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The pale dungeon (dropped)
Ch22 Chair of friendship

Ch22 Chair of friendship

Fanv barely made it 5 steps into the cave before Maker's messy mane embraced her while giggling wildly. The dungeon lady spun her around a bit while hugging her tightly.

Welcome back my beloved wolf! I am so proud of you! My little wolf all grown up~ But where are your mates? The pups will not be mine by default if they are born outside the dungeon?

Maker finally released Fanv from her embrace and looked at her expectantly while the dizzy wolf regained her balance.

"Whu- What-... Eeeeeh it's all spinning. What are you talking bout?"

Maker's smile widened enough to make it look as if her face split in two.

You! Mated! With! Enough mates! To! Establish! AN ENTIRE RACE!!!! Once those pups are born Visvargs will be an official species! Not just one unique creature! A WHOLE SPECIES!!!!!!!!

Maker's giddy outburst almost made Fanv dizzier than her high-speed-hug. Then what she had just said began to sink in.

"What did you just say?... I... Mated? When?! With WHO?! "

Last night~ I did not see it myself but I got the announcement of you getting the Title!

Title... Now that she thought about it, she could feel the new Title in the back of her mind. Titles and Skills were parts of the subconscious and very little was known about them. One kind of just knew what they had when they focused on it and surely enough there it was. 

[Broodmother]

What in the world is that Title supposed to mean? When the hell did she get it? She had no memory of what happened yesterday after she went outside the dungeon. A quiet buzzing filled her mind when she tried to recall. She sat down with a *thumph*.

"Whyyyyy do I have thiiiiis? Wheeeen?! Hooow!?!?!"

Give me a second. I will look up the details of the Title.

"What does that even meeeaaan?!"

Geez, stop your whining already. This was bound to happen at some point. Are you not glad the great me is here to help you through this? Although I am a bit surprised you can still get moon-mad. I thought that part disappeared when you evolved. It seems amplified if anything- Oh! Here it is. I will forward what I see to you.

"What are you-"

Broodmother (Visvarg)

The owner of this Title is either the first ancestor of a species or has in a notable way contributed greatly to the number of offspring in the next generation.

This Title grants the owner great respect from future generations of their species.

So there you have it~

Fanv didn't hear Maker's words. She was completely enthralled by the strange blue box that had appeared before her. It remained in the middle of her vision no matter how she turned her head. It even stayed when she closed her eyes. She had never seen anything like it before.

Maker's o so great patience lasted for about 10 seconds before she gently poked the wolf. Fanv jumped in surprise and the box disappeared from her vision just as suddenly as it had appeared. Maker shook her head as the wolf tentatively scratched at the air, trying to find the mysterious box again.

You are acting strangely. Have you never seen a Title-description before?

"That's what it was? Is that what people with inspection or appraise Skills see?"

I do not have any such skills I think. Not with such a name at least. I see those boxes whenever I wish to see the details of a creature in my dungeon. It helps me keep track of everyone.

"And you can just make those boxes appear?"

I can show them to my creatures since we are connected. Just like how I can enter and view the minds of my creatures, my creatures can be allowed to see the things I visualize or see.

"I... see. I think I understand."

Fanv did not understand.

"So uh, can you see all the Skills and Titles? I have two others, can you show me the details of them as well?"

[Maneater] kind of explained itself so she was more curious about what [Frenzy] did.

Sure sure, just give me a second.

Maneater

The owner of this Title has consumed part of a Sentient race. (Human)

The chance of the owner growing addicted to the taste rises with the amount consumed.

"Ah... That doesn't sound good at all..."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

The bodies of Sentient races are a bit different from non-sentient races after all. Not that sentience has anything to do with it though. They sure choose a weird name for themselves...

"Let's not ponder on that one too much. I'm pretty sure I'm not addicted to human flesh."

Yet?

"Don't..."

Frenzy

Skill is triggered by choice or when the owner is subject to violence, either as the victim or the abuser.

Causes the owner to enter a violent frenzy that boosts speed, strength, and reflexes. Pain is nulled while the Skill is active. Frenzy will cloud the user's judgment to the point where friendly fire is almost guaranteed. The effect can be canceled with force of will, by defeating all nearby creatures, or by a third party's actions.

Owner's of Frenzy have lower resistance to madness.

"Another troublesome one..."

It is madness you dislike is it not?

"Yeah, I like being sane..."

Hm... So [Frenzy] and the full moon can both drive you mad, but otherwise you are way saner than before you evolved.

"I haven't noticed much difference..."

No, I am sure there is a great difference. While you were a simple werewolf your madness got triggered by just the scent of blood alone. Now you can calmly watch another creature bleed, even a human. Did you not carry your dying friend all the way here without so much as thinking about eating him?

"That is true but..."

Had you been your old self then surely you would have eaten him on the spot and then slaughtered the rest of the humans. Your species is weak to madness so it is not strange that the moon would affect you. The way the moon made you act is simply the way you would have become had you not regained your sanity after your first transformation. You have evolved beyond that simple beast.

Fanv nodded silently. The things Maker told her were comforting. She was just about to thank her when something came crashing down the tunnel.

First, she thought it was Mikvel, then she noticed the obvious lack of his silk dress and legs. No, scratch that, he had legs, 8 of them. And there was a second Mikvel running behind the strange spider-Mikvel, this one wore the white silk but the way he held a wooden chair above his head as if it was a gift from the gods was a bit off...

They were both out of breath and spider-Mikvel fell down on his stomach to gasp for breath. Chair-Mikvel tripped on spider-Mikvel and the chair went flying through the air. Maker moved quicker than the wind and caught the piece of furniture just as it was about to crash into the ground.

Fanv stared in amazement as Maker stood back up with the chair in the air and an expression that demanded applause and cheer.

"Mikvel?... Why- How are you a spider? Why are there two of you..."

"I'm Mikvel-"

"I'm Ssam-"

They both spoke at the same time with the exact same voice, except for the slight hissing noise that came from spider-Mik- wait what?

"Sam???"

"Yess! I evolved klcklc"

"That's great! What's that clicking noise though?"

"My mandibless."

Sam opened his human mouth wide to reveal a set of black mandibles hidden at the back of his mouth and to the sides. They were covered in saliva and moved in a disturbing way. Fanv quickly took her eyes off them as shivers rolled down her spine.

"Uh ok, I s-see."

Mikvel's face with hidden mandibles looked way too creepy. She shook her head to get rid of the image. She would have to handle the nightmares later.

"So uh, why do you look like Mikvel? And what's with that chair?"

"Mikvel'ss the only human male I've sseen in great detail sso far sso I used him as a reference."

"That's like an exact copy of him tho. Didn't you see the adventurers a while back?"

"Adventurers? There's been other people here?-"

"I jusst ssniped them. Didn't get a good look before their heads bursst open. And I dislike how big and fleshy-"

"You what?! Sniped?!!"

Real Mikvel had apparently not heard about the adventurers that invaded them some time back. Sam made nervous clicking noises as Mikvel stared in horror at him. Maker saved him the trouble of explaining.

Yes, a couple of humans invaded us a while back. They set the rodents on fire and refused to leave so we killed them.

"Uh...."

It would seem that spending so much peaceful time with the dungeon inhabitants had made Mikvel forget just where he currently was. A dungeon was a place where people died after all. Fanv drooped her ears a bit at the reminder too. Sam picked at his human hands nervously while glancing back and forth. He tried to lighten the mood with a cheerful tone.

"Sso uh, do you want to tell her about the chair, Micklvel?"

Mikvel cheered up a bit at that. Maker handed him the chair and he and Sam puffed up their chests in pride.

"We made a chair!"

He put it on the ground in front of Fanv to let her marvel at the masterpiece. It was a crude wooden chair made out of scrap-wood and twigs. The legs were crooked and pieces of thread peeked out from the edges and corners. All in all it looked like shit.

"Very pretty! Did you both make it all yourself?"

They both nodded happily.

"I commented on how bare and empty some caves looked and then we got on the subject of furniture and I drew a picture of a chair and explained it to Sam and Maker."

"Drew? Where did you get paint?"

"We mashed up those black clovers. They have some kind of red sap in them."

Let's not tell him it's blood...

"We dragged in twigss and wood from the outsside and used my threadss to put it togheter."

I really like the ideas Mikvel has. He draws really well! We are going to make a castle on top of the cavesystem~

Whoa they've planned so much already...

"Mikvel... don't you miss home?"

Mikvel seemed surprised at the change in subject. His face fell a bit when he thought about it.

"Not really... I mean, I never wanted to become town chief and becoming a bard wasn't really for me. You were way better at remembering and telling stories you know. I miss my dad and friends a bit sure but..."

Sam fidgeted a bit and Fanv lied down while thinking it all over. If Mikvel returned to Ogon then he couldn't return to the dungeon since people could follow him. There's also the problem of how the villagers would react to him returning. Surprisingly it was Maker who came with a solution to the problem.

Let us make the dungeon a village. We will build buildings and furniture and learn to speak. We will let the most human-like of us greet the humans and state our rules and intentions. If we do not hunt them or take their things then surely we can live next to each other in peace?

Maker's optimistic suggestion seemed like a good idea. If they made sure to show the villagers of Ogon that they were fully sentient creatures who could act like humans then maybe they could get on friendly terms. It was worth a try at least. Noting that everyone seemed to somewhat agree to the suggestion, Maker set her plan in motion.

Good! I will have Fanv and Mikvel tell me all the things needed to be respected by the humans. The others will gather things and materials for building. I will practice changing more materials the stone so we can have trees and other useful materials to build our castle with. Sam will help build. Dessi and her flock will hunt for food so we can bring fresh meat as a peace-gift. 

Oh and let us bring the birds, they have known how to talk for a long time.

"Do not bring the birds. They are the rudest creatures I have ever met!"

We are not bringing the birds! Let us decided on a name for our great kingdom, I shall ask all my creatures for suggestions!

And so the simple cave dungeon started to change at a pace never seen before.