Over the past fourteen days, just under a week and a half, Fia had been hard at work, preparing. Fourteen days ago, she got her [Loot Room] and set up her first traps. The ettercaps had been busy since then, almost doubling her real estate value. One stone pile had turned into four, five more rooms of identical size to the loot room had been dug out, along with some more twisting hallways and a new, smaller, pentagonal room.
It would be very nice if she could actually make use of all this new space. Unfortunately, she still hadn’t gotten around the very big issue of being unable to move her core. Nothing she tried worked. Moving it herself, getting a monster to move it, trying to move it with inanimate objects, nothing. It was as if anchored to reality itself, unmoving and unwavering from that very spot in the cave. Not to mention the fact that she was completely blind in those dark depths. Fia had long since run completely out of torches, save for a single one that she is keeping for loot purposes.
In that time, Fia had also pushed up the number of monsters she had in the dungeon. Ten ettercaps, five smiths, and twenty web weavers, though the number of bone spiders in the graveyard had stayed the same. She had also gained another room in her Dungeon Status, though it wasn’t one of the fancy adaptive rooms. [The Webbed Halls] seemed to be the name for the twisting hallways and empty rooms she had dug out, excluding the loot room. It felt kind of useless having that area named, though she supposed it made it easier for her to think about that area, instead of mentally referring to it as “the tunnels dug out in the back of the cave” or some such. Naturally, Fia had half of her [Web Weavers] working on covering every inch of floor, wall, ceiling, and some in between with many, many spider webs.
One of the more interesting discoveries she had made in this time was the fact that she gained experience from other sources than combat.
Ding! Congratulations! For expanding your dungeon territory, you have gained 500 experience points in the [Dungeon Master] class.
Ding! Congratulations! Sufficient experience gained for you to reach level 9 in the [Dungeon Master] class. +20 Health +15 Stamina, +50 Mana, +1 STR, +2 CON, +1 DEX, +3 AGI, +5 SEN, +5 INT, +2 WIS, +4 WIL, +0 CHA, +1 SOU
She had been surprised when it happened, but she supposed it made sense. It was rarer for combat classes, but crafter classes very commonly gained experience from doing things related to the class. A [Blacksmith] would gain experience for smithing a sword, for example. Being a [Dungeon Master] wasn’t just about killing things in your dungeon. It was also about expanding your dungeon.
In Fia’s past life, she had gained extra experience for doing bandit stuff like highway robbery, though she hadn’t actually been one for long. Still, she didn’t know why it hadn’t occurred to her until now that there were other avenues for gaining experience. She’d have to push the limits of her class more and quit being so damn conservative with her resources. That was what had prompted her to more than double the amount of monsters under her control, though it did feel like a waste since most of them were idle most of the time. She was level 9 in her Dungeon Master class, maybe passive experience would push her past the boundary to level 10?
She doubted it. Who knows how long she’d have to wait for that, how much territory she’d have to expand to. Plus, would she even actually get experience for making more empty hallways and rooms? Maybe she could make a maze.
As Fia ruminated over this, something changed in the dungeon. Her spider minions seemed to go on alert, and acted as if agitated. She felt it, too. Vibrations in her webs. She had ordered the weavers to connect the webs in the cave to the ones covering the floor and draping the trees for tens of strides outside of the cave, hoping it would act as a sort of early warning system, though she wasn’t sure how well it would work.
Immediately, Fia sprung into action, hiding in the shadows and ordering her monster minions around, quietly. She only had to wait a couple of seconds before five people, with five accompanying notifications, crossed into the cave mouth, pushing aside the curtains acting as a makeshift door.
Warning! An intruder has entered your dungeon territory!
…
Warning! An intruder has entered your dungeon territory!
“F-tier, no Theme and no Affinity.” The only elf among them said. She didn’t [Identify] him, but she was able to tell he was the highest level of them, though he didn’t carry himself like he was ready for combat. The four humans accompanying the high-leveled-elf, on the other hand, were geared out in armor and weapons. They were lower leveled than the elf, but certainly higher than her level.
She was so screwed.
Could she even take them? The elf was probably around level 100, and the four humans were probably around level 30, she guessed. Much, much higher than her measly level 12, but she wasn’t fighting them alone.
Fia was basically a [Summoner] or maybe closer to a [Captain], [Commander], or [General]? Either way, her personal strength wasn’t what mattered in the fights to come, but the combined strength of the forces under her command. Her skiths, of which she had five, were each level 30. Her ettercaps, all ten of them, were each level 50. Ten level 50’s would win against a single level 100, right? She didn’t know, she’d never really engaged in Awakened combat before, and as a level 7 [Bandit], she might as well have just been un-Awakened.
The elf also wasn’t a combat-classer. It was clear. He wore robes, so maybe he was a mage, but he carried no staff, wand, or spellbook that she could see. Of course mages could cast spells without any of those. [Sorcerers] like herself were a prime example. Though Fia’s own spells didn’t require any material components, nor did they require a focus, and it was possible the elf was some sort of mage build that specifically went for spells that could be cast without a focus or materials?
No, the biggest give-away was his backpack. The four humans had no luggage, probably leaving it at a camp somewhere. The elf had a backpack, which was very strange. Even a mage wouldn’t go into combat with something encumbering them like that. Especially a mage.
…She thought.
As the seconds passed by and the group bickered, Fia strategized in the dark. Maybe she should set the ettercaps on the lower-leveled combat-classers, and have a couple of skiths test the elf? She would obviously leave behind at least half of the skiths and ettercaps to protect the core. Not to mention the fact that the core was covered in [Web Weavers].
“Spiders. It just had to be fucking spiders.” One of the humans, an [Archer] by the looks of the bow in her hand, complained. Well fuck you too, Fia thought. She wasn’t exactly fond of adventurers showing up in her home.
Then the elf pointed at her dungeon core and immediately called it out.
That definitely set her on edge, as if she wasn’t already.
“I know we aren’t supposed to break the core, but after seeing all of these spiders, I vote that we kill everything and destroy the core. Let a different dungeon spawn.” The [Archer] once again spoke. This time, Fia felt a mix of emotions. A shiver traveled up her human-half’s spine, but in her head rage built up and her ears rang.
She didn’t choose this.
She didn’t ask for this.
She didn’t even want any of this.
But she wasn’t going to lie down and take it.
She’d kill them, if that’s what it took. Use them, when she could. But if they planned on exterminating her like a pest, she wouldn’t let it stand. Fuck these humans, and fuck the whole world, she’d take them all on. She’d make deals with demons, trade favors with liches, and march an army out of her dungeon when she got powerful enough, if it made them leave her the fuck alone!
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Without even realizing it, Fia had built up mana in her hand, coalescing the darkness around her into a claw. [Cloying Darkness] shot out and grabbed the face of the [Archer], digging its spectral fingers into her eyes and gouging rotten skin off of her face.
And just like that, the entire dungeon erupted into chaos.
One of the skiths that she had planned to attack the elf dropped from the ceiling and landed on the archer, stabbing its razor sharp pointed legs into the sides of her torso and constricting her with its tail. Another human tried prying the skith off of her, but had to back away when a second skith dropped from the ceiling, barely missing the human.
The ettercaps near her immediately sprang into action and began swiping at the darkness, sparks flying and slashes appearing on their leathery skin. Fia hadn’t even realized one of the humans had gotten so close to her, and backed up in surprise, before three of the ettercaps each stabbed their claws into the [Rogue], one of them pulling an arm off of the human, splattering blood across the webs. Drops hung suspended in the air as another spurt of blood prevented the [Rogue] from even getting a dying scream in as his throat was torn out.
At least he got a dying gurgle.
A light lit up near the entrance of the cave, drawing Fia’s attention, and her blood ran cold as she saw a fireball fly through the air and strike her core, covered by a mass of [Web Weavers].
Notice! A [Web Weaver] under your control has died!
Notice! A [Web Weaver] under your control has died!
Notice! A [Web Weaver] under your control has died!
Notice! A [Web Weaver] under your control has died!
Notice! A [Web Weaver] under your control has died!
Notice! A [Web Weaver] under your control has died!
Notice! A [Web Weaver] under your control has died!
Notice! A [Web Weaver] under your control has died!
Notice! A [Web Weaver] under your control has died!
Notice! A [Web Weaver] under your control has died!
Warning! Your core has taken 213.9 Fire damage!
Her core went up in a blaze as the [Web Weavers] covering it immediately curled up and dropped dead. All ten web weavers, every last one in the cave, was on that core, and none survived the fireball. The core, fortunately, survived this attack, but it wouldn’t survive a second.
[Dungeon Status] Name: Unnamed Dungeon Master: Fia Rush Theme: None
Core Vitals:
- Health: 59.3 / 273.2
- Mana: 502.84
Floors:
- [1: The Cave]: 5x [Skith], 10x [Web Weaver], 5x [Bone Spider], 10x [Ettercap]
Rooms:
- [1: The Cave]: 4x [Skith], 8x [Ettercap]
- [1: Spider Graveyard]: 5x [Bone Spider]
- [1: Loot Room]: 1x [Skith], 1x [Ettercap]
- [1: The Webbed Halls]: 10x [Web Weaver], 2x [Ettercap]
With the death of the rogue and her core being in mortal danger, Fia gave up on guarding her own body and sent all of the ettercaps into the main room. Then all of the weavers from The Webbed Halls began flooding out. She sent every last damn monster in her dungeon to the core room, throwing every resource she had, as she began hurling spells at the humans. She noticed that the elf had tried to escape, before tripping and being pounced on by the second skith that had fallen from the ceiling at the start, but she paid him little mind. If he escaped, her core was in less immediate danger. Her main concern right now was the mage, though the archer and warrior also needed to be dealt with.
After another minute, everything was still. Well, the cave walls and ceiling were on fire, but that was besides the point. Fia was surprised by how quickly combat ended. The humans could not last against several ettercaps each, and each hit was dangerous as hell. There was nothing they could do.
Fia wanted to lay down. She wanted to rest. To cry. To… She didn’t know. From start to finish, the entire encounter lasted only a couple of minutes, but she felt like she had run a marathon while attempting to study a mage’s spellbook. Her mind was buzzing from a low-mana headache and her lungs were burning from smoke.
Fia ordered the skiths and ettercaps to take care of the flames, separate webs, and generally get the fire under control. They weren’t weak to fire, but they weren’t resistant either. It was fine, she’d summon more if she had to.
Sitting down, Fia sighed and looked towards her core. It didn’t appear damaged in the slightest. No cracks, chips, nothing, though it was covered in a fine layer of ash and soot. She desperately, desperately, needed to do something about that.
And her prayers were answered when she finally checked her notifications.
Ding! Congratulations! A monster under your control has defeated a level 31 [Archer]! You have gained 619 experience points in the [Sorcerer] class. You have gained 1,238 experience points in the [Dungeon Master] class.
Ding! Congratulations! A monster under your control has defeated a level 39 [Rogue]! You have gained 2,612 experience points in the [Dungeon Master] class.
Ding! Congratulations! You have defeated a level 30 [Mage]! You have gained 600 experience points in the [Sorcerer] class. You have gained 1,200 experience points in the [Dungeon Master] class.
Ding! Congratulations! A monster under your control has defeated a level 32 [Warrior]! You have gained 1,912 experience points in the [Dungeon Master] class.
Ding! Congratulations! Sufficient experience gained for you to reach level 10 in the [Dungeon Master] class. +20 Health +15 Stamina, +50 Mana, +1 STR, +2 CON, +1 DEX, +3 AGI, +5 SEN, +5 INT, +2 WIS, +4 WIL, +0 CHA, +1 SOU
…
Ding! Congratulations! Sufficient experience gained for you to reach level 4 in the [Sorcerer] class. +30 Health +5 Stamina, +25 Mana, +0 STR, +3 CON, +2 DEX, +1 AGI, +1 SEN, +2 INT, +3 WIS, +4 WIL, +4 CHA, +5 SOU
Ding! Congratulations! Sufficient experience gained for you to reach level 14 in the [Dungeon Master] class. +20 Health +15 Stamina, +50 Mana, +1 STR, +2 CON, +1 DEX, +3 AGI, +5 SEN, +5 INT, +2 WIS, +4 WIL, +0 CHA, +1 SOU
Ding! Congratulations! For reaching level 10 in the [Dungeon Master] class, you have been offered the [Core Relocation] class Skill. Would you like to accept?
Ding! Congratulations! For reaching level 10 in the [Dungeon Master] class, you have been offered a new monster for [Spawn Monster]. Would you like to accept?