t take too long."


    Five could already anticipate the future headaches he would have when trying to solve all the issues of the dungeon. ''The communication between the different races is not here yet...''


    "Anything else you want to talk about?" asked Five as the meeting room became silent.


    "No? Fine, then this concludes this meeting. Good work everyone."


    Five sank in his chair as he watched the monsters leaving one by one. He sighed. In the end, the biggest problem of his dungeon was the lack of DP. Although he was earning a lot more DP than before, it was still not enough to satisfy all the monsters.


    He promised the harpies to summon more of them, but he obviously could not afford to do so now. He promised Ivan to summon more Nosferatu and now that they were here, they were complaining about the job allocated to them. The goblins and gnomes were also asking for more material and equipment.


    All these issues could be solved simply by having enough DP. At the moment, he was saving up his DP for the upcoming battle. Five now had enough to unlock the Goblin King and even an Elder Dwarf. However, he did not want to invest too much in crafting when his dungeon was at risk of being invaded.


    "If only I had enough DP... The new monsters are too demanding. I miss the Undead who were always satisfied with what they had," said Five to himself.


    At that moment, a buzzing sound resonated in Five''s ears. "Lumen? Is that you?"


    As Five opened his eyes, he saw the Firefly Queen buzzing on his shoulder. Lumen had been quite happy these days. Five summoned a lot of fireflies for her to play with and with the expansion of the dungeon, they had a lot more space to play. The only area they did not dare to go to was the room where the spiders were staying at.


    Furthermore, Lumen was also in a good mood after having made a new friend. Five recently unlocked the level 5 Brown Slime. This monster was incredibly weak, but it had the ability to dispose of all wastes and fecal matter. As the dungeon was growing, they now needed a way to get rid of the waste and to keep it clean; this is where the Brown Slime comes into play.


    "Bzzz Bzzz"


    "What is it, Lumen?" asked Five. He could not understand the little insect; out of all the monsters, only Angela seemed to be able to understand the Firefly Queen.


    Frustrated, Lumen loudly buzzed and flew out of the meeting room. A few seconds later, Angela walked back into the meeting room, carrying Lumen.


    "What is it?"


    "Master, Lumen is saying that she can help you get a lot of DP. She says the Fireflies are not useless."


    "Of course, you are not useless. What is your idea?"

 Chapter 144: Quest

    "This is so boring! Father said we would discover a lot of things in this unexplored area. But so far, it has only been meetings and speaking to the barbarians. I don''t even get to level up... It is so bad, only those with the Trader profession are getting any exp. No wonder this team is so underleveled compared to the rest of our guild."


    "Marco, stop complaining. You know we are just being sent here so that father can register it as our contribution. He would be very happy if we get the profession too. You are just bad at fighting. If you want to level up, maybe you should spend a few days at the training center to get your basics right." A young woman rolled in the furs serving as her bed. She nonchalantly looked at the hot-blooded young man walking around the tent. His IGN was Espadon.


    "Fine. You''ve got a point, but I don''t like how they all look at me with those condescending looks. You saw how they treat us because of our special position? D*mn that Iron Shark. I should be the one in charge! I gave him some face in front of his team, but I don''t want to spend a whole week just riding horses and sleeping in tents like this one."


    The woman continued to browse her interface and absentmindedly answered. "Well, you''ve got to get used to it. I don''t know why we are staying in this village even after completing the tribe but there should be a reason."


    "That''s another thing I don''t understand! He is just wasting time and reporting false information to the guild so that he can slack off for a few days! D*mn... It''s so hot in there, I''ll go out for a walk," said the young man. Without looking at his sister, he pushed open the flap of the tent and left.


    Espadon wandered around the camp, allowing the breeze of the night to cool him down. The area they set up their tent was quite deserted. The players got permission to set up tents for the night; some stayed in the caravans, but others had to build their own shelter. Important people like Iron Shark were directly invited to stay at the Musclewood''s guest tent.


    Espadon was frustrated about his experience in this expedition. He walked out of the player''s area and wandered around the village. He felt the stares of the barbarians on guard but ignored them. ''Why do we have to stay in this boring village? It is such a waste of time.''


    He continued to walk around and soon, was about to leave the village. There were no walls surrounding the village. With the recent expansion, the barbarians did not have time to build any fortifications.


    "Hey! Where are you going?" exclaimed a rough voice.


    Espadon turned toward the speaker. It was a tall barbarian. He sneered and continued on his way. "I am just having a look around. What? Am I a prisoner? I can''t even leave the camp?"


    The barbarians twitched. He grabbed his ax at his waist but before he could make a move, a strong hand held his shoulder. "Stop. The chief warned us about this character. Just report it to the townsmen, they will look for him."


    "Cocky piece of sh*t..." The barbarian spit on the ground before following his friend back to the camp. They needed to warn the townsmen.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ...


    Espadon wandered around and soon, arrived at the edge of the forest. There was a small stream of water in front of him. He crouched down and splashed some water on his face. ''There is nothing dangerous in this area, so why are we not allowed to come and hunt in this forest?''


    He briefly looked at the peaceful scene when suddenly, Espadon noticed a bright source of light in the distance.


    Intrigued, he walked toward lights. From afar, they looked like sparkling particles in the water. Espadon recalled how in the past, people used to collect gold off the small streams of water like this one. The thought of having possibly found a gold mine crossed his mind but as he got closer, he was disappointed.


    The sources of lights were just small fireflies flying at the surface of the water. However, with a second glance, Espadon noticed how the fireflies were arranged in a particular order! They buzzed as they were slowly carried by the water, displaying the message, "FOLLOW US".


    "This?" Espadon was confused. Was this a coincidence? But as he was standing still in a daze, the fireflies suddenly took off and flew in the distance. They were still brightly displaying their message as they disappeared from Espadon''s field of view.


    The latter''s first reflex was to give chase. "Hey, wait!" He ran after the fireflies. Fortunately, they were not very fast. After a few strides, Espadon easily caught up and stayed at a reasonable distance from them.


    The fireflies continued to fly in the depth of the forest and soon, Espadon saw another silhouette appear in the middle of the trees. It was a short woman wearing a plain white dress. Her looks were ordinary, but she emitted a white glow, making her stand out of her surroundings.


    "What is this? A ghost?" exclaimed Espadon as he suddenly froze. He took cover behind the bushes and observed the scene.


    The fireflies quickly converged to the woman and excitedly flew around her. "Who is it? Who is hiding there?" exclaimed the woman as her gaze brushed past Espadon''s hiding spot.


    "What is this? What is an NPC doing here?" asked Espadon. He hesitated for a moment before stepping out of the bushes and approaching her. Above her head, he could see "Lyra, level: 29".


    He was not scared of the woman. Instead, he believed that she was an opportunity! Her name was displayed in white, indicating that she was neutral.


    "Young adventurer. What are you doing in the woods so far from civilization?" asked Lyra with a calm expression.


    "I am with a merchant group. We are staying at the barbarian''s village just outside the forest," hesitantly answered Espadon. He stayed at a safe distance from Lyra.


    "Those scaredy-cats? They don''t even leave the safety of their village at night. They are too far away for me to contact them... But maybe you can help me?"


    "Help you? How?" asked Espadon.


    "I cannot leave for the otherworld yet. Those monsters stole my precious belongings. I need your help in retrieving my treasures."


    As Lyra spoke, Espadon suddenly received a system prompt:


    [System prompt: You have triggered a quest "Lyra''s plea" (Unique)]


    Help Lyra retrieve her belongings from the evil monsters.


    Task: Go to the Dungeon of Madness and collect ''Lyra''s chest'' on the fifth floor.


    Duration: 6 hours


    Rewards: 20000 exp and ???


    Note: This quest can be shared with up to twenty other players but only you will receive the mysterious reward.


    "A quest?" exclaimed Espadon with a surprised expression. "No wonder father said this is an unexplored area. Just by wandering around like that I already got a quest?"


    "Naturally miss, I will help you," said Espadon without a thought.


    Lyra gently smiled. "Thank you very much. If you did not appear, I would have to wait for the next full moon to materialize in this world again. You don''t have very long to help me. I will have to leave at dawn. Follow this river and you will eventually reach a waterfall. There is a small entrance somewhere on the side of the cliff. It is the dungeon of those monsters who stole from me. They are keeping it in a secret room on the fifth floor! You will find several standing stones in the middle of a plain, just push one of the stones to open the entrance. Inside, you will find my chest. Please bring it to me."


    Espadon excitedly smiled, "Say no more, miss! I will be back in a few hours with your items!"


    Lyra nodded and disappeared in the middle of the night. The fireflies had long left the scene.


    ...


    "What? Thank you, brothers. I will immediately look for that kid. He is always causing us trouble. May I trouble you to guide us through the forest?" Iron Shark hurriedly walked out of his tent as he woke up his men.


    He sent several messages to the players in his team and headed to the youngster''s tent. Unfortunately, Espadon was not answering!


    "Electric Eel? Where did your brother head off to? He left the camp in the middle of the night, what if something happens to him?" asked Iron Shark with a frustrated tone.


    A young woman stepped out of her tent when she heard the commotion. "What? Did he leave the village? He told me he would just wander around..."


    Iron Shark sneered. "Let''s go and look for him. That kid..."


    Fifty players left the village accompanied by a few barbarians. They went to search in all directions just in case the troublesome youth would randomly decide to head in a different direction.

 Chapter 145: Entering the secret room

    "Now. Where did that stupid child go?"


    Iron Shark entered the forest accompanied by four other players, including Espadon''s sister. They divided themselves into groups of five, some were led by the barbarian guards while others were left alone.


    Iron Shark was annoyed and frustrated at the child''s immature behavior. He wanted to become the strongest and make a name for himself but clearly, he was not talented at the game. The very proof was that even his father was unable to make him join the exploration or farming teams.


    Suddenly, Electric Eel interrupted Iron Shark''s thoughts. "My brother just sent me a message. He told me to quickly walk down the stream of water."


    "Your brother answered you? That f*cker! He blocked me? Let''s hurry up. Tell him not to move," answered Iron Shark.


    The group quickly walked through the forest and soon, saw the small proud figure of Espadon. He confidently smiled but before he could speak, Iron Shark angrily smacked his head. "You little sh*t... Why can''t you stay at the camp obediently? You are always causing trouble!"


    "Ah! What was that for? There was no need to hit me. If I did not go out, I would not have obtained this new quest!" Espadon hurriedly took a step back as he readjusted his hair.


    "A quest? What quest? Just what did you do when running away?" asked Iron Shark. He forced himself to calm down as he heard the word ''quest''.


    "I''ll make it clear! I did not run away. I simply walked around to get some fresh air. I met an NPC a few minutes ago. She gave me a quest and I can share it with up to twenty people. Here sis, join me!" happily said Espadon. He condescendingly looked at Iron Shark.


    Surprised, Electric Eel briefly checked her interface and as her brother had said, she indeed received a new quest. "Marco, you should share it with Iron Shark. Without him, we won''t be able to clear it. There is a reason it asked you to look for twenty more allies." Electric Eel apologetically looked at Iron Shark. She knew her brother was just trying to get on the team leader''s nerves, and she needed to do something.


    Iron Shark crossed his arms as he did his best to hide his glare full of anger.


    Espadon briefly looked at Iron Shark. He did not believe he needed to help for this quest, but he also knew his sister was smart. ''She is probably right. Furthermore, I want to see his face when he sees that only I will get a mysterious reward!''


    "Fine. Here team leader. Don''t say I am not a team player anymore."


    Iron Shark grumbled. He nevertheless accepted the quest and looked at the description. His eyes widened. "There is a dungeon nearby? Where is it?"


    "Somewhere down the river, near a waterfall," answered Espadon. He quickly added the three other players to the quest.


    "A dungeon was actually found so close to the barbarian village. Could it be the reason why the Black Iron Village was more active and why the two other tribes decided to join them? The dungeon could explain the sudden influx of items. We should go and have a look and complete the quest along the way.¡±


    "Let''s go to the dungeon then. I will invite the other players to make the numbers. It is better to take the groups not led by the barbarians," commanded Iron Shark and quickly, the group started moving.


    ...


    Inside the dungeon, Iron Shark and his group stood just outside the labyrinth. They were waiting for the other players to arrive. After the barbarians started coming to the dungeon regularly, the entrance and the first floor was widened; it became much more accessible.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "So there really is a dungeon here... I have to admit that it was a good find. I will notify the elders of the guild. If our guild can completely monopolize a dungeon, we will be able to get a lot of items!"


    "Hmmp. Don''t even try to take all the credits for it. I did all the work this time," proudly declared Espadon.


    "I know." Even if he did not want to admit it, it was indeed thanks to Espadon that they have found the dungeon. Iron Shark wrote a short report and sent it to Blue Lagoon¡¯s elders. It was the advantage of being a player. There was no need to travel long distances to speak to someone, he could simply send messages through the system.


    A few minutes later, the other players finally arrived, and the exploration of the dungeon started. "Let''s not lose any time, we''ve already wasted a few minutes."


    A total of thirty players started exploring the labyrinth. Although only twenty could get the rewards, there was no harm in having extra manpower. The remaining twenty were still looking around the village accompanied by the barbarians. They had no idea that the dungeon was currently being explored.


    The players were different from the beasts; they did not instantly find the correct way in the labyrinth. Some ended up going to the pond and another group entered the forest. It was only after a whole hour of exploration that they finally found the stairs to the third floor.


    The monsters of the labyrinth were not a threat to the players. The only real threat was the fact that the labyrinth was ever changing. It would normally not happen during the day but at night, dungeon masters were free to implement any changes they wanted. The weakest player was at level 20 while the strongest was Iron Shark at level 28.


    The graveyard was not very dangerous either with the monsters'' average level set at 17. Only a few careless players fell to the Plague Zombies. The team was not really proficient in combat, but they still easily cleared out the graveyard before moving to the haunted forest.


    There, the team lost a few other players to the surprise attack of the Treants. They became extremely careful as their number dwindled to 23 and slowed down their pace. They were moving as fast as possible before due to the time limit on the quest but now, they became cautious.


    The Banshees and the ghouls were annoying but, in the end, Iron Shark''s team triumphed. Fortunately, the monsters did not respawn very quickly and along the way, they were able to pick up a few herbs.


    After spending almost two hours in the dungeon, Iron Shark finally stepped onto the fifth floor, the plains roamed by the Death Knights, Abominations and Mylingars.


    This time, the players lost their level advantage and considerably slowed down their pace. They could no longer carelessly rush in and had to carefully manipulate the aggro of the monsters one by one. They slowly made their way to the standing stones and although none of the players died, they expended quite a few recovery items.


    "We are almost here! Don''t rush. There are still three hours to complete the quest. Fortunately, this dungeon is not a large as the one at the cities," said Iron Shark. He led the charge, pulling a single abomination from a pack and the team showered it with spells.


    Once they reached the standing stones, the players did not immediately open the entrance to the secret room. Instead, they used them as covers and got rid of the nearby enemies.


    "Alright. The area is clear. Quickly open the secret room."


    "Rumble Rumble!" The ground trembled as a small entrance appeared. The players were excited. Not only did they find an unexplored dungeon, but they also found one of its secret rooms on their first expedition!


    Many secret rooms have already been found in other dungeons and they all contained precious items but this time, since it was due to a quest, Iron Shark did not have very high expectations. He knew the main reward would be given by the NPC.


    "Guardians and Monks! Go ahead," shouted Iron Shark.


    Guardian was an advanced class of Paladin while Monk was a class further down the warrior path. Both specialized in absorbing damage and protecting their teammates.


    Five players rushed in the secret room followed by Iron Shark and the rest. Espadon recklessly charged in. He was a Berserker, another advanced class of warrior. He needed to quickly hit an enemy or his battle buff would run out.


    He was about to run past the guardians when he saw the monsters hiding in the secret room. He froze, there were four liches floating around a pedestal on which a shiny chest was tempting the players. The problem was that the liches were level 30!


    Espadon was still at level 25 and knew very well that he did not stand a chance against a level 30 monster. Even against other level 25 monsters, he would need a teammate to successfully defeat it.


    The battle began. As soon as the monks entered the liches aggro range, the undead summoned skeletons and zombies to defend themselves. Iron Shark monitored the operations from behind. He was about to shout an order when he suddenly noticed a name being grayed out on his interface.


    "What? Someone just died?" It was not an isolated case, two other names soon lost their luster, indicating two more deaths.


    All the original 23 remaining players had already entered the room. Five of them were standing at the back watching the entrance but they did not seem to have encountered any enemies.


    "Be careful! There might be invisible monsters! Three of our comrades already died," shouted Iron Shark but at the same time, a fourth name was grayed out.


    "Ah! Be careful, I just saw it! There is another level 30 monster! They are called Defacers. I just saw one using [Stealth]. They are targetting the lower level players!" A player shouted as he saw his comrade''s body lifelessly fall on the ground.


    "Boom Boom!" At the same time, the loud steps of an Abomination resonated through the secret room as one walked down the stairs at the entrance.


    "F*ck. We are surrounded!" cursed Iron Shark. The players were already doing what they could but defeating monsters five levels above their own was not easy even with the numerical advantage they had.


    Two liches fell but they bought enough time for eight players to fall. The Abominations were still contained at the entrance, but the Defacers were running rampant in the shadows.


    "D*mn! This is not going to be easy but at least, we can respawn directly at the Musclewood Tribe," cursed Iron Shark. The situation did not look good at all.


    "Respawn at the tribe? How is that possible? You changed your respawn point without warning us?" exclaimed Espadon who was struggling to catch his breath.


    "If you did not run away from the village, maybe we could have changed yours too. Do you think I am doing nothing when I speak with the barbarians? I already negotiated with them and they agreed to allow us to respawn in their village."


    "F*ck!" Espadon cursed but at the same time, a cold blade pierced his back. He quickly turned around, swinging his swords behind. Thanks to the effects of his berserker skill, he was completely immune to pain and the lower his HP was, the more damage he would deal!

 Chapter 146: Quest failure

    "I am really surprised. The barbarians must really trust us. They did not send a single guard to look at the dungeon''s entrance or the forest. Even the meteor is not guarded," commented Five as he observed the fight taking place on the fifth floor.


    "Five. Was it really a good idea? With the Defacers and the Haunting Ghosts, they do not stand a chance. You are killing all these adventurers. Didn''t you say that to keep them coming, we need to put enough wealth in their eyes and allow them to survive? To aim for small but consistent profits rather than short and large ones?" asked Harriet.


    "It''s different this time. They are the new type of adventurers, the one that can revive after their death. It is fine to kill them. Even if they come out empty-handed, they will come back. The context is different. They are here for a quest and they came here at night. They should realize that the difficulty of the dungeon was much higher than normal. We also sent quite a few monsters to their death. They should have obtained a few exp and items."


    Five watched the battle taking place from the comfort of the meeting room. It did not take long for all the players to die. They were facing level 30 monsters and there was an endless stream of monsters rushing from outside. Even as they used their items, they took out a few monsters, but they were unable to escape their fate.


    ''Killing people is really the fastest way to obtain DP.'' During the few minutes, the fight lasted for, Five earned more DP than he would have in an entire day. Thirty players all above level 20 came to the dungeon. After the update, an enemy would now generate 500 DP per level on their death. Just for dying, the players generated 370 thousand DP. Adding in the DP generated by the health they lost, the time spent in the dungeon, and the refund from the monsters'' death, Five earned a total of 530 thousand DP.


    When taking into consideration the cost of respawning the monsters and resources, Five made a profit of 420 thousand DP.


    Unfortunately, killing groups of players like this could not be done too often. Although players could respawn, they would not want to farm at a dungeon that was too hard for them. If they died too often, they were likely to move on and look for other hunting areas.


    In this scenario, because of the quest, it was safe to assume that the players would come back at least once. When this would happen, Five would be lenient toward them and treat them as regular visitors.


    "It''s over. Can you go and bring back the two Harpy''s Bloods?" asked Five. The main reason Five was confident that the players would return was not the quest. It was because he also placed additional baits in the secret rooms. The Harpy''s Blood was a Grade 3 equipment! They were meant for players ranging from level 30 to level 40. Considering how most players were under level 30, how could they not be attracted by these weapons?


    Naturally, Five never planned on giving these weapons to the players; they were just for show. Now that all the players were dead, he would simply give them to the harpies. Angela and Alice would be delighted to have a tailored weapon at hand.


    "Sure. I''ll pick all the items dropped by these adventurers along the way. They should be at least Grade 2 equipment," answered Harriet.


    She quickly exited the meeting room, leaving Five alone. The latter blankly stared at the screen. Lumen was rather simple-minded. Her suggestion had been to use the fireflies as baits again to attract people. It was simple, yet effective. Using her suggestion as a foundation, Five requested Lyra to guide the players toward the dungeon. He was not sure whether his monsters could issue quests, but it turned out that they could! It was a piece of valuable information that could come in handy later on.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Five was very satisfied with the night. He earned a decent amount of DP and also showed the location of his dungeon to some players. It would be good if he could lure other players but he also needed to focus on the incoming battle.


    He currently had over 1.2 million DP but he did not know how much to invest and how much to keep for the battle. The wrong choice could lead to his fall.


    "Sigh... What about you? When are you going to hatch?" He turned his attention to the corner of the room where the Nerubian Egg was standing in the middle of the shards of the meteor.


    It was Harriet''s idea to keep the egg in a similar environment to its origins. As they could not leave the egg in the crater, they decided to bring back a few shards of the meteor and build a small nest. Fortunately, the shards would continuously reappear after being picked; there was an endless supply of them. The only task now was to find a way to use it. The crafting team was already looking into it, but research took time.


    Nerubians were spider-like creatures who came from space! Compared to other insects, Nerubians were light attribute monsters like all other monsters that roamed space. They could actually be bought via the dungeon shop. One Nerubian cost 100 thousand DP!


    However, they needed an appropriate environment to be unlocked. They needed an environment where the gravity was less than a tenth of Earth''s gravity. It was possible to modify the dungeon''s gravity, but the cost was enormous. This led Five to believe that the Nerubian Egg would need a similar environment to hatch but he was keeping hope that just like the auctions allowed dungeon masters to bypass these conditions, the egg would also do so.


    ...


    [System prompt: 24 hours have passed, reconstructing your body, death penalties still in effect!]


    Iron Shark opened his eyes and found himself in the guest tent of the Musclewood Tribe. It was the respawn point he had set for himself. After the first update, it became possible for players to respawn at other locations aside from the graveyards, but they needed special permission to do so. Players would typically set up their respawn point at the inn they were staying at.


    Achi and the other chiefs warned him that there might be some trouble on their return journey and offered him to stay at the Musclewood village until the conflict was over. At the same time, the barbarians wanted to make use of the players to get a few additional fighters on their side.


    Iron Shark was frustrated. He has lost two levels in this fight. They had been so close to reaching Lyra''s treasure chest but in the end, they were completely overrun by Undead Monsters. Now, it was too late. Although he knew of the existence of the dungeon, they failed the quest and according to Espadon, they would need to wait a whole month before attempting it again.


    Others might not have noticed it, but Iron Shark did. The Secret room was rather empty; it was different from others which were littered with gold coins but at the end of the room, Iron Shark saw a neat shelf full of potions and next to it, a pair of daggers was hanging on the wall. He was too far to identify the potions, but he could clearly see that the daggers were Grade 3 weapons!


    Grade 3 weapons were not rare. They could be bought at the different shops in a city but they were expensive! Now that players were reaching level 30, these weapons were in high demand. If he could get his hand on these, the daggers alone would have outclassed all the profits he made from the trip.


    ''That kid probably respawned back at the Tolden Encampment. He is going to complain again. Well... Let''s check the leader''s answers.''


    Iron Shark did not immediately leave his tent. He started browsing his messages. He could not perform any actions for a whole twenty-four hours after his death and during that time, he had already received a series of answers after informing the guild of the dungeon.


    As it was an unexplored dungeon, the guild quickly wanted to take control of it and monopolize its loot. Not only would it serve as a great source of rare items, but it would also become the foundation of the cities they would build in the next expansion! Cities were built in resourceful locations and what were dungeons? They could provide much more resources than what a few mines could.


    The guild leader''s message was clear: "Keep an eye on the dungeon and make sure no one else learns about it."


    Furthermore, the guild leader also answered Iron Shark''s previous inquiry. The barbarians did not simply ask Iron Shark to stay at the village. They also asked him to call his guild to protect them. Although they had the dungeon as their back up plan, they did not want to use it yet.


    Iron Shark was puzzled at first and asked for the guild leader for advice. He was very clear about the situation. More than ten tribes were ganging up on three other tribes, but he did not know the reason. He naturally did not want to fight on the weaker side. He was curious. Why the barbarians were not anxious?


    Even as a force three times larger than theirs was making its way toward their village, none of the barbarians were scared as if this war was already won. Now, Iron Shark finally understood. The Black Iron Village did not mind selling its weapons simply because it had the dungeon as an excellent source of weapons and materials. ''They must have picked decent items and were confident in their ability to defeat the other tribes. Who knows what kind of treasure they found there?''


    Iron Shark initially wanted to contact the ten tribes and join them for a piece of the cake. However, he was now considering fighting on the side of the Musclewood Tribe. If he joined the ten tribes, he would at most gain a few experience and items but if he joined the Musclewood Tribe, there was a better chance that he might get a share of the dungeon!


    The Musclewood Tribe requested for some help, but they did not discuss what would be Iron Shark''s compensation. If Blue Lagoon could get permission to hunt at the dungeon, he would not hesitate and accept the barbarians'' request.

 Chapter 147: Taking down the scouts

    In the middle of the night, Five returned to the dungeon and summoned his monsters for a quick meeting.


    "I just talked to the Shamans and I have the information we need but let me tell you, it is not going to be easy. There are several scouts patrolling around the Musclewood Tribe. They are keeping their distance, but they won''t miss an Undead Army."


    "Tell us the details first and then we will see if it is feasible," said Dreidus. The flames in his eye sockets shone in excitement.


    "According to the Shaman, there are two tribes that are not far from here. The first one is the Black-footed Ferret Tribe. The village is at about 2.5 hours away on a horse. It''s a small tribe who is allied with the Black Vulture Tribe. There has always been some tension between them and the Black Iron Tribe. Their Totem Spirit is a Golden Ferret. It is a level 48 Spirit who specializes in Earth Magic."


    "The second choice looks less intimidating. It is the Gopher Tribe. It is also a medium tribe but just a few months ago was still considered a small tribe. The village is three hours away. The Totem Spirit is the Pocket Gopher, a level 43 Spirit who likes to hide. There is apparently a shelter hidden under the village in case of attacks."


    "Is that it? Only these two villages?" asked Dreidus.


    "Yes. The others are too far for you to reach before the end of the night. I think the barbarians also do not want us to waste our army on larger tribes. They don''t want to lose their lifeline."


    "Harriet. What do you think? You are the only one who can fight a Totem Spirit at the moment," said Dreidus as he looked at the Harpy Queen.


    "It is fine. I am confident in my own strength, but I won''t be able to do it alone. There is a reason why Boss Monsters like me don''t simply run rampant and attack small villages or cities. They often have defensive mechanisms. I don''t know what kind of secrets the barbarians have but I know their Shamans must not be underestimated. I thought a lot about this recently and concluded that we must not let success get to our head. I am more confident in attacking the remaining dungeon than any barbarian village. That''s what my instincts are telling me," said Harriet.


    "I understand but it won''t be easy to move an army with so many scouts. We will be noticed before we even leave the territory of the Musclewood Tribe. Will it be alright if we just send a group of liches and Defacers?" suggested Dreidus.


    "As I said, I don''t what defenses the barbarian villages have. I don''t want to take risks because if you or I perish or is injured, the battle will be much more difficult afterward," said Harriet. She had been constantly scouting the area and witnessed the barbarians forming an army not very far from the Musclewood territory. They would just need half a day to reach the dungeon. If they died, they won''t be able to respawn before a whole day has passed.


    In this scenario where they had the upper hand, it was indeed unwise to make a risky move which would not yield a lot of rewards.


    Five listened to the two monsters discussing and added, "We took too long in making our decision and now, the whole territory is being constantly monitored. We lost the effect of surprise. We did not expect the barbarians to set up this scout line. In the end, it is our fault for not being proactive enough."


    "What if we get rid of the scouts? I can easily kill them; they only patrol in small groups of two or three at most."


    "It will be pointless. It will take a few hours for the Undead Army to reach one of the villages. From my experience, scouts need to report to others regularly or else, it would mean that they have been eliminated," answered Five. He faintly smiled as he continued:If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "However, this does not mean your idea is bad. Since we cannot get a village, why don''t we capture those scouts? There are about fifty scouts scattered all around, right?"


    "The scouts are not weak. They are all above level 30. Aside from me and Harriet, the other monsters won''t be able to deal with them without alarming the others. Even if I take action, there is a risk that they escape," commented Dreidus.


    "Yes. But it is more feasible. It should only take me ten minutes to capture a scout team and bring them back here. Even if we just bring back a few, they should be useful to you, right?"


    "If master agrees, I would like to go with this plan. Even if we just take down twenty scouts before they realize it, it should weaken the barbarians to some extent. Then, we can look into what to do with them but let''s not lose too much time discussing or else, it might be too late again."


    Five smiled. The monsters were learning. "Then, please go ahead. Try to bring them back alive here but if you can''t, there is no need to hesitate to run. Your life is more important."


    ...


    "Chief. We might have a problem..."


    A barbarian suddenly rushed in the war tent. A large portion of the force of the ten tribes was currently staying at the Black Vulture Tribe. They were busy making preparations for the upcoming battle.


    "What? Can''t you see that we are having a meeting right now?" shouted Rhaell, the chief of the Rat Snake Tribe. He was irritated as he was unable to go to sleep. With all the other leaders still discussing their attack plan, he could not be the first one to leave.


    "What is it?" said chief of the Blue Eagle Tribe with a softer tone.


    "We have lost contact with some of our scouts. We have just sent a few teams to investigate," answered the barbarian.


    "You lost contact with the scouts? What exactly happened?" asked another chief.


    "It is like that. We''ve sent scouts to surround the Musclewood territory and monitor their movement. We do not want them to take us by surprise like they did to destroy the two dungeons. The scouts were all given a pair of swallows to release every hour. We will then send the swallows back to confirm the situation."


    "However, we waited for fifteen minutes and did not receive the swallows of three teams. Afterward, we saw the swallows sent to two other teams return. It means that the swallows were unable to find the scouts when they returned to the location they were released."


    The war tent turned silent. They all understood what happened. "What are you waiting for? Send a group of men to look at the area where those scouts were stationed! No, wait. We should quickly send our men to the nearest village in case they planned to attack one of our villages. Show on the map where those missing scouts were."


    "The Black-footed Ferret Tribe. The scouts you lost contact with were all in the direction of the Black-footed Ferret Tribe. Send birds quickly and ask for their situation. Tell them to be on guard!"


    "What? My tribe? They are targeting my tribe? Hurry up and get your men to move. I don''t care that they are tired from the trip. You all better move if you don''t want my tribesmen and me to leave this alliance!" exclaimed an elder. He was the chieftain of the Black-footed Ferret Tribe.


    "Old Braves, no need to worry. We will depart right now. They dare to attack us in the middle of the night? They have no sense of honor!"


    The barbarians quickly departed. There was no time to lose. Even if they were tired, if one of their villages was attacked, the alliance might collapse; they could not afford to rest.


    The barbarian chiefs led the cavalry but just forty minutes after their hasty departure, they received a couple of messages carried by the swallows.


    "What? F*ck, they are playing with us! There are no signs of attack at the Black-footed Ferret Tribe but now, the scouts on the side of the Gopher Tribe! Quick, we are changing directions!" shouted a barbarian chief.


    Mans, the representative of the Vicious Rhino Tribe looked at the panicked chiefs and sighed. "Send a message back and ask the scouts to retreat. It is possible that they are not aiming for the villages yet and only took out our scouts. Tell them to group up and tell the villages to be on guard. They must be ready to retreat at any time!"


    "Do you think that they are just trying to alarm us? What if the Musclewood Tribe is just trying to tire us by making us rush to different villages?"


    ...


    At the dungeon, Five followed Dreidus to a newly-built room. It was located on the same floor as the living quarters, at the very end of the corridor. It was very large but there were no decorations or windows. There was nothing but the plain indestructible material of the dungeon. This room was built to act as a prison!


    "They are all here. We managed to bring back 21 scouts and 5 corpses," said Dreidus as he opened the metallic door.


    When he entered, Five heard the constant grunts of the barbarians. They were all in bad shape, covered with bruises. Harriet and Dreidus clearly did not care about them and handled them as objects when they brought them back. As long as they were alive, they would serve their purpose.


    "Very impressive but what should we do with them now? Lyra is still level 29 but she should level up soon. Will they be useful for Lyra?" asked Five.


    "No. For a Banshee Queen to become a Wailing Lady, I need to use women as sacrifices. Right now, I will suggest turning them into Living Corpses. It is the most effective way to use their strength. It would be waste to use a level 32 barbarian to give a class to a level 15 Skeleton or even the level 22 Death Knight. Usually, we use weaklings who have no chance of leveling up for the rituals."


    "Living Corpses? It sounds good to me. Killing them or keeping them imprison will also produce some DP. How many can you transform?" asked Five.


    "Three. I can do three per day without suffering from any backlash or five if I can allow myself to rest," answered Dreidus.


    "Mmm. Turn three corpses into living corpses for now. The scouts still alive will generate DP for as long as they can. When they are no longer worth anything, we''ll just kill them and turn them into our Undead."


    Five coldly looked at the barbarians lying on the floors. In their semi-conscious state, they looked nothing like the valiant barbarians they once were. He was not disturbed by the scene in front of him; he had witnessed far worse than this.


    ''Well. Time to go to sleep. My sleep cycle is completely messed up from all these night meetings and operations...''

 Chapter 148: Start of the battle

    Early in the morning, the sun was still barely rising up at the horizon but the peaceful scene did not last for long. A group of barbarians stormed into the village. "They are coming! Everyone! The enemy army has just left the Gopher Tribe''s territory!"


    The bell at the center of the village rung, waking up everyone. The barbarians grumbled as they stepped out of their tents with half-opened eyes.


    They did not immediately panic. The Gopher Tribe was relatively far from the Musclewood Tribe. The barbarians would need a few hours to reach their village; they had ample time to evacuate. However, the chiefs and elders of the ruling council were nervous.


    They urged the barbarians to prepare themselves. They had long been ready for this war and had packed a few things to bring with them.


    "I knew they would be coming but weren''t they still at the Black Vulture Tribe yesterday afternoon? Did they travel during the night to the Gopher Tribe? Do they not need to rest? Why are they making their move already?"


    "It is indeed very strange, but the reason does not matter. We have our own thing to do. Ganya, you go and warn the merchants. Although their guild did not arrive yet, there are still a hundred of them; we need all the help we can get. Wesh, you go and talk to the scouts. Send the Scarlet Crows to gather some information and prepare our tribesmen. I''ll go to the dungeon to inform the dungeon master."


    The village quickly became lively. The women, children and elderly all moved to the dungeon. As the chiefs previously discussed with Five, all the villagers unable to fight went to the mountainous biome where the goats were. There, they would have everything they would need until the end of the war. There was water available and they brought enough food with them to last for a few days. The two entrances to the biome were then sealed, preventing anyone from reaching them; it was only after the war that the passages would be reopened.


    The barbarians were not worried that Five might use the defenseless villages as hostages later. All this information was mentioned in their oath, making it impossible for him to cheat them.


    Only seven hundred barbarians were left at the Musclewood village, they represented the barbarians who wished to participate in the battle. It also includes some women and elders. When the three tribes joined together, their combined population went up to 1200 barbarians. However, although the ten tribes did not send all their forces, it still amounted to two thousand barbarians.


    Achi, Ganya and Wesh jumped on their horses and went to meet the incoming army. The scouts reported that the army stopped their march, requesting to discuss with the chiefs of the Musclewood Village.


    "Is it alright to meet them? They greatly outnumber us; we won''t stand a chance outside the village," anxiously said Wesh when he saw the large army in the distance.


    "It will be fine. We''ll stay at a reasonable distance. If something happens, we''ll just run away."


    When the ten tribes noticed the three lonely silhouettes, the representatives of the tribes went to meet them. They separated from the large group who continued to rest from the long journey.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Vans led the group. As he stopped at a reasonable distance, he spoke: "My friends, as you expected, we came back to ask for a share of the dungeon and this time, we won''t take no for an answer."


    "Vans! The Vicious Rhino Tribe is still as conceited as always," taunted Achi. "No matter what, we won''t give away what we worked hard for! Come at us if you dare and stop trying to intimidate us!"


    "Oh? Do you think we are intimidating you? This time, we are coming for real. This is your last chance!" As Vans spoke, several auras emerged from the barbarian army.


    The three chiefs twitched. ''This... They brought all ten of their totem spirits!''


    ''A totem spirit is the final guardian of a village. They won''t bring it away from their village unless absolutely necessary! They are really going all out. The Shamans said they would at most bring three totem spirits to match ours but now, we might really have to rely on the dungeon. I hope it is strong enough to deal with them.''


    "Scared? You should be! But we are not merciless. As per the ancestral rules, we shall give you one hour to evacuate your village. Once you are eradicated, we won''t kill your loved ones. They will obediently join our tribe. I have always eyed Ly. I will take care of her after you die, Achi." Luka, the leader of the Black Vulture Tribe sinisterly taunted as he rubbed his hands.


    "You..." Achi was infuriated but he knew he must not let his enemy''s words get to his head. ''Ly is already safe in the dungeon. No matter what, even if we lose, the dungeon master promised to keep them safe.''


    "Compared to others, we do not use underhanded method and obey the ancestral rules. If you did not sneakily kill our scouts, we would not be here today, and you might have enjoyed a few more days of peace. Now, decide! Surrender or die!"


    "Who took down your scouts? We noticed them but never attacked them. If you needed an excuse to incite your men, you should have used a better one!"


    "Stop trying to hide it. It won''t change the situation. Now, it''s your choice! You have one hour. Only one hour before we attack."


    The chiefs did not answer. It was pointless to discuss with the ten tribes. No matter what, they would not give away what they worked for even when facing the other tribes of the region.


    ...


    "Five! Wake up. The barbarians started their attack!" Harriet barged into Five''s room and forcefully woke him up.


    Five grumbled. He barely had enough sleep. ''D*mn. These barbarians don''t need to sleep or what?''


    "Achi is waiting for you at the entrance. He is saying they will start moving the children, women, and elders to the dungeon soon."


    Five rubbed his eyes and answered. "I know. We already discussed that. Go and tell him to proceed forward. Are Dreidus and the others already up?"


    "Yes. Alice is waking up the Nosferatu. Everyone is ready for the battle. I reckon the battle will start in a few hours depending on how their negotiations will go. The barbarians seemed to have stopped at a reasonable distance from the Musclewood Tribe."


    "Alright. Let''s go meet Achi first. You should go and scout the area to make sure they are not attacking from another side. We''ll meet in a few minutes."


    Thirty minutes later, Five sat in the meeting room with his monsters. The dungeon core projected the mountainous biome, showing an endless stream of barbarians making their way there. The mountainous biome was relatively large such that six hundred people could easily fit in. Thanks to the dungeon''s property, the inside of the dungeon was much larger than the volume of space it actually took.


    "We might have a problem. The barbarians brought their totem spirits with them. It means we''ll have to fight ten monsters ranging from level 40 to level 50. It is not going to be easy," said Harriet.


    "The Musclewood Tribe has three totem spirits. Are you confident in dealing with the other seven? If I use my battle form, I might be able to hold one off," said Dreidus.


    "It will depend on their abilities, but I believe we should employ the same swarm tactics we used for the raids. The Liches and Defacers cannot defeat a barbarian in a fair fight. Sending hundreds of skeletons might be the best course of action," suggested Harriet.


    They turned to look at Five who would make the final decision. "There is no need for us to worry. Didn''t you say that barbarian village should have special defense mechanisms? I am very curious about it. Just what could be the reason why they insisted on fighting at their village instead of the dungeon?"


    "We are lucky this is not a trial. The dungeon core''s functions are not locked. I will summon monsters when necessary. For now, I believe we should focus on taking out the totem spirits. Harriet, you should sneak your way through their battle and if the opportunity presents itself, take down a few totem spirits. They are the main threat!"


    The harpy queen nodded. "Got it. Now about the Bramble Deer''s dungeon. I did not detect the presence of any fire monsters in the area."


    "It''s fine. Keep an eye open though. The outcome of this war does not matter to us. Whether the ten tribes win or the Musclewood tribe survives, we will still receive DP from the winner but if another dungeon intervenes, then we might be in trouble."


    Harriet swiftly left the dungeon and flew up in the sky. She cast her magic, gathering the clouds around her to hide and drifted toward the Musclewood Tribe. From the vantage point, Harriet could see the entire open space around the Musclewood Tribe.


    Under her watchful eyes, the battle started.

 Chapter 149: The totem spirits appear

    Battles between barbarian tribes were not uncommon. There have always been some conflicts of interest over their territories. However, it has been decades since a battle involved so many tribes.


    The barbarians did not fight like the townsmen. There was no need for strategy and tactics. There was only pure raw strength; the last one standing shall be the winner.


    The Musclewood village charged forward, led by Achi, Ganya and Wesh. Similarly, the alliance of the ten tribes started their assault. Clearly, the ten tribes'' army was much larger than the Musclewood Tribe''s. The ground shook as the leaders shouted the commands. The two waves of barbarians met each other. The weapons hacking through flesh resonated all over the battlefield.


    "Looks like you improved yourself, Achi!" exclaimed Luka as his heavy ax met Achi''s. The two barbarian chiefs stared at each other. Their weapons trembled but, in the end, Luka was pushed back.


    "What? How is that possible?"


    Achi roared ferociously as he continued to attack. In the past, Luka and Achi were equally strong; whenever they fought, the fight would always end up in a draw. However, after using the Shaman''s strange potions, Achi became stronger.


    It was the same for the rest of the barbarians of the Musclewood Tribe. In average, their level was slightly higher than the barbarians of the ten tribes. To top it off, their weapons were also of higher quality. It did not affect the leaders like Achi who still used his Grade 4 equipment, but the new weapons still increased the overall power of the Musclewood Tribe.


    "You are strong, Achi. It looks like your tribe benefitted quite a lot from the dungeon. Unfortunately, this is not a duel. This is war! We both know wars between tribes are not won by the tribesmen. They are won by the totem spirits!"


    As soon as Luka shouted, a bright glow appeared at the back of the barbarian army. It felt like a rainbow just appeared behind the barbarians.


    "Roarrr!"


    Ten silhouettes slowly materialized above their head as the thundering cries of the beasts filled the air. Achi felt compelled to protect his ears. He could feel the pressure coming from the totem spirits but at the same time, a similar phenomenon took place at the center of the Musclewood village.


    ...


    "Two thousand men and all their totem spirits. The ten tribes are not taking us lightly at all. Even after we produced enough potions to strengthen our men and even gave them better weapons, I doubt we''ll stand a chance," commented Ester with a gloomy expression.


    "Have faith in yourself. This is our home. Even if they brought all ten totem spirits; they can only exert 75% of their power while ours can go all out. Furthermore, with the combined protective arrays of our tribes, we might stand a chance," Old Dale tried to reassure the council.


    Old Luke looked at the distance where the fight was taking place. "We are at a disadvantage. We should summon our totem spirits. Are you ready?"


    The Shamans nodded in unison as they took out a small relic. Old Luke opened an old rusty box, containing a perfect sphere. The grey metallic sphere shone brightly as it came into contact with sunlight. The sphere started to deform itself and soon adopted a humanoid shape. It was the totem spirit of the Black Iron Tribe, a Humanoid Metal Slime. With its face devoid of any human features, the Humanoid Metal Slime stretched its body and jumped out of the box. It looked at the battle taking place.


    Old Dale took out a small statue of a crow and chanted an incantation. After the third verse, the statue shook and grew in size. Its colors naturally changed to red as she statue came to life. It was a Skyblazing Crow, the totem spirit of the Scarlet Crow Tribe. It cawed in frustration and glared at the enemies.


    Similarly, Ester took out the statue of a fox. "Look well, Lovin. This is our totem spirit. Watch what I do."


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    She took out a short dagger and cut open her hand. Blood flew out and covered the statue. Suddenly, the eyes of the statue became bright red and soon, the entire statue came to life. It was a Mystic Wood Fox, the totem spirit of the Forest Fox Tribe.


    The Shamans thought they were summoning their totem spirits early but to their surprise, the opposing Shamans did the same as the projection of ten beasts appeared in the distance.


    "They are not giving us any chance."


    "Look at the bright side. The Humanoid Metal Slime is so strong. No wonder the Vicious Rhino Tribe never dared to make a move against your tribe despite the conflicts. Even if it was three times the size of the Black Iron Tribe, in terms of totem spirit, you totally outclass them," said Old Dale as he looked at the Metal Slime twisting its body just to get a better view.


    Old Luke proudly smiled. "You all know the Black Iron Tribe comes from the Central Plains. In the past, we used to be a powerful tribe. Although we have fallen, our totem spirit never abandoned us. It is naturally stronger than the average totem spirit. Just because of its presence, all our tribesmen should be receiving a protective buff."


    "That''s right. I do feel like there is a small invisible barrier surrounding my body. Although it is not much, it will protect our tribesmen to some extent, and this is just a passive effect."


    "Oh, totem spirits. May you please work together to assist us in this battle. We request you to bestow our warriors with the bestial strength you possess." Old Luke respectfully looked at the three totem spirits in front of him. The totem spirits still had their free will. They had no obligations to save their tribesmen, but it was in their best interest to do so.


    The three spirits looked at each other and soon, they all poured their energy into the barbarians. However, the ten tribes'' totem spirits were also doing the same thing.


    "It is great that our totem spirits are compatible. When three totem spirits work together, instead of their usual buff, our tribesmen can receive [Bestial Strength]. However, it looks like the other side''s totem spirits are also doing the same thing but instead of three, five beasts are working together! They are getting [Predator] instead. Even if it is slightly weakened since they are away from their village, our side is at a disadvantage!" exclaimed Old Dale as he observed the situation.


    "Things are not looking good! Only five totem spirits are contributing to the [Predator] buff. The other five are attacking our tribesmen! They don''t stand a chance against those beasts!" Ester panicked as she saw the Three-Horned Rhinoceros, the totem spirit of the Vicious Rhino Tribe charge at the barbarians. It did not care about which side the barbarians were on, it stomped on the unfortunate fellows on its path without mercy.


    As the female Shaman spoke, the runes in Old Luke''s hands suddenly shone brightly. "Looks like the Pocket Gopher and the Golden Ferret are both trying to attack from below. Fortunately, our formations can hold them off."


    "Do we need to use our offensive formations now? If we don''t do anything about these totem spirits, our tribesmen will be annihilated one after the other," exclaimed Lovin. So far, the Shaman apprentice stayed silent to avoid disturbing the three elders, but he could not silently watch the barbarians being massacred.


    "Follow me! Quick," said Old Luke as he headed toward his tent. He rummaged through the pile of items.


    "What are you doing? What are you looking for? We don''t have time for this. We need to activate the formation right now!" said Ester.


    "Old Luke, this time, I perfectly agree with Ester. We don''t have time to look at the items left by your ancestors!"


    Old Luke ignored the other Shamans and continued his search. A few moments later, he jumped out of the messy pile of items, holding a conch and a small tusk in his hands.


    "What are those?" asked Ester.


    "Did I not say that my Black Iron Tribe used to be a powerful tribe. In the past, the plains were not peaceful, and we went into battle several times. We naturally defeated many tribes, but we always found it a pity to have the other tribes'' totem spirit disappear. Without the barbarians to look after them, the totem spirits would gradually disappear. Therefore, my tribe came up with a special method."


    "You mean... These are the relics used to summon other totem spirits?" The two Shamans'' eyes widened.


    "Unbelievable! Is that even possible?"


    "Well... You''ll see soon enough. The downside of this technique is that we had to force the totem spirit to obey our orders and unfortunately, these relics will only work once. I was reluctant to use them, but we cannot hold back anymore. Let me show these youngsters the real power of the tribes of the Central Plains."


    ...


    "Impressive. Looks like Harriet was right. The barbarians'' totem spirits are definitely not simple."


    Five watched the battle taking place outside the Musclewood Village from the outskirt of the forest. He was at a reasonable distance from the battlefield and would have ample time to retreat if he was discovered. At his side, Dreidus and Alice observed the battle silently.


    At first, the two sides displayed the same amount of power. The ten tribes had a numerical advantage while the Musclewood tribe had the level and equipment advantage, but it all changed when the totem spirits appeared.


    Using the system''s interface, Five could see the buffs being applied to the barbarians. The Musclewood Tribe got two buffs: [Invisible Metallic Veil] and [Bestial Strength].


    [Invisible Metallic Veil] decreased all the damage taken by the barbarians by 15% while [Bestial Strength] increased the barbarians'' Strength, Vitality and Dexterity by 4. Five almost fell over when he saw the description of the buffs.


    ''What kind of broken buff is that. It almost gives them ten levels worth of stats. No wonder they are not scared of facing the army of the townsmen. Even my [Hysteria] skill does not increase my stats that much and they do not even suffer from any downside!''


    However, what was even more absurd was the [Predator] buff received by the barbarians of the ten tribes. Their Strength, Dexterity, and Vitality were all increased by 6!


    "This battle is so one-sided. Let alone the difference in buffs, with the Three-Horned Rhinoceros running rampant, the Musclewood Tribe does not stand a chance," commented Dreidus.


    "You are right, but I am sure the Musclewood Tribe must have other trump cards. They should act soon. However, I believe we should still land them a hand. It is fine if either side wins, but it will be bad if they kill each other so much that they won''t have any men to send to the dungeon afterward. Still, I am leaning on the Musclewood Tribe''s side; I have a pact with them, and I don''t want to use the Void Contract for such a small matter. What do you think?" asked Five.


    "It should be fine. We can considerably reduce the pressure on the Musclewood Tribe but there is no need to go all out yet. We still want to see what tricks they have left."


    "Alright. In that case, please summon one thousand skeletons and order them to attack. It is fine if they don''t survive. Their goal is only to reduce the pressure. Furthermore, there is a skill I haven''t used in a long time."


    Five smiled as he activated the first skill, he purchased from the dungeon shop.


    [Aura of Light: Sacred Ground]

 Chapter 150: The might of the totem spirits

    "Come on you two! Are the Gopher Tribe and the Black-footed Ferret Tribe that weak? Your totem spirits have not done anything yet!"


    The Shamans of the two tribes bitterly looked at the speaker. "Shut up. There is a powerful array under their village. Our totem spirits will need a bit of time to destroy it. If you are in a hurry, why don''t you send your birds to attack? Your Cobalt Eagle has yet to do anything aside from some basic scouting."


    Seeing the Shamans of the different tribes starting to argue with each other, Joyah, one of the Shamans of the Vicious Rhino Tribe decided to intervene. As a large tribe, the Vicious Rhino Tribe had three Shamans; for this operation, two of them came to support the army.


    "Gentlemen. It is not the right time to argue. Put aside your differences for the sake of this battle first. The dungeon will be shared among us based on our contribution to this battle. Naturally, if a totem spirit does nothing, their respective tribe won''t receive any benefit."


    The old Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe snorted. He raised his hand and instantly, the Cobalt Eagle, the totem spirit of his tribe took off toward the Musclewood Tribe. At the same time, the Purple-eyed Vulture followed behind the Cobalt Eagle. Contrary to the Three-Horned Rhinoceros who was dealing with the barbarians, the two birds'' goal was to attack the enemy''s totem spirits. They only wanted to disrupt the three spirits'' spell, stopping them from giving the [Bestial Strength] buff to their tribesmen.


    "Since it is not working. Let''s stop trying to go underground and attack directly," said the Shaman of the Gopher Tribe. He commanded the Pocket Gopher to attack the barbarians directly and was quickly joined by the Golden Ferret.


    Now, all ten spirits were actively participating in the battle but at that moment, the Shamans who were watching the battle from a safe point, saw a large wave of skeletons emerge from the nearby forest.


    The old men frowned. "We were right. Just like the Bramble Deer Tribe, the Musclewood Tribe is also getting help from the dungeon. But these are only skeletons. Our men can kill them with a single attack. There is no need to intervene."


    The Shamans confidently observed the battlefield. They did not have to act for now. It was only when the Musclewood Tribe would send their own Shamans that they would act. So far, the battle was still in their favor; the skeletons would not change the outcome of the battle.


    However, it all changed when they a war horn sounded from the Musclewood Tribe. It was different from the traditional war horns they were used to. This one sounded more like a musical instrument.


    The Shamans'' face turned pale as they saw a figure materialize above the Musclewood Tribe.


    "Another totem spirit? Impossible! A tribe can only have one totem spirit!" exclaimed Joyah.


    With a calmer tone, Vellen, the second Shaman of the Vicious Rhino Tribe commented, "This is not a simple totem spirit. Just like the Humanoid Metal Slime, it also comes from the Central Plains. Just with its presence, the Tribesmen of the Musclewood Tribe have the power of their attack increased; they can ignore our defensive equipment to some extent!"


    In the distance, they could see the spirit taking the form of a Giant King Crab! It ferociously raised its pincers as its eyes slowly turned toward the barbarians fighting. But that was not the end, next to it, another spirit appeared, this time taking the appearance of a Warthog.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "This... The power of the totem spirits of the Central Plains is really on a different level. With the passive effects of these three totem spirits, they almost made up for the difference between the [Bestial Strength] and [Predator]... I also feel a strange force helping the Musclewood Tribe; its effects are quite significant," commented a Shaman.


    "Do you think we should recall our totem spirits and have all ten work together to produce the [Primordial Strength] buff instead?"


    Witnessing the unexpected development, the Shamans became anxious. Joyah quickly tried to calm them down. "Gentlemen! There is no need to worry. Even if they can now match our strength, remember that we have the numbers. Victory is within our grasp. Furthermore, our allies are on their way here."


    "Yes, you are right. The troops of the dungeon of the Bramble Deer Tribe should arrive soon. I am curious about the strength of that dungeon," said a Shaman.


    "Dream on! As if they are going to send their strongest monsters. If even your tribe was smart enough to not send all its tribesmen, don''t you think others would also realize that."


    "Stop bickering, you two... Old Vellen, may I request you to peek into the future and determine the outcome of this fight. This will reassure us," said another Shaman.


    All eyes turned toward Vellen. The latter could only smile and agree. To hold this alliance together, he needed to make some sacrifice and so, he took out a relic and activated it. The pupils in his eyes disappeared.


    While the battle was raging, the Shaman''s surroundings became silent to avoid disturbing Vellen.


    "The Vicious Rhino Tribe is really impressive. To be able to raise a Diviner; only the tribes of the Central Plains would have enough resources to do so. If we really get our hand on the dungeon, you would be able to officially become the number one tribe of this region."


    The Shamans murmured among themselves and soon, Vellen opened his eyes again. "Cough Cough."


    "The situation is better than it looks. These two totem spirits can only appear once. The Musclewood Tribe is using unique relics to summon them, but the relics broke upon their activation. After the fight, these spirits would have nowhere to go and would disappear into nothingness. If we just retreat and come back after a few hours, they will have wasted the two spirits."


    The Shamans'' face lit up. "Really? Should we order the retreat then? There is no harm in losing a battle to win the war! Furthermore, the dungeon''s troop will have enough time to arrive and we won''t have to expose our tribesmen to much danger."


    Vellen shook his head. "No. Aside from these two relics; the Musclewood Tribe has a third one. I saw it. It is a scale. I don''t know what totem spirit it will summon but this one is dangerous. If they ever use it, we need to quickly retreat, or a monster will appear! A monster that even the tribes of the Central Plains would not be able to face!"


    "A monster?" The Shamans were stunned. The thought of quickly leaving this battle crossed their mind but Vellen continued.


    "We cannot retreat or else, the Musclewood Tribe might use it the next time. We just need to make it appear as if they have enough chances to win to make them reluctant to use it. There is something I want to say. The Musclewood Tribe''s reinforcement is also on its way. They are the merchants'' allies. Although they are weak, there is a significant number of them; the battle might be troublesome if they make it here."


    "The merchants? Won''t we antagonize them if we fight them?"


    "It is fine. Merchants only look at profits. They are backing the Musclewood Tribe because they have the dungeon. As soon as we get our hands on it, I guarantee you they will come and ask to cooperate with us."


    Joyah looked at Vellen''s expression. As they came from the same tribe, Joyah was familiar with Vellen. From his expression; he could tell that something was wrong, but he did not want to alarm the other Shamans.


    "Gentlemen. I think Vellen''s message is clear. We should make our moves ourselves and aim for the Musclewood Tribe''s Shamans. We need to move quickly before the merchants'' army arrives."


    ...


    While the Shamans were busy arguing among themselves, the situation on the battlefield changed. The Warthog King roared before charging at the Three-Horned Rhinoceros. Despite its smaller size, the Warthog King sent the Rhinoceros flying. The poor beasts was taken by surprise as the ground disappeared under its feet; it found itself crashing into the barbarians. Fortunately, it was only a spirit or else, it would have crushed its own allies.


    The Three-Horned Rhinoceros did not stand a chance alone. It was only level 49 while the Warthog King was level 51. There was only a difference of two levels between the two totem spirits but in terms of bloodline, the Warthog King completely outclassed its counterpart. Several barbarians sacrificed themselves to keep the Warthog King away. Their attacks felt like mosquito stings, but they nevertheless bought enough time for the Three-Horned Rhinoceros to recover.


    The latter roared threateningly at the Warthog King. It was confident in its own strength and believed it was pushed back because it was caught off guard. However, reality soon dawned on the Three-Horned Rhinoceros as it was utterly defeated despite the help of the barbarians.


    In the meanwhile, the Giant Crab King turned its attention toward the Pocket Gopher and the Golden Ferret. The first totem spirits it saw were the Cobalt Eagle and the Purple-eyed Vulture, but it held a natural fear for birds; its natural predators consisted mainly of birds. It was more comfortable in dealing with the other two totem spirits.


    Using its huge claws, the Giant Crab King pushed back the two totem spirits. It was only after working together that the Pocket Gopher and Golden Ferret were able to hold their ground.


    The Cobalt Eagle and the Purple-eyed Vulture were unfazed by the appearance of the two new Totem Spirits. They did not affect their original plans. The two birds aimed directly for the three totem spirits. As long as they disrupted their skills, the balance would instantly tilt in favor of the ten tribes.

 Chapter 151: Flame riders

    "We need to do something. The Cobalt Eagle and the Purple-eyed Vulture will disrupt our totem spirits'' buff."


    "Old Dale. You do it. Your tribe is the most familiar with this type of totem spirit."


    "I''ll do my best, but I can only hold them off for one minute at most," answered the one-eyed Shaman. He took off his eye patch as his aura exploded. A giant eye appeared between the three totem spirits and the two birds, blocking their path.


    Ester turned toward Lovin and Old Luke. "His Crow Eye is powerful. Let''s trust Old Dale and do something about the barbarians. They have the number''s advantage; even if we are equally matched, in the long run, we are destined to lose. Lovin, stay behind me."


    "You take care of healing our tribesmen. I''ll deal with the offensive side of things."


    The two Shamans stepped forward, taking out several relics and potions. Similarly, the Shamans of the ten tribes joined the fray. With the addition of magic elements, the battlefield became even more chaotic.


    ...


    "The situation is kind of getting out of hands, don''t you think?" said Five as he observed the battlefield. Another explosion occurred, blasting away dozens of barbarians.


    "Yes. But it looks to me that the ten tribes are not going all out yet. There are still six Shamans sitting at the back waiting for an opportunity," said Dreidus.


    All the barbarians were engrossed in the fight. The Musclewood Tribe was clearly on the losing side, but they were not retreating yet. If it was not for all the array formation, they set up earlier, the three Shamans would have long lost to the ten tribes'' Shamans.


    Out of the 700 warriors the Musclewood Tribe managed to gather, 150 had already died while another 150 was injured. On the other side, the ten tribes had lost 200 men out of 2000 barbarians. The large majority of the deaths did not come from the fight of the barbarians but rather from the rampage of the Warthog when attacking the Three-Horned Rhinoceros.


    "At this rate, they will kill each other. D*mn... And all the skeletons are almost dead..."


    "May I suggest that you use [Heal Bell]? It will help the barbarians sustain a little while longer and will provide an opportunity for them to retreat if they are not stubborn."


    [Heal Bell]


    The high priest''s skill was activated and immediately, the barbarians felt its effect. A soothing and comfortable feeling rose in their heart as their injuries were slowly healed. However, the Musclewood Tribe did not retreat. Instead, they doubled their efforts.


    "These barbarians. They are so stubborn. They won''t take a step back at all. Change of plans. Tell the high-level undead monsters not affected by sunlight to come here. I feel like Harriet will make her move soon. The battle will probably end here; I was hoping to get them to fight at the dungeon to get some DP. It is not ideal for us, but we can''t do anything about it."


    ...


    Above the clouds, Harriet could see the entire battlefield but she was focusing her attention on the two birds. Her task was to take down the totem spirits; among the dungeon''s monsters, only she was strong enough to do so.


    She completely ignored the colorful explosions and shouts of despair of the barbarians. The Shamans were really powerful. Although they were outnumbered; with the help of their formation, Old Luke and Ester were able to hold their ground but the battle was slowly leaning in the favor of the ten tribes.


    In the meanwhile, Old Dale was entangled in a battle with the two birds. The projection of the giant eye in the sky fired a beam at the birds, forcing them to retreat. The Crow Eye was a powerful artifact given by the Skyblazing Crow itself. However, no matter how strong an artifact was, if the wielder was too weak, it would inevitably be wasted.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    After holding the birds off for less than one minute, Old Dale was already starting to feel the pressure. Harriet had been carefully observing the old Shaman and was ready to intervene. She would act at the very moment the birds would aim for the three totem spirits of the Musclewood Tribe.


    "I cannot hold any longer!" shouted Old Dale. He was sweating profusely while looking at the birds in the sky.


    The other Shamans nodded but they did not panic. It was virtually impossible for a barbarian to fight a totem spirit. They knew Old Dale would eventually have to give up and the three totem spirits would have to let go of the flow of power. However, the totem spirits would not die after the attack.


    Despite taking some damage, they would be free to move and would be able to attack the two birds. If executed properly, the three totem spirits might be able to overpower the two birds and push them out of the fight for good.


    Naturally, the price for that would be a drastic reduction in power of the barbarians but as long as they would be able to hold their ground, then the sacrifice of a few barbarians would not be in vain. The life of a totem spirit was simply invaluable compared to the life of a few barbarians.


    The projection of the Crow Eye gradually faded as the two birds loudly shrieked. They charged at the three totem spirits, leaving behind afterimages.


    Noticing the two birds coming at them, the three totem spirits forcefully stopped the channeling of their powers and prepared to attack. However, the two Cobalt Eagle and the Purple-eyed Vulture were already prepared and quickly stopped in their tracks. They had already accomplished their goals in stopping the three totem spirits. They were not stupid and would not risk their lives against three totem spirits.


    They taunted as they flew at a reasonable distance from the totem spirits. Out of the three, only the Skyblazing Crow was able to fly and could fight with the two birds. Unfortunately, it was also the weakest of the three and would not stand a chance against the two birds.


    The Mystic Wood Fox growled on the ground, but it was unable to reach the two birds. On the other hand, the Humanoid Metal Slime twitched its body and suddenly, dozens of silver dots appeared on the ground.


    To the Cobalt Eagle''s surprise, long silver spears suddenly emerged from the ground, aiming for its wings. It quickly spun in mid-air, barely avoiding the silver spears. Unfortunately, the Purple-eyed Vulture was not that lucky. Even though it successfully avoided the silver spears, they somehow changed directions.


    The silver spears stopped flying upwards in mid-air and even transformed into huge silver hands. The giant hands grabbed the Purple-eyed Vulture and mercilessly pulled it down toward the ground. The totem spirit shrieked, releasing its aura. It broke free from the grip of the silver hand and flew away.


    However, the few seconds it was imprisoned were more than enough for the Skyblazing Crow to reach the Purple-eyed Vulture.


    [Skyblazing Breath]


    The Skyblazing Crow fully ignited. Its body burst in flames. In a single breath, it released all the fire stored in its body at the Purple-eyed Vulture. The poor totem spirit flew for its life but was unable to avoid the ferocious flames.


    The projection of the Purple-eyed Vulture trembled and momentarily faded before reappearing. It looked like a hologram having trouble materializing itself.


    The Cobalt Eagle did not help its teammate. It flew out of the range of the Humanoid Metal Slime before observing the situation again.


    Although it took a lot of damage, the Purple-eyed Vulture managed to escape free from the Skyblazing Crow. The latter did not dare to pursue any further. Once it went too far from the ground, it would no longer receive any assistance from the Humanoid Metal Slime and the Cobalt Eagle would no longer hesitate to attack it.


    The Purple-eyed Vulture heaved a sigh of relief but at that very moment, its head exploded. The head of the projection shook as the rest of its body trembled.


    The Cobalt Eagle widened its eyes and looked at the source of the attack. It was only for a moment, but the Cobalt Eagle clearly saw it. A [Compressed Air Bullet] flew from the clouds and went through the Purple-eyed Vulture''s head.


    Above its head, the Cobalt Eagle saw a harpy quickly flying down from the clouds. He knew the situation did not look good and tried to escape.


    Unfortunately, Harriet swiftly flew down and blocked the Cobalt Eagle''s escape path. "I am on your side, Crow. Help me and together, we shall deal with the Eagle."


    The Harpy Queen had already noticed that she was ten levels above the Cobalt Eagle. However, she did not get complacent and requested the Skyblazing Crow for help. She had that feeling of unease when she faced the Cobalt Eagle. It was the same feeling a regular monster would have when facing a boss monster. Even if she was stronger, Harriet did not believe the Cobalt Eagle did not have any trump cards. She caught the Purple-eyed Vulture off guard but the Cobalt Eagle now fully aware of her presence.


    ...


    On the ground, the Shaman of the Black Vulture Tribe suddenly coughed and kneeled on the ground. Blood flew out of his mouth as his face twisted in pain.


    The other Shamans did not need to ask to know what happened. The Purple-eyed Vulture had been evidently defeated. It was not dead yet, but it completely exhausted its energy and would now fall into a deep slumber in its relic. The Black Vulture Tribe would be unable to summon their totem spirit for a while.


    The Shaman of the Black Vulture Tribe glared at the harpy queen in the sky. Who was she and why did she target his tribe''s totem spirit? Due to his connection with the Purple-eyed Vulture, the Shaman experienced the same pain as the totem spirit. He knew how terrifying she was. He felt like his head exploded into a million pieces.


    "The army of the dungeon has finally appeared but who would have expected them to have a level 57 monster. That''s terrifying."


    "We need to act quickly. Help the Cobalt Eagle. We don''t need to hold back anymore. With her appearance, the Musclewood Tribe should now be confident in their victory."


    Vellen remained calmed as the Shamans hurriedly discuss on the next step to take. He waited for them to calm down before saying. "Our allies have arrived. Look!"


    In the distance, there was a faint orange and red line moving toward them. It was too far for the human eye but Harriet could clearly see the details of that line. There was a long line of fiery birds mounted by flame spirits!


    They were Flame Riders; the equivalent of Death Knights for the fire element. The Flame Riders ranged from level 28 to level 32. Leading them at the front was a level 40 Flame Commander.


    Harriet not scared of the new threat. On the contrary, she looked at them Flame Riders in disdain. "What are they trying to show off? There''s still such a large distance between us. Is there even a need for you to activate your Battle form?"

 Chapter 152: Unexpected proposal

    The Cobalt Eagle chirped. "Who are you? And why are you helping that crow? I did not do anything to harm you."


    "You did not harm me but your actions against the Musclewood Tribe is not in the interest of my dungeon. You will have to pay the price for attacking it!"


    As soon as she spoke, Harriet charged at the Cobalt Eagle. She wanted to deal with the totem spirit before the arrival of the Flame Riders. She chose to attack physically as most of her magic attacks dealt damage in an area. She did not want to harm the Skyblazing Crow who was coordinating with her.


    The Cobalt Eagle frowned. It shrieked as it activated its power.


    [Crystal Reflections]


    Several identical copies of the Cobalt Eagle appeared surrounded by a blue glow. Harriet was taken by surprise. They flew in different directions, disorienting her.


    Harriet swung her Harpy''s Blood at a Cobalt Eagle but as soon as the blade went through its body, the bird disappeared. She targetted the wrong Cobalt Eagle. In the corner of her eyes, she saw the Skyblazing Crow piercing another Cobalt Eagle with its claw but just like it happened to her, the Cobalt Eagle simply vanished into nothingness.


    When she turned around, Harriet saw eight Cobalt Eagles flying above her head. They did not have the intention to flee. Instead, they all activated a skill: [Swirling Twister]


    [Crystal Reflections] did not create simple copies of the user. It divided the user''s mana into each of the copies, allowing each copy to cast skills individually. The more copies one made, the more skills could be used simultaneously but at the same time, the less mana each copy would have for the skill.


    Harriet and the Skyblazing Crow frowned. They saw several twisters flying toward them from different directions. Each twister produced a powerful force, pulling them toward their center. They were unable to escape and was flung around by the skills. Fortunately, [Swirling Twister] was not a high-level skill; they did not lose too much HP despite being hit by several ones.


    Harriet manipulated the wind around her, forcefully dispelling the twisters. However, the Cobalt Eagle bought enough time to run away. It flew as quickly as possible toward the other totem spirits of the ten tribes.


    Seeing all her targets lining up, Harriet no longer needed to hold back.


    [Aeroblast]


    The giant sphere of wind appeared in Harriet''s hands and without hesitation, she threw it toward the totem spirits. The wind blades in the sphere wildly danced, looking for a target to shred to pieces.


    The Cobalt Eagle panicked when it felt the fluctuation in the air current. It did not hesitate to move to the side, exposing the five totem spirits channeling their power for the [Predator] buff.


    However, the totem spirits did not react at the incoming sphere. An invisible barrier appeared, blocking the [Aeroblast]. The wind blades exploded all over the barrier but in the end, one of Harriet''s most powerful skills was completely stopped.


    On the ground, several Shamans trembled as they faced the backlash of their barrier. Nevertheless, they were able to block the attack of an enemy several levels above their own.


    Harriet furrowed her brows as she looked at her own hands. Was her skill that weak? How did they manage to block her attack? Then, she heard the warning shriek of the Skyblazing Crow.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    The Flame Riders have arrived.


    A long spear was piercing the air toward Harriet, but the latter raised her hand, grabbing it. She completely stopped the Flame Commander''s charge.


    "Get out of my way. Idiot!"


    [Zephyr Strike]


    Without hesitation, Harriet violently punched the Flame Commander. The latter raised his shield just in time, absorbing most of the damage but as a result, a large indentation was left on his Flame Shield.


    The Flame Commander frowned but did not leave. Instead, he attacked again with the help of the other Flame Riders.


    As his spear was pushed aside by Harriet''s Harpy''s Blood, the Flame Commander spoke. "You should stop attacking so violently if you don''t want your dungeon to be destroyed. I am actually helping you."


    Harriet frowned. "What are you talking about?" She remained on her guards but did not push the Flame Commander away like last time.


    "My name is Flint. Pretend that we are still fighting to avoid raising suspicion." He pulled his spear and thrust it back at Harriet but this time, he did not apply much force.


    Harriet deflected the spear. She remained vigilant and observed the other Flame Riders'' movements. They were engaged in a fight with the Skyblazing Crow. Although they were much weaker than the totem spirit; there were more than thirty of them and together, they could suppress the spirit.


    "We are not really allying with these tribes. They are just fools being manipulated by my master. As long as we prolonged the fight, your dungeon will be safe."


    Harriet frowned. "What do you mean? Explain yourself!"


    "It is simple. My master tricked these tribes into allying and attacking the Musclewood Tribe. Then, these foolish barbarians would leave behind their villages with only a few barbarians to defend them. While they are busy raging war here, my master will lead the Bramble Deer Tribe to conquer their villages. When they the news of the conquest of their village would arrive, these tribes would naturally hurry back but it would be too late!"


    "As we speak, the Blue Eagle Tribe should have already been conquered. Maintain the status quo and your dungeon will survive! We only need them to focus their attention on the Musclewood Tribe for a few more hours. If the battle becomes too one sided, we will help you to protect your dungeon. It is a win-win situation; your dungeon is saved, and my dungeon gets to expand its territory."


    Harriet was momentarily stunned. Her expression changed and became gloomier. She did not expect that this attack was all orchestrated by the other dungeon. Furthermore, how was this a win-win situation? His dungeon was clearly the only one benefiting from all of this. "You... Do you think I need your help to protect my dungeon? You are more than ten levels below me. What can you do with your puny strength? What if I kill you right here? According to what you said, there are a few survivors of these tribes rushing here. Even if your master knows that you died, it is too late; the survivors should have almost reached here. Am I wrong?"


    Flint coldly laughed. "You are a smart beauty. Just the type that I like but you should not have threatened me! Now, you will have to pay the price! Do you really think my dungeon is that weak and only have these Flame Riders? There are more than fifty Fire Golems on the ground, blocking the way from the Blue Eagle Tribe to the Musclewood Tribe. If I die, the Fire Golems will prevent the survivors from going through them! The tribes will never hear that their villages have been conquered before they finish destroying your dungeon!"


    "Now, since you dared threaten me, let me kill you or else, we will block those survivors. Without our help, your dungeon is guaranteed to be destroyed! The Shamans of these tribes have yet to make their move, do you really think you will be able to handle all these totem spirits?"


    Harriet fell silent. She did not speak and remained calm. Flint was simply taking advantage of the situation to gain some benefits. He was already too far from his dungeon for his dungeon master to obtain any DP but he himself would obtain some experience that would allow him to level up.


    Whenever an enemy was killed, some DP was generated. Part of it was absorbed by the monster while the rest was transferred to the dungeon core. Unfortunately, part of the DP was lost in the transfer and the farther apart they were, the larger the losses. Flint would obtain quite a lot from killing Harriet. He could see that the harpy queen was several levels above his own. How could he let go of this opportunity? To top it off, it will also weaken the competitor''s dungeon as Harriet would lose a level from her death.


    "Hurry up! Or do you want me to raise the price a little more?" asked Flint with a wicked smile.


    "Idiot."


    "What? What did you say?" Flint''s expression darkened but at that moment, he felt a sense of crisis, but his eyes were still staring at the harpy queen. She did not move at all since their exchange but then, a long spear pierced through the fiery bird he was riding and his right leg.


    His HP dropped down by 200! A single spear took out one-fifth of Flint''s HP despite him being in his Battle form.


    "What? Who is it?" exclaimed Flint but he froze as he saw the attackers. It was unexpectedly one of the Shamans of the ten tribes, more specifically, the Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe.


    Furthermore, he was not the only one attacking, two other Shamans raised their staff and aimed at Flint threateningly. Even the Cobalt Eagle, who went to hide from Harriet, came back and menacingly glared at Flint.


    "What is happening? Why are they attacking me? Could it be that they know our plan? Impossible, we are too far away for them to hear anything!"


    "Really?" Flint froze as he heard the sarcastic voice of the harpy queen. He furrowed his brows. "You? You did something?"


    "Me? No no no. The wind was just blowing toward them. It is not my fault if it carried over our conversation to them. I would never do something as underhanded as you." Harriet grinned.


    Flint flushed red. "You! Your dungeon is doomed without our help!"


    Harriet laughed lightly and calmly spoke. "Do you think you can even help us? If you claim I can¡¯t take on the totem spirits, what kind of contributions can you make? Do you think I¡¯m stupid? Hey, Crow. Do you mind moving away from me for a minute? I don''t want you to get caught in my storm... It is so hot here, but a little breeze should cool me down."


    [Eye of the Storm]

 Chapter 153: Conflict within the alliance

    "No wonder the system did not try to turn this into a trial. It was directed by another player. That dungeon master is already eyeing my dungeon..."


    "Master. All the Undead monsters, the beasts, and the Nosferatu have arrived. Shall I summon skeletons again to act as cannon fodder?" asked Dreidus.


    Five shook his head. "The situation has changed. It looks like they are about to fight each other. The Musclewood Tribe might no longer need assistance, but we need to be ready to attack."


    "I am very interested in the relics they use to summon the totem spirits. Will it unlock the beasts in the dungeon shop if we bring them back to the dungeon? Tell the Defacers to get near the Shamans but remain hidden in the shadows."


    ...


    As soon as the Flame Commander started speaking to Harriet, Five had been hearing their conversation. The Harpy Queen initially only wanted to keep Five informed but when she heard the truth, she decided to diffuse the conversation across the entire battlefield.


    Now, everyone was aware of the move of the Bramble Deer Tribe. The tribes were infuriated. In particular the Blue Eagle Tribe, the Pronghorn Tribe, and the Brown Bat Tribe. They were the three closest tribes to the Bramble Deer Tribe and were the most likely to be attacked.


    "You f*ckers! You dare to take advantage of the absence of our men to attack our defenseless village! We are not fighting anymore!" shouted the Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe.


    He was visibly anxious and enraged. He stared at the Flame Commander who barely avoided Harriet''s storm. Unfortunately, the rest of the Flame Riders were not as lucky and all perished under her violent attack.


    The battlefield became silent. All the barbarians have heard Flint''s words and stopped attacking. The Musclewood Tribe did not take advantage of the situation. Instead, they also retreated, welcoming the few moments of peace to catch their breath.


    "Xena! We are no longer fighting! Retreat! We need to quickly check on our village," shouted the Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe. Xena was the female leader of the tribe. With a swift movement of her hand, she commanded the two hundred barbarians of her tribe to retreat. The rest of the barbarians silently observed the Blue Eagle Tribe. They did not know what to do and looked at their chiefs for instructions.


    "Wait a moment. This might just be a trick by the dungeon to get us to move away. We don''t even know if these monsters really come from the Bramble Deer Tribe''s dungeon!" exclaimed Joyah in an attempt to calm the situation. If he did not do anything, the alliance will fall apart.


    Unfortunately, the barbarians did not believe his words.


    "My friend from the Blue Eagle Tribe. I think you need to wait a moment," said Donpur, the Shaman of the Brown Bat Tribe.


    "What do you want, Donpur? Don''t tell me you believe him. Your tribe is also in danger," answered the Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe with a frustrated expression.


    Donpur shook his head. "I am not stopping you from leaving but I just thought of something interesting. Doesn''t the Vicious Rhino Tribe have a Diviner? How come you did not inform us of something like that, Vellen? Are you going to say that you did not see this?"


    The Shamans fell silent as they all turned toward Vellen. All the barbarians who heard Donpur focused their gaze on the old Diviner as they furrowed their brows. Vellen''s silence was the loudest answer he could give.


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    "You f*cker! You used the Blue Eagle Tribe! How dare you? You knew very well that my tribe will be destroyed! That was your plan from the very beginning! You used us to conquer the dungeon and then after we would realize that our tribe was destroyed, you would have offered a helping hand and absorbed us into your tribe! You f*cker!" shouted the Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe.


    A commotion rose across the battlefield. The person at the center, Vellen did not speak at all. He looked down, avoiding the gaze of the barbarians but he remained calm.


    The Shaman of the Blue Eagle Tribe snorted and spat at Vellen. "F*cker! From now on, the Blue Eagle Tribe will not have any more deals with the Vicious Rhino Tribe! We have nothing else to do here."


    He turned to leave but at that moment, the ground under his feet broke apart as thorny roots grabbed his legs. "You! Who?" But before he could speak properly, another thorn pierced his throat.


    Donpur froze. "Joyah! What are you doing? Do you really want all our tribes to turn against your Vicious Rhino Tribe?"


    Joyah laughed lightly. "What are you talking about? I am helping the Blue Eagle Tribe. If I let him go, he would have broken his part of the deal and would have suffered from the punishment for breaking our oath."


    The Shamans were alarmed. "But. You clearly attacked one of us. How is lightning not striking you? You tricked us!"


    "I did not. The Vicious Rhino Tribe swore the pledge. Don''t you remember? A Shaman from each Tribe swore that they would not harm each other and would always act in the best interest of the tribes. However, compared to your tiny tribes, the Vicious Rhino Tribe has more than one Shaman!" He pointed at Vellen who still hasn''t made a single move. The Shamans were the strongest member of each tribe. As long as they did not attack each other, the tribes would be considered safe, but they did not take into consideration the second Shaman of the Vicious Rhino Tribe.


    "As he was the one to swear the oath, I am free to do as I wish as long as I act in the best interest of the ten tribes. I believe that sacrificing one tribe to conquer a dungeon is indeed something our tribes will collectively benefit from. Now, my friends, if you do not mind, please ask your men to resume the attack unless you want to join our friend in the heavens." Joyah smiled coldly.


    The thorns moved and wrapped around the Shaman''s throat, choking him. They then grabbed an Eagle Claw from the dead Shaman''s body. "I don''t want the Blue Eagle Tribe to not have any contribution. How about that? I will allow the Cobalt Eagle to become food for our Three-Horned Rhinoceros. This way, we can say that the Blue Eagle Tribe made the greatest sacrifice."


    He let out an evil laughed as he brought the Eagle Claw next to a small statue of a Rhinoceros.


    "What are you doing? Stop!" shouted Xena as she rushed toward Joyah but thorns appeared blocking her way.


    "Stupid woman. You better stay where you are if you don''t want your Blue Eagle Tribe to disappear completely."


    In the sky, the Cobalt Eagle shrieked. It was about to attack the Flame Commander when suddenly, it felt all its strength being drained. It stopped in its track and looked at its relic. Its energy was being absorbed at an alarming rate by the Three-Horned Rhinoceros.


    It decisively turned around and attack Joyah but a defensive barrier appeared, protecting the Shaman. It was Vellen, the Diviner. Although he could not deal with a totem spirit, he could keep it away for a few seconds which was all the Three-Horned Rhinoceros needed to absorb its energy.


    The Cobalt Eagle in the sky was only a projection; its real body was the relic. As its energy was absorbed, it gradually became hazy until it completely faded away.


    The Shamans stared at Joyah in fear. It was not that they were unwilling to help the Blue Eagle Tribe but rather, they could not. The Shamans could not harm other Shamans or the barbarians. Only Joyah was able to.


    The Three-Horned Rhinoceros roared! It felt its strength soar to the roof. The energy the Cobalt Eagle accumulated over several decades was directly absorbed by it, but it could not digest it all at once.


    All the energy was currently roaming free in his body but when it would absorb it properly, more than 50% would be wasted. However, at the moment, the Three-Horned Rhinoceros had enough energy to be considered as a level 55 Spirit.


    It sent a portion of the energy to Joyah, allowing the Shaman to temporarily raise his strength to level 45, towering above all the other Shamans.


    "Now... What is your choice? Are you going to attack them or are you going to become food for our totem spirit?" wickedly declared Joyah as he turned toward the remaining Shamans.


    Donpur frowned and said: "You think we will help you after what you did? Feel free to attack us. I know we cannot fight back or attack the regular barbarians, but that does not mean we cannot defend ourselves. Furthermore, even though you are strong right now, this is only temporary. Do you really want to waste all that energy on us?"


    Behind the Shamans, the totem spirits had already stopped channeling their powers and returned to their relics to protect them. The battle against the Musclewood Tribe could be said to have come to a pause.


    "You think so?" Joyah eyes lit up as he activated his skills but to his surprise, they all failed. "What? What happened?"


    Donpur laughed. "You want to use force against us? This is the skill of my totem spirit: [Audio Disturbance]. It emits inaudible sound waves that affect the flow of Mana. With that, you will be unable to cast any spells for a while. It does not matter how strong you are, without your magic, you are just an old man!"


    "We cannot attack you but if you want to mess with us, we won''t make your life easy either!" exclaimed the Shaman of the Gopher Tribe.


    Joyah briefly stared at the Shamans. He underestimated these old men. Their perfect plan fell apart and even their back up plan failed. "Fine! Then get out of the way. The pledge is still in effect. After my tribe deals with the Musclewood Tribe alone, I believe it would not be too much to ask for 80% of the dungeon!"


    "Vellen, what do you think? Our chances of winning should have increased significantly."


    The old Diviner did not answer immediately. He had been constantly peeking into the future and as Joyah said, the chances of winning did indeed increase as he absorbed the power of the Cobalt Eagle. However, it all suddenly plummeted down.


    "No. The chances of winning did not increase. Instead, they have never been this low."


    Joyah frowned. "What? What do you mean by that? Are you not supposed to be able to see everything?"


    "No... There are two things I cannot see through. The dungeon and the merchants..."

 Chapter 154: Grade 4 Scroll

    Harriet briefly looked at the Shamans arguing with each other. She could feel the new strength of the Three-Horned Rhinoceros but as long as she stayed in the skies, she would be out of range of its attack. She was two levels above the totem spirit but still felt threatened by it.


    The wind around Harriet calmed down, revealing the poor figure of the Flame Commander. Flint was covered in bruises; the flames surrounding his body were no longer vigorous. His HP bar was almost empty, but he managed to survive the attack. His Fiery Bird was not in good shape either.


    "You managed to survive? Interesting. You used a Bead of Solace to escape a killing blow. Not bad. It seems like your dungeon master values you to give you an item that cost 500 thousand DP like that. You were bluffing, right? Making it look like there are stronger monsters in your dungeon when You are in fact the strongest monster there."


    Flint coughed out blood and answered back: "Do you know what you have done? Your dungeon is doomed now. Even if you can somehow defeat the Three-Horned Rhinoceros, what about the level 45 Shaman and the rest of the Vicious Rhino Tribe? Can your dungeon handle them all? There are more than five hundred barbarians left!"


    "If you quickly apologize, I will command the Fire Golem to attack the Vicious Rhino Tribe. Without my help, your dungeon is doomed!"


    Harriet laughed. "Really? You are just wasting my time with this useless talk." Killing a monster at level 40 was not a challenge for her. With a single attack, she took out the rest of Flint''s HP.


    ''Now, it is time to deal with the Three-Horned Rhinoceros. With the help of the other totem spirits, we should be able to deal with it. At worst, we''ll just buy enough time for it to lose its energy.''


    She quickly joined the Skyblazing Crow as she activated her battle form.


    ...


    Contrary to the barbarians'' expectations, the players had been extremely useful in this battle. After having lost their levels after the failure at the dungeon, the players now averaged level 24. Their attacks were negligible as they only dealt 10-20 damage which was negligible when facing the barbarians'' high vitality.


    However, these attacks were useful in disrupting the barbarians'' attacks and buying time for the Musclewood Tribe. They did not fight directly. The players stayed at the back and used their mages, rangers, and priests to deal damage while healing. The players with physical classes stayed with the range classes and used large shields to protect them from the arrows of the barbarians.


    Many barbarians had the hunter class which allowed them to be extremely precise with their arrows. Despite being blocked by the shields, each arrow would deal 25-35 damage to the shieldbearers.


    The mages'' spells barely tickled the barbarians, but they were enough to interrupt them in their attacks. Whenever a barbarian would try to swing his ax, he would receive a [Mana Bolt] in the face. The arrows of the rangers had a similar effect. They were more of a disturbance than a threat. As for the priests, they focused on helping the barbarians and the shieldbearers survive.


    More than half of the players died during the short battle. Only thirty-one were left. When they saw the barbarians momentarily retreat, they heaved sighs of relief and used their recovery items.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "Iron Shark. How long is this going to last? We are clearly on the losing side!"


    Iron Shark wore a severe expression. He knew better than anyone that the situation did not look good. The attack came earlier than they expected, and the Blue Lagoon elites had yet to arrive.


    "This is bad. The outcome of the battle has yet to be decided but one thing is sure. At this rate, we won''t be getting anything out of this fight. Our contribution is close to zero. We are not Blue Lagoon''s elite. We were not meant to be the one fighting this."


    "Do you mean that the Musclewood Tribe will refuse to give us access to the dungeon?" asked a player.


    "As you can see, they did not really need our help. I argued that we would be able to significantly lower their losses because I thought the elites would be able to delay their enemies, but they did not even arrive yet," said Iron Shark. He could not be blamed for the outcome, but Iron Shark was still looking for ways to obtain more benefits.


    If the ten tribes won, he would get nothing. It would not be very different if the Musclewood Tribe won either as his contribution was negligible. They managed to kill zero barbarians and compared to the healing of Ester and Lovin, their priests'' skills were negligible.


    By the time the Blue Lagoon''s elites arrive here, it would be too late; the battle would already be over. A large number of players would have been mobilized for nothing and knowing the higher-ups'' behavior, Iron Shark would be the one to shoulder all the blame. It was something he could not accept.


    "What do we do then? At this rate, the only thing we''ll be getting out of this is our team members losing a few levels," complained another player.


    As he heard him, a thought crossed Iron Shark''s mind. "Since we are losing our levels anyway. Let''s use our scroll. It is too expensive to be used by one person but if we all contribute, we won''t suffer as much."


    He took out a bright red scroll from his inventory and showed it to his teammates. The players were shocked. It was a precious item they managed to acquire a few days ago. It was a Grade 4 Scroll containing the level 40 spell: [Fire Comet].


    Scrolls were rare items in the game. They were one-time use items that allowed players to use spells well above their levels. However, there was a heavy price to be paid. The players did not use any mana to wield the powerful spell. Instead, they paid for it in experience!


    To use the Grade 4 Scroll, Iron Shark needed to pay 10 million experience but he himself did not have that much available. He was back at level 26 after dying at the dungeon. He needed 600 thousand experience to level up. Even if he lost several levels, he would not be able to pay the 5 million exp required.


    Fortunately, the cost could be shared among the users of the scroll. There were thirty-one players. If they all agreed to lose one level, it would be enough to power the scroll.


    "Do you all agree?" asked Iron Shark as he looked at the other players.


    "Well... Losing one level is better than losing two when dying. If this spell ends the war, I am in," said a female player.


    "Yes. I support you, boss."


    Iron Shark smiled. The remaining players were all his trusted subordinates. He was sometimes rough with them but having followed him for a while, they trusted each other.


    "Good! Then, I''ll aim for the Shamans! We cannot defeat a level 55 monster, but if we get rid of all the Shamans, it should pretty much end the battle." Iron Shark ripped the Scroll apart as a system prompt rang in his ears.


    He quickly paid the price and nodded to his teammates. They all sacrificed a portion of their experience and fell in level but at the same time, a bright comet appeared above Iron Shark''s head.


    ''What is happening?'' The barbarians were alarmed. This battle had been complete and utter chaos. Aside from the Vicious Rhino Tribe and the Black Vulture Tribe, who was the eternal ally of the former, all the tribes had stopped fighting the Musclewood Tribe.


    However, the situation did not get any better for the Musclewood Tribe. While the majority of the barbarians were not fighting, the barbarians of the two tribes still amounted to 650 which outnumbered the 350 barbarians of the Musclewood Tribe still alive. Furthermore, Joyah was now so powerful that the collective effort of the three Shamans could barely hold him off.


    They were starting to panic when they suddenly saw a giant ball of fire appear above the players'' head. The fireball spun on itself and grew in size. It ripped across space, falling toward Joyah!


    Old Luke, Old Dale, and Ester cheered. They could feel the power coming from the fireball. Only a powerful mage who invested heavily in wisdom could produce that kind of aura.


    The fireball flew above the head of the barbarians; they could feel the heat as they inadvertently flushed red. However, to everyone''s surprise, the fireball exploded right in front of Joyah! It exploded into countless pieces and fell on the unfortunate barbarians under the explosion. They screamed in pain but were completely ignored by their Shamans.


    Worthy of being a large tribe, the Vicious Rhino Tribe accumulated a decent amount of resources and relics!


    Vellen and Joyah combined their efforts, activating the Rhinoceros'' Hide, a defensive relic coming directly from their tribe''s totem spirit. The two Shamans paid a heavy price to activate the relic but, in the end, they managed to stop the Fire Comet and all the attacks of the three Shamans.


    The Grade 4 Scroll the players paid so much for was completely countered.


    Vellen and Joyah let out a sigh of relief. Their back was drenched in sweat; they had to use one of their tribe''s most precious relic but they averted this crisis.


    However, their vision suddenly darkened. Vellen and Joyah did not understand what was happening. The ground underneath their feet shook as several putrefied arms appeared. They grabbed onto the Shamans'' ankles, not giving them time to recover from the use of their relic.

 Chapter 155: A new skill

    Old Luke could feel the pressure building up on his tribesmen. Although the totem spirits could push the Three-Horned Rhinoceros back and the three Shamans could deal with Joyah, it did not change the fact that the regular barbarians were completely outnumbered.


    "We cannot wait any longer. Humanoid Metal Slime, we will have to rely on you."


    As it heard the plea of his Shaman, the Humanoid Metal Slime stopped attacking. Its two hands were connected to the ground as countless metal spears attacked the Three-Horned Rhino.


    Under everyone''s watchful eyes, the Humanoid Metal Slime started changing shape and took off the ground. It slowly rose into the sky as wings appeared behind its back. Features appeared on its face and emerged from its head, falling to its waist. The transformation only took ten seconds. When it was complete, two Harriets were floating in the sky. The only difference between the two was their colors; the Humanoid Metal Slime could only copy a shape, it would always maintain its shiny silver color.


    "This... What is this?" exclaimed Ester as she looked at the metallic version of Harriet.


    Old Luke smiled, "This is my totem spirit''s ability. Just like the Three-Horned Rhinoceros has [Devour] that allows it to absorb the energy of other totem spirits, the Humanoid Metal Slime''s ability is [Perfect Copy]."


    "Regardless of who it targets, it will be able to perfect copy that person or monster. Be it in terms of skills, stats or level, my totem spirit can literally become its target for a short period of time. The weakness of the Black Iron Tribe has always been numbers; no matter how strong our opponents are, we will be able to match them, but if there are too many of them, we won''t be able to avoid defeat."


    "Impressive but why didn''t it copy the Three-Horned Rhinoceros?" asked Old Dale.


    "Because the actual power of the Three-Horned Rhinoceros is lower than what we are looking at right now. For now, it is much stronger due to the effect of [Devour]. My totem spirit copies the original stats of the user; it ignores the ongoing effects on the target. If it did select the Three-Horned Rhinoceros, it would naturally be able to use [Devour] but another totem spirit would need to sacrifice itself to match it. The winged woman was its best bet."


    As the Shamans were discussing among themselves, the wind rose around them. With two Harpy Queens manipulating the wind, it felt like the weather had changed drastically.


    "Let''s focus our attention on the opposing Shamans," said Old Luke but suddenly, he felt an intense heat coming from the side.


    He saw the players activate their scroll as a huge fire comet blasted its way toward Joyah.


    "Let''s all attack! This is our chance!" exclaimed Old Luke and instantly, the three Shamans all activated their formation. A powerful beam of energy fired toward Joyah.


    However, to everyone''s surprise, the attack of the Shamans and the Fire Comet were both stopped by the Shamans of the Vicious Rhino Tribe. They unexpectedly blocked such a powerful attack.


    Old Luke frowned. He knew they missed the best opportunity they would get. But to his surprise, it was not the end, he heard the beasts roar from the forest. Led by the Forest Tiger King, a large pack of beasts rushed toward the fighting barbarians.


    At the same time, a black smoke emerged from the ground, isolating Vellen and Joyah from the rest of the world


    ...


    "You want to attack the Shamans? It is almost impossible for us to reach them and they are much stronger than our Defacers," said Dreidus as he heard Five''s suggestion.


    "We need to be the one taking them down if we want to get our hands on those relics. I am very interested in them and want to see if I''ll unlock their totem spirits in the dungeon shop by doing so," answered Five.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    He briefly looked at the monsters at his side. "I know the Defacers are weaker than the Shamans, but we outnumber them. Ignore the tribes that decided to stop the fight and focus on those three still fighting. Summon a few Defacers and increase their number to fifteen. Remember that even though they are powerful, they are Shamans. Their defenses are weak and if we aim for the right time, we might be able to kill them."


    "As for how to reach them without being noticed, what about moving underground?" Five showed his interface to Dreidus.


    Before leaving the dungeon, Five purchased a pseudo-Dungeon Core that would allow him to purchase monsters accordingly. Normal Dungeon Cores could not be brought out of their dungeons, but it was different for the pseudo-Dungeon Core.


    On the interface, Dreidus saw the information of an Armadillo being displayed. It was a Platinum Armadillo, the Boss monster of the Spiked Armadillos.


    "You want to use a monster who can easily create tunnels underground? It might work but there are the Pocket Gopher and the Black-footed Ferret on their side. These two totem spirits will definitely detect any movement in the ground," said Dreidus.


    "It is fine. These two tribes are not fighting anymore. They are just watching from the sideline. I know there are Undead Monsters that are better suited, but we are also trying to move away from the Dark-Type monsters."


    "Alright then. You seem to have already thought it through."


    Five pressed the confirm button on his interface, unlocking the Platinum Armadillo.


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. You have unlocked the Boss Monster: Level 35 Platinum Armadillo, this monster can now be purchased at the dungeon shop.]


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five. Due to unlocking the Platinum Armadillo, you have unlocked the Monster: Level 30 Spiked Armadillo, this monster can now be purchased at the dungeon shop.]


    450 thousand DP disappeared from Five''s balance as he received the system prompts. Without hesitation, he spent another 150 thousand to summon the Boss Monster.


    A summoning circle appeared as a small trembling armadillo appeared. It fearfully looked at its surroundings and as soon as its eyes landed on Five, a system prompt appeared:


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the unnamed Platinum Armadillo has agreed to serve you.]


    Five froze. Wasn''t this a little too easy? Every time he summoned monsters, they showed some resistance, but the armadillo directly agreed to serve him before he could even speak.


    "This... Alright. We don''t have time to make proper introductions. For now, can you dig a hole from here to where these old men are? Do it discretely but it should be large enough for me and the Undead Monsters to go through," said Five.


    The Platinum Armadillo fearfully followed Five''s finger and nodded. It hurriedly jumped on its feet and started digging using its skill: [Dig].


    When Five saw the Armadillo''s fearful expression, he started doubting his choice. ''Did I just summon a coward?''


    The Platinum Armadillo might lack confidence in himself, but he was unrivaled when it came to digging. In a matter of seconds, he disappeared into the ground, leaving behind a large hole for Five and the others to enter.


    "Alright. Let''s go. Beast Kings! When you see us attacking the Shamans, I want you to go and assist the Musclewood Tribe''s barbarians. The Zombeasts and skeletons will assist you. The Nosferatu will stay here with Alice. They will help in covering the retreat of the beasts afterward."


    Having given his instructions, Five jumped into the hole, followed by Dreidus and his Undead Monsters. He could hear the faint scratching sounds of the Platinum Armadillo.


    "Lumen. Light up the tunnel, please. I cannot see anything," said Five.


    The Firefly Queen buzzed before leaving Five''s shoulder and showing him the way. The Platinum Armadillo worked fast and soon stopped to look at Five.


    "We are under the feet of the Shamans? Good job. Can you now weaken the surface a little bit so that it will be easier for us to attack? Be careful that the ground does not break apart before it''s time."


    Five opened the Pseudo-Dungeon Core again. His DP balance was currently at 900 thousand. His dungeon was generating a lot of DP at the moment; there were more than five hundred barbarians in his dungeon. The women, elders, and children were not as high level as the male barbarians, but they did not kill any monsters or collect any resources. They were simply sitting in the mountainous Biome, anxiously waiting for the return of the fighters.


    Five knew his move was risky. He was asking level 30 monsters to take down a level 45 Shaman accompanied by two level 39 Shamans. Dreidus was currently at level 35; although he was weaker than the Shamans, in his battle form, he would easily be able to take down one with his knowledge of powerful spells. But it was not enough.


    "Platinum Armadillo. I will summon a few Spiked Armadillo. When the time comes, I want you to help Dreidus. You can use your battle form. I will also cast a skill to help you all," said Five.


    The Platinum Armadillo paused. It stopped scratching the ground and looked at Five. Reluctance could be seen in his eyes but he nevertheless accepted the task. Several Spiked Armadillo appeared and helped their leader in its task.


    "A skill? What skill are you planning to use, master?" asked Dreidus.


    "This one," answered Five as he showed him the interface.


    [Dark pull (level 0)]


    Effect 1: Isolate a target area from the outside world and bring anyone in the target area into a dark world.


    Effect 2: [Blindness]- All entities within the target area will be blinded for the duration of the skill.


    Effect 3: Casting time of all skills +0.5s (Including instantaneous skills)


    Effect 4: [Confusion]- All entities will be confused for the first 0.5s of the skill and be unable to perform any actions.


    Duration: 3 seconds


    Mana Cost: 150 MP


    Cooldown: 1 hour


    "I know it will be better to summon a monster than to unlock a skill for me. But this skill can normally only be learned when you are above level 40. All monsters above level 40 cost a few million to unlock. The main point of this skill was to not only take the Shamans by surprise but also stop them from defending themselves. It should be easy for the Defacers to stop the Shamans from casting skills now that their cast time would be increased."


    Dreidus wanted to answer but suddenly, the flames in his eye sockets trembled. He blurted out "Then, please learn it quickly. The Zombeasts outside just contacted me using [Dead Mind]. A golden opportunity is about to present itself. We need to act fast!"


    Five nodded. He spent 500 thousand DP and learned the skill.


    "We should attack, now!" exclaimed Dreidus.


    "Go!" shouted Five as he activated Dark Pull, emptying his Mana bar. The Platinum Armadillo growled as it activated its battle form but the Armadillos did not attack yet.


    It was Dreidus and the Defacers who made the first move.

 Chapter 156: Fighting back

    [Death Ray]


    In his mage battle form, Dreidus activated his skill while still underground. He aimed for Vellen, the old Diviner, allowing the Armadillo to take care of the Shaman of the Black Vulture Tribe.


    The fifteen Defacers jumped and attacked the three Shamans, aiming for the vital parts of their body. They held small shiny daggers in their half-decomposed hands.


    The Platinum Armadillo activated its battle form. It became larger and stood on its back feet. The entire protective shell around its body was covered in long shiny spikes. After receiving Five''s command, it jumped while simultaneously spinning on itself, turning into a living cannonball covered with spikes.


    It mercilessly pierced the Shaman''s bone cloak as blood splattered everywhere. The Spiked Armadillos pulled out their claws and attacked together with the Defacers.


    The Shamans were taken by surprise and did not have time to react. Joyah had the best reaction of the three but when he tried to cast a defensive spell, he failed. The effect of [Dark Pull] came into effect. It bought the monsters a full second before the Shamans would be able to react.


    Aside from Joyah, the two Shamans had 450 HP. They did not invest heavily in Vitality but they received several bonuses from their professions and consumed a lot of useful potions.


    A Defacer''s well-positioned attack could deal up to 40 damage after taking into consideration the Shamans'' equipment but most of the time, it would deal around 30 damage per hit. The Spiked Armadillo dealt less damage due to their defensive nature but within the one-second frame they had, the monsters collectively dealt about 280 damage to each Shaman.


    Dreidus'' [Death Ray] exploded on Vellen but did not deal any damage. The energy of the [Death Ray] was all absorbed by Vellen''s protective talisman. He was a Diviner but although he could see the future, he became paranoid about his own safety. Vellen specialized in defense and compared to the others who took the full blow of the sneak attack, all the protective talismans he had were activated.


    However, without Vellen controlling the talismans, they only managed to block Dreidus'' attack, all the other monsters managed to severely injure the Diviner.


    Vellen and Joyah both reacted when they regained their powers and pushed back the monsters using [Protective Halo]. They were still blinded and did not know what attacked them but within the [Protective Halo], they were safe.


    On the other hand, the Shaman of the Black Vulture Tribe died immediately as the monsters attacked him a second time. With the Platinum Armadillo drilling its spikes within his old body, the Shaman''s HP dropped so quickly that he did not have time to react.


    "Vellen! Are you alright?" shouted Joyah as he regained his senses. He did not attack yet as he knew the old Diviner was right next to him; he did not want to inadvertently harm the diviner.


    "I''m fine. Who dares attack the Vicious Rhino Tribe!" exclaimed Vellen. He was both angered and frustrated to not have been able to predict this attack. His expression changed. He felt a dark ghastly energy pierce through his [Protective Halo]. Only someone more powerful than him could do something like that!


    "Be careful Joyah! They got through my halo!" At the same time, Vellen felt a hand wrapping around his throat. He was still blinded and did not know how to react. Being suddenly thrown into total darkness would disorient anyone. It was twice as effective on a Diviner who was always used to knowing what would happen. His senses became dull as he no longer needed to react to unexpected situations, but this was precisely what led to his doom.


    As soon as Dreidus broke the Shaman''s protection, the Defacers and Spiked Armadillos all went wild and slaughtered the old man.


    Only Joyah was left. He was injured but had already recovered by using his spells in this short period of time. Unfortunately, the three seconds effect of [Dark Pull] was already over and the Shaman recovered its vision.


    When he looked around him, Joyah saw several Undead monsters and a few armadillos threateningly staring at him. "D*mn! The monsters of the dungeon!"


    Then, he noticed the corpses of his two fellow Shamans. Joyah trembled. "You dare! You killed Vellen!"


    [Mortal Coil]


    Before Joyah could attack the monsters, a powerful energy in the form of a skull exploded on his [Protective Halo]. The halo blocked the entire attack but when the skull exploded, it released black fumes obscuring Joyah''s vision.


    Joyah cursed, using [Breeze] to blow away the black fumes but as he was once again able to see, he saw the figure of the lich jump down a hole in front of him. "You! Where do you think you are going?"


    But Dreidus ignored the Shaman and disappeared into the tunnel. The Defacers and Armadillos had already retreated. They did not dare face Joyah in his current state. He was way too powerful; they have lost the effect of surprise; they would no longer be able to harm him in any way.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    It was Five''s plan. He did not send the monsters to their death. Having already taken down two Shamans, the three Shamans of the Musclewood Tribe should now be perfectly able to deal with Joyah. They were on their home turf and benefitted from the effects of their arrays.


    Joyah wanted to attack but at that moment, a loud roar sounded behind him. He panicked! He instantly recognized the roar: it was the roar of panic of the Three-Horned Rhinoceros.


    The Shaman saw the totem spirit of his tribe slowly disappear! But something felt wrong; despite the suppression of the other totem spirits, the Three-Horned Rhinoceros has clearly not been defeated yet. Something else was causing it to disappear.


    ''The relic!'' exclaimed Joyah. He soon realized that with the death of Joyah, the relic was no longer active.


    Without the totem spirit, Joyah knew the opposing totem spirits would soon turn their attention to him. He jumped onto Vellen''s corpses and hurriedly searched his pockets but failed to find the relic!


    ''Where is it? Where is it!'' He panicked and did not care anymore. He tore Vellen''s clothes, revealing the poor Shaman''s ugly member but still failed to find the relic.


    The entire battlefield had their eyes fixed on the Three-Horned Rhinoceros. The beast spirit tried to resist the pulling force of its relic. Unfortunately, it was unable to maintain its projection for long; it completely disappeared under the eyes of the barbarians.


    The barbarians of the Vicious Rhino Tribe and the Black Vulture Tribe panicked! Without the totem spirit, who knew what would happen to them. They looked at the Shamans only to see that out of the three, only Joyah was still alive.


    The latter was sweating profusely. He could feel the feeling of despair slowly taking over him as he continued to tear apart Vellen''s clothes. At that moment, he saw two shadows covering his own.


    Two harpy queens were staring at him threateningly.


    While Harriet did not dare to face a totem spirit alone, she had a different opinion of the Shaman. Despite being doped by its totem spirit''s energy, Joyah was only level 45, twelve levels below her own.


    With grief and remorse, Joyah lost consciousness. His head exploded as the two harpy queens simultaneously used [Compressed Air Bullet].


    The death of the second Shaman of their tribe blew away all the hope the barbarians had. They did not give up despite facing the Musclewood Tribe at the front, the beasts and Undead monsters on the right, the Skyblazing Crow from above and the Mystic Wood Fox, the Giant King Crab and the Warthog from the left.


    They fought desperately. Vans loudly shouted to motivate his tribesmen but then, his head was mercilessly cut off by the Skyblazing Crow.


    Achi lowered his ax, cutting Luka in half. "This is what you get for speaking like that of my wife!"


    The barbarians fell one after another until there were only a hundred left. The surviving barbarians all dropped their weapons, not daring to fight back. They completely surrendered.


    While the Vicious Rhino Tribe and the Black Vulture Tribe had been continuing their assault against the Musclewood Tribe, the eight other tribes tactfully stood on the sideline. They did not want to be used by the Vicious Rhino Tribe.


    Three tribes had already left to check on their village, namely the Blue Eagle Tribe, the Brown Bat Tribe and the Pronghorn Tribe whose villages were the closest to the Bramble Deer Tribe.


    The five remaining tribes did not participate in the battle and even after the Musclewood tribe''s victory, they did not attack. They could see the Musclewood Tribe was in terrible shape, but they did not dare to attack. They knew their chances of winning were slim. The dungeon was protecting them; not only was there a terrifying Harpy Queen flying above their head, but there was also an underground threat.


    Achi, Wesh and Ganya regrouped. They were all covered in bruises, but they nevertheless stood proud in front of their men. They looked at the remaining barbarian army and waited for their move.


    After a few moments, the chief of the Gopher Tribe finally made his move. "Let''s leave. We have nothing to do here. We have been defeated. As long as the Musclewood Tribe does not pursue this matter, we will leave at once."


    Seeing the Gopher Tribe''s move, the other chief put forward a similar proposition. As long as the Musclewood Tribe swore an oath to not attack them, they would leave immediately.


    Achi was enraged. They were the one that declared war and now, he was not even allowed to fight back. Nevertheless, he knew fighting another battle would be disastrous to the Musclewood Tribe. They have already lost half of their warriors; any more losses and they would be downgraded back to a medium tribe.


    He briefly consulted the exhausted Shamans and eventually swore the oath. The two sides did not want to fight each other to death. The incident that would be marked in the Musclewood Tribe''s history came to an end. The totem spirits disappeared, and Harriet swiftly flew back toward the forest. Out of all those who actively participated in this battle, she seemed to be the only one unharmed.


    The Shamans wanted to stop her, but the harpy queen disappeared before they could utter a word.


    ...


    "Five! Dreidus! Is everything alright?"


    Harriet landed where all the beasts and Undead Monsters were converging. She saw Five and Dreidus emerging out of a tunnel.


    "We are fine. You did well, Harriet. Taking out that totem spirit was key to the Musclewood Tribe''s victory."


    Harriet gently smiled. "I have a suggestion to make."


    "What is it?"


    "May I get the permission to attack the dungeon of the Bramble Deer Tribe?"


    Five was taken by surprise. Of all the things she could ask, Five would have never expected her to make this request. Wasn''t she tired from this fight?


    Seeing Five''s expression, Harriet said: "Let me explain. The Flame Commander was the dungeon''s strongest monster. With him gone for a whole day, we have a window where the dungeon is very weak. Imagine what would be the difference in our dungeon if I was absent or if Dreidus was. Furthermore, the dungeon also lost thirty Flame Riders. It has an army of Fire Golem nearby far away from the dungeon. And finally, as you have heard, the dungeon is helping the Bramble Deer Tribe to attack the other villages!"


    Five''s eyes lit up as Harriet continued: "It means even more monsters away from the dungeon! Right now, it is at its weakest. I do not want to miss the opportunity. Also, I want him to pay! How dare he send all these barbarians to attack our dungeon!"


    Five could not find any flaws in her statement but he was reluctant to send the harpy queen on a solo mission. "Dreidus. What do you think?"


    The lich nodded. "Harriet is right but we''ll need to act fast! If she goes alone, it will take her under an hour to reach the dungeon, but I do not travel as quickly."


    "It is fine! I alone am enough. At worst, I will just slaughter the majority of his monsters. As long as I can inflict some losses to that dungeon, it would be worth it!" said Harriet.


    Five could see Harriet''s frustration. She wanted to vent herself on the other dungeon. "Fine. Go for it then. But be careful. If there are any signs of danger, do not hesitate and retreat. Do not be like that stupid Flame Commander."


    The Harpy Queen smiled evilly as she rubbed her hands in anticipation. "I''ll be careful." She quickly flew away, disappearing from Five''s view.


    "As for us, I believe the barbarians should go to our dungeon soon to ask for their wives, children, and elders. Let''s return to the dungeon," said Five.


    "Wait a minute." Dreidus stopped Five as he turned toward the Platinum Armadillo. "Little fellow. Are you not going to show it?"


    The Platinum Armadillo looked confused but as Dreidus intensified his stare, the little beast trembled in fear. It retracted its shell and six relics fell off.


    "I saw him take them from the Shamans'' robe earlier. He was very fast. If I was not in my Battle Form, I would have missed it. He might be cowardly but when it comes to pickpocketing, I would say he is quite talented."


    Five was surprised. He crouched and grabbed the relics as information windows appeared. To his surprise, three of them were the relics containing the totem spirits of three tribes!


    He had been lamenting earlier about the monsters'' fast retreat. He ordered Dreidus to prioritize their safety first and so, he believed Dreidus did not have time to collect the relics. But he never expected the Platinum Armadillo to have sneakily picked all the relics from the corpses.


    "I don''t know if I should praise you or punish you," said Five as he recalled that the armadillo did not show the relics by his own will.


    He was delighted. Five wanted to laugh but at that moment, a female voice sounded in the distance. "Wait a minute!"


    Dreidus and the other monsters frowned. They quickly surrounded Five to protect him as they turned toward the source of the voice.

 Chapter 157: Failure and celebrations

    Five frowned. "What do you want?"


    He recognized the speaker. It was Xena, the female leader of the Blue Eagle Tribe. She was rather tall and muscular, wearing a thick leather armor and a coat. She rode her horse alone and stopped when the beasts jumped in front of her.


    "You have something that belongs to my tribe. The Eagle Claw. It is with you, right? The Shaman of my tribe is already dead. Without our totem spirit, we won''t exist anymore. Please give it back."


    Five was surprised. He had just gotten his hand on the relics, but that woman already traced it back to him. "What if I have it? Why should I give it back? As far as I am aware, we are enemies."


    "So you admit that it is with you! I knew the monsters of the dungeon should have taken it when I saw the Shamans'' reactions."


    "Isn''t it just a relic? The Cobalt Eagle is already dead, isn''t it?" asked Five.


    Xena shook her head. "Who said so? Although a large portion of its energy was absorbed, the Cobalt Eagle is still alive. It will have to hibernate for a long period of time. Give it back to me, it is useless to you."


    "Ohh"


    At that moment, Five received a system prompt:


    [System prompt: You have found the relic containing the spirit of a Cobalt Eagle. The spirit is severely injured and will hibernate for ten years before waking up. It is possible to immediately heal the spirit and turn it into your monster. The cost is 1.7 million DP. Would you like to proceed?]


    ''An unexpected surprise! It is like when I first encountered Dreidus'' remains. I wonder if I will be able to turn all three totem spirits into my monsters. However, there is also a problem. Just like with Dreidus, the monsters have their own free will. What will I do if the Cobalt Eagle just refuses to become my monster? It is 1.7 million DP!'' thought Five.


    He smiled to Xena as he signaled the beasts to calm down. "Who said that I have no use for the relic? I can naturally wake up the Cobalt Eagle and turn it into my monster. I don''t know what method you can use but I don''t need to wait ten years to do so."


    "What?" Xena froze. The Cobalt Eagle was the only hope of her tribe. She knew very well that the spirit was on the brink of death. It would need a lot of time and resources to heal it. During that period of time, the Blue Eagle Tribe would be vulnerable. It had already lost its Shaman but fortunately, most of her men managed to survive this battle.


    "Then speak. What do you want? The relic is essential for the survival of my tribe. Name your price!" She knew she could not fight the dungeon master in front of her. She left her men to return by themselves so that she could look for the relic of the totem spirit. They were anxious about their families but at the same time, Xena knew that without the Eagle Claw, the Blue Eagle Tribe would cease to exist by the end of winter.


    Five smiled. He knew he successfully hooked the female barbarian. "I want two things. As long as you can swear an oath about them, I can summon the Cobalt Eagle back for you in the near future."


    "Two things?"


    "First, I want the Blue Eagle Tribe to join the Musclewood Tribe. Just like the original three tribes, you will be treated equally and even join their ruling council," said Five. His main goal was to increase the population of barbarians. It was only by doing so that the number of visitors to his dungeon would increase.


    Xena fell silent. She pondered for a moment and answered: "I understand. As long as my tribe is treated fairly, I can move the tribe here, but I cannot promise that all my tribesmen will follow. Many are attached to the land of our ancestors."


    "Excellent. You can go and speak to the Musclewood Tribe. Just tell them that I sent you and they will agree. Now onto the second thing. I want you to convince the Cobalt Eagle to become my monster. He will retain all its rights and will naturally be allowed to fight to protect your tribe but at the same time, if my dungeon is in danger, he would need to fight for me," said Five.


    "What? So you cannot force the Cobalt Eagle to turn into your monster?"


    "I cannot force it, but I can convince it to. It will just take some efforts and would delay its summoning by a lot. It is in your best interest to agree. Now that the Blue Eagle Tribe exists, its desire is naturally to protect you but once you disappear, it would no longer have any attachment to the world."Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Xena fell silent. She simply could not give away the totem spirit of her tribe but at the same time, if the Cobalt Eagle really did not make an appearance, the Blue Eagle Tribe would just end up being absorbed by another tribe.


    "I will try but the Cobalt Eagle must be free, and you cannot force it to do your biddings. He will only defend your dungeon if absolutely necessary!"


    "We have a deal then."


    ...


    "Five. We came to look for our tribesmen. Please release them."


    The first thing Achi, Wesh and Ganya did after the battle was to come to the dungeon to retrieve their families. They were still covered in bruises, but their families were their priority.


    As they received no answer, their heart started to worry. Then, a woman. It was Lyra.


    "My master is not here yet. As you know, he also participated in your battle, but I can lead you to your family. Please follow me," She politely bowed like a servant greeting the house''s guests.


    When they arrived at the mountainous biome, the chiefs saw hundreds of barbarians anxiously waiting for the return of the fighters. Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned toward Achi as he entered the large room, but his eyes only saw his wife, Ly and his daughter, Mira.


    Ganya rushed to his wife and embraced her but Wesh was not married yet. He awkwardly looked at the two other chiefs as he saw his sister rush toward him.


    "It''s all over now. Let''s go back to the village." Achi smiled brightly but deep inside, he felt guilty. He saw the wives and children of his comrades who perished in battle, but he did not have the courage to speak to them.


    Under Lyra¡¯s watchful eyes, the five hundred barbarians that hid in the dungeon left the mountainous biome and returned to their village.


    "Please tell Five that we would like to invite him to our celebrations tonight. Of course, he can bring with him a few monsters," said Wesh as he walked in front of Lyra.


    The latter nodded quietly. "I''ll pass the message."


    ...


    A few hours later, the Musclewood Tribe gathered around a huge campfire. Those who did not participate in the battle took care of the celebrations. Some cooked the food while others brought out musical instruments and created a lively atmosphere.


    The barbarians were smiling and celebrating but at the same time, there were a few who mourned in silence. Some did not even come to the gathering and stayed at home to pray for their loved ones.


    It was an unavoidable step in the cycle of life of a barbarian; death could happen at any time. But now that the Musclewood Tribe had survived this crisis, it could only become stronger as they moved forward. The Vicious Rhino Tribe and the Black Vulture Tribe were both finished. Not only did they lose a large portion of their forces, but their totem spirits also perished.


    Old Luke absent-mindedly stared at the fire from afar. His fingers kept playing with a small pouch.


    "What are you doing here alone? Are you not going to celebrate?" It was Ester. The old Female Shaman saw Old Luke''s desolate expression and decided to cheer him up.


    "Just thinking. I am quite glad that this is all over. We survived and did not rely much on the dungeon even though I have to admit that without their help, we would have died for sure."


    "It is not just the dungeon. The merchants also helped us. Are you going to bring them to the dungeon from now on?" asked Ester as she looked at the players in the distance sharing the delicacies of the townsmen with the barbarians.


    "Not for now. The village needs to be repaired and the men need to rest and look after their family. We must make sure to compensate the widows and orphans. They shall be the one to receive the most resources from now on. We cannot let the sacrifice of our brave tribesmen be in vain."


    Ester quietly nodded. "I agree. Are you going to accept the Blue Eagle Tribe too? That woman said she came to an agreement with the dungeon master."


    "Yes. Although Five did not come here and I cannot confirm it, it does not seem like she is lying. The Blue Eagle Tribe did not suffer a lot during this battle. Having them as allies will be beneficial while we recover. Furthermore, the Blue Eagle Tribe''s specialty is agriculture, something our three tribes have no knowledge of."


    "The Blue Eagle Tribe might just be the first of many. Now that this case has been settled, I suspect that other tribes will eye our dungeon. While they cannot take it by force, they will try other methods. The other things we need to be careful about are the central plains and the townsmen. They ignored our region in the past because of its lack of resources but now that we have a dungeon and that strange black shard. Who knows when they will make their move? We need to be careful."


    "I agree. But this is something we''ll look at later. For now, we should enjoy life. We are already old and do not have long to live. Let''s join those youngsters and comfort the ones who just lost their families. We are a single tribe. If there is one good thing that came out of this battle, it is that the Musclewood Tribe is now more united than ever. After having fought together, the tribesmen no longer see themselves as coming from different tribes. It is a step in the right direction."


    Old Luke smiled. "Let me put this away first. I''ll join you in a minute."


    "What is it exactly? I saw you hold this pouch next to your body during the entire fight," asked Ester.


    "This? It is the ultimate weapon of the Black Iron Tribe. It is a relic that like the other ones, can summon totem spirits. However, the totem spirit imprisoned inside is special. My ancestors warned me to never use it unless absolutely necessary. It will attract a monster that will ravage our tribe." He opened the pouch, showing its content to Ester.


    Inside the small pouch, Ester saw a tiny green scale. A reflection of the moon could be seen in it. She was inadvertently attracted and instinctively raised her hand but at that moment, Old Luke decisively closed the pouch.


    "See? Even you were unable to resist its attraction. Don''t think too much of it. This is our tribe''s ultimate weapon, but it can only be used as last resort."


    ...


    At the dungeon, Five sat in the meeting room with his monsters. He did not go to the barbarian village to celebrate and instead, chose to wait for Harriet to come back. He was worried about her. She went to the dungeon alone but so far, the interface was indicating she was still alive.


    It has been a few hours since the harpy queen left. And considering her flight speed, she should have already made it there, but he still did not receive any system prompt! Harriet had failed to conquer the dungeon but at the same time, she was still alive. Five did not know if she was stubbornly staying at the dungeon, using guerilla tactics to wear it out.


    He stared at the screen anxiously until suddenly, he saw the harpy queen''s figure, landing at the entrance of the dungeon. Five felt a wave of relief wash over him.


    Harriet quickly made her way to the meeting room. From Five''s point of view, she did not seem to be injured, only frustrated.


    She flung the door open and entered the meeting room. She bit her lips as she felt the gaze of the monsters. "I am sorry. I failed to take over that dungeon." She lowered her head, feeling ashamed after having displayed her confidence earlier.


    Five spent a lot of time with Harriet. He could tell something was bugging her. She never expected to fail to conquer the dungeon. She went in alone, but her level was well above what an average dungeon could fight. Five knew she did her best. She could not be blamed and so, he brought up a brighter topic to lift her mood.


    "It is fine. I am sure you caused them a lot of losses. Sit. Tonight, let''s not talk about this battle anymore. Even the barbarians are celebrating. Don''t you think we should do so too?"


    Alice and Angela''s eyes lit up. They instantly remembered the feast they were offered after passing the first trial!


    Five noticed the glint in the harpies'' eyes. "This is your reward for your hard work. Call the beast kings too! Although it was not an official trial, to us, it was a major milestone. Now that the Musclewood Tribe has stabilized and the players are now aware of our existence, the flow of DP should increase considerably! Let''s enjoy ourselves tonight but as from tomorrow, we will all get back to work!"

 Chapter 158: Epilogue

    "D*mmit! We were too slow! Iron Shark gave us the information late and now, he is going to reap all the benefits for himself!"


    The elites of Blue Lagoon rode their horses toward the Musclewood Tribe. The sun was already setting in the distance, but they would need to travel a few more hours before arriving at their destination.


    "Tssk! That selfish guy! I am sure he already reported it to the higher-ups. He wasted our time here! We could have been grinding and I would have already leveled up," complained a player called Narwhal.


    "He thinks the combat team can just be ordered around like that? If there is no dungeon there, I''ll teach him a lesson. He thinks that just because he will soon have a status equal to an elder, he can just order people around?" The leader of Blue Lagoon''s elite team, Finless grinned.


    They were all in a foul mood after receiving the message from the elders of the guild. Iron Shark had just notified them that the battle at the Musclewood Tribe had already taken place. Basically, the elite team traveled for days for nothing!


    "Let''s just set up our camp here. Since we are no longer in a hurry. We should just hunt around and look for quests. Maybe we''ll find something interesting. Very few players ventured that far in the barbarian territory," suggested another player called Sea Lion.


    Finless nodded. "I approve. Iron Shark can just wait for us. Why do we need to hurry if he can already do everything by himself?" sarcastically said Finless.


    At that moment, Narwhal caught sight of a lonely figure standing in the distance. "Who is that? An NPC?"


    The large team changed direction and approached the woman. As they got closer, the players heard the woman complaining:


    "You can stop looking at me with these eyes! You know it is hard to judge the distance and the direction when traveling underground. At least, I am not completely lost, I am in the barbarian territory. Now, all we need to do is to look for a settlement and ask for directions. It should not be too hard!"


    "Stop saying I have a bad sense of direction. You are even worse. You wandered around for an entire month before finding me. If you are so good, why don''t you find that dungeon''s location? You should be able to smell it."


    "What? You can''t? So stop ranting."


    As they got closer, the players saw that the woman was not alone. On her right arm was a snake. It wrapped around her limb and docilely looked down, feeling wrong. It looked like a pet but hearing her conversation, the players believed that she could speak to the snake.


    "Excuse me miss. Did you say you were looking for a dungeon?" Finless courteously smiled at the woman. Finless was a handsome young man; the main reason he was chosen as the leader of the elite team was not because of his talent in fighting, it was because of his charms. He could easily get his way with NPCs and managed to increase his strength behind the back of the guild.


    The woman was startled. Her eyes shone as she looked at Finless. She blurted out, "Oh! A pretty boy. It has been a while since I''ve seen someone like that."


    Finless almost fell off his horse. Were women in the barbarian territory that straight forward?


    "Miss. I heard your earlier complaints. Do you need some help?" said Finless, ignoring the woman''s comment.


    "I am looking for a dungeon. Do you know where I can find one nearby? It should not be very far," said the woman. She looked at the players as her beautiful eyes blinked. Finless was attracted by her eyes; they looked like two large dark gems.


    "We are coincidentally going to a dungeon. Would you like to join us on our journey? We are going to set our camp here. Maybe we can enjoy a meal together?" suggested Finless with a sweet smile that could melt any woman''s heart.


    But to his surprise, the woman''s reaction was:


    "Food?" Her eyes shone as she started to think about the delicacies available at the townsmen''s cities.


    "Sure. I''ll join you."


    The players set their camp and invited the woman to join them. Finless was the only one interacting with her. She laughed and chuckled occasionally but so far, Finless had not been able to obtain any quests from her.


    The first thing that came to his mind was that a lonely NPC like this would provide quests but so far, nothing. Nevertheless, Finless was delighted to spend some time with the woman. He did not know her name yet, but it did not matter. She was pretty and had a very attractive figure; the only thing holding him off was the snake that never left her side.


    Finless saw the snake as a thorn in his side, preventing him from approaching the woman. ''Tiny reptile! You dare c*ckblock me?''


    "How is the food? Would you like some drinks too?" asked Finless. He had been accompanying the woman since the start of the meal and so far, she had already devoured ten people''s worth of food! He felt exasperated when he saw that the woman stopped listening to him as soon as she was served food. She now only reacted when food was mentioned in a sentence.


    "Drink? Alcohol is disgusting!" said the woman as she chewed on the chicken thigh. She completely disregarded the bottle of wine.


    Finless was not discouraged. "I see that you are a cultured woman. Of course, alcohol alone cannot suit your palate. We need to make a cocktail first. Watch." Having worked as a bartender in real life, Finless swiftly grabbed a few metal shakers and started a small show. His movements were fluids and caused the woman to shift her attention away from her food for a moment.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    At the end, the woman was presented with a shiny glass full of a colorful liquid. A single cocktail was separated into several layers, each having a different color, texture, and taste. "This is my version of the rainbow cocktail. Please have a taste."


    Finless was proud of his cocktail. The woman''s eyes shone as she took the glass and took a sip. "It''s good!" She quickly downed the cocktail, breaking Finless'' heart. All the hard work he put into the cocktail was gone in just one second. Nevertheless, he maintained his gentlemanly appearance. ''After a few more, you''ll be mine!''


    The meal went on. The players already felt bloated and tired but the one person still eating was the woman.


    Suddenly, she stopped and stood up. "Did you feel it, little guy? We have to go!"


    "Hisss Hisss."


    "What? You don''t even recognize your great-great-great-grandfather? I am certain I felt his aura. he disappeared decades ago during the war at the central plains. But he is still alive? I only felt his aura for a second, let''s quickly go before he leaves. It''s in this direction!" The woman excitedly placed down her plate but before she could leave, Finless grabbed her wrist.


    "Where are you going? Are you leaving us so soon? The night is still young. We can go there together tomorrow?"


    The woman froze. She stopped and turned toward Finless. "I am sorry, but this is very urgent. I might miss this opportunity if I don''t go right now. Maybe we''ll meet again in the future?" She pulled her hand but Finless refused to let go.


    He had spent so much effort on that woman and now, she was thinking of dining and dashing? Finless used to be an average person but when he entered New Earth and joined Blue Lagoon, he got a taste of power. He was appointed as the leader of the elite team. He could get anything he wanted; from money, items and women.


    He did not even need to ask as many women would throw themselves to him to win their favor. However, he soon realized that the real treasures were those who would resist him. At the time he was working as a bartender, he had seen countless women getting tricked and as he replicated the methods used by the despicable individuals, he was able to get his hands on anyone he wanted. The guild would always turn a blind eye to his actions.


    Adding on to the frustration of his long journey, he now felt betrayed as he saw the woman wanting to leave after receiving so many things from him.


    "Do you know how much I wasted on you and you want to leave just like that? You think you can just play with me like that?" Finless stared at the woman but then he received a system prompt:


    [System prompt: You have been slain by ???, Level -2, applying death penalties]


    Finless froze. When he looked around him. He found his body lying on the ground, split in half. He was in etheral form symbolizing that he indeed died but he did not even understand how that happened.


    The woman in front of him looked disappointedly at the corpse. "So weak. He cannot even handle a simple slap. I thought he would make a great toy in bed, but I guess I overestimated him. Alright. Time to go."


    In an instant, the woman disappeared underground, leaving a large hole in the middle of the players'' camp.


    ...


    At the Fire Pit, the dungeon of the Bramble Deer Tribe, Stargaze, the Dungeon master smashed a table and cursed. "That d*mn b*tch! She dares to come here to wreak havoc!"


    Flint stood in front of his master in silence, not daring to meet his gaze. The dungeon was in flames, literally.


    "Leave. I need to contact the Storm Alliance."


    The monsters hurriedly left the throne room as Stargaze sat back on the throne sculpted in Firestones.


    The air fluctuated as a screen appeared. "Mentor. The plan has failed, and I faced the consequences. The other dungeon master sent his most powerful monster and almost destroyed my dungeon. If I did not use the Clock of Tiber, I would not have been able to report this incident."


    The Clock of Tiber was the item Stargaze acquired at the auction. It was one of the first items auctioned. Its effect was to refresh the cooldown on the revival of the Boss Monsters. Regardless of when they died, the Boss Monsters could all be revived immediately when used.


    It did not sound very impressive but if used correctly, it could effectively double the number of boss monsters protecting the dungeon. It was only by sending all his Boss Monsters in a suicide attack and using the Clock of Tiber that Stargaze was able to repel Harriet. When faced with two waves of powerful Boss Monsters, despite her high level, Harriet was forced to retreat after suffering from the collective debuffs of the monsters.


    Unfortunately, although the cooldown was refreshed, the cost still remained. Stargaze had to pay a hefty price to revive his monsters. Let alone reviving all the regular monsters that died under the Harpy Queen''s hand, his losses amounted to more than 600 thousand DP.


    The screen shook as an old man appeared, "What? The other dungeon is much stronger than we expected. To not only push back ten tribes but also be able to fight back. You wasted the artifact but I believe you should have obtained some information. I cannot intervene in the struggle of the new generation of the dungeon masters, but I might be able to help you. I can send a few tribesmen from the central plains. It won''t be much, but they should help you to protect your dungeon for a while."


    "Thank you, mentor! I know the approximate location of his dungeon now and I think you will like what I found next. I think that he is the dungeon master that swindled Kroff of his Harpy Queen. The Boss Monster of that dungeon was a Harpy Queen!"


    The face of the old man on the screen lit up. "What a coincidence! Looks like he is worth quite a lot. Let me report this to the leader. I''ll be back soon."


    ...


    In another dungeon somewhere in the Arstan Empire.


    "Hello, mentor."


    "Farsight! There has been some news about a potential target for the Challenger Gauntlet."


    Farsight recollected his thoughts and focused. He knew his mentor was about to give him a critical piece of information.


    "Do you remember a person called Kroff from the Cyclone Alliance? We talked about it at the meeting about how he lost his Harpy Queen to his disciple."


    "I do. What does it have to do with the Challenger Gauntlet?" asked Farsight.


    "Simple. Your target will be his disciple. It turns out he was the one that took out two of our members in the Sylvester Empire. We already know the location of his dungeon. When you challenge him and win, not only will we enact revenge, you will also have the opportunity to get a rare monster like a Harpy Queen."


    "But isn''t the Harpy Queen a powerful monster? How am I supposed to deal with her?" Farsight was sceptical.


    "Didn''t lord Amon send you his monster a few weeks ago? He should be enough to deal with her. She is the only threat. The rest of his dungeon is subpar," said the dungeon master on the screen.


    "That winged man? I know he is level 60 but he spends the entire day with women. I have never seen him fight. Are you sure he will be up to the task?"


    "Don''t look down on him. He is just being affected by your Core of Lust. When the time is right, you will see how strong he really is."


    "Alright. I will trust you on this one," said Farsight.


    "Prepare well. Don''t underestimate your opponent. Be ready to use the Challenger Gauntlet right after the third trial. It will be the period where his dungeon will be at its weakest. He is not weak by any means. We have reasons to believe that he is one of the dungeon masters that bought the ''Answers'' at the auction. According to Ali, the dungeon master that bought the ''Answers'' with him had a harpy at his side and it was the same one that was spotted next to Kroff during the auction."


    Farsight frowned. "Then, doesn''t he have an ally. I remember Ali saying that the two dungeon masters knew each other. What if the other one act against us afterward? Should we get rid of her too?"


    "No! No matter what, do not touch that woman! You will bring a disaster to the Storm Alliance. She might be weak, but do you know who her mentor is?"


    "Who?"


    "Lord Brann. You should have never heard of him but every old-timer like me knows about him. He did not join any alliances, but no one dares to cause him any trouble. He wields enough power to destroy an entire alliance by himself. He is one of the supreme elders of the magic council of the Millenium Empire. The strength of the magic council rivals that of the church. If he is truly angered, all our dungeons will face the attack of the magic council!"


    "But the scariest part is himself! He is known within our circle as the Dungeonless. He is not forced to stay in a single spot like us and can cause trouble everywhere. Furthermore, his unique title gives him enough power to summon an endless army of monsters. No matter what you do, do not anger that person."


    Farsight gulped down as he listened to his mentor. Seeing how terrified his mentor was despite his strength, Farsight understood that Lord Brann was somebody to avoid.


    "Alright. We''ll end this conversation here. I need to talk to the others too and warn them about Lord Brann in case their disciple does something we will all regret."


    "Thank you, mentor."


    Farsight heaved a sigh of relief as the screen disappeared in front of him. In the corner of his eyes, he noticed a moving silhouette.


    "You are here? You heard the entire conversation, didn''t you? I hope you will prove yourself during that battle," said Farsight as he sneered in disgust.


    A winged man stood in the shadows, completely naked and holding a winged woman in each arm. He did not bother to hide his erection as he stood in front of his master and allowed the winged women to continue pleasing him.


    "You don''t have to worry. As long as you summon a few more winged women, I''ll get rid of all the troubles that come your way. I''ll crush that other dungeon for you and if there is anyone that I fancy, I''ll even mate them right in front of that dungeon master. You cannot blame me for my behavior. As your mentor said, it is not my fault. Your core is changing me," answered the winged man.


    Farsight furrowed his brows. He could not bring himself to argue with the winged man, nor did he want to watch the obscene scene taking place right in front of his eyes. ''The Core of lust is really too much...''


    "I really hope you are as strong as you say, Ivan. I sure do hope so."

 Chapter 159: Conflict at the central plains

    The Central Plains. A wild piece of land ruled by the barbarians. Sandwiched between the Sylvester Empire and the Millenium Empire, the barbarian territory was a place where strength meant everything.


    The Central Plains were different from the other external plains. The barbarian tribes there all had access to dungeons. The barbarians lived in small cities made of clay. They obtained most of their food from the dungeon and did not rely on hunting as much as the other barbarian tribes. As a result, ferocious beasts roamed all over the central plains; it was a place full of danger.


    In the southern part of the central plains, a large group of barbarians steadily rode their horses moving further south toward the Sylvester Empire.


    "Thum Thum Thum!"


    The ground trembled as more than a thousand horses moved in a formation. They were so loud, yet none of the beasts dared to approach the group. They left behind a thick trail of dust wherever they went.


    "Are we still far from the Bramble Deer Tribe? We have already been riding for a week!"


    "We haven''t even left the Central Plains yet. You have been asking this question every few hours. Are the tribesmen of the Tauren tribe are really that impatient?"


    "Shut up Monkey! Look after your clique and make sure they don''t cause any trouble. If we fail, I''ll pin all the blame on you."


    "Hmmp. The young leader of the Tauren tribe needs to learn some humility."


    The large group of barbarians consisted of barbarians from several tribes. It was rare for them to join together on an expedition but to everyone''s surprise, the different tribes agreed to collaborate for once.


    The barbarians did not understand why but they have all been tasked with going to the Bramble Deer Tribe and assisting them for a short period of time. It was a first in the history of the Central Plains.


    The barbarian tribes there usually did not interfere in the trouble of the outer tribes. To top it off, it was not just one tribe that was lending a hand but at least seven tribes pooled together their tribesmen, forming this thousand man group.


    "D*mn that Bramble Deer Tribe! Why do we even need to go and help them? Our tribe clearly never had any connections with them. Because of them, I can''t even attend the coming of age ceremony...."


    "Stop complaining. You are hurting our ears. If you are so pissed off, just relieve yourself at the pond. We''ll need to stop there to restock our water and tend to the horses."


    Coming from different tribes, the barbarians were not particularly friendly with one another. They often argued along the way; it was a way to pass time and vent off their frustration.


    In the distance, the barbarians could already see a few trees standing out of the landscape. It was a sign that a water point was not very far. Those water points were essential for the travels of the barbarians; they were equivalent to oases in deserts.


    The barbarians'' mood instantly brightened. They were finally going to get some rest. The journey has been long and they still had a lot of miles to cover.


    As they got closer to the water point, the barbarians noticed another group of barbarians. They became cautious. Danger was everywhere on the Central Plains and as they did not know the other group''s identity yet, it was better to be careful.


    When they finally got within range, the barbarians easily identified the other party. They did not recognize the other barbarians but their mounts! They were rams.


    Thod, the son of the leader of the Tauren Tribe laughed. "So this is where the Wandering Ram Tribe hid during all that time!"


    He kicked his horse, rushing toward the water point. The other barbarians sighed at his reckless action but quickly followed up.


    The Wandering Ram Tribe was busy filling up their gourds for their journey. Nevertheless, as one of the strongest tribes of the Central Plains, they noticed the barbarians'' arrival from afar. They went on their guard.


    "Wandering Ram Tribe! You really were not completely exterminated after you messed up near the Sylvester Empire!" Thod loudly shouted to taunt the tribe. There has always been some beef between the Wandering Ram Tribe and the Tauren Tribe. Now that they were in bad shape, Thod laughed at their misfortune.


    News traveled fast, even an area where technology was lacking. The Tauren Tribe had long heard of the Wandering Ram Tribe''s defeat and how they lost both their tribe leader and their totem spirit. Celebrations were even held at Tauren City; from then, the Wandering Ram Tribe was no longer a glorified tribe viewed as a hero by everyone.


    The reason the Wandering Ram Tribe was so powerful was precisely due to their totem spirit. Without it, they were just a subpar tribe. Now that their strength was gone, the Wandering Ram Tribe was bound to disappear and end up absorbed by another tribe.


    However, Thod was not even going to let them go. He did not know the specifics but he had always been taught to treat the Wandering Ram Tribe as enemies. The Tauren Tribe hated them with a passion. It was all due to conflicts in the past but no one really knew the exact reason.


    Thod smiled as a thought crossed his mind. ''This is perfect! Why don''t we deal with the Wandering Ram Tribe right now? We can strike them while they are down and they will never return to their former glory! This is just perfect. I won''t even need to go on this journey. I just needed to accumulate some merits for the tribe to secure my position but exterminating our lifelong enemy should be more beneficial than just helping an external tribe!''


    This was not reckless thought. The Wandering Ram Tribe was an oddball in the Central Plains. They had less than three hundred tribesmen. Even if the entire tribe was present, with the thousand barbarians accompanying him, Thod was confident he could deal with the Wandering Ram Tribe.Stolen story; please report.


    Thod pushed his horse forward, proudly looking down on the tribesmen of the fallen tribe but to his surprise, the Wandering Ram Tribe did not react. Instead, their eyes lit up; they seemed excited.


    A hairy black ram stepped out of the herd. On top of it, an elder sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. The elder was the Shaman of the Wandering Ram Tribe. He did not bother to look at the newcomers and spoke with his old raspy voice.


    "You are finally here. I almost thought you got lost along the way."


    Thod was taken aback. Not only was the Wandering Ram Tribe not scared of facing their enemies but it even sounded like they were here to ambush them.


    "Old man. You are still proud even after losing your totem spirit. It looks like the Wandering Ram Tribe really thinks of itself as a separate entity. You have long forgotten the rules of the Central Plains. Here, strength means everything! Do you not recognize who we are? What are you waiting to bow to us?"


    Another barbarian from the Three Monkey Tribe stepped forward. "Do you think you still have the Aries to protect you? Without it, your tribe is nothing. Just like how the Kraken Tribe disappeared after the death of the Aquarius, the Wandering Ram Tribe shall also become part of history."


    The Shaman remained calm and serene. He shook his head. "You are so noisy. I would have liked to have a chat with you but we are running out of time. Who asked you to travel so slowly... Let''s settle  our grudges for good."


    Thod narrowed his eyes. "Old man. Have you gone senile already? You are willing to send your tribesmen to their death like that? Well, what else could I expect from a fallen tribe? Without the Aries, you are nothing. Thanks to you, I won''t even need to go to that deserted territory anymore!"


    He was excited! He thought he would have to chase after the annoying rams for the next few days to hunt down the Wandering Ram Tribe but instead, it looked like they were sending themselves to him.


    "What do you say, Ramie? Shall we join forces this time and get rid of our common enemy?" said Thod as he turned toward the barbarian to his right.


    Ramie was a powerful elder of the Three Monkey Tribe. He held a tremendous amount of influence other the tribes. When he asked for help in this task, his allies immediately responded, forming this thousand man group. Out of the group, although it was led by Thod from the Tauren Tribe, more than three-quarters of the barbarians were loyal to Ramie.


    Ramie did not answer back. He continued to examine the Wandering Ram Tribe. Having roamed around the Central Plains his whole life, his instincts were sharp. He did not know what but something did not feel right.


    "Thod. Don''t you think the Wandering Ram Tribe does not seem scared to fight us? They must have a plan of some sort. I think it will be better if we take a step back for now."


    "Take a step back? Why should we? They are just trying to put up a front! Don''t tell me the Three Monkey Tribe is made up of cowards," exclaimed Thod. He did not want to lose such a good opportunity.


    He spat on the ground as he raised his ax. ''Nevermind. Even without his help, I can deal with the Wandering Ram Tribe. This way, I can take all the credit for myself!''


    "Brothers! Follow me. Let us exterminate the Wandering Ram Tribe once and for all! We lay low during all this time but it is finally time for our revenge! Let us accomplish the task left by our ancestors!"


    His horse neighed as it was kicked but before it could charge forward, a powerful aura appeared, pressing down on the barbarians.


    "What? What is happening?" exclaimed Thod.


    At the same time, Ramie instinctively tried to move away but he was similarly suppressed by the aura. It felt like he was being pushed against the ground. His horse''s legs trembled, almost giving in under the pressure.


    The only one unaffected was the Wandering Ram Tribe. Most of the tribesmen did not even bother with the Thod and Ramie; they continued filling up their water reserve ignoring the commotion. The Shaman remained seated on his mount and finally opened his eyes.


    "You! What have you done?" exclaimed Thod. It did not take long for him to realize that the Wandering Ram Tribe was behind this bizarre phenomenon.


    The Shaman remained calm. "Fools. Did you really think the Wandering Ram Tribe was done for? You want to exterminate us but did you forget? Battles between tribes are not decided by their tribesmen but by their totem spirits!"


    "Boom!"


    The ground exploded in front of the Shaman as a transparent figure gradually appeared.


    "This. Impossible. Isn''t the Aries dead? How can you have another totem spirit?" Ramie''s eyes widened as the beast''s figure became clearer. He could not believe his eyes; he had never seen the Aries before but the beast appearing clearly had the shape of a ram.


    "You are just fools. How could you understand the thoughts of higher beings? We are all just pawns in their battles and you are about to be disposed of next. The Aries was never our totem spirit. When he was injured, he sought shelter in our tribe and in exchange for some of his blood, we supplied him with all the resources he needed."


    "Thankfully, the Aries was grateful. After we completed our trade, he did not leave us immediately and stayed back to look after our tribe. This event took place a long time ago. How could someone of the new generation know about this? Our totem spirit has now completed its evolution; in terms of bloodline, it is only second to the Aries."


    The totem spirit completed its materialization and roared at the barbarians.


    Ramie almost fell down his horse. He could not believe his eyes. "Impossible. A regular totem spirit who has already reached level 100!"


    The barbarians were frightened. They all lost their ferocious appearance; they trembled under the pressure as the totem spirit snorted in front of them. Their face turned pale.


    "Old man! You dare use a totem spirit against us! This is against the rules of the Central Plains! You cannot use a totem spirit against a group who does not have any!" Thod blurted out in fear.


    The Shaman let out a faint smile. "Rules? Were you not going to attack us just a few moments ago? Who cares about the rules? Nobody will even know that this happened. Do you think your tribes care about you? The truth is: you have all already been cast away by your tribes."


    The barbarians froze. They did not understand what the Shaman was talking about.


    "Do you really think there is a conflict between the Sacred Beasts? The Tauren Tribe''s totem spirit is the Taurus. Because of this, there has always been some enmity between our tribes but the truth is you were all being manipulated. The Aries and the Taurus have always been close friends. Their only goal in making this masquerade was the unification of the Central Plains!"


    "Did you not realize yet that all those gathered here are the ones opposing the creation of the alliance of the tribes? Once you all disappear, the Central Plains will all fall under Taurus'' control. The Wandering Ram Tribe will be considered as the village and shoulder all the blame but it does not matter. For the greater good, we are willing to be labeled as sinners."


    Thod, Ramie and the barbarians could not believe their ears. Did their tribes really abandon them? They could not believe it but the truth was in front of their eyes. They were indeed all part of the faction that opposed allying the tribes. Furthermore, the fact that they all suddenly formed this group raised another flag.


    "Now, we are running behind schedule. I am very sorry but we will end it here. After today, a new era will begin. One where the barbarians will rise! Celestial Ram! Go all out!"


    The totem spirit roared.


    Thod and the others'' vision darkened.


    ...


    The cloud of dust slowly dissipated, revealing a giant crater. The Shaman sighed. "Thank you for your hard work."


    "Baaa."


    The Celestial Ram lowly bleated. It then returned to the relic in the Shaman''s possession.


    ''We have done our part. Now, we can only wait. I hope I will get to witness the rise of the barbarians as the Sacred Beasts promised.''


    At that moment, a voice sounded behind the Shaman. "Elder. We have finished restocking our supplies. When are we leaving?"


    The Shaman looked at his tribesmen. He could see their fervent expression; their blood was boiling. For the first time, they got to witness the strength of their real totem spirit.


    ''Without a doubt, we made the right choice.''


    A few decades ago, the Wandering Ram Tribe''s totem spirit was not the Celestial Ram. Their totem spirit was only a Zirconian Blood Ram but after receiving the Aries'' help, it managed to evolve. Not just once, but twice! Its power surged and now, aside from the Sacred Beasts, the Shaman doubted there would be other beasts that could rival it.


    "We are waiting for someone. It should not take very long," answered the Shaman. He turned his attention to the sky. His tribesmen nodded and waited in silence. They did not know the arrangements made by their Shaman but they trusted him unconditionally.


    Just a few minutes later, another change took place in the sky. A silhouette gently flew down and landed in front of the Shaman. The newcomer was a tall muscular man. He was without a doubt the hairiest man the Shaman had ever seen. His entire face was almost covered by his beard and mustache while his arms and legs barely had any visible patch of skin.


    The man briefly glanced at the crater. "I see that it is all done. If you are ready, we shall leave right now."


    "May I ask where you are taking us to, sir?"


    "To the Kraken Tribe."


    The Shaman froze. His tribesmen were equally surprised. He hesitantly asked: "Hasn''t the Kraken Tribe already perished in the Endless Archipelago? I mean no offense but isn''t the Aquarius dead?"


    The man grinned. "That sweaty bastard is indeed dead but we could not just let the tribe he looked after disappear like that, right? Although Aquarius passed away, the others are now looking after his tribe. Don''t worry. I know you paid a severe price to help us and since Aries chose you, we will also treat you well."


    "Come, I still have a lot of things to do. Aries is just a d*mn bastard. Now that he is gone, I am the one having to do all his tasks. I am not as proficient as Aries in teleportation techniques. It might be a bit shaky, so prepare yourselves."


    The man jumped into the crater. His eyes lit up as the clouds in the sky swirled around the spot he descended from.


    "By my will. Open! Tunnel of Light!"


    "Crackle!"


    Lightning suddenly appeared in the clouds, illuminating the entire area. The Wandering Ram Tribe stared at the phenomenon. The children screamed in fear but were quickly calmed down by their parents.


    Then, the silhouette of a giant lion appeared in the sky. Without a word, it descended on the Wandering Ram Tribe and swallowed them in one go.

 Chapter 160: Count Desmond (1)

    North East of the Sylvester Empire


    50 km from the Marlose Swamp.


    A stone statue stood out of the landscape. It depicted a man holding a large broadsword in the middle of a swinging motion. The statue looked relatively knew; it did not have any signs of damage from time or the weather. The statue was extremely realistic. One negative point would be that it needed to be cleaned. A few birds used it as a perch and ended up relieving themselves while on it.


    "Oh! I finally found you. I knew something must have happened. Peace. This is what you get for trying to take my tasks and stealing my merits."


    A shadow flew above the statue and swiftly landed in front of it. It was an effeminate man wearing a thick monocle. He took out his monocle and wiped it using a piece of cloth.


    "Pouah! You really need to be cleaned but that''s not my job. I don''t even think you will be happy if I return you to normal but hey, that''s the orders from the cardinal."


    "I solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm that the statement I shall give will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."


    "I hereby declare: Argen, the Commandment of Peace, shall no longer be petrified."


    The effeminate man smiled and looked at the statue. But the statue had already disappeared, replaced by a man, having the same appearance as the statue and wearing its exact same clothes.


    "D*mn, Truth. You could have at least wiped off the bird sh*t!" exclaimed Argen. He swore as he hurriedly wiped off his face. While he was petrified, his eyes were still open and unfortunately, the birds decided to aim exactly at them.


    "Stop complaining, Peace. What exactly happened? I thought you were invincible or at least, that''s what you always claimed."


    Argen sneered. "You really need to rub salt in my wounds. [Armistice] prevents any damage from being dealt but buffs, debuffs and status effects can still be used. I suppose that''s why you were the one who was sent to help me. With [Declaration], you are able to change anyone''s status effects."


    The effeminate man tossed the monocle in his hands as he listened to the Commandment of Peace''s explanation. "Interesting but still, with your level and strength, not anyone can affect you, especially with such a strong effect as petrification. Who did this?"


    "I don''t know. I was just dealing with the Undead of Necro Valley when I found something interesting. The Aries died but he managed to conceive a child before. The child accompanies one of the runaways of the church. It should not be too hard to find them. I was going to capture them but before I could, a woman appeared."


    "It was my first time seeing her but if I were to guess her identity, it is very possible that she is the mother of all snakes. She had a cobra wrapped around her arm and her pupils were vertical."


    The effeminate man widened his eyes. "The mother of all snakes? What is that monster doing outside of the Marlose Swamp? This is getting very complicated. We need to inform the cardinals. She is not something we can take lightly. Let''s quickly go."


    "What are you talking about? Can''t you deal with her easily? You just have to use the forbidden part of your [Declaration]," said the Commandment of Peace.


    "I am not like you who recklessly use the forbidden part of their abilities. You should soon suffer from the side effects of [Betrayal]. We should return before it flares up. Furthermore, there is another mission waiting for you once we arrive at the Shrine of Faith. You were probably petrified at that time but about one week ago, a giant meteor crashed somewhere in the barbarians territory."


    "We don''t know what it contains but the archbishops are very interested in anything that comes from space. They want us to retrieve it somehow but due to the previous oath, we are unable to enter the barbarian territory. Even if it was not sworn by us, we still count as townsmen to the barbarians. The archbishops want you to negotiate. You are the best suited for this kind of things."


    Argen fell into deep thoughts. "A meteor? I will try my best but I cannot guarantee anything. I will probably have to stay at the shrine to recover from the backlash. I really hope you do not have to use the forbidden part of your ability but it seems like it will be inevitable. Aside from this, I don''t see how we can deal with the Mother of all Snakes. It is impossible to mobilize all the commandments to deal with just one monster with all the trouble rising up. And in a duel, you are the only one who can kill it."


    "Don''t remind me. I just hope she is not here to look for trouble." The effeminate man''s expression was gloomy; what his comrade just said was the truth. Without his ability, no one would be able to deal with such a powerful monster. The problem was the backlash; none of the Commandments would lightly use their abilities to the full extent because of the terrifying backlash!You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    [Declaration] was a powerful ability allowing the Commandment of Truth to freely manipulate his targets'' status effects. If he said somebody was injured, then that person would immediately become injured. If he stated someone was blind, his target would lose his vision. If he said a dying man had fully recovered, then the man''s HP bar would instantly fill up.


    Whatever he said would happen as long as it was about people''s status, including the time he declared someone was dead.


    ...


    Ormskirk town


    Count''s castle


    "Count Desmonds, I apologize for disturbing you but your appointment of 14:00 has arrived," politely said the butler.


    "Boom!"


    Count Desmonds smashed his desk in frustration as he lost his train of thoughts. "I told you to not disturb me! Rahh. Fine, I know I need to meet them. Let them wait for another hour and bring me some tea! I need to calm myself."


    The butler left without ado; he could see the count was infuriated by the report he just received. Things had not been going very well for the territory lately. The territory''s income decreased by 3% despite all the ongoing projects. It did not sound like much but it was worth thousands of gold and the situation was not showing any signs of recovery.


    All the problems were due to a single person; the mayor of Venetia. Out of nowhere, a town suddenly appeared in Count Desmonds'' territory. The problem was that the town refused to be annexed and insisted on being independent.


    At first, Count Desmonds did not think much of that new town. It was located in a rather dangerous area filled with monsters. However, to everyone''s surprise, the town rapidly developed and slew all the beasts in its surroundings. It expanded and was already the size of a regular town, showing so signs of stopping.


    It was good news that they got rid of the savage beasts but the problem arose later on. Count Desmonds'' territory was located between one of the main cities of the Sylvester Empire and the Endless Archipelagos. It was right in the middle of the empire''s major trade route. It was the trade route for all the merchants seeking wealth on the other side of the sea.


    Count Desmonds had already come to an agreement with the other neighboring nobles. The territory''s main source of revenue came from the protection fees and town entry tax of the merchants. They were all forced to go through the towns under Count Desmonds and money flowed in his pocket. But it all changed with the appearance of Venetia.


    The town appeared out of nowhere and provided an alternative route for the merchants! Previously, the caravans avoided its area since it was filled with beasts and bandits but Venetia managed to clear out all the possible threats. With low competitive prices and taxes, Venetia managed to attract the attention of the merchants.


    Most merchants still traveled through Count Desmonds'' town but rumors were already circulating about Venetia and about how its prices were lower. If it was not for all the contracts of the count, many more merchant groups would have already left to use Venetia''s route instead. The smaller merchant groups that Count Desmonds previously looked down upon were already starting the relocation process.


    Venetia was growing at an astonishing rate. If the Count did nothing, it would not be hard for Venetia to take away more than 20% of the Count''s income. People were still doubtful of Venetia but it would not be long before it would build up a solid reputation.


    ...


    Inside the Count''s office, Count Desmonds threw away the report in annoyance. The pages of the document spread apart and flew all over the place. He was going to have another meeting here soon but Count Desmonds did not care that his office was messy. He was only meeting a small group that recently started building some momentum; he did not need to take them seriously. If it was not for the shower of gifts he received, he would not even have bothered to meet them.


    "D*mn woman! No wonder you were so confident! You had the Magic Council to back you up..." swore Count Desmonds.


    The report he received from his spies contained crucial information: Lord Brann, one of the supreme elders of the Magic Council had been sighted at Venetia. The report stated he was in friendly terms with the town''s mayor and would often be seen with her. Furthermore, just a few hours after his arrival, the Magic Council made the announcement that Venetia was a town under their protection!


    Count Desmonds went crazy upon reading the report. All the resources he spent on trying to obtain Venetia had been completely wasted. Had it been an ordinary town, he could have made an appeal at the Royal Court, but Venetia was special. It was not a town registered under the Sylvester Empire; it was completely independent. As a result, it did not have to pay any taxes and could afford to lower all its prices.


    Naturally, the Royal Court had already noticed its presence and a delegation should have been sent there but the administrative procedures took time. For now, Venetia was still not considered as part of the Empire; Count Desmonds would not be in the wrong if he forcefully tried to conquer it.


    Venetia threatened Ormskirk town''s economy. Count Desmonds tried several methods to get a piece of the cake and increase his own profits but everything failed. After the soft methods, he tried the hard ones. In the end, he only lost several men to Venetia, including the captain of his private army, a level 51 Shadow Wielder.


    Count Desmonds lost so much in trying to get his hand on Venetia and was actively gathering a mercenary army to deal with it. He needed to act quickly before Venetia was recognized as a town of the Empire. However, his plans were bound to fail. He now knew the reason he lost miserably was that the Magic Council was protecting that town.


    He was a noble of the Sylvester Empire but even the empire itself could not go against the Magic Council. It was a scholar organization that existed in all the empires. It had a tremendous amount of influence. All the court mages of the different empires studied at the Magic Court at some point in their life. While the Magic Council stayed away from the politics of the empires, they could influence the rise or fall of a monarch. The vast majority of the spells and magic circuits were designed by them; if an empire ever antagonized the Magic Council, it was bound to slowly fall behind the others in terms of technological advancement.


    "What can I do now? I cannot just sit down and do nothing. She will slowly attract all the merchants to go through Venetia instead of one of my towns. Although most merchant groups have contracts with me, once they expire, they will immediately opt for the cheap alternative... Who does not like profits?"


    "The situation is still manageable for now. Only adventurers are starting to move to Venetia, but I need to make a move or else, I''ll lose everything. But what can I do? Forget about trying to be forceful and attack the mayor. It is bound to fail with Lord Brann staying at Venetia and even if it succeeds, the Magic Council will be able to trace it back to me."


    "I cannot rely on the Royal Court either. They just want more towns to appear; they do not care that the profits will be diluted among more people, as long as they receive their taxes, they will be happy. I cannot lower the tax either... I need to find something."


    Count Desmonds spoke to himself with a solemn expression. He looked at himself in the mirror. "Should I hire a few bandit groups to cause some trouble on the roads to Venetia? It will affect her reputation a little, but she should be able to deal with it very quickly. It is just a temporary solution, I need to find something else."


    Time flew by as Count Desmonds walked around his office, racking his brain for a solution. Unfortunately, a whole hour passed but he did not manage to find a proper solution yet.


    He collapsed on his chair and sighed. The office was a complete mess but Count Desmonds did not care.


    ''Magic council. Why did it have to be the Magic Council? Nobody will dare to go against them. She is basically set for life. Do I really need to start investing in the trade route? The only advantage I have is my reputation and wealth. The only way I can compete with her might be to improve all the infrastructure of my routes.''


    At that moment, a knock sounded at the door.


    "Knock Knock!"


    "Come in!"


    Count Desmonds downed his fifth cup of tea while staring at the double door being opened by the butler. He briefly wiped his mouth and watched as the butler stepped to the side.


    He allowed a small delegation to step into the office.


    "My lord, they are the delegation of Blue Lagoon."

 Chapter 161: Count Desmond (2)

    "Hmmp! That NPC really knows how to make people wait for him. People like that should be immediately stripped of their noble title," complained a woman. Her IGN was Vanity,


    "Please watch your words. We are on a very important mission. The outcome of this meeting will determine whether we can develop in this region. Without the help of the Count, we can only pack up and leave. The game is way too competitive."


    Albatross steeled his gaze as he briefly glanced at the members of his party. They were currently in the Count''s waiting room and aside from the butler coming to offer them some tea, they did not meet anyone else.


    Five people were seated around a small tea table. They were players but for the occasion, they were not wearing any equipment. Instead, they put on a clean fashionable outfit, giving them the air of an aristocrat. They wanted to make a good appearance in front of the Count.


    "Why are we even here? Would it not have been better to focus on developing our presence North? Blue Lagoon is unrivaled at North Fawis and its county. All the guilds there have to lower their head if they want to continue to exist," said Vanity. She spoke proudly like a dedicated member of the guild but in truth, she only joined Blue Lagoon a few days ago after merging her own guild with it.


    "You have just joined the guild. You only know about the facade we show everyone. Even if Blue Lagoon is considered as one of the most powerful guilds of the empire, it is only a front. We only have roots in North Fawis. We don''t have any real presence in the rest of the Sylvester Empire. We have very strong competitors everywhere; if we do not develop in the region that has yet to have a strong player presence, we will slowly fall behind the others." Albatross wore a severe expression.


    He was revealing important information to the new members of his team hoping to earn their trust. Albatross was an ambitious person trying to make a name for himself in the guild. He was jealous of the newly elected elder, Iron Shark. That man was lucky enough to encounter barbarian tribes in the North. He traded with them and established a firm relationship with them. As a result, the guild obtained a stable source of revenue, allowing them to stabilize their position in the region.


    In the past, Iron Shark was just the captain of a small team like Albatross. If Iron Shark was able to succeed, Albatross did not see why he himself could not do so; he just needed to be daring enough to make a move. In an attempt to replicate Iron Shark''s lucky encounter, he decided to help in developing the guild in another region: Ormskirk Town.


    In just one week, using Blue Lagoon''s name, Albatross managed to recruit many small guilds into Blue Lagoon, turning them into his subordinates. He knew his move attracted the attention of the elders; he was now being watched and could not fail. At the same time, the existing guilds at Ormskirk Town did not remain silent and started pressuring him.


    He was an external force trying to settle down at Ormskirk Town and naturally, the existing guilds were unwilling to share their profits with a newcomer; they were doing everything in their power to push him out of the town.


    Albatross did not have any support and knew he was bound to fail if he did not find a solution. After requesting for some funding from the headquarters, Albatross decided to arrange a meeting with the Count. He wanted to create some ties with the ruler of the region, which should alleviate some of the pressure of the other guilds.


    Vanity frowned. She disbanded her guild and joined Blue Lagoon precisely because she believed it was a powerful guild that could help her rise in status. However, now, Albatross was telling her that she had been tricked! She inwardly cursed.


    Vanity glanced at the other members of the delegations. They were in a similar situation; they also left their guild with more than half of their members to join Albatross who promised them wealth and status. They could only bitterly smile.


    "Then what if the negotiations fail? We agreed to join Blue Lagoon because Vultex recently started to invest a lot in this region. If we don''t get help or the headquarters do not send more players here, we will have to concede this region to Vultex."


    "I know. You don''t need to remind me. The guild will help us if needed but I want to see how far we can go by ourselves. It is only like that that we can obtain the most merits."


    At that moment, the door was pushed open and the butler stepped into the waiting room. He politely smiled. "I am very sorry for the wait. The Count has just finished with his business. Will you please follow me to his office."


    The delegation quickly stood up and followed the butler. They were all annoyed at how they were being treated but they needed to bite the bullet if they wanted to receive the Count''s help.


    Stolen story; please report.


    When they arrived, the delegation was surprised to see how messy the Count''s office was. It looked as if he forgot to close his window overnight, resulting in the wind scattering his documents all over the place.


    The Count did not seem to be disturbed by the messy environment. He gracefully played with his mustache and sent an inquisitive look at the delegation.


    The butler bowed and silently closed the door behind him.


    "Have a seat," invited the Count.


    Albatross was nervous. His fate would be decided in this conversation. He shakily stepped forward grabbing one of the chairs. He was already mentally reciting all the positive points he could push forward.


    However, before he could even speak, the Count spoke:


    "Albatross, right? I have read the documents and analyzed the request you have made. I will make it short for you. Frankly speaking, it is impossible for us to accept these terms. The tax rate needs to be at least 35%. You are asking for our towns'' best location and the access to our trading routes. Furthermore, the duration of the contract is way too low. One year is too short, it will have to last for five years at least."


    "This..." Albatross was taken by surprise; he did not know how to answer. "My lord, I am a representative of Blue Lagoon. You should have heard of how we developed in North Fawis'' region. I am certain that with your help..."


    "Enough. North Fawis is different from Ormskirk town. Even if you were successful there, the culture here is completely different. I might be wasting all my precious resources and infrastructure on a group that is bound to fail. Truth be told, I have received many cooperation offers and many agreed to share a higher percentage of their profit."


    "I can guarantee our success. Many of my collaborators are locals. 35% is just too much. No one will agree to work with such high taxes," complained Albatross but Count Desmonds maintained a firm stance.


    "You are a new group and have many risks associated with you. 35% is the minimum for me to make sure I won''t make a loss. I would rather give my resources to reputed merchant groups who operated for decades than a new group. Go back and think about it. I can see you are just a spokesperson. I won''t move on the conditions I proposed. Discuss with your higher-ups first. I have other matters to attend."


    The Count turned around and waved his hand, dismissing the meeting. He did not want to waste time discussing with them. ''Tsssk. They want our best locations in the markets and the access to our information channel and trade route as well as protection. A small group wants me to focus all our resources on them? For what? Just a measly 15% of their revenue and access to their loot? That is just wishful thinking. They are just conceited by their success in that small baron''s territory. How can the territory of a baron compare to that of a count? They can hate me all they want, I am helping them by giving them a wake-up call.''


    Albatross was displeased but forced himself to keep his mouth shut. He wanted to retort but knew it would be pointless. From the moment he entered, he had felt the Count''s foul mood and the irritation in the air. The messy office was a giant red flag that something went wrong. It was unfortunate that they had to be the scapegoats of the Count''s frustration.


    He could feel the gaze of his subordinates on his back. Albatross was equally frustrated but there was nothing he could do. ''What do you expect me to do? Argue with him? Just look at his body language, he does not want to speak to us anymore. Doing so might just sour our relationship even more. I can only go back and discuss with the elders. 35% will leave us we barely enough to break even. It will be no different from working our *ss off for the Count... But maybe that is what we need; it is not wrong to sacrifice profit to extend our influence and build up our reputation.''


    Like a real businessman, Albatross faintly smiled and stood up. With a calm tone, he said, "Thank you very much for your time, my lord. I will discuss with the elders of Blue Lagoon and schedule another meeting soon."


    The Count wordlessly waved his hand without looking at the players. ''You won''t even get to see me next time. I don''t have time to deal with small fishes like you. Only fat whales can attract my attention.''


    The players followed behind Albatross. They glanced at each other in frustration. They all had the same thoughts, ''Was that what we came here for? He is clearly disrespecting us. We did not wait a whole hour to not even get to negotiate properly. That captain of Blue Lagoon is so unreliable. What now? Do we quietly let the other guild crush us?''


    They all stared at Albatross, expecting him to speak for the guild but he did nothing. The delegation quietly left the Count''s office without a word.


    The players could not take it. They sacrificed so much to join Blue Lagoon and rise in status. Now, it was all going to waste? At best, they would just become a regular member of the guild; they would have tossed away the guild leader role to become a regular member? At worst, they would be kicked out of the guild and have to start everything from scratch.


    Before the office''s double door was even closed behind them, the players started arguing among themselves. It was especially true for Vanity who had been fuming for a while.


    Unfortunately, the Count''s ears were sharp. The players did not even make a few steps that the Count''s voice sounded. "Halt! What did you just say?"


    Albatross had a bad feeling in his heart. He cursed at the players who could not hold it for a few more minutes to argue among themselves. Sure, the people around them were just NPCs but the NPCs of this game were not mindless characters. ''The negotiations failed but now, you are causing me a lot of trouble!''


    Several shadows appeared in front of the players, blocking the corridors. They were the Castle''s private guards. They were at least level 40, holding classes similar to Assassin.


    The door opened behind the players and the Count appeared. "Woman. What did you just say?" His face was twisted in rage.


    Albatross felt his heart throbbed. How did the situation degenerate so quickly? ''Even if you are in a bad mood, you don''t need to take it out on commoners because of unpleasant comments.'' His gaze shifted to Vanity, the Count''s target.


    Similarly, as soon as they heard the Count''s words, the guards focused their attention on Vanity and surrounded her.


    The latter jumped in fright. She looked at her teammates for help but they all move away from her. They could not move too far due to the guards'' restriction but they pretended to not know her.


    "My lord... I"


    Count Desmonds cut her short. "What did you say? Just repeat the sentence you said!" He spat out in the middle of his sentence.


    Vanity was scared witless by the Count''s aggressive behavior. Even though she knew it was just a game, she was being surrounded by several armed guards. "I am sorry. I should not have said such things."


    "Quiet dumb woman! Repeat what you have just said!" exclaimed the Count. He was clearly losing patience.


    "I... I said you should not have made us wait for a whole hour..."


    Count Desmonds narrowed his eyes. "Not that! The second part!"


    Vanity trembled. She spoke with a tiny voice. "That the negotiations were pointless and that we wasted our time coming here?"


    "No! After that!" By now, Count Desmonds was already spitting all over the place.


    "That the picture of someone looking like my daughter was all over the office?"


    Instantly Count Desmonds seemed to calm down. "So I did not hear wrongly. Is that person your daughter?" He shoved a piece of paper in Vanity''s face.


    The woman took a step back while shaking. She looked at the picture in front of her. "Well. Yes. At least she does look like her. But many people can have the same appearance. She ran away from home a year ago. I don''t know if she changed..."


    When she looked at Count Desmonds, she saw a wild glint in his eyes.


    "You said you wanted my help in settling down at Ormskirk Town. We might be able to come up with an agreement."

 Chapter 162: Profiting off others

    Ten days have passed since the battle at the Musclewood Village. The temperature dropped significantly in just a few days. It was officially winter; in the Sylvester Empire, there were only two seasons, autumn and spring did not exist in this region of the world.


    Despite the low temperatures, the ex-members of the Blue Eagle Tribe got to work. Most Blue Eagle Tribesmen agreed to migrate to the Musclewood Tribe and join it. There was still some tension between the tribesmen due to the difference in culture but they were slowly getting used to each other.


    The Blue Eagle tribe brought seven hundred tribesmen in their migration. When they returned to their village after having learned that they were being attacked, they found a deserted village. The women, children, and elders had all been captured and brought to the Bramble Deer Tribe.


    The Blue Eagle Tribe was enraged and with the help of the Pronghorn Tribe, and the Brown Bat Tribe, they attacked the Bramble Deer Tribe. Facing the pressure of three tribes, the Bramble Deer Tribe was forced to hand back the hostages. They hoped to receive help from their dungeon but unfortunately, their call for help remained unanswered. It needed to rebuild itself and did not have the resources to help the tribe.


    Even after they managed to safely retrieve their tribesmen, the tribes did not let go of the Bramble Deer Tribe. They were vengeful. They constantly harassed and raided the tribe, causing them all sorts of trouble. Furthermore, other tribes also assisted them from the shadows.


    In the end, the Bramble Deer Tribe was forced to disband. It was too weak to fight against all those tribes without the help of the dungeon. The Bramble Deer Tribe disappeared; it was absorbed by the strongest tribe of the region: the Swift Gazelle Tribe.


    It was only after the powerful tribe took over the territory and handsomely compensated for their new tribesmen''s mistake that the tribes finally decided to move on. They did not want to mess with the strongest tribe of the region; they had been trying to leverage the Blue Eagle Tribe''s incident as an excuse to take over the dungeon but with the appearance of the Swift Gazelle Tribe, they knew they could only give up. From now on, the dungeon would belong to the Swift Gazelle Tribe and its allies.


    Nevertheless, despite the shaky event, the Blue Eagle Tribe was quite satisfied with the outcome. They moved to a safer place and got to do what they enjoyed the most. The Blue Eagle Tribe particularly despised winter. As a tribe that relied on agriculture, the months of winter was a period of idleness. They still needed to process their harvest but this was mostly done by the women.


    However, despite the fact that winter had already arrived, the Blue Eagle Tribe''s tribesmen happily whistled as they tended to their new fields. In some areas, a few buds could already be seen emerging from the ground.


    ...


    "This is the last part of our fields. It is a bit different from the other floors where we planted a combination of crops. We dedicated this floor to rice only. It is one of our main source of carbohydrates. We usually grow wheat too but it usually grows over winter. With the environment of the dungeon, it is more appropriate to grow rice for now. Next year, we''ll prepare the land around the Musclewood Tribe."


    "And this concludes what we have done until now. It will take a few months before we yield any result here but the smaller vegetables above should be ready in a few weeks."This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Xena walked around the dungeon''s fifth floor, explaining the work of her tribesmen. She used to be the chief of the Blue Eagle Tribe and now, she sat on the ruling council of the Musclewood Tribe. The council was especially enlarged for the integration of the Blue Eagle Tribe and now consisted of twelve members. They treated the new tribe fairly even if it was considered as weak. It did not have any Shaman or apprentice but did have an abundant population for a single tribe. And that was precisely what the Musclewood Tribe needed at the moment.


    Five nodded to the female barbarian. It has just been a few days since her tribe completed their migration and they already got a lot of work done. They wanted to prove themselves and requested permission to do what they do best, grow plants.


    Jumping on the opportunity, Five suggested using one of the unused biomes of the dungeon. This way, while working on their crops, the barbarians would still generate a lot of DP. The barbarians were skeptical at first; they did not want to be entirely dependent on the dungeon but when Five explained the DP system and how he would need a lot of DP to revive the Cobalt Eagle, Xena immediately agreed.


    Her most urgent task was naturally to revive her tribe''s totem spirit. She did not hesitate to send all the barbarians under her to the dungeon to work in the fields; even the children and women were asked to simply sit inside the dungeon to generate more DP. Naturally, Five was not against this; they were gifting him a lot of DP.


    To top it off, Five did not bother mentioning how much DP he would need exactly to revive the Cobalt. It would be an understatement to say that he profited from Xena''s command. With seven hundred additional barbarians visiting his dungeon doing nothing but turning the land, sowing seeds and tending to their crops, Five made millions of DP.


    A single person would generate 10 DP per level every hour. The average level of the Blue Eagle Tribe, including the children, was twenty-eight. They spent around ten hours in the dungeon every day, resulting in almost two million DP every day. In contrast, he only needed 1.7 million to revive the Cobalt Eagle.


    "Thank you. I see I did not make a bad choice in giving you these floors. The climate here won''t fluctuate and I can adjust the weather conditions to suit the plants. We will split the yield as we previously discussed. Twenty for me and eighty for you," said Five.


    He glanced at his interface and smiled. He did not need to be greedy about the yield of the crops; he was already gaining so much from the barbarians. ''Continue working. It is so delightful to see the DP count rise. I should look for other ways to get people into the dungeon. Especially people who won''t bother killing the monsters.''


    "Are you integrating well with the rest of the Musclewood Tribe?" asked Five.


    "Some issues arise occasionally but it is fine. The naive ones seem jealous that you agreed to give us these floors but they do not realize that it will just be a source of food for them." Xena waved at her tribesmen and led Five to a more quiet area. The latter did not even bother about hiding from the normal barbarians; unless they were brain dead, they should have already realized that their tribe had some ties with the dungeon. On the contrary, it could be beneficial if the barbarians now knew his face.


    The only issue he had was that he did not know whether he should show his face to the players. But was not very important right now. For some reasons, no players stepped into the dungeon, even after ten days have passed.


    "What is the situation with the merchant townsmen? I believe they made a few requests to enter the dungeon."


    Xena''s expression hardened. These were important matters being discussed by the council. She could not openly speak about them before the council came to a decision but at the same time, she did not want to be on Five''s wrong side before he summoned the Cobalt Eagle.


    "We are still sorting things out. We don''t want things to be a mess. Furthermore, many other tribes expressed their intent on exploring the dungeon too. We are still considering the ''Licensing'' system you mentioned but since it is something new, we cannot take things lightly."


    "Got it. As long as they are still considering it, it is fine. I believe we have a short meeting again tonight. I will bring up this issue." Five''s main goal was to generate more and more DP. The barbarians were strong-willed; they did not want to share their resources with the townsmen but Five kept pressing the issue, asking for the players to get access to the dungeon.


    Xena paused for a moment. She let Five take a few steps forward before asking. "It has been a few days since we arrived. When will the Cobalt Eagle be revived? My tribesmen keeping asking me for an exact number. It should be about time, right?"


    Five stopped in his steps. He knew he could not delay the revival of the Cobalt Eagle too much. The barbarians did not have exact numbers but they could make estimations based on how the dungeon developed. Furthermore, he had already accumulated a decent amount of DP from this, more than enough to summon all the three totem spirits from the relics he had.


    "Yes. I will bring the relic to the meeting tonight but I hope you won''t forget about your side of the promise. The Cobalt Eagle will remain free but he must officially be my monster."

 Chapter 163: Cobalt Eagle

    The night fell on the Musclewood Forest and Five left the dungeon, accompanied by Harriet.


    "Are we going to a meeting again? You spend a lot of time trying to get the barbarians to do what you want them to but they are quite stubborn," said Harriet. She had been in a bright mood lately. Mainly because she now had a lot of ''daughters'' to look after. Five did not let the DP produced by the Blue Eagle Tribesmen rot in his inventory. He spent a decent amount on his dungeon and part of it went to summoning harpies. Now, Harriet had a total of twenty girls to look after; each one of them cost only ten thousand DP but they consumed a lot of DP daily.


    "I know but we need to get closer to them. It will help later on. Communication between us will benefit both sides. Tonight will be slightly different. I brought this with me and might need you to suppress him if he goes wild," answered Five. He flashed the Eagle Claw at Harriet who nodded.


    They soon arrived at the bottom of the waterfall where six barbarians were waiting for them. They were Xena, the three Shamans of the Musclewood Tribe, Ester''s apprentice, Lovin and a newcomer, Orla.


    Orla came from the Blue Eagle Tribe. Since they no longer had any Shaman, a test was carried out among the Blue Eagle Tribesmen to find out who had the potential to become a Shaman. As it turned out, Orla was chosen and now learned under Old Dale, the only one who had yet to find an apprentice. Naturally, the secrets of the Blue Eagle Tribe remained untouched; it would only be later when Orla would become stronger that she would be allowed to pry into these secrets. Even Old Dale, her mentor did not have the rights to peek into the hard work of the previous Shamans of the Blue Eagle Tribe.


    "What is the purpose of the meeting this time?" asked Five after he greeted the barbarians.


    "Straight to the point as always. Since we are already helping each other, we wanted to inform you of the changes that will be taking place. Many tribes expressed their desire to trade with us and even join us but we do not want to simply absorb all the tribes. It will create a mess and we will just end up like the townsmen with their complex system. There are also other possible issues that might arise; if all the tribes suddenly converge here, there will be a lot of unguarded territories. The townsmen might take advantage of that to enter our territory or beasts might start to populate these areas."


    "We are thinking of merging with just two other tribes; the remaining two who lives on the other side of the Musclewood Forest. There is a reasonable distance between us but we always had an amicable relationship as we depend on the same forest to survive. They are the Iguana Tribe and the Ocelot Tribe."


    "We thought a lot about the ''licensing system'' that you talked about. After some discussions, we concluded that it might give it a try. There are only two dungeons in this small region with more than forty tribes; the situation is very similar to what happened at the Central Plains in the past. When the dungeons first appeared, it sparked a battle between the tribes and in the end, more than half of the tribes were destroyed or absorbed. We do not want to repeat history and therefore, licensing might be the way to go. As long as they get some resources, it should cool down their fervor a little bit."


    As he listened to the Shamans'' explanation, Five inadvertently curled his lips. He did not think the barbarians would use his proposed solution in an attempt to appease the other tribes but it did not matter. As long as more people came to his dungeon, Five did not care about how the barbarians did it.


    His idea was for the Musclewood Tribe to allow barbarians from the other tribes into the dungeon on a regular basis. The Shamans instantly objected but after some clarifications, the Shamans became thoughtful.


    The dungeon would continue to grow and expand. However, the Musclewood Tribe could not be able to increase its population in a similar manner. After a few months, the Musclewood Tribe would no longer have enough tribesmen to collect the dungeon''s resources efficiently. Instead of leaving these resources unattended, why not allow the barbarians from the other tribes to harvest them? Naturally, these barbarians would hand a portion of the resources they collect to the Musclewood Tribe. It was the royalties the Musclewood Tribe would gain for allowing other tribes to enter the dungeon.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    It was a win-win situation. The Musclewood Tribe would get even more resources without having to work for it while the other tribes would also get to benefit from the dungeon. Wasn''t this what the other tribes have been looking for the whole time? Giving them the leftovers would significantly reduce the hostility directed at the Musclewood Tribe. Furthermore, it would also put the Musclewood Tribe in a position of power as they would get to decide who would explore the dungeon.


    Naturally, the biggest winner would be Five. More visitors meant more DP.


    "I see. It can indeed be used to appease the other tribes but it will only be temporary. They will end up being jealous of how much resources you have. Furthermore, I don''t know if the Swift Gazelle Tribe might do something similar. You have a strong competitor. Don''t be too greedy with how much you take yet." Five gave some pieces of advice before shifting to the topic he was really interested in.


    "What about the merchants? Are you also going to license the dungeon to them? I have noticed that quite a few of them are roaming around the area. Tents were also especially erected for them."


    The Shamans had long been expecting this question. It was a point Five would always bring up. Old Luke answered: "We are allowing them to stay at the village precisely because we are thinking of allowing them to explore the dungeon. For now, they are only roaming around the territory and do not cause much of a nuisance. In fact, we wanted to test that ''licensing'' system with them.


    "However, earlier today, another group of townsmen arrived. The two groups seemed hostile to each other. We later learned that the new group belonged to a different guild called Vultex while the previous group fought for Blue Lagoon. A fight broke out and we were forced to separate them; they were disturbing the peace of our village. I believe Achi and the others are discussing with the leader of the two sides as we speak."


    Five''s expression hardened. ''Another guild came?''


    He did not know the situation of the players in the empire, but the arrival of a second guild did not necessarily spell good news. He easily concluded that Blue Lagoon was a top tier guild; based on the information he obtained from the barbarians, they traded a significant amount of items and only a large guild would have enough capital for such transaction.


    If the new guild, Vultex was not scared of fighting Blue Lagoon, it could only mean that they were equally strong. Five had been looking for ways to build a relationship with the players but now that two forces were competing, the situation became more complicated.


    Seeing Five''s troubled expression, Xena spoke: "There is no need to worry. We are actively sorting things out and will try to get them to come to a common ground. For now, may I ask you to take out what we discussed before?" She did not want the conversation to divert too far from her point of interest.


    "Sure." Facing the barbarian''s demand, Five decided to brush off his concerns for now and took out the Eagle Claw from his inventory.


    He then took out the pseudo-dungeon core. "I am going to revive him now."


    "Please," said Xena, her expectant eyes shone as she saw the precious relic of her tribe. Although she agreed to join the Musclewood Tribe, she did not want to forget her roots. She did not want to simply adopt another tribe''s culture but instead bring in the Blue Eagle Tribe''s own culture. Nothing else could embody the Blue Eagle Tribe more than the Cobalt Eagle; it was their tribe''s totem spirit, their protector and guardian.


    As Five looked at the Eagle Claw, the same system prompt he previously received appeared:


    [System prompt: You have found the relic containing the spirit of a Cobalt Eagle. The spirit is severely injured and will hibernate for ten years before waking up. It is possible to immediately heal the spirit and turn it into your monster. The cost is 1.7 million DP. Would you like to proceed?]


    "Yes."


    The Eagle Claw reacted. It flew out of Five''s hand and floated in front of the barbarians. Xena''s breathing became louder as she observed the phenomenon.


    A white transparent projection of the Cobalt Eagle appeared above the Eagle Claw. It looked weak and injured; its eyes were closed as if it was sleeping, trying to recover its energy. Then, the Cobalt Eagle woke up and looked around it. The projection started gaining colors; it became clearer and more vivid.


    Soon, the Eagle Claw disappeared followed by the bright light, leaving behind a Cobalt Eagle. The bird was half the size of a human. It looked around itself with a confused expression and opened its wings.


    Xena became emotional. At first, she did not believe Five would be able to revive the Cobalt Eagle. She was well aware of how much resources would be needed to heal the totem spirit but in the end, it really happened.


    As for Five and the rest of the barbarians, they stared dumbfounded at the totem spirit. The revival had been successful but the results were not exactly what they expected. The Cobalt Eagle was indeed reborn and fully healed but it was no longer a spirit!


    A real living Cobalt Eagle was standing in front of the barbarians. It was not just a projection; the Cobalt Eagle was made of flesh and blood. The system actually fully revived the Cobalt Eagle; it did not only heal its spirit.


    The level 42 Cobalt Eagle light chirped as it tilted its head.

 Chapter 164: Mysterious occurrences

    The Cobalt Eagle felt a familiar aura coming from Orla and Xena. It chirped and turned toward them. The bird knew it had a link with the Blue Eagle Tribe; it could instantly distinguish the members of the tribe. It opened its wings and landed on Xena''s shoulders.


    The Cobalt Eagle was large and on Xena, it looked like a giant festival hat on top of her head. Then, the Cobalt Eagle noticed Harriet standing in the background.


    It screamed and instantly jumped on the ground behind Xena. The bird clearly remembered the terrifying harpy queen; the scene where she slaughtered the purple-eyed Vulture was still clear in its mind. The Cobalt Eagle did not want anything to do with her.


    Harriet smiled upon noticing the Cobalt Eagle''s behavior. If it was intimidated by her, then it was less likely that the Cobalt Eagle would attempt to run away.


    "Scree!"


    "I hope you are not thinking about going back on your words now that I spent my DP on your totem spirit," said Five as he looked at Xena.


    Xena and Orla recollected their thoughts. They had been so excited at seeing their totem spirit again. The female chief patted the Cobalt Eagle and stared at the bird with her large blue eyes. "I am very sorry but in order to ensure your survival, I promised that you will agree to join his dungeon and become his monster. However, he also agreed that you will be free to do as you wish. You will not even have to stay here and can come to stay at the village. You will only have to act if the dungeon is truly in danger."


    "Scree!" The Cobalt Eagle used the connection it had with the Blue Eagle Tribesmen to express its thoughts to Xena.


    The latter replied aloud with a saddened expression. "The tribe no longer exists. We merged with the Musclewood Tribe. If we did not, we would have been absorbed by the other tribes anyway. At least, you are now revived. You even regained a body."


    The exchange between the barbarian and the bird continued until finally, the Cobalt Eagle opened its wings and landed in front of Five. It fearfully looked at Harriet before bowing its head.


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the unnamed Cobalt Eagle has agreed to serve you.]


    Name: ???


    Race: Cobalt Eagle


    Type: Bird


    Attribute: Wind


    Level: 42 (0/2000000)


    Class: None


    Title: Totem Spirit


    HP: 560/560


    MP: 600/600


    Strength: 62


    Dexterity: 98(+12)


    Vitality: 56


    Intelligence: 60The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Wisdom: 57


    Special Skills: [Crystal Reflections], [Cobalt Statue]


    [Information]


    [Crystal Reflections]


    Create X copies of the user and divide the user''s HP and MP equally among all copies. The copies can be controlled by the user to attack or defend.


    The number of copies, X is chosen by the user but cannot exceed the user''s Wisdom divided by five.


    Mana Cost: 100


    Duration: 10 minutes


    Cooldown: X hours


    [Cobalt Statue]


    Transforms the user in a statue, drastically increasing the user''s vitality, armor and magic resist for the duration. The user becomes unable to move for the duration of the skill.


    Vitality +30


    Armor and Magic resist +30


    Mana Cost: 80


    Duration: 1 hour


    Cooldown: 24 hours


    Five was delighted. The Cobalt Eagle''s stats were quite impressive, but he could not really consider it as his monster. What Five was really interested in, was whether or not he unlocked new monsters. After checking the dungeon shop, he indeed found that ''Cobalt Eagle'' and ''Blue Eagle'' were both unlocked. The Cobalt Eagle was a Boss Monster but unfortunately, only one boss monster could be summoned at a time for a particular species.


    "Thank you. As Xena said, you are free to live at the village. I will only ask for help when I really need it."


    The Cobalt Eagle seemed relieved. It felt the connection forming between it and the dungeon core. It was like a shackle being placed on its neck. It deployed its wings and returned to its place on Xena''s shoulders.


    "Very impressive. Its skills are interesting. I get why it has [Cobalt Statue] but why does it also have [Crystal Reflections]? They are two different types of precious stones."


    "That''s probably because the Cobalt Eagle might be close to evolving its bloodline. It has already acquired the skill belonging to the species above it: The Crystal Eagle," explained Harriet.


    "I see." Five had long heard of the matter of bloodlines from Harriet but he was not really concerned about it. Under certain conditions, monsters were able to evolve their bloodline and get closer to the Sacred Beasts whose bloodline were the purest. It was the goal of all monsters; to purify their bloodline and climb the hierarchy of the monster community.


    In the meanwhile, the three Shamans did not say a word. Their eyes never left the Cobalt Eagle from the moment it came to life. It was especially true for Old Dale and Ester. They were having the same thoughts: ''Will it be possible to give a body to our totem spirit too?''


    While the Humanoid Metal Slime had a physical body, the Mystic Wood Fox and the Skyblazing Crow were both spirit monsters. They were monsters who refused to die and chose to seal their soul in relics. As a result, they lost their physical bodies. Their goal in protecting the barbarian tribes was precisely to slowly gather their energy and find a way to regain a physical body.


    It was also in the barbarians'' best interest to help their totem spirit regain a physical body. The totem spirits were already bound to the tribes and by being a physical beast, they would be able to defend the tribe at all time. It would no longer suffer from the restrictions of being a spirit and having to depend on the relic to materialize themselves.


    ¡­


    "What are you going to do about the two other totem spirits?" asked Harriet as they returned to the dungeon.


    "Nothing. I believe it would be a waste to revive them. Although we have enough DP to do so, it would be better to invest it in the development of the dungeon instead. From what I observed in the Cobalt Eagle, even when it was in that state, the connection between it and the Blue Eagle Tribesmen did not disappear."


    "The Vicious Rhino Tribe and the Black Vulture Tribe are not dead. The latter was absorbed by the former. They both lost a lot of men in the battle and even after merging, they were retrograded to a medium tribe. But they still exist!"


    "I don''t know the details but it is clear that there is some sort of contract between the totem spirits and their tribes. The totem spirits cannot really leave their tribe; they are the two sides of the same coin. Even if we revive the two totem spirits; they will have the urge to return to their tribe."


    "It is true that it will still be worth it if it allows me to unlock new monsters, but would it not be better if I also get the totem spirits themselves. Without their totem spirits, it is only a matter of time before the two tribes disappear. We just have to wait a little. I doubt the Musclewood Tribe will also let go of these two. Even if they don''t, we can be the one to do the deed. With Lyra having reached her level cap, Dreidus should be delighted at the idea of destroying a village."


    Harriet listened to Five''s explanation without a word. She had never been truly involved in this sort of things. She preferred to spend time enjoying her life; in fact, she could not wait to chat with the new harpies.


    "With this out of the way, how are the investigations going? Did you find anything about the Ghost?" asked Five.


    The Ghost he referred to was not really a ghost. There have been several mysterious occurrences at the dungeon in the past few days; items started disappearing out of nowhere without a trace. It was as if a thief was stealing from the monsters but no matter how vigilant they were, the monsters were unable to find the culprit. In the end, they decided to call the thief: Ghost, after watching scary movies from Earth.


    It was not just the monsters who were victims of the Ghost''s act. Five also lost a few items but more importantly, the Nerubian Egg disappeared! The precious egg that Five obtained from the Cube of Resourcefulness was also stolen by the Ghost.


    Five did not even know the hatching method. Nevertheless, it was clear that the Nerubian Egg was quite precious. Five felt his heart being ripped apart when he discovered the disappearance of the precious egg. An item worth so much DP vanished without a trace. It was unacceptable!


    "We have no leads. The girls are keeping their eyes open for any signs of the Ghost and Dreidus is looking after the Platinum Armadillo to make sure it is not him with his pickpocketing talent, but we have yet to catch anything," answered Harriet.


    "It is fine. Just do your best. The Ghost is only taking away basic things like food now but we must not let it run wild."


    "I know. What are you going to do now? Do you want to spend the night with us? The girls want to watch the ''Frozen'' series again!" said Harriet.


    Five shook his head. "Not tonight. I am exhausted. My sleep cycle is completely messed up. I hope the goblins do not explode something else tonight. I really need to get some rest."


    Harriet lightly giggled. "Sure. Goodnight then."


    Unfortunately, the night was bound to be long. Right as Harriet spoke, another voice sounded:


    "Greetings dungeon masters! I hope I am not disturbing anything important, but I have a very important announcement to make! The third trial is about to begin! I know we are ahead of schedule, but this trial will be quite different from the previous two!"

 Chapter 165: The third trial

    "Boom Boom Boom!"


    Iris jolted awake as she heard the loud bangs at her door. They were so loud they sounded like explosions. ''Who is the idiot knocking at my door in the middle of the night? Office hours are already over, I don''t need somebody crashing my door! How did they even know where my house was?''


    She groggily got up and made her way downstairs. She peeked through the window and saw a group of men madly knocking at her door. They were clearly in a foul mood; just this morning, she concluded another deal with these men which would greatly benefit Venetia. They were all delighted at getting the exclusivity of her town. She could not understand what caused such a drastic change in their mood.


    She was about to open the door but before she could, a silhouette rushed out from behind. It was Venus, one of Iris'' most powerful monsters. She was a succubus but as a boss monster, her race was officially: Succubus Dowager.


    She usually slept at the brothel she was in charge of; due to her characteristics, she was the best suited to oversee this type of business. As a matter of fact, the brothels were Venetia''s most lucrative business; the sex industry had always been very profitable. Venus held a lot of power in the town, so much that many people tried to use her.


    As she actively worked at the brothel, many tried to get close to her and use her power to take over Venetia. They thought she was just a poor woman being used by Iris as she worked as a whore at the brothels. Little did they know, Venus was doing this out of her own volition; it was a way for her to gain a lot of experience.


    As the brothels generated the majority of Venetia''s income at the beginning, greedy players thought they could get Venus to betray the town''s mayor. But little did they know that Venetia was actually a dungeon. Venus was extremely loyal to Iris and as soon as she heard the players'' words, she personally moved to kill them.


    The poor players had already set their respawn point at Venetia''s graveyard. As soon as they respawned, Venus would once again hunt them down. She killed the players over and over until they disappeared forever. Since this incident, nobody dared to attempt corrupting the inhabitants of the town. Although it did attract the animosity from the guild the players belonged to, it ended up causing an overall increase in Venetia''s popularity.


    Just a few minutes ago, Venus had been enjoying herself at the brothel like every other night. She was on top of a player, taking her sweet time, moaning in pleasure. She displayed a pleased and playful expression but was internally sneering. ''Humans are really weak these days. They can only last for so long. Tsk, that man boasted he could last for thirty minutes but he is already showing signs of giving in. Nevermind, I''ll just give fewer stimulations; the longer he lasts, the more experience I''ll get out of this.''


    However, she suddenly heard loud sounds in the distance. As a monster of the dungeon, she was constantly looking around for threats. There was a respectable distance between her brothel and the mayor''s house, but with her acute senses and the silence of the night, Venus was able to hear it.


    She frowned; there was a possibility that Iris, her mistress, was in danger. She no longer cared about the man beneath her. She contracted her lower muscles, drowning the poor player in pleasure. The latter grunted as he released his seed before fainting.


    "Useless."


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Venus hurriedly got up and without a care for her current appearance, she rushed to the back of the brothel. There, a hidden tunnel connecting her brothel to Iris'' house could be found. For the sake of convenience and emergencies like this, Iris built these secret tunnels, to allow her monsters to swiftly travel across the town without being seen by others.


    As she rushed out, Venus encountered a few succubi who heard the commotion. They were also getting out of their rooms, leaving their fainted customers behind. "You girls go there from outside but stay hidden until I say otherwise."


    She ran as quickly as she could. In less than a minute, she pushed open the door on the other side of the secret tunnel and saw Iris about to open her door. The latter paused upon seeing her friend.


    "Venus. Do you know what is happening?" asked Iris.


    "I don''t know. I just rushed here when I heard these men banging on your door. If they are looking for trouble, I do not mind teaching them a lesson," said the proud succubus.


    Iris laughed lightly. "Then, wear some clothes first. You don''t look very threatening when you are showing everything."


    The two girls chuckled, bringing peace to their mind. Venus did not need to go all the way back to the brothel; one of the rooms in Iris'' house was hers. She quickly got dressed while the banging at the door never stopped.


    Iris then finally opened the door, revealing a furious group of men.


    "Iris! What is this about? Were you trying to trick us in signing your contract?"


    "Vultex will not take this lightly!"


    The men shouted at the confused Iris and Venus. Seeing that the situation was going nowhere, the succubus released her powerful aura. The players were taken by surprise, they were all pinned down on the ground by the monster''s aura.


    Finally, the town became silent. The neighbors had already woken up from the noises and were observing the situation in the distance.


    "Now that you are finally quiet, we can speak properly. Come in and explain the situation. We don''t know why you are so enraged at us," said Venus. She maintained a solemn expression but hid her aura once again.


    Forced by Venus, the four players had no other choice than to comply with her instructions. They sat around Iris'' dinner table and started explaining the situation.


    "You think we would never discover this? We request for our contract to be void this instant. Even if you use force, Vultex will not back down. We know very well you are an agent of Blue Lagoon!" said a middle-aged man.


    "Thomas, let me speak. It will make things easier," said another man with a fiery gaze. His name was Endless.


    He took a deep breath before turning toward Iris. "Iris, you know our situation. I cannot believe you tried to trick us; especially me. You know very well that Vultex is attempting to develop in this region. We invested a lot here, especially in Venetia. But we found the truth earlier. You are an external member of Blue Lagoon, am I right?"


    "What?" Iris was taken by surprise. Although she was a dungeon master, she interacted with the players and knew the situation of the game. She naturally heard about Blue Lagoon, but she could not understand how Endless somehow linked her to that guild.


    Another man frowned and shouted, "You cannot hide it from us! We obtained direct information from the inner circle of Blue Lagoon. Your parents are high-level members and as we speak, they are already sending a large group of players here. You set up this town for them! They even arranged a direct meeting with Count Desmonds. How do you explain this?"


    Iris was even more confused but at the same time, she was starting to feel irritated by the Vultex members'' uncooperative attitude. "My parents? I lost contact with them before even joining New Earth. I don''t know what you are talking about."


    The players kept speaking; they spoke together, resulting in a loud brouhaha. They felt betrayed; they invested so much in this town to develop it and now, they were learning that it actually belonged to one of their biggest competitors? They would be ridiculed by everyone if this information was made public; they had essentially been financing the base of their competitors.


    However, Iris was no longer listening to them. Instead, the only voice she could hear was Gaia''s.


    "Greetings dungeon masters! I hope I am not disturbing anything important, but I have a very important announcement to make! The third trial is about to begin! I know we are ahead of schedule, but this trial will be quite different from the previous two!"


    "It is time for you, if you haven''t yet, to learn about another facet of being a dungeon master. The trial this time will come in the form of a quest. Complete it to pass the trial. I wish you the best of luck."


    [System prompt: You have received the quest: "The Third Trial"]


    Destroy the entities unrelated to the dungeon outside of the dungeon. Each entity destroyed will reward the dungeon master with a certain amount of Destruction Points. Obtain a minimum of 10000 Destruction Points to complete the quest. The more Destruction Points a dungeon master has at the end of the quest, the better the final reward would be.


    Task: Collect Destruction Points by destroying entities outside of the dungeon


    Completion: (0/10000)


    Duration: 14 days


    Rewards: Based on the amount of Destruction Points collected


    Note 1: The entities to be targeted includes but are not limited to: Villages, towns, cities, bandit groups, monster nests, other dungeons, players, etc


    Note 2: The amount of Destruction Points awarded by each entity can vary significantly. Destruction Points will only be awarded if at least 80% of the damage is dealt by monsters belonging to the dungeon

 Chapter 166: Voiding the contract (1)

    ''The trial comes in the form of a quest? The system no longer wants us to simply protect our dungeon; it is forcing us to be more active and attack the surrounding environment,'' thought Iris.


    ''I suppose this is where the competitive side of the game starts to reach the dungeon masters too. With the rewards depending on how much Destruction Points one can collect, people would definitely try to attack everything around them. It will attract animosity but fortunately, there are no other dungeons nearby.''


    Iris was about to start planning her next move, but she then realized the presence of the players in front of her. They were still speaking with an accusatory tone. But before she could speak, another series of system prompts sounded.


    [System Announcement: A mini update targeting the dungeon masters will immediately take effect.]


    [System prompt: We are taking the opportunity that the third trial is starting to bring forward some healthy changes to the game. The following changes will take effect:]


    [The system will now distinguish between passive and active characters. A character will be labeled as passive if he/she does not encounter any enemies or use any skill/item for the last thirty minutes after entering a dungeon.


    The passive characters will generate less DP over time, half of that produced by an active character: only 5 DP per level per hour.]


    [We are introducing a new feature: Scents. The dungeon master can now manipulate the scent of the dungeon and set up different ones for each floor or rooms. Scents are a way to produce additional effects, affecting both the monsters and the invaders.


    For example, the scent of the forest will improve all the stats of beast-type and plant-type monsters by 1. The foul scent will deal 1 damage per second to all characters except poison type monsters. The scent of adventure will provide all characters with an increase in experience received of 10%.


    The scents can be purchased in the dungeon shop.]


    "Hello? Are you just ignoring us?"


    Iris was jolted awake by Endless'' loud shout. He was looking daggers at her.


    Iris frowned as the flow of system prompts was interrupted. She took a deep breath and answered. "You want to void our contract? Looks like you do not even want to negotiate. Here''s the contract. Let''s void it."


    She slammed a piece of paper on the table under the dumbfounded stares of the players. They could not believe she was actually agreeing to cancel the contract and it left them speechless. They thought they would need to deploy Vultex''s elite to force her to do so. They were reluctant to, after all, someone who managed to own a town before it was even possible, was not someone to be trifled with.


    Players would normally only be able to build their own towns after the second major update but this event had yet to occur.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "You are agreeing?" mumbled one of the players.


    "Of course. What is the point of collaborating with a group who does not trust you? Vultex is not the only large guild out there, nor is Blue Lagoon. I have nothing to do with that guild. You should use your brain; if I was not planning on wholeheartedly collaborate with you, why would I have revealed the location of a dungeon in the North?"


    "This..." Endless was taken aback. It was true; Iris did reveal the location of a dungeon. If they managed to take control of its territory, they could use it later on as a foundation for their own town. This information was truly worth a lot and Iris did not have any need to reveal it to them.


    "Maybe we were a bit too reckless..." started Endless but Iris would not listen to him anymore. She glanced at Venus who instantly understood what she wanted.


    The succubus moved quickly. She dashed toward the table, forcefully taking the contract out of Endless'' hands. The latter was unable to resist the strength of the succubus; he could only let go of the piece of paper. At the same time, Venus grabbed Iris'' copy of the contract with her other hand.


    She brought the two copies of the contract together and as they met, the pieces of paper burst into flames. The contract between the two parties was effectively voided.


    "What is the meaning of this?" exclaimed one of the players.


    They indeed had the intent of voiding their contract since they believed Iris was in cahoot with their competitor. But now that she was denying the fact, they did not actually want to lose the town they invested so much in.


    "Wasn''t it what you came here for? From now on, we no longer have anything to do with each other. Vultex is no longer the investor of Venetia," declared Iris with a solemn expression.


    The players twitched. Endless remained calm but the other players exploded. "You cannot forcefully cancel our agreement like that. What about the fortune we spent on building this town! We spent almost a quarter of our guild''s income in this place, how can we just move on like that? You need to compensate us!"


    Iris faintly smiled. "Dream on. We have nothing else to do with each other."


    It was precisely what she had been looking for. At first, she was mad at being accused of something she did not do; she had absolutely no contacts with her parents and was not planning on talking to them either. However, she had long been thinking of ways to get out of her contracts with Vultex for a while now; it was precisely why she wanted to get her hands on the Void Contract at the auction.


    When she built Venetia, the town was still unknown from the rest of the world. In order to develop, she needed to attract people''s attention. She did so by showing herself as a player and speaking to the guilds. They were immediately interested.


    The guilds believed they would have to wait for the second major update to start building their town but unexpectedly, a player was already able to do so. Whoever got their hands on the town would have a huge headstart ahead of their competitors. Vultex was the one making the most generous offer. They invested a lot in Venetia and in exchange, they could freely use the town as their base of operation.


    They owned 40% of the town; mainly its military part and the commercial area. Iris did not care about those; she was only interested in the DP they generated. However, Vultex became more and more demanding lately. As Venetia developed, they realized its importance and did not want to only own 40% of its shares.


    They put pressure on Iris who did not want to reveal her identity as a dungeon master yet. Now that an opportunity presented itself, she naturally did not hesitate to free herself from Vultex. After having already received the initial investment she needed, she was ready to burn the bridges.


    Endless lightly coughed, causing the other players to fall silent. "Iris, we might have been too hasty. We did not properly investigate this matter. I believe it would not be beneficial for either of us to go on our own separate ways."


    He paused for a moment, allowing his statement to sink through." We will lose our main base of operation while you will lose the town''s military side and all the shops in the commercial area will close down. Once we recall our men, this town will just end up like it was before; there would be no traffic. Since you are not receiving any help from Blue Lagoon, how are you planning to resist Count Desmonds without our help? Think about all of these. We both acted on the spur of the moment. Let''s take a moment and calm down."


    "Let''s consider the voiding of the contract as an opportunity for us to come up with better terms for both sides. What do you think?"


    Endless was a charismatic young man. He held a high position in Vultex and was confident in himself. When he spoke, he was certain Iris would come back to herself and soon beg them to form another contract. After all, what he said was true. Venetia will just turn into a lawless place without them to keep an eye on the players. Vultex was the one paying all the mercenary guards to protect the town.


    They were also the one transporting most of the goods and materials sold at Venetia. As the dominant force of the town, Vultex''s players also supplied Venetia with all the loot of the monsters in the surrounding hunting areas.


    If they really parted, then the one to suffer the most would without a doubt be Iris. Sure, Vultex would lose its main base of operation but Vultex was a large guild. Losing one base did not mean the end, they could still recover their losses. On the other hand, Iris was a single person. Venetia was all she owned in New Earth. Once it was gone, she would lose everything.


    Endless was confident he had the upper hand in this scenario. No one in their right mind would refuse his offer. However, to his surprise, Iris remained unfazed.

 Chapter 167: Voiding the contract (2)

    "Sure. We can make another contract. You can still use Venetia as your main base of operation and allow your merchants to operate here duty-free. However, this time, you will only hold 10% of the shares. Furthermore, even though you will still be in charge of the security of Venetia, the hired mercenary will have to answer to me instead of Vultex."


    "What? Are you crazy?" exclaimed one of the players. They calmed down upon hearing Endless speak. They were well aware of his aim to take full control of Venetia and for that, they would need at least 51% of the shares. However, not only did Iris not propose them a better contract for their protection, she even lowered their shares to a measly 10%.


    Endless was equally displeased. "Iris. This is not rational. Do you realize that Vultex already has more than one million official and non-official members? We can provide you with so much traffic but why are we getting such a bad share percentage?"


    His statement held a secret meaning. On one side, he was stating that he could open the gates to a large flow of cash into the town but at the same time, if she refused, a large army of players would put pressure on her.


    "Since you refuse, please leave. We have nothing else to say," declared Iris with a calm expression.


    "Iris? Are you seriously not going to consider our proposition?"


    "Please leave at once. We are no longer business partners. Venus, please accompany the guests out." Iris was internally smiling. She never planned on signing another contract with Vultex. Let alone 10%, she would not even agree to give away 1%. Now that she already got what she wanted from the players, she could cut all ties with them.


    The succubus immediately reacted. "Dear sirs, will you please follow me?" Her aura erupted.


    The players jumped in fright. They cursed and swore but could only walk out of the house under Venus'' suppression. Venus unceremoniously closed the door behind them with a loud "Hmmp".


    Endless was enraged; it was the first time he was ever kicked out of a meeting like that. He could already feel the judgemental stares of the players who stayed outside the house. "D*mn, that woman does not know what is good for her. Order everyone to pack up, we are leaving this town. It will not take very long before she begs us to come back. At the same time, tell the spies to properly investigate the matter about that woman: Vanity. It does not seem like Iris was lying when she said she had nothing to do with her parents."


    ''I will have to explain the situation to the other elders. Iris is not simple. She would not have kicked us out like this if she was not confident in her own strength. She has that whore to protect her but what is she planning to do for the rest of the town. The contract is already broken; we should not have tried to use the situation to get control of the town. We need to find a way to get Venetia back.''


    ...


    "They are finally gone, these noisy players. Will everything be alright now, Kimmy?" asked Venus as she strode back to the dining room where Iris was still seated.


    "Yes. We got what we wanted. I feel bad for taking away their investments and giving them nothing but well, it is their mistake for taking out their copy of the contract like that. They were probably trying to get me to modify our contract and hand them more shares of the town."


    "They might try to cause trouble. Do we need to inform your mentor of this?"Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Iris shook her head. "Absolutely not. Lord Brann came here to enjoy himself away from the Magic Council. I cannot rely on him for everything. He already forced the Magic Council to make an announcement and thanks to that, even though the players might leave Venetia, the NPC would inevitably be attracted to it which will, in turn, lead more players here."


    Venus gently smiled. "I see. You were already prepared for this."


    "Of course. Mars, you can come out. I know you are here. There is no need to hide anymore." Iris spoke loudly, staring at the empty corridor where the secret tunnel was located.


    A few seconds later, a door creaked as a tall silhouette emerged from the dark corridor. It was a muscular Lionman, Mars. He was Iris'' most powerful monster.


    "Mistress, did you call me?" innocently said Mars, displaying his huge teeth.


    "No need to pretend, I know you have been listening to the conversation. From now on, there is no need to hide. Since Vultex decided to move on from Venetia, you shall now be in charge of the security. You and your Lionmen will be the new official guards of Venetia."


    Mars'' eyes lit up; he was excited. The Lionmen could finally contribute actively to Venetia. Since its creation, the Lionmen trained in an underground facility. There were more than three hundred Lionmen and they were all above level 40. Contrary to the other dungeons, Iris did not need to constantly summon new monsters. Furthermore, she focused on quality rather than quantity and did not bother to summon low-level monsters.


    Level 40 was the bare minimum for them to act as guards. The mercenaries previously hired by Vultex were all level 40. They cost a fortune, but they acted as a strong deterrent and no one dared to cause trouble.


    "Also, Venus, send a message through the succubi. Tell Neptune to come back. There is no need for her to stay at Ormskirk Town anymore, we already know what Count Desmonds had been up to."


    Neptune was a Naiad. Out of Iris'' monsters, she was the one who attracted the least attention. She traveled to Ormskirk Town to gather some information about their enemies by acting as a citizen.


    "No problem, should I ask my girls to come back too?"


    "Sure. We will need all the help we can to deal with what is coming next. The third trial has started."


    "The third trial? What are we fighting against this time?" excitedly asked Venus.


    "No. This time, we are the ones attacking." She explained the system prompts she received. "We have to be the ones to take the initiative. And coincidentally, it seems like we have trouble coming our way."


    Venus laughed lightly. "Do you want us to attack Vultex once they leave our territory? It would still count toward your Destruction Points."


    "Sure, we can take them down if they look for trouble but for now, I would rather have you deal with Blue Lagoon. I don''t want anything to do with my parents, especially my mother. That woman still thinks she lives in the last century and dared to use her own daughter as a marriage pawn to gain status. Hmmp. I don''t know how they found my location but they are certainly thinking that they are entitled to get part of this town. I am certainly not giving them anything."


    "Hmmp. You don''t need to worry. I will deal with them personally," confidently exclaimed Venus.


    "The situation is only going to get more complicated from here. I think it is time for us to summon a new monster."


    "A new monster? Great, another sister!" mused Venus. "Who will it be? It has been so long since we welcomed another race."


    "This time, I am thinking of an Elphame..."


    "Elphame? Will that be alright? I believe it is one of the species related to Karyn. You will have to speak to that proud elf to avoid causing misunderstanding."


    Karyn had been doing fairly well since she arrived at Venetia. She dominated the arena and was very popular among the players. Many players liked to come to the arena to spectate her matches against other NPCs. She was a dark elf. Elves existed in the game but they were rare. They rarely left their territories and even though the players could already explore those territories, the elves did not welcome them.


    "I don''t think so. The Elphames lean more toward the light elves while Karyn is a dark elf. But I''ll ask her anyway just to clarify the situation."


    "Good."


    With the situation diffused, Venus returned to her usual clueless and playful attitude. She walked behind Iris and massaged her neck.


    "These idiots interrupted my fun. Kimmy, how about we spend the rest of the night together?" She gently blew behind Iris'' ears.


    The latter reacted and hardened her gaze. "Venus, I already told you about it. Furthermore, you are dirty right now. I won''t even let you in my room."


    The succubus chuckled. "Oh, come on. I am already dry and clean down there. I am a succubus. Did you not promise to help me evolve in a Mistress of Pleasure? How am I supposed to do so if I only get to please men? I still need to practice on women."


    "You need to remember your promise too. The day you manage to seduce Mars is the day we''ll sleep together," answered Iris with an amused expression. She knew Venus was just playing with her.


    "That block of wood? No matter what I do, he does not react. He would have made a perfect eunuch in ancient times." Mars had long left Iris'' house. He returned to the underground dungeon to announce the news to his fellow Lionmen.


    Venus continued to mess around while Iris opened up her interface to look at the details of the update she missed due to the interruption of the players. Eventually, Venus decided to give her some space for her to read properly. In front of Iris'' tired eyes, Venus'' appearance started to change. Her long black hair gradually turned bright yellow. Her facial feature changed to a more innocent one. Her new appearance was very similar to that of an angel.


    It was one of her skills as a succubus. She could change her appearance at will to please the different tastes of her sexual partners.


    "Fine if you don''t want to play with me. I''ll go find a few toys. I''ll play with those players from Vultex while they are still here. Since they are leaving anyway, it should not cause much harm for me to suck them completely dry."

 Chapter 168: Tour of the unwanted guest

    The Cobra King opened its eyes and looked at the unfamiliar environment in confusion. It tried to recall what happened before it lost consciousness. All it remembered was how the Mother of all Snakes fed him a giant egg. The egg looked rather ordinary aside from its huge size but the Mother of all Snakes insisted that the Cobra King should eat it.


    As a result, the Cobra King almost permanently deformed its mouth as it tried to gobble the whole egg at once. It then felt a heatwave flow through its body and fainted.


    The Cobra King did not remember coming into this room; it clearly looked like a human habitat. It felt the soft fluffy texture under its body; it was currently lying on a bed. Around it, the Cobra King saw the unfamiliar pieces of furniture. The room was relatively large and sparsely decorated.


    Suddenly, a hand appeared out of nowhere, wrapping around the Cobra King''s mouth. It panicked and straightened its body.


    "Wow! What are you doing? It is me."


    A voice sounded and instantly, the Cobra King relaxed. The voice was extremely familiar; it was the Mother of all Snakes.


    Elys looked at the snake in front of her and commented. "Not bad. You completed your evolution. Congratulations. You are no longer a Cobra King. Instead, you are now a hamadryad. I believe your poison abilities improved considerably."


    It was only then that the snake realized the transformation that took place on its body. It became larger and longer. Its hood also grew in size but more importantly, it learned new skills and leveled up. The hamadryad was now level 35; it jumped a total of five levels in its evolution.


    "Hiss hiss!"


    "Shhh. Speak quietly. I don''t want to get found out. My [Camouflage] can hide our appearance but it cannot muffle the sound you make. So be careful," said Elys.


    "You want to know where we are and how we ended up here?"


    "You asked me to look for revenge and we came here, to the dungeon that defeated you. I found the harpy queen already but I did not make a move. We are currently in one of the rooms of the dungeon. Most of the rooms are already taken but this one was empty, so I decided to stay here while you evolve."


    "Don''t worry, during all the time we were here, no one ever entered this room to check and even if they did, they would not have found us."


    "Hissss!"


    "Yes. It has been a little over ten days since you fainted. Do you not remember anything?"


    Elys continued to speak to the hamadryad who hissed to express itself.


    "When we arrived, they were having a party and while invisible, we stole their food. You laughed a bit at how annoyed the harpies were that the food was gone so quickly."


    "Then, we came across the fat white egg that you ate. I told you to eat it because I knew it would allow you to evolve and I was right. Are you not happy?"


    The snake shook its body and wrapped around Elys'' arm.


    "What we are going to do now? We should leave now that you have evolved. I am not attacking this dungeon."


    The hamadryad wiggled around her arm.


    "Why? I know I am strong enough to crush them all but if I do, my location will be revealed. The Aries left his mark here. If I reveal myself, the Sacred Beasts will instantly know that I am here. I don''t want the Scorpio to come after me."


    "What? You want revenge? Then do it yourself. I don''t want to be hunted down by the Sacred Beasts. I already helped you in evolving and you obtained a precious item that helped you evolved. Its effects were equivalent to you consuming the dungeon core itself."


    "You are too scared to fight yourself? Well, there is nothing I can do. I won''t act in a place marked by the Sacred Beasts. We should leave now that you are awake. I have to return to the Marlose Swamp." Elys spoke with a tinge of reluctance.


    "Hiss hiss!" The hamadryad became agitated. It was true that he evolved and leveled up but how was he meant to fight against the terrifying harpy queen alone?


    "No. Now, I''ll take one last look at the dungeon before leaving. It is quite an interesting place. I did not know dungeons changed that much during the last few decades."


    Despite the hamadryad''s complaints, Elys stepped out of the room and walked toward the common room. She was already familiar with the dungeon, having spent almost ten days in it. She casually walked into the common room and made her way to the counter where all the food was.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    She did not care about all the monsters present; they were way too low leveled. They would never be able to see through her [Camouflage].


    She unhesitantly grabbed a plate and started filling it with food. With her magic, the food also turned invisible without being noticed by the monsters. Then, she sat down and ate her fill while listening to the conversations around her.


    She had been doing so every day since she arrived and had yet to be caught. The monsters around her were of different species but the majority were harpies.


    ''Delicious! Why don''t we have this kind of food in the swamp?''


    She ate quickly and after cleaning several plates, she finally decided to leave. The hamadryad also silent ate. Although it wanted to complain, it was afraid it would attract the attention of the monsters.


    Elys made her way up the stairs and entered a completely different world. If the previous floor was quite empty as it was essentially a dormitory, this floor was buzzing with life. It was a giant workshop.


    There were goblins, gnomes and dwarves walking around, discussing the discoveries of their research. Elys could see several robots carrying loads of material around the workshop. They were the same robots she found in other tunnels carrying food and items to the different floors of the dungeon.


    Elys walked past the busy monsters unnoticed. In the distance, she saw an Elder Gnome and an Elder Dwarf arguing with a silver-haired harpy. Elys knew this dungeon also housed a Goblin King but he never showed up in the workshop. Instead, he spent most of his time at the adjacent village.


    There was a small village connected to the workshop. It was where the goblins, gnomes, and dwarves slept. While roaming around, Elys learned that the village was called Tinyland.


    When she first entered the workshop, Elys was amazed at the robots and machines. It was her first time witnessing objects moving on their own without any magic. But after ten days, the objects now looked rather ordinary. She quickly found the stairs and walked up.


    She came out into a large decorated room. The place was well lit and the atmosphere was quite lively; it looked like a reception was taking place. There were large tables of food, musicians standing in a corner of the room and even a large open area for dancers.


    Had the food been appetizing, Elys would not have hesitated to steal it but to her dismay, all the food there was either rotten or poisoned. She disregarded them completely.


    There were many monsters on this floor. Elys liked spending time here; she enjoyed the music. The floor consisted of many different rooms with a similar design but the main difference was the style of music playing in each room.


    There were Nosferatu walking around, Phantom Musicians playing their own compositions and Ghost Dancers flying around the dancing area. The floor looked like a giant party. However, Elys'' favorite room was the Mirror room!


    Somewhere on this floor, there was a room filled with mirrors. Despite its appearance, the room was filled with monsters, namely Mirror Spirits. All people needed to do was to look at the Mirror Spirit''s mirror to allow it to escape. Even Elys was no exception to this rule but she was able to easily identify which mirrors were safe to look at. She could walk past the room without attracting the spirit''s attention and could enter the secret room behind it with ease.


    Elys was familiar with this floor and swiftly found the stairs to continue going up. She stepped into a wide-open corridor where completely different monsters could be found. This floor consisted of a series of maze-like corridors like this one. The walls were made of a similar material than that of the reception rooms making it feel like she did not cross any floor.


    Contrary to the lively floor below, this one was dead silent. The monsters here consisted of Defacers, Haunting Ghosts, Living armors, and Gargoyles. The corridors were dead silent as there were no visitors.


    Elys did not like this floor very much. It was too quiet and felt cold and unwelcoming. She did not waste any time and climbed the next stairs.


    The new floor was uninteresting. It consisted of a series of tunnels and caves where beast-like undead creatures could be found. Elys hated this place. She hastened her steps to her favorite floor.


    It was the one looking the most like her own house, the Marlose Swamp. It was a humid place looking like a marsh but although it looked very familiar to Elys, she did not really like the inhabitants the floor. There were no living creatures aside from the Blood-Sucking Mosquitoes and the Corpse Eaters which she found repulsive.


    When she looked at the marsh, Elys could see several groups of barbarians searching around for rare plants and abandoned eggs.


    Elys did not waste any time and continued walking but she did not go toward the stairs and instead walked deeper into the marsh. Slowly, the environment started to change; there was less water and soon, she found a clean dry spot of land near a source of drinkable water.


    Elys'' senses tingled. She could feel the presence of Alligators and Herons hiding around but was not threatened by them. She felt much better here. She knew the floors above her now consisted only of forests housing different kind of beasts. She no longer felt the ghastly dark energy she felt in the marshland.


    She walked to the next floor where many small mammals could be found. This part of the forest was essentially ruled by the Spiked Armadillos. They were quite powerful but cowered in fear in front of the alligators. Elys shook her head when she looked at the Platinum Armadillo. The beast was quite mischievous and liked to steal things but when it came to standing up for its race, the Platinum Armadillo was not up to the task.


    From here on, Elys hesitated on the route to take. There were two paths she was comfortable with: going straight up and go through a series of forests or go deeper into the forest until the environment would change to a hotter one. There, Elys would find Flame Scarabs guarding their home.


    She preferred warm and dry environments to the humid atmosphere of the forest. In the Marlose Swamp, she lived in a small area which was unaffected by the humidity of the swamp. However, after taking into consideration the Hamadryad wrapped around her arm, she decided to continue climbing the floors to the exit through the forests. The hamadryad was more adapted to environments like forests.


    As she climbed the different floors, Elys came across more and more barbarians. She avoided them with ease and soon, she stepped out of the dungeon.


    ''Finally some fresh air.''


    "Hiss hiss."


    "What? You don''t like cold weather? Too bad you cannot stay inside the dungeon where it is warm. You will have to go into brumation for the rest of the winter. I already spent some time walking around with you, I cannot stay too long away from the Marlose Swamp."


    "What I am doing now? I am going to that barbarian village. I need to retrieve something they took from one of my descendants. Once I get it back, I will return to the swamp."


    She nonchalantly made her way toward the barbarian village. It was rather large compared to the other barbarian village Elys saw and also more lively. There were a few townsmen loudly arguing with each other.


    ''Well. They should act as a good distraction.''


    Elys could already feel the item she was looking for. It was a small green scale, hidden in a modest tent of the village.


    ''Hmmp. The owner of this tent really needs to shower more or at least spray some perfume.'' Elys internally complained as she stopped just outside the tent. She did not feel the presence of humans inside.


    She took a deep breath before pinching her nose and diving into the smelly tent. She came as quickly as she entered, holding a small scale in her hand.


    She smiled faintly. ''I''ve been looking for it for decades. Who would have thought I would find its remnants in such a desolate village.''


    Elys left the village quickly. Along the way, she recognized some of the players she encountered while roaming around the area. She did not expect to meet them again. ''Too bad I don''t see the pretty boy from last time.''


    She finally stopped at the edge of the forest and crouched down. "Here, I need to go now."


    "Hiss Hiss!"


    "What? You cannot come with me. I am leaving you in your home. The small Cobras should still be here. They did not select a leader yet."


    "You cannot come with me. It will be discrimination! I already helped you evolve. If you want to enter the Marlose Swamp, you will have to fight for a place with your own strength. I cannot help you and honestly, unless you reach level 60, you won''t survive a day there."


    "Hiss hiss."


    "No. I''ve already made my decision. If it was not because I wanted a break from the swamp, I would not even have agreed to accompany you. Now, you are free to do whatever you want. This has always been the rule. Jump down now!"


    The hamadryad wiggled around but eventually, it reluctantly left Elys'' arm.


    "Get stronger by yourself and maybe one day you''ll enter the Marlose Swamp. For now, I would suggest leaving this area if you do not want to be forcefully recruited into the dungeon."

 Chapter 169: Vicious Rhino Tribe

    "Umar. I hope you understand the situation. Without a totem spirit, your tribe is finished. Even after you absorbed the Black Vulture Tribe, the Vicious Rhino Tribe is not strong enough. The other tribes have been eying you, after all, you have more than 1500 tribesmen, without even taking into consideration the Black Vulture Tribesmen."


    Umar trembled. How could the situation have worsened so much? Just a few weeks ago, the Vicious Rhino Tribe was at the peak of its strength. Now, after the cruel defeat at the Musclewood Tribe, not only did they lose their totem spirit but two shamans also perished in battle. Umar was the third and final Shaman of the tribe.


    The Vicious Rhino Tribe lost so much and now, they were forced to ask their previous subordinates for help. Umar was facing Kieron, an important member of the Coyote Tribe.


    "Kieron. The Vicious Rhino Tribe helped you ascend to your position. You just need to help us pass winter. We will figure out a solution before summer."


    Kieron bitterly smiled. He owed a lot to the Vicious Rhino Tribe but his hands were tied. "The elders have already turned against the Vicious Rhino Tribe. They don''t see how you can turn the tables. Even those who were on your side are reluctant to voice out. They don''t want to allocate resources to you. Winter has always been a time of conflict. Since they have already accumulated enough food for winter, the neighboring tribes will be restless. We need to protect ourselves too."


    Umar narrowed his eyes. Since the start of the conversation, Kieron had been prompting him to migrate the tribe, claiming it would be easier to protect them. However, it was a clear attempt at absorbing their tribe. The Vicious Rhino Tribe accumulated a lot of resources over the last decades and now that it was defenseless, many tribes were no longer bothering to hide their teeth.


    The Vicious Rhino Tribe was a fat cow waiting to be captured but at the same time, the other tribe did not want to damage it too much. After all, the most valuable resource a tribe could have was its population. Just by absorbing a third of the Vicious Rhino Tribesmen, many tribes could double their population.


    "One winter, Kieron. I just need your help for one winter. You will be handsomely rewarded. You know about the ties of the Vicious Rhino Tribe with the Three Monkey Tribe. You just need to mention this to the elders of your tribe. I am certain they won''t dare to face the wrath of a tribe of the Central Plains."


    Kieron was troubled. He did not know what to answer but he did not even get the opportunity to do so.


    At that moment, a loud explosion sounded in the distance along with the terrified shouts of the barbarians.


    "What is happening?" exclaimed Umar. The old Shaman stood up and pull the flap of the tent. His eyes instantly widened.


    ...


    "Ishan! It is time for you to prove yourself!"


    "I know. I will show you the strength of the Flame Scarabs! We are better than you, undead!" Ishan answered back while looking at the lich riding a Bonemare.


    The Flame Scarab Warrior''s body lit up. Its body burst in flames as it spread out its wings. Ishan drew his halberd and charged toward the barbarian tribe followed by his fellow Flame Scarabs.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Dreidus watched the scene and dully raised his hand. "Attack!"


    The beasts and Undead creatures all rushed toward the village.


    "I am also joining the fight. Stay at a safe distance in the sky." Dreidus briefly glanced at the harpies at his side before kicking his bonemare.


    Alice obediently nodded. For once, she did not mess around as she understood the situation. She opened her wings and flew in the sky with her sisters. The harpies were ready to help the monsters from above.


    Ivan and the Nosferatu were also present. Unfortunately, due to their diluted bloodline, none of the vampires had wings. They were forced to charge at the village on foot. The rest of the monsters also made their move according to the plan they discussed previously.


    The barbarians were taken by surprise. The barbarians guarding the village first saw a large group of people rushing toward them. They went on their guard but were taken aback when they recognized the attackers.


    "Tomos? You were alive?" exclaimed one of the barbarians but to his surprise, ''Tomos'' mercilessly threw his spear, piercing through a barbarian''s heart.


    "Tomos? What on earth?" However, his shouts remained unanswered. Tomos was no longer a barbarian. Despite his appearance, Tomos was a Living Corpse.


    After the celebrations of Musclewood Village, it became time to clean up the battlefield. Many barbarians from all the tribes perished in the battle. Instead of simply burning down the corpses, Five made the request to the chiefs to allow him to take care of them. Naturally, he left behind the corpses of the barbarians belonging to the Musclewood Tribe; he did not want to sully their corpses by turning them into Undead Monsters.


    Five ended up collecting hundreds of corpses of powerful barbarians and Dreidus got to work. He turned them into Living Corpses but the process was slow. If he gave it his all, he could convert eight corpses into Living Corpses but with all the dead bodies available, it would take Dreidus three months before he could finish.


    Nevertheless, he got to work and Lyra supported him. The Banshee Queen learned the basics of Necromancy and was soon actively participating in the conversion. At the same time, Dreidus'' proficiency was improving and soon, he could convert ten corpses in a day.


    He had now converted a little over a hundred corpses into Living Corpses. They were all above level 33; the strongest were the Living Corpses of the former barbarian chief, Luka and the second in command, Vans. The corpses of the dead Shamans were also converted but they turned into liches. Naturally, there was still a mountain of corpses waiting to be converted in the dungeon; they were all safely stored in a completely frozen environment under the water biome.


    All the couple''s hard work was paying off. The Living Corpses were extremely powerful; they could fight the barbarians face to face. They did not need to rely on trickery or sneak attacks like the other weaker Undead and Beasts were doing.


    Having absorbed the Black Vulture Tribe, about two thousand barbarians were currently residing at the Vicious Rhino Village. However, out of these two thousand barbarians, only eight hundred were active hunters who were experienced in fights. Furthermore, the only real threat was the last Shaman of the tribe and he was precisely Dreidus'' target.


    They were quite lucky that the plains were foggy, allowing Dreidus to lead his army to the barbarian village without being detected.


    The barbarians fought courageously but they were all caught unprepared. The Death Knights, Bonemares and Zombeasts led the charge behind the Living Corpses. Their spears pierced through the tents; the Undead did not discriminate, even the children were mercilessly killed.


    The beasts and the rest of the Undead attacked from another direction, causing more confusion and chaos. They once again used the same swarm tactics, sending in hundreds of skeletons to their death but clearly, the battle was in favor of the Undead. The barbarians did not have time to properly wear their armor; they were not using their full potential.


    Then, several projectiles rained from above as the harpies unleashed a series of spells. The Flame Scarabs dived down, attacking the clueless barbarians taking a look outside their tents. The village descended into chaos.


    A bell rang, warning all the barbarians of the dangers but at the same time, another sound resonated through the village. It was Lyra''s [Wails of Sorrow]. It was the first time the Banshee Queen used her skill.


    It disrupted the barbarians, stunning them for a moment and significantly lowering their defenses. At the same time, the Phantom Musicians started playing their ballad, buffing up the Undead Monsters. The Ghost Dancers and the Defacers joined the fray, taking down many unprepared barbarians.


    The Vicious Rhino Tribe was not a weak tribe by any means. They soon recovered and the next wave of barbarians emerging from their tents were all fully prepared and equipped. Unfortunately, it was a bit late as more than half of the hunters had already perished.


    "Scree!"


    Blue Eagles and Gargoyles joined the Flame Scarabs in their aerial attacks. At the same time, the ground trembled as Spiked Armadillos appeared. The barbarians were being attacked from all directions by a large variety of monsters.


    ...


    Umar emerged from his tent accompanied by Kieron. ''Just what is happening? Are we under attack?''


    They never expected someone to dare attack the Vicious Rhino Tribe. They were not weak and unless a tribe invested a significant amount of resources, the Vicious Rhino Tribe would be able to defend itself.


    "Monsters? We are being attacked by that dungeon!" exclaimed Umar. He was enraged. His home was being destroyed.


    The old Shaman pulled out his staff and started chanting but by doing so, he did not notice Dreidus'' gloomy silhouette floating on top of the Shaman''s tent.

 Chapter 170: Evolution

    The female barbarians were physically different from their male counterpart. They were usually petite and weak but when their children were facing the threat of the monsters, they did not hesitate to grab their knives and fight the attackers to death.


    The beasts mercilessly stomped the tents of the barbarians under the leadership of the Beast Kings. With [Call of the Wild] active, all the beasts had their stats increased by 30%. They could not face the barbarians directly yet but their main task was to cause chaos. They especially targeted the rearing area where the horses were usually kept.


    "Roar!"


    Countless barbarians fell to the combined assault of the beasts until suddenly, a rune lit up at the center of the village. The beasts all felt a change. They felt an invisible force pressuring them and at the same time, their blood started boiling. The beasts instinctively knew they should not stay there for too long. Their HP started decreasing. They lost one HP every second.


    It was all due to the runic formation activated by Umar. His first reflex upon seeing the beasts was to activate the [Beast Repellant Formation]. This formation was usually used during beast tides when their village was attacked. It did not have any effect on humans but would usually cause the beasts to immediately flee from the village.


    Umar let out a satisfied smile as he heard the beasts grunt in pain. The formation was working. Now, he needed to deal with the Undead and help his tribesmen. However, before he could make a move, his protective talisman lit up, surrounding his body with a defensive halo.


    A Ghastly beam exploded on the halo but Umar was unscathed.


    "Who?" Umar and Kieron looked toward the source of the beam. At the top of the Shaman''s tent, they saw a cloaked figure staring at them. They could not see that person''s facial feature but the two barbarians could determine it was an Undead from his skeletal hands.


    "Who are you and why are you attacking my tribe? Are you from the dungeon of the Musclewood Village?" asked Umar as he went on his guard.


    Similarly, Kieron held his ax in front of him in a defensive position. "I am from the Coyote Tribe. Why are you attacking us?"


    Dreidus looked at the two barbarians from above but he did not bother answering. He did not have time to waste on them. The earlier he finished them, the earlier he could help the other monsters and reduce the losses. Without a word, Dreidus activated his battle form. This time, he chose the mage form, boosting his magical power.


    [Mortal Coil]


    Dreidus fired the green skull at Umar while continuing to channel his other spells but this time, the Shaman was prepared.


    [Nature''s barrier]


    An invisible wall appeared blocking Dreidus'' attack. Umar was a level 42 Totemic Shaman; he was five levels above Dreidus. It was only thanks to his battle form that Dreidus was able to hold him down.


    With a single swing of his arm, Umar tossed four small items around him. The formation hidden under the ground reacted.


    [Earth Totem], [Fire Totem], [Water Totem], [Wind Totem]


    Four different totems emerged from the ground around the Shaman''s tent. They were all lit up with a different color.


    Dreidus frowned and attacked once again using one of his most powerful skills. [Bone Wave]


    Countless bones appeared around him. Some even emerged from the ground before rushing toward Umar. The latter responded by using one of his relics. The ring at his hand shattered but it successfully blocked the attack and bought enough time for the Shaman''s counterattack.


    Umar raised his hand as his eyes beamed with excitement. "Answer my call. Totem Spirit!"You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Dreidus was taken by surprise. ''Totem Spirit? Isn''t the Three-horned Rhinoceros still imprisoned in its relic at the dungeon?''


    The four totems reacted. They channeled their energy into the ground as a bright rune appeared. Dreidus had a bad feeling; he knew he could not allow the Shaman''s plan to succeed.


    [Rise of the Dead]


    Five skeletons emerged from the ground. They were different from the other skeletons; they were larger and had a full set of equipment. Their level was also much higher. Using [Dead Mind], Dreidus commanded the skeletons to attack the totems.


    "Stop them. If the summoning fails, we are doomed!" shouted Umar at Keiron.


    The barbarian could only acquiesce. "What on earth is this spell. Your tribe has another totem spirit?"


    "I don''t have time to explain." Umar raised his staff, just in time to block Dreidus'' attack.


    Already, a silhouette started to appear above the rune. It vaguely had a humanoid figure but Dreidus could not properly identify the creature. However, he knew it was not good news.


    [Skeletal Crush]


    A giant skeletal hand appeared and slammed toward the barbarians. Dreidus was going all out but Umar was on his home turf.


    The formation of the village reacted under Umar''s command. He had been focusing on summoning the totem spirit earlier as he knew it was a relatively lengthy process but now, he was fully operating the formation. A defensive shield appeared.


    It blocked the skeletal hand but as the wielder, Umar still suffered some damage. When he saw the totem spirit, Umar let out a smile; soon the situation would turn in their favor. The totem spirit was not a real one; it was an artificial spirit that could temporarily be summoned thanks to the characteristics of his class: Totemic Shaman.


    Nevertheless, the artificial spirit was strong enough to deal with his enemies. All Umar needed to do was to survive until the summoning was complete. He focused his attention on Dreidus. He was the only monster that could really threaten him.


    However, he did not expect to suddenly be pierced from behind by a giant blade. Umar''s mind went blank; he had been observing Dreidus and clearly, the lich did not make a move. There was unexpectedly another monster that could pose a threat to him.


    [Flame Burst]


    The blade caught fire and sliced through the Shaman. Umar''s HP dropped but he was not dead yet. He rolled on the ground, trying to get away from where he was previously standing but naturally, Dreidus would not let this opportunity go.


    [Revenge of the Dead]


    While still on the ground, Umar was suddenly grabbed by rotten hands emerging from the ground. The Shaman struggled to escape but failed; the hands'' grip was too strong. In front of him, a half-decayed head emerged from the ground and stared at Umar.


    It was the Shaman''s last sight before he was beheaded by a giant halberd.


    "Good job, Ishan. If you did not appear, the situation might have become a bit troublesome," said Dreidus. He briefly glanced at the totem spirit being summoned. The totems used for its summoning were no longer glowing. Without the energy from the totem, the totem spirit could only return to where it came from.


    "I told you I would prove myself in this battle. I already dealt with the chief of the village too. He was weaker than this Shaman," answered the Flame Scarab Warrior. He was quite pleased with himself as he leveled up after slaying the Shaman, overtaking Dreidus. He was now level 38, the second strongest monster of the dungeon in terms of level.


    "I''ll report it to master when we return. For now, help the others. We need to minimize our losses. Our master will definitely be happy."


    ...


    After about thirty minutes, the Vicious Rhino Village was once again calm and peaceful. All the barbarians had been mercilessly killed. With all the monsters going all out and using their battle form, the barbarians did not last very long. The most troublesome part was to look for the children hiding in their tent. No one was spared.


    "What do we do now?" asked Ishan. He stabbed his halberd in the ground and crossed his arms, looking toward Dreidus.


    "The main mission is over. Master should have received Destructions Points from our attack. Now, it is time to loot this place. However, we will also use this to strengthen ourselves. I believe you have all heard master talking about Necromancy?"


    "We will divide ourselves into different teams. Some will gather the corpses into piles for me to use and the rest will loot the village, in particular, the Shaman''s tent."


    "Alright. Send another group to look for the village''s horses. They should also be valuable," commented Ishan.


    The monsters got to work. With two hundred skeletons left alive, it did not take very long to gather all the corpses. Dreidus called Lyra.


    "I spoke to master about this. Lyra, you will be the first to evolve. Trust me, the process is not going to be painful."


    There were about eight hundred female barbarians at the Vicious Rhino Village and now, all their corpses were piled up in front of Dreidus. Only one hundred female corpses were needed for Lyra''s evolution but Dreidus did not hesitate to use all the corpses. Using more than needed often had beneficial effects in the long-term.


    "Don''t you need to rest after using your battle form and fighting the Shaman?" asked Lyra with a concerned voice.


    "I am fine. It is more important to evolve you. We need to do the ceremony quickly; the corpses should be as fresh as possible for higher chances of success," explained Dreidus and at the same time, he took out a small box full of materials used in Necromancy. The content of the box alone was worth more than 500 thousand DP.


    Seeing Dreidus'' determined expression, Lyra chose to remain silent. At the same time, she was excited. From the moment she leveled up, Lyra felt the level cap pressing down on her, inhibiting her growth. Finally, this unpleasant bloodline shackle was going to be removed.


    The monsters were gathered around the place to observe Dreidus'' Necromancy. They did not understand his incantations and as nothing was happening, they started doubting Dreidus.


    The lich continued to recite his incantation but nothing happened. Even Lyra did not feel any different. The incantation was long. It was only when Dreidus uttered the final word that Lyra felt a change.


    Similarly, the monsters noticed the change in Lyra. There were no flashy animations or effect, nor did Lyra''s appearance change much. However, her aura became more powerful. Her skin tone became glossier and her features, more refined.


    The evolution had been a success. Necromancer never cared about aesthetic; they only focused on functionality, resulting in dull ceremonies like this one. If they did, they certainly would not be surrounded by rotten smelly corpses all the time.


    "Congratulations, Lyra," exclaimed Alice. She was happy for her close friend.


    Lyra looked at her hands in a daze. She could not believe these smooth hands belonged to her. She knew better than anyone the changes that took place in her body. She could now swiftly change between her physical and spirit form. Her strength also increased and she obtained a new skill: [Soul Piercing Scream].


    She smiled sweetly. "Thank you, Dreidus. I no longer feel the pressure of the bloodline shackle. I am now a Wailing Lady but I promise to not be too loud at your side."


    Dreidus faintly smiled. "Congratulations."


    "But there is more. It seems that I also got a title from this ceremony. It is called: Lady in White."

 Chapter 171: New Boss monsters

    "Lady in White? You received that title?" exclaimed Dreidus. He rushed toward the Wailing Lady and examined her.


    It was rare to see Dreidus so agitated and based on Dreidus'' attitude, she knew it was a good thing. However, she did not understand what was so good about that title. Her previous title was "Queen" since she ruled over the other Banshees. It gave her the authority to order the other Banshees and lowered the damage she took by 10%.


    On the other hand, her new title: Lady in White, allowed her attacks to have a 10% chance of causing a [Fear] effect. Having two titles did not cancel the effect of the previous one; the two effects would be stacked but only one title would be displayed.


    "Why are you so excited?" curiously asked Lyra. She was starting to feel uncomfortable when facing the stares of all the nearby monsters.


    Dreidus smiled and explained. "It is probably because I used all the corpses of the women for your evolution, much more than required. Having Lady in White as a title means that your future will be brighter. Your next evolution is Dame Blanche; it should have normally been your final evolution but now that you have this title, it means that you have a chance of becoming a Bride of Death."


    "I am relieved. Fortunately, your title ended up leaning toward the lighter side. I thought the barbarians would bear more resentment toward us. If they did, your title would have been Lady in Red. Your path of advancement would have been Dame Rouge and finally, Scorned Bride. I would not have left you if that happened but I prefer our current outcome."


    They spoke to each other but were not comfortable doing so in public.


    Lyra was not the only one to have evolved. All the other Banshee evolved into Wailing Ladies too. They were all linked together and as Lyra''s bloodline underwent a change, so did theirs. They were now level 24 while Lyra was level 33.


    "Cough cough. Let us proceed with the others. Because the corpses are fresh, we can use them to upgrade you guys instead. Can the Death Knights select a representative? One of you will also get the chance to go through an evolution."


    Using [Dead Mind], Dreidus started coordinating the other Undead. There were 1500 bodies left, including those of the animals that perished in battle. The bodies of the women used had already disappeared.


    The remaining bodies were arranged into three neat piles. Just like he did with Lyra, Dreidus was not planning on being stingy, he was going to use all the corpses on a single monster to not restrain their growth in the future.


    The first to go through the process was the Mylingars. Unfortunately, they were also the ones allocated to the smallest pile of bodies. The rituals for the Mylingars required young children. A single Myling stepped forward and went through the transformation. It became a Myling Leader but unfortunately, it did not gain any additional titles.


    As the number of bodies was insufficient, the Myling was unable to upgrade its bloodline, it was only able to become a Boss Monster among the Mylingars. Despite failing to upgrade their bloodline, the Mylingars were very satisfied with the outcome. They now had a Boss Monster to represent them.


    It was then the Zombeasts'' turn. Quite a few horses perished in the battle but as the beasts prevented the barbarians from using their mounts, the pile of corpses was also relatively small.Stolen novel; please report.


    The Zombeasts absorbed the energy in the corpses under Dreidus'' guidance but just like for the Mylingars, only one Zombeast evolved into a Zombeast King. However, all the other Zombeasts went up one level.


    Finally, it was time for the Death Knight to go through the evolution process. The selected Death Knight had a very large pile of bodies in front of him. Dreidus started chanting and just like for Lyra, it was a long and dull process.


    However, this time, the monsters could see a gradual change happening in the Death Knights. Their armors became darker and their steed, more muscular. The Death Knights evolved into Dreadknights. The selected one evolved further into a Boss Monster and became a Nemesis Dreadknight.


    The Dreadknights were powerful level 26 creatures. They all gained four levels after going through an evolution. As for the Nemesis Dreadknight, he was a level 30 Boss Monster. Unfortunately, he did not obtain any titles.


    Seeing the changes in the Undead Monsters, Ishan whistled in amazement. "Very impressive. If only there was something like Necromancy for us. We would not have to work so had to upgrade our bloodline."


    "Maybe but at least, you do not attract the hostility of the entire planet by slaughtering innocents like this," answered Dreidus.


    Their job here was complete. All that was left now was to gather the loot and return to the dungeon. Although Harriet was still guarding their home with some monsters not suited for the attack, they felt uncomfortable when they were away from their dungeon.


    The monsters had already collected another pile of items. There were weapons, armors, daily utilities, and food. The Shaman''s tent had also been empty and a few relics were in the harpies'' storage items.


    Dreidus commanded the Undead who all picked up a few items to carry. There were also a small pile of corpses left which consisted of the elders. They were not suitable for any of the monsters and would be brought back to the dungeon. Similarly, Umar''s body was also left untouched as it would be a waste to not convert it into a powerful lich later.


    "Are you tired after all these rituals?" asked Lyra with concern.


    "I''m fine. We should leave quickly."


    "Are you not going to use the graveyard of those barbarians? There should be quite a few corpses buried down there. Normal tribesmen are usually burnt but important ones should be buried safely somewhere."


    "We don''t have time. The corpses should be buried quite deep and they are too old to be used for rituals. Their only use is to be turned into Living Corpses but it would not be worth it to stay here. We don''t know if the other tribes noticed our move," answered Dreidus.


    "Got it. It is better to be careful. Our rewards this time are not small."


    At that moment, Ishan interrupted Dreidus'' sweet time with the Wailing Lady. "I have something to show you. It has something to do with the mounts."


    Intrigued, Dreidus followed the Flame Scarab Warrior. He saw the beast kings watching after the mounts of the Vicious Rhino Tribe. There were hundreds of horses all surrounded by the beasts. However, Ishan did not stop here.


    "Follow me." He brought Dreidus further in a sort of stable. It was one of the rare actual buildings of the tribe. When he entered, Dreidus'' eyes lit up. Unexpectedly, the Vicious Rhino Tribe had been breeding other animals to use as their mounts.


    Inside the stable, Dreidus saw several level 33 Horned Rhinoceros separated in different enclosures. The beasts snorted. There were only twenty of them; the Vicious Rhino Tribe had been actively looking for ways to help them reproduce to form a squad. The Horned Rhinoceros were powerful. With their heavy body, they were unstoppable tanks once they started charging in a particular direction.


    "Excellent work. Master will be pleased to absorb them in the dungeon.


    ...


    [System prompt: Your monsters have attacked and destroyed the entity: Vicious Rhino Village. You are awarded 9999 Destruction Points.]


    Five heaved a sigh of relief. From the safety of his dungeon, he had been constantly monitoring the progress of the monsters. He could not watch the battle but he could see the number of monsters he had decreasing. He lost several monsters in the battle but in the end, they emerged victorious.


    "Judging from your expression, it was a success," commented Harriet.


    "I cannot hide anything from you. I just received the system prompt. We just need one Destruction Point to pass the trial now."


    "One point? How stingy. They could not have given it to you directly?"


    "It''s fine. Also, Alice and the others are still alive. None of the harpies died in the battle," said Five.


    The harpy queen let out a faint smile. She was relieved. "What do we do now? Not one day has passed and you have almost completed the quest."


    "We wait. We let Dreidus do his things and wait for the beasts'' results. How are things going on your side? Did the Blue Eagles say anything?"


    Harriet shook her head. "No movements from the other dungeon yet. But it is quite foggy today. It is possible that the dungeon sneaked out without the Blue Eagles noticing since they fly at such a high altitude. They might also have secret exits we don''t know about."


    "It''s fine. We just need to keep an eye on them for now. Since they can plot against us, I don''t see why we cannot do the same. It is very likely that just like us, they will attack the tribes hostile to the one exploring their dungeon. I asked Angela to ask the Shamans about the Swift Gazelle Tribe. Since it is the strongest tribe of the region, it should not have many enemies or at least, not many in the open."

 Chapter 172: Completing the quest

    "Welcome back!"


    The army of monsters finally made it back to the dungeon after the long journey from the Vicious Rhino Tribe. They were exhausted. Nevertheless, the harpies rushed to the entrance where Harriet was waiting for them.


    Five watched the heartwarming scene and smiled. He recognized the harpies but did not remember their names. There were too many and Five had already decided to distance himself from the harpies a little bit. He still talked to them as usual but he would no longer be biased toward them. The harpies were all different; some were older while others looked as young as a fifteen-year-old child. It was Harriet who named them but for some reason, their names all started with ''a''.


    He turned his attention to the other monsters approaching and focused in particular on the new Boss Monsters. He received several system prompts earlier informing him that he unlocked new monsters. The Undead army looked quite impressive.


    "Good job, Dreidus." Five nodded at the lich who was closely followed by Lyra, the new Wailing Lady.


    "Let''s go inside. We do not want to attract unnecessary attention."


    As the sun was still up and many barbarians were roaming through the dungeon, the monsters entered using the back entrance. They went through the waterfall and used the backstage tunnels to return to their floors.


    "Wait. The Dreadknights and the Wailing Ladies should stay behind. It would be inappropriate for you to guard the same floors as you got stronger. Your friends who stayed back to guard the dungeon also evolved. For now, you will stay in this unused biome, away from the eyes of the barbarians."


    "While you have all evolved, I can still summon normal Death Knights and Banshees. They will be the ones protecting your previous floors in your steed. We will make arrangements for you soon," commanded Five. He had already been preparing for the monsters'' return.


    Dreidus nodded to the monsters. They obediently stepped to the side, allowing the other monsters to return to their floor.


    "Master, we also brought a lot of items from the village. The monsters will deposit everything in the storage area of the workshop. We don''t know what will be useful. There are also some relics that we obtained; they are with Alice."


    "Good job, Dreidus. I knew you could do it," praised Five.


    "Truth be told, we would not have succeeded without Ishan''s help. He was the one who took down the chief and the Shaman of the tribe," replied Dreidus as he looked at the Flame Scarab Warrior. The latter displayed a proud expression.


    Five was amused at Ishan''s actions. ''Looks like he adapted quite quickly to the situation.'' It has only been a few days since Ishan was summoned. With the massive amount of DP being produced every day by the Blue Eagle Tribesmen, Five no longer hesitated and summoned the Flame Scarab Warrior. He was already planning on building up the Volcanic Biome and would need someone to look after those monsters.


    When he was first summoned, Ishan immediately rebelled. He was the same monster that belonged to Bugtopia. There, he was the strongest monster of the dungeon but unfortunately, he was at the auction''s venue when Five destroyed the dungeon.


    He was very happy with his life at Bugtopia and after learning that his home was destroyed, Ishan was enraged. He was once again summoned and this time by the very person who destroyed his home. Ishan immediately tried to attack but with Harriet and Dreidus looking after Five, he was bound to fail.


    He was forced to swear allegiance under the coercion of Five''s monsters and under the combined pressure of [Frenzy] and [Hysteria]. Five did not think much of him; he believed Ishan would just become a lazy monster. It was clear that his heart was not really there but to his surprise, Ishan proved himself in this battle.


    ''Looks like he is not the type to be let down by the circumstances. He adapted and is still trying to make a name for himself.''


    "Good. Ishan, I am aware I did not take your opinion into consideration when building your floor. Take a hundred thousand DP and go modify the Volcanic Biome as you see fit. Actually, Dreidus and Angela should also get that same amount of DP. Angela will speak to the beasts and see whether there is a need for some improvement in the forest biome," declared Five.


    He was in a good mood seeing the success of the attack. Furthermore, he had a few million in reserve; there was no need to be conservative. He saved a lot to summon back the two remaining totem spirits in his possession but in the end, he was not ready to summon them yet. Despite the nerf to the DP generation system, he was still making huge profits every day.


    The Blue Eagle Tribesmen no longer spent their entire day sitting in the dungeon; they had other things to do at the village. Nevertheless, there were still three hundred Blue Eagle Tribesmen that came to tend to the fields.


    "Thank you. Not that the environment is bad but there are a few improvements that we can make," commented Ishan.


    Five chose not to comment. Instead, his eyes landed on the Horned Rhinoceros. "Are they the mounts of the Vicious Rhino Tribe?"


    "I think they were trying to tame them for this purpose but the problem was their numbers. They only managed to raise twenty of them which is far from enough."


    "It''s good. They have been tamed to some extent but they are still wild. Bring them inside. We''ll convince them to join the dungeon later."


    ...


    [System prompt: Your monsters have attacked and destroyed the entity: Cobra Nest. You are awarded 999 Destruction Points.]


    [System prompt: Congratulations, Player Five. You have completed the quest: "The Third Trial". Rewards will be distributed at the end of the quest''s duration. Note that it is possible to upgrade your final reward by collecting more Destruction Points. Time left: 12 days and 17 hours.]Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    "The last Cobra has been killed. I received the notification that we destroyed the Cobra Nest," declared Five.


    "So that means we passed the trial? Wasn''t that a little too easy?" asked Dreidus. At the same time, he was using [Dead Mind], coordinating the monsters roaming around the Musclewood Forest in search of the Cobras.


    Killing these snakes was a piece of cake. The monsters were already more powerful than the reptiles and there was still no sign of the Cobra King. Furthermore, as the temperature was already quite low, the snakes spent their time hidden, in brumation. They were less active and weaker in this period of the year.


    "It might have been easy for us but that is not necessarily the case for others. First, we don''t know how the Destruction Points are calculated. Some dungeons might have to destroy a lot of entities to pass the trial. But the most important part is that we are attacking instead of defending!"


    "It means we are attracting attention to our dungeons. It can be a good thing if the dungeons get more visitors but at the same time, the attacks might attract powerful existences that dungeons cannot deal with yet."


    Dreidus paused for a moment. "I see. Attacking the people outside is like poking a hornet nest. They ignored us and farmed at our dungeon because we were passive but now that we attacked, they might feel threatened."


    "Yes. In our case, we were quite lucky that the Vicious Rhino Tribe attacked the Musclewood Tribe first. It should not create additional enmity. And as you saw, neutral entities like the Cobra Nest provided a much smaller amount of Destruction Points. However, that does not mean that we can just rest now that we have completed the quest."


    "We should use it as an opportunity to get rid of the other dungeon. Angela spoke to the Shamans. According to them, the most likely target of the dungeon, if he is going for the tribes, will be the Brown Bat Tribe or the Pronghorn Tribe. Although the situation has been diffused, there is still some hostility between them and the Swift Gazelle Tribe due to the incident involving the Bramble Deer Tribe," explained Five.


    "So you want to use these two tribes as baits and possibly ambush the monsters of the dungeon?" asked Dreidus.


    "That would be the ideal case. Who asked him to try to us first? He needs to pay for his actions. It might even be possible for us to attack the dungeon after eliminating its monsters outside. The problem is the Swift Gazelle Tribe. I don''t know if they came to an agreement but at the very least, the dungeon should be attacking alone. If they don''t do 80% of the work, they won''t receive any Destruction Points."


    Dreidus nodded. "No wonder Harriet was sending so many harpies and Blue Eagle on those scouting missions. You were keeping an eye on that dungeon but we need to be careful. They might be doing the same thing. Furthermore, we are too far away from these tribes. It would take almost an entire day to reach there. Only flying monsters can travel there quickly but even then, it would take them a few hours."


    "I know. We''ll need to think about this. I already asked the Shamans to send a messenger to these two tribes, to warn them to be ready for the battle. The next step should be to dispatch some of our monsters to a set up a small camp close to these tribes. This way, they would be able to react quickly and take the other dungeon by surprise."


    "Speaking about our monsters. They improved quite a bit using Necromancy but you''ve also brought back quite a few corpses. I was not planning on that but do you think we should summon Bonesmen? They are good at Engineering and should be able to help you convert the corpses," asked Five. Although he was reluctant to summon even more Undead Monsters, he knew Bonesmen would be a great addition to the dungeon.


    They were previously not required as Five believed that Dreidus could simply slowly convert all the corpses into Living Corpses. But now that the system was asking him to go on the offensive, he would without a doubt end up collecting more bodies. It would be a waste to not enlist them into his army.


    "Bonesmen for Necromancy? It might be a good idea. The Tinyland Village you built for the craftsmen should be able to accommodate them. With more Necromancers, this place is going to look more and more like Necro Valley," answered Dreidus.


    "Is that a bad thing? We can never have enough monsters."


    "Copying and absorbing the positive points of the different forces might be a good thing. Necro Valley is a powerful entity but unless you copy its entire system, you are bound to fail. Unfortunately, it will be impossible to implement their system here and you also shouldn''t."


    "For example? What should we not take from Necro Valley?" asked Five with a curious expression.


    "Necro Valley is the only place in the world where you can find human farms. Countless areas are used for farming humans. The female there are almost permanently pregnant as soon as they come to age. As for the male, they work as slaves during the day and spend the night impregnating women. It would be more accurate to describe humans living there as animals. They are literally raised as cattle and most of them do not even know how to speak."


    "Thousands of humans are killed every day and are turned into Living Corpses. Then, the Necromancers perform additional rituals to refine them. As the Living Corpses were malnourished people when they were alive, they are pretty weak. The Living Corpses are used as building blocks to create the higher existences of Necro Valley."


    "Twelve Living Corpses can be combined together to form a Corpse Slave. Then, twelve Corpse Slaves are again combined together to form a Corpse Servant. This cycle repeats itself and the corpse continue to become stronger and stronger. The corpse stages are as follows: Slave, Peasant, Servant, Squire, Knight, Noble, Lord, Commander, and King. With each stage, the strength of the corpses goes up by ten levels. Considering the level of the Living Corpses from the barbarians, once refined, they should all become Corpse Servants."


    "This is why Necro Valley is so powerful. Using the human farms, it produces many Living Corpses every day. They are all refined and integrated into the existing corpses. Naturally, each fusion has a chance of failure but still, after so many years, Necro Valley has a few powerful beings guarding it. The higher-ups also refined their own body. When they fuse the corpses, the twelve consciousness battle it out and only one survives and take control over the new body. With the system Necro Valley has in place, the consciousness of the corpses is almost inexistent aside from those of the higher-ups."


    Five and Harriet attentively listened to Dreidus'' explanation. They were getting an insider look at the working of Necro Valley. They previously thought the holy land of the Necromancers was a place full of Undead roaming around. But now, they were learning that the valley was actually full of life. All the Undead were concentrated in those few powerful beings.


    "I see and I suppose there is something similar for liches since you said they were trying to absorb you into their system," tentatively said Five.


    "Yes. Necro Valley tries to keep the majority of the humans they breed stupid. They usually just leave them to their natural instinct but every year, they take a few humans and actively teaches them magic. This is because, in order to become liches, they need to have a certain understanding of magic."


    "The one qualified obtains better treatment while the untalented one gets discarded and turned into normal corpses. I was one of the few who learned Necromancy but, in the end, even I could not escape my fate. They wanted to turn me into a lich, but I escaped in time. The lich stages are slightly different. They are Initiate, Apprentice, Journeyman, Evoker, Conjurer, Wizard, Warlock, Mage and Arch-Mage," explained Dreidus.


    "Then, were you planning on doing something similar in the dungeon?" asked Five.


    "I will not hide it. I indeed did have this intention which is why I did not use Necromancy on myself to turn me into an Elder Lich. If I do so, I would lock myself out of this system for good. In the future, we would have a lot of Living Corpses. It might be better to combine their strength into a few monsters but my knowledge of Necromancy is limited. I can only upgrade them up to Corpse Noble which would be within the range of level 60 and level 70."


    "Wow. That''s a lot. And you say we need twelve corpses at the same stage to move to the next one? And there is still a chance of failure? I wonder how many people Necro Valley killed to form their army." Five pondered at Dreidus'' revelation. He was indeed attracted by the ingenious system. The system Necro Valley had in place was very efficient. It could create powerful beings but it could not be implemented in his dungeon. He would never be able to find so many corpses.


    Seeing Five''s expression, Dreidus spoke, "I know what you are thinking, Master. But it took centuries for Necro Valley to come up with this system and build their human farm. At first, they relied on the corpses they found on ancient battlefields. Furthermore, it is the secret of Necro Valley, if they find out that you know about their internal system, they would immediately dispatch an army here. And I don''t think the other forces would stay idle either. You don''t have a powerful defense like Necro Valley has."


    "What are the forces of Necro Valley then?" asked Harriet.


    "When I left a few decades ago, there were eight Corpse Kings and three Lich Arch-Mage. All of them were powerful Necromancers with their own summons."


    Five''s eyes widened. The Corpse Kings and Lich Arch-Mage were all existences above level 90! However, Harriet reacted differently.


    "That''s it? If so, Necro Valley would have long been destroyed. With their inhuman method and how they are hated by all the empires, I doubt the empires did not try their best to destroy such an evil organization. And as far as I am aware, the minimum qualification to call themselves an empire is to have at least one transcendent being; someone above level 100."


    Dreidus nodded at the harpy''s comment. "You are right but those were only the forces they openly showed. However, during my stay there, I heard a rumor about an experiment that was performed decades ago. They once tried to fuse twelve Lich Arch-Mages together. The outcome of this experiment remained a secret but since that day, a name circulated around the valley: Lich Longsoul."


    "It is said that the experiment had failed and the empires immediately took the opportunity to attack but against all the odds, the army of the empires was repelled and since then, Necro Valley was allowed to develop in peace. It is not hard to imagine what happened with the rumors. I even heard the saying that when the empires'' army returned they tried to build up a training area to prepare the next generation to fight against Necro Valley."


    "And this was just the forces of Necro Valley during my stay there. With the number of corpses they can make every day, there is no doubt in my mind that it should have many more powerful beings."


    Five and Harriet fell silent. "An existence above level 100. Let me guess: Corpse Emperor? Lich Grand Arch-Mage?"


    "No. At Necro Valley, they were called gods: Corpse God and Lich God."

 Chapter 173: The enemy of my enemy is my friend

    "Click Click."


    The sound of the door lock being opened attracted Stargaze''s attention. He was lying on his bed, staring at the dull dark ceiling of his room.


    The door was pushed open as two boorish men stepped into the room. They snorted and spat on the ground. "Come. We need you to summon a few more monsters."


    Stargaze''s lifeless gaze shifted to the two barbarians. He internally sighed. How could the situation have changed so much? Things were going so well but overnight, he lost everything.


    About two weeks ago, his plans of taking over several tribes failed. The other dungeon he used as a bait foiled his plan and the backlash could not have been worse. The dungeon master sent his strongest monster to seek revenge, causing a lot of damage. Almost all Stargaze''s monsters perished and if it was not for the rare artifact he acquired at the auction, he would have died too.


    Although his dungeon was in ruin, he was still alive. Given enough time, he could rebuild it properly. Unfortunately, the situation did not turn in his favor. The barbarians of the Bramble Deer Tribe stopped coming to his dungeon and instead requested for his help in defending their village against the combined attacks of the surrounding tribes.


    Without the barbarians visiting his dungeon, Stargaze did not generate any DP. Instead, he was losing DP from his monsters consuming their daily need. As much as Stargaze wanted to help the Bramble Deer Tribe, he did not have the resources to do so; he himself was in a desperate need for DP. His mentor promised to send some help from the Central Plains but the reinforcements had yet to arrive.


    Before long, the Bramble Deer Tribe crumbled under pressure. They sold themselves to the Swift Gazelle Tribe, gaining a new umbrella to hide under. The Swift Gazelle Tribe migrated, taking over the area and repelling the hostile tribe. It should have been good news to Stargaze but he did not expect things to get even worse from there.


    The Swift Gazelle Tribe was not called the strongest tribe of the region for nothing. It went all out, sending one thousand barbarians into the dungeon. They brought along their totem spirit, the Winged Gazelle and conquered the dungeon in one go.


    Stargaze did not hesitate and spent all the DP he had on his monsters and defense mechanisms but although many barbarians perished, in the end, his dungeon was conquered. However, the barbarians did not kill him. Instead, they imprisoned him.


    They took over the dungeon but did not destroy the dungeon core. Instead, they forced Stargaze to do their bidding. As the barbarians were still hostile to him, they generated a lot of DP and with almost three thousand barbarians staying in the dungeon during an entire day with their mounts, Stargaze''s DP count skyrocketed.


    He gained more than ten million DP in just a few days but he could not use any of them. The barbarians of the Swift Gazelle Tribe observed all his movements carefully; they did not give him the chance to escape or to trick them. If he ever tried something, he would be instantly killed and revived after a day.


    The situation looked grim. Stargaze was forced to purchase items for the Swift Gazelle Tribe. He purchased several Grade 5 equipment under the barbarians'' supervision. All the precious items ended up in the barbarians'' pocket. Furthermore, he even had to summon monsters for the Swift Gazelle Tribe to play with.


    He summoned a Flame Belle, the Boss Monster of the Flame Sisters. The Flame Belle was a beautiful female monster. She excelled at fire magic and her bloodline was quite pure; her level cap was level 55 but she was summoned at level 20. Unfortunately, despite all her magical talents, she would be unable to use them.


    She was captured and used as a comfort woman by the rough barbarian. The Flame Belle was unable to fight back; she was too weak and even if she had the strength, with Stargaze and the Dungeon Core being held as hostages, she could only suffer in silence. Several Flame Sisters were also summoned and all suffered the same fate.


    Stargaze was forced to observe the rape scene while being restrained. He felt his heart being torn apart as he watched the treatment received by the Flame Sisters. He was their master but was unable to protect them.


    He blamed himself for everything that happened but at the same time, he held hope that help was on its way but soon his last hope shattered. While he could not use the Dungeon Core without being carefully watched by the barbarians, he could still communicate with his friends using the player system.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    While alone in his room, he contacted the members of the Storm Alliance and they relayed his message to the old dungeon masters. Unfortunately, no one was able to help him. The old Dungeon Masters were not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the players and among the players, the closest member of the Storm Alliance was two full days of horse ride away. Furthermore, that player did not have the resources to displace a powerful tribe like the Swift Gazelle Tribe.


    Stargaze was on his own. He could only hope that the delegation sent by his mentor would arrive soon. However, almost two weeks have passed now and there was still no signs of help.


    Stargaze got up and followed the two barbarians to his previous throne room. Several other barbarians could be seen in the corridors. They were all watching closely to avoid any mishaps from happening. His dungeon expanded considerably since he was imprisoned. The barbarians added many comfortable rooms for them to sleep in and as they were passing near these new rooms, Stargaze inadvertently heard the moans and grunts of the Flame Sisters.


    He clenched his fists as he stepped into the throne room. On the side, he saw a group of twenty young barbarians standing straight in line. He internally cursed.


    Stargaze already knew what was going to happen. After all, it had been his routine since the day he was captured.


    A tall muscular man riddled with scars was standing next to the dungeon core. His name was Chad; he was the second in command of the Swift Gazelle Tribe.


    Chad smiled upon seeing Stargaze. "My friend. You are finally here. The day is really beautiful outside. I hope you are enjoying your time in your room as much as we are."


    The barbarians broke out in laughter; they naturally knew what he meant by spending time in the rooms.


    "The temperature is slowly dropping outside. I hope you do not mind summoning a few more Flame Sisters to keep us warm in here. These twenty men are coming to age; it is time for them to become real men," said Chad with a wide smile.


    Stargaze bit his lips. Nevertheless, he stepped forward and under the barbarians'' close supervision, he summoned twenty Flame Sisters.


    Summoning circles appeared as the beautiful fairy-like women appeared but before they could identify their environment, the Flame Sisters were violently pinned on the ground next to the twenty young barbarians.


    "Listen up girls. You better obey us or something might happen to your dungeon master and his dungeon core," declared Chad. He paused for a moment, allowing the Flame Sisters to understand the situation they were in.


    Stargaze lowered his head, avoiding the gazes of his monsters. His ground his teeth as he spoke, "Do as he says."


    The Flame Sisters were taken aback but they were unable to disobey Stargaze. They felt let down but not longer struggled.


    Seeing that the monsters stopped resisting despite their incensed gaze, Chad waved his hands. "Alright, the men next to you shall be your master until the end of the day. Obey every single one of their word."


    A young barbarian asked hesitantly. "Can we really do what we want with them?" He looked at the beautiful Flame Sister next to him. She was totally his type; compared to the cute and frail girls of the tribe, the Flame Sister looked cheerful and rebellious. She would prove to be a challenge to fully conquer.


    "Anything but don''t kill them. Now hurry up, Desir will guide you. We have specially built rooms for this occasion but naturally, keep this a secret. We don''t want the women of the tribe making a scene." There was nothing wrong in a barbarian having several partners; it would often happen when a tribe would conquer another. The winner would seize the women of the loser, resulting in the chief usually having many women. However, that did not mean that the female barbarians liked to share their husband.


    The barbarians laughed as they left with their female partner for the night.


    "Haha. Now that we have this out of the way, let''s get down to business. As long as you do what we want you to, you will be able to live well and comfortably for a long time," said Chad as he turned his attention to Stargaze.


    "This time, we want you to summon a few Gazelles. We don''t have enough mounts; three hundred should be enough."


    Stargaze reluctantly complied and after a few seconds, hundreds of Gazelles appeared in the throne room before being escorted to the lower floors.


    "Haha! This life is really the best! We don''t even need to work now," exclaimed a barbarian.


    "What are you talking about? We are working hard by being in the dungeon; if we weren''t, we would not be able to get all these things," said another barbarian with a wide grin.


    The barbarians laughed among themselves. Only Stargaze was fuming. They were looking down on him and using him as a slave. The relationship between a dungeon and the tribe was supposed to be symbiotic. Yet, their relationship now was that of a master and a slave; he could not disobey their words or it would mean the end of his adventure in the game.


    "I am horny now. How about summoning new monsters for us to play with? I am already bored of the Flame Sisters."


    Chadd smiled. "Soon. I have not been using all the DP we generated over the past few days. Soon, we''ll be able to summon succubi. According to their description, they are the perfect partner to have. Be a little patient and we will all be rewarded."


    "Alright, but can you summon a few more Flame Sisters for us right now? How I wish I could get the Flame Belle but she is the personal toy of the chief," said a barbarian.


    "Don''t ask me about her. Even I cannot touch her. You''ve heard them right? Summon more Flame Sisters!"


    ...


    A few minutes later, Stargaze was once again locked in his room. There was a small tray of food placed on the table for his daily meal.


    ''D*mmit! How can I be that useless? Is there really nothing I can do? Almost two weeks have passed and still no sign of the tribes from the Central plains.''


    Stargaze clenched his fists. There was nothing he could do. His monsters were going to suffer even more if he did not make a move soon. He was surrounded with enemies and each one was more oppressive than the other.


    ''There is nothing I can do; I cannot fight on my own and with the Dungeon Core being monitored, I can forget about tricking them. The Storm Alliance is unable to help me. D*mn.''


    ''I stayed silent about the third trial taking place. If I don''t destroy anything outside of the dungeon, it would be game over. I would be out of the game but the barbarians will also lose the dungeon. So what should I do? I don''t want to lose this opportunity at regaining my freedom in the real world."


    Stargaze stared at his plate of food in silence. He was racking his brain for a solution and after a few hours, he finally opened his interface.


    ''This might be my one and only chance. If I can lure him here, he might be strong enough to take care of the barbarians. I might have a small window where I''ll be able to regain control of the core.''


    ''As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.''


    Stargaze opened his interface and searched through the options. ''If I remember correctly, that''s his name.''


    [System prompt: A friend request was sent to the player: ''Five'']

 Chapter 174: Licensing

    "Brother Soren. Welcome. Welcome!"


    Achi warmly greeted the delegation of the Wild Bull Tribe. The Wild Bull Tribe sent twenty-five men, led by their chief, Soren.


    The latter firmly grabbed Achi''s hand and shook it. "It has been so long since I last saw you. You''ve grown up, Achi. You look manlier now. I heard you even married someone and got a child?"


    "Haha, yes but that was years ago," answered Achi. He smiled and led the Wild Bull Tribe to the central place of the village.


    A warm meal was already waiting for them. The Musclewood Tribe had long been preparing to receive these guests. After all, the Wild Bull Tribe was a large and powerful tribe. But more importantly, it was located at a strategic location between the Musclewood Tribe and the Tolden Encampment.


    While the Musclewood Tribe had access to the dungeon, its value would significantly decrease if it became unable to trade with the townsmen. The Wild Bull Tribe was the key to the trade route. It remained neutral during the incident involving the Musclewood Tribe and the ten tribes but now that a clear winner had been decided, it approached the Musclewood Tribe.


    The Wild Bull Tribe rarely concerned itself with the barbarian tribes. It preferred to focus its attention on the Tolden Encampment. Despite the existing agreement between the townsmen and the barbarians, the Wild Bull Tribe had been secretly exchanging goods with the Tolden Encampment, resulting in them becoming a powerful force.


    Wanting to create some ties with the Wild Bull Tribe, Achi and the other members of the ruling council agreed to allow them to explore the dungeon.


    They sat around the campfire as the women started serving the thick soup they meticulously prepared for hours.


    "So. Explain to me this licensing thing," said Soren after emptying his bowl.


    "Simple. We are inviting your tribe to send in twenty-five barbarians in the dungeon. We have set up a few rules but these mainly consist of basic things like not attacking the other tribes and not fighting over other people''s loot. In exchange, we would ask for 20% of whatever you collect," explained Achi.


    "We are still experimenting with this system. So there might be some changes. We also invited other tribes. They should arrive tomorrow with twenty members each."


    "20%? And how long will we be allowed to stay in the dungeon?" asked Soren.


    "For you, we will make it 15%. Our tribes have always been friends; there is no harm in giving you some benefits," said Achi as he recalled the Shaman''s words. "As for how long, you can stay for as long as you want. We have also prepared tents for you to rest at the village. You can go to the dungeon any time you want but we would advise you not to go there at night. Once you decide that you''ve collected enough, just speak to me, Wesh, Ganya or Xena. We will check your loot and will discuss which portion we can take. After that, you are free to leave."


    Soren thought cautiously about the offer. "Then, will that be a one-off thing?"The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "No no. As I said, we are just trying this system. We should be calling you again next week and in the future, we will set up a schedule for you to send your men at regular intervals."


    Soren was indeed interested in the offer. The Wild Bull Tribe had been keeping a close eye on the Musclewood Tribe since it was revealed that they owned a dungeon. They would be lying if they said they were not jealous but at the same time, they could not fight the Musclewood Tribe over it. It was clear that the dungeon was helping them.


    The solution proposed by the Musclewood Tribe might indeed be the best possible outcome. They would be able to farm their own resources from the dungeon without creating any conflict. They knew the greatest winner in this situation would be the Musclewood Tribe; all the tribes would have to get on their good side if they wanted a share of the dungeon''s resources. However, the Wild Bull Tribe held an advantage as they could block the townsmen from coming to the Musclewood Village. If they played their cards right, they could benefit as much as the Musclewood Tribe from this situation.


    Soren was cautious and asked: "We are naturally very interested in this offer but before this, I have one question. Will the conditions of your deal with the dungeon also apply to us?"


    Achi was taken by surprise. He kept a straight face and answered: "We really cannot hide anything from the Wild Bull Tribe. We do have an agreement with the dungeon master. We will tell you more about it when we escort you to the dungeon but as long as you follow the guidelines, none of your tribesmen should end up severely injured."


    "Very good then. As long as my tribesmen will be safe, we are willing to fully cooperate," answered Soren.


    They continued to discuss the details over the meal. When they were reaching the end, Soren became solemn. "There is one more thing we need to discuss. It is about the giant meteor that fell near your tribe."


    Achi frowned. The matter of the giant meteor had been kept secret by the tribe. Many forgot about it due to the recent events and the sudden licensing of the dungeon. However, Achi was well aware of the development surrounding the meteor. There has recently been a breakthrough in the research of the strange material.


    Elsa, the head of the blacksmiths of the Musclewood Tribe recently managed to integrate the black shard in one of her weapons. The effects had been a significant decrease in the weight of the ax. As a result, she was able to significantly increase the density of the ax. The weapon became abnormally large as the amount of Black Steel used surged and in the end, the ax came out as a Grade 4 weapon.


    Elsa broke through and became a Grade 4 Blacksmith. If the craftsmen of the empires heard about her advancement, they would not believe their ears. Reaching Grade 4 would usually take a whole year for normal craftsmen and yet, Elsa did it in a few months. It was all thanks to the combinations of her own natural talent, the notes, and blueprints left behind by the Black Iron Tribe''s ancestors and the understanding obtained from the research of the Helyum Shards.


    With the ability to make Grade 4 weapons, Elsa became one of the most prominent figures of the tribe. So much that the council was even thinking about expanding themselves to allow Elsa to represent the blacksmiths. However, the female blacksmith refused. She did not want to waste time in long boring discussions. She preferred to hone her skills and spend her free time with her son. Her living conditions improved significantly; she was already happy with the life she was having.


    Achi carefully answered, "What is it?"


    "The townsmen expressed their desire to obtain some of the shards from the meteor. In fact, they want to buy the whole thing but knowing your tribe, I already refused that. They are ready to pay a high price for the shards. Something tells me that they might even be looking for ways to get steal it from you," said Soren.


    "Is that so? This is not a decision I can take alone. I will have to arrange a meeting to discuss this first."


    "I understand. I hope we can still go to the dungeon."


    "Of course. Why wouldn''t you?"


    ...


    Achi waved at the departing figure of the Wild Bull Tribesmen. They were impatient to start exploring the dungeon and made the request to go there right after their meal. Achi commanded a few barbarians to guide them there.


    "Will everything really work out?" asked Xena next to Achi.


    "Yes. It should be fine. How are the townsmen doing on your side? I heard that although they no longer fight at the camp, there is still some conflict outside. The camp they built next to our village is also very noisy sometimes."


    "It''s fine. From what I am hearing, more townsmen are making their way here with a lot of merchandise. They have been trying to bribe our tribesmen lately when I mentioned the licensing system to them. I will not hide that many tribesmen accepted the gifts."


    "I see. The council has yet to decide which guild they would give permission to explore the dungeon but we should finalize it by next week."


    "They are just trying to hasten things up and to get the other party to be kicked out of the village. It should be interesting to see what they will gift us," said Xena with a smile.


    "It''s fine to accept bribes but we must not get complacent and become lazy. Our tribe is growing quickly but we need to stay on alert to warn the hostile tribes. Let''s convene the council for a meeting. Soren informed me that the townsmen are now eying the Helyum Shards. It is possible that they know the use of the shards. Aside from this, we also need to sort out the situation with the Brown Bat Tribe and the Pronghorn Tribe; what did Five mean by saying that they would be attacked soon. And finally, there is also the issue that the Vicious Rhino Tribe was exterminated overnight."

 Chapter 175: Stopped at the gate

    Venetia was located in the middle of the trade route connecting the capital of the Sylvester Empire and the sea. While it was still developing and not very well known, many opportunists started passing through it. The route was slightly shorter and the taxes were incredibly low compared to the other towns of the county.


    Mars stood at the Eastern Gate of Venetia. The wall surrounding the town was still being built but people were only allowed to enter the town by going through the main gates. There were only two main gates: the Eastern Gate built in the direction of the sea and the Western Gate which was connected to the path to the Capital.


    "Sniff Sniff."


    Mars observed the flow of people. His job was to protect the town and to stop the traffic of contraband going through Venetia. The players and adventurers did not need to be checked; they only needed to show their Identity crystal to be allowed in the town but it was different for the merchant caravans.


    The merchants had to pay an entry fee and if they planned on selling their merchandise at Venetia, they also needed to pay a portion of the merchandise they were carrying. They would be checked again upon leaving the town and would pay a fine if the count did not add up. All the relevant transactions were done at the Trading Hall.


    "Ten tons of salt straight from Oceanview," declared a merchant. The NPC guards briefly checked the content of the man''s caravan and nodded. The merchant smiled and ordered his men to start moving again but before he could go past the gate, Mars stepped in front of them, blocking the way.


    "Ten tons of salt, huh?" Mars snorted.


    "Uh, yes officer," said the merchant. He was clearly intimidated by the Lionman''s stature. Mars glared at the merchant who started sweating.


    The Lionman stepped forward and pulled off the cloth covering the salt. Countless white crystals were revealed. Some were large and coarse while others were finer.


    "As you can see officer, we are indeed carrying salt. Please have a taste."


    Mars glanced at the merchant before examining the pile of salt. Without warning, he started digging into the pile. His actions naturally attracted the attention of the passers-by.


    "Hey! What are you doing? You are spilling our salt all over the place!" exclaimed the merchant. Effectively, the white crystals were spilling everywhere on the floor but Mars did not care.


    As he dug deeper, the crystals became coarser and larger. Then, Mars finally stopped and picked out one crystal. "Is this salt?"


    "Uh. Yes, officer. Doesn''t it look exactly the same as the other crystals?" replied the merchant. He started shaking; the merchant had a bad feeling about this.


    Mars grinned. "Do you really think I am stupid? Men arrest them and seize all their merchandise!"


    "What? Wait! You cannot do that! People! Look! The guards are using their power to abuse small merchants like us!" exclaimed the merchant.


    "Idiot. Who are you trying to fool? This is clearly a [Crystalized Tear]. You did a good job hiding it amidst the salt. It might have gone unnoticed if it was the previous guards but my senses are thousands of time acuter than humans."If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "What are you talking about? You are trying to frame me!"


    "Then, just eat of those larger crystals. It should be safe to do so since it is just salt, am I right?" sarcastically declared Mars.


    [Crystalized Tears] were a highly controlled substance. They were usually obtained from creatures like Sirens and Mermaids. They were one of the main ingredients of many aphrodisiacs. Consuming one [Crystalized Tear] without it being processed or refined could have severe consequences.


    The merchant was unable to answer and under the judgemental stares of the crowd, he was escorted to the prison.


    Mars nodded satisfactorily to the other Lionmen. They successfully seize yet another carriage of contraband. Many people believed that Venetia would be weak and unregulated but they were wrong. Smuggling goods there was even harder than normal. The sole beneficiary of the smugglers'' actions was Venetia. All the confiscated goods now belonged to them.


    ''Well. When will I stop something useful to me? So unlucky. Only Venus is getting a lot from these smugglers. I can already imagine the scene of the succubi snacking on those [Crystalized Tears].''


    While he was still watching over the caravan, another commotion broke out.


    "What do you mean we are not allowed into the town? This is our town!"


    Mars furrowed his brows and looked at the source of the commotion. He saw the Lionmen blocking the way of a large group of players. ''Large'' would be an understatement; there was a long line of players and carts. With a rough glance, Mars estimated that there were more than a thousand players.


    Normally, players were not stopped at the gates like this but this time was different. After all, they were a group of more than a thousand people. How could the guards not be alarmed by seeing so many people arriving at the same time? Furthermore, there was another red flag that triggered the Lionmen''s unusual response. They recognized the logo on the players'' equipment; they were all members of Blue Lagoon.


    The Lionmen pitifully looked at their leader, requesting his help in managing the situation. Mars quickly approached the arguing players.


    ''These bastards are really stubborn. I thought Venus already wiped out their team with her girls.''


    "First of all, this is not your town; you better treat the guards with respect. We have the authority to deny entry to any adventurer. Please allow us to inspect the goods in your possession before we can make a decision," declared Mars.


    "What? And who are you to speak like that, beastman? The first thing to do is to fire these nasty NPCs and replace them with our own men!" answered the player. He was a middle-aged man approaching his sixties; a few more years and he would have been unable to join the game due to age restrictions. His name was Naut. He glared at Mars and quickly typed a message in the group chat.


    A woman stepped out of the group of players and made her way next to Naut. "Yes, elder?" Vanity was very polite to the elder. After learning what happened in the Count''s castle, the elders of Blue Lagoon started focusing their attention on her. They knew the worth of a town and naturally wanted to take it for themselves. As a result, Vanity quickly climbed in rank and was already equal to Albatross; but even then, her status was special. She no longer needed to take orders from the team leaders and answered directly to the elders.


    Vanity glanced at the Lionmen and immediately understood the situation. "My name is Vanity. I am the mother of your mayor. Will you please call her here? She will recognize me."


    Mars looked at Vanity. He could see a few similarities between her face and Iris''. "The mayor is busy doing her work. Besides she has already informed us that there was a high chance that her parents and brother would try to seek her. She stated clearly: They are allowed to enter the town but would not receive any form of special treatment. They are also not allowed near the mayor''s office."


    Vanity laughed drily. "That child is still angry at me after all these months. Just let me speak to her. I will resolve the situation." She could feel the inquisitive stare of the players.


    "Unfortunately, this is not something we can do. You are free to enter the town after we inspect your possession."


    "Alright. We will think of something once we get inside," said Naut.


    Mars nodded and signaled his men to search the carriages. Unfortunately, they found nothing.


    "You are free to enter. Don''t cause any trouble."


    Blue Lagoon entered Venetia under the vigilant guard of the Lionmen. Mars internally sighed. ''I don''t understand why the mistress is allowing them inside. It would have been better to simply get rid of them. Unless she wants to slowly torture them. I suppose they would make excellent toys and sources of experience for the succubi.''


    ''The number of players is not decreasing at all as the mistress anticipated. I should ask her to summon more Lionmen. Even with the hundred additional cubs she summoned, four hundred guards are far from enough.''


    ...


    "Vanity. Explain what is happening. Did you not say the mayor is your daughter and she would welcome you with opened arms?" asked Naut once they were out of sight of the gates.


    Vanita displayed a pitiful expression. "I thought she would have forgiven me after all so long. She ran away from home because I arranged a marriage for her. Now she seems to still be angry with my husband and me."


    "Angry because you arranged her marriage? Tsssk. I don''t care what happened but find a way to mend your relationship with her. If we can take control of Venetia, we would easily dominate this county and start setting down our roots. We would have a huge headstart over the other guilds who would not have a town yet. And with two counties under our control, we should have no problem facing the other large guilds."


    "I will do my best but I cannot even meet her and she would not accept my friend request," answered Vanity.


    "Find a way then. I will go and speak to her personally. We will see how the situation will evolve from now on. Vultex will be green with envy if we manage to take over the town they invested so much in."

 Chapter 176: Trains

    In the meanwhile, Iris was sorting out the documents in her office with the help of her new secretary, Ceres. She was an Elphame, the Boss Monster of the Fairies of Nature. Blessed with good looks and a charming aura, Ceres easily conquered the heart of the inhabitants of the town. She integrated quickly in Venetia''s system and spent the day at Iris'' side.


    Several Fairies of Nature were also summoned but they spent most of their time in the underground dungeon, slowly leveling. They would come in handy when winter would be over. They could fertilize the fields and look after the town''s orchard. While Iris could technically manipulate the weather conditions in her dungeon to allow crops to grow in winter, she did not want to attract unnecessary attention to the town.


    "What is next on the list?" asked Iris.


    Ceres answered with her sweet high-pitched voice. "There is a group of engineers coming from the Magic Council. Lord Brann did not say anything about this. I believe they should be players. According to what they said, they want to discuss something called the trainline."


    "Trainline? Interesting. Lead the way then."


    The two girls went to the meeting room where a small nervous team of players was silently drinking their cup of tea. They immediately stood up and greeted Iris as she entered.


    "Players?" asked Iris as she watched the names displayed in front of her.


    "Yes, Miss Iris. It is an honor to meet you. Thank you for your precious time," said one of the players. His name was Censora.


    Iris briefly glanced at each player before sitting in the main seat. "I heard that you want to discuss a trainline? What is it about?"


    Censora nervously bit his lips and started his explanation. "It is like this. We are a group of Engineers who joined the Magic Council. There, we tried to apply our knowledge of Earth to come up with some useful inventions and the one we settled on was the train. Right now, there are no real means of transportation between the towns and cities."


    "Sure, there are teleportation portals, but they only connect the main cities and the capital. Our plan is to set up a railway network across the empire and potentially across the different empires too. Although the trains are not instantaneous like the teleportation portals, they are much cheaper to run. Using the portal costs ten gold and that is without considering that person''s luggage. Using the trains will be much cheaper. We estimate that one gold per passenger would be more than enough to provide a healthy profit margin."


    Iris calmly listened. "I will not ask about the technology since this belongs to you but why did you come to Venetia for? You want to set up a train station here?"


    "Exactly. To be honest with you Miss Iris, we spoke to several people before coming here including the mayor of larger towns and even nobles. They all hold a somewhat conservative mindset. They do not believe in our technology and want others to properly test our system first. When we heard Venetia actually belonged to a player, we immediately rushed here knowing that you would at least hear us properly." Censora looked at Iris with eyes full of expectations.


    Iris paused for a moment. She knew the use of trains; not only could it transport people, but it could also transport merchandises! It was in line with her plans of making Venetia a trade center! "So it''s like that. What are you expecting from me then? Permission to build a train station? Will the cost be borne by you?"If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "This... We received funding from the Magic Council, but it is not enough to build up the entire railway, let alone the engines. However, we spoke with many guilds and many showed interest in our projects. We are planning to sell the shares for the railway network soon. Everyone is essentially waiting to see if the trains will really be brought into the game. As long as the towns do not agree to have a station, it would be pointless."


    Iris'' eyes lit up. "I see but if I agree, to what town will you connect Venetia to?"


    Censora fell silent. He simply did not have an answer to this question. It was true that the project needed two towns to agree to the construction and they needed to be close to each other. However, Venetia was the only player-owned town and rumors said that they were not on good terms with the neighboring towns which all belonged to Count Desmonds.


    As Iris saw Censora''s unease, she spoke, knowing full well that she was in an advantageous position. "You are lucky to have come here. I am very interested in the trains. How about this, first tell me how much money you will need and what will be the lead time? I hope you can give me as much information as possible; it will help me make a decision."


    "Depending on which town we would connect to, it can take up to a hundred thousand gold depending on the landscape. We have more or less completed the blueprints of the engine and the passenger wagons. Making one would cost about five thousand gold. We also need to factor in the labor cost. We got twenty thousand gold to fund our project from the Magic Council which is enough to build a train but not the rail line."


    "For the stations, we only need a small building to begin with," urgently added another player.


    Iris remained silent. Ceres continuously wrote down their conversation; her hand moved so fast that the players could only see a blur.


    "How much will it cost to run? And how much were you planning to sell the blueprints of the project for?"


    "Our trains are different from those of Earth. They run using magic crystals. We estimated that to connect two cities, the journey would cost fifty gold... Maybe a little more if the train is loaded. As for selling the shares, we haven''t thought about it properly yet," honestly answered Censora.


    Their exchange continued until Iris obtained all the information she wanted. "I will be honest with you, there are many things you did not consider. First of all, will the train journey be safe? What if the trains were attacked? What would happen? You will need to employ people to protect the train. Second, this is a game. Although you have the blueprints, once released, people would easily copy the engines. There is no copyright system in the game and although the system would make it such that your design would be more efficient because it was the original one, you will fall behind once your competitors develop themselves a little more."


    "However, I still have an offer to make. Instead of just designing the engine and being kicked out of the project once the system becomes fully operational, how about you join Venetia and become a team of Engineers working full time on constantly developing the railway network and working on new engine designs?"


    "If we work together, it might be possible to turn the trains into the main means of transportation of the game. However, you will need a lot of funding to get yourself started and although I am interested, I don''t want my money to fund a project that would end up in someone else''s pocket. If you agree, Venetia shall agree to become the first town to accommodate the rail network. You won''t have to worry about finding other towns to connect to; I will deal with this sort of things. Your only job would be to ensure that the engines work properly. And if everything goes well, in just a few months, towns across the empire should start requesting us to connect themselves to the railway and at the center of the transportation system will be Venetia."


    The players were taken aback. Censora hesitantly asked, "You want us to quit the Magic Council? If we do so, we won''t even get the funding of the organization. Your plan is ambitious but without enough gold, it will just be a dream."


    Iris smiled. She opened her interface and after hiding sensitive details, she showed it to the players.


    The players froze. They had never seen such a large number on the amount of a player possessed. Only large guilds could have this amount of gold. Iris unexpected had more than one million gold in her inventory.


    Iris chuckled. She knew showing her inventory would scare the players. Although her town was still developing, it was extremely lucrative. She did not care much about the cost as she could cover for most of her expenses in DP. Her gold accumulated. Furthermore, she obtained quite a fortune from exterminating the bandit groups when she chose to settle down here.


    She had been saving gold with a goal in mind. She wanted to develop and promote crafting at Venetia. She wanted her town to become a trade hub for the Sylvester Empire but it would not work if there were no craftsmen to provide a variety of services.


    However, a better opportunity presented itself in the form of Censora and his friends. If she secured the exclusivity of the trains, Venetia would develop at an astonishing rate. As for looking for a second town to connect to, she could not build a second dungeon, but there were no rules that prevented her from building a second town. She just needed to build a small settlement on the road to Oceanview, one of the main harbors of the Sylvester Empire. Once she connected her settlement to Venetia, it would drastically reduce the travel time of the merchants. Not only would it promote trains, but it would also encourage people to pass through Venetia!

 Chapter 177: Meeting an old friend

    After a few minutes of careful discussion and thinking, a contract was finally signed between Iris and Censora. It might look like a hasty decision but Iris was not giving the Engineers any chance. She wanted the monopoly!


    "Thank you very much, Miss Iris. We shall return to the capital first. We need to report to the Magic Council that we are joining Venetia."


    "No problem. Once you return here, we shall immediately start the project. Set up your own team; I am only in charge of the gold," said Iris. She waved at the departing figures of the Engineers and let out a sigh of relief.


    Ceres promptly poured some tea for her mistress. "Are trains really that valuable? You are using the gold you allocated to the crafting hall."


    "They are. They are an invention from Earth; despite being centuries-old, it was still widely used to the day I was imprisoned. Just trust me. Also... It will be a way to bridge the long distance between me and him."


    "Of course, mistress, but if it is so valuable, how would the Magic Council react once they discover that you stole their invention?" answered the Elphame.


    "Sit. You don''t need to be so stiff with me. Just call me Iris or even Kimmy. We have Lord Brann on our side. Although I don''t want to use his influence, I know he would never allow the Magic Council to bully us. Don''t worry about it. What is next on our agenda?"


    "You have a meeting with an NPC mercenary group called Redaken in five minutes. You want to reinforce the security of the town, especially with the upcoming troubles. About that, Venus just passed me a message via the Fairies of Nature. Your mother and her group, Blue Lagoon have arrived."


    Iris frowned. "They really did not give up even after being exterminated by Venus?" Just a few days ago, when she received the quest of the third trial, Iris dispatched the succubi to intercept the Blue Lagoon group making its way to Venetia. She did not want anything to do with her family.


    More than five hundred succubi were actually residing in the various brothels and inns of Venetia. And very often, every single one of them would have a busy night. They were all extremely powerful as well such that when led by Venus, they easily wiped out Blue Lagoon''s team. Along the way, Vultex''s army was also destroyed.


    Venus wanted to secretly take revenge for Vultex''s actions but in the end, the system reported the incident to Iris as she obtained Destruction Points. Unfortunately, despite destroying two large guilds, Iris only obtained a total of four thousand Destruction Points; it was far from enough to pass the quest.


    It was only when she sent Venus to get rid of a bandit group causing trouble in the surroundings of Venetia that her Destruction Points skyrocketed. The bandit group was smaller and weaker than the player guilds but it yielded more Destruction Points. This led Iris to believe that the system wanted her to attack NPCs but there was no real entity she could attack aside from towns and villages.


    "Uh, it would seem so. According to Mars, they firmly believed that Venetia belonged to them. Your mother had to directly answer to her superior because they were not given free entry. They are currently residing in two different inns: Citadel and the Badger''s Head."


    "I did not expect anything less from my mother. She probably told them that I built the town for her or something along this line. I won''t discriminate against them. They are allowed to roam around Venetia but no special treatment; after all, they also generate DP and will help the town''s economy. However, do not allow my parents near me. I believe they should make requests to meet me soon."


    Iris drank her cup of tea and closed her eyes for a minute. Ceres looked at her mistress'' tired expression. According to Venus, she had been under a lot of stress daily. With the town developing, the mayor needed to take a lot of decision.


    Ceres was only level 20. She was just summoned and although her level cap was high, she would need a lot of time to reach it, especially in this peaceful environment. Only the succubi truly beneficiated from this environment. Nevertheless, Ceres still had a set of useful skill. She activated one of them on Iris.


    [Rejuvenate]


    It was a simple spell usually use on plants to accelerate their growth and help in their recovery when they lost some foliage or branches. When used on humans, it could alleviate their fatigue!


    Iris naturally felt the change. She opened her eyes and looked at Ceres. "Thank you."


    "Take your time and rest well. I will inform you when the next meeting will start."


    "No, I''m fine. Your spell is really effective." Iris smiled brightly and opened her interface. She was delighted to see that her DP was still increasing at a very fast rate. The recent update was supposed to significantly lower her income. Since all the citizens of Venetia were labeled as passive characters, the DP she would receive from them would have effectively been halved.


    However, she found a way around this. She did not want to drastically change her dungeon but a simple change was enough. Iris simply summoned a thousand level 1 mosquitos. The small insects would go around and attack the inhabitants of the town. As they were low leveled and weak, their stings only dealt zero or in worst cases, one damage.


    It did not sound like much but as the inhabitants were effectively taking damage or were annoyed and tried to kill the mosquitos, it was enough for the system to label them as active characters again. Naturally, the mosquitos seemed out of place. As winter had already arrived, it was abnormal for insects to still be active. But Iris did not think much of it; it was just a quick fix, she would soon need to find another solution to avoid her DP generation from taking a serious hit.


    ''Going around the system can be so easy sometimes.''


    "Knock Knock."If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    A knock sounded at the door. Ceres immediately stopped her spell. "Looks like they are a bit early." She stood up and walked up to the door. Without her battle form, Ceres looked exactly like a human; the only odd point about her was her green hair.


    "Hello. We saw that the meeting room was occupied."


    "Yes. I see that you are from Redaken. Please come in, the mayor is already waiting for you."


    Iris stood up when she saw a few men entering the meeting room. A small team of ten mercenaries stepped into the room. They looked quite impressive. Their levels ranged from thirty to fifty. The Redaken Mercenary group was not a large one. However, it was well suited for a task like defending Venetia and was quite cheap.


    Iris did not want Venetia to be protected solely by the monsters. She also wanted to build her own force in the open world which is why she aimed for a relatively small mercenary group. She would first hire them to guard the town and help them grow. They would grow in strength together and would build strong ties.


    She briefly examined the strong NPCs until her eyes landed on the weakest mercenary of the team. To her surprise, it was a player and to top it off, that person looked strangely familiar. The player''s name was Mercy. She was a pretty girl with a valiant aura. Furthermore, she was also looking at Iris with a strange expression.


    Iris'' eyes never left Mercy since she entered the room and while Ceres was giving a brief introduction, Iris interrupted her. "Are you Silvia?"


    Mercy was taken aback. "Are you Kimberley then?"


    The two girls looked at each other. They knew they both recognized each other. Iris let out a faint smile and went to grab her friend''s hand. Mercy''s real name was Silvia. In real life, she was one of Iris'' close friends and one of her few real friends.


    Iris met her fair share of hypocrites and double-faced people in her life and the worst of them all was her own family. However, Silvia was one of the few people who truly valued her as a friend. She did not care about her connections as she herself was quite wealthy. She simply liked to hang out and although she was a little wild, she used to be Iris'' confidante; they told each other everything.


    "I finally found you. I heard about what happened with the Penmark Family. Girl I really did not think you would do it. What exactly happened? You suddenly disappeared and your family even removed your name from the family tree," exclaimed Mercy.


    "Silvia. You are still the same. How did you end up with a mercenary group?"


    The two girls embraced each other but quickly stopped when they noticed the awkward stares of the NPCs.


    "Cough Cough. Let''s talk again later. We have a lot of catching up to do," said Iris before sitting back at her seat.


    "There is no need for negotiations. I want to hire the entire Redaken group to protect Venetia. You will also be in charge of the neighboring areas and will have to answer directly to me. We will go with the price we previously agreed. The only change I want to make with the contract is that Mercy must be the one in charge. If she is bullied in any way, our deal will be voided."


    The mercenaries were taken by surprise. They did not expect the mayor to know one of their new recruits, let alone valuing her so much. The leader spoke, "I don''t have any issues with that. As long as Mercy does not harm us, we will always treat her as a member of our large family."


    "Great! Then, let''s sign our contract."


    ...


    "I still have a lot of work to do Silvia. Being a mayor is not easy."


    "Haha, I know. Will you be free tonight though? We can have a meal together and tell our own stories."


    "Sure. Meet me at the Gourmet Palace. A branch opened recently."


    Iris waved at her friend reluctantly. She wanted to chat with her more but she still had a lot of work to do. She got up and left the mayor''s office. It was time for a quick inspection. Her first destination was the wall of the town.


    It was already 60% complete. With the help of the Iron Golems she summoned with the dungeon core, the wall was being erected at an astonishing rate. She was not planning on sealing herself by building a wall. She wanted Venetia to continue to expand beyond the wall and later, build yet another layer of protection. The current town she then had would become the inner district of the town. It was an ambitious project but if it succeeded, Venetia could become a mega-city.


    She decided to head to the Northern part of the wall. This way, she would be able to look at the future location of the train station. In accordance with her plan, the train station would be built outside the town. In the future, it would be easier to expand it and to build the town around it.


    When she reached the top of the wall, Iris was surprised to see a hunched back figure looking in the distance. "Mentor. What are you doing here?"


    The hunched back figure was leaning on a cane. He looked frailed and was constantly trembling; it looked like a single breeze would blow him away. If one did not know of his identity, they would treat him like a beggar but he was, in fact, one of the most reputable men in the world.


    "Can I not come here to look at the sunset? Oh, is that your new monster? Not bad, she is quite pretty. An Elphame?" Lord Brann briefly glanced at Ceres.


    The latter was instantly intimidated. She could not see through Lord Brann''s level but she knew he could not be underestimated.


    "Yes, her name is Ceres. Ceres, this is my mentor, Lord Brann." Iris introduced them to each other.


    "Well. Nice to meet you, Ceres. I hope you will look after Iris properly when I am not here," said Lord Brann with a calm voice. He smiled faintly, revealing his bright yellow teeth.


    "I will," stiffly answered Ceres. She felt uncomfortable facing the hunched back man.


    Lord Brann then turned his attention toward Iris. "I see that you are focusing on gathering a lot of female monsters. Is it because of your dungeon core?"


    "Yes. I think there is nothing wrong in trying," answered Iris. She was naturally intrigued by Five''s question at the auction. When she came back, she asked Lord Brann about the identity of the demon whose dungeon core she took. She then learned that the monster hiding in her core was the Demon Queen, Heloris. She was a rather special Demon Queen; compared to all the others, she did not think about conquering and dominating other races. Her only goal in life was to create a harem of girls to please herself and as a result, she ended up destroying a few races, capturing their princess and saintesses.


    Using Lord Brann''s description, Iris decided to focus on summoning female monsters for now. According to Gaia, doing what the owner of the cores would want might be the best solution to gain their favor and prevent them from turning against them once they came out of the cores.


    "Then be careful. If she ever shows sign of breaking out of her core, just let me know. For now, I don''t see any problem with your monsters. They are quite loyal and they do not have any intentions," commented Lord Brann.


    Iris smiled. Whenever she thought about her monsters, she felt blessed. She knew they were only digital characters but they were extremely realistic and they treated her as a real friend. There were not hidden intent behind their actions; Iris could be herself, she did not have to think about maintaining appearances.


    No matter what she did, her monsters fully supported her. It was especially true for Venus who became Iris'' monster on the very first day. All dungeon core came up with a buff of some sort but hers didn''t. Instead, she got a monster for free. It might hurt her in the long term but Iris was delighted to have a friend at her side since day one.


    Mars came in later but also proved his loyalty when he fought bravely during the trials. Then, Neptune appeared and although she was more reserved than the others, her actions proved that she was on Iris'' side. The only troublesome monster she had was Karyn, the elf. Karyn was more of a wild card; she wanted to be left alone but in the end, she swore allegiance to her new mistress. Since then, she took over the arena but she had yet to prove her loyalty. Nevertheless, Iris did not discriminate against her; she treated her like any of her other monsters.


    "What are you up to? Do you need this old man to make a move?" jokingly asked Lord Brann.


    "No no. There is no need for you to do anything. Just enjoy yourself here; you are on holiday, not on a business trip," answered Iris. She then proceeded to explain the recent events to her mentor and the upcoming development of the town.


    Lord Brann chuckled. He already knew Iris would refuse and he would as per her wishes, he would not interfere. He was already playing with fire by coming to her dungeon. He treated Iris like his own daughter but he would not go as far as to spoil her. Lord Brann lost his granddaughter at an early age and had a lot of regrets. When he saw Iris, he secretly used a Dream Demon and looked at her memories. He took pity on her for receiving such treatment from her parents and decided to take her as his own daughter. He taught her what she needed to know and helped her make her debut as a dungeon master.


    "Then, if there is nothing else, I will return to the town. There are still a few things I need to have a look at. I will also meet a friend tonight!" said Iris.


    "Sure. Go and have fun," said Lord Brann. He knew that even if she went wild, Venus would be there to help her. The succubus was never really far from her mistress.


    Lord Brann resumed looking at the sunset. He remained still as a statue until he made sure Iris had already left the area. He then took out his left hand from his coat. His hand was covered with blood.


    He was holding the corpse of a bird. ''Oops, I used too much force and crushed the messenger pigeon. Anyway, let''s look at the content of this letter.''


    He unceremoniously tossed the crushed body of the bird and opened the letter attached to its leg. The letter was also covered with blood but the content could still be clearly read.


    Lord Brann furrowed his brows and crushed the piece of paper. "Hurricane Alliance! You dare threaten my student because you know the location of her dungeon? And you even threatened her to not tell me anything?"


    "Looks like I have stayed idle for too long. That old geezer, Fangyan''s dungeon should be nearby. Where was it again? Ormskirk town?"


    "What a coincidence... Iris told me the Count there was also looking for trouble. I will solve both issues in one go."

 Chapter 178: A moment alone

    Five allowed himself to sink in his chair. The meeting room was silent and even the rest of the living quarters felt rather desolate. Most of his monsters had already left the dungeon. They were currently waiting somewhere in the wild between the Brown Bat Tribe and the Pronghorn Tribe.


    They were committed to their plan of taking revenge on the other dungeon. As a result, most of Five''s monsters had left the dungeon and were on stand-by near these two tribes. They needed to be ready to intervene as soon as one of the tribes was attacked. This resulted in the dungeon being quieter than usual.


    It was not a bad thing; it allowed Five to take a step back and think about what he went through. Right now, out of his main monsters, only Dreidus was still in the dungeon. He was currently on the next floor, the workshop which was reorganized to accommodate the new Bonesmen.


    The Bonesmen were the only societal monsters among the Undead. They specialized in Engineering and Necromancy and benefitted from the [Dwarfism] buff. Right now, the crafting team had already achieved a delicate balance between the monsters. The Bonesmen would slowly integrate into the team but for now, they spent most of their time converting the bodies of the barbarians in Living Corpses.


    Five opened up his interface and manipulated the dungeon core to show him what was happening in the dungeon. It had been a while since he actually watched the barbarians exploring the dungeon for resources. It was very repetitive and boring to do so every day; it was usually his monsters who made sure the barbarians did not cross the line.


    Five was at peace. Although most of his powerful monsters were out of the dungeon, he was not worried that he would be suddenly attacked out of nowhere. He had more than six million DP in his inventory. These were meant to heal the totem spirits but if needed, he could spend five million DP just to unlock a level 50 monster. He was already close to being able to unlock monsters at Harriet''s level.


    Unlocking the Harpy Queen cost 15 million DP. It was not that expensive but the most important part was that he needed to fulfill the conditions before being able to unlock her. The most difficult part in unlocking high-level monsters was to have a suitable environment for them in the dungeon.


    On the projected screen, Five could watch the barbarians exploring the eighth floor of the dungeon where the Defacers, Haunting Ghosts, Living Armors and Gargoyles were. Five accepted to open one new floor as the barbarians started to share the dungeon with the other tribes.


    He noticed a significant increase in the DP generation rate during the past few days. With the barbarians of the other tribes exploring the dungeon on top of those of the Musclewood Tribe, the dungeon now produced more DP than ever before. He took a hit after the update classifying the enemies as active or passive but he finally recovered. Furthermore, with the arrival of the players which should start in a few days, Five would receive even more DP.


    He had already pushed the idea several times and the barbarians of the Musclewood Tribe could already see that licensing the dungeon to the other tribes was beneficial to themselves. Five was not a member of the Musclewood Tribe but he did have a certain amount of influence on the decisions they took.


    ''I am going to reap the rewards of sending Lyra out to give a quest soon. Better late than never. I wonder if these guys would be roaming the forest in search of Lyra since she said she would be there every month. There is no harm sending Lyra there just in case. It would be a great way to introduce the mechs to the players. Not that I think it would be really needed seeing from how invested they are in trying to get into the dungeon.''


    Five watched the screen for a moment before switching it off.


    He leaned against the backrest and checked his interface. The user interface was updated with every single update; it made it look fresher and more advanced. Five did not bother to look at his own characteristics. He did not change anything about himself since the last battle where he learned a new skill. Instead, he looked at the other parts of his interface.


    However, it was not long before his mind started to wander. He felt that something was missing. The room was too silent; he was not used to be alone like that. There would usually always be someone around. He thought he would be able to focus and browse through the system with all the monsters gone but unexpectedly, he was missing them.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    There was not much work to do anyway. The dungeon had already developed to the point where they could work without him. The crafting department was making progress at an astonishing rate; he was no longer needed since the dwarves took over the forge. As for learning about the monsters, Five learned very quickly that browsing through the dungeon shop would not give him more knowledge and experience than his monsters. It was way easier to simply ask Harriet about the Wind-type monsters. If he needed some information about Dark-type monsters, he would ask Dreidus. For the Fire-Type, he would ask Ishan.


    Five quickly came to the conclusion that he simply needed to summon a high-level monster of a specific attribute. He already set a goal for himself to summon a water-type monster next. It was the next biome he wanted to develop.


    The only thing Five could not receive help with was the game system. Since the monsters had never heard of the game interface before and could not even access it, only Five could explore its possibilities and find ways to exploit it.


    He absentmindedly browsed through the interface. His profile was pretty dull. He did not have any friend and his inbox was empty. The only thing he had in abundance was friend requests. Since the auction, Five received a lot of friend requests, presumably from the dungeon masters who agreed to join the alliances and were now trying to recruit him.


    Fortunately, it was impossible to send messages to other players unless they were friends or else, Five would have received countless invitations to the alliances. He briefly looked at the list and scrolled down. There, he saw Iris'' name.


    A bittersweet feeling rose in his heart. He wanted to strangle that woman; he wanted her to suffer as much as he did but at the same time, he also did not want to harm her and simply leave her alone. It was a really strange feeling. His actions had been fueled by the thoughts of taking revenge but when he last met her, doubts started rising in his heart.


    She did not seem to be lying when she stated that she was framed. At that time, Five did not give her the time to explain herself as he did not want to be swayed but what if he had been wrong the whole time? What if she really did not harm him and if the evidence brought before him was truly fake?


    After all, not once did she show that she wanted to harm him. Even when he was sentenced and when they first met in the game, she did not show any form of disdain. She looked really concerned and anxious. Unless she was a trained actor, there was no way she could hide her feelings so well. The more Five thought about it, the more doubtful he became. He also could not forget the two years they were together.


    Nevertheless, while he was looking at the friend request list, something triggered him.


    ''Who is that d*mn idiot that keeps sending a friend request?''


    The list in front of him was been updated in real-time and to Five''s annoyance, the list kept moving up and down because someone kept sending a friend request, canceling it and sending another one right after. It was triggering to watch the list oscillate up and down.


    ''Does that person have nothing better to do? Is he a dungeon master? I am not sure if I can add a normal player as a friend...''


    The player''s name was Stargaze. Five stared at the flickering name and fell into deep thoughts. He knew he should not get complacent because of his recent success. He knew his dungeon was already above average but compared to the old dungeons, he was lacking behind. Furthermore, looking at the trend, he knew it would only get worse. All the updates have had something in common; nerfs to the DP generated and additional costs.


    It was clear that the game allowed players to develop quickly to catch up to the NPCs but their advantage was slowly being stripped away. The old dungeon masters took decades to reach the point they were at; it would be disheartening for them to find that the new generation of dungeon masters could achieve a similar feat in a much smaller time frame.


    There was another alarming point. After thinking about it properly, Five concluded that the monsters he saw at Kroff''s dungeon were definitely not his strongest monsters. Just looking at Harriet, even Five could almost already unlock a monster at her level. Considering that the old dungeon masters could fork out billions of DP at the auction, Five had no doubt in his mind that they had much higher level monsters hidden somewhere in their dungeon.


    The one monster that came to his mind was the Blue Scale Dragon he saw at the auction. That monster was powerful but had a very high maintenance cost. As a result, he would often be put in hibernation. It was possible that Kroff''s powerful monsters were all in hibernation at that time, resulting in him successfully escaping.


    ''It is obvious that the old dungeon masters do not have the rights to intervene directly on the players but I don''t know how long that beginner''s protection will last. I know I am already extremely lucky to have gotten that far alone but I should be reaching my limit soon.''


    ''Before, I would be reluctant to bind myself to an organization but now, the situation has changed,'' thought Five as his eyes landed on the [Void Contract] in his inventory. He had lived in the business world for long enough to know the rule of the jungle.


    Small businesses would be ignored by large corporations but that was until they would have developed themselves to a certain extent. Then, whether they liked it or not, they needed to get absorbed to survive or else, under the pressure of the huge corporations, the small businesses could only go bankrupt. There were many ways for large corporations to destroy small business which included illegal practices like the use of connections to change regulations or legal ones like predatory pricing.


    Five was in a similar position as the small businesses. He had been successful and had developed but soon, he would face the pressure of the big fishes. Considering that he had been facing three other dungeons near him, Five knew his dungeon location had already been exposed to at least one alliance. He knew he needed to find an umbrella under which he could hide soon.


    In normal circumstances, that would be putting a shackle on himself. He would greatly benefit from joining an alliance in the short term but in the long run, he would end up working as their slave. However, he now had the key to those shackles in his possession. What if he joined an alliance, took every benefit he could from it and bailed out at the critical moment?


    It was dangerous but it would buy him enough time to become strong enough to act independently.


    "Alright, Stargaze. Since you have so much free time and is so insistent, let''s see what you have to say exactly."


    [System prompt: You have accepted "Stargaze" as a friend. Send him a message now.]

 Chapter 179: Long distance conversation

    Still trapped in his room, Stargaze froze. He suddenly received a system prompt:


    [System prompt: The player ''Five'' has accepted your friend request. You are now friends. Send him a message.]


    He never expected him to suddenly accept the friend request out of nowhere so much that he did not know how to react now. ''What should I say now? He definitely knows I am here because I was pressing the button constantly...''


    In his boredom, Stargaze had been constantly pressing the ''Add as friend'' button. A few days have passed since he first sent a friend request but the player Five completely ignored him. In an attempt to attract his attention, he had no shame in being the most obnoxious person, hoping that he was not blocked.


    Now that his request was accepted, Stargaze became nervous. He did not know how to approach the problem. Should he threaten Five and taunt him into attacking? Should he be honest and ask for help? Or should he lie and trick Five into attacking?


    He only had one shot at this. If he made the wrong choice, he might just end up being eliminated from the game in one week for failing the trial. He wrote:


    "I am the dungeon master of ''Fire Pit'' and I have a request to make." He was clear and concise. Stargaze pressed the ''send'' button and anxiously waited. The answer came relatively quickly.


    "What is it?"


    "I know we had our differences but this is behind us. I need some help in dealing with a crisis at my dungeon."


    "Just who are you?" Five''s response took Stargaze aback. ''F*ck. Is he pretending to not know me or does he just want me to personally apologize? D*mn, it will teach me to take the honest route...''


    "I am the dungeon master of the dungeon next to the Swift Gazelle Tribe. I cause you some trouble earlier by sending the barbarians to fight against the Musclewood Tribe. I apologize for the damage caused and hope that we can mend our relationship."


    "It''s you. What do you need help for?"


    Stargaze''s eyes lit up as he saw Five''s response. However, he remained cautious and phrased his response to not appear desperate.


    "I would like help in dealing with the Swift Gazelle Tribe. They generate a lot of DP but they are a little too strong for my dungeon at the moment. I am proposing an alliance for us to deal with this threat together."


    "Are you trying to say that your dungeon is about to be conquered by the Swift Gazelle Tribe? Why should I help you? I have better things to do with the third trial."


    Stargaze wanted to cry. He did not want to beg for help but it seemed like that guy was not taking in the hidden intent.


    "Please reconsider my offer. I really need some help. Truth be told, my dungeon has already fallen. The barbarians are currently already in charge of everything and they are using my dungeon core to improve their forces. Once they become confident enough, I believe they would make a move against you to conquer your dungeon too."This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Stargaze stared at the text and waited. A few moments went by but the opposite party showed no signs of response. ''Did I not say it right?''


    Then, the answer came. "So you want me to help you? Not happening. As I said, I am busy working on passing the third trial. Goodbye."


    Stargaze panicked. "Wait! You will earn a lot from getting rid of the Swift Gazelle Tribe. Isn''t it an external entity? If you destroy it, you will receive a lot of Destruction Points."


    He stared at the screen anxiously. ''Don''t tell me he already left...''


    Fortunately, Five didn''t. "Aren''t you a member of an alliance? Why don''t you ask for help from your members? You have a mentor too, right?"


    Stargaze heaved a sigh of relief and quickly typed his reply. "I am a member of the Storm Alliance but the closest member will take a few days to reach my dungeon. Furthermore, he is not strong enough to deal with the Swift Gazelle Tribe. You already dealt with the two dungeons who were my allies in this region. I have a mentor; he is the dungeon master of a dungeon at the Central Plains but as you already know, he is unable to intervene directly in our affairs."


    He sent the message, hoping to not scare away his only possible savior.


    "If your friend cannot help you, what makes you think that I would be able to?"


    Stargaze internally cursed and racked his brain for an answer. "Based on what my monsters said about your dungeon and how you dealt with the situation at the Musclewood Village, I believe that your dungeon is definitely among the best. It should not be too hard for you to get rid of a barbarian tribe."


    "The Swift Gazelle Tribe is not just any tribe; it is the strongest one of the region. Why should I risk my monsters on them when I can very well pass the trial easily by going for smaller tribes?"


    Stargaze nervously typed: "The Swift Gazelle Tribe is already building its force. Soon, it would be unstoppable. It is in your best interest to attack it while I am still here. I will be able to help you as soon as I become able to summon monsters again. Together, we will definitely be strong enough to deal with the barbarians."


    "It seems like I will be the one taking all the risk and doing all the work. And because we''ll be working together, I won''t even get any Destruction Points. What is the point in me helping you?"


    ''This is the key part...'' thought Stargaze. He quickly typed: "I understand. What do you want from me then? I am ready to pay the price."


    "Mmm. Can you tell me more about your alliance then? I have recently been thinking of joining one."


    Stargaze''s eyes brightened. "Indeed. If you help me, I can recommend you to the alliance leader. My mentor is one of the elders of the Storm Alliance. If he learns that you helped me, you will get a lot of benefit from the alliance!"


    Unfortunately, Five did not seem to be excited by his proposition. He instead sent the sentence with seemingly a tinge of annoyance. "Tell me more about your alliance..."


    Stargaze did not think much and hurriedly poured out the details he knew to boast the alliance.


    "The Storm Alliance is the largest Alliance. I don''t know how many old dungeon masters it has but we have more than one thousand players scattered all over the empires. The Storm Alliance is not very prominent here in the Sylvester Empire where it is suppressed by the Hurricane Alliance but in the Domogo Empire and the Arstan Empire, it is unrivaled."


    "Many new dungeon masters chose to found their dungeons in regions where their alliance is not at the forefront. It is a way for the alliances to attempt to pierce into a different empire. There are about fifty members of the Storm Alliance here in the barbarian territory. They are scattered around the different regions."


    Five did not immediately reply. He took his time to digest the information. "What kind of benefit will I get for joining the alliance?"


    "It will have to be discussed but you should expect a few new monsters, some blueprints, and artifacts like the one available at the dungeon. More importantly, they will protect you if you are in danger in the future." Stargaze blushed in embarrassment as he wrote the last part of his message; clearly, his alliance did not do a great job at protecting him.


    Five: "These rewards are not guaranteed as you said, they will need to be discussed. I want immediate rewards. What can you give me if I help you."


    Stargaze frowned but remained polite. The conversation continued as Stargaze became more and more nervous. Unbeknown to him, he was already revealing some important information, like the level of the monsters of the other players and the location of their dungeon. He did not care about it; for now, his priority was to get Five to come and save him.


    Eventually, Five asked: "I will think about it but what was your plan? Since you are asking for help, you should have thought of something."


    Stargaze answered: "There is a secret tunnel connecting to my dungeon. If you use the secret tunnel, your monsters will be able to take the barbarians by surprise. With how relaxed they are in the dungeon, it should be easy for you to kill at least five hundred of them before they even realize it."


    "A secret tunnel? Give me the exact location. I will think about it and ask my monsters first. We will observe the situation first and if it is really as you say, I do not see why we would not help you."


    Stargaze let out a smile. "Of course... There is a small lake in the woods next to the barbarian village. Dive into the lake; there, you will find a tunnel that connects directly to my dungeon."

 Chapter 180: New quest

    "Thank you very much, Brother Ganya. I know we are asking for much but will it be possible to also complete the second part of our request?" asked Underwater. He was one of the elders of Blue Lagoon; just his presence alone was enough to show how much importance the guild was putting on the dungeon.


    With Underwater''s arrival, Iron Shark lost the position of leader; now, all the decisions were made by the elder. It was not very pleasant to be ordered around, especially since Underwater brought with him his son, Espadon.


    Ganya shook his head. He kept his distance from this unfamiliar face. He would have preferred to discuss with Iron Shark with who he had already interacted a few times but Underwater insisted to be the one making all the discussions. He wanted the barbarian tribe to recognize him as the middle man to receive all the credits of the operation.


    "No. We are already doing you a huge favor by allowing you to go in before Vultex. If it was not for all the gifts you brought, we would not even have considered it. You should be aware that Vultex did not hesitate to present us with tons of material. We value our old friendship with your guild which is why we still allowed you to go first."


    Ganya continued, "You should be aware that you will be the first townsmen to ever enter the dungeon. There are many opportunities there. Even just one day should be enough to receive enough benefits. It is us that is doing your guild a favor."


    Underwater was tactful; he faintly smiled and bowed. "Of course, I was being a little too greedy. Please have this small hatchet as a token of our appreciation. We will be going then." Hidden from others'' sight, he shoved a weapon in Ganya''s hand and moved away.


    The barbarian chief looked at the bronze hatchet in his hand in surprise. It was unexpectedly a Grade 4 weapon. He would have been extremely excited in the past but now, with Elsa making Grade 4 items regularly, it was just ordinary.


    ...


    "Let''s go, now!"


    Under the wrathful stares of the players of Vultex, the Blue Lagoon members left the village in the direction of the dungeon.


    "You won''t get away with it, Underwater!" shouted one of the elders of Vultex, Viridian. Vultex was also invested in getting their hand on the dungeon. With more conflict arising because of the Venetia situation, these two guilds could already be considered to be at war.


    "You want to attack us, old hag? What are you waiting for? Just land a hit and the barbarians will immediately expel you from their village!" taunted Underwater. He laughed and commanded the players to start moving. His time was limited, he did not want to waste any more here arguing with his competitor.


    On the other side of the Blue Lagoon members, Iron Shark grumbled. He had recently also been promoted to the rank of elder but in this operation, his words held little to no value. Underwater seized the opportunity to come here and take the credit for himself. While they were both officially at the same rank, in terms of seniority, influence, and connections, Underwater greatly outclassed Iron Shark.


    It was unfair but it was also the natural progress of ranking up in the guilds. While Underwater would take all the credits, Iron Shark would also be rewarded behind the scene; the other elders were not completely blind.


    "We shall divide ourselves into two groups! One to go and explore the dungeon as deeply as possible and the other will come with me to investigate the secret room on the fifth floor," commanded Underwater.


    He then looked at his son, Espadon at his side, "You said that there is an NPC somewhere in the forest that will appear around next week?"


    "Yes. She is the one who gave me the quest. I don''t know if the secret room will still be reachable without the quest active."


    "There is nothing wrong in trying. We can only bring one hundred players with us for now but we are stronger than Iron Shark''s team. Don''t worry, the elite team will protect you well."


    At the dungeon entrance, Underwater nodded to Wesh who was standing guard with a group of barbarians. They acknowledged each other and after chatting briefly, the dungeon exploration started.


    ...


    With a hundred elite players, reaching the fifth floor was extremely easy. It was different from the last time they tried; there were barbarians everywhere, killing the hostile monsters with a single hit. The players did not even have to fight most of the time.


    They divided themselves into smaller groups as they realized that the dungeon had developed since the last time they came. Their mission was to thoroughly explore the dungeon, to find what resources could be obtained from here.


    Soon, the main group split into two. Underwater stopped on the plains and proceeded to open the secret room while Iron Shark and his men continued exploring on the sixth floor.


    The players pushed the monolith, revealing the entrance of the secret room. This did not go unnoticed by the barbarians; many of them were roaming around the plains, killing the Death Knights and the Abominations. As for the Mylingars, the barbarians tended to avoid them; they did not like to fight against spirit-type monsters unless they had to.


    The barbarians jealously looked at the players; they were naturally aware of the existence of secret rooms but had yet to discover one. They were greedy but they knew they would not be able to interfere. There was a rule set by the Musclewood Tribe to not fight over the loot or treasure found by another group. If they did, they would be forever banned from the dungeon.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The players did not think much of the barbarians; to them, the barbarians were only meat shields diverting the attention of the monsters.


    "Go in!"


    Once inside, the players once again faced the liches but this time the outcome was different. There were only liches; there were no signs of the monster who attacked from the shadows. The elite players were on a completely different level from Iron Shark''s regular team. They averaged level 31 while the best players were already at level 32. It was not hard for the group to kill a few level 30 liches.


    Underwater stood safely at the back of the players. He himself was only level 28 but it did not matter. All this time, he had been eying the metallic chest at the back of the secret room. The room was different from Espadon''s description; there were no decorations or gold scattered around the room. There was literally nothing aside from the chest and the liches.


    Soon, all the liches died and Underwater calmly made his way to the treasure chest. ''This is going to be good. It is the only item in this room!''


    However, before he could touch the chest, a shadow appeared and grabbed the chest. Without a word, the shadow broke into a run as yet another tunnel appeared, leading to an unknown area.


    The players froze. What had just happened?


    Underwater''s mind went blank but a few moments later, he recollected his thoughts. "Chase after him!"


    The players immediately gave chase to the shadow. They were all enraged; how could a petty thief suddenly appear and take away the fruit of their hard work? The new tunnel was dim but they could see the outline of the shadow.


    He was a level 30 dwarf. Judging from his outfit and abilities, the dwarf held a roguish class.


    It was clear that the dwarf was familiar with the tunnel. He knew where the twists and turns were contrary to the players who often crashed into the walls.


    After a few minutes of wild chase, they finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel. The players rushed after the dwarf as they stepped into a completely new environment. The floor consisted of caves and tunnels. The monsters they saw were Zombeasts and Bonemares.


    The players became cautious but never stopped their chase. They were four levels above the monsters and while they could not instantly kill them, they could easily divert their attention. The elite players did not rely only on their levels; they were also skilled in combat.


    "Stop here thief! How dare you steal our treasure!" shouted Espadon. The young man''s blood was boiling as he ran across the dungeon. He was already breathing heavily and started slowing down but fortunately, the players were not the only one feeling tired; the dwarf had limited stamina too!


    "Who is a thief? You are trying to steal our prototype!" To the players'' surprise, the dwarf actually answered back.


    The chase continued as the two parties swore at each other. However, the players were slowly catching up; the dwarf''s short legs were not going to lead him very far but at the same time, the stairs to the next floor came into view.


    The dwarf jumped down the stairs but in his hurry, stumbled and rolled down the stairs.


    ''Ouch!'' thought the players.


    "We almost have him! Catch him!" shouted Underwater.


    The players ran down the stairs and entered another environment. The floor consisted of medieval corridors. They saw the dwarf lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs but another surprise was waiting for them here.


    A group of dwarves stood in the corridor and rushed toward the fallen dwarf as soon as he appeared. "Dhotrear! What happened to you?"


    The players froze upon seeing the group of dwarves. They stopped in their track waiting for Underwater''s instructions. The latter was taken by surprise. He never expected to meet such a large group of dwarves; there were at least thirty dwarves, all above level 30.


    ''Looks like getting the treasure is not going to be easy but I cannot just let it go like that.''


    ''Wait a minute. The dwarves can speak and as far as I am aware, dwarves are one of the main races on the continent. They even have villages that players can visit. We can purchase items and receive quests at these villages. We can even argue with the inhabitants when drinking at their taverns...''


    "You! Humans! How dare you chase and attack my clansman!" shouted one of the dwarves. His eyes were burning with fury as he raised his ax in an aggressive manner.


    Underwater clicked his tongue. "I think there is a misunderstanding here. We did not even attack your clansman. We stumbled onto a secret room and defeated the monsters there. We found the treasure chest in this room but before we could take it, this dwarf appeared and stole it from us. We are only here to get back what we deserve."


    "What thing you deserve? This box contains the prototype of our research! How dare you try to steal our possession and shift the blame on my clansman!" exclaimed the dwarf.


    Underwater almost choked. ''If it was your prototype, then why do you not keep it with you? Why was it in the secret room?''


    "This..."


    But before he could complete his sentence, the dwarf spoke: "However, I see that there is indeed no signs of injury on my clansman. We can forget this matter but we cannot hand over our precious prototype. At least not without a fair trade first..."


    Underwater''s eyes lit up as he heard the last part of the dwarf''s sentence. ''It might be possible to still get the treasure chest and we won''t even need to fight over it. Maybe that''s just how this dungeon works; it will not hand over the content of the secret rooms easily.''


    "We can agree to trade but to make it fair, we should at least be allowed to see what is inside the chest, right?" said Underwater.


    The dwarf paused for a moment, seemingly hesitating before nodding his head. "Let one of your men step forward."


    Underwater did not understand why the dwarf made this request but he still signaled on of the players to do so.


    The dwarf smiled and unlocked the chest. "Now, attack him with all your might!" The chest flung open by itself as a shadow emerged from it. It was a small robot!


    The robot was slightly smaller than the dwarf but it was much faster. It beeped before dashing toward the surprised player. Another beep sounded as the robot swung its blade at the player. The latter was taken off guard but with his training, he was still able to block the attack. "-1" appeared above his shoulder.


    The robot''s red eyes flashed. It raised its second blade and attacked once again but the player once again blocked it. The player frowned but quickly adjusted himself. He blocked a few more attacks before going on the offensive. Soon enough, the robot lost its first blade and then, its second blade was knocked away.


    "Stop! Return!" shouted the dwarf. The robot beep and froze. It then silently collected its blades before returning to the dwarf''s side.


    "You are quite skilled human. But this is just our prototype! Our engineers have already designed much better mechs than this one!"


    Underwater had been observing the fight with a solemn expression. His interest was clearly piqued. "What are your thoughts?" asked Underwater to the player who faced the robot.


    "Not bad but aside from the first attack which was more powerful than the others, it should have the strength of a level 20 player," answered the player.


    Underwater nodded and started mumbling to himself. ''A mech with the strength of a level 20 player? And they say they have even better ones? What if this can be mass-produced? It is far below the strength of actual players but they can be used in situations to avoid losing our own players!''


    "You said you wanted to trade with us?" asked Underwater.


    The dwarves smiled. ''Master will definitely be pleased with us.''


    "Possibly but you will first need to be able to reach our village. Furthermore, we do not trust you humans enough to give you our weapons but trust can be earned. We need some help from someone that can go outside the dungeon. Will you agree?"


    Underwater furrowed his brows. He knew obtaining these mechs were not going to be easy. "Tell me more about it first."


    At that moment, the players all received a system prompt:


    [System prompt: You have triggered the quest: "Request of the Dwarves" (Unique)]


    Help the dwarves take revenge on the Swift Gazelle Tribe located in the West. The rewards will only be awarded if the Swift Gazelle Tribe is destroyed.


    Task: Go to the Swift Gazelle Tribe and infiltrate cause as much trouble as possible. The dwarves will make their own move and attack the tribe on their side.


    Duration: two days


    Rewards: 50000 exp and 20 prototypes Alpha-13. Additional rewards can be obtained if the appropriate conditions are fulfilled.


    Note 1: This quest can be shared with other players but they will only obtain half the experience. The mechs will only be given to one player.


    Note 2: The dwarves are aware of the difficulty of the task and your identity as a merchant. They are willing to give you twenty barrels of explosive to detonate at the Swift Gazelle Tribe. An additional 10000 exp will be awarded for each barrel detonated.


    Note 3: The dwarves will lead an attack but the players are also allowed to join and contribute. Each barbarian killed will reward the players with an additional 10000 exp.


    Note 4: The totem spirit of the Swift Gazelle Tribe is a major threat to the dwarves. Additional rewards will be provided if the totem spirit is not summoned during the attack. Each Shaman killed with reward the players with a prototype Beta-5.


    Note 5: The dwarves will view you in high esteem if you contribute actively. You will be allowed into their village: ''Tinyland'' and will unlock the purchases of the mechs at their shop.


    Note 6: If the dwarves do not even need to attack, the blueprints of the mechs will be available for purchase at their shop for a limited period of time.

 Chapter 181: Summoning the totem spirits

    "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Harriet exclaimed as soon as she returned to the dungeon. She had been staying with the monsters near the Swift Gazelle Tribe when she received the news of what was happening at the dungeon.


    The reason Dreidus stayed at the dungeon was first of all because he was best suited to arrange the monsters properly for defense but also because it would allow Five to communicate with the monsters outside.


    Using [Dead Mind], Dreidus could directly communicate with the Undead he branded. He could share the senses of the Undead and therefore could receive the information given by Harriet. At the same time, he could order the Undead to perform some actions. The Undead could not speak but it was still possible to communicate. All he had to do was to instruct the Undead to write down his words on the ground.


    Thanks to this method, Harriet learned of the events of the dungeon and hurriedly returned. Compared to the other monsters, it only took her a few hours to return safely.


    "You want to attack the Swift Gazelle Tribe? And for what reason? Because you want to help that dungeon master?" Harriet''s beautiful face wore a frustrated expression.


    Five looked at the harpy queen. "Did Dreidus tell you about it? Do you really think I will go out of my way to help that dungeon master?"


    "The Swift Gazelle Tribe is acknowledged as the strongest tribe of the region. And with what you told me, I am not going to attack other tribes directly. We only agreed to attack the Vicious Rhino Tribe because we knew it does not have any totem spirits to protect it but it is a different story for the other tribes."


    Harriet listened to Five as her expression became gentler. "Then, why are you still taking the risk?"


    "Because it is a great opportunity and as that player said, if we do nothing, the Swift Gazelle Tribe will become too strong for us to deal with. They completely monopolize the dungeon and gain a lot more than we or the Musclewood Tribe are. If we don''t stop it, we are just letting a major threat grow in strength."


    "I don''t want to face the Swift Gazelle Tribe but I have no qualms about destroying the other dungeon. By doing so, we would also be reducing the power of the tribe," said Five.


    "Do you really trust him? What if it is just a trap?" asked Harriet.


    "That''s why I am using the players to cause a diversion. I don''t think he is lying but it is indeed a possibility. We will send the players first just to make sure. We are not going to lose anything from them. They seem very interested in the mech. I purposely waited a little bit just to see if the dungeon would react. The third trial should be coming to an end soon; if he was hiding something, he is bound to show his cards or else, he would instantly lose."


    "I don''t like it. It just sounds so unreal," said Harriet.


    Five let out a long sigh. "I know. I talked to him quite a bit and as he was spilling out information, I truly think he is in danger. In any case, can you send a few Spiked Armadillo to look at the situation? They are quite stealthy and since his dungeon is an underground one, they should not be detected easily."


    "I will do that. Why don''t you ask for help from the Brown Bat Tribe and the Pronghorn Tribe? They should be happy to help. The Swift Gazelle Tribe is also a major threat to them," proposed Harriet.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "I do not want to start a war. I just want to sneakily destroy the other dungeon; harming the Swift Gazelle Tribe is secondary. If not, I would have given a longer time period to the players. With only two days, they won''t we able to receive reinforcements from their guilds; they will only be able to act with the players that are already stationed here."


    "So you are not really planning on joining the Storm Alliance?" asked Harriet.


    "Of course, no. It does not matter if he has already informed his friends. I destroyed two dungeons belonging to that alliance; do you really think they will treat me well? Furthermore, if I am to join an alliance, it will have to be the Hurricane Alliance. I am only looking for short term benefits and protection and in the Sylvester Empire, the Hurricane Alliance is the strongest."


    Five smiled and decided to change the topic. "Anyway. It is good that you came back. I will need your help. I was thinking of summoning the two totem spirits from their relics... Their tribe is gone and we also have the Horned Rhinoceros."


    ...


    "Let us start with the Three-Horned Rhinoceros. It is not really injured and only returned to its relic because his Shaman died."


    [System prompt: You have found the relic containing the spirit of a Three-Horned Rhinoceros. It is possible to summon the spirit and turn it into your monster. The cost is 700 thousand DP. Would you like to proceed?]


    Five never looked at the relic and was surprised to find that it was so cheap. The Three-Horned Rhinoceros did not need to be healed; DP was only required to build a connection with it and restore its real body.


    "Yes."


    The statue suddenly started to vibrate in Five''s hands. It jumped free of Five''s grip and exploded. The silhouette of a tall Three-Horned Rhinoceros appeared. The tall beast looked confused at its new environment but as its eyes landed on Five, they became blood red. He instantly recognized him as one of the culprits of the downfall of the Vicious Rhino Tribe.


    It snorted and stomped the ground, attempting to charge at Five. Harriet had already anticipated the beast''s aggressive response. She quickly flew in front of Five, blocking the way. She was no longer scared of the Three-Horned Rhinoceros; it was no longer buffed by his [Devour]. Its aura and level further fell as it was no longer a spirit and no longer had a connection with any tribe; it was now level 48, a far cry from when it was at its peak at level 55.


    However, Harriet''s actions were unnecessary. At that moment, a few squeals sounded behind the Three-Horned Rhinoceros who froze. It instantly recognized the cries of the Horned-Rhinoceros.


    Harriet let out a faint smile and spoke. "That''s right. These are the same monsters that were at the Vicious Rhino Tribe. They should be somehow related to you, right?"


    The Three-Horned Rhinoceros snorted and adopted a defensive stance in front of the Horned Rhinoceros. It grunted and snorted but Five was unable to understand a word.


    Neither did Harriet. "I don''t understand the Beast Language but the situation should be clear to you. The Horned-Rhinoceros have already submitted to my master and your previous tribe has fallen. We restored your body so that you can have another shot at life but we can take it away just as easily. You have two choices; submission or death!"


    She maintained a firm expression. "You won''t be able to struggle out of this situation and even if you did, the Horned-Rhinoceros will be left at our mercy. Are you really going to leave them behind? We promise to treat you well. You should have seen how many beasts there were in our group and you should still be able to feel their presence in the dungeon with your strength."


    The Three-Horned Rhinoceros snorted and grunted. It looked at the Horned-Rhinoceros with hesitation. The totem spirits all had the same goal in mind; they chose to bind themselves to tribes to stay alive and preserve their bloodline. Their aim had always been to restore their physical body and found another family. Wasn''t this exactly what it was getting from the dungeon?


    Harriet waited patiently. She knew the Three-Horned Rhinoceros was interested. In the end, Five received the long-awaited system prompt:


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the unnamed Three-Horned Rhinoceros has agreed to serve you.]


    Five let out a faint smile. "Thank you. We cannot communicate but there is someone in the dungeon who understands the Beast Language. You will stay with the Horned-Rhinoceros and look after them. However, I have another task for you right now. Help me convince your friend to join us too." He took out the statue of the Purpled-eyed Vulture.


    The Three-Horned Rhinoceros and the Purpled-eyed Vulture had known each other for a long time. Their two tribes cooperated with each other but it was more accurate that the Vicious Rhino Tribe was the one ordering the Black Vulture Tribe. It was the same for the totem spirits.


    Under the coercion of the Three-Horned Rhinoceros, the Purpled-eyed Vulture gave in very quickly.


    [System prompt: Congratulations Player Five, the unnamed Purpled-eyed Vulture has agreed to serve you.]


    Five was delighted. Just like that, he obtained two powerful boss monsters and even unlocked their subordinate monsters in the dungeon shop. This operation even cost him far less than he expected and left him with more than three million DP.


    Five could easily expand the dungeon but there was no need to do so yet. The number of visitors needed to increase before it would be profitable to have many more monsters. Instead, he wanted to accumulate enough DP to unlock someone at Harriet''s level.


    Aside from this, Five also had a few relics he plundered from the Vicious Rhino Tribe and the corpses of the Shamans. Unfortunately, they could only be used by Shamans; even the dungeon core would not allow him to bypass the requirements. He could only find a way to trade them with the Musclewood Tribe.

 Chapter 182: The Seed of Ingeniosity

    The night fell on the Musclewood Tribe. It was once again time for the Shamans to meet with Five to discuss the recent progress. The latest decision they took was the annulment of the merge with the Ocelot Tribe and the Iguana Tribe.


    The reason was simple; they had already reached a critical population density. The Musclewood Tribe consisted of two thousand individuals. It was already a lot for a barbarian tribe. The standard of the region was such that a medium tribe would only have six hundred tribesmen; the Musclewood Tribe already had more than three times that number.


    With the addition of the two tribes, the Musclewood Tribe''s population would have easily reached three thousand. It was an important problem. First of all, the Ocelot Tribe and the Iguana Tribe had completely different cultures; although the hunters interacted with each other in the past, there was still some strain between the tribes.


    Furthermore, the ruling council would also become too large and with so many different opinions, it would become harder to make a decision. The two tribes were not offended by the rejection; they understood the situation. They themselves were reluctant to leave the land of their ancestors and with the introductions of the licensing system of the dungeon.


    Naturally, the Musclewood Tribe swore a few additional oaths with them and gave them preferential treatments. The Musclewood Tribe wanted allies, not just business partners. They needed friends to help them in harsh times, not people who would leave them as soon as difficulties arise.


    They gave the two tribes the permission to send fifty tribesmen to the dungeon at all times and would only take 10% of their loot but in exchange, the two tribes would help protect their territories. In times of danger, they would assist the Musclewood Tribe.


    ...


    The Shamans traveled through the forest quickly and reached the entrance of the dungeon. Instead of discussing outside as usual, now that Five had already cemented his relationship with the Musclewood Tribe, the discussions were held inside the dungeon behind the waterfall.


    The Shamans could enjoy the warmth of the dungeon while Five would receive a few additional DP from these meetings.


    "Did you do something to the townsmen? We allowed them to enter the dungeon today but they left very quickly for some reason. They even left the village."


    Five listened to the Shamans with an amused expression. ''Seems like the players are eager to complete their quest. They only have two days. They should arrive there tomorrow...''


    "I just told them to do something for me. I hope they did not cause any trouble," answered Five.


    The Shamans looked at each other, perplexed. "They did not. We sent a few scouts to keep track of their movement. The other group of players is also doing the same."


    "It''s fine. That other group of players should be allowed into the dungeon as from tomorrow, right? I know you''ve increased the number of visitors to my dungeon and I am thankful."


    Old Luke smiled. "We are mutually benefitting from each other. There are no other major issues. The other tribes are not looking for trouble; many prefer to spend time with their family since it''s so cold outside."


    Ester intervened. "Senile old man. There is still the issue of the Helyum Shard. The townsmen made a formal request to receive some shards. They want to research it. We are still leaving this matter on the stand but we know we won''t be able to delay our response for too long."


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    "The Helyum Shards? Did you find a way to use them?" asked Five.


    "To be honest, we did. Our blacksmiths are the best among the barbarians," said Old Dale.


    Five fell into deep thoughts. "Then, I have a proposition to make. Will you be willing to share some of your blueprints and recipe with my monsters?"


    "Impossible. We are not even sharing our ancestors'' knowledge among ourselves, how could we share it with an outsider?" categorically refused Old Luke.


    "He is right. Our ancestors worked hard to develop these items; we cannot share it like this," continued Ester.


    Five listened in silence before answering. "Why is it so? I thought you have truly agreed to merge together but in the end, you are still keeping some barriers between each other. You still consider yourselves members of your individual tribes. You must think of the collective interest of the tribe!"


    "Do you seriously believe that the other Shamans have absolutely no idea of the recipes you hold? Since you are all working together, it is obvious that you know the materials used by each other to some extent. Maybe you even got to watch the manufacturing process. You are already one single tribe; let go of the barriers between you."


    "It can only help in merging your tribes completely. Furthermore, you will be able to help each other and enhance each other''s recipes."


    The Shamans glanced at each other to check the others'' reactions. What Five said was indeed the truth. Of course they had a rough idea of the recipes of the other tribes. It was precisely for this reason that they were not using their most prized recipe; if they did, they would have effectively leaked out the recipe.


    Five continued. "I understand that it is a hard step to take. You also don''t want others to benefit from your tribe''s recipe. You want everyone to put in something of equal value. But this is where I come in! My craftsmen might not be as knowledgable as you but I do have other things to trade for the recipes. For example, I have these relics I took from the other tribes."


    He took out eight small objects from his inventory and put them on display. The Shamans'' interest was instantly caught. They naturally knew the value of relics. A tribe would usually have three to five relics; they were useful for combat or could have lifestyle effects like improving the fertility of the tribesmen. As a matter of fact, it was one of the relics in Five''s possession. The description stated that if a man wore it during the act, the chances of impregnation would increase drastically.


    Ester and Orla blushed as they saw the item. The Shamans were quick to identify the relics and had a rough idea of their purpose.


    "I have no use for these items but I am sure you are able to use them. Will you be willing to trade a few recipes with me?"


    The Shamans fell silent. They were indeed attracted by the offer. Relics were simply too far. It had been decades since a relic had actually been crafted. They required rare materials from Boss Monsters. They were definitely worth a few normal recipes.


    "We do have a few recipes we would be willing to trade," said Old Luke.


    The Shaman all acquiesced. Even Orla, the only representative of the Blue Eagle Tribe was actively nodding her head.


    "Then, let me call a few people; they would be more suited than me to hold a discussion."


    The Elder Gnome and the Elder Dwarf soon arrived and they started discussing among themselves. Five took a step back as he was not very proficient in any crafting profession. The Gnomes were adept at enchantments and the dwarves were naturally talented when it came to smithing. Unfortunately, the Shamans had no knowledge of Engineering and Necromancy.


    Five watched the exchange taking place. He wanted the Musclewood Tribe to be more united than ever. He did not want factions to start appearing which would only lead to the breakdown of the tribe and the easiest way to achieve this was to unite the Shamans. By encouraging them to share their ancestral knowledge, the bond between the tribes would become stronger than ever.


    There was one more reason why Five brought up this topic: the Seed of Ingeniosity. It was the second artifact he obtained from destroying the dungeon, Tinyland. At that time, the artifact was on cooldown but more than seventeen days have passed and the artifact could be used once again.


    It was true that it could just be used on any monster but Five had another plan. He wanted the Shamans to use it. The blueprints obtained were proportional to the user''s profession Grade. It was clear that the Shamans were more knowledgable when it came to crafting and if they were the ones to use it, the resulting recipe would without a doubt be far more useful than if the monsters were to use it.


    It was why Five was interested in obtaining some of the crafting recipes of the Musclewood Tribe. He could use these recipes to level up the monsters'' profession while accumulating better recipes for later.


    As the monsters and the Shamans finished their exchange, Five took out the Seed of Ingeniosity which instantly attracted the attention of the Shaman. The scene where Five used the Cube of Resourcefulness was still vivid in their mind and this new artifact had the same aura.


    "This is another artifact that I want to use," declared Five with an amused expression. He explained the effect of the Seed of Ingeniosity as the Shamans became increasingly restless.


    They would all agree that the recipe would be shared with everyone, including the monsters of the dungeon. As Five was essentially giving them another recipe, the Shamans all agreed to give the monsters another blueprint for fairness.


    Ester was the one selected to activate the Seed of Ingeniosity. The Shamans competed with each other but they all acknowledged that Ester''s crafting knowledge surpassed theirs. The old woman proudly stepped forward and touched the tiny shining crystal.


    [System prompt: ''Ester'' has activated the Seed of Ingeniosity. As its owner, do you want to proceed?]


    "Yes."


    The small crystal flickered and out of nowhere, a long and clean piece of paper appeared in Ester''s hands. On it was the following:


    [Recipe of Voodoo Doll(Grade 4)]


    A Voodoo Doll is an item used to curse a target. The Voodoo Doll should have the general appearance of the target to be effective. A grade 4 Voodoo Doll can only hold one curse and its effects can be dispelled by Grade 4 items.


    Profession Requirements:


    Enchanter(Grade 4)


    Alchemist(Grade 3)


    Tailor(Grade 2)


    Raw materials and Instructions


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