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In hindsight, they might have gotten a bit too enthusiastic with their new hornet level. It was nearly entirely composed of blood hornet hives, and that was a bit… excessive , yes. But it made more or less sense if you realized the thought behind it all.
The level (thus far) was just pretty small, but rather dense. It was also taking full advantage of their recently discovered concept of multi-levelled levels.
Anyone entering the Level would find themselves facing the corridor splitting in two, which quite quickly converged again into a Level Change (not Floor Guardian) room, which was very large and largely empty.
But the funny part of that place was that they made the ceiling be very high (about twenty meters tall, to be exact) and put three separate hives in the rooms adjacent to it, connected with it far above the ground.
Look, if someone wants their honey, they gotta earn it.
They also made one fairly narrow but extremely tall corridor cutting through the Level in the middle of it, with six more [Blood Hornet Hives]. Only two of them - the ones in the middle - were actually on the floor level.
The remaining four were pretty hard to reach and were located at the far edges of that perpendicular corridor. They also made sure to make the main corridors be pretty wide in order to allow the hornets to swarm the adventurers more efficiently.
All of that has made the whole level absolutely crawl with the Blood Hornets. Which looked like hornets, if someone made them to be about one meter long, and replaced yellow parts with crimson red ones.
Their buzzing was somehow evil.
Izuku doesn’t know it’s possible to make a buzzing sound be evil , but somehow Occasa succeeded in this incredible task. Truly, a feat worthy of a High God.
They’ve made about fifty of those move all around the level, with the plan of slowly expanding the number (but that’s how much mana they had right now) just as they expand the level.
They are absolutely creepy.
You think they also have a girl version somewhere
Yes, but I refuse to think about it.
…
same
The hives, though, were a bit of a disappointment. Nothing was there, at least at the start. Yes, the place could automatically respawn some of the blood hornets that were killed, but that was all.
No honey, and no wax. Nothing at all, really.
I think they have to actually eat things and deposit them in their hive for it to show up, as otherwise, it’d be just spawning the stuff directly from the system but with extra steps
Makes sense.
We should still consider spawning Satou-kun to let him work with the local flavors asap, though
I’m curious about said flavors, yes
but I think that defense takes precedence considering the current situation
and the potential battle that might soon occur pretty close to us
Fine.
We should still drop some meat to this level, to see if the hornets will start to properly make the stuff.
Alright, that’s fair.
…
Wait, do we actually have enough meat?
I…
No?
Wait a moment.
WAIT A MOMENT.
Have we ever tried to assimilate any of the forest animals? Like a deer? Or did we just have them butchered and eaten? Before assimilating some leftover stuff like their bones?
…
You’re an idiot.
I just saw Himiko having fun while hunting creatures and never really gave that any more thought.
Also, you didn’t have that idea either.
So what, you’re still an idiot.
Ugh.
Anyway, yes, that was a stupid oversight, although in our defense, there just didn’t seem to be any point in populating the restricted area of the Dungeon with, say, deers.
We’ll try it very quickly, Himiko should be going hunting soon either way.
Alright.
***
And yes, it works. Just as they suspected, it worked.
As a result of the brief hunting trip they’ve managed to obtain both a [Deer] and a [Rabbit], both of which belonged to a completely new category called the [Wildlife]. Rabbit had a measly ETL of 0.2, while deer managed to be scored with 0.6.
What’s even more important, they’ve obtained the [Butcher’s Workshop], which was another room designation (after [Necromancer’s Laboratory], [Library] and [Metalworks]) that didn’t change a lot if you excluded the fact that you had all the appropriate furniture pieces available from a single menu.
For now, it didn’t mean that much. They didn’t have that many unlocks. But once they’d be having tens of thousands of minor furniture pieces from numerous cultures out there? Yes. Then they’d be thanking whoever designed that particular part of the menu.
Sweet.
So we can just spawn deer under our rooftop, and then have them killed, thus obtaining a lot of meat that we can then use to feed the Gore Munchers and the Blood Hornets
It seems so to me.
We’re gonna need a qualified butcher to work there full-time, eventually. Part-time, now.
At least if we want to leave the choice bits for ourselves.
Especially if we want the blood hornet to produce their goods on a reasonable timescale.
Don’t have me start on feeding the Gore Munchers and maybe even the Cynocephalii.
And I think that if we feed them properly, they’ll be able to fight harder.
probably
We might get someone to work this for us sooner or later, but in the meantime, have you considered asking the amazon girl
She looks like the hunter type, and she should be able to do stuff like that, right?
Do you want to be the one to tell her that she’s supposed to do menial work instead of fighting?
She can do both
Work in the butcher’s workshop, but leave the level in question to repel attackers and during the raids
Well, we can try asking, that’s for sure.
***
Ay’zira agreed, on the condition that this was going to be temporary. As while she was alright with that, she wanted to fight , not to work . And that was something that Uraraka was fully supportive of.
They’ve expanded the lowest level of the Dungeon by adding the [Butcher’s Workshop] then, which involved all the stuff that they needed for efficient dismantling of corpses. With none of the creepy stuff that was happening in the [Warlock’s Laboratory] next door.
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They could then easily spawn animals inside and have them quickly dismantled, of course unless you were dumb enough to get kicked or charged by a deer, which would likely cause some interesting event to occur in their Dungeon.
If you were into chasing fleeing animals through the corridors of the Dungeon. None of them were.
Why couldn’t they just create meat itself? It was weird. They could create leather, but not meat. They also couldn’t create plants themselves, even if they could let them grow on their own. Why? They have no idea.
It really feels somewhat arbitrary.
Arbitrariness aside, that has solved another issue with their Dungeon’s operations. Great. They were slowly getting better and better. What next?
They were all just waiting for the Beastkin to come back and tell them what to do. In fact, it was so bad that Izuku was genuinely worried that they wouldn’t believe them and that would be… disappointing .
If we put a new Level between the boulder trap and the living area one, we should be able to put the [Rose Guard Barracks] there.
I know
You really want the horny brigade to be here
I want additional warriors, because there might be a fight out there soon, so we should be prepared.
Riiight.
Alright then, so fine, we should get it done and be done with it.
I genuinely think that forcing us to design their barracks piece of furniture after piece of furniture is Procacitas indulging in some mental torture kink on us and other Dungeon Lords
Couldn’t it be completely automated, like the Hives for example are?!
I
That’s definitely possible, and I hate it.
Anyway, let’s just wait for the Dungeon to recharge, place that Level and be done with it.
We’ll get to ten full levels that way! Isn’t that cool?
Yes, yes it would be.
***
They don’t get to create the new level of their Dungeon that day, as unfortunately (or fortunately) that’s where the beastkin arrive.
Elder Anaya practically storms into the Dungeon, flanked by Uzar and five more decently-equipped beastkin. All of them are wolf-morphs like Uzar, looking like they mean business.
Uh-oh.
The look on elder Anaya’s face made it clear that she was absolutely livid . Or at least very emotional .
“Dungeon Lord, I do not know if you’re hearing me, but we need to talk.” Anaya announces as the entire group stops in the middle of the corridor that formed the main axis of the First Level. She must have realized that the place changed a lot and didn’t want to head in blindly.
Go on and try to be a bit less childish than usual, remember that you were supposed to grow up as a person as the Dungeon did.
Oh, for fuck’s sake, stop being a complete asshole.
To you? Never.
***
Some time later Tomura climbs from Second to First Level and walks down the corridor to meet the beastkin.
“Dungeon Lord.” Anaya is respectable enough to bow her head a little. “I apologize for the urgency, but we’re here in response to your letter.”
So the letter did reach them. Looks like Keran’s trustworthy as a messenger. They had nothing to say about his speed, though, as they had no idea how far the nearest beastkin settlement was from the Dungeon.
“Good.” Tomura grumbles back. “Those people are annoying and I want them gone.”
He was truly the best person to act the manchild. Izuku’s decision to use him as the official face of the Dungeon was a truly inspired one. He was natural at it!
Literally.
“We wanted to clarify a few things before proceeding to removing those… intruders from your valley.” Anaya replies. Tomura stares at her without blinking, giving her that unsettling dead fish stare. “Are you willing to answer some questions from us?”
“Go on.” Tomura replies shortly.
“In your letter you’ve mentioned finding an entrance to the mine coming from Labyrinth up and reaching the surface.” Elder immediately moves over to asking the questions. “Are you completely certain of that?”
“You think I lied to you?” Tomura hisses at her. For a second Izuku was worried that he forgot what he was supposed to do, but no. It was a calculated moment of anger. “The mine is right there. They tried to use explosives to deepen the tunnel and breached the surface. The entire entrance to the mine is a crack in the ground, with the elevator on the top level going only down . What else could it be?”
“Please, do not misunderstand.” Elder Anaya decides to play nice. Izuku can only wonder how much they all complain about having to deal with Tomura the moment they’re out of the Dungeon. “I am not accusing you of lying to me. However, I had to use a lot of favors and bribery to have a significant amount of our warriors committed into this valley. I’ve trusted your warriors, but if you misunderstood something, I might lose my position in the tribe. Which I’d prefer to avoid.”
Elder Anaya was definitely banking on the Dungeon. How many people in her tribe did even see the Dungeon? No one expected it to exist in such a place, and it was reasonable to doubt its existence.
However, Anaya knew for certain that there really was a Dungeon. And that it could offer them some long-term benefits. And so, she was ready to take some risks, or even act against the will of the tribe (to some degree).
It was very likely that everything that they’ve got from the beastkin as a gift was delivered by Anaya rather than her tribe.
If they really happened to find an access route to the Labyrinth, and if that was as valuable as everyone in the Dungeon suspected, it might mean that elder Anaya was going to receive the return on her investments much earlier, and have them be several times higher than she could expect.
“You won’t.” Tomura decides to take a step back from his fake moment of outrage. “It’s there. We got some stuff from it. Including some desiccated corpses of stone elves. Those live only in the Labyrinth, right?”
They clearly did. Izuku could say that from the looks on the faces of the beastkin. Even elder Anaya looks suddenly… calmer, and yet even more excited than she was earlier.
“You can sometimes find some of them living on the surface, but it’s very rare.” Anaya replies, clearly relaxing a bit. “Not just an iron mine with high quality iron ore but also an access to the Labyrinth. Incredible.”
The last word made it clear that she meant it. That it really was as valuable as they suspected.
“You still have to secure them first.” Tomura decides to ruin her mood. Classic Shigaraki. “And it's occupied right now. The Ecstasy forces have already begun to leave it to explore the area. We had a fight with them a few days ago.”
“Rose Guard and Gore Munchers, from what you mentioned.” Anaya replies. “Anything else? How many?”
“A lot of the Cynocephali, but we’ve cut down their numbers by something like eighty or eighty-five.” Tomura replies. “No idea how many of the others. We’ve killed and assimilated six Gore Munchers, too. And as for the Rose Guard, the answer’s ‘probably a lot’.” He tilts his head a little, scratching the side of his head while staring at the beastkin. “The patrol we encountered had ten of them. The main force is probably much larger.”
“It definitely is.” Anaya agrees with him. “If they’re sending so many on a simple patrol, they might have a few hundred soldiers in total. Thankfully, that’s exactly how many warriors of my tribe are waiting about a day away from here.”
A few hund… Oh, yeah.
Anaya was definitely taking a giant gamble with this entire situation. But Izuku was definitely going to remember her willingness to raise a few hundred warriors merely because the Dungeon said that they’re needed.
Both as the promise for future cooperation and an unspoken threat for what would happen if they managed to annoy her.
“Great.” Tomura manages not to say anything, but Izuku knows what he’s thinking. He’s imagining how many unlocks the battle between those two forces was going to bring. And for once, Izuku not only understood his thoughts but also agreed with them. “But we have to decide on a few things first.”
“Let me guess, you want to talk about what we do after the battle?” Anaya asks. She clearly expected that from the start.
Then again, as Izuku was spending more and more time as a Dungeon Lord, the more he understood why the Dungeons were clearly some sort of compulsive hoarders. They sometimes felt almost designed to be compulsive hoarders, really.
“Yes, but not just that.” Tomura replies, clearly surprising Anaya a bit. “There are two elven burial sites in the valley. I want neither of them disturbed as their inhabitants have sworn themselves to me in exchange for protection. This is non-negotiable.”
Anaya stares at him in clear surprise for a few seconds, before managing to speak.
“There were elven burial sites here?” She asks, clearly still surprised by Tomura’s words and not actually expecting an answer. “Very well then. We’re not planning to overstay our welcome in the valley either way. However, there is a subject that I have to bring up right now. It’s the ownership of the mine.”
Of course she wanted to talk about it. Izuku and Tomura expected it to happen. In fact, they’d find it heavily suspicious if Anaya didn’t want to have that talk with them.
“It’s not far from here.” Tomura decides to pretend in hopes of earning something from the Beastkin. Probably. “I was promised everything within the three days of walking from my Domain.”
“You were.” Anaya replies while nodding. “However, the situation has become a bit more complicated. I assume that you’re not interested in renegotiating our deal, right?”
“Right.” Tomura replies dryly.
“If we do secure the mine, are you interested in lending it to us?” The elder then replies with a question. Oh, so that’s how she decided to play it out. “We’d exploit it by ourselves while also keeping it well-defended for you. Yes, it’d mean a somewhat greater presence of my tribe in the valley, but we’d stick to the places that you’ve allowed us to visit. Dungeon, the mine and the route between it and the nearest settlement of our tribe.”
Tomura squints at her. Making her immediately decide to add something more to the deal.
“We’ll allow your servants a free passage through the mine into the Labyrinth.” She adds. “Naturally, we’d also explore it on our own, and with the deal between us and you still in effect, you could expect some additional tribute from that mine.”
I think that’s all that we can get from it.
Don’t push too far, it’s all that we wanted either way.
“Very well.” To Izuku’s surprise, Tomura actually plays along. Huh. “I agree. The mine will be ours, but you’re free to operate it in any capacity that you want. How are you planning to deal with the Ecstasy forces?”
Yeah. Good point. They were sharing the spoils of an enemy that was still out there. Having likely fortified their mine even further.
But it had to be done.
“We’ll simply march towards the entrance in question.” The elder replies. “ Slowly. If they decide to face us on the surface, they’ll have the time they need to leave the mine, allowing us to not have to deal with pitched close-quarters battle underground.”
“And if they don’t?” Tomura asks.
“Then we’ll set camp outside of the crevice, preventing them from leaving.” The elder replies calmly. “And then we’ll start dumping flammable liquid through the crevice before setting it aflame and blocking the crevice so that the smoke will choke everyone underground or at least force them to move away from the entrance into the mine. Contrary to how it looks, a mine is far from a defensible location.”
…
That’s… a bit extreme.
But definitely very practical.
“They probably know that.” Tomura decides to remind Izuku that for all his faults, he wasn’t stupid. Lacked a lot of knowledge on many subjects, but he wasn’t stupid. “And you’re planning to approach the mine slowly to give them time to realize you’re there and exit the mine to fight you.”
“That would be the plan, yes.” The elder replies. If she’s surprised by Tomura’s words, she doesn't show it on her face or in her voice. “However, the question I have for you is whether you wish to participate in the battle.”
“Let me guess.” Tomura tilts his head a bit, giving the elder that unsettling stare that seemed to be his specialty. “You hope to clash with them in the part of the valley in front of the Dungeon, so that we can suddenly unleash our own forces at the enemy’s flank.”
“That would be ideal.” The elder replies. This time she did glance at Tomura with a somewhat weird look on her face. “Even if it won’t work, a wave of weak spirits can be helpful if timed correctly. The real question is how much you could provide us.”
Tell her.
Cynocephali, Gore Munchers, maybe the Rose Guards. Add that some of our servants might be interested in joining the battle.
I’m not denying Ochako a chance to take part of a real battle.
“I currently possess sixty-nine Cynocephali, six Gore Munchers, nine Rose Guards although I’m yet to actually spawn them and a few servants that should be alright with joining your ranks for the battle, if it’s possible.” Tomura replies. “There’s also an Amazon and a Hamadryad, but dunno if the latter will want to take part in it.”
None of them missed Uzar and Anaya exchanging glances before the latter spoke again.
“That’s… more than I actually expected.” She admits. Tomura manages to look smug at the compliment. “How many levels do you have right now?”
“Nine.” Tomura replies shortly. “I’m going to have ten by tomorrow.”
“That’s extremely quick for a Dungeon.” Anaya replies, giving him a somewhat surprised look. “Do you know what your maximum size is?”
“Does a child of your tribe know how tall they’ll be when they grow up?” Tomura replies, frowning. “Don’t know and I don’t care until it becomes important. Get to the point and answer.”
“The answer is yes.” Anaya replies, clearly dropping that dangerous subject.. “Your servants are free to participate in the battle as well. As for the rest, that depends on how the situation develops. Is there anything that you want from us in exchange for that help?”
“A test of my Domain.” Tomura replies, to Izuku’s genuine surprise. What was he talking about? “A group of you, with some actual combat skills, going down. Just a quick dash through it, no need to waste time. Might be past the limit of open levels.” He scratches the side of his neck. “I need to get a reading on how good my defenses are.”
Oh. That was actually a good idea. And one that Tomura had. What a surprise.
“This… this can be arranged.” Anaya decides a few seconds later. “But I’ll have to contact the camp beforehand.”