Chapter 3: The World Beyond
The intruder seemed to be skipping side chambers and proceeding straight to the boss chamber. “I don’t think I’ve done anything to make any enemies yet…” DM decided to worry about that later. For now, his strategy was to stand in the middle of his chamber and hide all the minions around the room.
The door to the boss chamber creaked opened and a middle-aged man walked in. He carried a sword in his right hand, a crystal ball of some type in his left hand, and he wore a fancy-looking cloak over his otherwise common clothing. “Hah! They were telling the truth!”
DM wasn’t quite sure what the intruder was talking about.
“The Dungeon Master really is a tentacle monster! I didn’t think you could get one so low level! This is perfect!”
The man put the crystal ball into his inventory and pulled out a large metallic collar. DM reflexively took a slithery step back.
“Oh, no need to be afraid, you ugly sack of shit. I won’t hurt you! We’re going to have a lot of fun together!” The intruder stepped towards DM. “Sure are stupid, though. Are all your monsters in random dead-end rooms or something?”
Was this strange guy into… that? DM didn’t want to find out the hard way. He waited until just the right moment, then commanded his small army to surround and distract the intruder.
“Huh? Monsters!?” Just as the man was preparing to defend himself, an appendage rose up from a small opening in the floor and grabbed his ankle. “What!?” The surprise of his foot getting held in place combined with nonlethal attacks from multiple directions threw him off balance and he toppled over.
One of DM’s modifications to the room had been small passages under the floor to squeeze his appendages through secretly. He was in direct contact with the enemy.
The man swung his sword wildly, but, per instructions from DM, the monsters were prioritizing dodging over offense since they had such a numerical advantage. This guy was LVL 5 and could probably easily defeat each creature in sequence, but he was struggling right now.
“Come on, come on…” DM prayed, hoping his charm touch ability would take effect. “There!” The minions stopped attacking the man, who also stopped resisting. “Bring me his equipment.”
DM absorbed the sword, the cloak, and the strange collar device.
>Absorbed sword (T2).
>Learned ability, Bonus Damage to Monsters (T1).
>Gained 5 STR.
>Absorbed cloak (T2).
>Learned ability, Reduced Damage from Monsters (T1).
>Gained 3 DEF.
>Gained 3 MDEF.
>Absorbed slave collar.
>Unable to learn ability, control.
>Charm Touch has increased to T2.
“Oh! How long will charm last now?”
>Charm Touch (T2): Chance to charm target while in physical contact. If successful, effect will persist for 5-10 minutes after contact is broken.
“That’s a pretty big improvement. Anyway, I got quite a stat boost from that. I bet there aren’t many LVL 2 creatures who can go toe to toe with me in physical combat anymore! Hey you, do you understand me?”
“Yes.”
“Jackpot!”
DM did his own version of sitting down and then he pet his cat with a slimy appendage while questioning the captive man. “What were you planning to do with that slave collar thing?”
“I was going to enslave you and then train you up until you gained and developed an effective charm ability.”
“Gained? You didn’t think I already had one?”
“No. Tentacle Monsters don’t learn their first charm ability until LVL 10 according to the Guild. Even then, its effectiveness is minimal.”
DM figured he was learning abilities early because he’s a Dungeon Master. Apparently, this idiot didn’t realize that.
“Why come after me instead of a higher level tentacle monster that already has the ability?”
“This slave collar will only initially work on creatures below my own level. Also, I’m not strong enough to reach and defeat a more powerful creature.”
“Okay, that much makes sense. So… why do you want an obedient creature that can use charm abilities?”
“For my dungeon!”
“Your dungeon?” DM wasn’t expecting such a claim.
“Yes. I can’t go putting slave collars on every female I capture. Not only is that too expensive, but it reduces their value a great deal. Also, slave collars don’t allow you to easily transfer authority to another.”
Oh, that kind of dungeon. “What do you mean?”
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“If I place a slave collar on a woman and tell her to obey a customer from now on, she won’t listen to them once I’m gone. Transferring collar ownership is a huge freaking deal, too. However, if I command you to charm her and to instruct her to follow the customer’s commands, she’ll obey for as long as she isn’t seriously injured or cured of the charm effect.”
Jeez. “Are tentacle monsters normally used this way?”
“No, I don’t believe so. I’m a pioneer if I say so myself.”
“These women you are talking about… are they human?”
“Human, elf, you name it. If they’re pretty, they’re valuable.”
“Is slave trading like this legal?”
“No. Slavery is legalized as punishment for violent crimes in some cases, but I operate outside of the law.”
“How many slaves do you have in your possession right now?”
“None. I was going to wait until I trained you before capturing more.”
DM was pretty disgusted by all this sex slavery nonsense. He decided to gather some more information and then eliminate the sleezebag. He didn’t want to kill innocent adventurers, but this guy was clearly fair game. It’s not like DM could safely extradite the guy anyway.
“Are there not other ways to charm people besides controlling a tentacle monster?”
“Charm is extremely rare. There may be other ways, but they are kept secret, even on the black market. The closest thing available is a slave collar, but it has several disadvantages and is quite expensive.”
“All right. Tell me what the world is like immediately outside of this dungeon.”
“This dungeon is in the Lower Gordu Forest, northwest of the Twin Cities.”
“What’s the Lower Gordu Forest like?”
“It’s a place where beginner adventurers go to train. Low level goblins and boars are common.”
“What are the Twin Cities?”
“It’s one large city split into two by a river, so it’s treated as two cities for some reason. Even I don’t know why.”
“How did you learn about me?”
“One of my subordinates monitors the Guild. He told me that a rookie group of adventurers encountered and defeated a brand new LVL 1 dungeon at this location. The Dungeon Master was, apparently, a tentacle monster.”
DM wasn’t surprised that those kids reported what they saw. The intruder continued his explanation.
“Apparently, the guild was excited because tentacle monsters are much less violent than most other monsters. That makes this dungeon really good for training newbies. Even if they are captured by the strongest monster, the Dungeon Master, they can just get rescued.”
“Oh joy…” DM would need to think more on whether or not to level the dungeon itself. “Wait, aren’t tentacle monsters scary, though? Especially to female adventurers?”
“Yes… I think the Guild takes a mostly hands-off approach to the development and wellness of their newbies, though. Even I find it a bit reprehensible. They seem to think coddling the adventurers will weaken the guild.”
Well, this was getting stranger and stranger. Anyway, DM wanted to know one thing. “What will happen if you are detained here indefinitely?”
“My two subordinates know what I came here to do. They will probably come looking for me.”
“How do they both compare to you in combat?”
“I believe they are both LVL 4 but poorly equipped. I don’t use them to fight normally.”
“Hm. If you were to kill one of them while inside this dungeon, who would get the experience?”
“I… I don’t know. Normally, people don’t get experience for killing other people…”
“Just to double-check, do both subordinates fully understand your intentions regarding enslaving women?”
“Yes. Like me, they are interested in the profits and in personally using the charm ability on the slaves which excite them the most.”
“Well, let’s wait here for them to arrive and then take care of them. I’ll be holding on to you for a while. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all.”
“Do you find it odd that I’m able to hold a conversation with you?”
“Yes. I’ve never heard of a low-level monster that’s intelligent like you before.”
“Have you ever heard of a human getting reborn as a monster and retaining their memories?”
“I don’t believe so.”
“Hm…”
DM played around on the console some more while holding hands with the intruder. He familiarized himself with the surprisingly complicated tools for rebuilding the dungeon, but didn’t make any more changes.
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“Oh, someone’s here.”
“It may be my subordinates.”
After a few minutes, two humans appeared on the first floor. They were both LVL 4. “Seems like it. I’ll hide with the monsters. When they get here, you’ll be the only one they see. Reassure them that everything is fine and approach them. Then incapacitate and eliminate them.”
“Very well.”
DM felt pretty dirty giving such an order, but these assholes deserved it. When the intruders entered the second floor, DM and his minions all hid. The charm ability would still last for another 5 to 10 minutes, which DM hoped was enough time.
The door to the chamber creaked. “Boss?”
“I’m here. Everything’s fine.”
The two men sheathed their daggers and walked to their boss. He then sucker punched one of the new arrivals in the gut.
“What the!?”
“He betrayed us. You’re okay, though.”
“He did?”
While the second fool looked down at his writhing coworker, he received a sucker punch as well. The boss accepted a dagger from DM’s minions and used it to execute the two weakened subordinates. Meanwhile, DM received a report.
>Dungeon Master has reached LVL 3.
>Learned ability, Infect.
>Charm Touch has increased to T3.
“Oh, I did gain experience from that! What’s infect, and how long does charm last now? Hm.”
>Infect: Inject a small, harmless parasite into target. Caster can remotely monitor vision and hearing of target. Easily detected or removed by healing magic.
>Charm Touch (T3): Chance to charm target while in physical contact. If successful, effect will persist for 1-2 hours after contact is broken.
DM figured he probably would have been learning only Charm Touch (T2) at this point if not for the slave collar he absorbed earlier. “Hey, how long does it take to get back to the Twin Cities on foot?”
“Perhaps half an hour,” the slaver responded.
DM had some ideas. “Come over here.” It was time to put this asshole to rest. Literally, the timer was going to be up in a few minutes. “Give the dagger back. Okay, everyone, hold him down.”
DM grabbed the man again and this time used the poison touch ability until it activated. The man suddenly came to his senses.
“Huh? What!?”
“I can’t think of a nicer guy to test out the poison effect on. If my math is correct, you still have about 40 seconds to go.” The man likely couldn’t receive DM’s thoughts anymore, so it was wasted mental breath.
The man opened his mouth, perhaps to plead, but DM slammed a slimy appendage into it, silencing him. While he succumbed to the poison, DM glanced over at the spot where the other two bodies had turned to dust. They each left behind small piles of items, presumably from their inventories. The boss also turned to dust, leaving behind some loot.
DM put the various coins into his inventory. The crystal ball interested him, so he absorbed it.
>Absorbed Orb of Scrying (T1).
>Learned ability, Sense (T1).
“WOOHOO! I really wanted that!” DM started using his Tier 1 sense magic on the remaining items, including the two daggers dropped by that guy’s subordinates. Now, he could see what abilities the daggers held even before he absorbed them. The first dagger’s poison touch likely wouldn’t benefit him.
>Absorbed dagger (T1).
>Gained 1 STR.
>Absorbed dagger (T2).
>Learned ability, Berserk Touch (T1).
>Gained 3 STR.
The fools didn’t have any armor beyond normal clothing so there was nothing to gain defensively. Each human also dropped a small black sphere called a human core. He took out the goblin core from earlier and sensed each of them.
>Goblin core: Used as a source of energy for enchantment, alchemy, and other disciplines. Frequently sold at the Guild.
>Human core: Used as a source of energy for enchantment, alchemy, and other disciplines. Occasionally sold on the black market.
DM placed the spheres and the few remaining trinkets into his inventory. It was time for him to test his new infect ability.