Still Day 0…
Tier has decided to start creating his own creatures first before moving on to claiming the cave network he was currently in. He knows that Aenirus came in so it’s probably safe but hey, he learned from experience that it is best to be cautious and careful than die rushing into a supposedly empty machinegun nest or occupied trench network… or an angry boss whilst he was late for work…
‘okay, I’m guessing that creating a creature is like creating one of the various stone objects I made before opening up so push mana to a spot, imagine what you want to create except this time I don’t know what I’m creating and start shaping the mana with some help from the pattern’ Tier thought patterns can be roughly translated to.
As Tier worked to creating a creature, he realized that it was much harder creating a complex living being than creating a cube of solid stone but thankfully he could do it thanks to help from the pattern, he couldn’t imagine doing it himself as that would take millions of attempts just to maybe have a chance of creating a creature as biology is more complicated than the most advanced of machinery or coding.
It took a little while but then Tier noticed something as the outline of a creature appeared on his radar slowly solidifying over time before being filled with mana as the spot glows for a split second before the new creature now converted from pure mana to something made from flesh and bone.
The new creature was a Kobold, one of the three creatures he picked and the one creature that has the highest compatibility score to him for… some reason. It looks like a roughly 4ft 9in tall bipedal anthropomorphic reptilian creature with reddish brown scales, it has digitigrade legs ending in three large clawed toes and hands ending in four retractable deadly claws along with a thumb which also has the same claws making it very dexterous yet also dangerous. The creature seemed to have a 3ft long tail that seem to be prehensile yet without any other distinguishing feature and has a reptilian head and snout evolved for an almost 180-degrees field of vision with two large ears and yellow eyes with a black slash as an iris.
The new creature blinked once or twice before recoiling back a bit before righting itself to stand still clearly in shock for just being created from thin air whilst eyeing the crystal orb in the room seemingly waiting for orders.
“that’s amazing, I didn’t know that’s how dungeon created creatures, it was said to be impossible as the mana was too impure and the control you would need would be godlike to pull something like that off” Aenirus suddenly blurted in amazement shocking the newly created Kobold but it relaxed after not feeling any danger or malice, the female creature seems friendly.
“sorry about that” Aenirus said a bit meekly before sitting down again “no problems Aenirus, so… welcome to life, it kinda sucks but we all have to deal with it” Tier greeted the new Kobold bluntly after reassuring Aenirus.
…
“yes… thank you… kind creator” the new Kobold said shyly as it thanked its creator “I guess creating a new creature out of thin air is something to be proud of… unless you have a skill to do it automatically for you… anyways… call me Tier” Tier replied ‘sh!t, I forgot I’m not good in meeting new people or any sentient being at all’ Tier thought after struggling to speak.
“as you wish… creator Tier” the Kobold replied “okay, what I meant is… you know what, forget it, your orders are to guard me this instance until I order you otherwise” Tier responded with a commanding presence, the Kobold just nodded before turning around to watch the tunnel to guard its creator with its life.
Tier looked at the Kobold for a second before looking at its stats which is listed as followed:
Stats
Name: none
Species: Kobold
Gender: Male
Age: 4-minutes old
Stats:
Strength - 16
Perception - 15
Endurance - 14
Dexterity - 15
Intelligence - 22
Wisdom - 4
Charisma - 3
Creativity - 7
Destiny - 17
Mysticism - 2
Karma - 8
Willpower - 19
Traits: Darkvision (allow the user to see in the dark yet without colors; 500m range)
Skills: Fleet footed (lv.4) (increase sprinting speed by a small amount for 4 seconds per activation, 30 second cooldown)
Proficiencies: Trap making (novice), Knifes (amateur), Spears (novice)
Magic type: none
Magic potential: 0
Mana affinity: none
‘wait, isn’t this different from the base stats of the kobolds? Let me check again’ Tier thought before pulling the base stats of the Kobolds up and it confirms his suspicions:
Kobolds
Base Stats:
Strength - 12
Perception - 12
Endurance - 12
Dexterity - 15
Intelligence - 15
Wisdom - 10
Charisma - 11
Creativity - 16
Destiny - 12
Mysticism - 10
Karma - 10
Willpower - 15
Traits: Darkvision (allow the user to see in the dark yet without colors; 500m range)
Skills: Fleet footed (lv.2) (increase sprinting speed by a small amount for a certain duration, 30 second cooldown)
Proficiencies: Trap making (amateur), Knifes (novice)
‘yeah… that must be from my Increased Creature Variety trait, seems like it’s doing its job Tier thought before making three more kobolds with one male and two females and noticed that the average height was 4ft 5 in with the first one he created being the tallest and the last female he created being the smallest being just 4ft tall.
…
‘wait a second…’ he thought before checking the kobold’s stats again “what is this… magic stuff?” Tier asked out loud “oh magic, it’s the use of mana from one’s own reserve like you’ve been doing or from the surrounding environment” Aenirus explained “there should be three… things indicating the magic stuff which should be magic potential, magic type and mana affinity… it’s hard to explain but magic type shows what type of magic one can use, magic potential shows pretty much how strong one is when using magic, this can be trained unlike the other two and mana affinity shows what kind of mana one is suited for”
“okay… why are you telling me these things now and should I know any more details?” Tier asked nicely “none that would be relevant as of right now, I am withholding information from you so you can learn for yourself… self-learning is one of the best ways to learn especially if you made a mistake” Aenirus answered proudly “can’t say I disagree with that” Tier added before going back to work.
‘alright, time to start spreading influence and start claiming the cave’ Tier thought to himself before doing just that ‘I should name them to distinguish them later… but then again I am terrible at naming things’
As he started claiming the first cave room, he could survey his surroundings finding the room to go north for about 35ft before going a direct 90 degree turn to the West going for 75ft before reaching the next opening with a pool in the South Eastern section of the room in the only actual corner. In this room, there wasn’t much except for some cave moss, a bit of fungus, couple of non-lethal poisonous mushrooms and the stuff from the pool so he moved on noting on the creatures he gained.
You can now create: Common blind cave Finis ,springtails, common cave fungus, common cave dill (a common type of dill found in caves, dills are a type of edible plant that roots itself to trees, walls, etc..), common cave shoots (a common type of shoot found in caves, shoots are like bamboo shoots but grows either from the ceiling of caves or hard rocky soil, they are edible but requires to be cooked), clawfish, cave skinks,Tuto mushrooms (a common kind of non-lethal poisonous mushroom, can kill a small creature but will most likely give those who eat it a stomach ache, commonly found in cave systems), common cave Varmilleon (rodent),….
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
‘huh, so I can create those things but they aren’t in my Patterns, what’s up with that?’ he mentally asked after shutting down the blue screen… which included a bunch of microscopic organisms, etc… that he decided to ask not to show unless he ask for it.
Anything that you can create but isn’t a pattern is called a blueprint, there is a separate tab for blueprints activated by saying the key word “blueprint”.
‘alright, that makes sense… I guess, let me check my blueprints… yup all those things I just gained alongside the ecology are blueprints but what’s up with things like scaled leather or Kobold teeth?’ he asked again.
Anything that can be collected naturally or dropped via loot drops by any patterns or blueprints is considered a separate blueprint.
‘wait, drops?’ Tier asked confused ‘I understand the other stuff but what do you mean by loot drops?’
Loot drops are for luring any daring beings into your dungeon that are not attracted by your natural mana outflow.
‘that just raises more questions, why do I want to draw in threats and what do you mean by mana outflow?’ Tier berated the advisor for answers.
The best way to grow is by luring creatures in, the longer they are in your dungeon OF THEIR OWN FREE WILL, the more mana you can regenerate, the faster you can grow, etc… or better if they die. You constantly exert an outflow of pure mana from your dungeon, it is why dungeons are created.
‘you know what, let’s deal with this headache of a situation after I fortified my position in this cave then maybe I can think about it’ Tier concluded after thinking things through again.
‘now then, I’ll ju-’ he thought before suddenly being interrupted by the first kobold he created.
“excuse me kind creator Tier, this one thinks we ser- kobolds should be getting something to help defend you” he suddenly suggested as literally every other being in the room looked at him in shock at the sudden audacity for this mere kobold to suggest something to the dungeon core which he didn’t took very well before going “I… I mean, … not that I.., this one question your wisdom or anything kind creator but I think that maybe we should get something to help us protect you better?” it was now a lot more nervous than before.
The other kobolds seem to get ready to rip the first one to shreds by just merely defying the core with a suggestion before Tier spoke up “…*sigh…* I FUCKING… HATE this stupid BLOCKER… leave him alone he’s right” “wait… excuse me creator… Tier but I am correct?” the kobold asked in shocked.
“yes you are, I completely forgot about weapons and armor which is one of the reasons why I even got you guys in the first place, UGHHHHHHhhhhhh….” Tier screamed in raged as he continues to berate the blocker for the third time in a row.
“yikes… I said it once and I’ll say it again but I’ve never seen such a bad memory block before… probably because this is the only one I’ve seen now that I think about it… but that is still horrible” Aenirus provided before pondering for a moment “most dungeon creatures are basically just glorified flesh golems, that little guy seems pretty… different compared to most”
“must’ve been a combination of both my traits, his increased intelligence and willpower… and lack of wisdom” Tier joined in the pondering before going “let’s save it for later if ever, I’ve got to secure this cave and these delays are only getting worse… positive delays but delays nonetheless… ermm… you guys can stop trying to kill the first kobold already, it’s not that bad of a delay”
After a bit of reviewing his options for weapons, clothing or armor, he came to the conclusion that he has JACK SHIT when it came to material blueprints but he tries starting with taking a branch material from a twig plant giving him a 2ft long 3cm thick branch... he then did a bunch of dungeon cheat stuff to get a full 5ft long wide surprisingly durable straight stick before hardening a bit, elongating it and providing a pointed end.
You now have the blueprint for: simple twig spear
He then went on to try something as he focused in the air particularly on oxygen particles which he wondered for a second why the system or whatever it’s called didn’t block his knowledge of chemistry but after he focused for a bit managed to create a small blue flame from simple oxygen and air which spooked everyone else but he carried on.
He bought the spearhead to the blue flame to start the fire-danubing process which involves hardening a point like a spearhead via fire by sucking out all moisture which is again something he can’t explain that escaped the memory blocker for some unknown reason.
You now have the blueprint for: fire-hardened twig spear
He then took out some more materials, this time some obsidian before using his powers to shape the stone, hardening it, sharpening it creating an obsidian knife.
You now have the blueprint for: stone knife (obsidian)
He then took out a vine alongside some scaled leather, plant fiber and fur leather to create a makeshift scrap belt with some notches for holding equipment alongside some simple clothing made using all four again somehow making it work due to dungeon powers.
You now have the blueprint for: makeshift scrap belt (plant fiber + fur hide + vine + scaled leather); clothing (plant fiber + fur hide + vine + scaled leather)
Getting back to weapons, he straightened out the twig spear a bit using his power as it was not straight at all, he also made the obsidian knife a bit more balanced before making those the default blueprint before spawning a vine and then tying all three together whilst also using some plant fiber to help alongside using dungeon powers making a simple, primitive yet effective spear.
You now have the blueprint for: stone spear (obsidian spearhead + vine + twig shaft + plant fiber)
He actually contemplated giving the kobolds more stuff but he thought otherwise as if he just does all the work for them then they will just keep asking and demand more without working for it and they might exploit his kindness before betraying him which they can actually do because of what his traits say so he just outfit each kobold with a spear, dagger, simple clothing which they don’t actually need because they don’t have any private parts that can be seen from the naked eye but hey temperature resistance is nice and a scrap belt.
“okay, new orders, move to the new room and do what you naturally do, just make sure that you stay on alert with at the minimum one kobold keeping watch but besides that, do whatever you want” Tier commanded the kobolds which all thanked him for the equipment, the new order and all started moving to the new room except the first one he spawned.
“… thank you for not… getting rid of this one creator Tier” he said in a thankful, relieved tone “why would I do that?” Tier asked the creature who is now shell shocked because his creator just asked him something “for… disobeying your orders? Doing something this one is not supposed to do?” it answered now realizing that it makes no sense at all.
“yup, you did nothing wrong, you actually did something very good, well done private kobold for actually suggesting something I haven’t thought about blocker be damned” Tier replied flustered the young kobold as it never has been praised before at all and did the reptilian version of a blush.
“I er… I… I am glad this one can be of some help to you Tier… I mean cre-” it thanked before realizing its mistake and started correcting but Tier was faster “finally… I mean just Tier is fine, you did well to finally get out of the creator title, I don’t actual like that… you need a name like the rest” Tier thought and pondered not paying attention to the little reptile that is now constantly refusing that it didn’t do enough to be worthy of a name.
“silence please” Tier said sternly making the kobold flinch before remaining quiet and still like a statue “not like that… anyways, I decided on your name Kaide and I’m promoting you to commander of the kobolds” Tier announced.
“I… this humble one cann-” Kaide started before being interrupted “will you please stop doubting yourself… look, your stats don’t reflect a leader at all… I know that but you can improve and I hope you will which is why I named you in the first place so go out there and do me proud and confirm my ability to judge people by their potential or are you just going to sit here and complain all day, you’re humble which is good and I always will trust a humble person more than someone who is proud of their role!”
…
It took a moment for the kobold to even register the speech before it goes “yes, this one will live up to your expectations co- Tier, I will live up to them, you have this on- my word!” Kaide finally proudly declared before rejoining his brethren in the next room.
“wow, I did not know you had it in you to do a speech like that” Aenirus commented “me neither, it just came… naturally to me… maybe in my past life… anyways, I’ll go spawn some more kobolds and a monitor to bring the numbers up, spawn some materials to let the kobolds experiment with, they are good at making traps and are creative so yeah I’ll do that…” Tier starts to have a long pondering conversation with himself again before Aenirus declared “also I named the flying Kanid you claimed Batra”
…
“wait let me check that really quickly” he said before checking Batra’s stats:
Name: Batra
Species: Volentius Kainide
Gender: Male
Age: 7-months old
Stats:
Strength - 16
Perception - 28
Endurance - 12
Dexterity - 11
Intelligence - 5
Wisdom - 14
Charisma - 4
Creativity - 4
Destiny - 6
Mysticism - 3
Karma - 2
Willpower - 9
Traits: Echolocation (allow user to see via hearing by sending out supersonic waves that bounced back to the user allowing a form of sight); Enhanced hearing (user can hear better)
Skills: Air Dash (lv.11) (user can dash in the air traversing a set distance in a second, useful but leaves user open for attacks)
Abilities: Wall Climb (lv.8) (allow user to better climb vertical surfaces)
Proficiencies: Flight (proficient), Bite (trained), Claws (amateur)
Magic type: none
Magic potential: 0
Mana affinity: none
“huh, you can beat me to naming creatures and I never expected this little guy to have such stats, those are some high stats for his species, okay Batra, your new orders are to guard the next room with the kobolds acting as an early warning system, also thanks Aenirus” he thanked her before she gave a “your welcome” in response as Batra quietly nodded before going to fill his duty.
Tier spawned in four more kobolds, similarly equipped alongside a monitor and two more Flying Kanids but as he went to spawn a third, he realized that he couldn’t actually spawn it as he soon realized that he does not have enough mana.
“so that’s why I’m getting a small migraine, makes sense even though I’ve been soldiering through the pain” he thought out loud getting the attention of Aenirus.
“I think you should take a rest, recover your mana a bit or you may get hurt, don’t push yourself, you have time” Aenirus recommended “yeah, I’ll send the new guys to the next room before I go and recover, what will you be doing?” he asked Aenirus.
“I’ll go to the next room so you can focus on recovering, I want to chat with Kaid and the kobolds” she answered “is that okay to you?” before asking a counter question.
“that’s fine, go have some fun Aenirus” he answered before seeing her nod and left the room leaving him alone as he spawned the rest of the creatures alongside equipment and materials to play with and some food in case they got hungry in the other room and started to rest before dozing off and blacking out…
…
…
‘wait a second’ Tier thought exactly three seconds after he started sleeping waking him up “why am I sleeping?” Tier thought as he suddenly realized a problem “I don’t know boss” one of the kobolds who haven’t left yet said that, it was a later female “I’m just one of your lackeys” she added a bit too cheerfully for comfort.
…
‘okay… it appears anything I spawn has different views on what I am… at least... never mind’ Tier thought before remembering “oh shit! I forgot I need to name some of you guys” Tier suddenly exclaimed before remembering.
“names? Can I have one?” the kobold excitedly asked ‘I definitely prefer Kaide over this one’ Tier thought before responding “sure… oh right I’m terrible at naming stuff… Hraeta” He announced “actually, you know what, anyone who wants a name line up so I can give you one before I sleep I guess” Tier announced to the whole dungeon.
…
He kind of regret announcing that… but separating the kobolds is going to be painful if he didn’t name them so he did… and when he finished all of the names… he felt tired so he let sleep really claim him this time… ‘NO! why am I suddenly feeling sleepy of all things’ Tier screamed himself awake mentally.
It is natural for a dungeon core to go in to a sleep mode once they have completed what they want to do and want to regain their mana.
‘dammit, this thing really sucks… can I turn it off somehow?’ he asked with a bit of hope
It is something that can be turned on or off… Do you wish to turn off automatic sleep mode?
‘DO IT!!!’ Tier affirmed “ugh… finally, I am no longer feeling sleepy at all” Tier said with a buzz of victory against a great foe… sleep “I mean… I don’t think I need sleep… do I?” he asked again.
You do not need sleep though you will exhaust your mental energies if you simply work without rest of any kind.
‘huh… that thing kind of make sense… if young dungeons only have the base instincts to grow then… they might’ve worked themselves to death… good to know I guess’ Tier thought before looking out into his newly claimed room “now what can I do now that my mana pool is dry… the answer is simple… I experiment and I teach” he said out loud in excitement for some reason as he moved his presence out for some… instructing….