[Create Monster: Kobold Cheftain]

Purple Mana condensed into particles that floated in the air and began to swirl in a vortex, spiraling into the ground. Th earth turned black and began to bulge, veins erupting across the earth. The earth popped like a swelling cyst, dark purple fluid, like oil mixed with wine, spilled out as a hand erupted and a thing pulled itself from the wound. The creature shook itself as it slowly stood, revealing a small dog-like humanoid that was covered in brown fur and had yellow eyes.

That is probably the most disgusting thing I have ever seen, Valen thought, happy he no longer had a physical stomach.

More Mana condensed onto the newly born Monster. It formed a simple bronze chest plate and other bits of armor. A bone-like necklace formed, and finally, a massive battle-ax with a bronze blade.

The kobold turned towards the area were Valen's Core was buried, and kneeled, his tail wagging behind him. He opened his jaws, revealing sharp fangs, and a husky, growly voice emerged from his throat; "Greetings, Master."

Greetings, Servant, Valen sent his thoughts along the connection that had formed between their minds. It wasn't a bond but was instead like a leash that wrapped around the kobold's mind.

The kobold bowed his head. "What are your orders, Master?"

For now, wait, Valen responded, I will be making your pack.

The kobold nodded obediently and then moved to a wall to clear space.

Valen proceeded to make five of each class, with exception of the Chieftain Class. He also formed a hidden cavern that was large enough for the pack to safely stay in. His plan was for most of them to stay in the cavern well a few of them formed groups which would patrol the Dungeon and challenge invaders.

That, however, could wait until he had been discovered and he had actually finished his first floor. For now, he would be giving them a different objective.

Go out into the world, Valen commanded, and bring me back things.

"What sort of things, Master?" The Chieftain said nervously.

Anything, Valen responded, plants, animals, artifacts. Bring me back everything you find. However, if you run across a village or something, don't attack it.

Divided into four groups, the kobolds departed. He could feel them from quite a distance, but the farther they went, the more it strained the leash. The only thing Valen could do after a certain point was send a compulsion to return to the Dungeon.

As they left, Valen mentally cracked his knuckles. It was time to get to work...

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Erick drew back his bow, reading the arrow. The deer bent its neck down, and Erick softly muttered; "[Vital Shot]."

A red aura engulfed the entire arrow, and Erick let it fly. The arrow went into the deer's neck, and a fountain of crimson blood erupted from the wound and splattered across the ground. The deer swayed as the fountain slowed, then fell over.

"Great shot, brother!" A voice called out from behind him. Erick turned to see his twin, Brian, run up behind him. He also carried a bow and wore almost identical equipment to Erick. "Though I really wish you wouldn't use that Art, it leaves such a mess."

"It saves us the trouble of bleeding the damn thing," Erick retorted, "and its better than that Art you always use!"

"Hmph!" Brian drew an arrow and aimed at a nearby tree. "[Wind Piercing Arrow]."

A green aura wrapped around the arrow, and when he let it fly, the air seemed to distort as it was torn open. In an instant, the arrow had gone from the bow into the trunk of a tree. Where it hit, the wood exploded as the arrow passed through it, leaving a massive hole in the top of the trunk and several branches came crashing down.

"Great, if you want to join the militia, brother," Erick said as he flinched backward as the branches crashed against the forest floor. "But it doesn't exactly leave much meat to collect."

"You'll thank me if we ever come across a bear or wolf."

"A bear or wolf?" Erick laughed. "Brother, both the Rangers and the Elves both clearly outline were it's safe to hunt. The worst predator we'll ever come across out here is a Dire Stag, and the chances of that are pretty much zero-"

"Brother, look!" Brian suddenly shouted, drawing another arrow as a look of fear came into his eyes.

"What?" Erick turned, and to his surprise, saw a little girl in the distance. Confused, he muttered softly, "What's a little girl doing all the way out here?"

 Brian drew his bow back, and when Erick stared at him, he whispered, "Brother, that isn't a little girl. Look at her!"

With a frown, Erick did so. Her attire was admittedly somewhat strange. She wore a series of loose, wide maroon sashes made of a simple fabric, which were wrapped around her chest and waist, along with her arms and legs. She carried a wooden staff with a deer skull at the top surrounded by brightly colored feathers and several bones attached to small strings hanging from the antlers.

"A Shaman? But she looks too young to have a Class..." A still very confused Erick said mostly to himself as he found his eyes traveling up her very messy dark brown hair, which was down to her knees. And atop her head was...

"Huh?" Erick rubbed his eyes, then squinted at what he was seeing.

Atop her head was a pair of large, floppy ears like those of a bloodhound. They blended in with her hair, which was why he hadn't initially seen them. Now that he had seen them though, he saw that she had several other nonhuman features. Her nails were sharp claws, and a long tail covered in brown fur stuck out from the mass of her hair. Her wrists were covered in fluffy white hair, and her lower arms were covered in shorter brown fur. Under the wraps, Erick could see that her thighs and waist were also covered in brown fur. Her pale bare skin was covered in intricate black marks.

"A Beastkin..." Erick realized as he also drew an arrow.

"A Monster," Brian muttered, the fear clear in voice. "What is a Monster like a Beastkin doing in this woods? How did it sneak past the Rangers and the Elves?"

"I don't know, but we need to get out of here and warn someone."

"Maybe we should try to kill it?" Brian suggested despite the fear in his voice.

"How stupid are you? We're Hunters! We aren't equipped to fight Monsters." Erick hissed.

"There's only one! If we both use our Arts-"

"Against a Monster?" Erick shook his head. "We might be able to injure it, but what if we don't Break its Hp?"

 "Then we use them again-" Brian began to say when a voice loudly interrupted him.

"Hello, Misters, whatcha doing?"

Erick and Brian both jumped. They didn't know when, but the Beastkin had closed the distance and was now less than fifty feet from them. She was staring at them with wide eyes while leaning into her staff.

She can talk, Erick thought. He was somewhat relieved, hoping he might be able to avoid a fight. Monsters, even sentient ones, tended to attack on sight. Since she wasn't, he was hoping she wasn't hostile.

"Hunting," Erick answered, lowering his bow and ignoring his brother's glare.

The Beastkin's eyes wandered over to the deer, and Erick felt a chill run down his spine as she made her way over, crossing the distance in only a few seconds despite her seemingly leisurely pace.

"Well, you certainly made a mess, Mister." The Beastkin said as knelt dipped a hand in the blood. "Seems like you wasted the best part, too."

"Well, people don't normally do anything with the blood," Erick said, trying to keep calm. "If you don't mind me asking, what's one of the Beastkin doing all the way out here?"

"Master wants us to gather stuff for him." She responded, cocking her head to the side as she stared at her blood-soaked hand with a curious and fascinated expression on her face.

"Master...?" Erick frowned. "Do you mean the leader of your pack?"

"No, not the Chieftain." The Beastkin shook her head like it was obvious. "Master."

"Ri-right." Erick mind was whirling. So not only were there more of them, they apparently had a "Master" of some sort. A more powerful Monster, most likely, though Erick wondered what sort of Monster it was; and how such a creature slipped past the Rangers and the Elves. "What sort of stuff does he want?"

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"Anything, really," She responded, still staring at her hand and only seeming to be paying half attention to the conversation. "The only thing he said we couldn't do was attack a village."

Erick was initially relieved, but then he realized that perhaps this "Master" simply didn't want to be discovered yet.

"Hey, Mister?" The Beastkin looked away from her hand, looking back at Erick and staring him in the eyes with an unreadable expression. Erick forced himself to meet her gaze, trying to ignore how her eyes looked more like those of feral beast than those of a person. "You said your hunting, right?"

"Y-yes," Erick answered.

"So you're from a village?" She asked, when he nodded, "Is it nearby, Mister?"

"Sort of, it's-"

"Brother!" Brian shouted, snapping him out of the trance he had been in.

The Beastkin's eyes shifted to Brian, causing him to tense up. Then, she looked back to her hand. "You know, Master said we weren't supposed to attack any villages. But, what about people from a village? Oh, Master, what are we supposed to do?"

"We?" Erick whispered softly, too softly for Brian to hear him, as another, far deeper chill ran up his spine. He felt his eyes glance around as a feeling of paranoia erupted in his chest and throat. His heart nearly leaped out of his chest when he saw a movement, but it was quickly replaced by relief as he saw it was just a leaf that had fallen out of a tree and he let out a sigh.

But then, his entire body froze. Slowly, he looked up, into the tops of the trees. Through the dense leaves, he could clearly see a pair of bright yellow eyes, filled with feral hunger.

"Brother!" He tried to shout, but his throat had closed up as if his entire body had become petrified. "Brother!"

Brian, however, didn't hear him. His entire body was shaking as he stared at the still crouched Beastkin, who was still staring at her hand. Then, she bent her head down and opened her mouth, letting her tongue run up her hand as she lapped up the blood.

Brian closed his eyes, then opened them as a sense of determination entered them and his entire body stilled. "[Wind Piercing Arrow]!"

"Don't!" Erick finally managed to shout, but it was too late.

The arrow flew, but before it could hit the Beastkin, it connected with something else.

"What?" Brian let out a shocked cry.

A purple and gold bubble had appeared out of seemingly nowhere and surrounded the Beastkin. The arrow had connected with the bubble, causing ripples and cracks to appear as the Art and the Spell reacted with each other. More cracks appeared, and the bubble shattered and then dissolved, but the Beastkin had already moved out of the way; the arrow shooting into the corpse and causing it to explode in a shower of dirt, grass, blood, and chunks of flesh and bone.

"Oi, Mister, that wasn't very nice," The Beastkin pouted, "although I suppose it settles what to do with you."

A flicker of purple light caught Erick's attention, and he turned and shoved his brother, causing him to stumble back. "Look out!"

An arrow covered in a red and purple aura shot from the trees and grazed Erick's leg.

"Ah!"

"Brother!" Brian screamed, eyes now looking to the trees as several figures leaped from them. Two of them looked similar to the first one. One, however, was blonde and had white sashes without the tattoos, and carried nothing. The other had dark green hair/fur, also lacked any tattoos, and her sashes were a dark grey with several bright green symbols on them, and she carried a metal staff with several strange marks etched into the bronze. The rest looked completely different. Their entire bodies were covered in thick fur, and their heads were completely canine. A far more wild and savage aura radiated from them.

Erick winced as he felt his Hp deplete. Thankfully it didn't break, and he felt the graze heal. He could tell he had lost about a fifth of it.

"Brother, run," Erick muttered as he drew an arrow.

"What? I won't leave you!" Brian shouted.

"[Hardened Shot]." Erick shot an arrow at the Beastkin with the bow, which sank into its shoulder. The Monster let out a loud yelp as it was knocked to the floor. "We can't both outrun them, and we sure as hell can't fight them! You need to warn the Rangers!"

A conflicted look flashed across Brian's face, and he closed his eyes as a tear ran down his face. "[Fleet Foot]."

A blue aura wrapped around his lower legs, and he took off as fast as a deer.

"Oh, don't run off, Mister, the fun's just starting!" The Shaman Beastkin pouted as she pointed her staff towards the fleeing Brian. "[Spirit Bolt]!"

A ball of white light with a faint purple tint formed above the staff, the shot towards Brian like a spear. It was a simple Tier 1 spell, but Erick knew that against a mere Hunter, it would deal massive damage. Erick desperately threw himself in front of the spell, which stabbed into his chest. It caused no physical damage, but a sense of fatigue overwhelmed Erick and he realized the spell had broken his Health.

"Dammit," Erick muttered as the strength left his muscles and began to collapse.

The Archer Beastkin's Hp finished healing the arrow wound, and with a dark growl, it fired another arrow. The arrow sailed through the air, not even with an Art attached, and plunged uninterrupted into Erick's chest. As a crimson flower quickly bloomed across Erick's chest, he coughed blood and fell.

"Oh, the other one got away!" The Shaman Beastkin whined as she stood over the fallen Erick, the light quickly fading from his eyes as his lifeblood soaked into the soil below him. "I hope Master doesn't scold us for letting one get away."

She looked down at the dying Erick. Then, she knelt down, placing a hand against his throat. With a quick motion, she broke his neck and ended him.

One of the male Beastkin approached, his mouth opening. Before he could do anything, however, the Shaman Beastkin smacked him on the head, causing him to yelp in surprise. "We need to bring the corpse back to  Master! Not eat it!"

"Sorry." The male's voice was deeper and sounded more like he was growling the words instead of speaking them. The male grabbed one of Erick's ankles and began to drag the corpse back in the direction of the Dungeon with rest of them in tow.

The Shaman Beastkin had a bit of a spring in her step, and she had begun to softly hum to herself.

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The Chieftain ran through the forest as fast as a large dog, the others following close behind him. They had already retrieved various plants and animals, but they all felt like they needed something more. This was especially true for the Chieftain, who would feel like a failure if he didn't bring something special back.

"Chieftain, look!" A defender shouted, drawing everyone's attention. He pointed to a cave, and at first, the Chieftain was confused to what the defender was so excited about, but then he saw it.

Monsters were beings formed of Demonic Energy, a corrupted form of Mana that somewhat resembled the Soul Energy that plants, animals, and most of all, the Blessed Races were filled with. Monsters didn't need to eat and were instead draw to Mana and Soul Energy, which they would consume to grow stronger. As such, all Monsters could "see" high concentrations of Mana and Soul Energy.

And that was what the Chieftain was seeing. The cave entrance was like a burning star of Soul Energy and Mana. They all raced for it, the Chieftain wondering where it all was coming from. When they entered, a look of puzzlement and confusion came over them all. There wasn't anything in the cave, which the Chieftain knew shouldn't be possible. Well there were places that had a lot of natural Mana and Soul Energy, such as Ley Lines, this little cave couldn't be one.

The Chieftain walked ahead, looking at the muddy soil that was the cave floor. After a few seconds, he slowly knelt and then plunged his hand into the loose soil below him. The loose soil was blown away in a shower that made the Chieftain want to cough, but he refrained from it as he stared at the object that his claws were wrapped around.

It was a seed of some sort. It was silver in color, and it was where all the Mana and Soul Energy was coming from.

"What is it?" A priestess asked as all the other Kobolds gathered around, trying to get a look at the strange seed.

"I have no idea," the Chieftain answered. Then, he smiled. "But I know Master will want it, and that's good enough for me."

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It was three days later that the first group returned. They hadn't brought back anything special, just basic plants, herbs, and animals. Still, it would be helpful as he continued his work.

Valen had drastically increased in Influence, well beyond the Requirement for Leveling Up. He had spent a lot of time molding the mountain into a labyrinth of tunnels, which would make up his first floor. Well he had many plans for these tunnels, his only enacted a few of them for now. He populated the start of it with mainly Small Slimes, along with a couple of Medium Slimes lurking at the dead ends as a bit of a nasty surprise. Eventually, it changed to there being mostly Medium Slimes and Lesser Spirits, with a few female Usagi patroling the tunnels in pairs. Similar to the beginning, a Large Slime awaited at the dead ends, and at one, a Greater Spirit waited. Near the end, Valen planned for there to be Kobolds patroling in hunting parties.

Valen already had his Boss Room built, but he was waiting for the Boss to return. He also had various other ideas, but he first needed to see what rest of the groups brought him.

Two days after the first group returned, the second one did. They brought mostly the same things as the first one did, but they had brought a few other things as well.

It was until an entire week later that, much to Valen's surprise, both remaining parties returned at the same time. The one that instantly drew his attention was a kobold who was dragging a human corpse behind him. Before he could ask where they had gotten such a thing, however, an alert appeared:

Acceptable Avatar located! Bring to Dungeon Heart to Bond with!

What is this? An Avatar? Valen looked at the message with a confused expression, looking to the source of the alert. For a moment, he wondered if it was the corpse, but it wasn't. It was a small, strange seed that the Chieftain was carrying.

Chieftain, bring that seed to my Heart Chamber, Valen ordered, then directed his will towards the one with the corpse, and you, bring the corpse here as well.

Valen absorbed the rest of it. Again, there were many duplicates, along with a couple different things as well.

Valen chuckled to himself as he watched the Chieftain race for the Heart Chamber, and excited expression on his face as his tail wagged furiously. When he arrived, Valen had him come closer, and place the seed over his Heart Crystal.

Do you wish to Bond with [Divine Seed] and take the Avatar [Divine Tree]?

Sure, why not? Valen answered, and the Divine Seed sank into the floor and pressed up against his Heart Crystal, then slowly sank into and merged with it. Power instantly erupted in Valen as white roots erupted from the within the crystal, passing through it somehow without causing any damage. They formed a complex maze beneath him, and Valen knew instantly that nothing would be able to uproot this tree. They then began to swell and grow bigger, and as they did, Valen noted black veins that bulged and squirmed underneath the surface of the white rootlike worms. A trunk erupted from the top the crystal, also causing no damage, rapidly growing and expanding as it shot upwards through the dirt.

The Chieftain yelped, leaping back as the tree continued growing unabated. The bark was also a silvery white, and also had bulging black veins that looked almost like veins. As branches umbrellaed outwards, small black thorns that looked to almost be made of crystal erupted along the veins, causing a black, ink-like fluid to begin running down the trees side as it grew. Golden leaves with red splashes on them like blood grew from the branches along with beautiful white flowers that had black pollen within them. Due to how relatively small the Heart Chamber was, the branches stabbed into the sides, and as they sank into the soil, changed into more twisting roots.

When the tree finished growing, a new message appeared;

Bond Complete, Avatar: [Divine Tree] Acquired!

Max Mana increased by 100,000!

Mana Reg. increased by 1,000!

Skill, [Druidism] has gone from Apprentice to Adept!

New plants and animals unlocked!

Title: [Dungeon of Corruption] Acquired!