The group of beastkin that arrived in the Dungeon was led by Elder Anaya and Uzar, who were accompanied by a group of tribal rookies (five wolf warriors, two cat rogues and a fox shaman) that were carrying gifts for the Dungeon.
Huh.
You think that subspecies define societal role among the beastkin?
Wolf = Warriors, Cats = Rogue, Foxes = Shamans etc.?
Yes.
Maybe? We won’t know until we ask or we see some arguments to the contrary.
Kinda icky.
To some degree
Fair.
Those subspecies are so divergent in their natural capacity for various roles that it does to some degree explain such a thing.
At least gender was no issue, as not only was the whole group led by a woman, they were both men and women among the rookies. The numbers were definitely skewed in one direction or another (males among warriors, women among the rogues), but not clear cut.
In fact, women seemed to outnumber men among the group’s leadership, as there was a catwoman in her late 20s/early 30s accompanying Anaya and Uzar. Judging from her equipment (leather armor with shoulderpads, gauntlets and what looked like a pair of leather thigh-highs(?)), she definitely wasn’t a rookie.
An armor design that Izuku was ready to describe as somewhat ‘weird’, then again he is a former hero student. He spent months surrounded by combatants wearing outfits that were a fashion statement more than a genuine protection, he isn’t one to judge.
“The Dungeon seems to have developed greatly in our absence.” Elder Anaya says the moment she walks inside the Dungeon accompanied by the remaining two veterans. The rookies were yet to get inside to be counted. “The amount of mana flowing out of it has easily doubled.”
“How many levels?” Uzar asks shortly.
“Five, maybe six.” The Elder replies. “A respectable rate of development, while still far too small for the mages from the south to pick it up. The real question, though, is how much it managed to scavenge from the surrounding area and how it arranged what it obtained. And, of course, whether it has already manifested a Dungeon Lord.”
“And whether it’s possible for us to communicate with it.” The unnamed catwoman comments dryly from the side, earning herself some sharp glances. “We’ll be the ones to scout the Dungeon, I assume?”
“Yes, Yla.” The Elder sighs. She didn’t seem to be particularly fond of the catwoman. “That’s the plan. Just the three of us. Keran!” The foxman shaman leading the rookie group that entered the Dungeon right after Anaya stands at attention. “Bring the things inside, then wait here. Don’t move from the entrance area until we’re back. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Elder!” Keran replies quickly. “We’ll do as you say.”
***
The first thing the trio inspects is, of course, the entrance section. The guest room raises some eyebrows as it was apparently unexpected. Which made sense in hindsight - why would a Dungeon that should be sapient cater to intruders? Still, the beastkin quickly got over it, and the rookies moved in to wait for the Elder to come back.
And then, there were the shrines.
“My, oh my.” Anaya says as Uzar - who was the one to open the doors - steps to the side to let her see the insides of the Shrine of Saevius. “I heard that shrines and temples to the gods constructed in a Dungeon are something else, but this goes beyond all my expectations.”
“I should probably offer Saevius a sacrifice during this trip.” Uzar adds a comment of his own, his eyes on the statue. “Impressive.”
“Good luck finding anything worth being offered in this place.” Yla comments from behind them. “And don't forget that there are two more rooms in this corridor. Really makes you wonder, eh?”
The elder and Uzar exchange looks. They clearly realized that Yla had a point, but neither of them felt like admitting that aloud.
***
“Shrine of Luna?” The Elder says, staring at the altar and the figure behind it with wide eyes. “How did that happen?”
“Do you think that there’s another group that’s courting the Dungeon?” Uzar asks her. Once again, he was the one who opened the door. Warriors probably had that in their job description.
I guess ‘courting’ is a somewhat better way of calling that activity than ‘grooming’.
Because that’s what they’re doing.
Groom us as we’re growing to be adults so that we’d depend on them for more goods and get all they want from us in exchange.
That’s… extreme
but not exactly wrong
Just somewhat incorrect considering what we are
Yeah. I forgot that you’re an authority on grooming minors.
… don’t put it like this.
If anything, I’m an authority on being groomed as a minor
So you realized?
Yes.
And by now I genuinely hate All for One
For killing Mon-chan and grooming me to be the person that would be useful in his plans and to hurt All Might more
And for killing my family too, I guess
I’m happy about your character development.
Have you stopped hating All Might while at it?
No
Well, we have a lot of time to work on that.
No
“This entire region was abandoned for decades now.” Anaya replies, turning her head to face Uzar. “We wouldn’t be here if Ekana didn’t try to cross it and didn’t accidentally stumble upon a newborn Dungeon. It’s possible that someone else had a similar coincidence bring them here. And who knows who could be around.”
“A Covenant cult?” Uzar asks the Elder. They were having that talk while completely ignoring Yla’s presence among them.
“Maybe.” Elder shrugs. “I wanted to say that a Covenant cult would cover their tracks better, but it’s possible that the Dungeon isn’t developed enough to understand the idea of not showing something to outsiders. On the other hand, the guest room…”
“I think that it’s time to check the third door.” Yla decides to interrupt the Elder. Did she have a death wish? “Before having that talk. We might learn something important about the subject.”
“Good point.” Uzar replies. The tone of his voice makes it clear that he didn’t like having to agree with her.
***
“Occasa?!” Uzar lets out, staring at the altar with his eyes wide open and mouth slightly agape. “Where? How? When?”
Yla said nothing, but the angry frown on her face as she looked at the altar from behind him reeked of personal history with that particular goddess.
“Servants of the Mother of Locusts like to breed in the dark corners of the world where there’s no one to keep their population as close to zero as possible.” Anaya replies. The look that she was giving the altar was that of simple disgust. “There might be an active cult skulking around this region. Though I doubt that they’d try to get friendly with a Dungeon, even if some of their cults can be pretty flexible with their theology.”
“Then maybe it wasn’t the cultists that met the Dungeon but the other way around.” Yla says, the hostility dripping off her tongue. “Are we going to destroy this shrine? It’s disgusting and an insult to us simply by existing. And I believe that offering parts of it to the Hierarch of Conquest might make the Blood God favor us.”
Ha
Blood God
Khorne reference
Your girlfriend is now officially a Khornate berserker
Are they cool?
Well… yes? Kinda?
Then I can agree with you.
Because she’s cool.
STOP SIMPING FOR HER
For as long as I live, I’ll be simping for Ochako and you can’t stop me.
AAAAAAAAARGH
“No, no!” Yla’s proposal wakes Elder up quite well. “It doesn’t know how hated Occasa’s brood is among us, whatever insult there is was definitely unintentional. And if we destroy its property like this, it’ll make it harder for us to garner their favor.”
“We should demand the Lord of this place to destroy that Shrine.” Yla refuses to back down and glares at the Elder. Truly, she must have had a death wish. Or some potent backing. “To have a shrine of Occasa here is…”
“... their decision.” Anaya shoots her down. “Whether we like it or not, they’re an independent individual.”
“And?” Yla squints at her. “Then make it a deal rather than demand.”
“You still don’t understand.” Anaya shakes her head, with a look of disappointment on her face. “The Dungeon Lord is merely a soul and will of a much larger being - namely, the Dungeon. We’re inside their body, Yla. You wanting it to remove the shrine of Occasa isn’t the equivalent of you wanting someone to move their wardrobe to another place in their bedroom. It’s the equivalent of you wanting someone to remove their liver because it annoys you. Doing so will ruin our chances of striking a deal with the Dungeon Lord.”
“So what, are we going to let it do whatever it wants?” Yla asks, staring at Anaya with her eyes opened a bit wider than before.
“We’re going to let it do whatever it wants within its Domain .” The Elder corrects her. There is the briefest hint of annoyance in her eyes, Yla clearly taking a step too far. “The land outside the entrance is up to negotiation. You might have been sent here as an observer, but unless the council of elders decides to have it any other way, I am in charge of dealing with this place and you’re supposed to follow my orders. Don’t forget it.”
Oh, so that’s why she and Yla are on such bad terms.
Yeah, she’s pretty much an inspector sent because other elders don’t trust this one.
I’d be pissed off as well.
Yla presses her lips together and says nothing, doing her best to ignore the glare that Uzar was giving her from the side. Someone definitely enjoyed seeing Yla being put back in her place.
***
The main reason why the elementals weren’t a disappointment was because with their ETL being what it was, they didn’t have a lot of expectations for them to begin with. And correctly so, because they sucked. Big time.
Izuku’s old classmates at Aldera would have walked through them with little trouble, it was that bad.
Their main mode of attack was floating around and firing small projectiles made out of their element. This was about as underwhelming as it sounded.
The [Lesser Water Elemental] had the firepower roughly comparable to a squirt gun, the [Lesser Earth Elemental] threw lumps of dirt at things, the [Lesser Air Elemental] ‘attacked’ with gusts of wind that seemed comparable in intensity to an electric fan, and the [Lesser Fire Elemental]... well, it was the closest thing to actually being able to damage people, but even that only if their target just happened to be soaked in gasoline.
In short, it was terrible.
Absolutely terrible.
What a fucking joke
Not really.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
They’re just very environment dependent.
What?
Sigh.
Mustard was your teammate, have you already forgotten about him?
Oooh.
With the right placement, those could push not simple air in the direction of the enemy, but a more… spicy one
Yes.
So we could creatively use them for chemical warfare.
Like, have them throw a cloud of pure carbon dioxide into the faces of organic enemies.
Or… maybe we could ask Yaoyorozu-san if she can make us some tear gas?
Boooring.
But we won’t kill people.
Yes and that’s why it’s boring
And yet, Izuku couldn’t help but feel as if they were missing something with the elementals. Was there some sort of a trick to them? Or were they creatures that were an utility more than an active combatant, like the astral slimes and shards?
He can definitely imagine some [Lesser Air Elementals] working as a permanent fan, transferring air through some ventilation shafts and so on.
***
“I think that we’ve finished dealing with the First Level.” The Elder announces about thirty minutes later. “I’ve made a full map of this place, and we’ve found the Floor Guardian Room. Other than that, it’s just Elemental Overflows.”
“That doesn’t feel very useful.” Yla decides to be herself.
“Because it’s not.” Anaya replies as Uzar shakes his head in the background. She sounds annoyed by having to explain basic things. “At least until the Dungeon figures out how to turn the elementals into golems. We’re going down to the Second Level. Time to see what awaits us down there.”
Golems?
Golems?
Ha, first
Sigh.
How do you think it works?
We’d have to ask Yaoyorozu if she has any ideas.
Wow, you’re ready to rely on her for knowledge?
Look
I learned to delegate, okay?
And depend on others if needed.
I’m developing as a person
That should usually happen before you become an adult, but I guess that as a manchild you still have room to grow at that age.
You’re truly doing your best to make me want to yeet you out of the Dungeon Core as often as possible to be with your girlfriend
That’s merely a bonus
Yaoyorozu-san, I have a question for you.
“Yes?” She replies immediately. She was in the Node Room on the 4th Level - together with the rest of their servants - which is where they planned to fight the invaders once they’d hopefully be weakened by the traps and creatures on the floors above.
Fat chance for Uzar or Anaya to be even slightly tired by those, though. And Yla probably wasn’t weak either. Still, maybe it would get them somewhere.
We just overheard the invaders commenting on how we haven’t yet figured out how to turn elementals into golems.
Any ideas on how to progress with that?
“Hmmm.” Yaoyorozu spends a few moments thinking it over, Shigaraki busy monitoring the invaders descending to the 2nd Level of the Dungeon and letting Izuku make that talk. “The difference between the elementals and how I’d imagine a golem to look reminds me of how daemons can manifest spiritually and physically. Have you tried making the elementals possess something? I don’t know how much sense it makes from your perspective, though.”
Hmmm…
Good question.
They aren’t sentient, they’re more like… bits of our energy made to float around and acting per their element.
Something like the astral slime and shards, I guess.
I think we can order them around just by wanting them to do something.
I’ll try it right now! Give me a moment.
The 6th Level is far from the visitors and the lockdown on Dungeon mechanics that they forced on the whole Level that they were on. Nothing stops Izuku from quickly creating a big pile of dirt and an earth elemental right next to it.
He just had to ask Shigaraki for his permission. And then suggest earth elemental to move inside the pile and make themselves a new body.
About thirty seconds later he gets to witness a roughly humanoid - but much larger - pile of dirt shamble around the level. Ah, yes. Earth Golem. Looks like there was something about the elementals that they were missing out.
It worked, Yaoyorozu-san. Thank you!
Shigaraki, it worked. [Earth Elementals] can be made to create [Earth Golems].
I don’t think that they can be spawned independently, they’re just a form of an [Earth Elemental].
Huh.
You think that we can put an [Earth Elemental] in a giant pile of, say, iron? To create an [Iron Golem]?
…
We’ll have to try and find out, right?
That’s the spirit, ha!
***
Second Level greets the beastkin with spiders. A lot of giant spiders. And no, Izuku still didn’t like looking at them. They were creepy. And, worst of all, they reminded him of Occasa and that made him want to punch Shigaraki in the face.
Again.
He still remembers that punch right after he manifested as a Dungeon Lord for the first time. That was sooo satisfying.
“Well…” Uzar says loudly as he uses his sword to instantly slice a [Spider Maiden] in half. Vertically. “... looks like we’ve found a clue as to how that shrine came to be here. The Dungeon has done the world a favor.”
Man’s really op
Yes.
Sending Himiko to try to attack him really feels stupid in hindsight.
Speak for yourself, it worked pretty well
Convinced them that Ekana was dead and that’s what mattered
Fine, fine.
You had a good idea back then, even if I still dislike the idea of having her die for the team.
You dislike the idea of anyone dying. For any reason whatsoever
Yes.
“Sure, sure!” Yla shouts back while leaping off the wall at two approaching spiders, slicing both to death in the passing. “I don’t mind it, it’s pretty fun. But the variety of enemies is somewhat weak. This Dungeon should work on some originality to its design, you know?”
Yla’s starting to piss me off.
She… definitely has an attitude.
I agree.
***
As expected, the spiders fail to achieve anything more than making the scouting party move slightly slower. The Elder didn’t even bother casting any spells, instead focusing on drawing a map of the area with what looked like a stylus and a small piece of paper.
Then again, she doesn’t have to cast any spells. The other two clearly have that in the bag.
They’ve also found the [Mining Areas]. All three of them, and while easily pushing back the spiders that were crawling around. Sure, they were overlevelled for the location, but it still hurt to see them just waltz through all their defenses.
Man, I want Aeonia to be here already
You think she would win?
She can summon an army of skeletons and suck all life from an area with a gesture.
I think that the answer’s yes.
Well, then I want Aeonia to be here even more.
“It seems that even without any guidance the Dungeon is still developing towards becoming civilized.” Anaya comments when they find the third [Mining Area], the one in the very middle of the level and filled with both [Cassiterite] and [Malachite] ores. “On one hand, it’s great. On the other hand, I can’t find an explanation for this and this makes me think back to the shrine of Luna.”
“Didn’t you mention that the tribe barely has any confirmed information about Dungeons?” Uzar counters her suspicions immediately. “I don’t think that any of us ever saw one in the past, much less in their growing period. We can just be wrong about what’s normal for them, right?”
“Right.” Anaya agrees with him. “I remember myself standing in front of the entrance of the Dungeon in Numeropolis twenty years ago, only to decide to spend my time doing something more useful instead. Guess that moment goes into the bin of my eternal regrets.”
Uzar smirks a bit but says nothing about it. Yla, however, refuses to stay quiet, although thankfully she changes the subject.
“Mining here is going to be a nightmare with all the spiders.” She says, making the others immediately look at her expecting something annoying to happen. “And there is so little ore here… you could, maybe , fit a dozen miners in this room at the same time without making them accidentally hit each other while swinging their pickaxes. Useless, I’d say.”
“You’re not… entirely wrong about it.” Elder admits, all while giving Uzar a brief look that Izuku translates to ‘If I kill her will you cover for me?’. “Yes, not a lot of ore can be mined from this place. However, there are a few things that you’re missing.”
“Such as?” Yla asks.
“Eventually, the Dungeon will assimilate a smelter, probably one that’s mana-powered.” Anaya replies. “And mana here is effectively infinite. Such a smelter placed in this room can easily process any amount of ore you throw into it, and without using any resources. A group can easily camp here and continue operating such a place for a week or two before returning to the surface with backpacks full of bronze bars.”
“Still not something to get rich from.” Yla continues to court death.
“But definitely something to help support whatever settlement will eventually grow outside of this Dungeon.” Anaya replies. “And unlike the natural mines, the dangers of this one are predictable and the ore perpetually replenishes itself. In other words, this place is still developing, and thus far it’s developing much faster than I anticipated. So do us all a favor and try to be a bit less… annoying .”
Yla reads the unspoken threat of the last word and promptly shuts up. Good for her.
“Let us proceed to the Third Level.” The Elder announces in the resulting silence. “The fights thus far weren’t dangerous, but the sheer number of creatures that the Dungeon is throwing at us will slowly tire us out. And I’d prefer not to have to spend a night here.”
***
The group’s first reaction to the Third Level is Elder Anaya’s loud whistle. Izuku can understand it - [Underground Ecosystem] there was a sight to behold. It was also a nice change of pace after the corridors and rooms of the first two Levels.
It even had a fake crevice in the ceiling that was letting the fake ‘sunlight’ in, illuminating at least the part of the hall that they could see from the entrance.
There are bushes and other plants, even one or two small trees. In short, a completely different space than everything before it.
That might not be as much as the Eldergleam Sanctuary, but it’s an honest work
What?
You remember that we’ve literally murdered a hamadryad and pillaged her grove to obtain it?
Before having Komori possess her corpse?
How’s that honest, even if she attacked first?
First of all, that was reference to an old videogame and an equally old meme
Second of all, yes, that’s honest work, because we’ve honestly murdered her
You’re irredeemable.
I never said that I wanted to be redeemed, you dick.
“I’ve already spotted a few plants that can be useful in alchemy or medicine.” Anaya announces a moment later. “Once again, nothing that could make us rich, but definitely something that could contribute.”
“How did the Dungeon obtain all of that?” Uzar asks. She doesn’t have the time to answer him before a [Lesser Lignomorph] shambles from behind a distant corner. “I see. A chance encounter with the Fae.”
“Indeed.” Anaya shakes her head before raising her hand and casting a spell. A small ball of what seems to be blood coalesces out of nowhere before bursting in dark red flames and being launched at the [Lesser Lignomorph]. The thing is almost instantly set aflame. “The plants I’ve seen are often found growing in the groves of lesser Fae. The Dungeon must have ransacked one of those places.
The [Lesser Lignomorph] is definitely out of commission after that one attack. It had to be blood magic, and it seems that some qualities of blood conjured by it are flammable. Interesting.
It also re-opened the question of just how powerful Anaya was. Shame that Aeonia wasn’t here, maybe she could tell them.
“Good for them.” Uzar says dryly. Judging from neither him nor Yla having problems with Fae being murdered, it seems that the disdain for them isn’t unique to elves. “Let’s head deeper. And be on guard. There might be a Hamadryad lounging around. We don’t want to suffer any preventable injuries, right?”
“Quoting me now, really?” Anaya shakes her head.
I hope that Komori is alright with dying, because I think that this is going to be the result here.
Monoma-kun said that she’s fine with it, she just no longer perceives it the same way as humans do.
To her, it’s the equivalent of just losing a fight, at least when she won’t lose a century or two in the process due to being a part of the Dungeon.
The biggest problem was convincing her that no, she can’t sing her enemies a song before a fight.
…
Good to know that the League of Villains doesn’t have a monopoly of crazy people.
No, but the UA does have a monopoly on functionally crazy people.
You’re an absolute ass.
I think that I want to factcheck that.
What?
Ochako, you there?
“Yeah, ready and pumped up for a fight!” She says while raising her spear and grinning towards the ceiling. “I hope I can test the Bloodrage today. What’s up, Izu?”
Shigaraki said that I’m an absolute ass.
What’s your opinion about it?
“That he is an uninspired bully.” Uraraka replies immediately. “And he mistook ‘cute butt’ for ‘absolute ass’. Your diligent training has led to some impressive results and you should be proud of it.”
She isn’t concerned in the slightest with the others being in the room, though, to be honest, everyone aside from Himiko (who was shadowing her most of the time) were pretty far from her.
And yes, Himiko figured out what was happening from Uraraka’s responses alone, at least judging from the giggle she let out.
T-thank you, Ochako.
Anyway, Shigaraki, I’ve factchecked your statement and you’re objectively wrong.
…
You can’t just call your girlfriend and consider her words to be an argument
Yes, yes I can.
Because I have a girlfriend.
You asshole
I could get a girlfriend if I wanted to!
Prove it.
No.
Ha.
This doesn’t prove anything!
Yes it does.
No it doesn’t.
“Izuku?” Ochako suddenly asks, interrupting their argument. “Be honest with me. Is Shigaraki bullying you? If yes, then tell him that I’m going to issue an… official complaint to him the next time he manifests as a Dungeon Lord.”
…
Me?
Bullying HIM?!
HE IS THE ONE BULLYING ME!!!
“Don’t be crazy, Shigaraki.” Uraraka rolls her eyes around. “It’s Izuku! The kindest person I know! He would never bully anyone! But if he does bully you, it means that you definitely deserve that.”
what
You’ve tried to kill us multiple times, Shigaraki.
Do you really want me to retaliate in a way that’s proportional to that?
Really ?
…
Screw you all
***
That's pretty much how I believe Yla looks like.
Just with more fur on arms and legs.
image [https://images.squidge.org/images/2024/06/12/image.png]