Lyn walked through the stone hallway, his steps light. Desperate shouts echoed through the underground dungeon, each of them battling their nightmares. The mana here was muted, Lyn growing more uncomfortable by the minute. His demon heart was having difficulty functioning here.

He examined each cell individually for any signs of tampering. Dark metal chains secured the prisoners to the wall for most of the day with no bed, table or toilet to speak of. They were only unchained for half an hour, during which they were bitten by a Spider of Despair and force-fed whatever food dead adventurers brought with them.

There were currently eight prisoners in the dungeon, most of them already mentally insane. Lyn didn’t see a point in keeping them here, but since his master had something planned, Lyn would carry out his duties.

He fed them one by one, chaining them to the wall once they were done. He breathed in the damp and filthy air, though that didn’t bother him one bit. Finally, he reached the final cell. Opening the cell, he saw the dishevelled and malnourished rabbit half-mix, somehow still clinging to sanity.

Carefully lifting the collar, he placed it on the rabbit’s neck. With a loud click, it closed, tightening itself enough to choke Lyla. It relaxed after a few seconds, branding something on her neck. Then, Lyn unchained the rabbit, beckoning her. She collapsed on the ground, her legs like twigs.

“You belong to my master, but for now, I’ll be giving you commands. No magic, no running away, no attacking anyone, and no shouting for help. Or else you will die.” He said, waiting for her to stand up.

Lyla continued to lay there, muttering something to herself. “Another nightmare. How long can it go on? How long do I have to suffer?”

“Stand up, my master needs you alive. Don’t waste his time,” he kicked Lyla, snapping her out of her delirium.

After several long minutes of pathetic attempts of standing up, Lyn picked her up and carried her out of the dungeon, dropping her on the soft grass. A pack of wolves immediately surrounded her, howling at the ceiling.

“Yeri, stay here. Escort her to the spot whenever she regains her sanity, if you so please. If she’s still useless a day later, you can have your pack eat her.” Lyn said, looking the wolf pack leader in her eyes. She and her pack guarded the woods against any intruders, as well as prevented anyone from escaping.

Yeri was incapable of speech, but Lyn had a feeling that she understood him regardless. A mutual bond of blood and destruction shared between them. She howled to the sky, the rest of the pack spreading out. Then, she sat down on Lyla, sniffing her rabbit ears. Drool dripped on her face, though Yeri resisted immediately eating Lyla.

It took half a day for Lyla to realise it wasn’t a dream, but even then, she wasn’t completely sure. Nothing shifted when she looked at her surroundings, and no nightmare spiders crawled on her face. Most importantly, it was her connection with nature and animals that brought her back, mana freely flowing through her body once again.

“Am I real? Are you real?” She said to Yeri who almost bit her fingers straight off.

“Ahahahaha, please don’t let this be a nightmare,” she couldn’t stop crying, her body trembling.

She experienced every emotion known to mankind in an hour, lost in her thoughts. She was angry thinking about her imprisonment and sad when she thought about her friends, happy about finally escaping the nightmare and confused thinking about what would happen next. After an hour had passed, the only thing left was acceptance. It didn’t matter what happened to her next as long as she never returned to that dungeon, as long as she never saw the spider from hell again.

“Your name is Yeri, right? What a beautiful name. Would you help me? I haven’t walked in so long that I’ve forgotten how to do it, and I can’t use magic to help myself,” Lyla said, gently touching Yeri’s fur. The wolf snarled at her in response.

She struggled to stand up, only managing to start walking with the help of Yeri. She was exhausted after only ten minutes of slowly walking, but she had to get to wherever she was needed. Her will to live had reignited in this past half-day.

The plains here were truly beautiful. Exotic species of flowers and trees she had never seen in her life were coupled with the seemingly starry cavern roof, creating a dream-like environment. Unfortunately, she had experienced for herself the various critters that lived here - they were all beyond vicious and deadly, creating a stark contrast between the two.

Finally, she arrived at a gruesome scene. There stood the same goblin which had fed her, petting a smaller wolf. The heads and organs of both cheetahs and deer were arranged in a circle around the wolf. Yeri whimpered as they approached, bounding away from the scene. The goblin approached Lyla and handed her a needle alongside some thread.

“Stitch these two heads onto the wolf. Use your magic when it’s needed to make it more organic,” Lyn said as if repeating something.

Lyla looked between the still living wolf and the heads, sensing a terrible fate approaching the wolf soon.

“But, it’s still alive. What’s going to happen to it?”

“You can refuse to do the task. I’m sure the spider has missed you dearly.” Lyra paled, every nightmare coming back to her in an instant.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I’m so sorry for what they’re going to do to you. You are a brave warrior, always remember that. I’ll hold you dear in my heart,” she whispered, starting to stitch the two together. She was no stranger to healing others in one way or another, but this was without a doubt some demonic ritual.

The needle glowed with soft, green light, leaving no marks behind. It took an hour of meticulous focus, mostly because Lyla wanted to make sure the wolf was alright through the entire process. When it was done, she focused all of her healing on the wolf and the two heads, covering them in soft, green mana. Then, it was time for Viv to do his part.

“Brazbon’s Might. Spirit Voice. Breath of Lightning.” He channelled all three of the spells, focusing on the Bloodfang Wolf in front of him. Mana was rapidly draining out of his core as he combined the three spells into one being, sending mana flooding into each of the heads.

The creature before him twisted and deformed, its bones cracking as it expanded in size, growing several metres in one go. Its feet transformed to hooves, becoming more slender and agile, and a spotted tail appeared behind it, thrashing with might. Three heads began to move, each trying to bite at the other. The wolf’s head howled, the cheetah chirruped and the moose roared, creating a horrible cacophony of noise in the process.

The transformation stopped as a seven-metre tall three-headed chimera raised its hooves and smashed the ground, an explosion of lightning creating a crater on the ground.

Creature Gained - Patchwork Chimera (B)

An abomination stitched together by druidic magic, this creature is a greater sum of its counterparts, combining the strength of three different beasts. Its mind is split into three pieces, its body torn between three wills.

Abilities - Phantom of Blood, Lightning Hooves, Ethereal Antlers, Cloud of Lightning, Monstrous Strength.

“God, put it out of its misery! Don’t you hear it, it’s howling in pain,” Lyla said, tears spilling to the ground, witnessing the transformation before her. She put her hands on the creature, but the wolf head snapped at her, a red haze covering its mouth.

Viv examined the creature. It was hard to tell whether it was stronger than Xeel due to his title, but it would do. Everything needed to have its order, and while Devourer was endlessly expanding the cave, the chimera would guard the entrance to the next floor.

“I name you Lemia. It was once a plague on this world, a mix between a hydra, a leviathan and a dragon. While you’re not going to ever be as mighty, you should embody the spirit of monstrosity.” Viv exclaimed, forming a connection with the chimera.

The already animalistic mind was further degraded due to Brazbon’s Might. Even more so now, the creature based itself fully on instinct, its three different personalities constantly clashing. Viv prevented it from eating both Lyla and Lyn on the spot, but he would have to isolate the chimera if he wanted it to guard properly.

And with that, he was done with the second floor. He had already created traps that would plague the coming adventurers in the nearest days, and he had no more quests remaining on this floor.

[Buildings]

Dungeon Gate 200 mana

Church of Lomelei 700 mana

Dream Portal 20 000 mana

Dungeon 500 mana

The dungeon gate was now much more expensive, going from 50 to 200 mana. It made sense that those who created dungeons wanted them to develop each floor extensively before rushing to the next, though Viv was unsure how the next floor selection was done.

Regardless, he placed down the gate at the western end of the forest, away from both the church and the underground dungeon. This time, it was different. The gate wove itself from leaves, flowers and roots, mana swirling in the air like a vortex. When it was finished, the flowers bloomed as a green sheen covered the gate, coating it in magic. A passageway down would only be revealed once one stepped through the gate.

As expected, Pecan came rushing over as soon as he felt the fluctuations in mana, though he was much quieter than last time, flinching away from Viv’s orb.

“Umm, congratulations. You would usually have a quest about finishing the second floor, but, well, you know the rest.” Pecan said, expecting any response from Viv. Instead, he kept silent, awaiting an interface.

“There are quite a few good choices here, though I don’t presume to lecture you, sir,” Pecan said as he flew closer to Viv, sharing with him what he saw.

Available Choices

* Fairy Meadow (Pixie (C))

* Giant Mountain Range (Ogre (C))

* Endless Desert (Sandstorm Elemental (C))

* Infernal Volcano (Lesser Ifrit (C))

* Fungal Infected Village (Pygmy (C))

* Frozen Winterland (Ice Sprite (C))

Viv considered his choices carefully. The first option was automatically excluded, but the rest were something he could shape to his desires. The two spent several minutes in silence, Pecan awkwardly fidgeting. In the end, he chose something with the greatest potential - the Infernal Volcano.

Regular people confused demons and devils, lumping them both into the same “evil” category. They were two vastly different beings - demons were formed from humans, and devils emerged from hell. While his title wouldn’t work on devils, he knew more than a fair bit about summoning them and the various infernal rituals.

“Great choice, my lord. A bit too hot for my liking, but hey.” Pecan passed through the gate, flying down to the third floor. It got hotter and hotter as one descended the tunnel, becoming scorching as obsidian overtook limestone, revealing a vast expanse of land.

This time, he wouldn’t have to do any expanding. Obsidian rose higher and higher, leading up to an imposing volcano, emanating both heat and light from the scorching hot magma.

“Argh, I’m going to die from heat!” Pecan flew up and down, examining the floor and breathing in the sulphur gas. Viv would eventually relocate his core here, but for now, the forest was much safer. If the volcano randomly erupted, he could say goodbye to both his core and his life.

Despite that, the volcano was the deadliest tool in the dungeon. If Viv could make it erupt on command, he could trap and kill every adventurer on the floor. Even the most prepared adventurers wouldn’t be able to touch lava without sustaining injury.

But for now, he had adventurers to deal with - a chance to fully test out the second floor, a game to see whether he could outsmart the adventurers.