"-enge is. Oh look, I'm back in the dungeon now."
418 had finally finished up with the whole Loren situation. And so they took this chance for a small break. Once they'd had a chance to relax for a moment, they called up Guide and asked about the situation.
"So, how long was I out for this time?"
"About two and a half days."
"Then I guess it is almost time for me to reward the kobolds. Did anything unusual happen while I was unconscious?"
"Nothing really happened."
"That is good. Before I call all the dungeon monsters here. Does the dungeon network have any information about a person named Archangel Nemesis?"
"Only a single story about the fight between her and the great dragon Adrestia."
"Adrestia?"
"The daughter of Bahamut, who was known as the Platinum light of revolution. It was said that she was undefeated. That was until she fought the archangel. It is said they both died that day because of the events that came after. Shall I tell you about it?"
"Later. Right now I should focus on that reward ceremony. Also tell everyone to arrive in about an hour."
"As you wish."
After the message was sent, 418 started to think of names. It was not too difficult for 418 to pick out 23 names for the kobolds, with their knowledge of literature, anime, and video games from their old world. Once the names had been picked, 418 started to look over what they had received from Merida. Since the dungeon was not subsumed by force, only the dungeon master class received experience. It was now level 11 but it still had yet to obtain a new skill. Speaking of new skills the whole process had awarded several of them. The biggest of which was the ability core teleport. This wonderous ability had granted them the ability to teleport the cores between core rooms. The ability was kind of like an exploit in the system because a dungeon would not normally have more than 1 core room. So this was quite the find. 418 had also received an additional bandwidth point. This put them only one point away from the requisite amount needed for materialization. The level requirement wasn't as much of an issue. Next they received many room designs from Merida. They were the most modern design that she had at the time, which admittedly was over eleven thousand years ago. The next thing that 418 had received was a ton of research. It was mostly a lot of craftsmanship research such white and goldsmithing, but also gave a few monster researches like golems, slimes, and dungeon bats. Lastly 418 received all of the dungeon points Merida had received, which was well over three billion in each category. With that amount they would never need to worry about points again. 418 saw that it was almost time for the ceremony. Put their thoughts away about the ludicrous amount of points, they started practicing what they would say. Shortly thereafter, once the last monster arrived, the ceremony began.
418 spoke to the crowd of monsters before them.
"My loyal troops, A few days ago we conquered the massive swarm of undead and the flesh golem that lingered among them. Today we are to award those who played a key role in the conquest and to name the troops who survived. So let us begin. Recruit 2 step forward."
A male kobold who wields an axe and shield approached me.
“Recruit two, I shall now grant you a name. You shall now be called Odin."
"Odin bowed "Thank you great dragon."
Now Odin, do you wish to remain in the command of Silvanus or do you wish to do something else?"
"I wish to remain as a protector of this place."
"Very well then I shall appoint you as a member of the royal guards. I wish you well in your new role."
"Thank you, great dragon."
The rest of the namings went similarly. Fourteen of the twenty-three survivors became part of the royal guards that was just formed. Those who joined where Odin; maria, a dual wielding female kobold; train, the only surviving pugilist, the longbowmen, claire and leon; dimitri the only halberdier in the royal guards; a pair of phalanxes, clay and marc; artemis and douglas, the duo of bowman; morgoth, the only surviving mace wielder; fitz the only other axe wielder in the royal guards; and, jason and cassandra, the only two remaining sword and shield users still in the royal guards.
Of the remaining 9, two joined Aurora as maid, those being Tia, a bow woman; and Dana, a dual blade wielder. Two joined Cerus, Alice, a bow user, and Heathcliff, a sword and shield user. Two decide to take tutelage under Alfred, those ones being a maul welder named Domovoi, the only one that survived, and a sword and shield user named Sebastian. The remaining three- A axe wielder named Peter, a Sword wielder named Gordon, and halberd wield named Hubert- joined Phyllis in the research department. With the new recruits out of the way it was time for the high Kobolds. Both Aurora and Alfred refused a reward citing that they only did their jobs and if the great dragon really wanted to reward them they should build a palace already. 418 accepted that reasoning and said they would get to building that palace once the town was established. Cerus asked for more recipes so 418 provided them with a few cookbooks. But when it came time for Silvanus to get his reward…
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“I am not deserving of a reward, great dragon, instead I deserve a punishment.
“Oh why is that?” 418 responded to him, their voice full of inquiry.
“I lost the troops that great dragon gave me. I'm not worthy of any rewards so please punish me. I am not deserving of a reward.”
“That's not-” 418 started
“What a fucking farce.” Phyllis said indignantly. You don't really want a punishment, you just want some way to ease your guilty conscience. But the great dragon gave you those troops know full well that not all of them may not make it back. I’m sure all of the troops understood that deep down,but right now, you are being a whiny bitch. You made a mistake and people lost their lives. If you truly want to atone for your mistake? Then take responsibility for both your mistakes and your successes. Anyway I apologize for speaking out of turn, great dragon, but this whine little boy needed to be told his place.
“Nonsense Phyllis, that is something he needed to hear. Anyways, while you’re here, have you decided what you want for your reward?
“I'm pretty sure you already know what I want but, in case you didn't, I would like a larger lab in the town area.”
“Yeah, that's about what I figured. It will be done once the town is more established.”
“Thank you, great dragon.” and Phyllis walked away.
Once that ended 418 focused their attention on silvanus.
“She is right, you know. You are being too hard on yourself. You could have done better looking back on it, but looking in the past is always clearer than the future. Now with the matter of your reward and punishment. I have thought about it and this is what I decided, you will lead the armed forces of this dungeon. Doing so will help you gain confidence as a leader. This is both a reward and a punishment for you, so accept it with grace.”
SIlvanus was taken aback by that.They had thought the great dragon would try to stop them, not humor them. They thanked the great dragon with tears in their eyes and headed back.
Lastly, the most important kobold, the one who landed the finishing blow on the necrotic flesh golem, Persephone, came for their reward. Their request was a simple one but surprised 418 all the same.
“What I wish for as my reward is to be the great dragon's only personal maid.” Persephone said enthusiastically.
“That's fine but why?” responded 418.
“Do I have to have a reason?”
“Do you?”
“I do.”
“Will you tell me?”
“No.”
“Very well consider your request granted. I solemnly swear to have no personal maids other than you, Persephone.”
“Yay thank you great dragon.” Then she goes to hug 418 forgetting that they aren't a physical being. She gives up after a few minutes. After that short diversion it was time for the 4 bosses to receive their rewards. First up was yaga. As the only one who can speak she was the first to receive her reward.
“I would like to operate a store, preferably a shop with potions.”Yaga said to 418.
“Very well, however that in itself is not a reward, so in addition to your request you shall be turned into a wandering boss, is that all right by you?”
“Of course, oh great heart of the dungeon.”
After that Yaga was transformed into a boss monster. Her race changed from Hag to Elder hag matriarch and her form went from only a shimmering beauty to becoming conveniently beautiful. Her face smoothed out and body looked like that of a woman in the height of her twenties might look, only more ephemeral. Her silver hair had become longer and filled with a variety of flowers, though it was now a silvery white color. Once the transform had completed Yaga said “ this will not do” and used her power, fields of illusions, to transform her body into her previous form. She said that her power is perfect for the type of shop she wanted to run. Her power allowed her to create illusions in a specific room of the dungeon. 418 guessed that she just wanted to pull that mysterious potion master shtick but she was happy that Yaga was happy. WIth that 418 finished up with yaga telling her that her shop will be finished soon and after that they called up Jack.
Jack did pretty well for his first time in combat as such 418 decided that he deserved to receive a reward. But since he couldn’t talk it would be difficult to confirm what exactly he wants without playing 20 questions with him. Because while 418 can understand the speechless monsters it is only limited to affirmatives and negatives. But recently 418 got a new power and they finally got an opportunity.
“So Jack I have decided to give you a reward. I ask, Do you wish to become the first area's boss?” 418 askes
Jack nodded in the affirmative.
“Very well then.”
418 then uses the power of creating a boss position. A power that they got from reaching a certain amount of area in the dungeon. With it it allows a dungeon to dictate up to 3 monsters to become room bosses then allow them to transform in their boss forms without assigning them to a specific room. This allows bosses to be created before the rooms are ready. With this power Jack becomes A Dullahan rider and gained the unique skill huntsmen, a skill that allows Jack to know the position of anything he hurts that is within 300 ft of him. He also gained the ability to summon a skeletal horse. The horse isn't a separate monster, it's just a part of him. He didn’t change much though his armor became more ornate. He left shortly thereafter and then Prometheus was called up. It went much the same as it did with Jack. Prometheus became both the boss of the third area and a blaze elemental. Its form became more slender and the flames that made the main body became more vigorous. It also gained the unique ability, one of many, an ability that allowed Prometheus to create many copies of itself. As longer as 1 of these remained they would survive.After that, Prometheus left. Lastly, Dracula was called up and he accepted the job of becoming boss of the second area. His form charged his form changed from that monstrous he had before to a beautiful red haired man, then kinda you see in an otome game. He also gained a new skill: scarlet skies that allowed to spread a mist of blood that weakened all of his foes that walked in it. This transform changed him into a noble Vampire and also had one more effect:
“As a key player in stopping that golem, I would like to grant you a second reward.” Started 418
“Nonsense, great source,” responded Dracula. “You have given far more than I deserve.”
“Is that so? Well then… wait did you just speak?”
“Indeed I did. This is quite a frabjous day is it not?”
418 agreed it was quite fortunate that another of the monsters could speak to them. And with that thought the award ceremony drew to a close.