NOVEL WEB Chapter 53 - Three to Go
Dungeon Day 58 - Continues
“Friend Dena, what is this price you speak of?”
“It is simple. You simply have to bend the knee.”
“What!! You wish for me to prostrate myself before this master!” Lady Diba exclaimed, her voice reaching a higher shrilling level than ever before.
“I, Lady Diba Snix, serve no one but the warren!”
Hearing her ladyship scream out in anger, the guards reacted, putting their spears forward.
“Friend Dena! Leave, leave now! How dare you come to our home and demand we surrender to some unknown master!”
“Your ladyship, I demand nothing. I assure you that-” Dena was cut off.
“Enough! I will not hear any more of this. Guards!”
Hearing that, Dan figured it was time to act, and he nudged his monsters to emerge. The guards who were taking a step forward stopped as they saw a large worm slowly rise out of the floor behind Dena. Not only that, but four other worms appeared from the ceiling, and eight weird metal moles ripped from the ground, landing lightly on the floor in front of them.
For her part, Lady Diba was so lost in her ruckus that she didn’t notice until a bit later when Chomp opened its maw and activated its Consume skill, causing the space in the small cave to become a bit odd, now seeing what was in the room the once shrilling kobold stopped and stared. Sadly, even in the face of possible death, Diba didn’t seem to stop, and after getting over, the shock began once again.
“What is this, friend Dena!? Have you brought these beasts to devour us!? Do you care so little for your warren? For your friends?”
Dena, smacking her face with the palm of her hand, was about done with the entire thing.
“No, your ladyship, I bring them to show you the power of my master. If you bend the knee, this power can be used to protect your warren.”
“Nonsense, I, Lady Diba, serve no one! These beasts shall be mine regardless. Guards capture them!”
Needless to say, the guards were quickly ripped apart, and not soon after, Dena convinced Diba to bend the knee, promising she would still be able to rule the warren. Well, convince was the wrong word. More like she threatened Diba with death by worm if she didn’t bend the knee and then consoled her afterward by telling her she still ruled. Either way, Dan got the notification.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
Congratulations! You have gained control of another faction and thus have claimed their lands.
🔷
Afterward, Dena left the warren and teleported back to her home on a teleporter Dan created in some stone outcroppings near the kobold cave. He also left the four teams behind to secretly help guard the kobold entrance and the teleporter. Then, with all that done, Dan finally looked at his dungeon menu to see how much progress he had made.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
🔷Dungeon Menu 🔷
Name: Dan.
Rank: Low D Rank.
Shards Collected: 2/98.
Points till Next Rank: 0/700.
Mana: 900/900.
Mana Regen: 32 Mana a Day.
Chaos Mana Regen: 16 Chaos Mana a Day.
Constant Mana Expenditure: 325 Mana a Day.
Number of People in Dungeon: 0.
Number of Bosses: 15 to 17.
Number of Monsters: 611 to 1040.
Number of Humanoids: 1087 to 3159.
Non-Original Residents: 32.
Monster Telepathy Range: 300ft.
Total Area Claimed: 578 to 877 Square Miles.
Pure Arcane Mana: 5250/5250 to 53,400/53,400.
Pure Mana Regen: +45 to +1223 Per Minute.
Order Mana: N/A.
Abilities. 15.
Claim or Edit Area.
Create or Edit Creature.
Create or Edit Item.
Claiming Goals.
🔷
His growth was excellent, and it was important to remember that even though the Pure Arcane Mana seemed like a lot, it wasn’t truly since it constantly fluctuated as he gave the mana to his monsters. Outside of the mana, the other notable thing was the number of humanoids, which had increased by a decent amount and would probably only keep going up. On the other hand, his number of monsters seemed like a lot, but it was barely anything compared to how much land he had to cover. It was also nothing when he eventually got the numbers of regular beasts. Actually, maybe it was best if that was hidden from him. Dan imagined there were hundreds of thousands of insects, birds, squirrels, and worms, along with a bunch of other crap in the entire zone, and he would never amount to that many monsters of his own creation. Well, at least not for a long time.
Anyways, moving on from that, Dena and Drax were thrown into the boss's count, with the actual name being changed from Boss Monsters to just Bosses. Dan imagined that as things progressed and he got more humanoids, that would change once again, and he would probably receive some sort of NPC counter.
Feeling happy about his growth, Dan checked his claiming goals to see how close he was to finishing them.
Claiming Goals.
— Factions Under Control 6/9.
— Shards Collected 2/6.
— All Creatures in Area Under Control 0/1.
Three more factions—that's all he needed. Actually, it was more like two factions since the gnolls didn’t really count for much. The best part of everything was the shards. He only had three areas left to conquer, which meant the remaining shards had to be there. It was less great when he thought about fighting a D rank shard, but he wasn’t too worried. As he thought about the whole shard thing, Dan wondered if the Chaos Mother had changed something for the upcoming fights. It was a real worry because pretty much all rules were off the table moving forward. Sure, Mother Eternity said she would keep to some rules, but that only extended as far as she wanted. In one zone, Dan could fight mana-storing shards, while in the next, he was somehow fighting a shard that could summon stuff in a different way than he could. Heck, some zones might be live right now with things happening, while others were trapped in time until he reached them.
In a way, it was a nightmare for Dan that he had the Chaos Mother as a Dungeon Master, but in another, it was rather interesting. Dan was on an ultimate adventure, never knowing what to expect.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
Warning! A Crystal Shard has been consumed!
Claiming Goal updated.
🔷
Speaking of not knowing what to expect.
Honestly, looking at the notification, Dan wasn’t even fazed. It was just another challenge to overcome. So, instead of worrying, Dan looked to bring some creations to life.
If Dan was being truthful, he was getting tired of having the same monsters. He wanted some variety, at least before he began making his dungeon. He would have plenty of variety at that point, but until then, some change would be nice.
First, he looked to make some monstrosities. Specifically, he wanted to make some of the centipedes, and looking at them, he was surprised. Spawning a Low D Rank centipede would cost less mana than most of his beasts. This was due to the fact that he wouldn’t have to give them abilities. Instead, since they came pre-made like they were, and he now had their blueprints, their original abilities didn’t cost mana. Ecstatic, Dan quickly looked at the centipedes available knowing they would be an even stronger force when he gave them some new abilities.
First up were the Centiblades. Dan gave them a few body enhancements and two abilities to help their already powerful bladed limbs.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
🔷 Monster Statblock 🔷
Rank: Low D Rank.
Name: Centiblade.
Type: Monstrosity.
Size: Large.
Hierarchy: Minion.
Mind: Intelligent.
Arcane Mana: 150/150.
Arcane Mana Regen: +6 Per Minute.
Pure Arcane Mana: 75/75.
Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +3 Per Minute.
Abilities: 4.
Metal Affinity. Body Enhancement - Speed and Agility. Blade Sharpen.
Innate Abilities: 6.
Bladed Limbs. Splitable Carapace. Unhinged Mobility. Vibroperception. Thermal Antennae. Mental Resistance.
Respawn Timer: 2 Hours.
Respawn Cost: 21 Mana.
Creation Cost: 42 Mana.
🔷
Looking at the centipede, Dan was happy with its looks and hadn’t changed anything. For its abilities, Blade Sharpen let it channel mana to make its blades sharper. Bladed Limbs was obvious as far as its innate abilities went. Splitable Carapace enabled the centipede to detach its body segments, giving it more reach. Then, Unhinged Mobility allowed it to twist its body in new ways, like twisting its spine. Vibroperception let the thing see by detecting vibrations, while the Thermal Antennae further help it perceive its environment by detecting heat.
Overall, the centiblade wasn’t bad, and Dan moved on to the next centipede.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
🔷 Monster Statblock 🔷
Rank: Low D Rank.
Name: Centibulkers.
Type: Monstrosity.
Size: Large.
Hierarchy: Minion.
Mind: Intelligent.
Arcane Mana: 150/150.
Arcane Mana Regen: +6 Per Minute.
Pure Arcane Mana: 75/75.
Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +3 Per Minute.
Abilities: 6.
Poison Affinity. Body Enhancement - Strength and Resilience. Regeneration. Enhanced Poison Gland. Rolling Charge.
Innate Abilities: 7.
Strength. Reinforced Carapace. Poison Gland. Poison Blast. Vibroperception. Thermal Antennae. Mental Resistance.
Respawn Timer: 2 Hours.
Respawn Cost: 30 Mana.
Creation Cost: 61 Mana.
🔷
Much like the centiblade, Dan just gave the bulkers things to help it further in combat. Regeneration to keep it in combat for longer at the expense of mana. Enhanced Poison Gland to help it create a more potent poison with Rolling Charge, allowing it to roll up and charge into the enemy, dealing some damage before releasing its poison. The centibulkers were just the bears of the centipedes with a little extra spice. They weren’t Dan’s favorite and were in last place among the centipedes, with the centiblades in second, with the top centipedes being the centimentalists.
🔷 Crystal Notice 🔷
🔷 Monster Statblock 🔷
Rank: Low D Rank.
Name: Centimentalists.
Type: Monstrosity.
Size: Medium.
Hierarchy: Minion.
Mind: Intelligent.
Arcane Mana: 300/300.
Arcane Mana Regen: +6 Per Minute.
Pure Arcane Mana: 150/150.
Pure Arcane Mana Conversion: +3 Per Minute.
Abilities: 6.
Abjuration Affinity. Evocation Affinity. Enhanced Evocations. Mana Storage. Shield. Camouflage.
Innate Abilities: 4.
Innate Elemental Magic - Fire, Wind, Earth, and Water. Basic Evocationist. Arcane Antennae. Mental Resistance.
Respawn Timer: 2 Hours.
Respawn Cost: 31 Mana.
Creation Cost: 62 Mana.
🔷
The centimentalists were the casters of the bunch. Their innate abilities were rather straightforward, with Innate Elemental Magic giving it access to elemental magic while Basic Evocationist actually allowed it to summon that magic. Finally, their Arcane Antennae were what they used to focus their magic and truly bring it to life while at the same time working as a mana receptor, letting the centipedes “see.”
Dan had decided to improve these centipedes and their colorful carapaces by doing a few things. Enhanced Evocations strengthened their magical attacks, while Mana Storage gave them more mana. Shield was an MVP and let them summon shields around them much like Dena and Drax could, allowing them to take a bit of punishment. Finally, Camouflage was to let them hide their colorful spots whenever they were hunting something or trying to be stealthy. Dan could have just removed them, but he liked the colorful splashes. He felt it gave them that dangerous vibe that poisonous things had.