Kai fell on his dungeon totally tired because he had used all the strength he had on the fight before and he had no more power.

Inner Mana Control

After feeling and circulating your mana through your body you’re now able to feel and freely move it around your body as you feel like. It might increase the strength of your skills.

A window appeared before Kai and he could do nothing but stare at and he dismissed it and decided to sleep while making sure that no one would disturb while he slept for some time.

***

Nora was calmed down by the three other humans that were inside the carriage, but it wasn’t fast, she had cried all the time and was comforted by both kids who stayed besides her while not allowing any of the wolves to get inside or close to the place she was.

“You will be okay.” The adventurer said as she held a small glass towards Nora, who slowly took it before sipping at it. “You see… I’m still trying to think on a way to get out of this place, but that wolf is quite intelligent.” She said looking at the tea she had on her own cup.

“Mister Wolf is super cool! You had to see how he stopped the arrows midair!” Laura said as she looked at the two women. “He stood on his back legs and pointed his claws at the sky, it shone for a second and before I could see it he was already back in all four and the arrows were all cut in half!” She said with shining eyes.

“I would have liked… to see it.” Nathan said as he slowly drank a dark green tea. “He is always so cool, and he is always doing things inside this place.” He said with a bright smile on his white face.

“I-I don’t know what to say.” Nora said with a low voice.

“There is no need to be scared.” Laura said as she and her brother beamed a smile to her. “Mister Wolf is just acting… he doesn’t say it but he doesn’t like to hunt people.” She added as she placed her hand before her mouth.

“I-Is that true?” Nora asked looking at Laura.

“Yes! He didn’t attack me when he first met me, so I’m sure he is not an evil wolf.” She said nodding her head.

“And he is even… helping me with my… illness.” Nathan said with a smile. “He gave us… herbs to help and… some food as well.” He said sitting quietly at Nora’s side.

“Just with you kids, with me and my companions he attacked and even… sent some of my group to the other side.” The adventurer said as she drank her tea. “If I knew it wouldn’t go as planned I would have accepted that other group to come with us.” She said looking at the carriage ceiling.

The group talked for some time but they soon stopped as they heard the sounds of heavy footsteps and soon a heavy blunt sound was heard.

“I’ll go have a look!” Laura said and before anyone could stop her, she had already walked outside. “Mister Wolf!” She shouted from the other side but soon growling sounds came as well.

“I’ll go and see what is happening, you two, wait here.” The adventurer, Dawn, walked outside and a small cry escaped her lips.

“You wait here!” Nora said to Nathan as more growling came from the other side of the carriage and she quickly walked outside just to find the two standing before the carriage and many wolves surrounding the trio.

But what made her startled was that the big wolf had collapsed a few meters away and was deeply asleep.

“Why are you all hurt?” Suddenly Laura said and Nora and Dawn looked at the wolves that were surrounding them and she found that many had cuts all over their bodies and that some weren't placing their legs at the ground.

“Laura… I think it is not a good idea to stay here now.” Nora heard the adventurer say. “They look enraged and exhausted.” She added and Nora couldn't help and nod as she saw the wolves panting and some blood was still dripping from some wounds that had yet to close.

“But Mister Wolf is there! What will we do if he dies?” She asked as tears fell from her eyes.

“There is no problem.” Nora said calmer than she thought she would be. “Look at him and you will see that his chest is moving, I think that Mister Wolf is just tired. He probably was out hunting and is just tired now.” She said with a sweet smile.

“Then I'll wait.” She said just to sit down and look at the black and white beast.

Nora couldn't help but smile wryly at the girl. It was just at that moment that all wolves that were around them had vanished but she still was inside the dungeon and whenever she saw a shadow she would jump as she thought that the wolves would try to eat her but none of the wolves would come closer but she was too afraid to move from the spot she was because the bigger one was still there.

“Is Mister Wolf okay?” Laura asked looking at the sleeping creature.

“I don’t know.” Dawn asked as she shook her head. “It looks like he is only tired and is sleeping… so I can’t answer to all of it.” She said and at this time, from the carriage Nathan walked out.

“Sis… what is happening?” He asked as she slowly walked down.

“Mister Wolf just came back and is lying there.” Laura said and the boy looked at the beast.

“He is sleeping…” He said after observing it for some time.

“Then… should we sleep with him?” The girl said and the two women grasped at the girl’s words.

“You can’t!” Nora said as she placed her hand at the girl’s shoulder. “W-What will you do if he wakes up in a fool mood?” She asked, but on her head she couldn’t help but picture the wolf waking up hungry and with its big mouth it would just go and eat the small children.

“There is no problem, Mister Wolf is gentle and his fur is really fluffy!” She said escaping from Nora’s hands and before the women could stop her she had already sat while she laid her back at the wolf’s side.

The women looked at each other and before they had noticed the boy too had moved and sat together with his sister.

“Should we go with them?” Dawn asked with a bitter smile on her face.

“I-I don’t think I can…” Nora said and looked at the two relaxed kids. “Even if they’re that relaxed… I’m not so brave…” She said.

“But… wouldn’t you feel weird if you were to wake up and discover that you let two kids die alone?” Dawn pressed Nora.

“I-I think…” She started but didn’t finish. “Let’s go with them… if we can protect them, it will be worthy it.” She said after a few seconds.

‘I’m already a sacrifice, I should be ready to die if it meant that those kids would be protected.’ Nora thought as she slowly sat besides the kids. ‘It’s fluffy… and warm.’ She thought and soon her beating heart calmed down as she quickly feel asleep.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

***

Kai woke up when felt four things touching his back, but he was just too tired to move away, they were warm and he was just too tired to open his eyelids.

He didn’t feel any malice from the things touching him so he drifted back to sleep.

***

Terra waited for Kai’s message but it never came.

She was worried but the name was marked as green, so it meant that he was still alive but she had no way to know if he had fought against the Dungeon Dueler.

Names in the friend list have three status, green, when the player is online, red is when they are offline, which means that the one ‘controlling’ the boss is the game itself, which uses the player’s view as to not let people notice the difference in behavior, that is why the dungeons are sealed for two weeks before they open, it is to understand the personality the character will have and last but not least is greyed out, which means that the player was killed and will only be back later.

“This waiting is killing me!” Terra shouted as she used a small stone knife she had on her hands so she could make some more weapons for her minions, which were better than ever. They didn’t break so easily anymore and their movements were like well oiled machines making them have smoother movements and their strength was better than before.

“It feels as if my start was nothing more than a dream.” She said with a smile on her face. “Kai… are you well?” Terra asked as she look up from the wood she was carving as if waiting for an answer from the skies. “I should send a message and hope he will see it.” She said after a few seconds of thinking.

Terra wrote a message and soon sent it to the wolf boss and hoped he would answer it in the next few hours.

“Yosh! Now I can focus on my work!” She said as she looked down at the piece of wood she had in her hands.

***

“ …ke up!” Paul heard someone call for him and he turned to the side.

“Just five more minutes.” He said with a groggy voice.

“Paul! You slept for two hours already! It more than enough!” Someone said as his cheeks were pinched.

“OUCH!” Paul shouted as he stood up. “What was that for?” He said as he placed his hands at his cheeks.

“Good, well, I had you come because I want you to answer another survey.” Isis said as she sat on a chair. She was wearing a formal work dress. “Tell me what did you feel during the battle, and what your thoughts are.” She said as a pen and paper appeared before her.

Paul noticed that he had been sleeping in a couch and that it was actually quite comfortable but he couldn’t not answer the things Isis asked, because he knew that she was paying attention to the player’s mental health.

“It was your first time killing another player, even though it was an animal, can you tell me the experience?” The AI asked Paul and he answered it and the questions that came after as they came.

***

Kai yawned after he woke up and felt that something was lying against his back and when he looked over his shoulders he couldn’t help but be amused to see the four humans resting with their backs facing his.

‘What are they doing here?’ He thought himself as he looked at the people but as soon as he moved the adventurer stood up and placed herself over the other three.

“Oho… it looks like that someone has a sharp instinct.” Kai said as he smiled. “Wake those three and place them back at the carriage, Dawn.” He said as he looked at the surprised adventurer.

“Y-You… did you just use my name?” She asked as she looked at him.

“Woman… you're not going to do your job?” He said looking at the woman, but he could see that the other three were waking up as well because they could feel his body vibrating when he talked.

“Mister Wolf!” The girl shouted after she rubbed her eyes. “You're awake!” She said hugging, or at least tried to, him.

“Girl, did you think I would lose?” Kai asked with a happy tone on his voice. “I'm strong.” He said as he stood up because the young woman quickly took some distance from him while having a white as paper face, and the boy were sitting beside the girl.

“We know.” The boy said with a smile.

“Good. For the day, you will all wait inside the carriage, you will only be allowed to come out when I call you.” Kai said looking at the four humans. “If you dare to come out, no matter the reason, you're dead.” He said as he walked to the next room while he slowly wagged his tail.

When Kai arrived at the next room he was surprised to find that all the minions he had called to go with him had evolved at least one rank.

From the 10 surviving wolves, 6 evolved to Grey Wolves while from the surviving 9 Grey Wolves four evolved to Black Wolves and last but not least, 4 from Black Wolves evolved into Dire Wolves.

‘Great!’ Kai though as he looked at the beasts before him and thinking that he should have more minions because he was lacking the weaker ones, no wild dogs, only the two he sat to guard the female adventurer.

Kai stopped at the third room and there he decided that it was time to summon more minions, while he could and was when he opened the menu that he saw an unread message waiting for him.

[Kai! Did you fight him? How was it? Did you win? Answer these as soon as you can!] The message said and Kai couldn’t help but snort as he read it.

[I fought the bunny… and who do you think I am? It was an easy fight, I was only tired after it.] Kai said as he decided to call for more minions.

Using 230 points he called for more 23 wild dogs, bringing his numbers to 60. The wild dogs appeared one after the other and while they were being summoned the room was shining so brightly that he was forced to close his eyes and only open them once the light faded away.

“15 of you are to expand the dungeon. Dig another room at the end of the second.” Kai ordered 15 of the Wild Dogs and they soon walked to do their job. “You 8 are to go and plant all the plants we have stored.” He said and the eight followed the others 15, but their work was different and it would be one of the most weird tasks, but it was a must.

“Now… I think I should evolve further and ask the female adventurer to continue her magic lessons.” Kai said in a low voice and smiling once he saw the points needed to buy another race. “Kobold for 225 DP… I thought the DP consumption would be like the others.” He said as he hit the buy button, while ignoring a message that had arrived.

You bought the Kobold race.

This race can appear from any race you already existing in your dungeon but there will be a requirement so those races can evolve to this one.

Kai was left speechless as the notice appeared before him but that was not the last part of it.

Requirement met to evolve for Kobold.

Intelligent Beast

Evolution for each race has started and two minions for the listed races will start evolving into the Kobold race.

Wild Dog

Wolf

Grey Wolf

Black Wolf

Dire Wolf

“What the?!” Kai shouted as he read the new window. It meant that 10 of his minions, from all the races he had under his control already had the requirement to evolve without his aid. “No way… why didn’t I buy it before then?” He asked himself just to hear a laugh coming from the bracelet on his arm.

“The reason is kinda simple… their overall intelligence level was still too low because they didn’t ‘learn’ how to ‘talk’ and now you have ‘added’ humans in your dungeon and they are now constantly listening and learning their words.” Isis said as her doll appeared before Kai.

“Wait… will they stop evolving and will only be able to follow the humanoid path and will stop ‘evolving’ from the beast side?” Kai asked the AI a bit afraid of how the more intelligent ones would evolve.

“Well… that I’ll leave for you to discover…” Isis said floating around. “And wouldn’t be great to evolve to that race as well? You might gain some understanding of it.” She said before she disappeared in a ball of light, leaving behind only her laugh.

“YOU! I WILL CRUSH THIS DOLL!” Kai shouted but stopped as he saw the ten Kobolds walking his way.

“We… Master Kai… bow.” One of the Dire Wolf Kobold said and the ten bowed to him.

“Good… it seems that now you’re all able to talk and use tools.” Kai said looking at the Kobolds.

They continued to look like the animals they evolved from, but they now could stand and walk on two legs but the arms were too long if compared to the body, making them walk bending forward with their arms before their body.

“You ten are to go and breed.” Kai said as he operated the menu and using 50 DP at the ten Kobolds before him.

“Breed… puppies…” The ten said as they walked towards the last room.

“Now… how will I use the these pilling points…” Kai said as his eyes shone. He had yet to accept to evolve into a Kobold, but he was afraid of being able to evolve further without going back. “Wait… Kobold warning window said that the existing races… so it means that once they start to evolve, the next ones too will turn into Kobolds…” He said after a few seconds of thinking.

He accepted the evolution and his body shined and soon he could look at the world as big mountain. He had grown more making him be 2.7 meters tall.

“This… wasn’t a good idea.” He said looking up. “I can almost reach the ceiling.” He said just to stop thinking. “I’ll make this dungeon be taller soon… just need for the Kobolds to grow in number.” He said as he walked towards the female adventurer. It was time to start learning real Magic from her.