Part 8
I quickly ran upstairs, now wearing a new set of clothes, and met up with Aros. Once I laid my eyes on him, I quickly noticed he changed. Perhaps it was because of the Core upgrade, but Aros had gotten slightly taller and his armor was covered with fierce designs depicting a raging fire, similar to my suit. His weapon got a little thinner, but I had no doubt that it was more powerful than before.
I quickly checked his status, excited to see the changes.
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Aros
Race: Dragon Soldier
Core Level: 2
HP: 70 -> 230
MP: 40 -> 50
AC: 90 -> 110
Rank: F -> E
Titles: Dungeon Boss
Skills: Fury, Sword Skills, Fire Slash, Respawn
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I quickly noticed his main stats increased, as did his rank. Then, after I looked at his stats, I also noticed his『 Slash 』skill turned into『 Fire Slash 』. This change was most likely from upgrading the dungeon core, so I was excited to see the upgrade.
『 Fire Slash (LVL 1): 40% damage increase for 2 seconds. Does 4 extra burn damage over 3 seconds. Cost: 5 MP. 20-second cooldown 』
He had gotten stronger, which made me feel proud inside. Then, after realizing that the dungeon core made him stronger, I turned to myself and opened my status.
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Aureys
Race: Dragon
Level: 2
HP: 90 (+)
MP: 135 (+)
AC: 30 (+)
Rank: SS
Equipped Items: Dark Merchant's Suit
Titles: Dungeon Master
Skills: Appraisal, Morph, Ancestral Magic (LOCKED), Summon, Acrobatics, Combat Expertise
Status Effects: 20% discount for human-sold items (Clothing Bonus), +5 HP, +20 MP, +20 AC
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I spent the next few days focusing entirely on the dungeon's advancement. Now that I had some clothes to wear, I was starting to want interaction with the outside world. I quickly hastened my progress, eager to explore as fast as possible. However, at the same time, I didn't want to leave my core undefended, so I decided to leave behind a strong fortress before I left.
I stopped training with Aros in the meantime, although neither of us minded much. While I was busy designing the dungeon, Aros was busy getting DP for me out in the wilderness. He would spend hours outside, hunting anything he came across. Because of this method, I would gain around 100 DP every hour, then would spend it on defenses and the surrounding environment.
When I first started designing the dungeon, I was unsure how the system would create a room between the dungeon entrance and the boss room, as the room was already connected to the surface in the first place. However, after gaining enough points for a small cave tunnel, I decided to place the cave between the boss room and the forest.
When it was created, I was surprised to find that the entire existing dungeon flawlessly shifted positions in the mountain to create enough room for the cave, as if it wasn't connected to the mountain the first place. I didn't even feel the dungeon move as the process happened. It was as if the change didn't happen at all. When I saw this happen, I started to wonder if the dungeon was even in the mountain at all, or if it was a separate dimension entirely.
Now that the idea of the dungeon being an entirely new dungeon was made known, I suddenly understood how it was possible to have entire forests or mountains inside the dungeon. It was a matter of simply placing the forest or mountain, as the dungeon would do the rest of the work for me.
After a few days of working, I had spent a total of 2,291 DP on the dungeon. The end result was a massive cave system that spanned for nearly a mile in every direction throughout the mountain. At the entrance of the dungeon, the cave system was rough and unpredictable, like an ordinary cave, but there were winding paths and hidden routes that appeared invisible to the untrained eye.
Enemies known as Kobolds roamed these narrow hallways. These small bipedal mobs were covered in red scaly skin, like a reptile, and had what looked like a crocodile's head on their shoulders while the rest of their body was like a frail human. Every single Kobold wore a small patch of fabric around their waist as a loincloth and carried small clubs in their hands.
The majority of Kobolds were weak close ranged warriors, so they traveled in groups of ten. In large numbers, their reckless fighting tactics and aggressive manner would prove difficult to fight against in small numbers. However, just to be safe, I also bought a few 'Kobold Elites' and 'Kobold Mages' to lead each pack, which allowed each group to reach 12.
Kobold Elites were slightly taller than the regular Kobold and wore crappy leather armor rather than a rag around their waist. In their hands were either a small rusty sword or a small shield, depending on how the Kobold chose to fight. A few of them were front line warriors that dealt the most amount of damage in their parties, while a few were tanks that protected their party from an opponent's attacks.
Kobold Mages were a bit different. They were always long ranged fighters with a small wooden staff. Kobold Mages wore a tattered robe and large hood, so their facial features were decently well hidden. Kobold mages were still weak, though, as they were only E-rank monsters. They were limited to the『 Trip 』spell, the『 Light Flames 』spell, and the『 Push 』spell.
Along with the Kobolds were a large number of traps that lined the cave's pathways. These traps wouldn't activate from a Kobold's step and were hard to see, but lethal when set off in the right situation.
Then, after the complicated caves and winding hallways ended, the dungeon would begin to straighten out. The walls and floors would turn into cut stone bricks and the damp smell of the cave would disappear. Torches would begin to line the wall, though they were dim and spaced far apart from each other.
After the stone hallways would appear, the winding pathways would turn more geometric in style. They formed a maze that would confuse and lose any intruders through their hallways. However, getting lost wasn't the only thing intruders needed to worry about.
After the Kobolds stopped appearing, a new type of enemy would replace them. They went by Salamanders. They were large lizards that were nearly ten feet in length and three feet in width. Their hides would be colored bright red and their bellies were a light orange. Each Salamander would have six legs but would only walk with two of them. Every salamander was worth 5 Kobolds in strength, so I had them travel in packs of two or three.
Salamanders primarily used their fire breathe to attack, but their hides were as resilient as steel armor and their bodies were as heavy as elephants, so they proved to be tough to bring down even when fighting at close range. Along with the Salamanders were an even wider variety of traps than the caves.
Everything from swinging axes to drop pits existed through the hallways, but they would never activate from a Salamander's presence. Only after the end of the hallways would the first 'miniboss' appear. They would do so in a large round room full of torches and pressure plated traps.
The room would be full of three Salamanders and what was called a Salamander Elite. Just like Kobold Elites, these creatures would be slightly larger in size and would be much tougher than their weaker variants. This type of Salamander was purple in color and carried a large steel spear in it's two front arms. It also used fire magic, but preferred to attack with it's spear when it had the chance.
After defeating the Salamander Elite, another long set of stone hallways would be revealed. Traveling through them would lead to the boss room on the other side of the dungeon.
Even after working on it with no rest for several days straight, I was still disappointed from the dungeon's progress. The dungeon was still only one floor right now, and it was about the size of a small forest. Even if one got lost, it would only take a week at maximum to run through it.
I wanted a dungeon that would take several years to reach the end, not the weak sort of abomination that I had created. I knew I could create another floor, as the option was in the shop, but it was extremely expensive. Just the second floor boss room was priced at 500 DP, but that didn't include the expenses for the floor itself. Because of this, I would probably move Aros's boss room down a floor and use the new boss room as the replacement for the first floor. The only thing that would move down a floor was Aros's boss room and the core room, as a replacement boss would be assigned the first floor. I was fine with this, as I was originally going to plan on Aros being the strongest enemy in the dungeon in the first place.
He was my first subordinate, so he kind of deserved his spot at the top- or bottom floor- of the dungeon.
"Milord, don't worry," Aros said as he saw my conflicted expression, "Even if you're on the opposite side of the world, you will still be able to update the dungeon. Go and explore, the dungeon won't collapse if you're not here."
"Really? That's convenient," I sighed as I turned to Aros. I was surprised my emotions were bleeding through my expressions so easily, "Thank you, Aros. I will leave now. Don't be afraid to contact me if you need my assistance."
"We'll need a telepathic communication for that," Aros told me.
"Don't worry, that'll happen eventually," I chuckled.
"Good. But Milord, are you going to leave on your own?" Aros asked, "Wouldn't it be best to bring somebody with you?"
"Are you volunteering for that role?" I jokingly asked. Aros quickly shook his head and sighed.
"I believe it would be best to summon another monster to bring with you," Aros admitted. I put my fingers to my chin as I thought about the possibility, then quickly agreed. Then I opened my status and turned to the dungeon panel.
I still had 30 DP, which was just enough for a strong rank E monster. Honestly, I secretly thought the idea of bringing somebody else was a warm thought. After I brought up the mobs list, I quickly read through all of the options, ignoring any of the ones that were F rank. As I read through the E rank monsters, I also chose to ignore any of the cheaper options.
However, because my dungeon core was still only level 2, and all of my options were limited to any mobs that were considered 'dragon-kin', my options were limited down to only seven. After ignoring the rank F monsters and the weaker rank E monsters, I was left with three.
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Kobold
Race: Monster
HP: 20
AC: 15
Rank: F
Skills: Petty Sword Skills, Rob
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Kobold Elite
Race: Monster
HP: 30
AC: 20
Rank: E
Skills: Petty Sword Skills, Rob
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Kobold Mage
Race: Monster
HP: 35
AC: 15
Rank: E
Skills: Trip, Light Flames, Grapple
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Salamander
Race: Monster
HP: 70
MP: 40
AC: 50
Rank: E
Skills: Fireball
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