Book of the Dungeon Maker

by Nathan Valerio

  “Fine, you are permitted so leave, I shall inform your father and you speak with Richard. However, as I told your sister, while acting as an adventurer you will have to rely on yourself and your party for funding and equipment, and you are not allowed to use your title. Even more so as a princess than the heroes, you cannot reveal your true identity while you're out there. The second I hear that you are abusing your status, I shall have you recalled to the palace, by force if necessary,” she said.

  “Yay!” I shouted and left.

  I smiled as my thought changed, my plans were going well. First I would level up really fast with the hero, then I would challenge Charlotte to a fight for the crown. With a slip of a drug to daze her, I could win and get the crown. Then I would marry the hero. I would be a very powerful queen, that even the other heroes couldn’t compare. The person with the hero class is the only one that has a unique growth rate of 3-8 instead of 1-5. Normal people only got 1-3, but those of us from the royal family are descendants of a female hero which is why we are a queendom. We also possess a 1-6 growth rate which is slightly above the other heroes. Though I hate how my sister has a 2-6 growth rate instead.

  If I married the hero, my children would be born with that unique growth would pass to my kids and we would be even stronger. Still, to let such a man be king. Hmm, maybe I needed to figure a way to brainwash him instead of seduce him. He would ruin my nation if I let him.

  “Still the crown is mine!” I said and walked outside where he was training and put on an innocent facade attempting to lull him into accepting which he did instantly.

  ***

  The following day the heroes were gathered and told about the guild including its rules and regulations, and then they underwent the test for joining and grading them.

  The system was F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS.

  Missions were graded the same way, and to rank up each person needed to complete 10 missions of their rank, or three of a rank higher.

  For the ranking process, strength and stats were registered, anyone above level 10 with at least three stats over 80 instantly got to E rank. F rank were normally hunting animals or herb collecting while E rank already included monster hunting.

  The nation had dungeons, and a lot of the time monsters escaped into the wild. Adventurers were tasked to keep that number low or eradicate them.

  “From today on, you all will be free to move through the nation, but we will have people nearby ready to call you back at any time when demons may attack. Until then, you should work to grow stronger. We will not restrain you if you wish to head to the other nations and meet other cultures as teleportation stones are in every nation,” the queen announced.

  Everyone looked excited.

  On the side, Ace and Misaki stood and with them was a new girl. This was Charlotte, she had let her hair loose, then tied it into a ponytail revealing her full feminine charm. She wore a simple white silk color button up shirt with tight blue pants which had a steel gauntlet, arm guards, shoulder guard, no chest plate or pants but metal boots that rose past the knee up halfway.

  “You sure you want to come with us Princess?” Misaki asked.

  “Call me Charlotte. While I adventure, I am not a princess. Also, yes. I want to do this, I want to see the nation my family protects with my own eyes. The good and bad,” she said.

  “Be careful not to get depressed if it’s too hard for you,” Ace said.

  “If I can’t handle this, do you expect me to be worthy of the throne? My mother told me this was a learning experience for my own growth. Still, I didn’t expect for my sister to foolishly follow that brainless man,” Charlotte said.

  “Don’t worry about that. For now, we just need to worry about what our first task is,” Ace said.

  “True, considering we have you, we can deal with large scale monster hunting quests easily but that bares bad results for us two who will not get exp from that,” Charlotte said.

  “All we need to do is kill them inside my dungeon. You will get exp from the kill while I get it after I close the dungeon. I can only improve my skills until then,” Ace said.

  “Let’s go. The queen's speech is done and everyone is leaving,” Misaki said walking towards the door.

  With the two following behind they headed out of the castle and entered the town toward the guild where missions were waiting for them to pick up and move out.

  Chapter 11

  “F and E rank missions are near the lower left side, wonder what is available,” one of the several heroes that had gone to pick out missions said.

  I slowly walked to that corner while eyeing a B rank mission that was put near the mission on pure white paper with golden borders.

  Goblin Troubles

  Goblins that have escaped from a dungeon four years ago have formed a village in forested area. Currently possesses five villages throughout the forest and are all led by one variant red ogre with the Blessing of the War God. Level average 40-60 required or stats equal to this level.

  Objectives: The death of leader and higher evolution goblins to weaken their forces. 500 gold for the leader, 100 gold for every higher evolution goblin.

  Bonus: Destroy all Goblin Villages and kill all goblins, 2000 gold for total extinction.

  “I wonder why this mission is B rank?” I asked.

  A nearby veteran adventurer looked my way as the words left my mouth and looked at the request.

  “Kid, you don't know? Monsters with a God’s Blessing are always more powerful than the common breed and they even evolve differently. That ogre may be level 40, but strength wise he should be at the max of the request, level 60. Not to mention he is strangely intelligent for a monster with this blessing,” the man said.

  “If he is smart then it shouldn't be surprising since a god of war should also be a god of strategies. Shame the rank is so high, I have a summonable pawn that could fight and kill it,” I said.

  “Heh, rank up quick then, a newbie with strength always has a corresponding rank,” the veteran said and took a C rank mission and went to his party.

  I moved on and looked at the lower ranked missions.

  F ranked was as expected, basic tasks like gathering herbs and job offers to do mining, hunt regular animals and so forth.

  E ranked missions were where you could mess with monsters.

  “Hmm, gray wolf pack terrorizing hunting village, if I am not wrong gray wolf is the first step from common wolves followed by black then the rare silver, but then there are demon evolutions,” I muttered.

  Another one was similar to the B rank mission, but much easier and E rank.

  Vagabond Goblins

  A group of goblins have set up base near the Devian River, though they have only taken to hunting animals and fishing, they still attack nearby villages and caravans and kidnap women for breeding.

  Objective: Destroy the village.

  Bonus: Keep structured village intact. Hunting camps can be converted from the former.

  “Another goblin request. Hmm... the wolf request and goblin request are both near each other. I feel irony is appearing, seriously I have only fought goblins and wolves until now,” I muttered but took the two posters and went to the girls.

  “What do you think?” I asked after showing it to them.

  “For now, it's fine. We can get used to working together and we need to raise our ranks quicker anyway,” Charlotte said.

  “No third mission near here?” Misaki asked.

  “Not that I noticed. Not unless we want to travel further away after these are done,” I said.

  “They are fine then. Is this Devian River far?” Misaki asked.

  “About a week away, but that isn't a problem because it should already be registered for you and the adventurer’s guild also has a teleportation table,” Charlotte said.

  “How do they have one?” I asked.

  “Easy, the maker of this teleportation device was one of the founders of the adventurer’s guild. Of course, the guild br
anches will have them as long as they are in a town large enough for a branch to exist in. And these are a specific for adventurers,” she said.

  “I see, is there a fee?” I asked.

  “Five silver coins per person per use. This is a typical price range for the gains that E rank should be earning,” Charlotte said.

  “Not a problem then, let's go, I will need to think heavily about how to attract wolves and goblins into my dungeons, and keep the number of traps low to keep them inside,” I said.

  “Why not add traps near the entrance but not activate them unless the monsters try to exit,” Misaki said.

  “True, the archive said I can also support life in the dungeon now, does that mean plant life?” I asked.

  “Maybe, dungeons regularly have patches of herbs and greenery and because they are rather full of mana, the herbs grow quickly. Now that you mention it, did you ever try archiving herbs and such? Or even potions for drops?” Charlotte asked.

  “No, after all I have no idea why I would need to unless I want to kill humans who have use for them as means to attract them. Though I guess goblins are smart enough to need them,” I said.

  Your Archive skill has been upgraded after you realized a new function of dungeons.

  Dungeons provide gathering points and plants as both a means to attract sentient creatures as well as wild monsters starting from herbivores and subsequently their predators.

  To archive vegetation and herbs say, 'Archive Vegetation.'

  You can store 18 common non-medical plants, 13 common fruit bearing plants and crops, and 8 medical herbs.

  You may only place vegetation in dirt corridors or rooms with dirt floors.

  “Thank you guys, for mentioning vegetation because I just unlocked a new archive type for vegetation,” I said smiling.

  “Oh, that's good, now we won't have to worry about gathering missions. Let's go to the market and fill all the slots for your book,” Charlotte said.

  “Don't go overboard, we need potions, especially mana potions since this blockhead drinks it like water,” Misaki said and glared at me.

  “Hey, I need to experiment and sometimes my spells over task me,” I complained.

  “Think a bit before trying them then. Hmpf,” she replied and turned.

  I only sighed and walked with Charlotte out of the guild.

  The building itself looked like a high-class inn. Stone walls with high quality wooden floors on the bottom floor furnished lavishly. The first floor also looked like a high-class tavern.

  We exited and headed to a food market.

  It didn't take long for me to see how bad the nation's food problems were.

  “You’re joking with me, right?” I asked Charlotte when I saw the prices.

  “Well we have been at war for over a century. Even if we wanted to, our food supply is stretched thin to maintain our army,” Charlotte said.

  “Still… 10 silver for a box of 20 apples, 50 silver for a box of 20 potatoes?” Misaki said.

  “The potatoes are reasonable, after all they are crops found in the borders of the demon land and don't grow easily,” Charlotte said.

  “They are crops that can handle rocky terrain, it's a very easy crop to grow. The problem is most likely the farming techniques,” I said.

  I took out a page of parchment without even thinking and began to draw up the diagram for crop cycling and how to make fertilizer.

  “Next time we visit the queen or some farm village that is open to ideas, we can pass this on,” I said as I showed Misaki. She nodded after making sure everything was correct.

  Then, with a bleeding heart, we purchased potatoes, carrots, edible mushrooms, and some nuts from bushes. It took more than two gold coins to pay for it.

  Then we purchased healing herbs x20, poison herbs x20, medical herb x20— a unique herb that strengthens the effect of those it's mixed with and has an alluring fragrance—and x20 a special flower that attracts animals and monsters.

  These four were medical herbs as the flower was used to make hallucination gas and potions.

  It cost us over 10 gold, everything was sold in 20g. With the crops and medical herb part taken care of we went to buy potions, mostly mana since I could use slow heal.

  With our money dwindling we went to pay for the teleportation and appeared near the village in an area surrounded by a wooden palisade.

  We took out the vegetables and I archived everything.

  “Can you girls go and find a place for us to sleep? An inn maybe, though if we don't have the money, I can set up a room in a dungeon and we can put our sleeping gear inside,” I said.

  “What about you?” Charlotte asked.

  “I will gather common plants and see what the wildlife holds. Also, I will set up a one floor dungeon so that I can reproduce those plants, we need to earn our money back,” I said.

  “Come on Charlotte, no need to worry about him, he has the puppet,” Misaki said and started walking.

  “Ah, wait!” she called and looked my way a moment and ran after her.

  After they were some way away, I moved into the forest and summoned the guardian.

  “Help me gather lumber, two and a half to three meters in length. Look for the best wood. If you find a rare herb bring it with roots and all to me,” I ordered.

  “Understood master,” he said and lifted his sword onto his elbow as his runes turned green. They pulsed from his heart though his body and down to his feet into the ground.

  He then turned and started to walk around.

  I looked for a good spot and pulled my sword out and cleared the bushes and foliage, then made a fire and opened my book to the dungeon layout.

  I cleared the death trap I made for the demons and began a new one. This one would fit best the wolves. In retrospect, I needed to attract them but since they were monsters they would be smarter than animals. Once they saw they were trapped they would just move around to find a place to live.

  Since this was for animals I mad it a maze with lots of twist and a few rooms at some endings.

  The first fifty meters possessed a high number of traps set to attack animals and monsters leaving the dungeon.

  The rest was clear aside from one or two traps just to give the dungeon the right atmosphere.

  Then, in several dead ends I put the alluring fragrance with some common herbs around it. I spread the remaining herbs in some spots.

  For potatoes and crops, I had the option of making buds from them tripling the number of buds I had and from the flowers and herbs I gathered seeds causing the flower and herb to wilt but giving me more herbs.

  All these seeds were planted in the dungeon and in the few rooms I put a few flanks of dire wolf meat. I figured that since animals grow by eating. The magic loaded flanks would attract meat eaters while the herbs would attract the rabbits and rodents.

  That done, I looked around and found a place with tall grass.

  I took several shoots and archived it. I gathered seed and spread it out. Tall grass wasn't even 15 cm tall, but it was still good for rodents as it gave them places to hide.

  I wondered how this would affect the corridors though.

  I was done.

  I made a copy of it on the other page so I could place those two that night. The next day we could check to see if anything was inside and how the plants grew.

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  Looking up, I saw the guardian dropping off three large logs 50 cm thick and three meters long.

  “Guardian, including these three, only gather 42 logs of similar size,” I told him.

  “As you wish, Master,” he said then he turned to leave.

  I walked over and put my pen on the top one. “Archive material.”

  This was the command for storing building material.

  The three logs turned into a light and entered my book.

  Then I went to the schematic page and set the book to make three wooden puppets.

  The schematic turned gray and a numbe
r appeared.

  23:59:40 until all minions are built.

  I looked at the time and noticed a grayed button with a plus next to the number.

  “So I can increase them along the way, but still eight hours for one puppet. Considering how the runes will be added it seems rather quick,” I said.

  I waited until the guardian returned with three more and ordered him to keep bringing them to the same location.

  I then entered deeper into the slowly darkening woods, and when I was a good distance away I cleared an area and set up the first dungeon.

  I would wait to see if we had an inn before placing the second since I had no idea if we could get a place to sleep. I could only open two magic holes even though I could have so many dungeons.

  As it turned out, I needed to speed level the class skills.

  “Okay dungeon set, let's have the traps be inactive for two days so that monsters and animals will be able to bring others in.” With that the settings were done. “The next dungeon I will place the next day and for now we will work on the wolf problem and slowly look for the source and put a dungeon near so we can trap them inside and slowly finish them.”

  I moved back to the camp and found 12 logs so I archived them and then waited.

  When the sky was already dark, the final load of logs arrived and I archived them and dismissed the guardian before heading to town.

  Misaki was at the front furious.

  “What took so long?!” she shouted.

  “Was gathering material for mobs, I have them being made right now. Anyway, did you find an inn?” I asked.

  “Yes, we got one but due to low funds we only got one room with two beds,” she said.

  “You girls stay in the inn. I will find a corner in the village to hide my magic hole and sleep there for the night,” I said.

  “Alright, I asked around and there aren't many people in town so finding a spot shouldn't be hard but keeping it hidden may be, but it's just a night so no biggy, just put up a sign is all. Night,” she said.