Chapter 3

Rawr? She actually said rawr? That's so fucking cute! Oh my God I wanna just scoop up that little cutie and run my beard against her scales! Wait, beard? Why am I associating myself with having a beard?

Further along that did she call me 'Papa?' She spoke? How the hell did she manage that? The fact she sounded like a really high pitched five year old girl had made it utterly adorable of course, but still.

Did it have to do with the amount of Mana I placed into her during her birth, forming, creation, whatever it was I did to bring her into reality. I was distracted from the little anole, currently she was jumping around the room like a rabbit at high speed, by the tutorial boxes.

Congratulations on the creation of your first Minion! Preliminary scans show this creature as a legendary tiered Minion! For more information you need only look at the minions status page. To do that you must focus on the Minion and call it up, much like you would your own status page.

For managing the impossible in creating a legendary tiered Minion as a level one Dungeon you have been granted one final addition to your rewards.

For completing the tutorial ensuring you have grasped the very basics of being a Dungeon you are congratulated and you may now be given your rewards. Because the Tutorial was unable to assist you properly you have been given two additional rewards, for breaking two time records you have been granted two additional rewards. For creating a legendary tiered minion you have been granted one additional reward. For completing the Tutorial you have been granted one reward. You are eligible for six rewards in total and the Dungeon Prize Counter, or DPC, will now be opened. This will occur only once and further access to the DPC will be restricted for the remainder of your existence. For being the only Dungeon in existence at this time all previous rewards that had been claimed are once again active within the DPC. You may now select three of your rewards, two for the Tutorial being unable to properly assist you and one for creating a legendary tiered minion. The other three shall be granted via lottery.

I read through the boxes, a little confused. I could not deny their claim my little cute Anole was legendary tiered. I briefly focused on the still jumping lizard. She was currently hopping up and down in front of one of the monitoring stations while hissing and repeating the words 'Rawr! I protect Papa! I destroy you!'

It was fucking adorable! The fact she would stop every second or so, tilting her head to regard the monitor only to begin again when a light lit up was even cuter. I looked at the newest box that appeared. Apparently the Tutorial was giving me the 'lottery' rewards first. I wasn't entirely sure why I felt that word meant scam, or what a scam was, but I wanted to see regardless. I enjoyed the idea of earning rewards for my efforts.

Lottery rewards are being generated from an available pool of five hundred million available rewards in the DPC. Generation completed, you may see these rewards at any time in your status should you need a refresher.

Night Strike - All Minions under your control have a higher attack at night. (Usable only on a planet)

Limiter - All Minions created by you may be granted a limiter. This will act as a limitation and assist in tricking enemies by displaying weaknesses they may overcome at any time. (Only created Minions are affected. Minions that were birthed from a mother Minion cannot be limited unless the Mother Minion was limited. )

Unbound - You are an Unbound Dungeon. You and your Minions are not bound by typical Dungeon Law. Your Minions may freely leave you and survive without your mana as long as they have some form of sustenance. You, as the Core, may perform acts that would otherwise destroy a typical Dungeon. (Not all rules are affected, consult your Dungeon Assistant, should you have one, for more information.)

I liked them all! Night Strike was utterly useless for me at the moment. I mean, I was a ship and supposedly floating in the depths of space. This could be wrong, but I would need to control the rest of the ship to know for certain. Regardless it would make night operations fun!

The Limiter spoke to me on a fundamental level. It would make all of my Minions easily underestimated. I could place a limiter within each of them that could only be broken in certain situations and catch enemies with their pants down. I was unsure why you would want to do that exactly but it seemed amusing, so I went with it. The fact that anything my cute little hopping baby over there would not be limited, because she was not limited, was fine. I knew I'd make other species sometime and they would have a Limiter placed within them.

The final one, Unbound, seemed really interesting. Apparently under normal circumstances my Minions would be unable to actually leave wherever I controlled. Something I am glad I now know, but had otherwise not. Thankfully I had obtained this and that was no longer an issue. The fact I was no longer bound by most constraints was nice as well. Now if only I knew what those constraints were exactly. The ending note mentioned a Dungeon Assistant but I didn't seem to have one of those. Even though the word didn't work, nor did anything else I did. I would have to decide how I'd manage that in the future and simply play things very safely for a time.

The final box appeared after the lottery winnings, regardless of the 'scam' feeling I'd had I felt I lucked out with my three rewards. This box though was different. The rewards were stated to be from all of the available Dungeon Rewards. Since I was apparently the first to be reborn into the Universe that meant I could pick any of them I wished, the fact I could choose three was even better! I only felt that way because of an odd sense of greed. Not for the amount, but for 'power,' 'strength,' odd terms that I felt I needed to ensure my survival. They were all listed from strongest to weakest in a massive list. Things like 'Living Dungeon,' 'Demonic Circles,' 'Heavenly Call,' were at the top. None of them really seemed to speak to me though. They sounded neat and a part of me seemed to want the Demon thing, but I had no idea how I'd use it, even with the odd message stating it allowed me to summon Demonic entities. The whole 'they may turn on you,' made it an even less likely choice.

Instead I scrolled through them all, reading them and losing track of time. I stopped only once when I felt something scampering up my 'body.' I turned my attention toward it briefly and saw my cute little lizard crawling up the side of my orb, looking exhausted. She was still murmuring things like 'Protect Papa, sleepy...NO! Rawr! Protect…' even as she curled into the cutest little ball in the world, flashing that purple stripe down her back and closing those big eyes so she could sleep.

I felt myself grinning, it felt like the right word, as I watched her. I'd name her later. I felt she deserved a name, in fact the more I thought about it the more I desired it. It was something instinctual and I had to exert massive amounts of will power to pull myself from the odd tunnel like focus I had been going into. That instinctual response had happened again, it was strange and somewhat frightening. The idea of not having control was frightening. I didn't like it at all.

I focused back on the list of reward choices and tried to ignore the nagging desire to 'name' my first creation so I could choose what I wished.

The feeling never left me but I was able to focus long enough to go through the list and choose my three rewards. One of them was in the middle in terms of the DPC's rewarding sense, the other two had been higher ranked rewards, in the top fifteen.

The middling ranked reward I chose was the actual 'Dungeon Assistant.' I felt I would need that. The realization that I was the first, and only, Dungeon alive made me think that there may not be anymore of whatever the fuck a Dungeon Assistant was. That made it logical in my mind. The other two were 'Humanoid,' and 'Eternal Mana.'

Dungeon Assistant - Will bring into being a creature or object that will act as your personal guide in all things Dungeon. This being will have access to the hidden depths of the Universe, though it will be limited in what it can tell you.

Humanoid - All of your Minions will evolve into beings resembling humans in some way, shape, or form. You may now create Humanoid shaped Minions based on available Minion Blueprints. Mother Minions may assume either their original form or Humanoid form at will.

Eternal Mana- Your Mana is endless, your mana is eternal. You shall never run out of Mana. You are still limited by your total available pool, but it shall never empty.

Humanoid was so I could begin creating a force of Lizard men to crew and pilot my body, as well as defend me. I was not entirely sure about the different forms but I would learn in time. Dungeon Assistant I had already gone over. The one I had snatched up like it was a precious jewel was Eternal Mana. They had the option to double, triple, or even multiple my current Mann by ten. I felt that I already had a massive Mana Pool compared to a normal level one Dungeon though and it would only grow as I leveled. Instead I wanted to never fear running out of Mana.

I was unsure about the exact reasoning behind my choice. I only knew that it would ensure my success in difficult moments. I even had the oddest desire. I wanted to flood a world with my adorable Lizards and let them grow away from me. My instincts seemed to balk at that idea, but that only made me desire it more. I swore to myself that I would do exactly that one day.

Confirming my choices a final box appeared within my mind.

You have finished choosing your rewards and we congratulate you! No other Dungeon may acquire your rewards, unless you are conquered and destroyed. All physical rewards will not be generated. You will no longer receive messages from the Tutorial.

The box was short and I felt an odd pang of sadness that I would not have the boxes that had been a brief companion to me since I awoke. I had my little lizard though at least. I chose to focus on her then, looking at her Status at last. Honestly I was looking at the little thing as she moved from a curled up ball onto her back and a little bubble was slowly deflating and inflating with each breath. Her body had stuck to my oval surface without her slipping along my smoothness and onto the ground. I internally smiled once more while staring at her Status.

Name: None

Level: 1

Race: Anole Matriarch

Mana: 4,500/4,500

Tier: Legendary

Titles: Cutest One, First Born

Abilities: Acidic Saliva, Trance, Birthing, Tongue Whip, Morph.

Cutest One - A title granted by the strong feelings aroused during creation. She is adorable in every way and all that sees her will know this.

First Born - First Born Minion of the first Dungeon brought back into the Universe. She shall rule by right of birth!

Acidic Saliva - All attacks that involve her spittle hitting her target will cause minor acidic like burns. (Grows stronger based on level.)

Trance - All who look into her eyes are entranced by her cuteness. Provides a three second stun where the enemy cannot move. It will break when the enemy is damaged. (Subject to change as the skill user levels. Dependent on shape.)

Birthing - She is capable of giving birth to more of her kind. Requires Dungeon Mana to birth a new generation. (A male of her species will also work.)

Tongue Whip - An attack that will cause blunt force trauma. Applies Acidic Saliva to any struck by the attack. (Damage increases based on level.)

Morph - She may assume Humanoid form at will.

I momentarily lost focus while reading over exactly what her 'Titles' and 'Skills' did when my instincts struck again. I was beginning to attribute them to some sort of beast hidden within me. In a way I was right because when they hit, they hit hard and left me little to no time to react. I focused on her name and literally poured all of the mana I could into that single action. It was as though the act of naming a Minion took Mana and would normally drain me. I was very, very happy that I had taken the Eternal Mana rewards.

I could feel the drain and though it would not actually run dry now it still exhausted me after a period of constant usage. I didn't want to stop though. I had a feeling stopping during this odd naming process would end horribly for me.

'Elisabetta!' was the name that suddenly flickered into reality where her name was. The 'none' changed slowly into that. I was not entirely sure about the name, but I chose to allow it because I could call her Lizzy if I wished. It'd be my pet name for her!

My instincts slowly calmed and I focused on her status once again, only to find a few changes. Nothing major, but changes all the same.

Name: Elisabetta

Level: 1

Race: Anole Matriarch

Class: Boss

Mana: 5,500/5,500

Tier: Legendary

Titles: Cutest One, First Born, Named One

Abilities: Acidic Saliva, Trance, Birthing, Tongue Whip, Morph.

She had gained a class, something called 'Boss.' When I inspected it the message only told me she was a creature stronger than the norm. Her Mana increased by a thousand and she had gained a title. 'Named One' was pretty self explanatory as well. I was looking at my little Lizzy, who was sleeping through all of this without a care in the world, and marveling at everything. That was when I heard a small cough. I was instantly on alert and gathered my power, something my instincts tried to stop. I did it regardless, intending to shove all of this power, mana, whatever, down whatever else was in this room's throat.

I felt it gathering around my Core, waking Lizzy who jumped up and started hissing and looking around in a panicked manner. A small voice started yelling at me, it was difficult to hear it for some reason but I managed.

"Stop! Don't gather your power to attack, it will kill you! You must calm down!" I saw what was causing the noise at that point. It was a tiny little creature that looked like a human in shape, if a human were to be five inches tall, and had little wings flapping like crazy to keep the thing in the air. The fact it seemed to be frantically trying to fly toward me yet was unable to do so was a bit funny.

I realized that the mana I was exuded was acting like a physical buffer for me. Something I could use in the future perhaps. I slowly withdrew the amount of mana I was pouring into it, allowing the creature to steady, if with difficulty, make its way toward my core. I figured it might be the 'Dungeon Assistant.' I also managed to get a better look at it this way as well.

It was a female, whatever the little thing was. She wore a sheer blue dress that seemed to be made out of water and had an odd little bug like antenna on her forehead. Her eyes were massive compared to her actual face. They also had no irises, they were simply pools of crystal blue. I was momentarily fascinated by it and instinctively reached out with a tendril of my mana so I could 'feel' her.

It was soft, squishy. What was this? My memories, the little I had, told me it was a boob. I liked it. I was about to touch the other one when I felt something hard smack the tendril of mana. I recoiled, that had fucking hurt!

"That is not a proper way to greet someone!!!!" I turned my attention toward the woman, not her breasts, and tried to shrug at her. She hovered before me and crossed her arms under her breasts while taking in a lungful of air. I was genuinely curious about where this was going when suddenly I saw a purple streak slam into her and then I heard her scream out in pain and shock.

Lizzy had launched herself from the top of my Core, tackled her to the floor, and was hissing while screaming something that I couldn't make out over the odd little creatures own screams of pain. I wasn't shocked she was hurting, Lizzy was dribbling saliva on her shoulders and chest. The fall had also hurt her, eight feet was a long way to fall when you were about three inches tall. Eventually the little woman threw my adorable Lizzy off of her and got up, one of her wings was bent oddly and I could have sworn her blue eyes were glowing red.

The fact she wasn't screaming anymore let me hear what Lizzy was actually yelling while she zoomed around on the floor, hoping about while she hissed.

'Hussy! No touch Papa! Hussy, hussy, hussy, hussy, hussy. Papa is mine! Rawr!'