Red took a deep breath, more than aware that he had no lungs in the mana projection he was using to understand three-dimensional space. That did not stop him as he raised up a faceted finger and pressed the ‘purchase all’ button on the storage request. He felt a strange feeling in his gut, as if he had eaten the metal hinges on the door when they disappeared from reality. That would have to be explored later, as it was time for an army of bugs to go to war against undeath itself.

New Intruder detected! Swamp Ghoul - Crazed!

The door fell forward as the beast bashed its body against it, the sentinel of wood having stood still when the hinges had disappeared. The creature fell forward and Red felt like he was going to be sick at the sight of it. A gaunt pale figure, skin almost papery white was laying on his door. Blood stained in a sloppy mess around its mouth and hands from where it had greedily enjoyed previous meals. What little clothes the creature had barely hid the emaciated form as it struggled to get onto all fours. Though he snapped himself out of his stupor as it screamed, that horrible high pitched noise dropped the temperature of the room well below the comfy level the core had created. It had seen Addison.

“Charge!” Red roared at the crawdads that all swarmed the edges of the door before beginning to pinch at the ghoul’s hands and legs. The creature let out a growling hiss as its papery flesh was torn open by the sharp pinchers of the crawdads, the little mudbugs fighting against this immense enemy. “Aerial support!” Red ordered before Lotus came in with a shock of electricity against the Ghoul’s back, the magic making it convulse and shake as dead muscles were forced to react. Though that didn’t seem to stop it, a clawed hand pushed forward onto the ground as it began to crawl towards Addison. It didn’t even seem to be registering the attacks when its goal was in sight.

Addison was a pleading mess, praying for whatever god that would listen to protect her from this horrible fate. The second fairy swooped down between the limbs of the ghoul, waving its hands at the door that was below it. Green magic flowed from the fairy’s outstretched palms, the wood of the tree suddenly springing to life as it began to grow and root the ghoul in place. The beast's knees, feet, and one of its hands were firmly locked onto the wood. That seemed to be enough to register the defending army. It swatted a fist down, smashing one of the crawdads in a single blow. The remains of the creature pressed into the mud as its brethren continued to fight in its honor.

Red was watching this unfold, trying to think of what to do as he realized that they weren’t doing enough damage to the creature. It would destroy all of his forces before he would be able to actually end its life. He racked his brain, trying to think of what to do from countless zombie movies that he had watched during his human life. That was when his eyes went wide, realizing just what he was doing wrong. He turned towards Lotus, the fairy having just released another gout of electricity, making the ghoul convulse harder as it began to swat at the flying pests around it.

“Lotus! Grab a crawdad! Put it on this thing's neck!” He commanded firmly, the fairy floating up out of the ghoul’s reach before giving a firm nod. The blue fairy dive bombed towards a crawdad and wrapped her arms around it. She seemed to struggle for a moment to lift the crustacean that was almost as big as herself. Though with effort, she managed to bring it up and drop it onto the twitching back of the ghoul.

“You! Your name is Snips!” Red shouted firmly at the crawdad that was on the ghoul’s back, watching it raise its claws before the golden dust enveloped it. The change was different between creatures it seemed, as the crawdad now named Snips did not grow in size, but rather gained metallic claws in place of chitin. “Glad that worked. Alright! Snips! Attack the base of the skull! Burrow into the fucking thing if you have to!” Red roared before the pointed legs of snips danced across the ghoul’s back. The bladed claws sunk into the top of the ghoul’s neck, right where the spine would meet the skull. It began to claw and snip violently at the parchment-like flesh of the undead, congealed blood gushing down the back and shoulders of the creature. It let out a ghostly howl at the damage, ice beginning to form around the stagnant pools of water in the hut.

“You can do it, Snips! Everyone! Keep up the assault! Don’t let this thing focus on Snips!” He ordered, Lotus shocking the thing’s hand and causing burns to form across the flesh. That was enough to keep its attention for a second longer while the named crawdad did the task it was made for. The bladed claws sank into the flesh deeper and deeper, before they finally made enough room around the cylindrical goal. The ghoul suddenly stopped its movement, shuddering and trying to look back at the thing that was now gripping onto one of its vertebrae. That was its final mistake, the motion giving enough room for one of the claws to sink into the intervertebral disc. A sickening pop was heard as the cushion between bones was popped like a balloon. Spinal fluid coated the crawdad’s claws as the bladed tools snipped through all the neural pathways of the ghoul. The body went limp, the head making horrid noises as it remained the only active part of the body.

Red frowned before waved at the crawdad army, now only eight in number after Snips was promoted and their brother had fallen. “Finish it.” He said firmly before looking away, the crawdads swarming over the head. Red didn’t want to see it, instead directing the fairies to make sure that the little girl under his bed wasn’t looking either. He waited until the ghoul’s mana was collected before he finally gave a sigh of relief.

Large Intruder defeated! Please select one of the following options for the remains:

Store in inventory

Leave to rot

Convert to Mana

Disassemble and store in inventory

He frowned at the options, having not realized that the flies had just sort of… faded away over time. He pressed the option to convert it into Mana, knowing full well he didn’t want to see whatever it was that the mudbugs had done to its head. Though apparently it had managed to bite one of them in half during the remaining struggle, meaning he was down to seven ordinary crawdads. That wasn’t too much of a loss, especially considering the massive amount of mana he had just absorbed from both killing the ghoul and absorbing it.

Before he checked in on Addison, he fixed the door with its hinges properly in place. He made sure to have the door locked once he was certain that his little slice of peace was protected from whatever hell existed outside his four wooden walls. “You can come out now. You should be safe here.” Red said softly, wishing that he could actually convey feelings with the little boxes. Though after the girl read it, she seemed to believe him as she crawled out, more mud staining her pretty dress from her time under the mattress. She looked around cautiously, her eyes still red and puffy from crying and her throat no doubt hoarse from the screaming, pleading, and praying that she had been doing.

She slowly stood and Red looked closely at her. “Character sheet.” He asked the air softly, glad to see that a box didn’t appear in front of Addison. He just wanted to take a cursory look at the girl and make sure that she was alright. At the very least he could get some info on the world at large and where she came from.

Warning! Guest is not affiliated with the dungeon! Information limited!

Character Sheet

Name: Addison Cloudwatch Von Zinglemeyer

Age: 10

Height: 4’2

HP: 4/8

Stamina: 1/9

MP: 6/6

History: [Restricted]

Family: [Restricted]

Special: [Restricted]

Skills: [Restricted]

Religion: [Restricted]

Personality: [Restricted]

Likes: [Restricted]

Dislikes: [Restricted]

Race: Half-blood (Angelic)

Equipment: Silver-weave dress (Soiled), Blessed Boots (Soiled), Undergarments [Unspecified for Modesty]

Description: Silver hair, violet eyes, Caucasian, multiple scratches across her body from running unprotected in the wilderness from a crazed Ghoul.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Red couldn’t help but blink in shock at the heavily restricted information that was laid out in front of him. With some thought on it, he did realize that any other information could be used by a dungeon to play unfairly against someone. So he decided not to dwell on the information, and instead just focus on the girl. She sat down on his mattress, frowning slightly at the mold and decay but not saying anything about it. It was clear that she at least had some manners. Then again, she probably was also trying not to sound ungrateful to her savior.

“Thank you for saving me, I thought that ghoul was going to kill me.” She said softly as she gently laced her fingers between her hands, the cuts and bruises obvious as she sat there. She was just a little girl, and no doubt a good girl if she was part angel. Red sat down next to her on the bed, putting a hand on her shoulder before it simply passed through. He would have to get used to the feeling of being a ghost, even if that wasn’t exactly right. “It’s no problem, you needed help and I wanted to help. Do you have some way of going home?” He asked softly as he looked at her, watching the box appear. As she read it, he realized just how lucky he had that the girl actually knew how to read. He didn’t know much about this world, but it seemed like it was still before standardized schooling. The thought was washed away as the girl sniffled, tears down her cheeks again.

“I don’t know. All I heard was… was them screaming while I ran.” She whimpered as she grabbed the pillow and buried her face in the ratty thing. The fairies quickly swooped in, sitting on the small jawbreaker sized core so that she wouldn’t see it. It was also so that Lotus could zap any flies that happened to buzz close to her. Though the girl was much too busy crying into the decrepit old piece of fabric that was once considered a pillow.

“Hey, it’s alright. How about you stay here until someone comes to find you? That way I can keep you safe.” He said with a smile, the pop-up appearing but not acknowledged because of her covered face. He frowned as he watched the screen sit in the air, patiently waiting to be acknowledged before it could disappear. Slowly but surely, Addison lowered the pillow and looked at the box. A few more tired sniffles came from her as she read, seeming to get a worried look on her face. “A-are you sure I can stay here? Dungeons aren’t supposed to protect people.” She muttered as she looked at the box, acting like that was his face.

Alert! Addison Cloudwatch Von Zinglemeyer has requested [Protection] within the dungeon!

Accept?

Deny?

“What the hell does that mean? Can I please get some info on this?” Red asked the system with a frown as he tried to hurry along the process. As much as he wanted to offer this status, he also needed to understand what he was getting himself into. He gave a small sigh of relief as a new pop-up appeared and began to describe what exactly [Protection] meant for a dungeon.

Description: A sentient being requests to stay within a dungeon for the sake of their own protection. This means that the creature will be considered as part of the dungeon, but exempt from having to perform any tasks required by the dungeon. The dungeon will provide magically created food, shelter, and entertainment for the protected individual. In exchange, the majority of the individual’s daily mana production will be paid towards the dungeon. The amount of mana will be automatically calculated by the system based on multiple factors.

“…Does this make me a slumlord now?”

He didn’t have much time to think about it before pressing the button to accept her as a member of his dungeon. She was now a protected individual, no longer having to worry about defending herself from the dangers of an evil swamp. A red glitter, much like the golden evolution dust, appeared all around Addison before a red square appeared on the back of her hand. It was pretty clear that this was meant to symbolize his protection over her. He needed to work on a better symbol, since a red square was far too simplistic for him.

“I-is this a yes?” She asked nervously touching over the mark on the back of her hand as she tried to understand what exactly it meant. She could feel that there was no ink or dye to this, as if the skin on her hand had always been this crimson color. Though it didn’t feel foreboding, but more… like a pleasant warmth was surrounding her.

“It indeed is a yes. You can stay here as long as you like. I’ll make sure that you are as safe as can be here.” He said with a smile as he looked at her, the box appearing along with her name above her head. Though under her name was a blue colored [Protected] under it. It seemed that the system was going to keep him aware of any unique statuses within his dungeon. Though if someone could ask to be protected, did that mean someone could also ask to become part of the dungeon proper?

He was about to go into that line of thought more before Addison spoke up again, facing the door with a blush on her cheeks. “I-I am so sorry for being rude! I am Addison Cloudwatch Von Zinglemeyer, and thank you for allowing me into your home.” She said as she grabbed the edges of her dirty dress, giving a firm curtsy as she showed her manners. He wondered if she was a nobleman’s daughter, it would explain her intelligence and manners.

“It is an honor to meet you, Addison Cloudwatch Von Zinglemeyer. I am the dungeon, Red.” He said with grandiosity in his voice as he did a spin of the wrist while bowing in front of her. Though he blinked, realizing that he had not actually stood in front of the bed… just appeared where he wanted to be. The box appeared and this time it was in a gothic font to show the proper noble greeting that he was giving. He gave a small chuckle as he looked at her, though frowned as a new symbol appeared next to her name.

The symbol of a haunch of meat appeared on her name, looking like the symbol for hunger in most video games. The girl seemed to waver where she was standing, having been giggling at his gothic box. She sat down into the chair, holding her stomach and seeming to be rather pained by something. “Red… Do you have anything that I can eat? I am really hungry.” She muttered, the positivity she seemingly had having disappeared with the empty stomach making itself known. Red was about to answer before he felt a pull from his substantial mana reserve. Suddenly with a slight clatter, a bowl of warm stew with potatoes, beef, carrot, and spices appeared on the table. Next to it was a tall drink of water along with some crackers and a spoon. The entire meal had appeared from the ether, but Red recognized it within a moment.

“Eat up, this meal is good for when you’re not feeling the best. It’ll fill you up and help you rest.” He said, the box appearing as the small half-breed took up the spoon and gave it a testing try. She beamed with joy, clearly having never tasted a soup made with such love and care before. She began to eat it heartily, dunking crackers as she washed the food down with the crystal clean water. Red didn’t say anything as he watched her, letting the crawdads and fairies go about their business in the room clearing away flies.

He didn’t mean to stare, but hoped that the subject of the staring would mean there would be no ill-will if his invisible ghostly projection was somehow noticed. He was staring at the bowl of stew, wondering how he had managed to create the exact recipe that his mother had always made. She would make it for him whenever he had a bad day, since it helped warm the body and soothe the soul. The system had to have used that memory to create it, a perfect dish for the situation.

While he was stuck contemplating that, he found that the girl was already done and yawning as the hunger symbol changed to a trio of the letter Z next to her name. “Why don’t you get some sleep, Addison? I will make sure nothing happens to you.” Red said softly as he looked around the room, considering a few things and wondering what his next course of action could be. He knew that as a dungeon he would need to expand, especially with how generous the system was from absorbing that ghoul. He wondered if all evil things gave especially good mana, which would encourage dungeons to do good.

“I think that’s a good idea. Thank you, Red.” She said with a yawn as she got into the thing that could barely be called a bed. He would be fixing that once she was asleep, needing to take this place from slum to high-end for the sake of making sure that she wasn’t going to get sick. The number one rule of making sure that a child survived in a medieval world was to make sure that they didn’t get sick.

He rolled his shoulders as he thought about what to do to make this place better. As he opened up the menu to start shopping around for upgrades, a new window appeared over it.

Threshold for Expansion met!

Upgrade: Awareness around Dungeon - 50 Mana

or

Expand: Expand Dungeon by [1 Room] - 20 Mana 1 hour

Red considered the options for a long moment, wondering which would be the best for him and his new charge. If he expanded, then he would have a whole extra room to dedicate protection for Addison, while her bedroom and his core would be in the second room. On the other hand, if he upgraded his awareness, he could easily see the threats coming. He held out his hands and mentally weighed the two options, thinking about it for a long moment before giving out an exasperated sigh.

“Just because you see a boulder coming doesn’t mean you can stop it. Though if you have the means to stop the boulder, it doesn’t necessarily matter how soon you see it.” He said to himself before selecting the expand option, the button depressing in the field before another box appeared with an error message.

Error! No labor unit found!

Please select unit for position of [Labor Minion]

The system asked this before giving him a list option that showed all seven of his remaining crawdads and the unnamed fairy. It seemed that the system required a minion that would do the physical work of making new rooms and hallways for his dungeon. For a second he wondered why his repairs hadn’t required the labor minion, but as his eyes shifted to the right of the list, he realized why. It took fifteen mana to be able to assign a creature into being a labor minion, which most likely meant any construction work that was less than fifteen didn’t require such a creature.

“Well… I can either select one of the crawdads or my little plant fairy.” He muttered before the glowing green ball of light floated over to him. She looked about the same as Lotus, but with her skin green and her hair more of a blue color. She seemed to be making the motions of shyly walking up to him while flying. It was incredible that their wings were able to move in such a contained way that it almost looked like she was levitating on invisible boxes.

“What? Are you wanting to become a worker? It might change you a lot.” He offered as he looked at the fairy who met his eyes. She seemed a little more calm than her sister, and it was clear that she was more bashful as well. She seemed to think about it for a long moment, looking at the ground before giving a gentle nod. She seemed pretty confident about it, or as much as she was willing to show on her sleeve. He decided not to resist, since she had voluntarily offered herself up as tribute to the change.

“Alright. Stand on the desk so that way if you fall over, there won’t be a chance of you hitting your head.” He asked as he waved her over to the table, letting her sit down on the edge and dangle her feet. He looked at her before poking the button labeled ‘Fairy - Plant’ on the menu. She began to glow brightly, without the golden sparkles that the names had induced. The mana poured from him just as it did with every purchase, encasing her in a small cocoon. He watched as the magic began to harden from a cherry color to dried blood. For a long moment he wondered if this was a good idea. That thought was compounded as he realized that the orb was starting to crack and shake with light pouring out of it.

At least he didn’t have to walk a few miles to get this egg to hatch, small miracles.