Chapter 7: Unexpected Encounter
After taking everything into account, Chase had finally decided to create his very first [Dungeon Boss]. Managing too many [Lurkers] was becoming harder by each passing moment. Even though he could oversee the entire dungeon, overseeing each and every creature was an arduous task.
[It’s a waste to use the [Demonic Teddy] as the boss of the first floor. I could use such a high ranking [Lurker] for the succeeding floors later on. I need to look at the bigger picture. Besides, it does not seem compatible with my current [Lurkers].]
Chase had made up his mind.
[I have decided. I choose [Reaper Wolf] and [Canine of the Night].]
[Reaper Wolf] and [Canine of the Night] has amalgamated!
His dungeon core glowed a crimson hue. Series of yellow marks kept spiraling at the spherical stone as Chase noticed his miasma being sucked away by each passing moment. After a few more seconds that seemed like eternity, the crimson hue vanished, along with it came the appearance of a tentacle-like substance from the core.
The tentacles amalgamated with each other and formed one large block of what seemed to be raw flesh. From the large block of flesh, four legs erupted. Raw and naked, three heads came out of the flesh-bulked material. The three sets of eyes were still closed as three tails formed at its back.
Opening its eyes, the three-headed creature announced its birth with a deafening roar. The entire first floor shook as the apparition of the dungeon’s first ever [Boss] came imposing. Flexing its now silver fur-filled head and body, it stretched out its sharp claws. White-silver threads of drool were formed as it opened its three jaws wide after a snarl.
A [Boss] type [Lurker] has been created!
[Silver Cerberus] has been created!
[Sweet~]
Chase was pleased as he watched the birth of his first [Boss] [Lurker]. Gazing at the silver-furred creature that spanned four meters, Chase spoke to it.
[How do you feel?]
Chase tried to converse with the [Boss] of the first floor. The creature shook its fur as its tails flailed about.
Master…I am feeling very good right now…this overflowing strength...
Chase inwardly grinned.
[Do you want to hunt?]
Yes—Master.
[Very well. First, let me check your status.]
Silver CerberusLevel:15Pulse0%Health:2000Mana:400A [Boss] monster created by [Marcus Dungeon] after amalgamating a [Reaper Wolf] and a [Canine of the Night]. Due to the inherent compatibility of the two [Lurkers], three levels has been added. The default level of both [Canine of the Night] and [Reaper Wolf] has been set to [Level 7]. Due to the inherent compatibility of the two [Lurkers], two additional skills has been added.SkillsBlinkMana: 5/meterAllows [Silver Cerberus] to instantly close the gap between it and its prey.MultiplyMana: 200Allows [Silver Cerberus] to split itself into three independent bodies. Each body has a penalty of 20% decrease in level. Skills retained varies per instance.MorphMana: 100Allows [Silver Cerberus] to morph into a humanoid form. Health decreases by 10% in its humanoid form. The skill [Multiply] is disabled in humanoid form.Voracious AppetitePassiveAllows [Silver Cerberus] to restore the lost health and miasma when outside the dungeon by devouring a prey. Amount of restored miasma varies per creature.
Due to your further understanding of miasma, it now possible to view the duration time of a [Lurker] outside [Marcus Dungeon].
As if the dungeon was not content with such a great [Boss] monster, a new panel stating that it was now possible to view the duration time of [Lurkers] outside had appeared. Chase could not describe the euphoria he was experiencing.
[Oh~! 150 minutes!]
Chase viewed the duration time of the [Silver Cerberus] and was stunned when he saw the numerical value. He had never expected that such a [Boss] monster would be created from such creatures. It was more than what he could have hoped for.
Due to the nature of the created [Boss] type [Lurker], a level 5 nest has been created.
A Reaper Wolf Nest has been created!
Reaper Wolf NestNumber of Species Available:4Level5A [Nest] created by [Marcus Dungeon]. It serves as a spawn point of [Reaper Wolf]. 48 miasma is consumed per creation. Amount of miasma consumed varies per level of creation. Level of creation varies per level. The level of spawn was now set to a default [Level 7].
The newly acquired [Nest] made him drool on his non-existent mouth. Glancing to his newly created [Boss], he uttered.
[Hunt. But make sure to comeback before the miasma inside your body dwindles.]
The [Silver Cerberus] bowed its three heads towards the core and spoke.
As you command, Master.
****
It had been a week since Chase had created the [Boss] of the first floor.
During that time, he had acquired a total of 6903 miasma. At the same time, his biological increased to a total of 1597, wherein more than half of it was composed of insects. Chase Marcus used most of the acquired miasma to further expand the first floor.
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The former 900 meters dungeon floor was transformed into 3 kilometers one. He expanded it so much that the former layout was a far cry compared to the new one. The former 12 rooms were expanded to 27. The smaller ones were around 40x25 meters while the larger ones encompassed 60-130 meters. He also created [Nests] for all of his [Lurkers] save the [Demonic Teddy]. The miasma required for a [Nest] for the creature was astronomical.
[Perfect~ the last dungeon layout is so mediocre. It should not even be called a dungeon. With this, I should have some sort of reassurance.]
Chase positioned the [Dungeon Lurkers] as follows:
[tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr][tr]
Dungeon Lurkers[Dungeon Lurkers]TerritoryNestNumberNeedle AntRoom 2,3,5,7Room 5,7352Crunchy CentipedeRoom 12,11Room 11135Voracious MosquitoRoom 6,4,8,9,10Room 10403Fortune RatRoom 25,24,23,21,19,18Room 25293Nightmare RabbitRoom 13,19Room 13224Canine of the NightRoom 16,17,18Room 16,1898Lusty SteedRoom 18, 15Room 1824Viper of DemiseRoom 26, 27Room 264Reaper WolfRoom 24,21,22,23Room 2462Demonic TeddyRoom 27None1Silver CerberusRoom 27Room 271
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(Author’s note: Whew. Count it if you want, the area, number of lurkers, etc. It’s exact. Haha. I hope this new map makes up for the subpar map creation of mine in the previous chapter.)
Chase was affectionately gazing at his new dungeon body when multiple notices suddenly popped up inside his head.
[tr]
A [Canine of the Night] has died!
A [Canine of the Night] has died!
A [Canine of the Night] has died!
As if the ominous message was not enough, another series of notifications popped up.
A [Reaper Wolf] has died!
A [Reaper Wolf] has died!
[What the?! What’s happening outside?!]
Chase was unable to see the events that were happening outside since he did not enclosed one of the hunter with his will. Filled with ominous premonition, he forced his will into one of the [Reaper Wolves]. He was intent on finding out the source of his hunters’ sudden deaths.
[Follow me.]
Chase ushered for two [Canines] to follow behind him. Their party of three was going scout the surrounding areas. Somehow, Chase knew what he would most likely encounter in just a few more moments. Though the time limit for his level 7 body was now 35 minutes, the sense of foreboding kept pricking at his mind.
Chase traversed the same scenery from before. The root-blanketed ground greeted his party after he passed through the sea of overgrown weeds. He kept running. The former soothing air was now filled with the scent of blood. It was subtle, but it was definitely the smell of blood.
~Halt
He halted. His silver-black eyes widened as he saw the appearance of seven people. Five were male and two were female. The number was not the one that made him stop in his tracks and stare in shock—it was the crest embossed on their shoulders. A shield embraced by twin snakes, there was no doubt about it—it was the mark of Lorelei guild.
[Lorelei guild! What the hell are they doing in this secluded place?!!]
Chase was frozen solid. After a few moments, his eyes met one of the members of the guild. The man’s eyes slightly curved downwards as a smile formed on his pale lips, forming wrinkles on his sunken cheeks.
“Look. Another one of those beasts.” The man licked his lower lips as he pointed his left hand towards Chase’s direction. Chase shivered.
[Damn it! This is too soon!]
Chase tried to sense the miasma in the air—he felt no presence of [Lurkers] save the two that was beside him. It seemed that all of the [Lurkers] outside his dungeon had been decimated.
[No wonder…if it’s the Lorelei guild. My guys would have been child’s play for them. Damn it!]
“It seems that Rei Mountain is becoming a bit dangerous? We went here to gather Auromicum ores and what do we found? Monsters.” A woman with blonde hair cut till her shoulder spoke. Taking out a handkerchief, she then covered her mouth and added. “Gross.”
“Now, now. Wouldn’t they be at least good enough as exercise?” A man with red wavy hair nonchalantly stated. Tilting his head, he flexed the fingers on his hand. He then pointed towards two of his subordinates. “This is an order—kill them.”
“As you wish.”
“Of course.”
Two of the males in the party walked towards Chase. Taking out their swords from the exquisite scabbard, they then dashed towards the still [Lurkers]. Without a doubt, they were intent on killing Chase’s group.
[You—run towards the top of Rei mountains. Run for as long as possible.]
Chase ushered the [Canine] on his left to flee towards Rei Mountain. The mutt obediently did so.
“Hey? Do you think we’ll let you go?” One of the men spoke. As he was about to chase after the fleeing [Canine], a wolf suddenly blocked his way.
~Grrrrr
Chase growled at the man before him. He knew that he could not hope to defeat all of the members of the Lorelei guild. After all, the weakest of the members are usually at least rank C in prowess. It was something that was currently too much for him to handle.
[They would most likely catch up to that [Canine] soon. At least, I made it go the opposite way from my lair. Even during the worst case scenario wherein they realized that a dungeon has emerged in Rei Mountain, it would at least take them a little bit more time to find my exact location.]
Chase felt the miasma from the [Canine] that fled to be quite some distance away. As expected, one of the members of Lorelei guild chased after it.
[Good. Keep running. Make them think that you’re going back to your lair. Make them think that the lair is located at Rei Mountain itself.]
Chase grinned. Though the humans perceived it as snarl, still, he was pleased by his idea. Readying himself for battle, he ordered for his only companion to attack. He wanted to gauge the power of the members of Lorelei guild.
[Go.]
The [Canine] dashed forward. With its level of 7, it was a tad bit faster than before. With rabid eyes, it charged head-first without care for its life.
~CUT
With almost fluid motion, one of the two males split the mutt’s body cleanly in half.The greenish innards of the [Canine] splattered on the ground, creating a subtle ~shack sound.
[That man must be around hmm…C rank? This is absurd. Too soon. Too soon.]
Chase steeled his mind for the upcoming battle. He had no intention of dying like the one before him.
[This body…I’ll make sure I get a glimpse of their fighting capabilities before it perish.]
Chase had made up his mind. Using the skill [Thunder Dash] of his [Reaper Wolf]’s body, he charged forward.
~SHWAASH
Chase breezed by the two guys that was ordered to confront them.
[The leader...The leader's strength will speak of the entire group.]
Chase Marcus targeted the red-haired man beyond the two. Using [Thunder Dash] at its fullest, he moved past the rest of the surprised subordinates.
“What the?! “
Everyone was surprised. The [Reaper Wolves] that they have encountered before had never shown such quick and fluid movement. It was like it was a totally different species.
Chase opened his jaws wide as he activated his skill [Tearing Bite]. He was now in front of the man who seemed to be the leader.
[This is too easy. Something’s wrong.]
~Split
Chase felt a pricking sensation that soon transformed into an excruciating one. Quickly glancing towards his right, he saw the blonde woman from before unsheathe her sword as his body fell down the ground. His [Wolf] head rolled down the forest ground. s
With his body turning into nothing but dust, he glanced towards the red-haired man. Surprisingly, its eyes glimmered with interest as it gazed down Chase’s decapitated body. The last words that it uttered made Chase’s non-existent body shiver.
“This is no normal monster. The way it turned to dust—” He said as he gazed at the body that was slowly turning to dust.
“There must be a dungeon around here.”