《Dungeon Defender》 Prologue: Death I was not always like this. I was not always a loser. Once, many had pinned their hopes on the future that I would attain. Once, many were the dreams and aspirations which I had held. Then on one fateful day, I dared to bare my teeth at those whom I deemed my enemies. And I was taught a lesson. I was sent to the school of hard knocks. I had lost. I lost, hence I was a loser. I became a loser not only in name but in practice as well. I had not completed post-secondary education, worked menial jobs in between prolonged periods of joblessness, and had a dearth of friends and girlfriends. I had nothing to live for. Perhaps that is not completely true, for I have a daughter. But I haven¡¯t seen her in years. To her, I might as well be dead. Turns out that not only was I a loser, but a loner as well. And so, I spent most of my time reading or playing games. Actually, reading was the one thing I had never given up on. I read everything: from trippy new age spiritual books to the Gnostic texts from the Nag Hammadi library, Occidental political treatises to Oriental Prophetic works, conspiracy theories to scientific journals, science fiction to fantasy, authors from Weber to Nietzsche to Danjae Shin Chaeho¡­ Well, you get the point. Yeah, I might have been bragging a little bit. In any case, even so, even with all the reading and the gaming that I engaged in, I felt disconnected from the world, I felt unfulfilled, and I felt empty. Which is what contributed to this dreamlike scene I¡¯m seeing right now. You see, I had had enough. I had lain knocked down for far too long. I was going to pick myself back up and get going once again! So on this yet-to-be-spring night, I exited Dungeon Destroyer, the game I had been playing. Then I went outside wearing my trusty old sneakers, grey sweatpants, and a t-shirt. I was going to start running again like I used to ten years ago when I was eighteen. I was going to run like the wind, or so I tried. I ended up stumbling once, then stumbling even harder a second time as I attempted to regain my balance, before I finally fell over hard head first into the asphalt. Wait a minute, I can¡¯t be dead right? I must have only been knocked unconscious! Because this scene in front of me certainly didn¡¯t seem to be the afterlife at first glance. I mean, I am sitting on a white chair, opposite an empty matching chair, that is beside a white round table, all of which are in the middle of a lush green and verdant garden. The sky above is bright and blue, and I can even feel the gentle summer breeze as it rustles the leafy branches of the nearby trees. But now that I think about it, perhaps this is a part of the afterlife after all. This is irony straight out of an O. Henry story. ¡°Huuuh,¡± I let out a big sigh. ¡°What is worrying you, my love?¡± a resplendent feminine voice rang out. Surprised, I looked towards where the voice had emanated from and saw the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She wore her sleek and lustrous brown hair down around her neck and shoulders. She had electrifyingly dazzling blue eyes which gave me a jolt by just gazing into them. I could also clearly discern that she maintained an hourglass figure beneath her pure white dress. But most of all, she was the epitome of beauty with her radiant smile and the paragon of virtue with her overwhelming aura of goodness and goodwill. I was stunned. ¡°You called me your l-love? I-I don¡¯t understand,¡± I stuttered uncharacteristically. ¡°You will understand one day,¡± the woman replied with a pleasant tone. As she sat down on the chair opposite mine, I tried to catch a glimpse of her breasts undetected. I didn¡¯t manage to see anything, but I didn¡¯t get caught either. ¡°You asked me what was worrying me. Well, I had just come to the realization that I was dead and in the afterlife. Just when I had decided to make something of myself again. That¡¯s why I sighed,¡± I told her. ¡°Don¡¯t be too downcast about that, honey. I¡¯ll give you another chance at life~¡± the woman said playfully while giving me a wink. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll play along,¡± I replied. ¡°Great~ we¡¯ll settle things with a game like we always do!¡± the woman exclaimed cheerfully. ¡°What kind of game?¡± I asked. ¡°My favorite, Scrabble,¡± she said while looking straight at me. Right then, a scrabble set materialized out of thin air on top of the table. So we started to play the game and it was weird. The rules were all twisted but I felt like this was okay. It truly felt like as if I was within a dream, where everything makes sense while you are within the dream, although when you think about it rationally, nothing really makes sense about it. I lost. So I couldn¡¯t go back to my old life. I lost again. So I couldn¡¯t be a hero, a lord, or an emperor in a fantasy world. In fact I lost so many times that everything was practically to be decided upon by the woman. ¡°Fufufu~ Don¡¯t worry about it too much, I¡¯m really happy that I got to beat you so badly~ I won¡¯t make things too harsh,¡± the woman said happily. She continued on, ¡°Let¡¯s see, you get to live in a fantasy world with exotic magic and interesting races. You also get to be someone powerful. But, you must be a dark lord in a world where dungeons are the embodiment of said dark lords¡¯ life and power.¡± ¡°I can live with that, come to think of it, I always thought it would be interesting to be on the other side,¡± I remarked. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The woman then proceeded to give me a brief overview about the world I was going to before concluding, ¡°Okay then, I will make you take the place of one of the dark lords~ Have fun my dear~¡± Her last words were echoing through my head as I was falling into a soporific stupor, before I finally blacked out. When I came to, I was standing in the midst of a mound of corpses inside a dark cavern. I saw dead people with their heads chopped off and their entrails spilt. The sight and the stench were unbearable so I retched and vomited there and then. Though I didn¡¯t want to look at the mound of dead any more than I had to, I also noticed the cadavers of creatures that I presumed as goblins strewn about. Gathering my wits about me, I heard the sounds of battle, of clashing steel, yelling men and shrieking goblins. The noise was being carried down through the entrance of the cavern I was in, which had stairs leading upwards. After a few minutes the noise stopped. Then I heard the indistinct murmur of men accompanied by the reverberations of footsteps on the earthen stairs. Uh oh. The humans won and are coming down here and I¡¯m all alone. This can¡¯t be good. Wait a minute. I¡¯m a fucking dark lord! I¡¯ll scare them off, maybe even maim or kill one or two if I really must. A habit that I''ve formed is to imagine counterfactuals and hypotheticals of catastrophic personal events. Just thinking about something as possible seemed to blunt the emotional impact of when the event actually occurred. I reeled at the sight of the dead at first, but I believe that I can steel myself enough to kill. Finally I saw the silhouettes of eight men appear at the entrance to the cave. ¡°There he is, that¡¯s the dark lord!¡± One of the men shouted. ¡°ROOOOOAR!¡± I roared out loud. But the men, ill-equipped and haggard looking as they were, took my roaring as a signal to attack and started charging towards me. ¡°You lowly scum think you can challenge me? A dark lord!?¡± I bellowed as I ran forward to meet them. ¡°Take this!¡± I unleashed a furious slash with my gigantic paw to the man at the head of the charge. ¡°Hrrrah!¡± The man countered with a vertical slash from his sword. At that moment, blinding pain engulfed me, and I crumpled down to the ground while screaming in agony. ¡°AAAAH!! What the hell, my hand! It¡¯s gone! Holy shit, this hurts so much!!!¡± tears were flowing freely from my eyes. I was rolling around on the ground screaming and crying, when the sharpness from a kick to my face garnered my attention. The men had gathered around me and were snickering. ¡°Some dark lord you are, eh? Where¡¯s your treasure room dark lord?¡± They mocked me while kicking me around. ¡°Come on, fess up or we¡¯ll be putting you in a world of pain! Much worse than what you be feelin¡¯ now ya hear?¡± they bawled. ¡°P-p-please, I don¡¯t know anything! I just became a dark lord only a short while ago! Have mercy, please!¡± I begged them. ¡°GAAAH!!¡± I cried out in pain as one of the men stuck his sword into my left thigh. ¡°Arrgh¡­treasure room¡­ secret¡­grrrrgh¡­.chamber¡­ first¡­hic¡­.room,¡± I strung together whatever came to mind to get them to stop the hurt. ¡°Alrighty! We¡¯re not bad guys, dark lord. We¡¯re heroes enacting justice you see. Since you told us the whereabouts of the treasure, we¡¯ll let you rest in peace now,¡± The leader of the bunch said. ¡°Uuh..uuh¡­ thank¡­ you¡± I murmured. ¡°Good-bye now!¡± The man then flashed his sword. I saw the world spinning around before I blacked out. When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the garden. The woman was looking at me with her head cocked sideways and her face plastered with a mischievous grin. ¡°YOU BITCH!!!¡± I shouted at the top of my lungs as I leapt up from the chair. But then I fell down on the grass while screaming and rolling in pain once again. ¡°Now, now, my love~ Your first life was just desserts for trying to gander at my bosom~ Please behave yourself now, or I¡¯ll have to administer some more pain! Don¡¯t worry, there is no lasting damage, so I can apply it over and over again~¡± the woman chided me as a lover trying to act cute would have done. I was able to pay attention because she had apparently relented on making me feel the pain. ¡°Yes, I understand! I¡¯m sorry! Truly sorry!¡± I repented. ¡°I accept your apology. That life as Porcus Minorus was a freebie. I sent you into the body of one of the weakest dark lords around, tehe~¡± With a name like Porcus Minorus, it was no wonder that that dark lord was so flabbily weak. But to make me a dark lord on the verge of meeting his doom was¡­ ¡°I had also lowered your Maximum Pain Tolerance Threshold by 100% and increased your Pain Sensitivity by 100%. But I will reset that to your normal values now,¡± The woman continued on. This woman¡­ I thought that she was a goddess or an angel before, but now I¡¯m not too sure anymore. ¡°Since the small prank I meant to play really seemed to hurt, I will give you a bonus and unlock the credit requirements during your start-up process. In all earnestness though, I hope you learnt a lot about the pain and harshness of reality. Anyways, this time is for real, so be careful and have fun!¡± With those words resounding in my mind, I once again fell into a state of soporific stupor, before finally blacking out. Chapter 1: Incorporation When I came to, I came to realize that I no longer had a visible body and that my consciousness was hovering high in the sky. Looking down, I saw the outlines of unfamiliar coastlines. What a disgraceful display I had put on during the preceding intervals, blubbering and begging. I am maddened just thinking about the humiliation and embarrassment. Most of all though, never again do I want to experience such excessive amounts of pain. I shudder at the thought. I¡¯d do almost anything to prevent having to suffer through unendurable pain once again. Even Caesar had said that it was harder to find one man willing to endure pain than one hundred men willing to die for a cause. But my negativity would be cut short because suddenly, a window popped up and I heard an accompanying voice:
Welcome to Hwantasy!
¡°The System will now aide you in the incorporation process.¡± The voice then continued, ¡°Please select the relevant options to complete the setup.¡± A menu then popped up in front of me, which I found to be adjustable apart from some settings which had already been set to a default:
Name: Class: Dark Lord (Epic, F) Age: 28 Height:196cm ¡À Race option Gender: Male Mentality: Thunderstruck Disposition: Neutral, Neutral Race: Skills: Titles: Dungeon Manager (Common, F-), Immortal Beloved (Supreme, SSS+++, Exclusive)
First off, I decided to find out more about the presets:
Dark Lord (Epic, F) The undisputed and sovereign monarch over all denizens of Darkness and Chaos. Demons, Monsters, Brutes, Beasts, as well as certain humanoid races are all but mere subjects to your throne. Or rather, the above would be the case, except that there are quite a few dark lords already in existence. Regardless, Dark Lords have the potential to grow into some of the most powerful beings, are able to engage telepathically with any darkspawn or chaos spawn, and are unable to be hurt by their natural subordinates. Dark Lords do not expire naturally, having no need for food drink or sleep, and are thus immortal to old age. Current Status: Newly Crowned Upstart
Man, Dark Lords sure seem OP from the information I can see here, but then what about the likes of Porcus Minorus? How were weak pushovers like him ever conceived? I was getting a little antsy about the possibility of turning out to be a weakling. In any case I read on:
Dungeon Manager (Common, F-) The caretaker of a dungeon. Simply being a Dungeon Manager accords full control over the domain of the dungeon. The size and number of rooms and floors, available types and number of loot, traps, furnishings, functions and monsters all depend on the Rank and Grade of the title as well as the title itself. A Dungeon Manager is connected spiritually to their dungeon. Current Status: Weakest of Pipsqueaks
Weakest of Pipsqueaks? Seriously? If the System wants to start a fight... there¡¯s not much I can do. Except the Rank and Grade of the title was a big disappointment. From what I was taught, there were Ranking Tiers for titles, skills, classes, items and the like, as well as Gradations for the tiers. The tiers were as follows from best to worst: The God Tier: Supreme, Ultimate, Absolute The Heroic Tier: Legendary, Mythical, Epic The Realm Tier: Superb, Elite, Limited The Community Tier: Rare, Uncommon, Common The gradations were as follows from lowest to highest: F- < F < F+ << E- < E < E+ << D- < D < D+<< C- < C < C+ << B- < B < B+ << A- < A < A+ <<< S < S+ << Immortal Beloved (Supreme, SSS+++, Exclusive) The One who has received the eternal profession of love from the Goddess. Upon death, physical death, True Death, or any kind of death, the Beloved will be auto-resurrected within the Garden of the Goddess. An earnest prayer to the goddess may be heard. In actuality, the prayer will most likely be heard since the Beloved is being constantly monitored by the Goddess or her adjutants, but an earnest prayer may actually be answered. Current Status: One True Love of the Goddess So, she was indeed a goddess. It¡¯s a pity I forgot to ask the goddess for her name. The System clearly shows that she loves me. While it doesn''t feel real, I''m also one who takes giant leaps of faith in my thinking. I can already imagine several scenarios why this might be the case... if it is indeed genuine. Ah, I must also mention about qualifiers to Ranking Tiers and Grades. There are certain special cases where there is an extra attribute coalesced to a tier and grade. Apparently, the ¡®Exclusive¡¯ qualifier on my Immortal Beloved title indicated that I was the sole proprietor of this designation. The Thunderstruck status in my Mentality field meant that I was dazed and confused, as well as retaining a hidden pain and hurt within my heart. The Neutral statuses indicated that I was in the middle of the spectrum on both the scales of Good vs. Evil and Order vs. Chaos With that done, I decided to now complete the currently blank fields. Hmm, name, there is actually a style to adhere to for dark lords. Either simply a common name, or a common name with a matching qualified name. In either case this is followed with a label unique to the dark lord. After thinking over what to name myself for a while, I came up with: Deprofundis Reprobate ¡®Once Loved¡¯. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Satisfied, I moved on to the next item. Hmm, I¡¯ll leave Race for last, let¡¯s decide on Skills right now. I came to understand that I would be allowed to choose one skill. The tier and grade as well as the particular skill itself would be chosen randomly once I selected a category. I was sincerely heartened at this because the skills list was literally thousands of pages long. Of course, I didn¡¯t want to leave something as important as this to simple chance so I took a gamble and offered up a prayer. ¡°My Goddess, one who is alive and who loves me, I beseech you, please heed my prayer. I ask for your guidance in the selection of a skill. A skill that could examine, identify, and appraise people and objects alike. I ask to be granted such a skill, if it favors you to do so.¡± A few moments after I finished the prayer, a notification popped up:
The Goddess has chosen a skill for you. Will you accept?
I¡¯ll be honest and say that I was slightly conflicted, wondering whether the goddess could be mean-spirited enough to give me a joke skill, but in the end I decided to trust her and accepted the proposal. There was a blinding flash, followed by intense waves of disorientation. I was secretly worrying about whether or not this would turn into pain, but after a couple of minutes everything settled down.
Mirror of Truth & Judgement (Ultimate, A+, Exclusive) The Mirror of Yeomra, Overseer of Purgatory. Allows the perusal of information in various degrees of detail of anything and everything. Not only the present state of the existence being examined may be perused, but the past and future can also be known.
I was completely overjoyed at acquiring such an OP skill and an exclusive one at that. I offered up my heartfelt thanks to the goddess with a big smile on my face. Finally, it is time to determine my Race. This should be interesting. Dang, there are a lot of different races, too many to list them all. In this case, I¡¯ll go with the best amongst my aesthetic preferences. I¡¯ve always been a stickler for history or visual appeal, going so far as to purposefully select a handicapped and disadvantageous class or race in mmorpgs simply because I enjoyed their looks or backstories. And one thing that I did in every single game was to create or select either a human, human variant, or mostly human in appearance character. ¡°System, narrow down the available selections for race to Human variant or Human appearance, please,¡± I said. The list immediately shrunk. Human, High Human; What¡¯s this, Ascended High Human! Let¡¯s take a look:
Ascended High Human A High Human who has achieved Sagehood. Although High Humans already have long lifespans reaching millennia, attaining the Ascended Status allows for Mana replenishment to replace consumption of food and drink, as well as the necessity for sleep. The incredible aptitude for Jack-of-all-trades from the Humans to the King-of-all-trades of the High Humans has now been advanced into Ace-of-all-trades. Greatly increased Maximum Stats and Stat Growth from regular High Humans. ¡­
Heck yeah! There was no need to look at anything else, ¡°System, I select Ascended High Human as my race,¡± I said excitedly.
Access Denied
¡°Ascended High Human is incompatible with your Class: Dark Lord,¡± the system¡¯s monotone voice rang out. My enthusiasm was immediately dampened. ¡°Ah¡­¡± I sighed and metaphorically made some stretches. I couldn¡¯t be bothered to go through the rest of the narrowed Race list. So I tried a different tact. ¡°System, narrow down the current Race selection to those that are compatible and bring up some recommendations please,¡± I uttered. ¡°There is one recommendation,¡± the system voice alerted me.
Udumori A Transcendent Being of Hwan heritage who was once a mere Human. Udumori literally means Head of The Bull, signifying the Highest Leader. There can only be one singular Udumori who legitimately belongs to a specified point in time.Limit Break on every single parameter ¨C both qualitative and quantitative. There was once a man with grand ambitions, he had a burning desire to see the betterment of humankind fulfilled. However¡­ Outcast, Heretic, Lunatic¡­ Such were the descriptions of scorn and stigma heaped upon the man who lived a life in keeping with those terms. He was tormented. He was oppressed. He was miserable. And for a long while he did nothing of worth. But one day, salvation came to him in the form of love. He stood at a crossroads, having to choose either something or ¡®all or nothing¡¯. ¡­
I almost teared up. It was like this race was made for me. I selected Udumori as my race. Although I thought that I was done, apparently there was one final selection left: The location of my dungeon.
Continent Difficulty Other Dark Lords Extra Gold/Mana
Hondon Walk in the Park Overflow 0/0
Waklands Easy~Med Numerous 50/50
Teavis Med Few 75/50
Gundarion Med Very Few 75/75
So-Limia MedHi Numerous 100/100
Hwasten Med~Hi Numerous 200/150
Centralia MedLo~VeryHi Numerous 300/200
Uun Med~Suicidal Few 500/500
Chapter 2: Start of the Quest Author''s Note: A trifecta of apologies before I begin. First of all, I apologize to Oeiltheend, A Simple Necromancer, and fanobody. I did not want to go with Gundarion or Uun; they are not as well developed at this point in time. Secondly, I go into what some may consider ''Heavy'' stuff within this chapter. Although I listed only four works as my inspiration for this story, but there were others right here on RoyalRoad. ''Regarding my time being a God, it was fun'', ''Black Titan'', and ''Soul of the Academy.exe'' were prime motivators. I love dungeon/city/realm management but there seems to be a dearth of such works. Initially, I wanted this to be a light read focusing on management aspects only. While the above will remain a prime facet of the story, I feel like anything goes now. Third and finally, the chapter is a tad on the shorter side. I wanted to get something up by the end of the day, so please excuse me for this. =========================================================== I surmised that the location of my dungeon would turn out to be a make-or-break proposition, hence I decided to ponder over this issue carefully. I found that I could select each continent tab for more detailed information. After playing around for a bit to see how the options worked, I discovered an interesting function. ¡°System, overlay map function in my visual field, please,¡± I said. As I was looking down, I could now see the countries and the continents outlined on the landmasses below. I was unsure of how the number of other Dark Lords would affect my quest: would they be competition, would they be hostile, or would they be friendly and perhaps even become my allies? That was a mystery. But it seemed to me that ¡®numerous¡¯ for continents such as Hwasten or Centralia might actually have a lower population density than ¡®few¡¯ for Teavis or ¡®very few¡¯ for Gundarion when considering the difference in landmass. Though on an important side-note, what was my quest anyhow? I wasn¡¯t really given any missions or objectives apart from being given another chance at life and to be careful whilst having fun. And apparently, governing my dungeon would be an extremely important aspect of my being a Dark Lord. I had to consider that most likely, I would be cast as an antagonist in this world. I¡¯ve already experienced lowlife scum considering themselves as heroes and being vindicated in their murdering and pillaging if it was against a Dark Lord. Well, being brought to a fantasy world could evoke all sorts of ludicrous objectives, from world domination, attaining divinity, and acquiring unmatched fame and power. After all, if coming to a fantasy world is possible, this raises the question as to what the actual limit may be on what is possible. Then again, there would be those with simple hopes like simply surviving and returning home. As I really didn¡¯t know what being a Dark Lord entailed, for now I decided to survive and become powerful enough not to be on the suffering side of pain. I¡¯d set some concrete goals once I started getting to know more. In any case, I brought my attention back to the matter at hand. Hondon is out; Too many others, no starting bonuses, and low chance of advancement. Uun is also out, I wasn¡¯t going to take the risk of being cast into the center of the maelstrom known as ¡®suicidal¡¯ difficulty. The Waklands seemed to be an interesting place: most of it was no different from Hondon, but on the Easternmost Island there was an ongoing stalemate with an enemy that had seen skirmishes on-and-off for centuries. But I wasn¡¯t going to risk having to go to war. While Gundarion and Teavis seemed like decent opportunities, I didn¡¯t like that my dungeon would have to be situated within the borders of a country, and besides this they were simply much smaller ponds than the three of Hwasten, Centralia, and So-Limia. The prospects for advancement were High to Very High for the three larger continents and Medium for Gundarion and Teavis. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°I¡¯m going with Hwasten,¡± I told the System. Hwasten had the possibility for the lowest difficulty rate whilst simultaneously offering up a decent bonus and chance of advancement. Granted, I wasn¡¯t sure what ¡®advancement¡¯ meant as it wasn¡¯t explained and I had no idea how important it would be because the stat wasn¡¯t even listed on the initial selection list. Taken altogether though, I thought that Hwasten would give me the best chance to make something of myself. What¡¯s this then? I now had a choice of going to one of four regular spawn-points: the Great Quvara Konigforest, the Nambu forest of Ente, the Rayforest situated between Haztaria and Aftshine, and the Hwasten-Low Wastes. If I wanted, I could forego the starting bonuses to specify an exact location for my dungeon. However, I wasn¡¯t too keen on this option; it¡¯s not like I know enough about either the world or the continent to take this opportunity. Of course, as usual, there was an option to randomly select my location. First off, I could have my location selected randomly from the four starting spawn-points, but selecting this choice did not include any extra bonuses. Next, there were tiered random-select options: Random Start, but at a minimum, nearby a loose cluster of other Dark Lords and at a location where there is some form of concealment and occlusion ¨C extra + 25 starting gold and mana. Random Start, minimum of nearby Dark Lords only ¨C extra + 50 starting gold and mana. Random Start, minimum of concealment and occlusion only ¨C extra +75 starting gold and mana. True Random Start, anywhere on Hwasten including defeated dungeons ¨C extra + 150 starting gold and mana. I decided to go with the extra +25 random option. For me this entire location selection process was a crapshoot anyways. Sure I prioritize safety above all else, but not to the exclusion of growing my dungeon and levelling up to get stronger. And I have a pretty strong suspicion that to get better, I¡¯d need either some opposition or fodder in the form of adventurers. If this backfires on me and a cruel and unopposable bunch appears, worse comes to worst I will end things myself. I mean I¡¯ll simply resurrect anyways, although it is possible that this would mean game over. Not that I would treat this life as a game or as mere entertainment mind you. I¡¯ve seriously pondered in my previous life about the possibility of reality being a simulation. My conclusion was that everything was real enough even if it were a mere simulation. Within the simulation itself, what was occurring was simply what was actual. I mean, I¡¯ve read a lot about conspiracy theories as well, and one of the more odious ones includes the power-elite of the Earth actually being devil-worshippers offering child sacrifices to the likes of Moloch. There¡¯s no end to the amount of theories speculating on the cruelty and malevolence committed by some of those in power. It made me wonder, do they really believe in something different from the masses? If so, is this because they know otherwise from what we are taught? If reality was a simulation, maybe they felt like life was a game. A person could do things in a game they would never actually do such as committing a horrendous crime. I won¡¯t dwell on this topic any longer, I feel like I¡¯m going off on a tangent here. All I am saying is that I am determined not to lose myself. I want to remain who I am. I¡¯m sure that I¡¯ll have to do some horrible things; lie, act, pretend, maim, kill¡­ who knows what else I will be faced with? I believe that I am a good person. But does my definition of good have to change to be in line with Nietzsche¡¯s concept of the Good? Namely a Good unrestrained by morality, noble in of itself because it has the strength and power to do what it wants unabashedly? Even if I do get stronger, and right now I like my chances of that happening due to the Overpowered acquisitions attained during the incorporation procedure, I don¡¯t want to lose sight of my beliefs, my values, and my ideals. Really, perhaps none of this matters in the grand scheme of things, with one sect of Eastern philosophy stating that this was the case. Again, if reality was a simulation, then perhaps nothing really mattered. Okay, I¡¯ll stop for real. I finalized my selection. All of a sudden, I felt myself being sucked downwards with great force and velocity. The sensation of falling down at faster than terminal velocity got me pretty frightened, especially as I zoomed down closer and closer to the ground. ¡°Darn it, I hope I don¡¯t die from this!!¡±I yelled as I plunged into a mountainside. ¡°Whoooooo¡­¡± I let out a sigh of relief as I finally found myself snapped into stationary normalcy. I was within what seemed to be a spacious cavern room. There was a wooden bed on one side and a set of closed large wooden doors situated in the front wall of the room. There was a desk and chair, bookshelf and closet, as well as a full body mirror spaced out throughout the room. The place was well lit, but I got the sense that my current body would see equally as well in the dark as in the light. Oh that¡¯s right, I have a body now! I looked at my hands and my arms, they looked powerful ¨C large, strong and toned with muscle. Excited, I walked over to the mirror to take a look at myself. Overall, the base for my appearance was what I used to look like back on Earth when I was last alive. However, my current form was like an upgrade to my old self. Lean but muscled; sinewy would be the word. I could also feel the power coursing throughout my body. There was, however, one immense difference. I had a pair of bull-like horns now. Each horn emerging from one side of my head. The horns were smooth and shining black, ending in sharp points pointing towards the heavens. I loved it, I thought the horns were elegant and commanding appendages. Finally, my adventure had begun! And any start to a fantasy adventure has to begin with the checking of one''s personal status screen. Chapter 3: An Unexpected Visitor ¡°Status,¡± I said in what I believed was a regal manner.
Name Deprofundis Reprobate ''Once Loved''
Age: 28 Height: 196cm Gender: Male
Race Udumori
Class Dark Lord (Epic ,F)
Skills Mirror of Truth & Judgment (Ultimate, A+, Exclusive)
Titles Dungeon Manager (Common, F-), Immortal Beloved(Supreme, SSS+++, Exclusive)
Mentality: Thunderstruck Disposition: Neutral, Neutral
Martial Prowess 80/160 Intelligence 93/120
Explorer 71/160 Wisdom 94/120
Commander 42/160 Health 150/200
Politics 68/160 Allure 160/200
Magic 173/222
Intrigued and not sure of what to make of the numbers, I pored over the detailed explanations for the numerical stat values. Martial Prowess was basically a gestalt number of offense and defense. It tabulated aspects such as Strength, Toughness, Endurance, as well as fighting ability with and without weapons. Explorer was a more nebulous measure in my mind. The stat purported to measure trailblazing fecundity, pathfinding in uncharted territory, as well as willingness to adventure. Intelligence was the whole of oratory ability, smarts and knowledge. Whilst Wisdom was the total of experience, insight and intuition. Commander denoted the ability to command and rally troops, as well as the ability to realize strategy and tactics in war and battle. Politics had to do with the ability to deal in and with intrigue plus the ability to rule and govern. Health dealt with general constitution, susceptibility/resistance to illness and disease, and longevity. Allure measured charisma, attractiveness sexual and otherwise, and mystery. Finally, Magic, was a stat unique to only a select percentage of residents in the world. Understandably, the stat dealt with aptitude for and potency of magic capabilities. The first set of numbers were my current stats, and the second set of numbers were the stat limits, tabulated based on race, class, and titles. Stat limits would be raised every time the tiers and grades of Classes and Titles were levelled up. However, because the Udumori race had the gift of Limit Break on every parameter, stat limits were of no concern to me. I wasn¡¯t too sure what to make of the numbers, since I had no comparisons. Was I strong, and if so, how strong? With there being not much more I could do with this screen, I dismissed it and brought up the Dungeon Management screen.
Dungeon Status
Gold 225
Mana 175
Subordinates 0
I could select the floors, rooms and passages I wanted to view, as well as withdraw and deposit Gold and Mana. I could visualize in my mind the current layout of my dungeon: The current room I was in was connected with one straight long major tunnel passageway all the way to the entrance. Underwhelming to say the least. I put on an even grimmer face as I accessed the Summonable minions list. ¡°Goblin Miner, Common Slime, Wolf-pup, Basic Wisp¡­¡± I muttered. That was it. There was nothing else. They sure didn¡¯t sound strong. I seriously lamented being an F- grade Common tier Dungeon Manager. Although the prices for these common mobs were acceptable, I wasn¡¯t sure if I would be able to recoup the gold from adopting a swarm strategy. Once again, I was sorely missing a comparison of relative strengths of common mobs to adventurers. I also wasn¡¯t too sure about the differences between mana and gold. It seemed that these two resources were almost interchangeable. I decided to start off by spending mana instead of gold, since I could replenish mana myself, whilst I could not do so with gold. I decided to test my mana pool and regeneration rate and so started depositing mana into the dungeon. I stopped when I felt quite exhausted. +330 mana, hmm, not bad at all. I spent 60 mana adding two more passageways, one to the right and one to the left of the central tunnel, with each running the full length from the entrance to my private quarters. I also spent 100 mana placing a large boss room at the end of the three passageways right before my private quarters. After walking the length of the central passage, I let out the words, ¡°Well, at least I suppose this is something I can work with to start.¡± The trip had taken me a total of three hours. I walked to the entrance to take a glance outside. The entrance itself was immense and supported by an arched stone column of gigantic proportions. I wondered how in the world this glorified hole was supposed to be concealed and occluded. In truth though, the entrance was carved up-ways into a hazardous mountainside cliff, with a winding trail leading down into the lightly forested grounds below. It was too bad that the map function now only covered my dungeon and its immediate surroundings. The only thing I knew was that I was somewhere around the grand mountain range of Hwasten. I decided to head back to my private quarters. While walking, I thought about various things: about subjects pertaining to my immediate course of action and those that did not. In particular, it was strange to me that there was a bed in my room when I did not need any sleep. Of course, how was it possible that a dark lord did not age and did not require food, drink, or sleep in the first place? This was the veritable stuff of Godhood ¨C chased since time immemorial by all manner of folk from ascetics to emperors. Perhaps it was due to this preoccupation of my thoughts that I did not notice the presence of a visitor in the dungeon. For I was incredibly surprised when the sight of a meticulously well-kempt businesswoman was the first thing that greeted me as I swung open the stiff and heavy grand double wooden doors to my room. It couldn¡¯t be an adventurer already? She had her wavy purple hair gathered and tied up into a ponytail behind her head, and she was wearing a very modern black business suit with red tie and all. Even at first glance, she was a very beautiful woman. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.I stared at her for a brief moment as silence enveloped the room. Unable to sense any hostile intent from the woman, I said while gesturing myself into a bow, ¡°I was not expecting any visitors so soon, welcome to my dungeon.¡± ¡°Greetings, Lord Reprobate. I apologize for startling you. I am Gajie, a representative of the Kikesta Firm,¡± the woman said. I activated the Mirror of Truth & Judgment and selected the businesswoman as the target:
Name Gajie Bokkanamul
Age: 164 Height: 167cm Gender: Female
Race Elfoid-Demon
Class Grand Merchant (Superb ,B)
Skills Accounting (Superb, B+), Actuarial Science (Elite, A-), Enactment (Limited, C+)
Titles Master Accountant (Superb, A), Master Actuary (Superb, C-), Master Politician (Elite, B), Seeker of Vengeance (Legendary, A)
Mentality: Deeply Buried Sorrow Disposition: Neutral, Order
Martial Prowess 41/100 Intelligence 108/110
Explorer 62/100 Wisdom 90/110
Commander 36/110 Health 123/130
Politics 109/110 Allure 150/150
Magic 60/110
After quickly glancing over her stats, I decided to look into Gajie¡¯s past using my Mirror skill. Instantaneously, I received within my memory, a rolling view of her past. The process was similar to recalling a movie or show I had watched. Except that the entirety of Gajie¡¯s past was stored within myself and I knew it well like I was reminiscing about a well scrutinized film. ¡°Is my presence unsettling to you Lord Reprobate? I can return another time if you wish for me to leave,¡± Gajie said as I looked at her with a misty-eyed and forlorn look. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Gajie. I looked into your past just now,¡± I replied. ¡°Oh, forgive me my manners, Lord, but I find that a little hard to believe,¡± Gajie responded with a confident smile. ¡°Your surname, Bokkanamul, is a keepsake from your lover. You two were star-crossed. Both of you were commoners, and were forced to submit and be exploited by the system that exists because it was too immense to go against. But you¡¯ve kept alive the memories of both love and hate deep within your heart¡­¡± ¡°Stop right there!¡± Gajie let out a sharp cry. I could see that she had raised a mental alarm and was regarding me differently now. ¡°If you aren¡¯t simply a part of some dastardly ploy, tell me something that not even Muchim would know,¡± Gajie said icily. ¡°You secretly gave yourself to the vile rich man who lusted after you so that your lover would be freed. In the end though, Muchim was murdered. It was only after the fact that you learnt that everything was a setup and that the judge was in cahoots with the rich man. But you were powerless and unable to do anything. Yearning for vengeance, you joined the Kikesta firm. Because the firms are the only feasible route to power for commoners,¡± I said. I let out an inaudible sigh while looking straight at Gajie. ¡°Gajie, once again, I¡¯m sorry for prying into your past. I empathize with your pain and sorrow - your burning hatred. But not only can I see the past, I can also catch glimpses of the future. I¡¯ve seen moments of a future where we work together and triumph,¡± I said. Gajie who had been silent this whole time, finally let out a remark, ¡°Can the Prophecies really be true?¡± She started talking to herself mentioning things like, ¡°The King who will unify,¡± ¡°Know the past and see the future,¡± ¡°True Immortality,¡± ¡°Power to resurrect,¡± ¡°Impossible,¡± ¡°But maybe¡­¡± ¡°Gajie,¡± I called out to her. ¡°Yes?¡± she responded, being brought back to earth. ¡°Let¡¯s start from the beginning again. There¡¯s a lot I don¡¯t know and equally as many things that I want to ask you about.¡± I was able to glean many items of interest just from reading Gajie¡¯s memories. That Kikesta was one of the top mercantile firms of the Demon Realm, and that one of their primary sources of power, fame, prestige, and income was to provide commercial services to powerful pioneers such as Dark Lords. But there were things I wanted to ask her directly. Gajie taught me that the average person would be considered masterful at the 30~40 range for any stat and that hero-caliber champions would top out at 70~90. I also asked her how it was possible for anyone, even a Dark Lord, to have no need for the basic necessities of life, to which she replied that the legends told that Dark Lords had been blessed with a drop of the Holy Dew. Regarding the Holy Dew, this was the stuff of legends, the blessed power that the Prophesied King would acquire in full. This dew could restore youthful looks and vigor and bestow immortality among other things. As for there being a bed in my room, Gajie said that just because a Dark Lord does not require food, drink, or sleep, doesn¡¯t mean that they cannot and do not partake in such activities. Indeed, those who newly ascend to Dark Lord Status oftentimes kept to a schedule much like they would if they were still commoners. I learnt that I could purchase monsters unavailable within the system from the firms for my dungeon, and that gold had purchasing power anywhere in this world: from the Demon Realm to the Human Territories. Heck, if I wanted, I could summon goblin miners and sell the ores that they mine to the firms for gold. Most importantly though, I learnt where my dungeon was located. Apparently, my dungeon was in theWestern end of the mountain range, at a crossroads between Lemarin, Hwasten-Low, Ente and the Konigforest. I thought that I was able to build some rapport with Gajie, and this was what I wanted. If I am able to have her as an adjutant later on, she would prove invaluable as a treasurer, secretary, and politician. For I had seen a grand vision of the future ¨C one where starting small consisted of being the Lord of a Grand City built around my dungeon. Chapter 4: Informational Monologue Author¡¯s Note: Mea Culpa. It has been a while and I really want to say that I am sorry for my prolonged absence. But to me, apologizing equates to never making the same mistake again, and I cannot ensure that this will not happen again in the future. Even so, you deserve an explanation - however lame of an excuse my explanation may be. My absence was caused by a mixture of various factors. Yes, I lacked the drive and dedication to persistently administer my craft for these past few months. However, I also believed that by writing, certain people who knew of my identity have used my work against me. I was torn as to whether I should continue at all. But I love creating my own stories and had already decided to share this one. And I had readers who enjoyed my story, with EndingNight even saying that he was rooting for me! EndingNight, that simple comment of yours has been such a comfort. I belatedly found out about Qeron, who had never commented but had always repped me, and I realized that here was another user who had cared enough. Many a night, as I had lain down to rest, I thought to myself that I would write the story to near completion and surprise everyone with 5~10 chapters a day when I returned. Because I had to return. I have returned, but with nothing in hand and with nothing in reserve. A prodigal writer indeed. I don¡¯t know how many people would truly care about my story, especially when I have barely even started. But I say to you, I will finish Dungeon Defender, no matter how long it takes. I know that I could pump out chapters at a much faster pace if I merely wrote for entertainment purposes by not putting in as much effort. But there are simply certain kinds of things that I enjoy writing, and I find that writing these things take a lot of time for me. I believe that if I enjoy creating my work and succeed in doing so to a certain minimum standard, that then you will also be able to share in this enjoyment. ========================================================= Apparently, Hwantasy is a pretty complicated place. Yes, this is a fantasy world where the commonly fantastic occurs, such as the coronation of a new Dark Lord and his dungeon being announced for all the denizens of the known world to know, if the upper echelons in whatever governing lands allowed their residents to be privy to this news. Gajie told me that as soon as I came into existence as Deprofundis Reprobate, the appropriate maps and scrolls all updated themselves to include me in their registers. The appropriate magisters would recognize this and soon enough all of the people who needed to know would know about this. These database-like artifacts were common enough on the international level and could even be reproduced. The Kikesta Firm had an Intelligence division of which a part were dedicated solely to monitoring the activities of dark lords, and as such Gajie had been immediately dispatched to my humble abode. Me being who I am, I did not simply accept this act of the divine as is and once again questioned the inner machinations behind this entire process. Who or what governed this process and how did they do it? Why did they do it? And of course, once again I was unable to attain any satisfactory answers. So I left this occurrence as an unknown in my mind for the time being. Now here is where things get somewhat more complicated: politics and religion. This world is not split into a simple binary of black and white, at least not on the surface. This is not to say that there are no areas where dark lords are seen as the ultimate evil and subjected to attempts at eradication, for there definitely are such places. The important point is that there are places where a dark lord is in alliance with a human kingdom for example. And while there is a custom that dark lords do not kill each other, it has occurred, and they have fought against one another even on opposite ends of coalitions formed from different races and countries. This is definitely a good thing because I believe that my chances of being wiped out straight away will decrease markedly unless I do something stupid. Also, it makes life more interesting, at least for me anyway. All of what I just mentioned was possible due to the actions of a prior Dark Lord from approximately a millennium ago. Back then, even this world was split up into a Good vs. Evil dichotomy. However, an Otherworlder Dark Lord rose to power through his persuasive orations, capable scheming and backroom dealings, leaving an indelible mark on this world and forever changing history. There are urban legends stating that he is still alive, albeit in hiding. Anyhow, I contracted with the Kikesta firm to provide me the services I would require as a Dark Lord under the condition that Gajie would serve as my stewardess. After the initial surprise, which lasted a day at most, she calmed herself and the business-like demeanor was back, never hinting at ever being unblemished. I wasn¡¯t expecting her to switch her allegiances so soon and become my faithful subordinate, but eventually and gradually, that is the goal. Several days have passed with a lot of the time being spent strategizing with Gajie, but it feels like a lot more time has gone by. You know, something like being both a character within a visual novel and the player at the same time. Within the game a day has passed but as the player I had inadvertently taken a months-long break in between. Notwithstanding that, at this point in time, I was watching Gajie busily and authoritatively directing maid-uniform garmented demonkin as they were summoned from the summoning circle she had me place in a new room. In fact, under her advice, I created a whole bunch of new rooms and passageways with most of them being either concealed or inaccessible to the greater world. Think of it as living quarters and service corridors for the staff necessary to run this place. Since I quite frankly had no idea why they would be so busy in this empty dungeon, I asked Gajie, and she replied that there were many things to do from setting up the kitchen and mess hall to establishing a communications system and control center. After all, did I not want to climb up the Dark Lord Rankings, she inquired. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Yes, that is indeed a thing. And surprisingly, I am only third last from the bottom of the rankings. The second last, heh, no surprise here, was Porcus Minorus ¡®Glutton Master¡¯ - Dark Lord of the Dondonelly Bacon Meats Dungeon. His details had a strike going through everything. Good grief, this porker was lower than me on the rankings and I hadn¡¯t even done a thing yet¡­ ah, the Goddess¡­ I still shake my head at how she could¡¯ve pulled that one on me. What really caught my interest though was the fact that there was a dark lord ranked lower than both me and Porker. Absolutely last on the list was one named Kaburi ¡®The Rascal¡¯ ¨C Dark Lord of the Kaburi Goblin Mining Industries and Subsidiary of Accend Lust Casino Enterprises Dungeon. Yeah, that was quite a mouthful. Seeing as how I was ranked higher than this Kaburi, I was able to access more information and to my surprise this guy had lasted over two centuries! Porker on the other hand, had lasted less than a year. This was very intriguing. Did the fact that Kaburi was a subsidiary to another Dark Lord account for his longevity perhaps? I checked for Accend Lust, and boy, this dude was a bigshot at rank fourteen. Accend Lust ¡®The Occluded¡¯ ¨C Dark Lord of the Accend Lust Casino Enterprises Dungeon. Already there were a few interesting dungeon concepts that caught my eye. Apparently, running a mining outfit or a gambling joint were two things you could do with a dungeon. I suppose we shouldn¡¯t forget running some kind of cannibalistic abattoir as an option, seeing as how Porker slaughtered porkers. The Dark Lord Rankings were tabulated based on a comprehensive and automatic scoring system. I could see that although the minion scores and dungeon scores of Porker and Kaburi were higher than mine, on the other hand I scored much much higher than them on the leadership scores, personal abilities scores, and master score. To illustrate the entire picture, I am Overall rank 208 with a score of 232. However, taking the deceased and inactive dark lords out of the picture, I am Active rank 138. Porker¡¯s score was 122 at rank 139 and Kaburi has a score of 97 at rank 140. Accend Lust has a score of 12,666. Here are the top three, all presumably badasses who get to use the honorific of ¡®One¡¯, starting with the top dog: #1. Legend ¡®The Nameless One¡¯ ¨C Dark Lord of the Ascendant¡¯s Gate Dungeon with a score of 767,333,444. #2. Jokim ¡®The Hidden One¡¯ ¨C Dark Lord of the Hwan Zero Dungeon with a score of 677,264,311. #3. Bulsajo ¡®The Eternal One¡¯ ¨C Dark Lord of the Undying Flame Dungeon with a score of 555,553,581. Curious, I asked Gajie whether she knew the top three Dark Lords. She balked saying that she did not personally know them but definitely knew of them, adding that everyone in the world did. After all, they had been the top three long before a millennium ago when the Otherworldly Pioneer Dark Lord rose and fell from power and are still the top three today. Now I don¡¯t know if being the top dog is all that it¡¯s made out to be, no matter where the world. Also, honestly those scores of hundreds of millions for the top three and the seemingly insurmountable gap between them and even the Rank 14th Dark Lord makes me believe that it will be an incredibly challenging journey to make it to the top. However, it is something to strive towards and who doesn¡¯t dream of being the best? Most likely though, all these numbers do not mean much to me right now, as I lack the experience to realize the weight behind the scores. Gajie interrupted me from my train of thought by presenting a magical scroll. She said it was a complementary gift that Kikesta gave to newly signed and newly crowned dark lords. She further explained that the scroll was a register and rankings list for all official adventurers in the entire known world. I thanked Gajie and asked her to express the gratitude that I felt in my stead the next time that she returned to the firm. Surely, this scroll would be an immensely useful tool in the future. If nothing else, it had some good entertainment value by allowing me to peruse through the details of adventurers powerful and weak alike. Is it a bit off-putting that I¡¯m relating my tale to you entirely as a monologue when there could have been more interaction? Well you know, even the bible does something similar: relating centuries¡¯ worth of time with a single line and explicating in detail the next ten years for an entire book. Okay, okay, I¡¯m starting to get out of this state of sluggishness. I did mention that I felt a lot of time had passed even if it has only been a few days. I decided to retire for the night, as the sun has long since set, and I deemed it beneficial to keep to a regular cycle at least for the time being. And tomorrow I will finally summon my first minions. Chapter 5: Salutary Business ¡°Brrrrring, Brrrrring, Brrrrring¡­¡± I got up and stopped the alarm clock. Even while awakening from my slumber, I was greatly pleased and once again impressed by the assortment of items that I could conjure up with either my mana or gold via the dungeon management system. And since I could add over 300 mana to the dungeon every hour, I could afford just about everything that was currently unlocked. While I was investigating the various functions and options I had discovered both the amenities tab and the ¡®Early 21st Century Earth¡¯ keyword. Surprisingly, there were items available that I had not known existed back on Earth, although these goods were further classified as ¡®Secret and Suppressed.¡¯ Furthermore, I was absolutely delighted in the discovery of an Edit Summonables function, whereby I could freely design contraptions and minions. I stuck with the provided guidance for the most part though, since to actually function properly, anything summoned had to conform to some standard of laws. By combining and editing Modern Earth¡¯s technology and Hwantasy¡¯s magic items together, I had already been able to vivify my large room. I was excited at the prospect of being able to do more as I learned more. Currently though, I stood basking in the rays of peeking sunshine and breathing in the fresh morning mountain air through the large arched Holo-windows I had installed on the side of my room adjoining the bed, and through these windows I could see the sun slowly rising above the misty peaks of the Grand Hwasten Mountain Range. It truly was a marvelous sight to behold. The Holo-windows could simulate being an aperture to anywhere in the world that I had actually been or seen. Heck, I could even make the windows show me the scenery of my neighborhood as seen from my old place. It was possible to conjure up a scene purely from my imagination, but it didn¡¯t feel anywhere near as real to the senses. In any case, simply just playing around with the edit function had been enough to raise my Dungeon Manager tier to Rare E from Common F- and my status as Dark Lord rose a little bit as well to grade F+ from F. Accordingly, my stat limits also rose as well although that doesn¡¯t really matter much to me. What did matter more was that more items were unlocked and available to me. The good news didn¡¯t stop there as I realized that by successfully utilizing the Mirror of Truth and Judgement, I was able to add whatever I had analyzed into my dungeon database. I mean, I was now able to summon Elfoid-Demons at Peasant and Commoner ranks as well as Demonkin Maid Servants at Recruit rank. This was a whole new world to me, as it appeared to be a process involving creating a living breathing being out of thin air. I was hesitant to actually go through with summoning a fully sentient person at this point, but from what I did play around with, I could actually create an entire life story alongside personality traits and aptitudes. Needless to say, Gajie was just flabbergasted when I asked her about this functionality, replying that she had never even heard of anything like this before. Ah My Goddess, just what kind of plans do you have for me? As I stepped into the shower, located in a small bathroom I had connected to my own room, I recounted one of the previous conversations I had engaged in with Gajie. ¡°¡­Such was the religious situation on Earth. Now tell me about the religion in this world, Gajie,¡± I asked. ¡°As you wish, my Lord,¡± Gajie responded, refusing unto the end my request for her to address me in a more colloquial manner. ¡°In our world, unlike your own, it is common knowledge that gods exist. Gods regularly bless people and choose representatives as well as cursing and striking down those who raise their ire enough. There are also different levels in the various pantheons, with some gods being more powerful than others. The similarity of our religions to yours is that the situation is that of a smorgasbord of beliefs all mixed in together. There are sects that claim to worship the one true god, followers of certain faiths bearing enmity towards other particular faiths, cults considered destructive or evil, and then there are also kingdoms where peace and calm reigns even with the populace following a multitude of different religious beliefs,¡± Gajie reported methodically. ¡°What religion do you follow Gajie?¡± I asked. Gajie¡¯s face darkened a little as she replied, ¡°I believe in no god my Lord. I know that they exist, but I do not place my trust and faith in any particular deity.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± I replied while prolonging the opening of my eyelids closed from blinking. ¡°Lord Reprobate, you also strike me as a person unbelieving in any particular faith,¡± Gajie ventured. ¡°You are correct, Gajie. In my old world, I was more of an agnostic when it came to religious matters. Although I sought the truth, it was extremely hard to discover something tangible. It also didn¡¯t help that I was a doubting Thomas who needed a reason for everything. With my recent life events of being reincarnated into another world, as well as meeting face to face with a goddess, I¡¯ve had to reconsider some essential parts of my foundational assumptions. In particular, I yearn to know more about the goddess whom I had a personal encounter with, but far be it from me to say that I worship her,¡± I said. ¡°I see,¡± Gajie replied and our eyes met as we gazed at each other. Having finished my shower, I ceased my recollection. Really, I didn¡¯t need to shower, but I liked to stand underneath the jets of warm water while secluding myself in my own thoughts. It used to be a sort of reprieve from the frigid world I found myself in my past life. I would douse myself in cold water at the end of my showers, shocking myself back into the icy harsh reality. But actually, I did it because the cold water at the end felt good. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I smirked a little while being reminded of the one item that this bathroom lacked: a toilet. Initially, I had pondered over whether or not I should have a toilet installed. If not needing to defecate was a standard for Godhood, then a God I was. Perhaps I will install a toilet one day, if I ever feel that I want to urinate and defecate, just because I miss the joys of feeling the relief as I relieved myself from various bodily functions. As I stepped back into my room, I was glad that I was wearing my underwear. There were five maids present in the room. As soon as they felt my presence they bowed while greeting me. One maid brought in a trolley with a covered silver platter and was arranging a table for breakfast. Two other maids came forward and started dressing me. Yeah, it seems like being pampered is the norm for nobility and royalty, and I have no intentions of desisting in being treated as such. After all, acting contrary to the ingrained value systems of the populace would garner disdain. For instance, a Lord helping out with common fieldwork would not be respected or admired but looked down upon even by most of his own subjects. Someone straight from Earth would usually want to help however they could even if they became a noble. On that account, though I could magically garb myself with gear in my inventory, I let the attendants continue with their ministrations. Even so, I couldn¡¯t help but be somewhat flustered and embarrassed inside. When I was fully dressed, I was clothed in an all-black casual formal suit except for a silver necktie. I also wore a men¡¯s lightweight black moto-styled jacket. My style was completed with a sheathed sword in a black scabbard with silver embroidery hanging at my side. The weapon was a common grade summons of which I had altered the decorations. I smiled as I looked at myself in the mirror; I looked good and I liked it. Breakfast consisted of Cream of Chicanery plant soup, bread, cheese, two fruits with milk and juice to drink. The meal was on the simple side but it was hearty and tasted alright. As an aside, I was bleeding gold because I had no source of income and my dungeon lacked self-sufficiency and trade. The saving grace was that Kikesta¡¯s basic services did not cost much. From the dark lords, the firm should make most of their money from the Items and Minions sold as well as gold-lending and joint ventures. Fortunately, I had no need of their dearer services at this time. Gajie had advised me to steer clear of borrowing gold from the firm, as a fair number of the deceased and inactive dark lords had been brought to ruin via this route. If a dark lord was powerful, he usually wouldn¡¯t need to borrow gold. And the various firms had a myriad of methods to deal with middling to lower tier dark lords who either reneged on their contracts or turned outright hostile. I had to agree with Gajie on that point. I viewed it in this way: I am currently a cub of the apex predator. Fully matured, nothing would be able to stand in my way, but being young and weak, anything could stop me from my manifest destiny. By this time, I had made it to my office. Yes, I had an office now, and no it isn¡¯t all that ornate or stately at present. I¡¯ll get to it though, eventually. Or so I tell myself. Home and office d¨¦cor were not especially a part of my interests at the moment. ¡°Good morning, my Lord,¡± Gajie greeted me. She was waiting in front of my office while holding a folder. She was as prim and proper as ever in her attire. She had also brought an entourage of maids along. ¡°Ah, Gajie, Good morning!¡± I nodded my head to her before continuing, ¡°Is there anything to be briefed on before I start the summoning?¡± ¡°Yes, there are items requiring your attention,¡± Gajie said while following me inside before continuing, ¡°We successfully installed a communications system for the dungeon and have received several salutations.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± I inquired. ¡°Several from individual Dark Lords as well as those representing Dark Lord factions in the vicinity make known their welcome. The Kingdoms of Ente and Hwasten-Low have sent notice alerting us that the dungeon has been added as a destination for the adventurer¡¯s guild. Various members of the local nobility send their greetings,¡± Gajie answered. ¡°Here are the actual letters my Lord,¡± Gajie said while placing the folder she was holding onto my desk. I read through a couple of the letters before asking, ¡°Was there anything noteworthy about any of the letters?¡± ¡°No, they all adhered to protocol although they were all standard and generic,¡± Gajie replied. ¡°Basically, they¡¯re all taking a wait and see approach to me I see,¡± I said. ¡°That is to be expected, Lord. However, Lemarin and Ducaz have not sent official salutations but simply alerted us that they have dispatched official envoys,¡± Gajie said. ¡°Well now, that makes things more interesting. Send back replies to everyone else who greeted us, adhere to protocol and make sure our replies are as dull and meaningless as theirs. In the meantime, we had better make sure that our dungeon is hospitable for our forthcoming guests, invited and otherwise,¡± I said. ¡°Yes, my Lord,¡± Gajie affirmed with a bow before relaying instructions to various maids. I pondered as to what the countries of Lemarin and Ducaz could want with me while waiting for Gajie so that we could finally summon some minions for the dungeon. Chapter 6: My Kingdom for a Fish ¡°So these are the available selections: From the Goblin category: Goblin Miner, Goblin Scout, Goblin Sentry, Goblin Warrior, and Goblin Shaman. From the Slime category: Common Slime and Killer Slime; not too many variations or upgrades have been unlocked for the slimes. From the beast category: Wolf-pup, Lion-cub, Tiger-cub, Bear-cub; different species but no enhancement along one line for the beasts for whatever reason. The rest are Basic Wisp, Pixie and Basic Earth Golem. That¡¯s everything barring editing existing entries and summoning actual people,¡± I said. ¡°While there are more species choices as well as better ranked versions of the starting four species available when compared to before, do you have any idea on why the unlocks seem so random?¡± I asked Gajie. ¡°My apologies, Lord. I will be forthright and declare that I have no talent in anything concerning military matters be it battlefield tactics, war stratagems, or minion recruitment,¡± Gajie replied matter-of-factly without so much as changing her facial expression. ¡°That¡¯s fine Gajie, you¡¯re already plenty talented, one can¡¯t have everything I suppose,¡± I remarked. I then continued, ¡°I have half a mind to summon some Goblin Miners and set them to work mining ore to earn some gold, your opinion on such a course of action?¡± ¡°That is one of the tried tested and true methods of starting out as a dark lord, my Lord,¡± Gajie responded. ¡°How does mining work in a dungeon anyhow, Gajie?¡± I asked. ¡°Lord Reprobate, you may remember that a dungeon is a special existence which bends the laws of space and time itself,¡±Gajie said. ¡°Yes, I understand that a dungeon is not restrained by its physical boundaries. Much like a space-enchanted house can look small from the outside, but contain an incredibly spacious area within that would normally be beyond the physical bounds dictated to it by the laws of nature. And that like such a house, I could have the dungeon be deeper than what the bedrock allows or have a floor larger than what the mountain allows for instance,¡± I said. ¡°Indeed. However, one can also manipulate the actual space within the dungeon if the Dungeon Manager enables this to be so,¡± Gajie said while looking at me. ¡°Oh, so if there are actual ore veins or deposits within a dungeon¡¯s space, these can be mined, I see,¡± I said while nodding. ¡°Yes Lord, but there are other ways as well. Consider the case where a dungeon is not located anywhere near natural ores or exhausts the available supply,¡± Gajie continued. ¡°Interesting. Go on, Gajie,¡± I said while rubbing my chin. ¡°If a dungeon manager has the raw materials available within their summons-list, they can exchange mana for the ore. This method however, is very time and energy consuming. One will earn coin this way, but there are other more profitable tasks. As well, most dark lords find such repetitive and menial work to be beneath their stature,¡± Gajie commented. ¡°I can imagine. It is reminiscent of clicking on a vending machine for hours on end to earn some Zeny in a certain mmorpg,¡± I chuckled. Although Gajie was unable to understand my reference, she continued, ¡°The favored way is to take a small part of the ore that you want to mine, an ore seed, and plant this within a part of the dungeon. The dungeon manager then makes it so that the ore seed will grow. Normally this process takes decades, which is already exceedingly fast, but certain dark lords have been known to expedite the process to as short as a few days.¡± ¡°Thank you for the lesson, Gajie. Then as we have no immediate means to produce mineable ore, Goblin miners seem to be a waste to summon,¡± I stated. ¡°Not necessarily, my Lord. Goblin Miners have an instinctual feel for ore and will succeed in mining them if there are any naturally formed ones within the dungeon,¡± Gajie said. ¡°Understood. Then I will now summon some goblins,¡± I replied. Over the past few days, I had learnt that although I could do things by interacting with the system menus directly, I could achieve the same results through will alone as well. I decided to try out both methods on summoning the goblins. First, I summoned a single goblin warrior using the system. Instantly, in front of us there was a small green goblin holding a crude sword. There were no special effects: visual or aural or otherwise. ¡°Masta!¡± The goblin screeched. ¡°Welcome! Be proud! You are the first ever being to be summoned by me for my dungeon.¡± I acknowledged Gajie as she congratulated me on the successful summoning and commanded the goblin to settle down. Next, I attempted to will more goblins into existence. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.I willed for seven goblin miners and two goblin sentries to come into existence. I¡¯m not sure if the mental imagery I thought of aided in the process but I succeeded in the summoning. There were now seven goblins with shoddy pickaxes and two goblins with makeshift spears. ¡°Masta! Masta!¡± They screeched disparately while jumping up and down without any rhyme or rhythm. I appointed the goblin warrior as leader of the squad of goblins and sent them off to mine whatever ores that they could find. Even though the actual time of interaction with the goblins had been quite short, I was able to utilize and learn more about some of the powers of being a dark lord. For instance, I could read their minds and feel their emotions. The goblins were jubilant at being alive. I was also able to influence their mental and emotional state by imbuing a sense of calmness. I was also able to converse with them telepathically. After that, I summoned ten golems and twenty pixies while assigning four pixies and two golems per group, and ordered them to patrol the dungeon after instructing them on a general battle strategy. The golems would tank any attackers with their high defense and sturdy bodies while the pixies would unleash their wind magic at range from behind the golems. I liked the pixies, they were curious and playful creatures that loved to flitter about around me. I then decided to defer the summoning of more minions for the time being. I would require more study on the synergies as well as downsides of different combinations. However, I didn¡¯t plan on taking too long to build up a decent force. I was content with adopting a passive approach for now. After all, I still didn¡¯t know enough about this world. But circumstances can change. And I do know that I have the capability to accomplish great deeds. Equally as important is the fact that I promised to Gajie that she shall have her revenge. There was once a time, during my younger days, where if I had the power to do so, I would have killed people for smiling at me the wrong way. That is to say, I was a proud fellow confident in his superiority over others. I saw the world as a totally dark and corrupt place ¨C a place beyond saving. I thought that perhaps Machiavelli had been on to something. Then there was also the side of me that was full of idealism. I had sought after the impossible. After all, anything could be said and everything could be thought ¨C even that which is not possible. Can I say that I am a wiser man now? This one time, I found a picture on the internet which resonated with me. A man was standing atop a few books, and in his vision was a world full of colorful flowers and flushing meadows. The man a little older now was atop significantly more books, and he saw that what he had seen before had merely been a deception in the form of a photograph on a placard. Only that the placard had been huge; enough to cover his entire field of vision. However, he now stood over the top of this placard, and could see the world for how it truly was: a complete ruins with the scattered aftermath of devastation everywhere. Finally, the man now old, stood atop incomparably more books to even the amount of his first two selves combined. He found himself above all the chaos and deception and saw the wondrous scene of the sun setting in the sky. Now I don¡¯t think simply reading as many books as you can will make you wise. You need to understand and gain insight into the underlying experiences for that. But in terms of knowledge: the more I knew, the more questions I would have. It sounds clich¨¦ doesn¡¯t it? But I truly did believe that we could make the world a better place in which to live. That we could begin to understand. I had power enough to build a kingdom! There would be plenty to eat for everyone. People who were ''bad'' in the sense that they were inferior to the ''good'' would not necessarily be denied whilst people who were good and hard-working would definitely not be denied. Not denied the opportunity for success: fame, wealth, power and respect. There would be few laws. It would be a society where all live together, even alongside the not so productive. Even those men who do not work too hard or who are untalented would have no problems raising a family. Well, it would not be all completely good. Since I am a proud fellow, a man for his extreme insolence towards me could have his balls lopped off. As a Dark Lord I require some element of a dark touch. But hey, the man could work towards having his balls restored. Another clich¨¦ came to mind and I thought it to be completely apt. To take things one day at a time. Chapter 7: Abraxas "You say that I am wrong. Hah, the whole world says that I am wrong. But I don¡¯t care. Because I am the only one left standing upright in a world that is slanted. And to save her, I am willing to kill you all. To save just her, I am willing to defy even the Supreme and destroy the entire cosmos, erasing every last trace of existence itself." -Excerpt from ¡®The Annals: 0 A.S. - The Beginning of The End¡¯ Declaration by the one known as The Heretic Another two busy days have passed on by since the first summoning. In that time I added a throne room, barracks, recreation area, reception hall, summoning room, board room, and treasure room among others to the dungeon. I had also lain down hidden traps and guard rooms filled with more golem-pixie sentries. Some of the additions were more for future-proofing rather than what was currently necessary, but I didn¡¯t worry at all. After all, I could always rearrange, renovate, or modify any part of the dungeon nigh instantaneously and without much effort, as long as I kept on imbuing my mana into the dungeon¡¯s system. I was seeing some minor gains on how much mana I could expend. This was most likely due to my obsessive imbuing of mana into the dungeon coupled with my great fondness in experimenting and exploring the edit summons function. In my mind, there could never be enough mana stored within the dungeon. So far, there had been a constant need for expenditures, and besides, I thought it wasteful to keep my personal mana maxed out. Oh, and about the treasure room: contrary to expectations, it wasn¡¯t really as heavily guarded as one would expect. The place was more of a decoy than anything. Currently it was filled with some trinkets and lesser currencies, although I would stock it up with decent treasures eventually. The treasure room served to spread fame and word of mouth about the dungeon, as well as to appease adventurers powerful enough to make it to this location. I was going to ensure that it wouldn¡¯t be a cakewalk to get here, take some of my goods, and get out safely, but it would be possible. After my morning routine, I headed towards the new summoning room. I had engaged in some serious discussions with Gajie about the prospects of summoning actual people: namely, the elfoid-demon and demonkin maid servant options which I had available. This was an endeavor that I could not undertake lightly. However, my curiosity had been roused and not utilizing an ability with such high maximal prospects would be foolish indeed. Even so, I had determined to not summon a demonkin maid servant. When I asked Gajie about the origins of the maid servants and why they all looked exactly alike except for their hair colours and slightly different uniforms, I received a revelation. The demonkin maid servant was an artificial race. Whenever a firm acquired female slaves they gave the women a choice to become demonkin maid servants. Usually, these women had either been sold off to pay down debts or had incurred slavery through crimes of the family or the crime of belonging to the losing side in a war. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. By undertaking a blood contract, these women would be turned into identical maid servants to serve in whatever capacities required for centuries. The upside for them was that they could advance through the ranks and earn their freedom and their original forms back after successfully completing lifetimes¡¯ worth of indentured servitude. The benefit for those who utilized the maid servant services was that these women couldn¡¯t betray the client. I wasn¡¯t too pleased that this world had blood contracts and potent ones at that, but at least it was out in the open. After having received such information and thinking it over for a while, I had asked one of the maid servants what they thought about someone being born into such a race and remaining so until the day they died. She immediately replied that such a life would be a cursed existence ¨C a pain without end. It wasn¡¯t as though there might not have been any solutions. For instance, perhaps modifying the initial settings or adjusting various options through the edit function could result in a positive being able to achieve personal fulfillment. However, in this case, failure would likely result in utter misery for a person. I simply was not going to take that chance at this time. This brought up another interesting notion. Namely, would I bestow life, since I have the power to do so, knowing that this may be detrimental to me eventually? As you may recall, the Mirror allowed me to see glimpses into the future. And I was able to view people I had never seen before. Using the mirror on my minions or on objects in my room would sometimes produce these new prophetic images. For instance, the goblins being led by a yet-to-be commander or women I¡¯ve yet-to-see laying down naked on my bed¡­ In particular, there was a woman who figured prominently in these visions. She and I seemed to be on very intimate terms. But I also foresaw her violent death and how this would devastate me emotionally. Who was this woman? Did I give her life? If that was the case, would I still do so even knowing the outcome? Well, I was not going to summon a woman anytime soon, even if I could control the appearances of my summons. And I had to consider the ramifications of the prophetic capacity of the Mirror itself more carefully. Chapter 8: Light and Sound ¡°It¡¯s time,¡± I said aloud as I made my way inside the summoning room. Gajie, along with a retinue of maids, followed me inside. The room was big with proportions equaling a large high-school gym. Barring the center, most of the floor was covered with wooden tiles. On the middle of the polished rock floor was a large summoning circle with intricate markings complete with geometric shapes laid in complex patterns. There were also smaller summoning circles laid around the large one as if circumscribing it. I didn¡¯t really pay much attention to those though because these summoning circles weren¡¯t for my use; I didn¡¯t need summoning circles. They were there more for general utility purposes and for the day-to-day operations overseen by Gajie. As such, the summoning room was more of a lounge in its furnishings. I had placed leather seats and sofas and glass tables spaced out throughout the room. There were empty noticeboards and yet-to-be stocked bookshelves nearby. I had even brought forth a lustrous black grand piano. Furthermore, the whole ceiling and one entire side of the room were actually gigantic holo-windows. I had the surfaces set-up much like a terminal at an international airport with glass windows overlaid on steel beams. The ceiling would show the sky above, in pertinence to the time and weather conditions outside of the dungeon. The side was made to look as if though it contained a massive triptych opening which overlooked an immense and steep winding cliffside road which led down endlessly. I thought that it would be breathtaking if it were possible to create an actual space such as a real habitat within the dungeon, but such a feat was beyond my abilities. In any case, I had enjoyed observing the maids and my minions gawking around and even attempting to walk or fly through the holo-windows when I first installed them. It¡¯d be a nice touch to summon minions and subordinates in this summoning room, and I determined to do just that from now on. ¡°Alright, Gajie. I am now going to summon an actual person as per our previous discussions. Your assistance will be necessary to complete this procedure, as there are many parameters to fulfill,¡± I announced once we were at the center of the room. ¡°I am ready, my Lord,¡± Gajie replied. ¡°First things first, what exactly is an Elfoid-demon? I get that this is a designation for a mixed race. But expound to me on Elf, Demon, and Elf-Demon in particular,¡± I demanded. ¡°Yes, Lord. I will keep my explanations concise but I must begin with a clarification. Elf and Elfoid are two separate entities. Elves first set foot from the North-West whereas the Elfoids originate from the Far East, with Uun as their first step into the known world. There are some remarkable similarities between the Elves and the Elfoid races, with two examples being the long and pointed ears, as well as their incredibly long lifespans. However, there is one stark difference between the two. Whereas an Elf takes an eternity to even hit puberty, the Elfoid rapidly attains full maturity, even faster than a human. An item of note is that Elfoids share a sense of kinship with those of Hwan heritage, and it is interesting that the Hwan also came to the known world with Uun as their first foothold,¡± Gajie explained. I interrupted Gajie with a question, ¡°I would think that all residents of Hwantasy are called Hwan, but this doesn¡¯t seem to be the case, correct?¡± ¡°Indeed, it is as you say, my Lord. The Hwan are a specific nation of human peoples,¡± Gajie said. ¡°Hmm, I see. Please continue,¡± I said. ¡°Yes, Lord. Just as the humans have different nations of peoples, so does any other race, including the Elves, Elfoids and Demons. On the Eastern end of this continent is the Free-States of Yeol, a place led by a nation of Elfoid people known as the Hutnal. Of note is the fact that the Free-States is the only place on the continent where the citizenry is represented by every single race and nation present in the world. Oft-times, those who are persecuted or oppressed in their home countries either form their own settler communities or make the long trek to the Free-States. As for the Demons, the majority of their population is located on the continent of Hondon and the Waklands. As a species they lack cohesion, which is evident in the absence of any demon countries. Unsurprisingly, demons make up the greatest number of dark lords. Finally, an Elfoid-demon is a mixed-race individual of Elfoid and Demon heritage, which is a rare combination. I believe that is all I have to say at present on your inquiry, my Lord,¡± Gajie said. ¡°Thank you, Gajie. These are some fascinating and important topics; we must discuss more on history in the future. What you have told me is helpful in deciding how to arrange certain parameters for the individual that we shall summon,¡± I said. I then went about using the system to fill-in various necessary parameters for the summoning, asking for Gajie¡¯s advice at times and leaning on her knowledge. It was definitely possible to create a fictitious personal history or backstory for the individual. However, I decided against this, opting instead for a more practical and pragmatic solution. Basically, the history for the individual would be that he was created by me as an entirely new being. Even so, he would have the common sense, common knowledge and common sensibilities of a typical resident of this world. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. After double-checking everything, I was ready to finally summon my Elfoid-demon subordinate. ¡°Come forth, Byot, my creation!¡± I said loudly while finalizing the summons. And then, in front of me stood a handsome and youthful man.
Name Byot Ullyopauginen
Age: 0 Height: 183cm Gender: Male
Race Elfoid-demon
Class Commoner (Common, D)
Skills Fast Learner (Rare, E-)
Titles First Creation of the Beloved ''Once Loved'' (Superb, C+)
Mentality: Purpose & Loyalty Disposition: Neutral, Order
Martial Prowess 19/35 Intelligence 30/50
Explorer 36/50 Wisdom 20/50
Commander 10/35 Health 40/80
Politics 8/35 Allure 50/50
Magic 5/35
He immediately went down on one knee, lowered his head, and in a clear and firm voice said, ¡°Byot Ullyopauginen greets his Creator, Lord and Master.¡± The whole process did feel a little bit anti-climactic, there being no special effects, fanfare or dramatics for such a momentous occasion. But I consoled myself with the image of the aghast faces of the maid servants, their mouths wide open in shock and some of them even rubbing their eyes to re-check what they were seeing. Gajie, on the other hand, was the very visage of cool and calm. She clapped her hands and directed the maids into action. ¡°Arise, and welcome, Byot, to the world and to my dungeon,¡± I greeted him. I then introduced Byot to Gajie and vice versa. Byot had short straight red hair that accentuated his pointed ears and sparkling blue irises with a dapper face which I designed myself through the system. He was fit, lean, and well-muscled. He was wearing a rough green cloth commoner¡¯s shirt and brown trousers and had on a pair of sandals on his feet. Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t able to adjust his starting equipment through the system. This was quickly remedied though, via the maids acting under Gajie¡¯s direction. Byot received a pair of sturdy black boots, a black leather tasset, black leather breastplate, bracers, and a sword sheathed in a black scabbard. ¡°I hope you like it, although the gear is all black according to my own tastes. I will bestow more equipment as your abilities grow and your deeds warrant them. On the other hand, you may want to get your own custom equipment later on down the line,¡± I said. ¡°Thank you, my Lord. I humbly accept these gifts,¡± Byot replied with a bow. ¡°I don¡¯t have any specific tasks for you at the moment. Learn and grow with me, Byot. And together we shall accomplish great deeds,¡± I said. ¡°I hear and obey,¡± Byot said. At this point, Gajie brought a thin and shiny reflective metal slate and held it out towards Byot. He placed his hand on the plate whereupon writing appeared on the surface of the metal slate. Gajie walked up to me and bowing, proffered the slate to me with both hands while saying, ¡°Lord Reprobate, although this is not necessary for you due to your abilities, it is customary for a subordinate to offer his new liege a status plate as a pledge of allegiance.¡± ¡°Duly noted,¡± I said while accepting the status plate and glancing it over. ¡°I gather then, that Byot doesn¡¯t know his own status. Give him another status plate for his own usage, Gajie,¡± I ordered. ¡°Yes, Lord,¡± Gajie replied before spurring more maids into action. An interesting aspect that I had immediately discovered when I summoned Byot was that the telepathic link and emphatic connection was enabled between us just as if though between myself and my minions. I could feel a sense of resolute determination from him. Chapter 9: Fated Encounter After the summoning, I let Gajie take Byot to look around the dungeon and get his bearings set. As for me, I decided to drop in on the Goblin squad. I had received reports that they had indeed discovered ores and wanted to encourage them in person. By now, there were short-distance teleport circles set-up internally for staff use within the dungeon, and as such I did not have to walk for hours to get to the goblins. As I approached the goblins, I could hear the clinking sounds of pickaxes thumping on rock and earth, as well as the miners humming out a screechy tune of kees and kehs. The goblin warrior was the first to notice my presence. It looked like the goblin was practicing by swinging his shoddy sword around, and this made the fellow more endearing to me. The two goblin sentries were busily dozing off with spittle drooling from their mouths. ¡°Masta come! Ten-shun!¡± The goblin warrior screeched loudly. A large commotion ensued with the miners jumping up and down around me while shrieking happily. The two sentries were rudely awakened and started to unsteadily flounder about trying to gather their senses. On the one hand, I was glad that my minions could be so overjoyed at my presence. But on the other, I was trying to determine whether a stricter and more militaristic order might not be more beneficial in the long run. In any case I let the goblins sense that I wanted order from them, and this calmed them down. ¡°I came to personally congratulate you, First Goblin Miner Section ¨C Squad One, for your accomplishments in successfully locating and mining ores. This is a historic feat; the first of its kind within our dungeon. Well done!¡± I announced. Silence ensued as the Goblins simply stared back at me. ¡°You may now cheer,¡± I said while empathetically nudging the goblins as well. ¡°Masta praise us!¡± The goblin warrior declared. ¡°We first!¡± A miner squawked. ¡°Ke Ke Ke Keh!¡± The rest of the goblins started to screech and dance about. The merriment was short lived however, as a broadcast announced throughout the dungeon, ¡°Code Yellow, Code Yellow. ETA 2 Hours to Dungeon Entrance. I repeat: Code Yellow, Code Yellow. ETA 2 Hours to Dungeon Entrance.¡± The first prospective challengers to my dungeon, and it¡¯s a fucking Code Yellow. To be frank, I have been itching for some action in battle. Both personally, to test out my improved self in combat, and for my dungeon and minions, to gauge where they are at. But a Code Yellow indicated a threat level dangerous enough to eradicate the entire dungeon ¨C whether through sheer numbers or through the battle prowess of the challengers. The Code was Yellow however, due to the threat only being a potential one. That is, that the intentions of the presumed hostiles were unknown. They might just be passing by. Yeah, right. ¡°Squad One, retreat to the Inner Dungeon,¡± I commanded. As I was about to turn away and head to my office however, I heard the Goblin Warrior cry out, ¡°Masta! We go together! Squad fight!¡± I sensed a battle lust and a desire to protect the dungeon from the warrior and sentries and some of the miners. ¡°Alright then. You and the Sentries, follow me. The Miners of Squad One however, retreat to the Inner Dungeon,¡± I modified my command. And like so, we made time posthaste to my office via the teleport circle. Gajie was already there, as was Byot. ¡°Status Report!¡± I demanded as soon as I saw Gajie. ¡°My Lord. As you already know, the Surveillance Operations reported a Code Yellow level of threat at approximately 2 Hours distance. There are two separate groups, with one apparently chasing the other. The front group consists of five members on foot. Unfortunately, none of them have been identified. The pursuers number a hundred strong and all of them are armed. Though most of them seem to be rank-and-file soldiers, among them are five who are distinguished from the rest. These five men are heavily armed as well as on horse-back. One of the five, the leader of this group, has been identified as John Fleetsword,¡± Gajie reported. ¡°Fleetsword?¡± I asked. ¡°John Fleetsword is the Vice-Captain of the Uppens Knights. The Uppens Knights are the Elite Forces of the Earl of Uppens in the Kingdom of Hwasten-Low. The other four members of the mounted five are also most likely to be knights,¡± Gajie said. ¡°I¡¯d be loath to be get involved in political disputes I know nothing about. What do you think would be the outcome of simply spectating and letting this whole thing blow over?¡± I inquired from Gajie. She replied, ¡°Well, that is why this is a Code Yellow, my Lord. What you can be sure of is the fact that the first group will definitely pass by the Dungeon Entrance and be caught up with the second group right around here.¡±Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°And knights are formidable opponents to be reckoned with?¡± I asked further. ¡°Only those able to materialize an Aura are ever accepted into the ranks of the Knights, Lord. They are indeed formidable opponents to be reckoned with,¡± Gajie answered. I groaned. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go and meet them in front of the dungeon. I¡¯ll be taking along all but two of the Golem-Pixie battlegroups. That¡¯s forty Pixies and twenty Golems. The three Goblin fighters will join me as well,¡± I said. ¡°Master, I wish to serve as well,¡± Byot added to the discussion. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°¡­¡± ¡°You just came into being today. This encounter could turn out to be highly dangerous¡­ possibly fatal,¡± I said. ¡°What good am I if I cannot be by my Lord and Master¡¯s side in his time of need?¡± Byot stated. ¡°Hmm¡­¡± I sighed while closing my eyes. ¡°I see. Thank you Byot. Come with me,¡± I nodded and grasped Byot firmly on his right shoulder. After delegating the last line of defense to Gajie, I summoned another gaggle of Goblin Sentries to take along and a group of Goblin Warriors for defense of the dungeon. I then telepathically laid out the orders to all of my minions and headed outside the dungeon, to meet with whatever challenges were heading my way. Byot seemed to relish being outside, taking in deep breaths and observing the scene. He was surprisingly calm, cool and collected inside, unlike most of the goblins and pixies that were jittery and excited. The golems, being semi-sentient automatons, were unfeeling. ¡°You¡¯re unusually tranquil about this whole ordeal, Byot, considering this is your first foray,¡± I quipped. ¡°I believe that this is a quality I have inherited from you Master, considering today is your first foray as well,¡± Byot commented. ¡°Perhaps. You and me both,¡± I said with a grin as I glanced at my watch. Anytime now and the first group will arrive, I determined. My army was in battle formation at the base of the Cliffside entrance to the Dungeon. The Golems in the middle with the pixies protected behind them. Byot and I were at the front, and the Goblins were beside us with the Goblin warrior in the lead. Finally, I saw the first group. They were moving quickly, but came to a sudden halt when they saw us. ¡°Identify yourself!¡± A large bearded man in light armor bellowed from the distance. I used my skill to observe him.
Name: Mark ¡®Cleft Cleaver¡¯ Keenstag
Age: 44 Height: 187cm Race: Human (LowHwasten / Hwasten-Low)
Gender: Male
Class: Knight (Superb, C)
Titles: Knight Captain (Elite, B+), Aura User (Limited, A-), Hardened Veteran (Rare, C)
Skills: Blade Aura (Limited, B), Aura Heal (Uncommon, D-), Enhance All Physical (Rare, E+), Tri-Slash (Superb, B-), Heavy Blow (Superb, B), Charge (Superb, A), Block (Elite, B+), Guard (Limited, D)
Mentality: Dedication and Loyalty
Disposition: Good, Order
Martial Prowess: 58/60 Intelligence: 29/40 Commander: 41/45 Health: 48/50
Explorer: 24/40 Wisdom: 31/40 Politics: 22/40 Allure:30/60
This man was a knight captain with what would be considered as at least good stats in all areas. ¡°You behold Deprofundis Reprobate ¡®Once Loved¡¯, my Master and the Dark Lord of this Dungeon,¡± Byot yelled back. ¡°Are you friend or foe?¡± Mark bellowed. ¡°Neither for now, but that depends. Who are you?¡± Byot responded. Mark then had a quick chat with a cloaked and hooded figure before replying, ¡°We ask to approach your position and want a guarantee of our safety.¡± I gave instructions to Byot and he replied, ¡°You may approach. We cannot guarantee safety, but assure you that no harm will be advanced from us.¡± The group of five then walked towards us, with the four armed members circling to protect the hidden figure. As soon as they were near, I commenced speaking, ¡°I am Deprofundis Reprobate. Allow us to be frank. I know that you are being chased, so tell me who I am dealing with and for what.¡± ¡°I am Mark Keenstag, Leader of the Knights Hetsalia. We have been gravely wronged and are in dire straits. We ask for your assistance, Lord Reprobate,¡± Mark said. ¡°Let your leader reveal himself and tell his tale with his own words,¡± I stated flatly. The knight captain grimaced but was stilled with a motion from the cloaked and hooded figure. A pure and natural feminine voice spoke, ¡°I choose to reveal myself to you, Deprofundis,¡± while lowering the hood which had obscured her face from view. She spoke, ¡°I am Brightness Hetsalia, Daughter and Heir to the Duke Hetsalia. My father was slandered, framed, ambushed and murdered; betrayed by his cousin, the Earl Uppens. I had been travelling to Lemarin to seek safe harbor when the dastard Uppens set his hounds loose upon me. I ask for your aid, Reprobate. Will you give it me?¡± However, I could hardly pay attention to what she was saying anymore. You see, this girl bore a stark resemblance to the woman in my visions. So much so, that when she first revealed herself I was going over in my mind whether this girl actually was that woman. After the initial shock that is. I was shocked but at the same time I was putting my options on the balance. For instance, if I didn¡¯t help this Hetsalia, would this then mean that I could avoid the future that I saw? But how accurate was the Mirror of Truth and Judgment really? The past recollection was accurate in what it showed me, so far as I can tell, just that it was limited in scope and depth. But whereas the past recall was like remembering a movie I had watched, the future visions were more of a short disjointed and jumbled mess of trailers to an actual movie in comparison. Things got tricky when concerning the future. For instance, was the future shown what would naturally happen through the course of history in this world, or what would occur only with my involvement? Maybe it was both, or mayhap I am now considered an actor in the history of Hwantasy. The visions of victory and triumph also had to be put under more scrutiny. Sure, it showed me of my victory. But who is to say that that is not just an initial victory and not a final one? Put bluntly, I could fall into ruin the very next day after achieving triumph, just that it was never shown. So far, I had no such assurances. Also, I was curious as to how I could become so agonized over the death of a mere woman, albeit a beautiful one. Perhaps it¡¯s just that I¡¯ve never experienced true love, but then again, I don¡¯t believe in true love. However, I¡¯ve never really experienced going through the death of a close loved one. No one to love and no one too close, such had been my life. ¡°The same golden hair that shines and sparkles brilliantly in the sunlight yet is dark around the inner curls of the locks going down the forehead. Strikingly similar soft and delicate pleasant features, the same smooth and pale skin¡­ Ah, but your eyes are a rich emerald green, whereas hers are a sparkling sapphire blue,¡± I said aloud. ¡°You¡¯re all looking at me with confusion, and Mark, I note with some hostility. I was talking my thoughts out loud. I¡¯ll explain later, if there is a later. For now, know that I will give you my aid,¡± I assured them while breaking the silence that had ensued before continuing, ¡°Your group should enter into the dungeon, you lot look famished and tired. I¡¯ve already contacted my minions within; they¡¯ll alert my subordinates to expect you.¡± ¡°Sorry Lord Reprobate, I¡¯m not doubting your word, heh, but we¡¯d rather stay out here. There¡¯s going to be a fight, and you¡¯ll need all the help that you can get,¡± Mark said. ¡°Then you stay Keenstag, but the rest go inside,¡± I ordered. Before Mark could refuse, I added, ¡°Surely, you¡¯re not about to let your lord lie exposed out in the open, Knight Captain? And how effective would you be when having to guard her all the time? Besides, though you may be just fine, the rest of your group aren¡¯t.¡± Brightness intervened, ¡°We¡¯ll do as you say Deprofundis. I will trust you. Sir Keenstag, you alone must help the Dark Lord in the battle to come. Please, stay safe¡­¡± ¡°As you command,¡± Mark replied while bowing. Chapter 10: First Battle Hetsalia and her remaining group quickly started to make their way to the dungeon, growing ever farther. Mark immediately turned around and faced the direction the group had come from. Byot let his gaze linger on the retreating group for a while longer. A silence ensued between the three of us at the forefront. Mark broke the silence first, ¡°Can you two use magic?¡± ¡°We can use it, but we don¡¯t know any spells,¡± I said. Mark grimaced while saying, ¡°I don¡¯t sense any Aura from you either. They¡¯ve got five knights, don¡¯t expect me to be protecting you.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± I grunted my assent. After a short time more of silence, the pursuers finally came into sight. They must have been surprised, as the lead five momentarily stopped their mounts. The knights took measure of us and started marching closer with all their soldiers in tow. The knight in the center had his hand raised while they advanced, a gesture that they did not seek battle, at least not yet. The knights made their halt a short distance away from me. All five of them got unmounted and some soldiers led away the horses. I took a look at the lead knight.
Name: John Fleetsword
Age: 25 Height: 176cm Race: Human (LowHwasten / Hwasten-Low)
Gender: Male
Class: Knight (Rare, D-)
Titles: Knight (Superb, A-), Aura User (Rare, B), Veteran (Elite, A)
Skills: Blade Aura (Uncommon, A+), Enhance Speed (Limited, C), Backstep, Backstab (Rare, B+), Lie (Uncommon, A-) Charge (Limited, C-), Block (Limited, C)
Mentality: Forked Tongue & Warped Mind
Disposition: Evil, Order
Martial Prowess: 25/30 Intelligence: 31/35 Commander: 11/35 Health: 40/40
Explorer: 5/30 Wisdom: 8/35 Politics: 28/30 Allure:2/30
¡°Fuck, you¡¯re big. I thought Keenstag was a big fellow, but you, you¡¯re something else!¡± Fleetsword exclaimed while glowering up at me before continuing, ¡°But I don¡¯t sense any Aura from you two.¡± He sneered, ¡°Hand over the Whore and I¡¯ll let you live.¡± ¡°You dare!¡± Mark roared, just about ready to jump into a fight. I raised up my arm while meeting Mark¡¯s gaze to stop him. ¡°And if I refuse?¡± ¡°You die and I take your horns as a trophy,¡± Fleetsword said. At this point the soldiers behind the five knights started murmuring amongst themselves while laughing. My enhanced hearing could pick up some of the conversations between them. ¡°Hehehe, wudden min¡¯ havin a taste of the Hetsal whore meself¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Bah, ain¡¯t like the cap¡¯n ever let us!¡± ¡°That there a dungeon entrance, see? Praps we¡¯ll take ther treasure.¡± ¡°Saw a few settler villages on the way here I did. I says we go there and kill ther men, take ther women and stuffs. Think capn¡¯ll let us?¡± ¡°Sure he will, cap¡¯n loves to kill and rape more than us he does.¡± ¡°You must not be very smart, displaying outright hostility to a possible enemy whose strength you haven¡¯t measured,¡± I said to Fleetsword. ¡°Bah, ha ha hah! I¡¯m the stupid one, me!¡± Fleetsword turned red with laughter before continuing, ¡°Listen well you dotard. You are the fool! Taking your entire fucking army out of the dungeon when you¡¯re nothing but an upstart whose dungeon didn¡¯t even exist a month ago!¡± ¡°Fuck it, you piss me off, so I¡¯ll just take what I want from you,¡± Fleetsword said without even giving me a chance to respond. ¡°Pete, you take those two Auraless fuckers, the rest of you, we¡¯re on all Keenstag. Don¡¯t let your guard down!¡± Fleetsword ordered. One of the follower knights raised up his arm and dashed it down while shouting, ¡°Attack!¡± ¡°Raarh!¡± The soldiers yelled while rushing our position. ¡°Attack! Meet them front to front!¡± I commanded. ¡°Keeeeeeh!¡± The goblins screamed while rushing towards the soldiers. The Golems thumped forward and the pixies took position to unleash their wind magic. With the ensuing of the melee, one of the knights charged me, and the other four rushed towards Keenstag. The knight, Pete, swung down his sword with a grunt. I could see a grin on his face. I blocked his attack with my own sword. The recoil that I felt was weak. Very weak. The knight continued to attack, but I could follow all of his movements easily, and successfully blocked his ensuing jab and slash. ¡°The hell?¡± He uttered in surprise as all his attacks literally bounced off my sword. I took the opportunity and swung my sword at him. He tried to block my attack, but his sword broke and I bisected him from his head all the way down to his torso. ¡°Not a pretty sight,¡± I clicked my tongue. He had been too careless and had not even used his Aura in his arrogance. The soldiers who were behind him had their eyes widen in shock, and promptly swerved towards the minions, deciding not to face me. The field was pure pandemonium, with screaming shrieking and crying everywhere. Each golem was tanking a fair number of soldiers with the pixies letting loose wind blades to cut them down. I saw at least a couple of golems on the verge of falling. The goblins were thrashing about. Then I remembered Mark and looked his way. He had a blue aura around himself and his sword and was focusing on defense. However, he was surrounded and was already covered with blood from his own wounds. ¡°Byot!¡± I yelled. We both ran towards Mark, screaming with our swords drawn, mine covered with blood. ¡°They got Pete!¡± One of the knights shouted. ¡°Fuck! Tim and Ren, take them down! Use your Aura!¡± Fleetsword yelled while dodging a swing from Mark. Immediately, two of the knights that were surrounding Mark left their positions and came to meet us. They both had red auras covering their bodies and their swords. I was wary because I expected that were I to attack or defend in a normal fashion that the attackers¡¯ blade auras would simply cut through my sword. However, I had a Martial Prowess of 80, the caliber of a renowned Hero. I telepathically contacted Byot, ¡®I¡¯ll take the brunt of their attacks, you hang about the edge of the clash and strike when there is an opportunity.¡¯ ¡°Die Demon Scum!¡± One of the knights lunged towards me while swinging down his sword from above his head. ¡°Rrragh!¡± I swung up my own sword with as much power as I could muster to meet his strike. The clashing of metal rang out and the knight¡¯s sword flew out of his outstretched hand. ¡°What the fuck?¡± He had a genuine look of incredulity plastered over his entire face. And then, the knight¡¯s head was separated from his neck by a slash from Byot¡¯s sword. Blood spurted out from his neck as his body helplessly limped onto the ground. The knight had failed to maintain his defensive concentration and Byot had taken advantage. ¡°You fucking rat!¡± The remaining knight screamed. Then the knight chased after Byot, simply disregarding me. So when the knight was about to pass me by again, I stabbed my sword into his side with force. The sword ripped through his mail armor and plunged into his flesh before finally breaking. ¡°Aahh!¡± He screamed in pain. Byot then took advantage again and made him a pair in headless heedlessness with his former comrade. After I picked up the dead knight¡¯s sword, Byot and I made our way to Mark. His entire body was heaving heavily but it looked like he had been holding on. ¡°Holy shit, looks like you guys are no joke,¡± Fleetsword remarked in surprise. His face crumbled and he said in fear, ¡°Let¡¯s talk this out shall we?¡± As the three of us walked closer, Fleetsword and the remaining knight started backpedaling away from us. However, I noticed a micro-expressive smirk appear on Fleetsword¡¯s face. And before I could say anything, a field of electricity engulfed us and jolted us. I found myself standing still and paralyzed, unable to even speak. ¡°Heh, hahahaha!¡± Fleetsword laughed before continuing, ¡°Fools! I set up a trap and you fell right into it!¡± He kicked Mark in the head, knocking him down. The remaining knight pushed Byot down to the ground. Then Fleetsword kicked me behind my knees, making them buckle so that I ended up kneeling. ¡°Oh, I¡¯m gonna make you pay,¡± he growled and then positioned my arms so that they were raised up in front of me. ¡°One fucking body part at a time,¡± he said as he chopped my right forearm off. ¡°¡­!¡± Not again! ¡°It¡¯s just too bad that I don¡¯t get to listen to your screams,¡± he mocked. Fuck! I got too careless. This time around, the pain didn¡¯t bother me as much as the self-deprecating thought that I made a bunch of beginner¡¯s mistakes. I¡¯ve lost an arm for it, and who knows what else I¡¯ll have to pay? ¡°Hee hee hee! Yeh, the left arm is next,¡± Fleetsword expressed in genuine glee. As he was about to strike down however, Fleetsword suddenly dropped his sword while yelping in surprise. ¡°You vermin scum!¡± He roared as he pulled out a shoddy rusted sword from his calf. ¡°Masta! I come! Save Masta!¡± The goblin warrior, all grimy and covered in blood and dust, had come to my aid when he sensed my anger and desperation. The goblin then bared his teeth and tried to bite down on Fleetsword¡¯s injured leg, but not before the remaining knight kicked away my loyal minion. The goblin got up immediately, but started swaying around and fell down swooning. The knight walked up to and positioned his sword in a stabbing stance above the head of the unconscious goblin warrior while disgustedly uttering, ¡°Vile monster, go back to the depths of hell.¡± I¡¯m sorry, my friend. And thank you, my goblin warrior. Chapter 11: Nordhound Was it a stroke of luck, or perhaps even the guiding hand of fate? Because the unthinkable happened yet again. Out of nowhere, an arrow burst through the neck of the knight, spraying blood everywhere. ¡°grrragh, grrrrrgh!¡± The knight made some gargling noises while spitting out his own blood, and then crumpled down to the side. John Fleetsword spun himself around as quickly as he could to the direction from whence the arrow had flown. ¡°Aw, fuck¡­¡± he quietly remarked as he noted the approach of six well-armed figures. I couldn¡¯t see his expression, as he was facing away from me, but I imagine he put on some kind of act while saying, ¡°My friends! Thank the Gods that you¡¯ve come! We¡¯ve been gravely wronged by these fell charlatans and ¨C¡± ¡°Shut it, fiend. We saw the whole thing,¡± A large and fierce man holding a heavy looking Warhammer said, cutting off Fleetsword. ¡°I am John Fleetsword. You don¡¯t want to cross the Earl of Uppens and mess with his knights now, do you?¡± Fleetsword said loudly. ¡°Peh. We¡¯re Nordhound. Uppens is the one who doesn¡¯t want to mess with us!¡± the man said. ¡°Fuck. Nordhound. I was hoping it wasn¡¯t you guys when I saw you off in the distance. Fuck!¡± Fleetsword looked at the man in the middle, and then to the others to either side of him before continuing, ¡°Can¡¯t we strike a deal?¡± ¡°Hmm, a deal? I don¡¯t want to, but let me ask the others just in case. What say you, guys?¡± The man said. ¡°We cannot, nay, must not associate with dishonorable men.¡± ¡°I do what boss says.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll come back to bite us in the rear, so I say no.¡± ¡°I sense great evil within this man. He is not to be trusted, Findel.¡± ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t care either way. But if we want that otherworldly food you¡¯ve been talking about, gotta help out our horned friend here, no?¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it is,¡± the man with the Warhammer told fleetsword. ¡°Shit! Fuck you!!¡± Fleetsword screamed and activated his Aura. But immediately after, a white flash shone in the area of Fleetsword and he was decapitated. A man in shining armor shook off the blood from his sword and sheathed it in his scabbard. He then grabbed Fleetsword¡¯s head by the hair and raising it up shouted out loud, ¡°Fleetsword and his knights have been felled! Fleetsword has fallen by the sword of Myson Adorel of Nordhound!¡± Immediately, the clamor of battle died down, and what was left of the Uppens soldiers threw down their weapons in surrender. ¡°Dispel,¡± A bald and genteel-looking middle aged man in clerical garment said while holding his hands toward us. White shining beams of light fell down towards Keenstag, Byot, and me with a twinkling sound, and we found that we could talk and move again. ¡°Nordhound, at your service,¡± the leader of the group said while grinning.
Victory. Battle Aftermath screen can now be accessed
¡°Note that minion and subordinate status ups and class ups due to battle can only be designated within the aftermath screen,¡± the System alerted me. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± I muttered, dizzy and sleepy from the blood loss. Then I lost consciousness. When I next awoke, the sun was hanging low through the view on the holo-windows of my room. The setting sun painted the surroundings of the mountain range in brilliant fiery red and golden yellow hues. There were some purples and blues mixed into the scene in the sky as well. ¡°Master, have you slept well?¡± a voice sounded out. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s you, Byot. How long have I been out?¡± I asked. Byot took a glass from a side table and poured some water from a jug into it. He handed me the glass and said, ¡°A day and some hours, Master.¡± I instinctively reached out with my right hand, but found nothing there but a bandaged stump. Seeing me grimace, Byot spoke, ¡°Do not be too worried Master. From what little I know, dark lords can regenerate any of their appendages. I gather that is why Cleric Ouvrcalle did not deem it necessary to reconnect your severed arm.¡± ¡°By Cleric Ouvrcalle, you must mean that man who dispelled the paralysis from us,¡± I said while I received the glass of water from Byot with my left hand. The water was cool and refreshing, being flavored with hints of fruits. Byot took out a glassy medallion and somehow activated it. ¡°Our Master has awoken and is fine,¡± he remarked towards the medallion. ¡°Understood. I will be there soon,¡± I heard a curt reply in what could only be Gajie¡¯s voice. ¡°Whatever happened to them, that Nordhound group?¡± I asked. ¡°Nordhound is an acclaimed group of adventurers, Master. Gajie told me that they are number one in the rankings for the continent of Hwasten. They were hired as advance scouts and guards by the envoys from Lemarin and Ducaz. Although¡­¡± ¡°Although?¡± ¡°Forgive me, but it would be best for you to find out about that yourself, Master. Luckily enough, Nordhound got to us just in the nick of time. They have been ushered within high-class visitor quarters as honored guests. The envoys and their entourages have been allowed to set up camp outside of the dungeon,¡± Byot said. At this point in time, I heard a double knock on the doors. ¡°Come in,¡± I answered. Gajie, with ever the same visage, entered and bowing, said, ¡°Congratulations on your victory, Lord.¡± ¡°Thank you Gajie, I am always relying on you. There must have been much to do, what with the decisions to make regarding the Duchess Hetsalia, our guests, our casualties, and the Prisoners of War,¡± I greeted her. ¡°Would you like a status report, my Lord?¡± Gajie asked. ¡°Not right away. For now, I will wash up and get dressed. Then, I want to meet with Nordhound first. You can update me on the situation on the way,¡± I said.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°Forgive me, my Lord. I never took your bathing into consideration! Please allow me to rectify this error. From now on, I will have maids attending to you in this regard as well,¡± Gajie said, flustered and with sincerity. I could only moan, ¡®great¡­¡¯ to myself. Gajie clapped her hands together a couple of times and five maids came inside and bowed. ¡°From now onwards, you are to take into consideration that the Lord also bathes,¡± Gajie ordered the maidservants, then continued, ¡°get to it, girls!¡± Once the whole ordeal was over, I found myself sitting on the silver throne within the audience hall. From what was briefed, Mark Keenstag and my surviving minions who required it were given appropriate medical attention and were now recuperating. Brightness Hetsalia and her guards were being attended to in high-class visitor¡¯s quarters. And regarding the battle, we lost all the goblins except the goblin warrior, 12 Golems and 5 pixies, while 70 enemy soldiers were slain and 25 were captured and held in prison cells. Gajie was standing at the head of the right side and Byot at the left. There were other minions and maidservants amongst the throng within the audience hall chattering to one another. I was looking through the Battle Aftermath menu when soon enough, the enormous silver doors which led into the hall were opened, and a golem acting as a herald blared out in a mechanical tone, ¡°My Lord, Nordhound enters.¡± The leader was in the middle, and to his left was Myson Adorel while to his right was a huge beastkin. Next to Myson were two girls and beside the beastkin was the cleric. All of them except the leader either bowed or curtsied, with the leader only nodding his head towards me. ¡°Damn, I didn¡¯t think you were going to be so formal about this! Uh, Lord Reprobate, I mean¡­¡± the leader pithily commented before stammering. ¡°It¡¯s alright. You adventurers saved my life as well as those of my followers, minions, and guests. We were victorious because of your help, and for that I thank you,¡± I announced. ¡°Please, introduce yourselves!¡± ¡°Findel Valkur, leader of Nordhound, at your service! I¡¯m an Otherworlder from Earth, just like yourself, Deprofundis,¡± the leader, a large and fierce looking man with brown beard and cropped hair spoke.
Name: Findel ¡®Warhammer¡¯ Valkur
Age: 32 Height: 185cm Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class: Viking Successor (Elite, B+), Berserker (Epic, D-)
Titles: Feared Warrior (Legendary, A), Otherworlder (Epic, C-), Aura User (Rare, E+), Hwasten Top-ranked Adventurer (Mythical, B+), World High-ranked adventurer (Epic, A-), Hardened Veteran (Limited, B-)
Skills: Blade Aura (Limited, B), Berserk (Elite, A-), Rage (Superb, C+), Heavy Smash (Epic, E), Smash (Epic, F+), Wild Swing (Superb, S), Leadership (Epic, B-)
Mentality: Honor and Battle
Disposition: Neutral, Order
Martial Prowess: 85/85 Intelligence: 80/85 Commander: 50/50 Health: 90/100
Explorer: 80/85 Wisdom: 60/70 Politics: 31/40 Allure: 40/40
¡°Myson Adorel greets Lord Reprobate! I am a knight indebted to Master Valkur, Lord Reprobate,¡± a handsome man with blonde hair spoke.
Name: ¡®Chivalrous¡¯ Myson Adorel
Age: 27 Height: 177cm Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class: Knight (Elite, C)
Titles: Valiant Knight (Limited, A), Aura User (Limited, D+), Hwasten Top-ranked Adventurer (Mythical, E), World High-ranked adventurer (Epic, D-), Veteran (Superb, B+)
Skills: Blade Aura (Elite, E+), Enhance Strength (Limited, C-), Heavy Blow (Superb, C+), Fast Jab (Superb, B), Endure (Epic, B), Charge (Elite, A+), Block (Superb, D), Guard (Elite, B-), Special: Strike of The Cherished One (Superb, A+, Unique)
Mentality: Honor and Courage
Disposition: Good, Order
Martial Prowess: 60/62 Intelligence: 27/38 Commander: 23/40 Health: 46/47
Explorer: 19/31 Wisdom: 29/35 Politics: 12/33 Allure:67/67
Next to speak was the humongous beastkin with the blue ears and tail, ¡°Jaegen Prissasortener, a Wolfkin of the Hati tribe.¡±
Name: ¡®Bloodlust¡¯ Jaegen Prissasortener
Age: 21 Height: 218cm Race: Beastkin (Wolfkin / Hati)
Gender: Male
Class: Blacksmith (Limited, A), Brawler (Elite, D+)
Titles: Feral Anvil (Rare, S+), Hwasten Top-ranked Adventurer (Mythical, F), World High-ranked adventurer (Epic, E-), Veteran (Elite, B-)
Skills: Enhance All Physical (Limited, B), Supersonic (Limited, C+), Sidestep (Elite, C), Backstep (Elite, C-), Charge (Limited, C), Counter (Limited, D+), Grapple (Elite, C), Wrestle (Elite, C-), Swipe (Elite, A), Forge Weapon (Rare, B+), Forge Armor (Rare, C), Forge General (Rare, D-), Repair Item (Rare, B), Item Appraisal (Common, E), Special: Ice Storm Fury (Superb, B, Unique)
Mentality: Loyalty & Purpose
Disposition: Good, Neutral
Martial Prowess: 44/44 Intelligence: 30/30 Commander: 9/30 Health: 62/65
Explorer: 31/34 Wisdom: 22/30 Politics: 7/30 Allure:33/44
¡°We¡¯ve met before, Lord Reprobate. I chose not to reattach your arm, as such procedures sometimes lead to unsatisfactory results. My name is Jacques Ouvrcalle,¡± the middle aged cleric said.
Name: Jacques ¡®Baldy¡¯ Ouvrcalle
Age: 41 Height: 171cm Race: Human
Gender: Male
Class: Cleric (Epic, E-)
Titles: Travelling Cleric (Superb, B-), Hwasten Top-ranked Adventurer (Mythical, C-), World High-ranked adventurer (Epic, B-), Hardened Veteran (Rare, C), Healer (Elite, B)
Skills: Heal (Superb, C+), Heal Area (Superb, C), Dispel (Superb B), Dispel Area (Superb, B-), Cure (Elite, A+), Cure Area (Elite, A), Prayer (Superb, B), Offering (Elite, B), Self-sacrifice (Limited, C-), Entice (Limited, B+)
Mentality: Continental Traveller
Disposition: Neutral, Neutral
Martial Prowess: 10/25 Intelligence: 65/65 Commander: 4/20 Health: 24/28
Explorer: 31/33 Wisdom: 65/70 Politics: 53/55 Allure:26/40
Magic 51/55
¡°I¡¯m Riley Woolshearer, you¡¯ve seen my archery skills up close and first-hand, Lord,¡± a young woman with freckles and red hair spoke up.
Name: ''Scout'' Riley Woolshearer
Age: 23 Height: 166cm Race: Human (LowHwasten)
Gender: Female
Class: Scout (Elite, B-), Ranger (Limited, B+)
Titles: Joyous Sightseer (Limited, A), Hwasten Top-ranked Adventurer (Mythical, E-), World High-ranked adventurer (Epic, E+), Veteran (Elite, B+)
Skills: Enhance Vision (Superb, D-), Enhance Hearing (Elite, C+), Detect Trail (Superb, C+), Follow Trail (Superb, E), Chase (Limited, D), Retreat (Superb, A), General Archery (Elite, C+), Crossbow Mastery (Limited, B-), Lightning Arrow (Limited, E+), Fire Arrow (Limited, D), Snipe (Elite, B+), Special: Swerving Arrow (Superb, B, Unique ), Seduce (Elite, B+), Shear Wool (Common, E)
Mentality: Joyous Sightseer
Disposition: Neutral, Disorder
Martial Prowess: 22/25 Intelligence: 24/30 Commander: 11/20 Health: 22/25
Explorer: 30/35 Wisdom: 29/30 Politics: 42/45 Allure:41/45
Magic: 15/25
And finally the last person of Nordhound, a young girl with elven ears, introduced herself, ¡°Alizei Galdehunderuh greets Lord Reprobate.¡±
Name: ''Natural Druid'' Alizei Galdehunderuh
Age: 16 Height: 153cm Race: Elfoid (Hutnal)
Gender: Female
Class: Druid (Elite, E-)
Titles: Pure Maiden (Rare, B), Adventurer (Rare, C+), Vrai Talker (Limited, D), Healer (Limited, C-)
Skills: Accelerated Growth Bestowal ¨C Nature (Superb, F+), Plant Control (Elite, B), Twisting Vines (Elite, C+), Vrai Talk (Limited, D), Heal (Elite, D-), Dispel (Limited, E), Cure (Rare, C+), Sacrifice (Uncommon, F), Multi-Language Versed (Limited, B-)
Mentality: Idealist
Disposition: Good, Order
Martial Prowess: 3/10 Intelligence: 57/60 Commander: 2/10 Health: 9/15
Explorer: 12/20 Wisdom: 11/60 Politics: 8/20 Allure:17/50
Magic: 33/45
¡°I bid you all welcome to my dungeon, members of Nordhound,¡± I responded with a nod and continued, ¡°Findel, we must talk further later on.¡± I cleared my throat and pronounced, ¡°Gajie, what is the appropriate reward for Nordhound?¡± Gajie responded, ¡°Lord, usually there are the bestowal of treasures, gold, titles, and territories. However, in this case, Nordhound has a particular request of you. In fact, it was for this exact reason that they arrived at the battlefield in the nick of time, as they were making haste to get here.¡± ¡°Hoh, really?¡± I said. ¡°Haha, you see, Lord, I love this world but there¡¯s always been one thing I missed from Earth. Food. Pizza, burgers, fries, chips, pop, as well as ethnic cuisines like Caribbean, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Italian, you know, the whole shebang. I¡¯ve woken up at night because of such cravings without being able to allay them. I know I¡¯ve bothered my comrades enough about it over the years, and they¡¯re curious about our cuisine. I had given up all hope¡­ until I heard the news about you. I practically volunteered us for this mission,¡± Findel said. ¡°Hahahaha! Findel, I definitely know that I can summon food. I¡¯ll feed you and I¡¯ll feed you well, if it¡¯s the last thing I do!¡± I laughed heartily. ¡°Thank you. And as one hired by the Kingdom of Ducaz, I would like to remind you not to keep the envoys waiting too long,¡± Findel said. ¡°Indeed. Gajie, allow entry for the entire retinue of the envoys and usher in the emissaries,¡± I announced. [REVISED] Interlude 1.0: Two Days in the Life of Ken: A Reprobate De Profundis ¡°You were my Sun. And after you left, my eyes, they rained. The season was rainy, every day, all the time. It was as if though time itself had stopped.¡± -Rainy Season, Choija ¡°I believed that I had been betrayed by all. That everyone was trying to get me to live out a life filled with oppression, ignorant of the truth. But I was wrong. You, at least, have never betrayed me. You were always smiling. You never faltered in your love. -Excerpt from The Dynastic Chronicles of the Kingdom of Magellis Spoken by His Royal Majesty, King Adaris II Somehow, my life had resumed some semblance of normalcy, although this was due to the same routine being repeated every day and not a virtue of life being similar in state or quality with others. I often pondered whether or not I had truly graduated from the school of hard knocks. Indeed, I had doubts on whether one ever graduates from such a place. I got up from my bed and pulled the curtains, revealing the midday sun staring at me in all of daylight¡¯s splendor. There was no rooster but also no master. Hence, as usual, I had slept in. I went into the washroom and did the things I had to do in there. There were days where I lived it out in true Neet/Hikikomori style, not even washing up, but I always did when I wanted or needed to go out. After washing up, I slapped together a meal consisting of a no-name brand canned soup and a piece of bagel with cream cheese. Bread and soup always reminded me of a certain picture: An old man, living in ascetic conditions, giving up a prayer of thanks for a very simple meal. I wondered: Would I be living like I do now when I am old? Would I even get to grow old at all?If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I guess, that in one sense, this world was a decent place. Or rather, that my country was good compared against others in the world both past and present. As it was, I received some aid in the form of both monetary remuneration and guidance from governmental services. I don¡¯t know that I enjoyed the life I was living. I don¡¯t think that I was completely content with my allotment in life. However, life was, for lack of a better term, tolerable. Of course, as I made the final preparations to head outdoors, the usual thoughts squirmed their way into the conscious mind. Namely, my condition having to do with the dearth of friends and/or girlfriends. And so it was that on this contrarily fine summer afternoon, I found myself plodding along on the road pondering on pedantic pubescent pedagogy. With drink in hand, I might add. A nice ice-cold beverage. Soon enough, I found my way to my favored worn-out bench in the tranquil park upon which to park my keister. This was a good spot. Scenic and practical. The bench was underneath a large and old willow tree, providing some cover from the sun. The drooping leaves would gently sway and rustle with the passing breeze, in perfect harmony with the ever-blue and lapping lake in the not-too-far-off distance. A great spot. ¡°Ken?¡± A surprised yet feminine voice startled me out of my contemplation. ¡°Holy shit! Anna?¡± I let out a remark of similar surprise when I turned my head to see who had addressed me. ¡°Ken! It is you, Ken! I don¡¯t believe it! Ken!¡± The woman remarked joyously. ¡°And you¡¯re as beautiful as ever, Anne. That same magnificent curly golden lock emanating from the top of your forehead that captivated me with its mystique. Shining and dazzling in the light in some areas and darker and contrasting in other places. I just had to ask you for your name because of that¡­ Wow, how long has it been?¡± I said as I twirled a lock of magnificent curly golden hair with my finger. ¡°It¡¯s been too long! I almost didn¡¯t recognize you!¡± Anna said. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve changed. And gained a lot,¡± I said while rubbing my stomach. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not so bad. You can always lose weight. And you¡¯re still as handsome as ever,¡± Anna said. ¡°Whaat? You thought I was talking about my weight!? A man gains a lot of different things throughout his years, Anne!¡± I said in a playfully mocking tone of shock. ¡°Oh stop it, Ken,¡± Anna said while laughing and playfully hitting me on the arm. I smiled at her, then looked off towards the lake for a while before turning my face towards her again. ¡°It was fate Anna! Many a day I sat upon this exact spot, and gazed upon these ever-blue waters and took in the sight of these gently swaying leafy green branches. And I¡¯d be reminded¡­ of your captivatingly dazzling blue eyes, your long golden hair blowing in the wind. You see? And now you¡¯re here in front of me. We¡¯re here together,¡± I said in an almost whisper with my lips near her ear. ¡°Ken, I--¡± Anna muttered with a serious expression. ¡°Unless of course, you are already married or with another man. But even so Anne, I would be glad to see you. A mirage in the desert, kills yet keeps comfort. A fond farewell, to quell and dispel any further fanciful visions,¡± I said. ¡°Ken!¡± Anna said. ¡°Yes, Anne, I¡¯m right here,¡± I said while looking straight into her eyes. ¡°Oh Ken, you¡¯re as hopeless as ever, and by the way I¡¯m single,¡± Anna said. ¡°What is this world coming to? Men must all be seeing inner beauty now!¡± I exclaimed. ¡°Oh? And why might that be?¡± Anna remarked while squinting her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re too radiant, and they can¡¯t see a damn thing, my lovely Anna,¡± I replied. =========================================================== The rain was pouring down outside, as if to match the mood of moody gloom between us. Only the pleasant cooing sound of the little babe in her crib seemed discordant in this place at this moment. I looked over at the babe. Who knew when or if I would see her again? "Yes, I have," I said. ¡°Oh God¡­¡± she whispered as she breathed in deeply. ¡°Oh God no¡­¡± tears started dripping down her face. ¡°Why? Why, Ken?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a fool, that¡¯s why.¡± ¡°No matter what happens, please remember, Ken¡­ That I¡¯m a woman who loves a fool.¡± The rain continued to fall, its battering hymn a requiem. Interlude 1.5: The New Kid in Town ¡°Whoa¡­¡± the man groaned groggily as he arose from the ground. He stumbled a little bit before fully gathering his bearings. The man was standing near the banks of a large river. There was a wide and well-maintained road running alongside the river, albeit some distance off, as well as a forest some ways off from the road. The man had hair that shone a ruddy brown in the bright sunlight, although normally it could be described to be black. He looked young and wore clothes ubiquitous to the day and age of modern Earth. The man scoured the lush and verdant scene surrounding him and said, ¡°Well at least I wasn¡¯t dumped into some deserted and inhospitable land.¡± ¡°Time to check up on the most important thing next,¡± the man said vigorously. ¡°Status!¡± he exclaimed. ¡°Skills!¡± ¡°Menu!¡± ¡°Self?¡± ¡°What, do I have to think about it instead of saying it out loud?¡± A few moments passed with only the ambient noise present in the background. ¡°Dang¡­ I¡¯m stumped,¡± the man drawled while stretching. However, he was immediately broken off from his carefree attitude because a large canine animal entered into his field of vision. This beast, while having features similar to a dog, was larger than any dog he had ever seen. The man froze as the beast stared at him. ¡®Is that a wolf? Oh no, it¡¯s looking at me¡­ Just my luck, I don¡¯t have any weapons. I don¡¯t think I can outrun it either.¡¯ The beast started approaching slowly, and while the man remained still and calm outwardly, he was steeling himself to engage in a brutal fight for survival. He could hear his palpitating heart pounding away loudly and he also felt somewhat queasy in the stomach. Perhaps he was in the middle of experiencing primal fear. He inhaled deeply, and just as he was about to spring towards the beast to attack it he heard a woman¡¯s voice call out, ¡°Dranger, come here boy!¡± The beast pricked up its ears at the sound and ran towards a figure approaching from behind the bend which had obscured both itself and its master. ¡°Hooooof,¡± the man exhaled and losing the strength in his legs, crumpled down buttocks first into the ground. The figure turned out to be a woman clad in shining armor, with a sheathed longsword on the side of her waist. However, she was not wearing a helm, and so her evidently pretty yet smirking face could be seen. She approached the man and said, ¡°It¡¯s always amusing to see how others react to Dranger, but my apologies for scaring you there stranger. The name¡¯s Joanne Salutant.¡± Grasping the hand offered by the woman, the man pulled himself up while replying, ¡°I thought that I might have been done for, but thanks Joanne. I¡¯m Daniel Kim.¡± ¡°What kind of animal is that anyways?¡± Daniel asked while looking at Dranger. ¡°He¡¯s a Ducazian Mastiff,¡± Joanne replied. ¡°He¡¯s bigger than a wolf,¡± Daniel said. ¡°Let me guess, you are an Otherworlder?¡± Joanne asked. Daniel clearly hesitated but eventually replied, ¡°Yes, I am an Otherworlder.¡± ¡°Do not worry Daniel. I am an officer of the Kingdom of Ducaz, a land friendly to Otherworlders. And by the look of things, you¡¯re an absolutely fresh one,¡± Joanne said smiling. ¡°Well then, come along now, we¡¯ll get you registered with once we get back to Dallaren, the closest city and Capital of the Kingdom,¡± Joanne said while turning around and walking back towards whence she had come from. Daniel did not pick up anything off or ominous about Joanne, and he was a man who trusted his instincts and intuition above all else. So he decided to follow this woman and replied, ¡°Joanne, you are truly a godsend!¡± While walking, Daniel learned that although everyone in this world had statuses and skills amongst other things, normally they were neither visible nor explicitly identifiable. From his quick chat with Joanne, Daniel concluded that this world was a mixture of something like Earth and a Gameworld. Or rather, this world was in-between Earth, a place where everything was hidden and obscure, and a true Gameworld, where everything was quantifiable and easily accessible alongside there being abilities and items deemed impossible to exist.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. About a five minutes¡¯ walk past the bend in the road, was another man also clad in armor standing guard over two grazing horses. ¡°My, my, what have we here?¡± the armored man said. ¡°An Otherworlder, brand new arrival, Emers.¡± Joanne answered and then proceeded to pet the huge dog. ¡°You can call me Emers, Otherworlder. I¡¯m of the House Roitrone. Anyways, glad to meet you,¡± the armored man said while extending his right hand. Daniel shook hands with Emers and said, ¡°I¡¯m Daniel Kim, a rank newbie, thanks for helping me out.¡± ¡°Ours is a peaceful kingdom, my man; I¡¯ll gladly accept anything that breaks up the monotony of the routine,¡± Emers responded with a large grin. After being helped onto the back of Emers¡¯ horse, the group started trotting away, travelling at a steady pace on the road. Dranger was keeping up, albeit he was trailing behind the horses. Daniel wanted to ask about this world, but Emers had other ideas. ¡°All the fun¡¯s in exploring and learning about the new, my man! You¡¯ll be briefed about the basics once we get you to the offices, and better than I could ever explain it to you,¡± he had said. Rather, Emers was the one asking the questions about the Otherworld that Daniel had come from and the kind of life he had lived. So like this they travelled towards their destination. It had seemed to be the middle of the day when he had first awakened, and although at first he had relished the experience of riding a horse for the first time, Daniel eventually grew uncomfortable. He was also bored of listening to nothing but the iron-shoed hooves of the horses sauntering on the stone paved road. His discourse with Emers had thinned out over the course of many hours. ¡®At least it is still as interesting as always to observe people,¡¯ Daniel thought to himself while drawing mental images of the people they had passed by. There had been other soldiers, although on foot and not as well equipped as either of Emers or Joanne. There had been people who Daniel deemed as peasants, with racks on their backs carrying wood, hay, and whatever else. There were also commoners or regular people, most of them walking on the road to wherever their journeys took them. They had also overtaken and passed wagons and carriages going the other way. Almost everyone seemed pleasant and content with their allotment in life. Ducaz certainly seemed to be a serene kingdom. ¡°My main man, it¡¯s true that Ducaz and her neighbors are hospitable places. But this isn¡¯t the case elsewhere even on this continent, let alone the known world! Even within our kingdom people are not perfectly safe from the attacks of monsters. Still, people can live out good and honest lives, meaningful lives, here. And that¡¯s more than what I can ask for, so I do my part,¡± Emers had enthusiastically explained when Daniel had mentioned the serene quality of the people and the land. Only when the sky seemed to be burning ablaze with flame-like hues did Emers notify Daniel, ¡°Look forward Daniel my man, and you¡¯ll see our Grand Lady Dallaren, standing proud and ready to welcome us into her embrace. We¡¯re nearly home then.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± Daniel let out an unintentional gasp, ¡°that is a magnificent city!¡± In the middle of a wide open plains stood a majestic city. It had tall thick white walls stretching out in either direction from a solemn and grand gate. An immense white castle could be seen jutting out from inside the walls, as well as a few other white structures. As they got closer, Daniel was able to perceive a line of people standing in front of the gate, as well as others who had set up camp around the road leading to the gate. ¡°The gates will be closed soon, we made it just in time,¡± Emers noted. Emers and Joanne were let in immediately and were even saluted by the guards. Interestingly, Ducaz seemed to utilize a Roman-style salute. The guards stretched out their right arms slanted upwards with their palms in line with their arms and fingers gathered and outstretched. Inside, the city was a lively and bustling place. And yet, there was an orderliness and cleanliness about the city as well. Not every building was white, indeed, the buildings looked similar to what one would expect out of a medieval fantasy. An aspect that greatly contributed to the fantasy feel was that there were other races besides humans milling about. There were people with pointed ears. There were short and stocky people with full beards. There were people with furry ears and tails. There were people that had monster-like semblances. Everything, including the people, was a new and curious sight. After a slow trot through some busy main roads with Emers good-naturedly joking about Daniel¡¯s wonderment at his surroundings, the steeds were stopped in front of a large and stately multi-story white building. ¡°Here¡¯s where we part ways my friend. Get yourself inside and to a receptionist, they¡¯ll know that you¡¯re an Otherworlder. If nothing else, your clothes give it away,¡± Emers said with a friendly smile. ¡°Thank you Emers and Thank you Joanne. I¡¯ll try and do good by you someday,¡± Daniel replied while meeting the gazes of first Emers and then Joanne after having gotten off from the horse. ¡°May the Goddess smile upon you, traveler,¡± Joanne saluted and then turned away. Daniel watched the two trot away on their horses on the large white steps leading up towards the administrative building, then spun around and started walking towards the entrance. Once he entered inside, what came into view was an ornate hall erected of marble, with a grand desk in the center staffed by a couple of female receptionists. There were not many people around and it was quiet. As he made his way towards the counter, one woman noticed him approach and beamed a smile towards him. ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Daniel, a brand new Otherworlder. I¡¯ve been directed here by a couple of officers of the Kingdom.¡± he said while reciprocating the smile. ¡°Hello Daniel, I¡¯m Patricia, a secretary of the Foreign Ministry here at Dallaren. The regular offices have already closed for the day, but I can help you register here if you don¡¯t mind,¡± Patricia said. ¡°Please do,¡± Daniel answered. Patricia then excused herself and left for a moment before returning with several documents and items. She handed Daniel two booklets while she said, ¡°The first booklet contains a brief introduction about this world, and the second booklet is a simple guide to this city. Are you able to read it?¡± ¡°Yes, I am able to understand the written form of your language,¡± Daniel said as he glanced down at the covers of the two booklets. ¡°That is good news. Next, we can have you registered as an out-of-world visitor. This process is optional, but will grant you a temporary stipend until the time comes for you and us to make a final decision regarding your circumstances,¡± Patricia said. ¡°What will the final decision entail?¡± Daniel asked, wearing an apprehensive frown. With a reassuring smile that would wash away all anxiety, Patricia continued to explain, ¡°It¡¯s nothing to be worried about Daniel. After a certain amount of time has passed for both sides to evaluate each other, usually about a month or two, you will have to make a decision. You will have the option to accept a conferment of resident status with a chance at gaining citizenship eventually down the line. You may of course refuse. Some Otherworlders choose to travel to other jurisdictions where there are more people with similar heritage.¡± ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll register. But will you answer me a question before we get started?¡± Daniel asked. ¡°My pleasure, please don¡¯t hesitate to ask any questions,¡± Patricia responded. ¡°I know that everyone has stats and the like. But how do you go about viewing this?¡± Daniel asked what had been foremost on his mind. ¡°There are items that allow the user to peruse such personal information. There are also skills that allow one perusal of their own stats or the stats of others, such as Introspection, Examine, Identify, and Appraisal. The type and level of the skill combine to output differing depths and breadths of information to the user,¡± after confirming that Daniel was nodding his head, Patricia continued, ¡°Skills can be learned from people, from tomes, or from experience, bestowed by the gods, or begotten from birth.¡± ¡°I see. So how are stats determined in the first place anyways? I mean, how would one raise their stats?¡± Daniel followed up with another couple of questions. ¡°The answer can get complicated Daniel, as there are many factors to consider in the workings and details of the system. However, if I were to put it simply, engaging in an action governed by a particular stat would be the most basic and fundamental method to raise one¡¯s stats. For example, to raise your intelligence stat, you should study. Of course, you can study in many different ways using various methods as well,¡± Patricia elaborated and then added, ¡°Phew, sorry, that was quite a mouthful while not being helpful enough, wasn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, I understood the gist of what you were explaining. You¡¯re a kind soul, Patricia,¡± Daniel said. ¡°How nice of you to say that, I appreciate it. Ducaz is the kind of country that brings out the best in people, and I¡¯m proud of that,¡± Patricia said. ¡°Mm-hmm. You folks have a wonderful Kingdom here, from everything that I¡¯ve been able to see and experience. Just that, some wise folk back in the olden days of my world have taught that the only thing wrong with peace is that, it too, must change,¡± Daniel remarked. ¡°That seems to be the case in all the worlds,¡± Patricia said, while gazing downwards and clasping her hands together. ¡°Hah, I¡¯m being a downer aren¡¯t I? My bad. It just feels like I can open up with you, Patricia. And you know, I¡¯m just entranced by the way your eyelashes curl. Makes me want to find out more about you, what kind of person you are¡­ heh, I think I have a crush. Patricia, I¡¯d love to talk with you again, even after today, over a cup of the local brew, and heck I don¡¯t even know if I¡¯ll like the brew!¡± Daniel said with a smile. ¡°I¡¯d love to as well,¡± Patricia responded with a beaming smile. Chapter 12: Rewards & Audiences ¡°I recall that the Duchess Hetsalia was seeking refuge in Lemarin. Let us summon our guests to this occasion as well,¡± I declared. Since we would have to wait a while, I deemed now to be a good time to put to use the results from the Battle Aftermath information. ¡°And now, there will be the presentation of awards for exemplary service from the previous battle!¡± I announced. The hall became noisy and clamorous at this news. The maidservants chatted with one another, the pixies spun around in place, and the goblins cheered raucously. Even Nordhound was emjoying the atmosphere. I waited a few moments before quieting everybody down, then said, ¡°The Most Meritorious in Service was Byot Ullyopauginen, who slew two enemy commanders. Byot, come forward.¡± Byot came forward towards my throne with back straight and bowed while saying, ¡°It is an honor, my Lord.¡± ¡°Byot, I grant you the opportunity of a Class-up. Your actions in battle have led to certain basic martial paths becoming open. The Way of the Warrior, the Stride of the Swordsman, the Means of the Marksman, and the Shade of the Shadows are available to you. If you deem any of these choices worthy, declare it so now,¡± I said. ¡°Master, it pleases me to walk the Way of the Warrior,¡± Byot replied. ¡°Very well, it will be so,¡± I then willed to select Byot¡¯s choice. ¡°It is done. Byot, you are now a Warrior. Your Stat limits have increased, and some of your stat points accumulated from battle have been validated. Congratulations, and may you remain ever true.¡±
Name: Byot Ullyopauginen
Age: 0 Height: 183cm Race: Elfoid-Demon
Gender: Male
Class: Warrior (Rare, E)
Titles: First Creation of the Beloved ¡®Once Loved¡¯ (Superb, B-), Executioner (Uncommon, D+)
Skills: Fast Learner (Rare, E), Slice (Uncommon, E+)
Mentality: Purpose and Loyalty
Disposition: Neutral, Order
Martial Prowess: 22/50 Intelligence: 30/53 Commander: 10/40 Health: 42/84
Explorer:37/57 Wisdom:20/52 Politics:8/37 Allure:50/53
Magic: 5/35
But really, I was let down yet again by the lack of any special effects befitting the occasion. I mean, the magic of cleric Jacques came with all the bells and whistles, so what gives? Anyhow, Byot bowed again and went back to his position. I then continued, ¡°The Second Most Meritorious in Service was the Goblin Warrior of First Goblin Miner Section, Squad One. He slew four enemy combatants and took part in the slaying of twelve more enemy combatants, including the enemy leader, John Fleetsword. In particular, this minion put his neck on the line for me. Come forward, Goblin Warrior!¡± However, the goblin did not appear, and the applause thinned out and died down at the unexpected situation. ¡°My apologies, my Lord. Squad One was adamant about being on duty; this was especially so with the goblin warrior. I did not foresee this situation, but the warrior in question is being called at this very moment and will arrive within eight minutes¡¯ time,¡± Gajie proffered an explanation. ¡°Very well then, we will continue with the awards in the meantime,¡± I said. Out of the eight remaining Golem battle-participants, five accrued enough experience to evolve. Out of the 35 remaining Pixie battle-participants, 22 accrued enough experience to evolve. In the end: All remaining minions were rewarded with stat increases and stat limit increases. From three Basic Earth Golems ==> Rock Golems From two Basic Earth Golems ==> Mud Golems From eight Pixies ==> High Pixies From seven Pixies ==> Pixie FlittersIf you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. From seven Pixies ==> Pixie All-rounders The Rock Golems, colored shades of grey and made of stone, were better at defending, tanking, and attacking than the Basic Earth Golems, which were like baked clay in comparison. The Mud Golems were a specialty-type that had high damage resistance and shape-molding capabilities. The High Pixies were an evolution with much more powerful wind magic and higher stats across the board. Whereas the regular pixies were greenish in tint, the High Pixies were bluish and a head larger than their tinker-bell sized counterparts. The Pixie Flitters, with yellow tint and aerodynamic wings, were faster and more agile variants of regular Pixies. Finally, the Pixie All-rounders gained access to more basic elemental magic types and a slight increase in most stats. These were able to change and mix their hues many different tints of green. I fancied that their colors going from darker shades to lighter tones of green expressed their emotional states. I also made a mental note to summon more new recruits at a later date, at a level which not only replenished the losses but would enlarge the minion numbers as compared to before the battle. After the awards were given out, the herald golem announced the arrival of Brightness Hetsalia and Mark Keenstag. I signaled for their entry. ¡°Lord Reprobate, I extend my thanks to you,¡± Brightness said with a curtsy after she made her way in front of my throne. ¡°As you may know, Duchess Hetsalia, envoys from Lemarin and Ducaz have arrived at my dungeon. They should be making their entry soon. Hence, I called for you,¡± I stated. ¡°You are very gracious, Lord,¡± Brightness replied. And finally, the goblin warrior made his entrance into the audience hall. ¡°Ah, my loyal Goblin Warrior! Finally, you are here. Come forward,¡± I greeted him. The goblin made his way forward and shrilled, ¡°Masta! I come, Masta!¡± ¡°You definitely have. First off, you are able to evolve. But before this, I tell you and all present here: that I consider you a friend. And so, I shall bestow upon you a name. Know this my goblin warrior: with a name, you can be resurrected so long as I am alive. And you will gain complete sentience. Here and now I declare, henceforth you are to be called Keke Blinston!¡± A cheer went up, but the goblin¡¯s facial features crumpled all of a sudden and he started sobbing. ¡°Sorry Masta, I so happy; why I can¡¯t stawp cryin¡¯?¡± Keke stated in-between sobs. I let him continue sobbing until he calmed down and then asked him, ¡°What do you want most: strength, speed, defense, health, size, or skill with a weapon? You can only choose one.¡± ¡°I want be smart Masta, an¡¯ talk good,¡± Keke said. ¡°Alas, Blinston, such an option is unavailable,¡± I lamented. ¡°My Lord, and Sir Keke, if I may, your intelligence will rise from the evolution itself. But, if you expend more energies to studying and bettering your intelligence, not only will you get smarter, there may be further evolutions related to intelligence later on down the line,¡± Gajie added on. Nodding, Keke seemed to make up his mind and requested, ¡°Masta I want defend; my friends, my home, an Masta.¡± ¡°Then so it will be,¡± I declared and selected the Goblin Defender option. Immediately, some alerts popped up from the system. "Sentience, Loyalty, Will, Desire, Named-Value, Status and Status Limit Values have combined with the selected Evolution to produce a Rare Variant Upgrade."
Goblin Defender Keke Blinston can become: Race: Hobgoblin Class: Guardian
Will you accept?
I accepted.
Name: Keke Blinston
Age: 0.08 Height: 170cm Race: Hobgoblin
Gender: Male
Class: Guardian (Limited, F)
Titles: First Summon of the Beloved ¡®Once Loved¡¯ (Superb, C+), Indomitable Spirit (Epic, D-)
Skills: Defend (Common, E), Guard (Common, F)
Mentality: Sacrifice and Loyalty
Disposition: Tending Good, Tending Chaos
Martial Prowess: 18/40 Intelligence: 22/35 Commander: 6/30 Health: 21/40
Explorer:27/36 Wisdom:5/30 Politics:3/33 Allure:14/32
Magic: 1/12
¡°Master, I am your loyal subject. I swear to protect you and this dungeon until my very last breath,¡± Keke said kneeling on one knee and his head bowed. ¡°Thank you, my friend. Gajie, please make sure to provide Blinston with some equipment later,¡± I said. ¡°And finally, Gajie, please come forward,¡± I said after Keke made his way back to the side. Gajie¡¯s eyes widened for a moment but she came forward and greeted me with a, ¡°My Lord.¡± ¡°You are a founding member of the dungeon and it is through your contributions that this dungeon manages day-to-day operations. Fair to say, that you are my right-hand man and most trusted advisor. Hence, I award you by designating you as a Dungeon Steward,¡± I said. Her pupils shook slightly but she replied coolly, ¡°My Lord, you are too generous. I thank you and graciously accept the promotion.¡± ¡°Give the maidservants a rotating holiday, Gajie, for their hard work and to celebrate this occasion. This concludes the awards ceremony. Let it be known that all shall be rewarded justly based on their deeds and merits,¡± I pronounced. The audience raised a boisterous cheer and with the clapping of hands, the awards ceremony came to a close. As this was neither the time nor occasion for a full council, in the intervening time until the emissaries¡¯ entrance I made permissible some general lollygagging about. After long last, the herald announced the entry of the head envoys, ¡°Representing the Kingdom of Ducaz, His Excellency, Commander Emers Roitrone! Representing the Kingdom of Lemarin, Her Royal Highness, Crown Princess Sheena Dolores Lemarin!¡± A well-dressed man with brown hair and beard and a young woman in elegeant dress walked up at the forefront of a group of people behind them. Curious about these two, I used my Mirror on them. However:
An unknown power has denied status access by the Mirror of Truth & Judgement
I used the skill again, this time on another person from the envoy group, and again:
An unknown power has denied status access by the Mirror of Truth & Judgement
Panicking, I used my skill on Byot, to make sure that my skill at least worked. His status showed up regularly, and this allayed my fears somewhat. So I used the Mirror again, on the man probable to be Roitrone, but this time got a slightly different message:
Revealed by the User: A Skill of higher Tier and Grade is prohibiting status access, on all protected persons, by the Mirror of Truth & Judgement
¡°I bring a fond greeting from His Majesty King Ducaz XXXI, Lord Reprobate. I am Emers Roitrone, a Commander of the Royal Army of Ducaz,¡± the man said without bowing but with a salute of outstretched arm. ¡°Welcome to our world, Lord Reprobate. We of Lemarin come as friends and neighbors,¡± the Princess said. ¡°Welcome to our humble abode, Your Royal Highness and Your Excellency. Of Lemarin and Ducaz I know little, but of why they come all this way to see me I know even less,¡± I said. ¡°Ah, upon that, allow me to explain the circumstances clarifying the situation,¡± a middle-aged man with grey hair, tending towards the older side, spoke up. CH 13: The Ties That Bind Us + Update ¡°The Queendom of Lemarin and the Kingdom of Ducaz both worship the same official state patron goddess. The goddess desired for the two kingdoms to start and maintain cordial affairs with you,¡± The grey haired man spoke loud and clear with his head held high. I replied, ¡°And who are you that you deign speak for the kingdoms when their representatives are here?¡± ¡°My Lord, this man is Master Speardragon. He is a much-admired sage f¨ºted throughout parts of the known world. Many people, commoners and nobility alike, visit him to ask for advice. Indeed, even royalty do so. Master Speardragon has the requisite diplomatic prestige to represent both kingdoms, although to believe in his words and accept that the Goddess seeks friendship with us may be an entirely different matter altogether,¡± Gajie advised me after a bow towards the grey haired man. ¡°I see. But what is such an acclaimed master doing here in my humble abode?¡± I probed while watching Speardragon bow back at Gajie. ¡°The falling leaf goes where the wind blows. Alighting atop a stream, the leaf simply flows. Since I ended up here, I decided to see with my own two eyes the momentous movement of the world in another Otherworld Dark Lord come to irrevocably change the world once more, just as a thousand years ago,¡± Speardragon answered. ¡°Oh, and have you seen what kind of person I am?¡± I said. ¡°I have,¡± he replied. ¡°Please, do tell me of what you have learned,¡± I said. ¡°You are haunted. By women and by visions. Perhaps your ideal world would be one in which the Emperor gives his blessing to his daughter¡¯s marriage to a commoner, since the opposite begat you much pain in your previous life. The spirits of women trouble you so ¨C from your past and your present, to the future that you have foreseen.¡± ¡°¡­!!¡± ¡°Does my answer satisfy?¡± I remained speechless for a while longer to gather my thoughts before finally clasping my hands together and raising them before me and saying, ¡°Master Speardragon, your fame is well suited and your claims entirely true¡­ You¡¯ve heard my steward say that all manner of people come to you for advice. I will do the same. How should I dispel what worries me, and deal with what torments me?¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Speardragon acknowledged my query with a nod and then stroked his beard a couple of times before saying, ¡°Lord Reprobate, to avoid is too late, as it has already rained on the palace grounds, and you went out of your way to touch the rays of the sun. Indeed, to avoid would only serve to delay. Even so, I will give you but one suggestion concerning a future death to avoid. The birds sing and yet this bird does not sing. Listen to the song of the bird that does not sing. His song will be as a fount of life and a hymn of joy.¡± ¡°I never really liked dragons, especially since they work in riddles.¡± ¡°Hah, then as another wise man who has come with us likes to say: All will be revealed when the time is right, but the time is not right now.¡± ¡°Then I only hope that the riddle is solved before it is too late. I suppose I¡¯ll thank you for the advice,¡± I replied. ¡°I apologize to everyone present for airing matters you may rather not have heard,¡± I said slowly before saying again, ¡°Master Speardragon, My friends from Lemarin and Ducaz, and of course you kindly lot Nordhound, I invite you all to a feast! Let us eat and drink and discuss further details during merriment of otherworldly kind.¡± * * * The immense hall had space ample enough for the entire retinue of guests and dungeon personnel. There was even a band of musicians playing out a merry tune, though I could easily tell that they were a hastily improvised group. Whatever the case, the band did their job of setting the mood and for the allowing of more discrete conversations. Long tables had been arrayed in columns with only the head table arranged row-wise at the end of the hall on a raised platform. The feast had been arranged buffet-style. At the center of the hall were tables laden full with food of earthly accoutrement. Steak and eggs would be fire grilled for you on the spot. The pasta and spaghetti were arrayed together with a number of different steaming sauces, and the pizza and lasagna were all covered with extra cheese. The burgers and subs came with a variety of fresh toppings, fries with ketchup, barbecue sauce and other condiments. There was cooked ham with pineapples, mashed potatoes and gravy. There was fresh Greek salad and tossed Caesar salad. The soups were aplenty with Pho, Congee, Tom Yum alongside classics such as Minestrone and Cream of Mushroom. There were hard and soft taco shells with fillings and there were beans. There was rice and curry, then there was rice and curry goat. There was sushi and sashimi with wasabi and soy sauce. In short, there were a multitude of multinational dishes that excelled in succulence. I took in the scent of whole tables filled with different styles of chicken. Fried chicken, Roast Chicken, Jerk chicken, Stew chicken, Korean-style chicken. I looked around and found other Korean dishes as well. I smiled as I once again heard Findel¡¯s boisterous laughter as he proclaimed that he would live in this dungeon forever. Unlike him, I hadn¡¯t truly longed for my native cuisine. I had missed it and would indulge in it tonight, but could and had gone without it for a long time. Hah, there was practically everything, including desserts such as apple pie, chocolate cake, and ice cream. Of course, there were an assortment of carbonated soda pop drinks as well as beer, wine, and liquor. Truly, a grand feast. I quietly made my way to the back of the head table, and walking up to the head seat, softly spoke, ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Ken.¡± * * * ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Ken.¡± ¡°¡­!!!¡± I froze. This day was one which kept throwing at me one shocking surprise after another. There should be no way for anyone to know my real name here in this world, or so I had believed. Slowly, as if rusty gears were turning, I turned around to face the one who had called me Ken. ¡°Or should I say, Dark Lord Deprofundis Reprobate?¡± He continued. ¡°Daniel Kim!¡± I said before continuing, ¡°So you were here too; everyone thought you were dead. Shit, this is almost unbelievable¡­ Did the goddess see you too? Hey, let¡¯s go somewhere quiet and talk.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be glad to, but let me have a bite first will you? I¡¯m starved, especially for our kind of food. ¡± ¡°Hah¡­ fine,¡± I sighed in reply. ¡°Hey, what did you expect? Some kind of emotional embrace between long lost brothers?¡± Daniel said with a sly smile as he patted me on the shoulder, ¡°But really, it¡¯s great to see you pal.¡± CH 13: The Ties That Bind Us + Update ¡°The Queendom of Lemarin and the Kingdom of Ducaz both worship the same official state patron goddess. The goddess desired for the two kingdoms to start and maintain cordial affairs with you,¡± The grey haired man spoke loud and clear with his head held high. I replied, ¡°And who are you that you deign speak for the kingdoms when their representatives are here?¡± ¡°My Lord, this man is Master Speardragon. He is a much-admired sage f¨ºted throughout parts of the known world. Many people, commoners and nobility alike, visit him to ask for advice. Indeed, even royalty do so. Master Speardragon has the requisite diplomatic prestige to represent both kingdoms, although to believe in his words and accept that the Goddess seeks friendship with us may be an entirely different matter altogether,¡± Gajie advised me after a bow towards the grey haired man. ¡°I see. But what is such an acclaimed master doing here in my humble abode?¡± I probed while watching Speardragon bow back at Gajie. ¡°The falling leaf goes where the wind blows. Alighting atop a stream, the leaf simply flows. Since I ended up here, I decided to see with my own two eyes the momentous movement of the world in another Otherworld Dark Lord come to irrevocably change the world once more, just as a thousand years ago,¡± Speardragon answered. ¡°Oh, and have you seen what kind of person I am?¡± I said. ¡°I have,¡± he replied. ¡°Please, do tell me of what you have learned,¡± I said. ¡°You are haunted. By women and by visions. Perhaps your ideal world would be one in which the Emperor gives his blessing to his daughter¡¯s marriage to a commoner, since the opposite begat you much pain in your previous life. The spirits of women trouble you so ¨C from your past and your present, to the future that you have foreseen.¡± ¡°¡­!!¡± ¡°Does my answer satisfy?¡± I remained speechless for a while longer to gather my thoughts before finally clasping my hands together and raising them before me and saying, ¡°Master Speardragon, your fame is well suited and your claims entirely true¡­ You¡¯ve heard my steward say that all manner of people come to you for advice. I will do the same. How should I dispel what worries me, and deal with what torments me?¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Speardragon acknowledged my query with a nod and then stroked his beard a couple of times before saying, ¡°Lord Reprobate, to avoid is too late, as it has already rained on the palace grounds, and you went out of your way to touch the rays of the sun. Indeed, to avoid would only serve to delay. Even so, I will give you but one suggestion concerning a future death to avoid. The birds sing and yet this bird does not sing. Listen to the song of the bird that does not sing. His song will be as a fount of life and a hymn of joy.¡± ¡°I never really liked dragons, especially since they work in riddles.¡± ¡°Hah, then as another wise man who has come with us likes to say: All will be revealed when the time is right, but the time is not right now.¡± ¡°Then I only hope that the riddle is solved before it is too late. I suppose I¡¯ll thank you for the advice,¡± I replied. ¡°I apologize to everyone present for airing matters you may rather not have heard,¡± I said slowly before saying again, ¡°Master Speardragon, My friends from Lemarin and Ducaz, and of course you kindly lot Nordhound, I invite you all to a feast! Let us eat and drink and discuss further details during merriment of otherworldly kind.¡± * * * The immense hall had space ample enough for the entire retinue of guests and dungeon personnel. There was even a band of musicians playing out a merry tune, though I could easily tell that they were a hastily improvised group. Whatever the case, the band did their job of setting the mood and for the allowing of more discrete conversations. Long tables had been arrayed in columns with only the head table arranged row-wise at the end of the hall on a raised platform. The feast had been arranged buffet-style. At the center of the hall were tables laden full with food of earthly accoutrement. Steak and eggs would be fire grilled for you on the spot. The pasta and spaghetti were arrayed together with a number of different steaming sauces, and the pizza and lasagna were all covered with extra cheese. The burgers and subs came with a variety of fresh toppings, fries with ketchup, barbecue sauce and other condiments. There was cooked ham with pineapples, mashed potatoes and gravy. There was fresh Greek salad and tossed Caesar salad. The soups were aplenty with Pho, Congee, Tom Yum alongside classics such as Minestrone and Cream of Mushroom. There were hard and soft taco shells with fillings and there were beans. There was rice and curry, then there was rice and curry goat. There was sushi and sashimi with wasabi and soy sauce. In short, there were a multitude of multinational dishes that excelled in succulence. I took in the scent of whole tables filled with different styles of chicken. Fried chicken, Roast Chicken, Jerk chicken, Stew chicken, Korean-style chicken. I looked around and found other Korean dishes as well. I smiled as I once again heard Findel¡¯s boisterous laughter as he proclaimed that he would live in this dungeon forever. Unlike him, I hadn¡¯t truly longed for my native cuisine. I had missed it and would indulge in it tonight, but could and had gone without it for a long time. Hah, there was practically everything, including desserts such as apple pie, chocolate cake, and ice cream. Of course, there were an assortment of carbonated soda pop drinks as well as beer, wine, and liquor. Truly, a grand feast. I quietly made my way to the back of the head table, and walking up to the head seat, softly spoke, ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Ken.¡± * * * ¡°It¡¯s been a while, Ken.¡± ¡°¡­!!!¡± I froze. This day was one which kept throwing at me one shocking surprise after another. There should be no way for anyone to know my real name here in this world, or so I had believed. Slowly, as if rusty gears were turning, I turned around to face the one who had called me Ken. ¡°Or should I say, Dark Lord Deprofundis Reprobate?¡± He continued. ¡°Daniel Kim!¡± I said before continuing, ¡°So you were here too; everyone thought you were dead. Shit, this is almost unbelievable¡­ Did the goddess see you too? Hey, let¡¯s go somewhere quiet and talk.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be glad to, but let me have a bite first will you? I¡¯m starved, especially for our kind of food. ¡± ¡°Hah¡­ fine,¡± I sighed in reply. ¡°Hey, what did you expect? Some kind of emotional embrace between long lost brothers?¡± Daniel said with a sly smile as he patted me on the shoulder, ¡°But really, it¡¯s great to see you pal.¡±