"Listen up!"

I stood atop the new sitting next to the Matriarch's nest in the . All my minions were gathered below me with the Matriarch sitting to my side. She was just as tall sitting as I was standing on the chest! I swore she had grown more since she got her [Guardian] class.

"Because I am so amazing and smart we are soon going to have a for this floor," I said. Each one of my minions had different reactions to the news, the negative ones were marked and noted in my mind for their treachery. "Before I get down to upgrading the room behind me, I want to take today to thank my minions."

Snep, I saw that! I snapped a claw at Chion and he rolled his eyes and slung an arm around a disbelieving Snep. "So, I am granting all of you a gift of your choosing. No weapons or armor though, each of you will be getting something eventually. Bows for Ras and Cas, swords for Baf and Daf, and eventually things for our newest kobolds whenever they get a class."

Chion's naming sense left a lot to be desired, but I wasn't going to take the duty back. Hopefully, as chief minion, he would pass on the naming duty to someone with a better vocabulary. Maybe Trald would be up to it? He gets a lot of charisma as a [Trainer].

"What kind of stuff?" asked Snep suspiciously.

I set a foot on the cube-core next to me and pointed a claw at it. "Nothing expensive. Hmm, ah, nothing made of rare materials. Otherwise I don't care. If I run out of mana then I'll just get it later for that minion."

The Matriarch nudged me gently with her nose and growled lightly from her throat. Strangely enough, by the weird language function the dungeon granted me, I understood that. It still surprised me as until now she hasn't ever 'said' anything. Now I knew that even without the ability to speak I would be able to understand any intelligent minion I got.

"Easily done. Nothing for yourself?" She shook her head. Fine with me, although I wouldn't forget a reward for the large fox for future deeds. I bought four and tossed them to the [Rascals] nearby. One for each of the dumb fox cubs to swat, chase and chew on instead of each other.

"Who's next?" I asked.

Ras and Cas stepped forward with each other. The two taller males were always together recently, or at least recent enough that I started noticing, and they nodded to each other. Cas spoke up, "Me and Ras wondering how felt eating stuff. You eat lot, know because need to. Maybe..."

"Want goblin meat!" said Ras.

"Maybe fox meat," started Cas but a glance from the Matriarch made him change his mind. "Other animal meat?"

Chion had brought this up to me a while ago about the idea of making a food room of some kind, although the talk was about what to do with the entrance room. Maybe it was time to try to realize that room? I had a lot more options now than I did back then.

I bought two big slabs of meat for five mana a piece, one goblin and the other was rabbit even though the slab was even bigger than an actual rabbit. I tossed it down to them and they immediately began tearing into it. Were they sloppy eaters or was I a bad eating role-model? No, couldn't possibly be me, so they must have bad eating manners.

"Let's ignore the highest levels for now," I said looking at the three thinking on their gifts. No doubt being the smartest of my minions they would want something more than food. "Baf? Daf?"

Both of them took the longest to revive yesterday but they both came back with the [Scrapper] class, our first class that gave vitality. Instead of the [Tough Scales] skill they got something called [Tough Stuff] which was weaker than the scales version but applied to themselves as well as everything they wore. That and the [Dirty Fighting] skill made them perfect to match up with a [Hunter].

Except that apparently there was friction between the [Hunters] and [Scrappers]. I didn't care, I didn't want to hear their problems with each other. As long as they defended the dungeon and could work together on that everything was okay. If even that became a problem... Chion could handle it.

Baf had already been a tall kobold but his class had made him grow slightly so he was easily the tallest of all kobolds. "Say get sword later? Then I want good nest like Master's. My nest too small."

A little more expensive than I was expecting but I couldn't really blame him. I bought a and threw it to Baf, who caught the bundle of furs and hugged it tightly. I bopped the Matriarch on the nose when she nudged me. "Don't whine and take it as a compliment that your fur is great and soft."

Daf was the polar opposite of Baf in appearance, a thin female that had gained a little height and muscle from her class but didn't look like she was someone who fought up close. "Good, Baf always complain about nest even before. Master, any more games Trald can teach?"

Trald perked up and said, "Something new?"

"Anything. Disc board always busy by Snep," said Daf with a hiss as Snep. "She must cheat cause always wins."

"Lies! I win because I'm smart," Snep shot back. Chion rolled his shoulders and tightened his grip on Snep. "Chion, defend me!"

"Watch your pieces carefully," said Chion.

Snep bit his arm ineffectively.

Games, games, something that Snep couldn't be sneaky at. Both options were expensive but if it kept my minions happy and distracted so they didn't badger me with their problems then a few hours worth of mana wasn't much. While I had really expensive options for games, most just higher quality materials for the same game, it was a choice between or for twenty mana.

"Two choices, Daf. One is for a throwing game and the other looks to be a game involving thin wood plates. Trald would know more, but your choice?"

"Darts," answered Daf immediately. No doubt something involving plates would be something Snep could be sneaky at. How could someone be sneaky at throwing things?

I bought it and tossed it down to Daf. It was a big, round circular wood board with colored areas that smelled like flowers along with a wood box that had six colored wooden darts tipped with iron, three blue and three red. Daf grabbed Trald by the claw and dragged him back to the training room.

"Wait, my gift!" he yelled. I waved and gave him a nod which he gave up to his fate. I would get to him later. So that left my two newest kobolds, nameless and classless, and my two arguably best minions. I pointed at the two new ones and gestured.

Being so young and classless made thinking difficult so I waited for them to organize their thoughts. I was a calm and patient kobold.

"What is..." The female kobold looked to her partner. "I don't know."

The male scratched his side looking just as confused and indecisive. "Maybe some shiny?"

Chion subtly gestured with a claw, something I took as for me to choose. Dumb minions were dumb, but I liked that they tried. It was fifteen mana and under the list that sealed the deal, although I was beginning to feel bad to give Cas and Ras cheap food. It was their choice and with how much they were enjoying it I was going to get another request for meat soon.

I waved the pair of kobolds close and held down a to the female. "You two can do anything you want with them, but share it."

She took it in awe, grabbed her partner and they went off near one of the nests to began inspecting the various colored stones and rocks in the sunlight that streamed into the fox den. Those two had the most sense out of all my minions and I had high expectations for them.

"Chion, Snep, what do you two want?" I asked still feeling pretty good and generous.

Snep suckerpunched Chion in the side which made him finally release her from his grasp and ducked away. "If truly a gift then I want your knife. Not too much, yes?"

I pulled the bone knife from out between my horn and my skull cap. "This knife?"

Snep nodded, held out her claws and quickly opened and closed them in a 'give me' manner. She wanted this knife over any gift? She already had an iron dagger so I couldn't understand why she wanted it, but it saved me on mana and I was wanting to replace it soon enough anyhow. I placed it in her open claw to her confusion? What was that look for?

"See? Told you so," said Chion.

"What?" I looked between my two strongest minions, not including a certain giant fox, and got annoyed. They were just asking to get kicked, but today wasn't such a day. Calm and patient kobold, calm and patient.

"I'm watching you," said Snep before she backed into the grass and hid from my senses.

Chion shrugged and made to follow her. "Nothing for me, you low on mana, yes?"

I wiggled a claw. "A little bit, but it isn't a minion's job to worry me."

"Then make boss room for us minions. Hard fighting knowing if fail we all die," he said solemnly. "Ras, Cas, come along."

The [Hunter] pair slurped the last of their meat and licked their claws looking fairly pleased. At Chion's call they immediately got up and followed him. With that all my minions, except Trald, were satisfied and I could go back to focusing on the dungeon.

When Chion was at the edge of my hearing I heard him ask, "How was it?"

So he was still curious after all. I jumped off the chest and wandered over to the back of the fox den and exited through the doors. Yes, finally, I had put up a at every entrance and exit! I thought long and hard about putting metal doors instead of wood ones, but waiting for that would delay my by too long.

The back room was empty, no longer the new because I needed an empty room. Obviously the core wouldn't stay on the first floor so I went with what my gut was telling me on how to organize my rooms. The gifts had gotten more expensive than I thought, draining me and the core all the way down to less than ten mana.

I waited several minutes to get a couple points of mana back, enough that I would only feel horrible and sick when it dropped low instead of blacking out, and chose the option of the day.

>Yes

>No

It surprised me when I had checked on it after I created my last chest. My early memories were hazy but I knew that when I was first created, the had a limit of ten mana and started with two spirit points. So far the mana limit for the core had grown by two for every simple small room.

Going by how most wood purchases were ten or less mana, as well as minions, the requirements of the first floor could easily be done in a couple days! The protection of a boss creature would have been amazing to have earlier, but even a smart [Dungeon Master] like me couldn't figure it out due to the horrible lack of information.

I held a claw on .

The core glowed with dim white light in the blackness of the empty room. That light drained out of the core into the floor and suffused itself into the ground and walls. I rubbed my head as the lack of mana hit me as hard as it usually did.

The wood floor, that of the massive tree the dungeon was born in, melted into thick mud with pools of swamp water strewn about. Tall reeds and hollow logs were placed around as the walls became slick and aged with overgrown ivy coating its entirety. A canopy of thick leaves replaced the ceiling as the light of a fading day streamed forth. A smoldering campfire sat in the back of the room near a large hut made of twigs and hides.

A white light formed into a kobold, one that was a head and a half taller than me, with thin yet strong muscles, murky green scales instead of the usual mottled brown or red-brown, and sharp red eyes. I shivered at how... I didn't have the word at how in awe I was of his looks.

The white light didn't stop there as once he was fully formed it created him a thick tunic, trousers and cap of hide and armored with bone. Across his back was a thick wood bow different from the ones I had bought for my minions, with iron tipped arrows in a quiver at his side. If that wasn't enough two more lights emerged to his sides before growing to as tall as he was. Two adult foxes, not on par with the Matriarch but still more impressive than a cub, pawed at their faces.

There was no glassy look to their eyes that newborns had, no confused posture or questioning dullness. I stepped back as he took a step forward, repeating so until my back was against a wall and he was in front of me. Towering over me, those sharp eyes looking down on me...

I kicked him in the leg. "Back off!"

He grunted deeply in pain and fell to a knee, but his gaze never wavered from mine. "You are my Master then?"

Impressive. I had kicked with my full strength, something that would maimed or killed any of my minions except the Matriarch, who was grudgingly always the exception. "Yes, of course I am. Who are you to question me?"

He rubbed his leg but stayed kneeling as it put him on eye level with me. "I am Vurg Krithix, the of this room and of the First Floor."

"You already have a name?" I asked. "Yes, you are my first so I'm still unsure of what was supposed to happen. Information is hard to get unless you experience it first, even with certain useful skills."

Vurg lowered his head and motioned with a claw that had his fox minions lower theirs as well. "Firstly I thank you, Master, for summoning me to defend our home. Second, I wish to comment on how beautiful you are. While I know I have just been born, inside my head is the knowledge any kobold leader would have and you are truly unique."

Another shiver shook my core. It, he, Vurg was too different, far too different from my dumb minions. "T-Thank you, of course I am. I'm the [Dungeon Master]! But, ah, let me also compliment you on your scales and horn. Such a pleasant shade of green isn't seen so far."

He stood up and looked himself over. "Truly? Ah, I see. My status says that I am not a plain kobold."

Status, huh? I went to the core to bring up his status but was stopped by a couple of open notifications.

>Yes

>No

I clacked my fangs at this news. "Vurg, is there an entrance to the second floor in here?"

He nodded and waved for me to follow. I picked up the core and we went over to his hut, Vurg pulling aside the grass curtains to reveal a homely interior with a big wooden hatch on the ground in the back. When opened it revealed a set of crude stone stairs leading down into darkness.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I went down since us kobolds had clear vision even in said darkness, the stairs were straight and maybe twenty short steps before they leveled off and led into an open half-sphere stone room. There was a familiar pedestal made of stone in the middle but nothing else.

"Master, is everything okay?" called Vurg from above. He didn't follow me down?

When I went back upstairs I asked, "Can you not go down below?"

"No, Master," he said with a shake of his head. "While I may roam my own floor I cannot leave it, and when an invader comes I will be locked in here until they arrive at my door."

I expected as much since it would be too good to have a that could be anywhere on the floor. Having Vurg pop out and ambush any invaders would have been a great tactic. He held up a claw after a moment. "Although, perhaps there is an upgrade for me to do so? I have knowledge that there should be a set ot upgrade options for a [Dungeon Master] to grant me, although I cannot say what they possibly are."

Dungeon, dungeon, always giving my minions knowledge of their roles but never giving me these things. My skill level up is amazing, but still I feel so clueless. I looked for it in the lists and found that where there was there was now a new option instead.

- A set of possible upgrades or expansions for the boss, its minions or the room itself. Limited to picking one option with an additional one added every five floors.

>Vurg gains an additional Rosefur Fox [Stalker] - 20 MP / 1 Spirit

>Upgrade Vurg from a [Fox Tamer] to a [Rosefur Rider] - 25 MP / 1 Spirit

>Spawn two [Hunter] kobolds as reinforcements after two minutes - 30 MP / 1 Spirit

I only had one spirit point left and every option required it, but every option was incredibly good. The decision should be my choice as a [Dungeon Master], but I didn't know the capabilities of Vurg even if i looked at his status, so I explained the options to him. "Which one would you choose if you could?"

Vurg sat down on his nest, a collection of small animal furs that didn't feature a single fox skin, and toyed with an arrow. "That is a difficult decision, Master. My foxes are powerful as they are and a third would be incredible, so that is a known quantity. To change my class to a [Rosefur Rider] is an uncertain advantage as it would mainly increase my stats and change my skills. I doubt the dungeon would include it if it were truly poor..."

I agreed. "I know a little of classes. To upgrade to a higher tier is good, you would get stronger everything, but it would increase your personal power only. I found out that there can only be five invaders at a time, and even the strongest can be taken down by numbers."

The image of Rocktooth, the goblin chieftain that had invaded, being so wounded by a few fox cubs and the Matriarch was very vivid. Of course right now it would be a five against three situation, but an additional fox or two kobolds after a couple minutes could change that. "A kobold [Hunter] might not be as strong as a fox [Stalker], but they will be capable of using bows and arrows as support."

Vurg smiled at me. Ah, I rolled my neck to look anywhere but at him. "True, and a delayed arrival could easily let them get a surprise attack, although it would depend on me to last those minutes. I think that might be the best option if there my enemies maximum group is set to five."

I stood up quickly and calmed my tail down as it had been swishing side to side. Let's just pretend that didn't happen. "Alright! I will upgrade that as soon as I have the mana then. You said you may roam the floor? Good, then let's introduce you to your fellow minions.

"That would be nice," he said and followed me out to the fox den. His own foxes had followed him out on curiosity and were shocked when they met the Matriarch, a fox that was a head over even them. The Matriarch slowly walked up the foxes, nipped at their ears, and began grooming them in turn. "A mighty defends this room! Are we not sure she isn't the true floor boss?"

Although he said it with amusement there was an undertone of seriousness. Yes, she would be the test of the powerful single creature versus many. If they could tackle her then defeating an upgraded Vurg wouldn't be as difficult. "You can tell she's strong, huh?"

"As a [Fox Tamer] I can, although I don't think I could tame that one."

I started at that. "You couldn't beat her?"

"No, I could win if it was a fight because a is born at their peak strength. I cannot grow as a normal dungeon creature will, but taming is a matter of wills. If she was younger, perhaps, but not as she is now," said Vurg. Beating the Matriarch in willpower, huh? I could, I definitely could. I definitely didn't peek at her status page just to make sure.

While I was on the statuses list though I did check out Vurg's. I was curious at just how strong he was along with his foxes.

>Name: Vurg Krithix

>Class: Fox Tamer Lv.5

>Race: Wild Kobold

>Gender: Male

>HP: 59 / 59

>MP: 52 / 52

>STR: 5

>DEX: 26

>AGI: 18

>VIT: 18

>INT: 10

>WIS: 22

>CHA: 5

>LUK: 2

>Skills: [Fox Empathy Lv.5], [Quick Step Lv.5]. [Tough Scales Lv.5], [Bow Techniques Lv.5], [Pack Tactics Lv.5], [Frenzy Call Lv.5]

>Perks: [Swift Hunter], [Swamp Safety]

>Name: Sweet / Bitter

>Class: Stalker Lv.5

>Race: Rosefur Fox

>Gender: Male / Female

>HP: 73 / 73

>MP: 11 / 11

>STR: 22

>DEX: 18

>AGI: 22

>VIT: 17

>INT: 3

>WIS: 2

>CHA: 14

>LUK: 1

>Skills: [Hide Presence Lv.5], [Bite Lv.5], [Thick Fur Lv.5], [Distract Lv.5]

>Perks: [Natural Predator]

Kekeke, they were all so strong! So that was why he wouldn't grow stronger naturally. I tapped on the skills and perks but still didn't get any information for them. They explained themselves mostly, but how did [Pack Tactics] or [Distract] work? Finally, I allowed the tension that had been built up to drain out of me knowing that I was secure for now. Nothing that had invaded could beat my , and I felt that the decision to buy the those chests was worth it.

It also showed me that skills were incredibly important as shown by how the skill levels compared to class levels made them stronger than me or Chion despite us being level four. Truthfully I had slacked off on practicing so my skills had fallen behind. Chion was becoming a bad influence on me.

"Oh, they're adorable," said Vurg. I snapped out of my thoughts to see him approach the two newest kobolds playing with their shiny stones. Their eyes went wide and they looked between me and Vurg. He rubbed their heads with a claw. "Oh, do not mind me, young ones. Continue on."

"Master?" asked one of them.

"He is Vurg, our for this floor," I said and gestured for them to continue on. "Come, Vurg."

Vurg smiled as the two hurriedly began to gather up their stones to place back in the stone jar and joined me. We made our way to the lair when he asked, "The youngest?"

"You are actually the youngest you know, but yes. They are still without a class, but it shouldn't take as long as it did the others," I said.

"Why? My knowledge says it is common for a kobold to gain a class usually within a week or two at the fastest." asked Vurg.

That shocked me. "Really? It must be different for dungeon creatures because usually it is a few days at most."

"If you have invaders often come and they fight then that sounds reasonable. Intent and affinity are important to the way the world works. A dungeon is very clear-cut on what needs to be done so roles can be filled quickly," explained Vurg. Dungeon, please give me this knowledge instead of my minion. Although, I do enjoy listening to him talk.

We entered the lair to see only Chion in his nest as usual. I said 'see' but he was snugly hidden under the fur blanket. I know he must've heard us talking but he still wasn't more interested than staying under the covers. I sighed and pointed at the nest. "That there is my chief minion, Chion. If you need to know or have anything done just talk to him if I'm not needed."

The fur blanket moved just slightly to reveal Chion's glare. "Master, please don't give more work."

"I'm hoping that all the work will give him a good class, maybe something like [Chieftain]."

Chion whined pitifully and gave a pleading look to Vurg. "It... shouldn't be too much of an issue, but I will keep it in mind, Master. I see many nests but where are all the others?"

I looked at Chion. He pointed at the training room and pulled the covers back over his head. "The training room. To the right leads to the entrance room and the left is an empty room now that the has been moved."

"A training room, is it? I see, that is why it shall take less time."

"Trald, our [Trainer], is still adapting to his role but he is a good minion," I said as we entered the hall to the training room. As good as he was Trald could stand to be more confident in himself, currently even our youngest classed kobolds had him at their whim. Either way, it wasn't my job to manage that. Probably.

The chorus of voices were loud from the other side of the door. Vurg was about to push the door open, but paused since I didn't step forward alongside him. "Are you not coming?"

"I just saw all of their dumb faces earlier before I summoned you. My minions can be shy when I'm around so I'll let you go introduce yourself instead," I said. Just from the tones and the way they talked, even if I couldn't understand the words through the door, told me enough. Normally I wouldn't mind, but Vurg was... impressive.

"I see." He lost his smile.

"No you don't, you dumb boss minion. Look at me, am I not amazing and smart? You are equally amazing, but next to me," I said and shook my head. "How can you compare?"

Vurg grinned at that. "Apologies, my Master, you are kind enough to let me have all the attention."

"Yes, don't forget it. I'm your [Dungeon Master], they are my minions, and you are their floor's ." I stepped up to the door and kicked it inward.

Everyone froze. Trald was talking to Ras and Cas near the archery targets with several arrows embedded in them. Baf was posed in mid-throw of a dart, aiming not at the board but instead at Daf who held two swords in a cross in front of her chest. All eyes focused on me before sliding over to Vurg.

"Minions, here is your !" I pushed Vurg in and shut the door.

Yes, that was possibly the best introduction I could have ever given. I went back to the lair, dodging out of the way as the door flew open and the two nameless minions ran by, one clutching the jar in its grip but neither sparing a glance at me. I laughed and closed the door before going to Chion's nest.

His claw caught my kick before it his leg. "Not even curious about Vurg?"

Chion sighed as if he gave up trying to get any rest and crawled out from under his blanket. "Always curious, but more curious than tired? Never. But curious why Master here and not with others."

"Am I to hold all his claw through meeting his allies? The meeting is different if I'm there, both he and you know that."

"Is different, but not why Master think," said Chion.

"Kekeke, you would be so bold a minion to claim to know how I think?"

"Sure." Chion shrugged. "All kobolds know you are [Dungeon Master]. After changing to color race, Master is still Master. We all know, even troublesome minions. Not normal kobolds, but dungeon creatures. You go on and grow dungeon. Sure, if Master dies maybe one of us become [Dungeon Master]."

"If I die? An invader that powerful would already break the core."

He nodded. "Probably. But Vurg is , but also show what we maybe become like. What's words, role model?"

I kicked at Chion but he threw the blanket at me and rolled to my side. Oh, this minion was going to get such a beating. He grinned and pulled his wood dagger out. "That sounds like treachery, Chion. Suggesting that I'm a bad role model? I'll show you how great I am!"

Chion witnessed my greatness up close and personal.

Hours later Vurg still hadn't come out of the training room, nor had any other kobold. Chion had revived for the third time, cracking his neck and slashing with his iron dagger in practicing something only he could see. After his first death I ordered him to use the iron dagger because my conversation with Vurg rung a bell. Of course Chion would stop if I were to actually get maimed, but some injuries were nothing considering we both needed real practice.

My [Claw Techniques] and [Tough Scales] had leveled once and I even gained [Throwing Techniques Lv.1] after stealing his bone dagger off his tunic and pegging him in the head with it. Maybe now I would be able to have the blade land first! Using [Healing Breath] I patched myself up and picked up the core off of my nest.

"Master great, truly great, what a dumb minion I am," said Chion. Was he being sarcastic, mocking me, or genuinely speaking? Maybe all three given the tone, but I wasn't sure. A fourth death wouldn't hurt, right? He held up his claws and sat on his nest. I snorted at him.

"Leveled a little in skills, and now level five [Trapper]," said Chion.

"How is my laziest minion leveling this quick?" I scrutinized him and couldn't tell anything different. "Some of my skills leveled but I'm still level four. So far I've leveled when invaders died in the dungeon, but I'm also thinking that I level from building and expanding."

"I'm [Trapper], level mainly by traps. Rest help recover mana, use trap skill, level up."

I stared at Chion.

He wiggled a claw. "Not exactly that easy, been fighting lots, but easier than others. Snep level by sneaking, she almost four. Trald have it hard."

Hmm, yes, I was going to forget about the last couple minutes. Chion was just my lazy minion, the laziest in fact. "So I have a second floor now, but to work on it I have to finalize the first floor. Apparently I can't do anything to build or upgrade rooms after that, probably nothing at all."

"Haven't done yet?" asked Chion.

"You are still curious about eating meat?" Chion slowly nodded. "Then I have an idea for it and hope it won't cost a spirit point. Hopefully, if I'm right, it shouldn't."

Chion perked up, his tail thumping under his blanket. "A good idea?"

"Kekeke, it's a great idea."