Chapter 5: Forest of Sort
To begin with, I needed to know if I was really safe wherever I was. By system analysis, this was a safe place, but you could never be sure of that.
Something could change from one moment to the next. If this was a Vangloria-based world, it would go through a time when wars were common.
If two random kingdoms started fighting, I could end up in the middle of a line of fire. I'm not crazy enough to risk that.
The weak were haunted by the morbid customs of their rulers. One moment everything was fine and suddenly everything changed completely.
A storm would fall somewhere, or a new government would take control and voilà! Those who were lower in society were the only ones affected, having everything taken from them.
I refuse to be a part of that!
This mentality, which could be called a little crazy, is what made me the greatest player in the world, so I never disapproved of it in any way.
Being subjected to the whims of a tyrant was basically becoming a slave. And I refuse to become one!
Well, to begin with, I needed to gather some resources and maintain a self-sufficient way of continuously acquiring them.
The only resource I needed was Points. Being a Dungeon Master, I only needed that to stay alive.
Points could be used to buy equipment, monsters, items, food, and multiple other things. With them, my power was practically infinite.
Naturally acquired points came from my innate magical ability, meaning they were based on my maximum amount of mana.
With a total of 30 mana points, I was able to gather about 1000 Points per week. This was a considerable amount for a beginner, but it wasn't enough to meet my emergency needs.
Before anything else, I looked at my dungeon statistics screen.
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[Information]
Dungeon
Name: None | Type: Tower
Rarity: Unique | Grade: 1
Servants: 2
Floors: 2 | Subsidiary Floors: 0
Points: 950
Requirement for Next Grade: 1000 Points | Uncommon Monster
[Bonus]
Domesticated and Tamed Monsters have a chance to receive the Calm Mind ability.
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With this information, some doubts were cleared up. There was also some information that wasn't explicitly stated.
There was a limit to the number of servants, normal floors, and subsidiary floors I could have depending on the dungeon's grade, but it wasn't a very important value.
Some of my abilities were limited by this grade. They were practically locked up.
I sighed heavily at that. Going back to the beginning was complicated, but I didn't worry too much about it. There were many ways to acquire points.
The more monsters there were in the dungeon, the more points could be obtained over time. Through invasions, completing hidden achievements, and many other means.
The information that relieved me the most was about the Calm Mind ability. Bonuses were one of the greatest strengths of a master and could usually only be acquired through achievements.
Them receiving this ability wasn't particularly bad. In fact, it might be very good.
With my current points, I began to plan what to do next.
In Vangloria, the best method to obtain points was to attract players, monsters, and NPCs to the dungeon. They would come to get rewards, and in return, I would receive points. However, in this place, I didn't even know where I was. Searching for people was out of the question.
The other option was to hunt and acquire Mana Stones. With Mana Stones, acquiring points would be an easy task, but for that I still needed to go out hunting.
I looked at the goblin who was still scratching his nose and at the white wolf sitting wagging its tail.
"Come on. Let's go to the first floor," I said, getting up from the throne and walking towards the lower floor.
Arriving there, accompanied by the duo, I modified the surroundings a bit. The floor itself was quite large and the forest aspect did not displease me, so I decided to keep it.
In the middle of the forest, I opened a pleasant clearing, spending about 10 Points in the process. This was one of the functions I received with my maximum Dungeon Creation ability.
Then, I looked at the list of monsters I could summon. Currently, I was able to summon these monsters:
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[Goblin | Rarity: Common | Points: 50]
[Skeleton | Rarity: Common | Points: 50]
[Wolf | Rarity: Common | Points: 150]
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With the creation of the White Wolf, I unlocked a weaker version of the race, being only common wolves. They cost almost three times the price of goblins, but their short and long-term strength was much better.
As a test, I decided to summon a Skeleton.
"Summon Skeleton," I proclaimed, raising my hand.
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[Successful Summoning]
[-50 Points for Summoning Skeleton]
[Remaining Points: 890]
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A pile of bones began to sprout from the ground, taking on the aspect of a human body. The skeleton carried a femur bone in one of its hands and had a green glow in place of its eyes.
As soon as it appeared, it raised one hand and came running towards me, ready to attack. I dodged with precision and observed its movements.
The skeleton was very mechanical. It didn't seem to possess any form of intelligence and only attacked crazily.
When it tried to harm me again, I dodged with a step to the side and placed one hand on its head.
"Domination!"
The energy penetrated the creature's skull, causing it to stop for a moment. For a moment, the green of its eyes turned into a strong red and then returned to normal.
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[Successful Domination]
[Skeleton Dominated]
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Suddenly, it stopped attacking and stood still like a statue in front of me. Without lungs, it did not breathe, so it could easily pass as furniture.
Although it would be strange to have a skeleton as furniture...
I found the scene even a bit funny at that moment.
Now, I had a total of three servants. Nothing compared to my previous army, but it was what I had for today. Using my remaining points, I began to summon several Goblins.
This time I had no problems, as the skeleton put fear in the hearts of the green creatures. After a total of 500 points spent, I created ten common goblins.
I still had about 300 points to spend, so I looked for some items in the store. Since the Dungeon was still at Grade 1, I didn't have many options.
I searched for a while trying to find something good and finally something caught my eye.
Here's the translation into spoken language used in the United States:
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[Item]
Name: Wooden Bow
Type: Light Bow
Rarity: Common
Durability: 100/100
Ability: None
Description: A common bow made from the wood of a good tree
Cost: 100 points
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The Rarity was what determined the strength and quality of an item. To be honest, a common long-range weapon could be even weaker than one of my blows depending on the force I used, but at that moment it was the best thing I could buy.
I also bought some arrows, leaving me with only 50 points. I would save them in case of an emergency.
After finishing the purchase, I had everyone gather. The group of just over a dozen stood in front of me, watching me closely.
I didn't have much energy left to use Domination, especially since I was about to enter combat, so it was a relief that none of them tried to go against me.
"All of you. Kneel before your master," I ordered loudly.
It was the only option to ensure control, even if for a short time, over my servants beyond the Domination ability.
With my cold gaze on them, they dared not disobey my orders. Perhaps the skeleton and the growling wolf had helped a lot.
With that in mind, they immediately kneeled and a resonance echoed.
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[Achievement]
Name: Those Who Know Their Place
Rarity: Common
Reward: 500 Points | Slavery Collar
Description:
You have shown your new monsters who's boss. By completing this achievement, the obedience of new monsters increases slightly. Be careful! Monsters that are constantly ordered to do things they don't want to do can rebel against a weak master.
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I was happy with the result. Obtaining this achievement was easy. I just needed some monsters to directly obey my orders.
Domination imposed my desires over theirs. A fight between absolute wills.
"Well, I know none of you can speak, but I'll explain the plan..."
I began to explain how our trip would work. We would leave the dungeon and quickly survey the surroundings, looking for possible enemies and other things.
The objective of this trip was to hunt something. The environment inside the dungeon was self-sustaining, meaning we could live freely inside without worrying about hunger or thirst, as it provided everything for us.
However, the desire to eat and drink still existed, especially in creatures like Goblins and Wolves. So hearing about "hunting" got them excited.
But the danger outside was also great, but Wolves were already used to it and Goblins were simply too dumb to understand.
I then led the group towards the exit, as it was time to find out if my surroundings were really safe.
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1 month after Kayn's summoning.
Inside a rustic bar with a wooden floor and huge mugs, two tall men talked as they downed an absurd amount of beer.
"Arrrg!" grunted one of them after chugging a cold mug down his throat. "Did you hear what happened?"
"Ah. You're talking about the Dama de Ferro's failed incursion into the Forest of Sort. I only know what some bums told me. Tell me what you know."
After that girl found out she was a Heroine, she began to want to do more than she could. She was just a servant of the Baroness, but took the title of Iron Lady. After the confusion that occurred in the south, coupled with the attack of the Northern Barbarians, she decided to try to cross the border through the forest.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! That girl has to learn her place. Just because she was lucky enough to have the Heroine Class, doesn't mean she's better than any of us. And then what happened?"
"That's exactly what you imagine. There was a complete massacre inside the forest. They say half the battalion died and they didn't even come close to passing through the forest."
The two men, already drunk, had no control over their own voices, so they could be heard throughout the bar. Near the counter, there were two people in black clothes that covered their entire bodies.
One of the people punched the wooden counter with fury and lowered their head. The other tried to comfort them.
"Miss, let's go. You don't have to listen to this nonsense," a strong, slightly deep female voice sounded, indicating a slightly older age. "If you want, I'll go there myself and shut them up."
"They're telling the truth. I failed in the raid. My fear caused the battalion to fall apart and everything crumbled like a house of cards," the other voice, also female, was higher-pitched and sweeter.
"But it's not your fault. That damned wizard forced the Baroness to send you there."
"He said something appeared in the forest about a month ago. Something that could change the course of the battle. How could I refuse to move forward? If there really is something there, maybe the Baroness's name will be cleared and then..." She hit the table again. "Forget it, let's go, Meredith."
With a quick movement, the person with the sweet voice threw some coins on the counter and headed for the exit. Quickly, the other person followed behind.
However, before leaving, they bumped into one of the drunkards who stared at them with an angry look.
"Hey! You bastard, what are you doing! Apologize, or I'll cut your arm off."
Meredith lowered her head, not showing her face, but it was filled with deep hatred. The young woman pulled out a pair of daggers and a desire to kill sprouted throughout her body.
But a hand grabbed her shoulder.
"Let's go, Meredith. I don't want any more problems involving my name."
The drunkard was still angry, but the person with the sweet voice threw him some coins and, like a pig looking for food, he jumped on them.
This gave the duo time to leave the bar without further interruptions.
"Miss, forgive me. It's just that I..." She lowered her head in regret.
Outside, they removed the capes that covered their bodies, revealing their faces. The sun was rising on the horizon.
Meredith introduced herself as a woman in her twenties.
She was blonde, with golden hair flying in the wind. A very tall woman, with a well-defined, muscular, seductive body... Her blue eyes shone like an ocean and her long ears showed her elven heritage.
The lady wore a complete black armor, with some details in gold. Even so, she couldn't hide her large breasts.
At her waist, she carried a pair of daggers.
{Image}
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The other one was a young woman.
She probably wasn't older than eighteen. She was a bit short. Her beauty was stunning. The features that stood out the most were her hair, silver like the sharpest steel blade, and her eyes that burned like scarlet fire.
She wore black clothes over a much lighter armor and had only a fencing sword as a weapon.
{Image}
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"Miss..."
"Please, stop calling me miss. Call me by my name."
"Yes, Miss Reese!"
The young woman sighed, as it was impossible to get Meredith to stop calling her "Miss."
"Let's head to the Adventurers' Guild. I haven't given up yet. I need to find out what's in that Forest of Sort."
The two covered their heads again and set off towards their goal.