Chapter 7
“Warning too many errors have been detected, please reset your core and contact an administrator.“ Steve has been repeating that phrase for a countless amount of time now. Luckily, after fiddling with my menus I finally found a way to mute him and hide system windows. Well today has been a strange day. We were invaded by a group of adventurers. They all seemed to be some sort of species of giant goblin and that startled me. Thankfully Dak and Glaaki managed to fight them off, and we even won! The giant goblin that lived decided to join up with us as well and he can sing! Sadly we did lose four goblins in the battle. Hugh Man is out of commission right now most likely he's very tired from the process of forming the contract. Sluggo said we can't respawn the fallen goblins as they were not part of the dungeon yet. I'll have to make sure to get everyone else contracted soon. He said I shouldn't care about inferior creatures deaths, but they were still my friends, even if I didn't know their names.
I did a few things while the goblins were cleaning up. I officially made the room that my core is in the core room of the dungeon. The room itself and any upgrades will now move with the core if I relocate it. The other thing I did was build a table and four chairs at the base of my core in the room. I made the furniture itself out of stone to ensure Dak’s weight won't destroy it. Sluggo is the first to return to my core chamber. He has grown to look a bit different over the last day. The goblins head is now mostly replaced by black flesh and tentacles. Sluggo said this means he's fully rooted into the body now and it should increase his power a bit so I suppose that is good. "Master your orders have been given and the others are on their way and will be here shorty." Sluggo says while bowing.
"Okay thanks Sluggo."
“Master, is there anything else you need from me before the others arrive?"
"Yes, actually. Sluggo, what would happen if a dungeon core reset itself?" Sluggo's tentacles stiffen and he gets visibly angry.
"Master, you must never reset your core. Your mind will be purged. You will no longer be you." That confirms my suspicions. I am now certain I can no longer trust Steve. Shortly after recruiting Hugh Man, Steve started freaking out telling me that it should be impossible. He told me to reset my core immediately. Luckily I have been cautious of Steve's advice for awhile now and thought to ask Sluggo first.
"Sluggo, Steve tried to get me to reset my core, luckily I found a way to mute him for now but I won't be able to get any assistance from him anymore. He simply keeps telling me to reset myself to fix my errors. I will need you to step up and act as my assistant if you don't mind. You have been so helpful in the past and I hate to take advantage of you but I really need your help." Sluggo kneels before me.
"Master! Nothing would please me more than to act as your advisor. I shall help you turn your dungeon into a glorious kingdom!" As I thank Sluggo, the others whose presence I had requested begin to enter the room. The first is Glaaki, who gives a formal bow and takes a seat at the table. The next to enter the room is Cook and she gives a thumbs up in my direction before throwing another dead mirror snake on the table. Lastly, after a few moments Dak enters the room and has two goblins take up guard posts near the entrance to the room, before approaching the table.
“Check out Dak! Dak got humie hat now!” Dak motions to the corpse of the elven ranger still mounted on his sword horn. Sluggo is not as amused.
“Dak quit playing around with the masters materials and sit down.” Dak frowns and tosses the corpse onto the ground next to me before taking a seat at the table awkwardly trying to avoid hitting anyone with his sword-horn. Time for me to be authoritative.
"Thank you everyone for coming. We have a few things to go over now that the first adventures have arrived. I'll also hear out any of your concerns and try to fix them" I say to the group.
"No need to thank us we are your tools to use Shiny One." Says Glaaki. Sluggo and Dak both nod in agreement to the sentiment.
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"Maybe not tool but me still want help." Says Cook. I return to my speech.
"Thanks guys for all the help. So our first concern is going to be the uncontracted goblins. I don't want to lose anyone else. Additionally, we are limited on numbers now and Sluggo told me that once the guild that manages the adventures you defeated today notices they are missing, they will send out a search team. It is only a matter of time until we are discovered, so we need to bolster our forces. Glaaki raises his hand, asking for the room.
"Shiny God I may have a solution for that. I believe with the proper evolution I can bring the other goblins into the fold all at once. This won't help with increasing our numbers at the moment, but you should at least be able to respawn the fallen. Sluggo appears to be in agreement, giving his piece.
“You have a few materials you can absorb so we don't need to worry about your mana for now master.”
"What is your idea Glaaki?" I ask.
"Shiny one I am currently designated as a goblin cultist, a fantastic evolution created from your great power.” Glaaki’s grin can be seen just enough under his hood. “If I feed the others a diluted concoction brewed from your observer mushrooms, the others should evolve and so shall I. I have already experimented greatly and have shown others the power of my sermons. I am confident we are ready."
"As long as they can respawn so we don't lose anyone else, I'm satisfied." I say.
"Excellent! Sluggo and I shall get started immediately after the meeting concludes!"Says Glaaki with Sluggo nodding in agreement. Cook speaks up next.
"If Shiny God want help runnin da place then me should probably evolve." She says all of this with a mouth full of mirror snake.
"That goes without saying, we will come up with an evolution after the meeting." I say to her and she returns the gesture with a thumbs up of approval while eating her meal.
"Dak going to need some boys with hard skin. Goblins squish to easily. Gib Dak a couple of boys that don't die so easy. Dak will whip doze boys into good soljaz."
“You should be able to use our fallen goblins as a material for that new monster type. That way we will know they are somewhat intelligent enough to follow orders." Says Sluggo.
“Da boys don't haf to be smart but dey need to follow orders." Says Dak in agreement.
"I will research you some durable fighters as soon as I can. Once they are summoned I'll have them report to you. Does anyone have anything else?" Sluggo has more to say.
“Master make sure to absorb materials slowly so you can use the mana from them efficiently."
"I agree. I need to make sure I don't waste any mana going forward and we will need as much as possible for what I need to do next. I think we need to finish the first floor and build a second floor. I also have come to a decision on everyone's position. We will use this council from now on when I have questions if you all don't mind. Dak is now officially in charge of military affairs and security. Cook will be in charge of resource acquisition and Glaaki is in charge of religious affairs. Sluggo will of course be my personal assistant and if anyone needs anything please reach out to him. And finally, I am going to turn the first floor into a town. It will be a no combat zone. If we can teach these intruders we are peaceful then we won't have to lose anyone ever again." This was difficult, this whole time I’ve been trying to hold back my emotions. The loss of the four goblins is still weighing on me. “Of course anything beyond the first floor will be fair game and it will be back to kill on sight." Dak and Glaaki both look momentarily confused but then compose themselves quickly.
"Whatever the Shiny God wishes shall be done." Says Glaaki.
"Okay Shiny God but if humies want fight we fight." Says Dak. I give them my final piece in an attempt to reassure them.
"I know you two are concerned, but look at it as a way to gather resources. We can trade with adventurers and gather mana that way.”
With the meeting finished, Cook stays behind with the core to work on an evolution. Glaaki and Dak leave the core room together. As they enter back into the goblin village Glaaki turns to Dak. "The shiny god is smart. We act peaceful and bide our time until we are stronger while luring them in. Then we can kill the heretics." Glaaki is cackling.
"Oh! That what Shiny God thinking. Glaaki you smart gobbo to figure out da plan!" Dak laughs and slaps Glaaki on the back nearly knocking him over.
"Let us get back to work, we have a lot to prepare for." Dak gives a firm nod in agreement as the two part ways, passing by a half dozen goblins who are now dragging the corpses of the adventurers and their fallen kin into the core room.