The entrance room was a problem.

Filling it with foxes might have been a good idea at the time, but I had a couple more attacks in the night by wild foxes after I had just replaced my own had them dying before my mana recovered to upgrade the room. Now I was thinking that upgrading it at all might be useless. Still, my only creatures I had to summon were foxes or more kobolds, who I didn't have a powerful room upgrade for, so foxes were still my plan.

In the morning I gathered up their grass nests and moved them to a new room off to the side of the middle room. It was a like all my others because I enjoyed how sharp it felt over the weird round shape of the entrance room. Also because it bothered me I created a matching room on the other side of the middle room so now I had one room in the middle with four connecting to it. Something about the exact evenness of it all pleased me.

If the entrance was south of the kobold lair and the core was north, I was making the west room into the . With all the nests moved I checked on our statuses to see if I had enough mana to summon foxes and upgrade the room.

>18 / 18 MP

>2 Spirits

>Floor One: 1 Core Room, 1 Entrance Room, 1 Kobold Lair, 2 Simple Rooms.

>1 Kobold [Dungeon Master], 1 [Kobold Trapper]

Hmm, the mana was already back after spending it last night? When I went to check my status I couldn't resist the urge to laugh in glee. My wisdom had risen quickly thanks to my new skills and with my level I now had thirty-six mana and I was getting one mana back every twenty minutes! That was like... a lot of mana a day since the core also recovered at the same rate as me.

And the most important thing was that I could spend just over fifty mana on something. Of course that meant I could easily summon five fox cubs and then immediately upgrade the room to a . As the white light was transferred from my claw the room warped. The wood floor melted then grew into lush green grass as high as my waist, the nests morphed into weird intertwined balls of grass that a cub was just big enough to curl up inside of, and strange enough of all was that the wooden roof broke in several spots to let sunlight come in.

It was a huge change instead of the little one the did. While I waited for my mana to recover enough to upgrade it to a I watched the dumb foxes enjoy their new home and assigned each of them to the room so that if they died they would revive.

Speaking of which my chief minion came back to life. He was sulking in the lair and staring at his dagger. Was it my job to go ask why he was sulking? Mm, I sort of cared because he was mine, right? Yet at the same time I was feeling amazing and didn't want to have him infect me with whatever he was thinking about.

I clacked my fangs and wandered into our lair to see what he was on about. There was still a few hours until I had enough mana and I really wanted to try and train more. The adult fox was a really close call, too close for comfort, and I wanted to be able to at least take a single adult fox by myself. Overly ambitious you say? No, isn't it natural to want to be able to do something all my weak minions could do by myself?

"Hey, lazy minion, get up," I said as I neared him. He was laying on his nest and carving a groove in the floor with his wooden dagger. He didn't even look at me!

I kicked him in the side. "Hey!"

"Why? No enemy," he mumbled and failed to move.

"Why? Me saying it is not enough?"

He glanced up at me and returned to his dagger poking. "No."

That stunned me. I thought all creatures had to listen to what I said, but maybe that was only the dumb ones? Minion wasn't as smart as me but he still had a class. Hmm, if I couldn't command him to stop being lazy how do I do it? What motivates lazy and probably sad minions?

I kicked him in the side. He ignored me so I did it again harder. This time he slapped my foot away with his dagger and hissed at me. "What you want?"

I threw my claws up in the air. "For you to not be lazy or sad or whatever! Lots of things to do and I need my minion."

"Feh, minion," he muttered and rolled onto his back with his limbs spread out. "I bait and snack. Big fox eat one bite."

I pulled at my horns in frustration. "It was just one dumb fox. A big one but it died too. Wait, are you sad you're weak? That you got gobbled up so easy? Kekeke, my minion is a fool, huh?"

He glared at me but the heat in his eyes died quickly. "Not fool. I level but still weak. Dying hurt lots too."

"Kekeke! What a fool minion, so sad," I mocked. It was just too funny to me because I had known that truth since day one. A mere cub almost killed me at the very start but I had came very far since then! Dumb cubs were no match for me now and my new goal is the adult fox. "I'm smart, you know? Minion could always ask me. 'Master, how do I become not weak?' the fool asks."

He sat up and gripped his dagger hard. Oh, was this it? Did I finally get to him enough that he would attack me? Come on, do it and let me show you how weak you really are. Yet that anger died again and he slumped. I kicked him in the chest, held him down with my foot, and glared down at him. "Ask."

He tried to push me off but couldn't do it. "Master, how I be not weak?"

I grinned. "By following me."

He grumbled. "You [Dungeon Master], already follow."

I stepped off his chest and clacked my fangs. "No, dumb lazy minion. Get up and follow me."

When he finally climbed to his feet he followed me to the and was amazed at it like I was. It was definitely a different feeling with the grass both beneath our feet and brushing against our waists. "See these foxes? One nearly killed me on the first day. Now they stand no chance. Minion, how many days old are you? Keke, not many but still beat any of the foxes, right?"

He nodded. "One fox? Easy. Two very tough."

"But you leveled up. Now you're stronger, maybe three foxes just for you. You were very important in the battle and I saw you stab the big fox's eye. It didn't see the pit because of you and died. Right then I thought that this kobold is now my chief minion. When I summon more kobolds he would be their leader."

"But you Master."

"Of dungeon. So stop being lazy and sad because you're stronger and will get stronger. Death? Kekeke, that's very scary for me. For you is just way to get less weak. Fight, level up, maybe die but why care?"

"Not so easy because scary. You smart but..."

"Yes yes, words don't make it less scary or painful. But the big fox gave us a present. After I upgrade this fox room and make more kobolds I'll give it to you," I said.

"Really?"

I kicked him so that he disappeared below the grass. "Yes, it's my job to make everything not weak in my dungeon. I also don't want to be weak and sad like a certain minion. Hmm, soon you won't be the only minion. Maybe give you name."

All laziness and traces of sad vanished from his face as he shot up to his feet. "Name!?"

What would a good name be? Even I didn't have a name but my minions could just call me master. If he was going to be my chief minion, then what about Chief? No, maybe if I made it shorter? Chif? Cef? Maybe all of 'chief minion' then. "Yes, your name will now be Chion!"

His eyes sparkled which was gross so I kicked him again. "Thank you, Master!"

At least he was no longer moping in his nest. I went over to the core that was sitting in the middle of the room and basked in the sunlight. The entrance was the only other room with sunlight so it was nice to enjoy it in a safe room instead of a room that anything could burst through at a moment's notice. Chion appeared to enjoy it as well and chased the fox cubs that hid and ran around the room as time passed.

The original plan was to train while waiting but watching over my creatures like this was pretty nice.

"Finally." My mana had recovered to twenty-seven, just enough to go through the interface and upgrade the room. I was waiting for an amazing change like both room upgrades had been but instead only two things occured. The grass took on a slight red coloring and a huge bundle of sticks and grass shaped like a small hut appeared.

"Grab me one of the cubs," I told Chion. It took him seconds to tackle one of the foxes and haul it over to me. It didn't matter which one was chosen anyway since they were all new summons. I tapped it on its head with my glowing claw and the cub changed with a flash similar to how basically everything was summoned in the dungeon. Sitting in front of us now was the same monstrous adult fox that had attacked us although considerably more friendly.

I checked its status and was impressed by how much it had changed. All of its physical stats had been tripled, although it was still pitifully stupid, and it gained a skill called [Pack Leader] which I was guessing was a charisma skill although I still had no way to check skill information.

Wait, it still doesn't have a class? It was so strong it could tear into me already! I didn't want to use my last remaining spirit point to give it a class no matter how it amazing it would be. I knew that we could gain classes somehow without me having to give them, but using the dungeon's way was far quicker.

"Ah, it not so scary now," said Chion before climbing up on the Matriarch's back. Well, that was all the mana I had waited for and it was worth it to get done. We were soon going to enter the night cycle when the sun went away and I still wasn't sure about my future, future plans. Future plans was to summon more kobolds and figure out what I needed to get a . I still had an empty eastern room and that pesky entrance room to do something with.

It was dawning on me that my plans would never cease. That this was what it meant to be a [Dungeon Master] and I felt that same creeping fear, that longing of wanting to run away, that I felt the first minute I realized I had been chosen. Quit and pass it off to another minion? No, please ask a dumber kobold. The power and control I had, or at least that I would get in the future, would be worth it.

That's what I told myself as I enjoyed the fading sunlight.

——————————————

>Bone Dagger - 10 MP

A crude dagger fashioned from a large fang.

>Bone Sword - 10 MP

A jagged blade carved from a long bone.

>Bone Knife - 10 MP

A short jagged blade carved from bone.

>Wooden Bow - 10 MP

A crude bow carved from a dark red wood and strung with twine.

>Quiver of Bone Arrows - 12 MP

A quiver made of hide that holds ten arrows. Replenished once per delve.

That night, instead of summoning more kobolds, I stared at the weapon list. I had forty mana before I was going to sleep and I knew that a was on the menu. I enjoyed using my claws a lot, like a whole lot, but the temptation of more skills was there if only because skills gave you stats. Chion had gained the [Dagger Techniques] skill after coming back to life and I was figuring it out.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

His class was awful. Maybe it was all the classes I was able to give but each level only gave two of his stats a point. Mine increased every stat! He couldn't use his claws because his strength was still a one while his dexterity was far higher. To learn skills meant that you had to at least be able to handle them. Sure I didn't have much more strength than him when I got my skill but my reasoning was still good.

That meant that I was capable of learning anything, right?

I was thinking it over while also wondering what the difference between a knife and a dagger was. They were both short stabby weapons, or so I had thought. Maybe a dagger was more stabby and a knife was halfway between stabby and slashy? There was no way I was getting a sword and bows sounded hard to use with claws. My claws in particular would cut a string with ease.

Bah, deciding was for kobolds with less mana recovery than I. A pair of good decisions later and I had a bone knife in one claw and the dagger in the other. Yep, as I thought, one was super pointy and the other looked like it could tear with its jagged edges instead of cut.

"Chion, your reward," I said and tossed the dagger to him. He caught it barely by the blade and fumbled until he had the handle in his grip. Egh, he was drooling over it. Was it really that good? "What are you going to do with the wooden one?"

He looked at me questioningly. "Both mine though?"

"Keke, I see. How greedy. Do you want a shield too?"

Chion spat at that. What did shields ever do to you? "Give armor."

Well, calling it armor might be a bit much. We were naked except for our scales so anything could really be armor. I opened the list and wanted to throw the cube-core again. I couldn't buy armor as a full thing apparently as they only came in specific pieces, each for five mana a piece. The reason is so that even dumb weak dungeons could put out full armor sets eventually? Of course I knew that!

I was actually wondering why everything was able to fit a kobold. Did it go off the [Dungeon Master]'s race? It irked me like a little detail I should know but didn't really care all that much about since it worked out for me. Although... giving armor to the Matriarch would be satisfying. A big, nasty armored fox? That idea was almost as good as my traps.

With my remaining mana I got Chion a and . Yes, it definitely worked in weird ways since the cap had holes for his horns to go through comfortably.

"Master, you best!" yelled Chion as he hurriedly put on his armor. I inspected him up and down and was incredibly satisfied with his appearance. He still was pretty ugly but he was a picture of competence with his daggers now hanging on the side of his tunic. It even had little straps to hold them! Core, are you actually smart and are creating things like I envision?

The startled me enough that Chion noticed. I wasn't ever going to get used to that since it was deeply unpleasant. "We have an invader. Go check it out."

Chion fiddled with his tunic. "What if big fox?"

I stood up and readied to kick him. "And if it's a big fox?"

"...I fight." That's what I thought he meant to say. "Go now?"

The urge to kick him was there, at the tip of my toes, but we did have traps in the hallway and nothing in the entrance room. Maybe it would just leave if we waited long enough. "Fine, we wait a little bit."

And we did. I wasn't overconfident in that my defenses were perfect but the sense of urgency wasn't there. Chion and the Matriarch was enough to handle maybe even two adult foxes after they were hurt by the traps although it may be something even stronger than them. No, thinking that way was going to make me nervous.

My scales tingled. Ah why did I think of that? An entire hour had passed and the alert hadn't gone away. "Chion, go and see what it is."

With his time excuse already used up he nodded and left through the door. I locked it behind him in case he was devoured by a monster, for security purposes. To my disappointment he came back uneaten yet the alert wasn't gone.

"Thing there. Trying leave but can't. Small, green," reported Chion. That was... disturbing. It was trying to leave but couldn't? What did that mean? I followed Chion over to the entrance door to peek through and saw what he was talking about.

It was about as tall as us with long ears and green flesh wearing a big brown rag as clothing and had a pointy stick as a spear. Kekeke, the knowledge told me it was a goblin and that it was just as pathetic as a kobold! By looking at its dumb face I could tell it didn't even have a class. What was truly interesting was that it clawed at the barrier that prevented me from leaving the dungeon.

"Why can't it leave? It's an invader," I whispered to Chion.

"Don't know."

I didn't like the fact that invaders couldn't leave. The best fight was the one that didn't involve me after all. Now I had to choose whether to leave it in my entrance or kill it. I didn't think that I would get something from killing it other than being able to summon a goblin, and if I was being honest I really didn't want to summon such ugly creatures. At least the foxes looked nice and there was bound to be a handsome kobold eventually.

"Go fight it, but don't kill it yet."

Chion snuck out into the entrance so quietly it surprised me. Was that his [Light Step] skill? The goblin didn't hear a thing besides its own crying as it tried to escape and couldn't. Right as Chion got behind it ready to pierce its neck with his new dagger the goblin finally reacted. It drew its pointy stick, because really it was not an actual weapon, and attacked Chion.

"Waahh, [Pierce]!"

We were both surprised for but different reasons. The stick moved far quicker than it should've and managed to pierce Chion's tunic and scales and gave him a scratch which made him retreat. Of course he would when something so pathetic looking had managed to injure him with a literal stick!

I rushed out into the room and signaled. "You speak?"

Chion grumbled, "Master?"

The goblin jumped in fright and frantically switched between pointing his stick as me and at Chion. "Who are you? Why can't I leave?

Now that I saw it up close I could see the signs. The way it held itself and that spark in its eyes that told me it had a class. Ah, I underestimated it because of the knowledge I got from the dungeon. Still, it really had an ugly and dumb looking face. I forgave the past me for the misinformation.

"Chion, hold for a moment," I told him before focusing on the goblin. "I'm the [Dungeon Master] here and you've invaded it."

"What? You lie, no dungeon here days ago!" Ah, that was true and sort of put how awesome I was in perspective.

"New dungeon. Kekeke, little goblin, what am I going to do with you? Maybe chop you up and let the dungeon eat you or maybe have a nibble myself? How do goblins taste I wonder?" I was being entirely honest. Fox meat was really good but I had no idea what any other meat tasted like. Hmm, point in favor of killing it.

"No! I don't want to die!" it howled so loud it hurt my ears.

"Shut up or I'll make your tongue go first." It stopped and stared wide-eyed at me. "Hmm, maybe I won't kill you but why shouldn't I?"

"Uh, because I'm good goblin?" It at least wasn't dumb enough to think that would've worked."Oh, oh! I bring you things. Dungeon eats things that not goblin and you let goblin go?"

I pulled out my new knife and stalked toward the goblin. It gulped and backpedaled but was blocked by the barrier. "Well, that's a good idea, but how about this? I let you go and you bring me things. Stones, plants, bugs, even the swamp water. If you do I don't chop you up and eat you. Kekeke, that's such a good idea I'm glad I thought of it."

"B-But—"

I, uh, didn't really know how to work a knife threateningly so I went with the easier approach. My claws wrapped around its throat and I pulled it toward my fangs. "But?"

"Very good idea!"

I threw it to the ground and winced at the foul smell coming from it. Did it just...? Hmm, never had done it myself even though I ate food and berries. Dungeon, why did you make my body work on weird half-rules? "Then it's a deal. Now, how about you go ahead and leave?"

The goblin whined. "Can't, Chief told me it take one day to leave dungeons!"

All these creatures telling me things I really, really should know. Now I was getting an idea of what I should do with the entrance room. "Okay, fine. You stay here and then leave after a day. But in case you thought to run and never come back, maybe I help you a bit? I'm such a generous kobold! Giving you your life and help? Kekeke."

The goblin rubbed its throat and eyed me. "What help?"

I glanced at the stick and Chion snorted when he saw it. You just got your bone dagger and were already gloating? "You see his weapons? Aren't they much better than your stick? If you leave and come back like a 'good goblin' I'll have a weapon for you. You want a dagger or sword? With that stick maybe you want a real spear?"

Ah, I knew that look. It was the face of someone who had dreams. Actually I lied, I had never seen that kind of face before in my life, but I recognized the greed and ambition for what it is since I had the same feelings as well. "Deal. Maybe, maybe dungeon kobold give better spear if I get lots of good stuff?"

I shrugged. "Why not? Come, Chion, let's leave the goblin alone."

"So we not kill it?" asked Chion in a whisper.

"You didn't hear me?" I whispered back.

"Master speak strange gurgles. Same as goblin."

Well now! It all sounded like the same words I normally use, but on second thought when I focused on that conversation I remembered different noises and words that all made sense to me. The knowledge of the language was just... there. Put in my head by the dungeon the same way it gave me the language of kobolds.

I waved Chion to follow and we returned to the lair. "I promised the goblin its life and a spear, wood or bone, if it brought things back to the dungeon. Right now all we have access to is wood, bone and hide things with some magic that my skill got me somehow. Anything that goblin can get, if it doesn't run away and bring its entire tribe back, is worth the mana to buy a cheap weapon."

Chion clapped. "Master very smart!"

It felt like he was insulting me and I resisted the urge to kick him. The reason I always kicked? Obviously because my claws are really sharp and I might actually hurt my minion. I didn't have the hobby of breaking what was mine, unless it was a fox. They knew what they did.

I laid back in my nest and tried to sleep but couldn't. The annoying alert kept my senses on the edge. I had to endure a whole day of this? I clacked my fangs.

It was going to be a long day.