《The Black Water Dungeon》


 Chapter 1 – A Required Quality

    Chapter 1 ¨C A Required Quality


    ¡°I am here to inform you of your potential candidacy as a Demon Lord.¡±


    Those were the words I heard as I regained consciousness. As my vision returned the first thing I saw was an incredibly beautiful woman with a bored look on her face. Her expression didn¡¯t lessen her beauty instead it gave her a captivating presence that would leave anyone who looked at her mesmerized.


    And judging from the context of her words, it seemed the words she just spoke were meant for me. I could only stare at her in bewilderment as I tried to understand their meaning.


    The woman was dressed in a black business suit that female executives would often wear. Her beauty only made her look more imposing as she sat elevated a few meters away from me.


    ¡°You are the only potential candidate left to be tested. Let us proceed with your examination.¡±


    She crossed her legs as she said her next words. She was wearing a suit skirt and black leggings, and to be honest I¡¯m having a hard time trying not to stare at her alluring thighs. Does she not realize that people could ogle at her thighs with the way she was sitting?


    It¡¯s not like it¡¯s just her thighs though. She has voluminous golden hair that draped down to her waist, captivating blue eyes and such a stunning body that couldn¡¯t be concealed by her formal clothing. I could feel a faint tingling sensation as I admired the scenery. What was that about an examination?


    ¡°I will answer your questions before we begin.¡±


    She spoke with boredom as she reclined in her chair. The chair she reclined on would more accurately be described as a throne. And looking around, the place we were currently in fit the term ¡°throne room¡± perfectly.


    A spacious hall elegantly decorated with banners depicting red roses. Red carpets draped along the walls and ornate chandeliers hung from the ceiling. But the woman sitting in the throne wore her black business suit so well that it felt more like a boss of a corporation in their office rather than in a throne room.


    As for questions, I have a lot of them and I¡¯m quite sure I didn¡¯t apply for any positions. Besides the fact that ¡°potential candidate¡± meant I¡¯m not even set as a candidate yet, the ¡°Demon Lord¡± position certainly isn¡¯t something I would have applied for.


    ¡°I have a few questions and I would like to have them answered truthfully.¡± I spoke curtly.


    I can¡¯t help but speak tensely when she looks like a well dressed businesswoman. As a side note, I have always correlated being well dressed with being successful in business. There are exceptions to this, but she does not fall in that category.


    She seemed to find my response somewhat amusing and smiled for the first time. Her immense beauty fully displayed itself as she did so.


    ¡°I will answer your questions with honesty. Proceed.¡±


    Using such a beautiful face won¡¯t lessen my suspicions of you, probably. What was I going to ask again? Oh right.


    ¡°Are the horns growing on the sides of your head real?¡± I asked.


    Yes. The sharply dressed woman has a pair of large curling horns growing from both sides of her head. And it has been on my mind all this time if those were real and how sore her neck must be if they are.


    She had a brief look of surprise then made a slight chuckle as she spoke.


    ¡°Hmn¡­ Why yes they are.¡±


    Looking at the well dressed woman, I realized that she would also have stiff shoulders as well. She is certainly robust. Do Demon Lords have masseuses? Because she would definitely have a very stiff back and shoulders.


    Where was I?


    ¡°Er- Might I inquire who you are?¡± I feel like I should have asked who she was before anything else but I became too focused on the woman¡¯s- horns.


    ¡°Oh my! How rude of me for not introducing myself yet. It has been a long day.¡±


    She said in a slightly playful tone but her presence quickly changed as she straightened her posture. She exuded an oppressive yet dignified air as she spoke, no, declared her next words as would a regal monarch when addressing her subjects.


    ¡°I am Victoria BloodRose, Ranked Tenth Demon Lord, and Master of the dungeon Crimson Castle.¡±


    I don¡¯t know how to respond or if I should respond to that declaration. I have an idea of what a Demon Lord is or what dungeons are from games and novels, but it might not necessarily apply here so it would be best not to jump to any conclusions. What¡¯s unexpected is that I¡¯m a candidate to be one. Well, potential candidate. Did I sign up somewhere unknowingly or what?


    ¡°You seem like a calm one.¡±


    She said with a pleasant smile that made her seem like an angel.


    ¡°You¡¯re taking this quite well, most react very differently and many are quite annoying with their incessant questions.¡±


    She did say I was the last candidate and she seemed to have expected me to have a different reaction to what is currently happening. What do you mean I¡¯m taking this quite well? I just don¡¯t know how to react in this situation so I¡¯m just acting like this is a job interview, which it kind of is. I feel slightly comforted by doing so.


    Miss- um, Victoria seemed to have thought of something and smiled wide as she spoke. Have I mentioned how beautiful she is when she smiles? The tingling feeling I get when I see her smile is kind of distracting.


    ¡°Now that I have introduced myself, would it not be proper for you to do so as well?¡±


    Oh right, I¡¯m¡­


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­¡±


    ...


    So is that what she smiled about? I don¡¯t remember who I am. No name to call my own and no face to attach to it.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Miss Victoria looked at me with some anticipation, sadly I do remember being a rather unexpressive person to the point that I was called a block of wood, so you probably won¡¯t get that much of a reaction from me. Now that I try to remember things, anything related to identities seemed none existent while the knowledge and information I had had remained. So I couldn¡¯t recall the name or face of the person who called me a block of wood.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ What a block of wood you are.¡±


    Miss Victoria spoke with a hint of disappointment. Those words gave me a strong prickling feeling for a split second but immediately subsided. That is a strange coincidence in her choice of words though. I think so too, so no offense taken.


    ¡°Have you checked your body then?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡± I immediately answered.


    My body you ask? I don¡¯t have one. I¡¯m just a small floating ball of murky light. I can still see and hear and for some reason I could speak as well. I quickly realized something was wrong with my body, or lack thereof, when I awoke. Hmn, I¡¯m quickly realized that I wasn¡¯t dreaming. Everything feels too real and solid for that to be the case. And I really can¡¯t remember the identities of anyone I used to know, especially myself, but remember everything else which should have been impossible.


    I remember being a man in his mid twenties though. And¡­ single¡­


    It should also be noted that I cannot move nor do anything else other than talk, which is the reason I am being very cooperative with Miss Victoria. Not that I wouldn¡¯t have been cooperative otherwise.


    ¡°Let us set that aside for now and focus on your body or lack thereof¡± She said as she regained her smile.


    ¡°Why is that exactly- Miss Victoria?¡±


    I wondered if calling her by her name would be appropriate. Do I call her ¡®oh great Demon Lord¡¯ or ¡®Master BloodRose¡¯? She said she¡¯s Demon Lord after all. I can¡¯t do anything about it now that I have said it though.


    ¡°Guess.¡±


    She spoke back smilingly. Calling her Miss Victoria seemed acceptable.


    Err¡­


    Guess?


    I though you would answer my questions truthfully?


    ¡°I did say I would answer them honestly but that¡¯s if I choose to answer them at all.¡± she suddenly spoke, still wearing that dazzling smile.


    So she can read my mind? That¡¯s some invasion of privacy right there. What if the person you were talking too was imagining doing perverted things to you? That would have been something.


    ¡°Do you want to know?¡± she was still smiling but her eyes were cold as winter.


    Not really.


    So I have to guess?


    If I think about it, it would be obvious that I am currently dead. I had died¡­ and I remember¡­ how. And being a floating ball of light probably means I¡¯m just a soul right now or something similar. Is that correct?


    Miss Victoria nods before resting her chin on her palm with an amused look on her face.


    From what you have said. I have been chosen as a candidate to become a Demon Lord, but why? I can¡¯t think of anything that would get me chosen as a candidate. To be honest I think I¡¯m kind of below average.


    ¡°You are a potential candidate. Not a certified candidate just yet.¡± She laughs lightly and says.


    Yes I am, but that doesn¡¯t answer my question though.


    ¡°I will get to that. But first we need to have a short history lesson to be able to answer your questions in full." Miss Victoria waved her hand and a screen made of magic appears on our left. ¡°Would that be alright with you?¡±


    It seems wise to gather information, especially when I¡¯m completely in the dark.


    Miss Victoria smiles wide as the screen showed us a scene of what looked like a demon and a knight that were locked in a vicious battle. Miss Victoria started explaining as the images on the screen started to move like in a movie.


    ¡°The earliest records of this world tell of the two Primary Gods: Ralos of the light and Krad of the darkness, waging eternal war against each other. There are no records of why they fought but it is recorded about how much they wanted to kill the other. Hundreds of thousands of years of battle passed as one could not best the other, that is, until the day they sent each other into eternal slumber.


    But long before that day had arrived, the two gods had created sapient beings to be their followers. Ralos created the races that thrive in the brilliance of the light such as the Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and the Beastmen. Krad on the other hand had created the beings that lived in the embracing veil of the darkness, such as the Demons and Vampires.


    Of course the races created by Gods who abhorred and ultimately killed each other won¡¯t get along even with no one guiding them to do so. And that hasn¡¯t changed even after thousands and thousands of years. Or so the tale goes. ¡°


    Miss Victoria let out a breath after saying that and looked at me.


    ¡°Although, we as the children of Krad, grow stronger as we consumer the flesh and suffering of the races of Ralos might have something to do with such a hostile relationship though.¡±


    Miss Victoria said that with such a vicious grin. Even with such facial expression she still ended up captivating me with her beauty, the faint sensation that I have been feeling for awhile now became stronger.


    But I do agree that the two groups won¡¯t ever come to an agreement when one sidefeeds off of theothers flesh and suffering.


    ¡°Wars raged on as the children of the two departed gods ripped each other apart, as the gods had with each other, until the day the races of Ralos discovered an advantage¡± she said. ¡°Reincarnating the souls of humans from another world, humans with knowledge and thinking not possessed by those of this one¡±


    ¡°Although the cost of reincarnating these souls was immense for them¡± She gestured to the screen to change the contents to a squad of what looked like human soldiers holding flintlock rifles.


    ¡°In the centuries that went by, the beings of Krad were slowly pushed back with the aid of these reincarnated individuals¡± she spoke with some anger in her voice. ¡°Although we as the races of Krad still control the cold northern realms were daylight is scarce and the races of Ralos there are under our mercy, the majority of our territory had been taken over by the humans who built kingdoms there. The other races had clans that migrated there as well.¡±


    She composed herself as she spoke those words.


    ¡°We, the Demon Lords leading the races of Krad, had created dungeons in strategic locations in these former territories, death traps designed to make the intruders that invade them suffer gruesome and painful deaths while providing us with their suffering. We had planned to regain these lands using the dungeons as a means of a foothold¡±


    She then spoke in a monotone voice. She sounded eerie as she said her words.


    ¡°But as time passed even these dungeons we thought were unconquerable were breached with the lead of reincarnated individuals slowly adapting to them, leaving only the deepest, strongest and most remote dungeons still standing¡±


    Her smile regained its cheerfulness as she continued speaking.


    ¡°Although in the last one thousand years we had successfully implanted the notion that the dungeons can be profitable if properly controlled in most of the human kingdoms, giving us Demon Lords a bit of respite. Even the adamant elves were forced into a corner by the greed of the human kingdoms, even straining the relationship between the two races.¡±


    ¡°And in the last five hundred years we figured it out the ritual that brought the reincarnators here.¡± Miss Victoria looked at me with a smile as she said. ¡°We tested and altered the method on how they were reincarnating the souls of humans from other worlds. Sadly, only the souls of humans could be summoned and reincarnated with the ritual.


    ¡°That¡¯s just a brief summary though, but all you need to know for now.¡± She waves her hand and the images on the screen stop moving.


    There were a lot of things mentioned in that summary that I wanted to ask about but I¡¯m fine with waiting. I would probably end up with more questions than answers anyway.


    ¡°Currently the children of Krad, Led by us Demon Lords, are on the defensive and are gathering strength while waiting for the races of the Ralos to slowly forget and get complacent.¡±


    ¡°Now you asked why you are qualified.¡± She said with a face full of joy as she focused all her attention on me. ¡°A soul of a human no less¡±


    That has come into my attention. I can¡¯t think of anything that would get me chosen for something like this.


    ¡°The Great Demon Lords of old had successfully twisted the summoning ritual, now only capable of summoning souls with no sense of morality or a conscience, souls with a deep rooted hatred for humanity and souls drenched in sin.¡± She did a grand gesture as she looked at me.


    ¡°You were called because you possess any of these qualities.¡±


    What can I say? Those are qualities I wouldn¡¯t ever have thought I had. Your ritual must have made a mistake. There must be some mistake somewhere!


    ¡°We have used this ritual for over five hundred years and not once did we find a clean soul among the summoned.¡± She said that with such a pleasant smile.


    That is strange then. I have a sense of morality and a conscience. I remember being an upstanding member of society. And I¡¯m certain that I have not sinned as such for my soul to be drenched in it! I feel horribly guilty when I do something wrong¡­


    ¡°Oh, then you must really hate humanity then?¡±She laughed a bit as spoke. Her smile looked all the more beautiful as she leaned in closer.


    That doesn¡¯t¡­


    ¡­


    ¡°¡­¡±


    .


    .


    .


    I couldn¡¯t deny it any longer as the memories I always kept repressed in the back of my mind came flooding back.


    ¡°I hate people.¡±

 Chapter 2 – Thy Name, My Name

    Chapter 2 ¨C Thy Name, My Name


    ¡°I hate people.¡±


    Why didn¡¯t ¡°they¡± feel even the slightest amount of guilt or shame when they did crimes and atrocities? Who is ¡°they¡± you might ask?


    ¡°People¡±


    Were those things actual people though, as in real human beings with thoughts and emotions?


    When I said I didn¡¯t remember how I died, that was a lie, a lie that I wanted to believe.


    A reality I wanted to forget.


    That was why I was sure that this wasn¡¯t a dream or questioned if this was reality. The reality is that a bunch of teenage punks had killed me. I no longer knew what they looked like; they look like faceless humanoids in my memories now. But I remember their drunken muttering that they needed money for cigarettes and alcohol and that I looked at them funny, needless to say they didn¡¯t and I didn¡¯t. I was killed over something so unsubstantial.


    I still have a vague memory of my mother, I don¡¯t remember who she is anymore or what she looked like, but I could remember that she held food drives for the poor every so often. I remember many of those people.


    I remember the ungrateful ones the most. I heard a few cursing at my mother for giving away money and what they would do it if they had it themselves. Of course they would have gambled it away, on alcohol and cigarettes, women and even drugs. They wouldn¡¯t even think of giving a bit of money to their families. I know what they would do with the money because they would do those things whenever they do get money.


    Some of them were ungrateful bastards that did what they wanted because they were ¡°poor¡±. Some steal and rob like it was okay because they needed the money. Murderers and rapist act like they are oppressed and unfortunate people. People kept having children even though they couldn¡¯t afford to even feed them and cursed that they were dirt poor.


    The rich only ever cared if they were involved and how to make even more money regardless of anyone else. What do they even need that much money for? Most of the government is in the pockets of the rich. The economy is just an inflated bubble on the brink of bursting.


    Society is rotting because of those ¡°people¡±.


    I vividly remember the only woman I ever loved. Not what she looked like or who she was, but what we had together. She would always call me a block o f wood when I failed to respond to people socially, playfully and teasing. She was killed by a spoiled rich girl that was too busy with their phone while driving A FUCKING CAR! I was going to propose a few months later. I just¡­


    Anything and everyone that I ever cared about was destroyed by that flawed society, a society rotting to the very core. The actual people who try hard to help just end up prolonging the life of that rotting society, it can¡¯t be cured with the way they are trying to, but they can¡¯t see that or they refuse to. They didn¡¯t have a choice. They never had a choice. None of us had.


    This is also why I am so calm about this situation. I realized that I am finally removed from that society. And I don¡¯t want to go back. My thoughts couldn¡¯t help but go to the darker recesses of my mind.


    As I lived in that society, the days went by as everything started getting worse. I slowly started to just want to kill those people myself, but cursing at my own cowardice and incapability. I am a good person. The person I was that the love of my life fell in love with. I can¡¯t do something like that. But at my lowest point I just had the urge to kill every single one of them. She would care about it, but she was dead.


    But that was not going to happen, I wasn¡¯t like that. That wasn¡¯t what I wanted. Committing suicide felt like they had won over me, so I tried. I tried my best to be a good person and be good to others, well look at where it got me. Dead on a side walk with a BULLET IN MY SKULL!


    CALM DOWN!


    Calm down¡­


    ¡°If I couldn¡¯t read your mind I would have thought lightly of those words.¡±


    Miss Victoria spoke to me as I finally calmed myself down.


    ¡°Like a raging vortex beneath still water.¡±


    She added with a frown.


    ¡°You are the first one that I summoned that wasn¡¯t a psychotic murderer, a psychopath, a raving lunatic or an emotionless doll, your hate of humanity is directed more on the fact that you were powerless to help it. I¡¯m starting to wonder if you are suited for this role.¡±


    ¡°I am Miss Victoria¡± I spoke, slowly and steadily as I controlled my breathing.


    ¡°Yes?¡± She responded with curiosity.


    ¡°If you are worried that I might help humanity, then you are absolutely right.¡± I openly admitted that one detail that just might get me killed here.


    ¡°Hmn?¡± Her irises became slits like that of a cat as she hummed coldly. I remembered that I¡¯ve always been a cat person, so I thought she looked really cute with those eyes.


    ¡°If it were up to me I would slowly teach humanity on how to be good and virtuous to one another. By making them suffer and agonize until they learn, pain makes people remember incredibly well.¡±


    I spoke of the things I wanted to do but couldn¡¯t. Things I would be able to do now that I had been given the chance. Even in another world, they are greedy and selfish. People don¡¯t change. People won¡¯t change. Until you make them.


    ¡°Then I will continue doing that to keep them in line so they won¡¯t forget. Humans tend to forget the as time passes after all.¡±


    It¡¯s my turn to be greedy and selfish. And they will understand how much suffering and pain it will cause them.


    ¡°What?¡± Miss Victoria tilted her head from those words, that gesture made the tingling sensations I had been feeling act up again but I forcibly ignore it.


    I am given this chance to be able to help society and even if it means becoming a monster that brings suffering and pain to others, I would gladly do it.


    I spoke in a slow menacing tone.


    ¡°I quite like the way you said the dungeon worked, doing two objectives at the same time while complementing each other in their respective roles¡±


    She didn¡¯t answer back as she stared at me, either because of my words or the fact that I just spoke in such a tone.


    ¡°Make them suffer and cut out the rotting flesh of their society. Keeping them locked in that state to prevent the rot from worsening while keeping the supply of suffering high. To rule over the ignorant masses as I guide them down the proper path, even if I have to drag society kicking and screaming. I want to see if it would work, even in just a single place. Doesn¡¯t that sound like a good plan to you Miss Victoria?¡±


    I looked at her as I spoke those words as the coldness in my mind gradually faded.


    ¡°Admittedly, I just came up with that plan just now and it needs some serious thought to be put into it.¡±


    ¡°Pfft! Hahaha!¡±


    She started laughing all of a sudden which derailed my train of thought. She looked beautiful even while laughing so loudly. The sensations returned and became increasingly more pronounced, I should ask her about this later.


    ¡°I take back what I said! You¡¯re crazier than anyone I¡¯ve ever summoned!¡±


    What I said made sense though? And it furthers my goals without going against yours or anyone on this side.


    ¡°To be honest, you are probably the most sensible out of the three souls that passed today¡¯s ritual¡± Miss Victoria wiped a tear in her eye as she said that.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    I still think what I said makes sense.


    ¡°You think so? What you are saying sounds rather twisted¡± she responded with some glee.


    I¡¯ve seen that soft measures didn¡¯t work. And what I plan to do would have definite positive results. So only two others had passed huh. How many did you summon in this ritual Miss Victoria?


    ¡°Hmmn¡­ over ten I guess in this year¡¯s ritual, I didn¡¯t actually count. The other Demon Lords probably summoned about the same number.¡± She spoke very nonchalantly then stopped for a moment and looked directly at me.


    ¡°And stop using my mind reading to communicate!¡± she complained whilst grinning. ¡°You have passed the exam with full marks!¡±


    I already passed?!


    I thought we were just starting, when did we begin?


    ¡°Well, someone just started to openly rave on about their personal thoughts and ideals all of a sudden that the tests seemed unnecessary.¡± She laughed.


    So you were checking whether or not I would be of use to you Demon Lords?


    ¡°Mostly¡± She answered.


    Wait!


    But letting me know about the mind reading be a good idea? And did you believed my words so easily?!


    ¡°You think mind reading is the only thing I can do to verify your standing?¡±


    Miss Victoria made a mischievous smile.


    ¡°Those words of yours were from the deepest parts of your soul.¡±


    I was just concerned about it though? And what would have happened if I didn¡¯t pass?


    ¡°There are many uses for souls¡± She answered with a smile. ¡°Especially souls from other worlds¡±


    So I would still get employed, just in an incredibly lower position. So I¡¯m still hung up on this being a job interview huh.


    ¡°Most of the souls I summoned were either psychopaths or murderers in their past lives. Many were completely fixated on the chance to obtain power over the lives of others, some even reveling at the thought of fulfilling their darkest desires, while you on the other hand are still thinking of inconsequential things.¡± She giggled.


    Didn¡¯t the Demon Lords¡¯ criteria for souls kind of ensure that though?


    ¡°Haha¡± She laughed happily. ¡±That is true!¡±


    So I¡¯m a candidate Demon Lord now?


    ¡°Why yes!¡± Miss Victoria laughed as she said that and continued. ¡°But that¡¯s as far as you go.¡±


    What?!


    ¡°What do you mean by that?!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but raise my voice as I spoke.


    ¡°Haha! I knew I could get a reaction from you!¡±


    Miss Victoria clapped her hands in happiness at my expense.


    ¡°Was that a joke?¡± I asked. I felt a little tingly looking at her actions.


    ¡°No, being reincarnated as a Demon Lord would take too long.¡±


    Her facial expression became serious.


    ¡°The natural way to become a Demon Lord would take hundreds of years. Unlike the regular demons we Demon Lords are born from the accumulation of power and sustenance over a very long period of time and what we don¡¯t have is exactly that - time¡±


    Urgh¡­


    And I was talking about my ideals so passionately. This is so embarrassing.


    Miss Victoria giggled. ¡°It is a sensible plan, incredibly twisted though. Just the way I like it!¡±


    ¡°Then what do I have to do to become a Demon Lord?¡± I asked with some annoyance.


    ¡°Firstly, you will be reincarnated as a child of Krad. Your body would be formed from mana and a bit of negative energy, so you would be born as the weaker forms of monsters.¡±


    She looked like she remembered something and added.


    ¡°Oh right, you said you liked how the dungeons worked. So you would be happy to know that you will be reincarnated with a Dungeon Core. You will slowly get stronger with the help of the Dungeon Core. That is also how you can become a Demon Lord. Create a dungeon and collect enough of the strong negative emotions from the beings of Ralos and mana from the surrounding to emulate the conditions to transform into a Demon Lord.¡±


    So I get the protection of a dungeon from the very beginning, which is somewhat reassuring.


    She made a stern expression as she spoke her next words.


    ¡°But that is where the hard part lies. A newly formed dungeon can be easily conquered by even average adventures because of the advancements of the reincarnated individuals. So you must use any and all knowledge you possess to survive.¡±


    She then added.


    ¡°And when you survive the beginning and establish your dungeon, it will still take a substantial amount of time to collect that much sustenance to transform into a Demon Lord.¡±


    So the races of light are well prepared to take on the dungeons. What about helping us by using your own dungeons?


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t work that way. A dungeon is part of a Demon Lord¡¯s body so no other Demon Lord can use it. And even if we could do so you wouldn¡¯t be able to handle it with such weak a body. You must grow with your own dungeon and amass the sustenance yourself for you to become a Demon Lord.¡±


    Miss Victoria took deep breathes and regained her elegant bearing before she spoke with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ve taken quite a liking to you so don¡¯t die and become a Demon Lord, I¡¯ll will gladly take you under my faction.¡±


    Of course there are factions, especially for a Demon Lord of the tenth rank.


    She leaned forward and spoke those words. Her cleavage was exposed and I could help but feel a strange tingling at the sight. I have been feeling it since a while ago but I don¡¯t know what it is. A lot of things had already happened today, so such a thing is negligible.


    ¡°New blood is hard to come by, especially capable ones. You are the only one in this batch who actually listened to all of my words and you seem to have a bit of foresight.¡± She said.


    Thank you? And how many others are in your faction if I might ask?


    ¡°I am the second in command of the faction, The Black Hand¡± she then added. ¡°There arefive Origin Demon Lords no lower than the twentieth rank and ten reincarnated Demon Lords in this faction.¡±


    Origin Demon Lords are ones originally here right? And the other group is made up of reincarnated ones? So reincarnated Demon Lords don¡¯t have a rank?


    ¡°Many are in the lower rankings so it is negligible to state them. Don¡¯t worry about that right now, worry about yourself. Out of the three hundred candidates that were reincarnated in the past ritual ten years ago, only thirty survived to become Demon Lords.¡±


    So one out of ten survived? That¡¯s a pretty reassuring number, no pressure right?


    ¡°You need to stop doing that!¡± She had a light smile. ¡°No matter how patient I am, I am still the Demon Lord of the tenth rank.¡±


    What am I doing? Oh-


    ¡°Pardon me. It is easy to forget when I don¡¯t have a mouth to speak with.¡±


    I apologized immediately after realizing what I did. I don¡¯t have a mouth to talk with and I don¡¯t understand how I can talk exactly.


    ¡°You are pardoned.¡± She said with such a pleasant smile.


    ¡°Better work on that. Although I find it quite amusing coming from you, you better not do it with other high ranking Demon Lords if you ever encounter one¡±


    ¡°Duly noted Miss Victoria¡± I responded, properly this time.


    ¡°Good!¡± She grinned then frowned as she spoke. ¡°It seems like we don¡¯t have a lot of time left as I thought. If I had known the last one would be this promising I wouldn¡¯t have spent so much time on the psychotic ones.¡±


    ¡°Well there is still a bit of time, so let me give you some advice.¡± Miss Victoria straightened herself on her throne as she spoke her next words. ¡°This isn¡¯t some kind of game. You will die if you don¡¯t take this seriously.¡±


    ¡°I understand. ¡° I responded.


    She sighed and continued.


    ¡°As I have said, the majority of human kingdoms view dungeons as a profitable exploit as long as they are controllable and are managed. Dungeons must be designed to enforce this notion. They must have reasonable survivability and give enough profit for those that delve into them. The floors closer to the surface have to be made to be easy to accommodate low ranked adventurers and get progressively harder as they go deeper into the dungeon. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Miss Victoria.¡±


    I replied. So the dungeon would have to be designed like in a computer game then, getting harder as the floors get lower.


    ¡°We had a hand in the creation of the so called adventurers¡¯ guild of the races a thousand years ago. This establishment further enforced the belief in the profitability of dungeons and the new generations of reincarnators easily bit into it. This had led to the increase in the strength of the races, but it was a tradeoff we were willing to make. ¡±


    I just heard something definitely important. And of course many of the reincarnators would be supportive of the adventurer guilds; they are a staple of the fantasy genre and were probably accustomed to such from games and novels.


    She spoke with some seriousness.


    ¡°Although some humans will try and take the core to make a quick profit so prepare all you have to defend your dungeon at any time. Demon and Undead dungeons that are found are prioritized to be destroyed the moment they are found, so avoid using those types of monsters if you can.¡± She said then added.


    ¡°There is also a chance you might be spawned at a place where there are high populations of races other than humans so listen carefully.¡±


    ¡°You have to be wary about are the elves. Having long life spans, they still remember the wars and what the dungeons signify. They would send large expeditions to destroy even newly created dungeons if they are found.¡±


    Miss Victoria smiled as she spoke her next words.


    ¡°This has strained the relationship between the elves and many human kingdoms. Elves are often called an alarmist race for their fanatic desire to destroy the dungeons. They should be.¡±


    ¡°The Dwarves think we have already lost the war and that dungeons are a good source for materials, but be warned that they would destroy any dungeons they think are a threat. And the Beast men live in clans and the history of the war against the demons has become tales passed down to their descendants. They are too unorganized and often seen by the other races as primitive to be an immediate threat.¡±


    Miss Victoria smiled as she waved her hands and the magic screen disappeared.


    ¡°We cannot choose what you reincarnate into, but it is known that it would tend to be what suits your soul the most. I do wonder what you will become. After reincarnating, the Dungeon Core has been designed to assist you and try to answer any questions you might ask.¡±


    ¡°I will remember that Miss Victoria.¡± I answered. So the Dungeon Core is like some sort of artificial intelligence?


    ¡°You would also be reincarnated in a random location and it might be a place close to the cities and settlements so be prepared.¡±


    She made a gesture as she looked at me.


    ¡°The other reincarnated candidates are your competition. Two dungeons close to each other would slow the time it would take for you to become a Demon Lord. You could also take their cores to strengthen your own even quicker. Be wary of any you find near you and get rid of them if you can, even if they are individuals that I had summoned myself.¡±


    She said a few other things afterwards. She kept exposing her chest and thighs as she talked to me and the tingling sensation got stronger. It that sensation sexual arousal perhaps, it is likely the case from what causes it. I don¡¯t know how souls work and Miss Victoria just laughed off my questions about it.


    After conversing with a bit more Miss Victoria looked satisfied and said.


    ¡°It is time. We shall start the ceremony.¡±


    Miss Victoria summoned a magic circle where I was placed and started chanting. I couldn¡¯t understand what she was saying, it sounded like a soft hymn yet like a large choir at the same time. The magic circle became brighter and brighter as her voice got louder.


    ¡°Say thy name!¡± She shouted at me.


    Although I couldn¡¯t understand what she meant by that I was compelled by an unseen will to give myself a name. A name I shall be called as I become a child of Krad and join the legions of the darkness.


    I looked at her, it is unknown whether we would meet again or how long it would take. She winked at me as she smiled.


    The intense light enveloped me as I spoke my name.


    .


    .


    .


    ¡°Vorxes¡±

 Chapter 3 – A small room, A small pond

    Chapter 3 ¨C A small room, A small pond


    A dazzling orb of light suddenly shone amidst the darkness.


    And with it, a consciousness awakes.


    .


    .


    .


    Vorxes


    That was the first thing I thought of as I awoke. That is my name. I am now called Vorxes, one of the many children of Krad, the god of darkness. I am now freed from the world that I once knew. Although I feel some sense of relief knowing that fact, that was all I felt.


    Dazzling light shone all around me. A light so blinding that the only thing I could see was white. I immediately realized I couldn¡¯t close my eyes. I would have instinctively closed my eyes the moment I got blinded by the light. Trying to close my eyes, I could only feel the odd sensation that I didn¡¯t have any eyelids.


    Did I reincarnate into something without eyelids?


    Barely seconds pass as I notice the sensation wasn¡¯t just with my eyelids, but my whole body instead. I couldn¡¯t move. I couldn¡¯t feel a body, my body. And the only thing I could do was be blinded by the light.


    Had I actually been reincarnated? Don¡¯t tell something went wrong with my reincarnation? Or maybe Miss Victoria lied to me? But there wasn¡¯t really any point to lie to me, is there? She could have done anything she wanted and I couldn¡¯t have done a thing. Hehe. That wasn¡¯t it. Then what could it be?


    As I was pondering over my dilemma, the light slowly started getting dimmer and dimmer. Those few moments felt like hours had passed before the light finally settled down around an orb leaving the surroundings to return to the creeping darkness.


    That must be the Dungeon Core, but what about my body then?


    I looked around the area surrounding the glowing orb. At least I could see and look around somewhat. I couldn¡¯t see past all the darkness though but apparently I am underwater looking at the area around me and the Dungeon Core. So I¡¯m some sort of underwater creature?


    No. That doesn¡¯t seem to be the case. It couldn¡¯t move and I couldn¡¯t feel a body. Maybe I am the Dungeon Core? Hmn¡­ I¡¯m not that either. I swear if I reincarnated into some kind of rock, I know I¡¯m a rather dull person but that is a bit of a stretch.


    I inspected the orb in greater detail. The orb was about the size of an adult mans fist, how could I tell the size of it that I did not know, and it glowed a beautiful bluish purple hue. The patterns on the orb were so intricate that it reminded me of a kaleidoscope.


    I suddenly felt a connection towards the orb.


    The feeling got stronger and stronger as my mind felt like it was bursting.


    Urk!?


    From the orb an immense amount of energy came flooding into my soul. The pain coming from the sheer amount of energy would have resulted in me fainting normally, but my situation is anything but normal. I couldn¡¯t emit any sound to express how much pain I was experiencing. I couldn¡¯t do anything but endure the increasing agony.


    A few moments pass before the pain finally subsided. I couldn¡¯t think straight and my vision was blurry. Soon I began to see shimmering particles quickly forming into a blue screen in front of me. Words quickly began to form on the screen. The words were not from any written language I knew of, although I didn¡¯t know the pattern of the written language but I was certain it wasn¡¯t from earth. What¡¯s more I could understand what was written in the screen.


    [Initializing¡­]


    Those words were not what I expected. It made it seems like this is some sort of computer program. Did the Demon Lords summon any programmers by any chance?


    Then the screen brightened up as the words changed.


    [Greetings, Dungeon Master Vorxes]


    Is this preprogrammed or is this some sort of A.I. I wonder? Right, Miss Victoria said that the Dungeon Core can analyze and store information.


    Dungeon Core, uh, do you have any idea what have I been reincarnated into?


    [Analyzing¡­]


    The core glowed brightly as it scanned the surroundings before responding to my question.


    [Analysis: Dungeon Master Vorxes has been reincarnated into a Dark Pool.]


    A what?


    [Dark Pool is a rank F monster. It is an extremely rare subspecies of slime, in the category of oozes. It is believed that Dark Pools are oozes that became too diluted in a small body of water and turned into a different species altogether.]


    [They cannot move locations unless the environment allows for such an action. They ambush small animals by changing their appearance into a normal pool of water and grab the unsuspecting that try to drink from it. They do not much strength to pull anything larger than a rabbit and their corrosive ability as oozes had weakened from being diluted making them a rather weak species of monster.]


    [They do not require much sustenance to survive and have special enzymes that keep prey in a suspended state as they extract the sustenance they require. Victims are subjected to endless pain and torment to provide sustenance as they lay conscious but paralyzed deep within the Dark Pools body.]


    So I¡¯m an animal torturing pool of watery slime? Would a rock have been a better choice? At least golems were a possible outcome. I¡¯m just basically a small body of water.


    So I¡¯m a Dark Pool, how can I see then?


    [Searching databanks¡­]


    [No results found.]


    [Analyzing¡­]


    [Inconclusive: Probable answer is magic.]


    It wasn¡¯t that important of a question anyways. Do I have a status like in a game, a numerical representation of my capabilities?Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    [Negative.]


    [Although Ranks have a similar purpose they are not of a numerical nature. Ranks were created by the reincarnated and scholars to determine which missions¡¯ adventurers can undertake through studies and examinations of monsters. The Demon Lords had also adopted these rankings and incorporated them into the A.I. of the Dungeon Cores with in depth knowledge of the monsters that the races of light do not possess.]


    Miss Victoria didn¡¯t mention anything about statuses as well. I remembered the first advice she said to me.


    ¡®This is not some kind of game. You will die if you don¡¯t take this seriously.¡¯


    I would die if I treated this like a game. It isn¡¯t, I will need to kill in order to not get killed in turn. That was the most important advice she gave me.


    It took me some time to collect my thoughts about everything that has happened.


    Dungeon Core, can you illuminate the surroundings?


    [Acknowledged]


    The Dungeon Core got brighter. Not as bright as when it activated but more like a light bulb. I remembered that it was at the bottom of the pool.


    I thought I didn¡¯t have a body because I couldn¡¯t feel anything, but it turns out that my body is just that of ooze and had diluted to the point that it became hard to notice. It took a while for me to get some control over my body and even more time to push the Dungeon Core up to the surface of the black water and keep it afloat. I was prepared to sink it down under in case I need to hide it again just to be on the safe side.


    As the light reached the surface I got see the surroundings very clearly. It looked like a small underground cave, I think this is underground. Of course it is, this is a dungeon in the making. The walls are grey and damp. There are small stalactites and stalagmites all around the cave.


    Dungeon Core, how large is this place?


    The Dungeon Core started scanning the small cave before answering my question.


    [Approximately 10 meters wide and 8 meters across, with the height of 4 meters]


    To note, I am the small pool of water in the middle of the cave, although it is not noticeable but the pool is five meters deep.


    So this is where I am going to live from now on, a stark contrast to Miss Victoria¡¯s grand Castle. Well I need to start somewhere and I will be able to build something like that as well. I need to survive first to be able to do that though. I am going to be building my dungeon starting from this location, so I need to lay a solid foundation for it.


    Dungeon Core what am I going to do to build the dungeon?


    [Gather miasma to increase the size of the dungeon]


    Oh, how do I gather miasma then?


    [Newly born Dungeon Cores will gather miasma slowly over time. Increasing the size of the dungeon will also increase the ability to gather miasma and capacity to store it.]


    And what is miasma exactly?


    [Miasma is the combination of mana and oxygen. Leaving the core in an oxygen rich environment will allow it to convert mana into miasma and slowly accumulating it over time, but this process is accelerated with the presence of living beings that have mana in their bodies that are inside the dungeon, such as the elves and humans. Corpses can also be converted into miasma more readily through decomposition.]


    Well other beings are not what I want inside the dungeon right now and those would provide the corpses too. How much mana do you have right now?


    [Analyzing¡­]


    [Current Mana: 4/100]


    [1 Mana is accumulated every hour]


    Judging from the current mana it has, I spent about four hours getting the control over my pool of a body and pushing the Dungeon Core up the pool. I didn¡¯t even realize that that much time had passed, maybe it is due to the way my new body works?


    How much mana does sculpting the dungeon use?


    [5 Mana can be used to sculpt 1 meter by 1 meter of earth]


    Creating the dungeon is going to take a long time waiting for all the mana needed to build it.


    Finding out that I had so much free time on my hands I started asking the Dungeon Core a lot of questions about the dungeon.


    From the questions that the core had answered the most surprising thing I found was that the dungeon is almost like a living being and the Dungeon Core is its most vital organ.


    The dungeon cores¡¯ primary ability is to collect and store mana from its surroundings, but mainly from the mana of the races that go inside the dungeon. The Dungeon Core converts the mana into a much denser form called miasma, this miasma is many times more concentrated than mana and is heavy enough to not disperse into the surroundings. And the dungeon acts as a storage space for this miasma to prevent it from escaping elsewhere.


    Sadly, to create the miasma other than mana, large quantities of oxygen are needed. This required the dungeons to always have an opening to the surface. Somewhat like lungs or maybe plant photosynthesis.


    As a newly formed Dungeon Core though, it did not require an opening by being small enough to sustain itself. I am roughly fifteen meters underground right now from the ceiling upwards with no opening to the surface. As the dungeon becomes large enough, a large opening would then be required. That means the moment the dungeon has a complete first floor it would have to have an opening large enough for a human to go through.


    If the dungeon core can¡¯t get oxygen for long enough then the death of the Dungeon Core would follow, which I find really weird for what is basically a rock. Luckily trying to block off a dungeon is near impossible and would require an astronomical amount of resources and time that it would not be viable.


    I stopped asking questions when the Dungeon Core started pulsating in short intervals and began to pump out a bit miasma.


    The miasma started eating away the soil surrounding the pool and the core until the small cave became a small sized cavern and the miasma slowly started filling it. The soil that remained became hard and no longer got corroded by the miasma; these became the walls for my Dungeon Core room.


    After looking at the walls of the Dungeon Core room, I wondered what would happen to animals that get into contact with miasma. So I asked.


    [Animals in contact with miasma will slowly become monsters if exposed for a long period of time or in large quantities and be under the control of the dungeon.]


    That seems interesting. Are there any bats or insects in the cave?


    [Negative. There are no creatures living in this cave. Scans suggest that this cave was created underground.]


    The Core scanned the cave then responded to my question. So I have a clean start at what monsters will inhabit my dungeon. Looking at it now, it seems the Core is some sort of A.I. like I previously thought. How did the Demon Lords make the Dungeon Cores?


    [Dungeon Master Vorxes is not authorized to know this information.]


    Of course it is.


    What if I create a small hole to the surface and attract small animals and insects. Would that work?


    [Warning! Creating a hole to the surface would alert any nearby adventurers to the presence of the dungeon. Do not attempt this action!]


    How? Why?


    [200 years ago a reincarnated individual by the name of George Fargho of the human race created a device that could locate dungeons by their distinctive mana signatures. This invention has been spread and adopted by all the races and kingdoms.]


    So it seems that I will have to create a dungeon first before any openings to the surface. That removes the option of using the local wildlife until I have a floor filled with monsters. Okay, how much mana does the core have now?


    [Analyzing¡­]


    [Current Mana: 10/120]


    [3 Mana is accumulated every hour]


    The amount of mana being gathered has risen. I hope it keeps rising because waiting days to be able to do something is pretty boring. One of the few things I miss in my old world was the technology and the wide selection of books to read. On the upside, being reincarnated into a Dark Pool has slowed down my sense of time considerably. Hours felt like minutes to me now.


    I noticed that the capacity had also increased, probably because the cave got a little bigger when the miasma started eating at the soil.


    How much mana do I need to reach the surface?


    [It will require approximately 75 mana points to reach the surface. It is advised not to create any connection to the surface until the dungeon has a fully functional floor.]


    I was just asking. I¡¯m not stupid enough to endanger my chance to be able to make humanity learn to stop being a bunch of greedy and selfish animals.


    [¡­]


    No response. It seems that the Core A.I. is only capable of answering questions.


    I¡¯ll wait until the mana is nearly full before creating some rooms. In that time I am going to start thinking about how the design of the dungeon¡¯s layout will look like.


    I think I have an advantage over many of the other candidates in this area. I fully remember that I have the hobby of creating maps and games. From the earliest days where I was coding WarCraft 3 maps in its map editor, creating large terrain and structures in Minecraft just to pass the time and made an 8-bit rogue-like in the Unity game engine that had a decent following. Most of the other candidates were murderers and psychopaths, so I doubt they would have such hobbies as I do.


    Miss Victoria also said that I could strengthen myself using the miasma the Dungeon Core gathers. So I let the Core A.I. examine my new body in greater detail as I waited for my mana to fill up. It did not take long before the examination was done.


    What did the examination find?


    [Dungeon Master Vorxes¡¯ body has been thoroughly examined. The type of ooze that the pool is comprised of is of the corrosive species. It is found that using miasma Dungeon Master Vorxes can activate and strengthen the corrosive trait. There is also a chance for new traits to appear as the Dungeon Master gets stronger.]


    Are there any side effects?


    [Negative. Dungeon Master Vorxes¡¯ body is made primarily from mana and negative energy. The constitution of the slime species also removes any possible negative side effects it may have.]


    So I could use the miasma to strengthen myself without any worries.


    [Affirmative, but the amount of miasma required to do so would delay the creation of the dungeon.]


    Strengthening my body before opening the dungeon seems like a good idea, even if it means delaying the creation of the dungeon. Is there anything I need to know if I do so?


    [Analyzing¡­]


    [Dungeon Master Vorxes¡¯ body can go without sustenance for a long period of time and that time will lengthen with the supplement of miasma. Aside from getting a late start than the other Dungeon Masters, there are no other found drawbacks to the suggested plan.]


    Would having a late start against the other candidates be a bad move?


    [Simulating scenario¡­]


    [Other Dungeon Masters that open their dungeons will be hindered by the adventurers and races that will be sent to counter the sudden influx of dungeons. Opening the dungeon in a later period will allow Dungeon Master Vorxes to pass that time frame where the races are at their highest state of alertness. This is only possible due to the type of monster Dungeon Master Vorxes had reincarnated into the species Dark Pool.]


    Hmn¡­ so being a pool of water does have its advantages. I will take it slowly and get stronger. Also call me Master from now on, Dungeon Master Vorxes is too long, and maybe I¡¯ll call you Sapphire as well.


    [Acknowledged, Master]

 Chapter 4 – The Foundations of a Dungeon Floor

    Chapter 4 ¨C The Foundations of a Dungeon Floor


    [Masters corrosive ability has been strengthened to Rank E]


    After two months of continuously strengthening myself with miasma, my corrosive ability as a Dark Pool has finally ranked up to E. It took a considerably long time to strengthen my corrosive ability to the state of a normal Corrosive Ooze, which is a low rank E monster. The volume of my body also increased as I consumed miasma but I just made a deeper hole in my spot so it isn¡¯t noticeable, the pool is now five and a half meters deep and a few centimeters wider.


    Sapphire informed me that she has a clock function so could tell how long it had been. I started to refer to Sapphire as a she almost immediately after I had given her a female name.


    I thought it would be an agonizing time but my sense of time has really slowed down compared to when I was a human. It hadn¡¯t even felt like a week had passed.


    Maybe it was because I am just a pool of water. I also didn¡¯t have any of the needs I had when I was a human. Oddly though, I could feel aroused and from time to time I get that tingling sensation I had when I was talking to Miss Victoria. Luckily those phases didn¡¯t last more than a minute. I had asked Sapphire about it and it said that slimes mature very quickly but there are no know cases of how Dark Pools reproduce, so that question is now pending.


    If the other candidates were reincarnated as a goblin or a similar kind of monster, then that person would have needed to open a dungeon after these first two months and would need to defend their dungeons from invaders soon. I on the other hand could continue being underground to collect my strength for many more months. But staying underground for that long would be unwise.


    After the first few months the candidates that would have survived will have created dungeons with multiple floors and I would be outmatched by the monsters they can produce in the event that they decide to attack mine.


    The adventurers would hinder the other candidates in the first few months, but that would begin to settle down after the adventurers had checked the dungeons if they were manageable and a viable source of income.


    The adventurers had probably found many of the dungeons of the other candidates by now. They would have about one large floor or two regular sized floors from the calculations of Sapphire. So that means I am a bit late, but I don¡¯t regret it though considering I could be classified as a special rank F monster now.


    Miss Victoria had explained what the ranks signified when she was giving me advice. These ranks were the basis for the Adventurer Guild to assess the strength of the monsters and the adventurers themselves, which the Demon Lords had a hand in creating. Sapphire had the information stored in the dungeon cores¡¯ databanks so I had no problem rereading the information.


    F Rank is the lowest possible rank. New adventurers with no knowledge of what they are doing are in this category, these people are most often given herb gathering assignments and not combat ones. The weakest of monsters such as the Horned Rabbits and Basic Slimes are low ranked F monsters. Bat and Rat types are mid ranked F monsters.


    E Rank is the next lowest rank. Green horn adventurers with some knowledge and fighting ability are in this rank. Goblins, Wolves and lesser Kobolds are ranked here for the monsters. F rank adventurers with decent equipment would be bolstered to this rank, many adventurers who use firearms are in this rank.


    D Rank is the most common rank. Many adventurers get stuck in this rank for many years before becoming C ranked ones. These people have some skill in combat and dungeon crawling. Monsters in this rank start to gain some form of magic or abilities. The warrior classes of the Goblins and Kobolds¡¯ are also in this rank.


    The higher ranks go on but I did not need to dwell on them right now.


    Special Rank means that a monster can exceed its ranks¡¯ combat power because it has an ability or skill of a higher rank or given the rarity of the encountered monster that no counter measure has been standardized yet.


    As a special F Rank monster, this means that I could potentially win against E rank adventurers given the right circumstances. I had also simulated fights and ambushing with the assistance of Sapphire in these two months, to the limits of how a pool of water could do so. I still can¡¯t move by body to a different place without sculpting the soil though.


    Now that I reached special rank F I felt that it was the right time to start expanding the dungeon. How much mana do I have now Sapphire?


    [Analyzing¡­]


    [Current Mana: 250/400]


    [10 Mana is accumulated every hour]


    I had created a few empty rooms and corridors to increase the miasma accumulation and capacity in the first month. Sapphire said that the other dungeons should have over fifty rooms and corresponding corridors by now, they would also have five times the generation and capacity I have right now. But the most pressing is that they would have stronger monsters they could make, while I will still be spawning F rank ones.


    I had also planned the layout of the dungeon extensively these past two months and I am now ready to begin creating the dungeon.


    Sapphire display the dungeons layout.


    [Affirmative]


    Sapphire showed an interface reminiscent of a computer program. The screen displayed a three dimensional layout of the dungeon showing the rooms and corridors that I had previously created.


    Let¡¯s begin creating the dungeon.


    Another month had passed since I started on fully creating the dungeon. The layout is nearly complete and I only needed to create the long corridor that will lead to the exit to finish the floor. I had Sapphire calculate how big I could create it without needing an entrance and my dungeon is near the threshold. My dungeon will need an entrance the moment I create the long corridor.


    I created about twenty small rooms as the main body comprising most of my dungeon, four medium sized rooms in between some of the smaller rooms with one at the base of the entrance and two large rooms in the middle and final sections of my dungeon. The final room will become the boss room and behind it is the Dungeon Core room where I and the Dungeon Core are placed.


    The size of the dungeon is lengthened by short corridors and a few long ones from room to room. There are a few loop corridors in a few sections and I added dead ends here and there. The walls of the dungeon became very hard from the miasma and would take considerable amount of time to dig through. The ceiling varies in height from four to six meters all around the dungeon.


    Primitive torchlight¡¯s¡¯ light up the walls along the rooms and pathways, they give a bit of visibility for the adventurers¡¯ line of sight but are dimmer near the floor and the ceiling. I would need to take torches or other forms of lighting from the adventurers when they leave them in the dungeon to improve the lighting. There is also the option of using light stones from the dungeon core archive but the cost for a single one is large.


    As for traps, because the Dungeon Core had insufficient materials to work with, the traps available were very crude and simple. These traps will likely be found with relative ease by the professions of scouts and rogues that the adventurers have so I didn¡¯t put too many resources in this area.


    I created a trap that creates a small uprooted rock when someone¡¯s foot is moving towards it. These will make many adventurers stub their toes or even end up spraining someone¡¯s ankle if they were unlucky. I call these toe traps and put then all over the dungeon because they were cheap to make and thought they were hilarious. They are actually pretty easy to find when walking but hard to notice if the person is in a hurry.


    There are a few places with falling rocks as traps, for those who would be unlucky or inattentive enough to activate those. They aren¡¯t really deadly but will hurt a lot which is what I was going for anyways. These are cheap as well. I also put in a bunch of dummy traps just to mess with the adventurers. Now the only thing missing is the monsters that will occupy my dungeon.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    And while I was creating the dungeon, I was still slowly strengthening myself and the volume of my body has slowly increased. The pool is now seven meters deep and a bit wider. My corrosive ability was getting more potent and I had also become powerful enough to create slime tentacles, which were about two meters long and could pull a light person off their feet. This has put me at the peak of special F rank.


    As for the monsters that would inhabit these rooms, I had already checked what kind of monsters I could summon and I can only create F rank monster to inhabit my dungeon floor right now. I can start creating stronger monsters when the miasma becomes denser and that will only happen when I create deeper floors.


    Sapphire can you show me the list of base monsters I could create.


    [Initializing monster manual¡­]


    [Current Mana: 145/1500]


    [40 Mana is accumulated every hour]


    [Currently Available Monsters: Rank F]


    [Basic Slime ¨C Mana Cost: 30 per monster]


    [Horned Rabbit ¨C Mana Cost: 40 per monster]


    [Corrosive Slime ¨C Mana Cost: 40 per monster]


    [Dungeon Bat ¨C Mana Cost: 60 per monster]


    [Dungeon Rat ¨C Mana Cost: 80 per monster]


    [Living Skeleton ¨C Mana Cost: 20 per monster]


    [Goblin ¨C Mana Cost: 100 per monster]


    [Dungeon Spider ¨C Mana Cost: 200 per monster]


    [Dungeon Frog ¨C LOCKED]


    These are the only base monsters I could create. The location of the dungeon had a massive impact on what kind of monsters it can spawn in the beginning.


    Sapphire had scanned the soil around the dungeon and found traces of the animal corpses which unlocked the Horned Rabbit, Dungeon Bat, Dungeon Rat, and Dungeon Spider monsters. The Dungeon Frog is considered a mid E Rank monster and requires the dungeon to have a larger miasma threshold, so it is still locked.


    The Slime and Corrosive Slime were unlocked because I was a Dark Pool which was a variant of slime; I don¡¯t know why the oozes weren¡¯t available though.


    Goblins are made of miasma are a considered as lesser demons and are unlocked when I had reached a certain threshold of miasma. Living Skeleton is an undead class monster that was unlocked not long ago when Sapphire found a human¡¯s skeleton deep underground. I could also spent miasma to equip it with armor and weapons but the only thing available right now is a bone club which costs 5 points of miasma.


    The kinds of monsters I could create will increase as the miasma density gets thicker or if the local animals and monsters wander into the dungeon. I could alter these base monsters with miasma to get certain traits and abilities but they cannot exceed the power of an F rank monster as of yet.


    Now to chose what to spawn in the first floor of my dungeon. Sapphire bring up the information of the monsters.


    [Acknowledged, Master]


    Basic Slimes ¨C A small gelatinous ball with a core inside of it. They are low F Rank monsters and are slow moving and have a very pronounced weak point. Basic slimes could slowly digest any material they come into contact with and could evolve into a variety of species when they consume enough of a certain material or be exposed to an environment. They will eat anything they could find and would multiply when they consume enough matter.


    Horned Rabbits ¨C are small rabbits with a horn on their heads. They use these to ram into anything they find threatening. They have strong hind legs that make them fast and agile but these monsters are fragile and can¡¯t take hits. They could burrow into the dungeon walls to create nests and have a good reproduction rate. They live mostly off of grass but will eat any kind of vegetation they could find. They are low F Rank monsters.


    Corrosive Slimes ¨C These are the corrosive variant of the Basic Slime at mid F Rank. They are nearly the same as the Basic Slime except they could corrode anything they come into contact with much faster than the Basic Slimes. Like the Basic Slimes though they would eat anything and asexually reproduce when they eat enough material to duplicate themselves.


    Dungeon Bats ¨C are flying creatures roughly the size of a man¡¯s head. They will make nests on high ceilings in groups and live on the blood of other creatures. These monsters live and attack in groups making them a troublesome monster. These are low F Rank monsters when alone but reach up to mid F Rank in swarms.


    Dungeon Rats ¨C are the size of a decently sized dog. These monsters can create tunnels and nests along the walls of the dungeon. They have a very fast reproduction rate. Fully grown Dungeon Rats have large claws and a decent bite force but they cannot take too many hits before dying. They are omnivorous and will eat nearly anything. These monsters are mid F Rank.


    Living Skeletons ¨C They are the reanimated corpses of the races. They are considered as mid F Rank monsters but the rating gets higher the better equipped they are, reaching mid E Rank. They cannot reproduce.


    Goblins ¨C These monsters are the size of a ten year old child. The dungeon variety tends to live in small groups and can learn to use weapons and simple tactics. They have an average rate of reproduction when compared to the animal type monsters. A lone goblin is considered mid F Rank but a small group can even reach mid E Rank.


    Dungeon Spiders ¨C are one of the strongest F Rank monsters, being peak F Rank. This species of spider has become adapted to living inside dungeons and have become larger than a grown man. They are solitary monsters that use hard and sticky webs to immobilize their prey. They take longer to reproduce but lay numerous eggs. Although only a fraction of these eggs will survive long enough to reach adulthood.


    After reading through this information I realized that most monsters in the dungeon will each other monsters as food. Thinking about it now, why do these monsters even need to eat? They are made with miasma so shouldn¡¯t they be fine without food?


    [Answer: They can use miasma to live but the consumption of a dungeon full of monsters will consume large amounts of miasma that could have been used by the Dungeon Master. This has prompted the Demon Lords to find an alternate source of sustenance for the monsters leading to the creation of a food chain for monsters.]


    So is this why they cost so much per monster, was it because they could reproduce on their own and create a living ecosystem in the dungeon?


    [Affirmative]


    That¡¯s cool. That explains why the Living Skeletons are so cheap. It¡¯s because they can¡¯t reproduce. But do they need to eat though?


    [Negative. But they can absorb the negative energy from the suffering of the races to become stronger.]


    With the right plan an undead dungeon would be good. If my dungeon is located far from the races of Ralos then Undead or the Goblins, which are considered lesser Demons, would have been a good choice for monsters. Sadly, I do not know where I am currently seeing as I am still underground.


    Removing Goblin and Living Skeleton from my already limited choices leaves me with the animal type monsters and the slimes. At least the animal types that I had have some form of hierarchy to them, which would make creating the ecosystem easier.


    Sapphire what do I need to start the ecosystem on the first floor?


    [This task had originally been assigned to the Dungeon Core by the Demon Lords, Master.]


    Oh, right. The majority of the candidates would not have cared much for something like this. You can do what you have been tasked Sapphire, I will be observing.


    [Master, I will begin distributing the vegetation that will act as a base for the ecosystem. There are two kinds of grasses, four kinds of mushrooms, and a species of vine available in the dungeon cores database. Two of the mushroom types are used in potion creation and another type is poisonous, will these be allocated all over the dungeon floor?]


    Distribute the vegetation as you see fit, but increase the number of the usable mushrooms by a ratio of 2:1 with the poisonous ones.


    [Affirmative]


    Half a day later Sapphire had laid out the vegetation of the floor. Admittedly, most of it was mushrooms. If I want to get more variety in flora I will need to take it from the area surrounding but that would require the entrance to be opened.


    Now that the plants have been set, I¡¯ll create a batch of each of the monsters as a test run.


    I started by creating both Basic Slimes and Corrosive Slimes in groups inside the Dungeon Core room. They immediately separated and started wandering aimlessly around the dungeon and would eat the mushrooms when they found them. They all had the habit of going onto the walls and ceilings of dead end tunnels and narrow corridors where they go inactive or maybe they go to sleep? It may sound boring but I actually found watching them wander around enjoyable, like watching fish swim about in a fish tank.


    After watching the slimes go to the dead end tunnels for a few hours, I wouldn¡¯t have realized that it had been that long if not for Sapphire giving me an alert, I created a group of the Horned Rabbits.


    The rabbits actually moved in a group immediately towards a room near the entrance of the dungeon where a large patch of grass and edible mushrooms were and started digging a hole in a secluded part of the wall. I guess they instinctively know that they were low on the food chain so they created their nest far from the deeper parts of the dungeon.


    Sapphire can you increase the production of that type of mushrooms when close to a rabbit nest when they create one? I might forget later on.


    [Acknowledged, Master]


    I didn¡¯t wait for the rabbits to finish their nest before creating a batch of Dungeon Bats. After summoning them they quickly left the core room and settled in the large room in the middle of the dungeon. That place had the highest ceiling and had barely any light from the primitive torches along the walls, so I guess it was the perfect place for them.


    I increased the ceiling height there and in another few places in the dungeon where I wanted the bats to occupy. And I also created a few crevices for the slimes to hide in, in those dead end tunnels they seem to like inhabiting.


    I immediately started creating a batch of Dungeon Rats. These rats separated into groups of two and moved all over the dungeon. I guess they found mates already. They started creating tunnels to make nests of their own. It is going to take awhile for things to get going.


    Sapphire increase the mushroom production near rat nests as well.


    [Acknowledged, Master]


    I actually needed to wait a few days to be able to create the Dungeon Spiders, Five of them to be exact and each one of them cost two hundred mana.


    The moment I spawned the spiders I could immediately tell the male and female apart. The females were larger and had darker fur than the smaller male spiders. The largest female actually stared at where I and the Dungeon Core were and stood still for awhile. When a male approached this female something strange happened.


    When the female Dungeon Spider realized the male was approaching, it immediately attacked the smaller spider. The male was surprised by the sudden aggression of the female that it couldn¡¯t fight back and ended up being ripped to shreds. The female didn¡¯t even eat the corpse of its kind and made an odd screeching noise before climbing up the edge of the Dungeon Core room and making a spider web there while the rest of the spider monsters left the core room.


    Uh¡­ Sapphire, what was that all about?


    [...]


    [Analyzing¡­]


    [Searching¡­]


    [Search found nothing. No known answer to the behavior of the female Dungeon Spider has been previously recorded.]


    Hmm¡­ Oh, female spiders only let male spiders get near them in mating season. And they also try to eat them then as well. But this one just ignored it instead of eating it. Maybe it¡¯s not hungry yet? I forgot all about that detail on spiders. That was mana wasted on a Dungeon Spider. At least the spider¡¯s corpse returned twenty mana to the dungeon.


    Sapphire remind not to spawn Dungeon Spiders together.


    [Acknowledged, Master]


    I¡¯ll let this one live here then, the room felt rather empty anyways. Let¡¯s call you Sheila.


    Now let¡¯s see how the monsters do inside the dungeon.

 Chapter 5 – Ecological Improvements

    It had been two weeks since I spawned the monsters to live in and guard the first floor. The monsters had completely adapted to the rooms and corridors. Surprisingly the sudden outbursts of arousal that I would occasionally feel had stopped occurring since the time I had added the monsters into the dungeon.


    The Basic Slimes had multiplied to about twice their original number from consuming mushrooms while the Corrosive Slimes had only increased by two to three more. These slimes live alongside each other and eat the mushrooms at the same rate, I guess the Corrosive Slimes cannot duplicate as often as the Basic Slimes due to their strong corrosive traits.


    I found that the animal type monster¡¯s offspring mature at a very quick rate. The Horned Rabbits born a week ago had grown into adults and had migrated to another location. The new batch of Horned Rabbits had created another nest somewhere with an abundance of mushrooms. This nest was also close to the entrance.


    These rabbits now occupy most of the rooms and corridors in the early parts of the floor, I also approved of the Horned Rabbits as the first monsters that the adventurers would face in my dungeon. The ten or so rooms and corridors close to the entrance have effectively become their territory. They wander these places alone or in pairs as they guard their nests and search for food.


    The Giants Bats had an average increase in numbers and a few had moved to the places where I heightened the ceilings. The bats occupy certain points in the floor and move about to search for prey in almost all the rooms and corridors. They hunt alone when far from their nests but would attack in groups if provoked close to them. These hunt the Horned Rabbits and have skirmishes against the Giant Rats on a few occasions.


    The Giant Rats had the most population growth of the monsters. The original four pairs that created nests in the dungeon had increased to about twenty five in number. Although the offspring increased the size of the nests and they didn¡¯t make new ones. The size threshold of my dungeon is starting to reach the limit because of all the rat tunnels they keep making. They eat mostly mushrooms but would occasionally attack Horned Rabbits that stray too deep into the dungeon.


    Because the only Giant Spider I have won¡¯t leave the dungeon core room, I like having her company though. I had to create a few other Giant Spiders which I spawned in separate parts of the dungeon at a time. These ones created their nests in the deepest parts of the floor where the miasma gather the most and hunt mostly the Giant Rats and Bats. The Horned Rabbits were too far away from their nests to attack, which meant that the adventurers near the entrance wouldn¡¯t have to worry about being attacked by these monsters. Adventurers moving in the middle parts of the floor would occasionally encounter a Giant Spider on the hunt if they are unlucky enough.


    If the population of one of the monster species gets too low then Sapphire is tasked with spawning original ones from mana to regulate it. And if the population grows too large I could order the Dungeon Core activate the built in mechanism in the monsters that will disintegrate the monster cores to deduce the population.


    And in these two weeks I had been continuing my routine of using miasma to strengthen myself.  The pool is now ten meters deep and a few meters wide below the surface. The tentacle like limbs that I have had gotten slightly stronger and the pool now has a small paralyzing effect on contact. But I will stop the routine for now because I am going to start altering the monsters in the dungeon.


    I won¡¯t alter the Horned Rabbits and Slimes so the low ranked adventurers wouldn¡¯t get surprised by altered monsters as they delve the early parts of the dungeon floor. I don¡¯t have any plans for the Giants Bats yet and the Giant Spiders are strong as they could be for a Rank F monster and cannot be altered.


    This leaves the Giant Rats. I already had ideas on a variation of these rats when I was watching them take control of most of the floor. The Giant Rats are the most common monster in this floor so I decided to add some new types that the adventurers will fight as they move through the rooms.


    Sapphire implement the plans for the Rat variants.


    [Are you sure Master?]


    Yes, I¡¯m positive.


    [Acknowledged]


    As I watched a screen that showed one of the rat nests, the Dungeon Core glowed brightly as it exuded out a large amount of miasma. Sheila made a few screeching noises as she was startled by it but calmed down quickly afterwards.


    The screen showed the Giant Rats being enveloped by thick miasma for a moment. The rats instinctively knew that something was going to happen and they immediately went back to their nests and started hibernating.


    Within two days the rats had woken up.


    Many of the Giant Rats stayed the same. Of course I won¡¯t change all of them. I was just planning on creating some variety in the rats and I altered the genes that all the rats had to spawn the altered ones once in a while. Two of the Giant Rats had larger teeth than the others. It seemed this nest had the affinity for this variant for two to appear already.


    I named this variant Razorfang. These Giant Rats only had one difference to the normal ones they had larger and sharper teeth. These ones are straight forward, they hit harder than normal ones. They appear once in every fifty Giant Rats born.


    I switched the view of the screen to a different nest as the rats were coming out of it. The first one that went out of a nest was an altered Giant Rat, it was slightly small than a normal one and had faint horizontal stripes on its fur.


    These are what I designed as the Leaper variant. They are more agile and nimble than a normal Giant Rat but can¡¯t take as many hits. Their name comes from their ability to leap at a target from a meter away. This ability is was designed as a initiation move, a Leaper will latch on to an adventurer and the rest of the Giant Rats will follow, adventurers that come across these should remember what they do from their smaller size and the stripes they have or they will likely end up in a dangerous situation. These guys appear once in every fifty Giant Rats born.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Another one came out of the nest that the Leaper came out of. This one was larger than the normal ones and looked rugged in appearance. These are called the Armored variant. Their fur had hardened and infused with soil that they are able to take more hits and are slightly resistant to magic. These act more of a tank for the rats. To compensate for its defenses they are slower and less intelligent than normal Giant Rats. These appear once about every seventy five offspring.


    I changed the view again, this time still inside a nest. One of the rats was digging fast at a tunnel. This variant is called a Burrower.


    These rats are not the combat type and their primary role is to dig tunnels that the other types will go through to use in surprise attacks. These don¡¯t have any combat ability with claws and teeth meant for digging, but their role poses a threat to adventurers. The Burrowers will make half created tunnels to the walls and wait for adventurers to pass by before completing them, thereby blocking off the path they came from unless they kill the Giant Rats that came along with the Burrower. As the adventurers learn more about the kinds of rats this variant will surely be killed on sight because of how threatening their ability is and to compensate they appear only once out of every two hundred.


    There are three variant that didn¡¯t appear right away. They are the Needlefur, the Shinyfinder and the Pack Rat.


    The Needlefur is the only ranged variety and is currently the only ranged monster implemented into the dungeon. From its name it is easy to guess what it uses as a ranged attack. Their furs are hardened needles and will attack from a distance while other kinds of Giant Rats charge from the front. These are easily identified due to looking like a spiky Giant Rat. They only appear once in every one hundred and fifty rats born.


    The Shinyfinder is a variant that would fixate on a shiny object and steal it if it is carried by an adventurer. This variant will be known by its shinning blue eyes. Adventurers should be wary of using their items because Shinyfinders would snatch them and run away to a tunnel and escape with it. These are rare though with a once in a three hundred chance.


    The Pack Rat is the rarest variant appearing in a one in four hundred chance and only one will exist at a time. These are like a weaker version of a normal Giant Rat except for one thing. They are smart enough that they could lead other rats in using some form of tactics. I had designed them to make full use of the Armored, Needlefur and Burrower variants. With a Pack Rat and a group of other rats, there is a good chance to take down a group of adventurers if they are inexperienced.


    But it will take some time for these to spawn and I will just have to wait.


    *             *             *


    It has almost been five months since I had been reincarnated. Because of the tunnels that the monsters keep making, the dungeon will be forced to create an entrance in a week. Luckily the first floor had already been completed and only needed an entrance.


    The Giant Rat variants hadn¡¯t made too much of an impact on the other monsters.


    The Horned Rabbits had learned not to venture into the deeper rooms and corridors after a few had been killed by a Razorfang that spotted them. The Leapers would occasionally take down a Giant Bat but many normal Giant Rats are killed by the bats in turn. The Armored Giant Rat could only eat mushrooms because of their large size and are a favorite of the Giant Spiders to hunt.


    The Giant Spiders are still on top of the food chain, demonstrating this when a group of Giant Rats led by a Razorfang attacked a spider nest only for the entire group to be wrapped up for later consumption.


    Speaking of consumption, Sheila won¡¯t leave the Dungeon Core room to hunt for prey. It seems to understand that it might not be able to get back here if it left. How can we deal with this then?


    [Suggestion: Termination of rogue monster.]


    Do you not like Sheila or something?


    [The presence of the rogue Giant Spider monster was not in any of the plans proposed and laid out by Dungeon Master Vorxes.]


    I like having Sheila here though. It¡¯s good for my mental health to at least have a pet. I¡¯ve already named her and she seems docile towards me. Where¡¯s the problem?


    [The rogue monster refuses to go out and hunt for food and has now reached a state of starvation.]


    How can we get Sheila to hunt for food?


    [Suggestion: Allow the Core A.I., Sapphire, to make the rogue monster follow its commands and create a nest outside of the Dungeon Core room.]


    Hmn this is the first time Sapphire had been responding like this, the A.I. had felt more human to interact with over the course of these few months.


    I¡¯ll allow you to try and convince the spider to move out.


    [Affirmative]


    I don¡¯t know how Sapphire and Sheila were communicating but I could see that Sheila wasn¡¯t listening to any of Sapphires commands. Although the Core A.I. had some control over the dungeon and monsters, it didn¡¯t have any effect on the strange spider.


    Later that day, I couldn¡¯t help but feed Sheila some miasma when I saw her writhing in hunger. She let out happy screeches when I fed her the miasma.


    [Master, please refrain from feeding the rogue monster.]


    [The success of the Core A.I., Sapphire¡¯s attempts will lessen greatly with the inclusion of Dungeon Master Vorxes actions.]


    Sapphire suddenly said on screen. I was a bit surprised, I thought the A.I. only responded to questions or alert me in an emergency. And I don¡¯t consider this one an emergency, really.


    [Please refrain from intrusive actions in the task the A.I. is performing.]


    Okay, okay. I understand.


    With the opening of the dungeon close at hand, I am now putting in the final touches in the first floor.


    The first on the list was the Floor Boss of the first floor. The Floor Boss will be situated in the end of a floor that will prevent any intruders from getting to the next floor, or in my case the Dungeon Core room, unless it is defeated.


    Sapphire had said that I could set a monster living in the floor to be that floors Floor Boss. The monster set as the Floor Boss will become one rank stronger and would enhance its traits. Meaning the monster in the boss room would be Rank E and would be stronger and harder to take down than when it wasn¡¯t the Floor Boss.


    Sapphire had also suggested that we use Sheila as the Floor Boss, but it wouldn¡¯t work because Sheila still wouldn¡¯t leave the core room. Sheila had apparently learned how to consume the miasma as food herself and no longer listened to anything Sapphire might command.


    [Master¡¯s actions had resulted in this outcome. By feeding the rogue Giant Spider miasma it had learned to consume the miasma autonomously and no longer needed to hunt for food. Please refrain from any impulsive actions in the future.]


    I don¡¯t remember you being naggy when I reincarnated.


    [From the observation of the Core A.I., Sapphire, Dungeon Master Vorxes¡¯ thought process and actions had slowly become more impulsive as time went by. As the Core A.I. of my Master¡¯s dungeon it is my duty to protect my Master from any harm, even from himself.]


    I will keep that in mind.


    But I need to decide on what have as the Floor Boss because I will open the entrance to the dungeon very soon.


    [Suggestion: Use rogue Giant Spider as the first floors Floor Boss.]


    No, we have had this same discussion a few times already. And Sheila won¡¯t leave the core room so even if she became the Floor Boss it would be wasting it when she is in here with the Dungeon Core. Do you have any other suggestions?


    [Processing¡­]


    [Suggestion:  The majority of monsters on the first floor are the Giant Rats and their variations, a Giant Rat as the Floor Boss would be a logical choice.]


    Hmn¡­ I like the idea, some kind of Rat King as the Floor Boss of the first floor. This will also create a feeling of structure in the floor for the adventurers. I¡¯m still planning on altering the Giant Bats a bit though, but let¡¯s begin with the Floor Boss for now.


    I chose the Razorfang variant of the Giant Rats to be the Floor Boss of the first floor. I saw one of the Razorfangs leading a group of Giant Rats to attack a Giant Spider Nest. Although they all got killed by the Giant Spider, the way the Razorfang charged in with the other rat monsters in front looked gallant. So when the idea of a Rat King got suggested, that charging Razorfang was the first that came to my mind.


    Not a king that commanded his generals and grand armies to do his bidding, but a king that fought alongside his men bravely. I created an original Razorfang from miasma inside the room that will become the boss room.


    Sapphire turn this one into the Floor Boss.


    [Are you certain Master?]


    Yes, I am certain.


    [Acknowledged]


    The Razorfang began to glow and then grow in size. After a few moments the glow disappeared and the rat monster had turned into the Floor Boss as the Rat King. It gave a howl that reverberated across the dungeon signaling its arrival.


    It was twice its original size and its fangs were visibly sharper. The claws on its feet were also longer and the muscles on its legs were thicker making it quick even with such a large body. The fur it had was as thick as those of the Armored variants and a bit more resistant to magic as well. Although it wasn¡¯t tanky for a Floor Boss it made up for in its attack power and speed. But this isn¡¯t where its main strength lies.


    After a while about a dozen Giant Rats came into the boss room and bowed before the Rat King. There was an Armored variant and a Razorfang while the rest were normal Giant Rats. These will be the Rat Kings royal guards. The Rat King is weak for a Floor Boss but it has a group of other rat monsters to protect it. They look majestic for a bunch of rat monsters.


    The adventurers will need to overcome a group of monsters with a strong capable leader before they can get deeper into the dungeon. Of course strong adventurers could probably solo the entire group but this isn¡¯t meant for those people. This will be a test for the low ranked adventurers¡¯ teamwork, and a contest of leadership.


    Of course the final guardian of the Dungeon Core is me, a special rank E monster disguised as a pool of water. I will count in Sheila too.


    The next thing on the list is the rewards the dungeon will give.

 Chapter 6 – Unique Rank E Monster

    The next thing on the list is the reward system.


    Miss Victoria had said that a dungeon should give the explorers who delve into them some form of profit in doing so. The early floors should give just enough loot for the low ranked adventurers to come back to the dungeon for more, while the deeper floors should give out large amounts of valuable loot for those who are brave and capable enough to bring them back to the surface.


    One of the things she mentioned was that many of the kingdoms and territories that find dungeons they want to keep will give those dungeons a chest full of coins and other valuable items. That chest will be the basis for the main source of income the people will receive from the dungeon, as the dungeons will replicate the valuables and have them drop along with the monster cores from the corpses of defeated monsters.


    This relationship between most of the kingdoms and the dungeons had been the product of hundreds of years of manipulation by the Demon Lords over the Adventurer Guilds of the races.


    All the dungeon monsters also have monster cores filled with mana that would drop upon their deaths. These monster cores are valued and used for many purposes by the races with larger cores being more valuable.


    I also implemented a system where the monsters will sometimes drop some part of their body along with the monster cores and the loot. This system was suggested by Miss Victoria as a good way to make the rewards given by the monsters easier to manage.


    This system does this by having the monsters drop a body part, which would have just dissipated into a bit of miasma, as loot instead of replicating rewards with pure mana, thereby lessening the amount of mana used for creating rewards.


    This drop system had already been implemented since the monsters were spawned in the dungeon a month ago, but it was set to only work when the adventurers are the ones defeating the monsters because the monsters kill other monsters mainly for food and not for treasure.


    When a monster kills another monster in the dungeon, the body remains intact allowing the predator to consume the corpse of the prey as food. But when an adventurer kills a monster, the corpse quickly dissipates into the dungeon as left over miasma leaving only the monster core and the loot it had dropped behind.


    Horned Rabbits are set to sometimes drop their horns or pelts along with other loot while the slimes will always drop their slime cores, which are a combination of a monster core and the slimes body, but nothing else. The horn and slime cores are often used in alchemy and potion making.


    The newly added Swarm and Dark Bats would drop practically nothing, albeit fingernail sized monster cores. The Giant and Echo Bats will drop their fangs and wing membranes if they aren¡¯t damaged when defeating them. The Screecher Bats will drop better versions of what the Giant and Echo Bats will drop.


    The hide, claws and teeth would occasionally drop from the Giant Rats and stronger versions of the drops for defeating the variants. While the Giant Spiders would certainly drop a web sack, which are good for making fine clothing or equipment that uses silk.


    The Rat King will drop either its pelt or front teeth as additional loot when it is defeated. The pelt can be crafted into armor that will have decent protection and magic resistance. The teeth can be made into sharp but incredibly light daggers.


    Of course the primary rewards that will be given by the dungeon will come from the chest the evaluators from an adventurer guild will give me, my luck isn¡¯t that bad to be spawned in a place that the adventurer guilds have no influence in right?


    In the time that we were making the dungeon I had been asking Sapphire many more questions about the dungeon. I had found a lot of important information from the answers I had received.


    Apparently, the races have a device that could track the general location of where the Dungeon Core is in the dungeon. All thanks to another one of the reincarnators the races had summoned a few hundred years ago. I also found that trying to move the Dungeon Core to a different location would require massive amounts of mana, my current maximum mana capacity isn¡¯t even a quarter of the cost, and all of the other functions cannot be used while it is being moved.


    But the feeling of weakness has forced me into implementing a last stand plan in case the people who clear my dungeon have any desire on taking the core.


    This is the last thing on the list.


    To be honest, my dungeon feels kind of weak as a whole and that is to be expected from a dungeon with only one floor in it. And I did what I could to strengthen the dungeon in these few months. Judging from Sapphire¡¯s estimates the other candidates dungeons would have two to three floors and could probably spawn peak rank E monsters now, maybe even D rank monsters.


    Well, if they hadn¡¯t been killed off.


    I might also have been a bit too confident in my ability to make the dungeon and monsters stronger with my improvements. Game design was just my hobby in the end.


    I started creating many hidden floor traps filled with Corrosive Slime inside the Dungeon Core room, what¡¯s different about these traps from normal floor traps is that they aren¡¯t there the first time people come close to them. I instructed Sapphire to replace the floor with the traps after they have been walked over. Of course, experts and the attentive would notice something was amiss but this is the limit of what kind of traps I can currently install.


    There were a few empty rooms surrounding the Dungeon Core room, I had installed these rooms in the first month after I had reincarnated to increase the mana accumulation. I created a batch of rat monsters and the mushrooms they will feed on in the rooms. I then sealed the corridors leading to the rooms with a thin layer of soil. When attackers try to take the core I will quickly destroy these thin walls to let out the monsters hiding behind them.


    With this, the Dungeon Core room can at least fend off any attackers that might come. But if a lot of adventurers attack or if they are a strong D rank then I am done for.


    * * *


    I had been letting Sheila consume the miasma in the room as she desired, which she happily did and watching her sway as she moved around the room was a rather relaxing sight. Although my body doesn¡¯t get tired, my mind does. The fact that the dungeon is going to open to the surface has been giving a lot of mental stress lately. Seeing Sheila like that was helping in relieving the stress.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Sapphire had been telling me to stop indulging Sheila though, but I had been telling her that it was for the experiment that I was conducting. And that wasn¡¯t just an excuse, mostly.


    As Giant Spiders were already at the peak of F Rank, consuming the miasma finally pushed Sheila into E Rank.


    Sheila could evolve into an E rank monster despite the F rank cap because she did it by consuming the miasma herself. I can¡¯t forcibly increase a monsters rank but when the monster does it on its own then it will get stronger and evolve once it reaches a higher rank.


    This was a loophole in the system that Miss Victoria had told me about, although she told me about it more as a precaution of monsters born with more intelligence than they should have and how they would disrupt the balance of the dungeon by becoming stronger than what the floor it is on should have. Realizing that Sheila had greater intelligence when she refused to listen to Sapphire, I decide to test the loophole.


    Sheila was shrouded by light and glowed for a few moments as she finally evolved.


    Sheila¡¯s body became a bit larger, her legs had lengthened and her body color turned completely black. The eight eyes she had were now golden instead of the red that the Giant Spiders had, now shinning with greater understanding than before.


    Sheila dropped from the ceiling and on to the floor then started swaying from side to side as if dancing.


    Uh¡­


    What did Sheila turn into exactly?


    [Scanning¡­]


    [Rogue Giant Spider has evolved into a Shadow Arachnid, a unique E Rank monster. Shadow Arachnids are widely known for their stealth abilities and intelligence. They can hide incredibly well even in just mere shadows and are practically invisible in the darkness. They ambush solitary prey and trap them with hardened threads and drag them to their nests. These monsters are low on the rankings because they do not have much attacking power and vitality but due to their superior stealth ability and intellect they are given a unique prefix in rank.]


    ¡®SCREEEEEEEEEEEE¡¯


    Sheila was screeching in happiness.


    She probably evolved into a monster with a stealth attribute because she had been living in pure darkness since she was spawned. And Sheila turned into a Shadow Arachnid because of it and her unusually high intelligence.


    Did I forget to mention that I don¡¯t have any torches in the Dungeon Core room? I didn¡¯t install any torches here in the first place because I thought they were unnecessary. I could see in the dark just fine. Sapphire can see everything inside the dungeon because she is the A.I. of the Dungeon Core. And Sheila can see in the dark because, well, she is a dungeon spider.


    Sheila came up to the pool and stared at me in anticipation. I could instinctively feel her eyes on me, not the Dungeon Core, but on me. She seemed to be waiting for something.


    Hmmn¡­


    I created a slime tentacle and tried to pat the spider¡¯s head. Sheila murmured in delight as I patted her head, after a decent amount of patting she started jumping around the room but when she realized what she was doing, she turned invisible and hid in her nest.


    That¡¯s a cute reaction.


    Hehehe¡­


    [¡­]


    ¡­


    Anyways, now that the final touches have been made and with Sheila becoming a E rank monster that will protect the Dungeon Core room, we can now create the entrance to the surface!


    [Master, what about the plan to alter the Giant Bats?]


    Oh right, now that my experiment with Shiela had worked better than I expected I can use the plan I thought of on the bats. I was just ecstatic about having another higher rank monster defending the core room that I forgot.


    Thanks for the assistance Sapphire.


    [¡­]


    [It is my duty to serve the Dungeon Master]


    ¡­


    heh


    I feel a lot better now.


    We have about two days left to alter the Giant Bats before an entrance to the surface is forcefully created by the dungeon. The Giant Bats are the only flying monsters I currently have and they are the only other monster I can alter right now aside from the Giant Rats, which I had already worked on.


    To reiterate: The Giant Spiders are already at the peak of F rank and I had already decided on keeping the Horned Rabbits and Slimes the same so that the low ranked adventurers don¡¯t get killed in the early parts of the floor by having no knowledge of the monsters they will be fighting.


    Unlike the Giant Rats I am not planning on creating a large number of variants that will appear by chance for the bat monsters, instead I plan on creating an experimental hierarchy system based on the length that the bats will live for. This is an experiment. Sapphire and I will be monitoring the monsters and will act accordingly after seeing any of the results.


    Many of the bats that will be born from the current Giant Bats will be the size to that of a regular bat from earth. The current Giant Bats will breed this new type for a few months to act as a buffer to allow the new generations of the weaker bat monsters to create a stable population, after that the Giant Bats will spawn regular Giant Bat offspring. The small bat monsters will be starting form of the bat monsters that I will name Swarm Bats.


    These Swarm Bats would be ranked a very low F when they are found and recorded by the adventurers. They do not have much in attacking power, speed or vitality. Instead they will move and attack in swarms. Depending on who they are attacking they may even have the upper hand, a swordsman for example will have a hard time trying to take on a swarm while a mage with a fireball spell would probably have an easier time.


    Any Swarm Bat that lives for more than a few months will turn into the next phase called the Dark Bats. Dark Bats will move with Swarm Bats but would prioritize any weak points they find on the prey the swarm is attacking. These bats have sharper fangs and more powerful wings than the Swarm Bats but have roughly the same vitality. They look relatively the same as their lower tier kind except for being slightly larger.


    The next phase after the Dark Bats is the Echo Bats. The Dark Bats will turn into these when they live for more than half a year. These bats are roughly the same as the current Giant Bats in size and strength but with one difference, the Echo Bats have an ability.


    They have the ability to induce a slight headache to a target with high frequency sound waves, although it can only be used for a few seconds before needing a few hours of rest for the Echo Bat to be able to use it again. This short use ability may seem rather weak but a single lapse in concentration could cost the adventurers their lives. These hunt alone or in small groups of Echo Bats like the current Giant Bats do.


    The last phase is called the Screecher Bat. To become a Screecher Bat, Echo Bats need to consume a large amount of blood from the races or other monsters to evolve. When these bats are spawned they would be same rank as the Giant Spiders being peak F rank. They are larger and tougher than the Echo Bats. They can command Swarm Bats to aid them in hunting, these also have a stronger version of the Echo Bats ability that can be used continuously for a minute and need a few hours to be usable again.


    The Screecher Bats would behave like a leader for the bats and will take control of a nest for themselves as the strongest type of the bat monsters. The next in line in the hierarchy are the Echo Bats followed by the Giant Bats as the standard types.


    The majority of the bat population will be comprised of the Swarm and Dark Bats that are trying to survive to become Echo Bats. The Giant Bats are set in strength will have a good rate of survival unlike those that are born as Swarm Bats, but they do not have the ability to get stronger no matter how long they live.


    The idea for this experiment actually came from watching Sheila get stronger from consuming miasma and finally evolving into a Shadow Arachnid today. But unlike Sheila the bat monsters aren¡¯t getting fed with miasma but will have a natural born trait that slowly increases the mana in their monster cores. I am trying to bypass the rank limits by creating monsters that just need to survive for long enough to be able to get stronger on their own.


    The monsters that can slowly increase in strength have the down side of being born very weak as a compensation for such a powerful trait. This would not work with the other monsters in the floor. Too many of the ground monsters would die at their first phase while the flying bats have a higher chance of living long enough to get to the stronger phases.


    After creating the plans for the Giant Bats, it was time to implement it.


    Sapphire proceed with the implementation.


    [Acknowledged]


    The Dungeon Core glowed brightly and pumped out a massive amount of miasma into the dungeon. Sheila is still in her nest but seemed calmer than the first time this had occurred.


    The Giant Bats immediately sensed the change in their bodies and quickly flew back to their nests. It will take some months before the changes appear in the bat monsters though.


    And by the time the Giant Bats were starting to leave their nests, there was only a few hours left before the dungeon is forced to create the opening.


    I guess I¡¯ll just wait for it to open.


    And for the first time since I reincarnated I felt time move so painfully slow.


    .


    .


    .


    What was I expecting when the dungeon opened again? Now that I think about it, thinking that adventurers would immediately find and delve into my dungeon was a little silly. Of course it would take some time for anyone to be able to come here even if the dungeon started giving off its mana signature.


    It¡¯s been half a day since the dungeon created an opening to the surface. All the tension I felt flew out the window er- dungeon. Sheila, now a Shadow Arachnid, started expanding her nest on the ceiling on the Dungeon Core room, she was already half way done covering up the whole ceiling with her webs.


    [Master, please control your pet spider¡¯s rampant actions]


    Sapphire, I will tell you why I am letting Sheila do this. And no it¡¯s not just because she looks so happy doing it. Look at her right now. She looks really cute weaving the webs while swaying about!


    [Master, please proceed with the explanation]


    Right, I had this idea of making it look like the guardian of the Dungeon Core room is Sheila and making my pool body look like it is just a part of the room. While the intruders are busy fighting Sheila and let their guard down I will ambush them.


    [Analyzing data¡­]


    [Master¡¯s proposed plan has been analyzed. Ambushing targets that are focused on the Shadow Arachnid believing it to be the Dungeon Core room guardian has an incredibly high chance of succeeding with great effectiveness. The cost requirements for the plan are almost none existent compared to its simulated effectiveness.]


    So adorable.


    [¡­]


    After watching Sheila as she expanded her nest for at least half a day, I had finally collected myself enough to look at what is outside the entrance of the dungeon.