“I thought the sex makes you stronger. If it makes you tired, no more sex!” the Dungeon Core said in a panicked rush.
Cindra stopped worrying about him and switched to growling at Merideva, but Sthuza stepped up and calmed her with a touch.
“No, Lady Merideva, he was merely visualizing—” Sthuza started before he reached over and covered her mouth.
“No, Meri, I’m not worn out. Just thought of something unpleasant,” Gabriel said. He shot a glare at his Prime, who wore a look of total innocence.
“Oh, well… that’s fine then. I suppose you can keep the sex.”
Once they got Cindra settled down again, Meri floated closer.
“By the way, whatever happened when you were exploring the dungeon, it expanded my Domain.”
Gabriel and his bonded all turned to stare at the hovering Core.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Truly, Lady Merideva?”
“Yep. I don’t know what you did, but my Domain is, like, ten times bigger now.”
He smiled up at her, but his smile faded when he saw his Prime’s fearful expression.
“Don’t worry, Sthuza, I’m not going to try it again. If it helped her Domain, that’s wonderful. But it’s not worth risking that again.”
The gorgon smiled and sagged in relief. “Thank you, Master.”
“Yo-you’re sure you don’t want to do it again?” Merideva whispered.
Gabriel laughed when Sthuza turned to glare at the dim orb.
“Yes, Meri. I’m not risking it again until I’m much stronger. Let’s focus on what you got though.”
“Oh, yeah, good idea. Instead of just this room and the hallway outside, my area on this floor extends out three rooms in any direction from here. And,” Merideva chirped loudly, “you even grabbed up some of the fifth floor too. My Domain Power Rating is over fifty now!”
“That’s great,” Gabriel said, and he grinned at the rush of joy and pride across the connection he shared with the Dungeon Core.
Will we be able to defend it all? You mentioned that would be a problem if we expanded too fast.
‘Do not worry, Master. With the DE earned yesterday, Lady Merideva will be able to support enough goblins to patrol the halls. Hopefully that will be sufficient to protect her until we recover the Domain Crystal.’
He nodded, then sat back and relaxed as Meri happily announced what she planned to do with the much-enlarged Domain.
Should check how much mana I spent on that spell earlier. I mean, even though I was in my mind, that shield was real… wasn’t it?
Gabriel brought up the Dungeon Interface.
Mana 54%
Given the size of my pool now, that’s a lot of mana. Still leaves plenty to deal with Estrial. Almost looking forward to catching her now.
Meri gushed about her plans for another ten minutes. A single brush of the connection between them showed him just how excited the little Core was. He didn’t have the heart to rush her.
When she finally wound down, he steered the conversation over to his upgraded abilities.
CHAPTER FIVE
After Gabriel explained how he’d spent his ability points, Sthuza flashed a fang-bearing smile. “You upgraded your Dungeon Command and Sense abilities, in addition to unlocking Dungeon Minions, correct?”
“Yeah, I figured it’s better to focus on getting good with a few skills rather than testing them all out,” he said.
“That sounds like a wise plan. If that is the case, I believe you can now exert a more potent influence on any of Lady Merideva’s monsters.”
“How does that work? I figured they were limited more by being goblins than from my level. At least, they seemed to follow any direct orders I gave them,” he said, then thought back over each command he’d given the goblins.
Sthuza paused, and her gaze softened as she thought over her reply.
“Again, Master, this is outside of my knowledge as your Prime. I recall Mistress Iylara utilizing that power to take control of various monsters. She could then organize or direct them in ways that they would never manage on their own,” the gorgon said with a sad sniffle.
Gabriel reached up to scratch his chin and looked away in thought. Both to consider his Prime’s words and allow the misty-eyed gorgon a moment to compose herself.
Given how long it’s been since Iylara died, something serious must have happened between them for Sthuza to still get so worked up over her. Need to figure out what it was, but right now isn’t the time to dig into that.
“Well, leveling didn’t come with a guide or any instructions. The only thing I can think of is to experiment with commanding Cuix’s warriors,” Gabriel said after he felt Sthuza brush against their bond.
She coughed politely, then nodded when he turned back to face her. “Yes, Master. That makes sense. If you wish to do that now, I will check on Cindra.”
He smiled at her, drawing a shy one from her in return, then sat and leaned against the wall before opening the Dungeon Interface.
No point risking a fall while experimenting. Now, how do I do this?
Uncertain where to begin, Gabriel sought out his bond with Meri. Once connected, he followed it to the five thin ribbons extending from the Core to the surviving goblins.
Identifying Cuix from the others was easy, and he soon had the female goblin fully visible in his mind. He reached out to her with more than a little trepidation and commanded her to ready her squad.
His sense of self shifted in a flash, and he was Cuix. As he shook off the discordant wrongness of being a female goblin, he realized she was squawking at the other goblins, haranguing them into action.
The moment he recognized what she was doing, Cuix went silent. She seemed to be waiting for his next command.
Sthuza, do you have any idea what’s going on?
‘I am unsure, Master. However, Cuix does look much more professional than she has so far. Perhaps your increased power makes her quicker to obey?’
Sthuza’s thoughts sounded reasonable, but Gabriel felt like she was missing something. He relaxed and centered his mind before thinking another command at the stationary goblin warleader.
This time, he made her leap into action instead of barking orders. Cuix broke into a run, the small monster sprinting faster than he’d thought her capable of.
And without the slightest protest. Last time I told her to run, she bitched the whole time. Odd.
Growing more curious with each passing second, Gabriel concentrated on her, instructing her to hop, skip, tumble, and jump. He watched on in mounting disbelief as Cuix performed a series of moves with more grace than he’d ever seen before.
Wait, that’s not true. Cindra can move like that in her humanoid form. But those goblins weren’t in her league at all… or at least I thought they weren’t.
Now determined to test the limits of this strange connection, he commanded the sprinting goblin to continue and studied her. It felt like he was the one running. That it was his body going through the motions, but at the same time, there was a definite barrier or buffer between them.
At first, Gabriel thought it was related to utilizing a female goblin’s senses. But, the longer he focused on Cuix, the more he began to suspect it was the distance between his mind and her physical body.
It’s almost like I’m controlling her remotely, like some form of golem. But golems don’t have the same limitations that a living creature does. Could I force her to overexert and injure herself?
Not sure he liked where his mind was heading, Gabriel stopped that train of thought and issued a new series of orders.
Cuix leapt forward, bent over, and brought her tiny hands to the hard stone. With her momentum propelling her, she burst into a crazy motion, running across the room on her hands, skinny goblin legs flailing in the air above her.
It disoriented Gabriel as the ground seemed too close to his point of view. The moment he noticed the problem, his perspective shifted. In an instant
, his vision refocused a step or two back and at what he considered eye level.
His viewpoint put Cuix’s crotch front and center. In answer to a thought he’d had but never wanted to contemplate, Gabriel discovered that the goblins, in fact, did not wear anything under their armor.
Lovely. That’s going to be seared in my mind forever, isn’t it? Add goblin underwear to the list of things we need.
Once he got past the initial disgust, he found it effortless to shift his view ahead enough to avoid being flashed by the incredibly agile goblin. Sanity protected, he returned his attention to Cuix, surprised that she continued to perform despite his lack of focus.
Is this new ability limited to one goblin, or can I command multiple?
Gabriel reached out and ordered the least wounded male to join Cuix. The addition of a second goblin disturbed his view for a few seconds. Still, once he decided where he wanted to focus, it was easy enough for him to regain his position.
Not wanting to see any more goblin genitalia, Gabriel called off the handstand stunt. Instead, he had the two goblins under his control line up and break into a traditional Ailannori dance. Both controlled monsters moved with surprising grace.
He spent several minutes directing the pair through the full dance. All he had to do was recall old lessons, then imagine the goblins performing it.
There’s no way either of them could move that fluidly on their own. I’m not sure I could still do it that well. Even with the enhancements Meri made. So what is going on?
To his surprise, Sthuza remained silent and didn’t respond to his thoughts, and Gabriel felt a rush of worry for his Prime. Without thinking, he reached out for Sthuza. It was effortless to trace along their bond as he always did.
Just as he reached her, he slammed into a solid wall of force. The sudden impact blasted the air from his lungs and rattled his senses.
Thrown back into his own body, he wobbled and overcompensated, leaning too far to his right and started to topple. He tried to brace himself with one arm, but the sudden switch back to his own senses left him confused.
Gabriel tucked his head enough to avoid bashing it against the ground, but the sudden fall left him groaning in pain as he rolled over and staggered to his feet.
“Massster, are you all right?”
“What happened?” he grumbled, then winced at the harsh sound as the words came from the two goblins sprawled on the ground near him. Both of them appeared to have collapsed at the same time he did.
Sthuza stumbled to a halt in front of him. Her green gaze flicked between the three of them on the ground. “I am unsure, Master. You sat motionlessly and focused on the goblins. First one and then both of those goblins began acting in a most unusual manner. Since it appeared that you were successful in controlling them, we continued to prepare.”
Afraid to hear any more of his words come from the goblins, Gabriel took several deep breaths and focused on withdrawing entirely from the prone pair. After a moment, he stepped over to Sthuza and tried again. “I was, but when I tried to find out where you were, I smashed into something solid, and it threw me back to my own body. At least, I think that’s what happened.”
The gorgon blushed, her cheeks turning dark green, and her gaze lowered. “My apologiesss, Massster,” she mumbled.
Gabriel blinked at her submissive tone and held back his next question. Instead, he stepped closer and wrapped his Prime in a tight embrace. He brought his mouth next to her pointed ear before whispering, “Don’t worry about it.”
Her arms came up and wrapped around him, but she shook her head.
‘No, Master, I will explain it. Quite simply, you are not powerful enough as a Dungeon Master to use your command ability on me.’
Is that all?
Sthuza gave a soft laugh.
‘If you are not bothered by the fact I am stronger than you, then yes.’
Gabriel leaned in and kissed her lips, and Sthuza’s grip on his back tightened.
Is Cindra too powerful for the ability also? I can’t imagine a scenario where I’d need it with either of you, though.
‘Yes, Master. Seruuberc hellhounds are A-ranked monsters. I would be surprised if you can control more than a C-rank right now.’
Thanks for the explanation, my Prime.
He held Sthuza for a moment longer, then released her and turned back to face the others. In the meantime, the two least injured goblins had returned to their feet and grabbed their weapons. Both Cuix and Gorte stared up at him with wide, unblinking eyes.
“You is made us do the dancing and moving?” they asked in strange, overlapping voices.
“Yes, and you both performed very well. I intend to practice it again the next time we have intruders. This way, you can help Sthuza and Cindra,” Gabriel said. When the two goblins nodded slowly, he grinned and turned back to Merideva. “I think they’re good for now, so come over here and join me. We need to talk about our plans.”
◆◆◆
Merideva rushed over to join Gabriel and his bonded. She hovered in front of him and pulsed slowly while Sthuza took a few minutes to shoo away the goblins.
“I was tempted to head straight out and hunt down Estrial,” Gabriel said as he stroked the Dungeon Core, “but I’m not comfortable leaving Meri with no defenses.”
In the far corner, Cuix muttered under her breath when he discounted her goblins.
Gabriel studiously ignored everything she said.
Sthuza nodded, and her head-snakes swayed side to side as she furrowed her brow. “I would prefer to ensure that Lady Merideva’s domain is impregnable before we leave, but I fear we will not be able to manage that.”
“No puppies at all?” Cindra gasped.
“What?” Gabriel asked.
The gray-skinned beauty stared at him with huge, tear-filled eyes. “Packmaster won’t let Cindra have pups?”
He blinked at her.
Sthuza glared at the larger monster girl, but her head-snakes shook with laughter. “No, you foolish furball, we are talking about defenses.”
The huge hellhound whimpered sadly. “Does Packmaster want to leave Cindra to protect Glowy Lady?”
Gabriel turned and smiled but shook his head. “No, Cindra, I’m not going to leave you here while we go hunting. Don’t worry.”
Her timid frown flipped instantly, and the muscular monster girl rushed over to wrap him in a spine-cracking hug. “Yay! Packmaster is the greatest.”
Chuckling while also gasping for air, he patted her back until she was satisfied and lowered him to his feet again.
“If you are done playing with the airhead,” Sthuza said, “I may have a few suggestions on defenses for Lady Merideva.”
“Really? That’s great,” Gabriel replied as he stepped past Cindra to face his Prime.
“Yes, Master. While we did not earn much DE for her given the challenge of the battle we fought, there is still a tidy sum left after she graciously created a room for you.”
Gabriel brought up the Dungeon Interface and checked the resources tab. Sthuza was correct; they still had several hundred DE. He concentrated on what they could spend it on, and a new panel popped up.
The Interface displayed several options for using the Dungeon Essence. Goblins were the only monster available, and as Sthuza mentioned before, it would cost more for him than the Core. He needed a hundred Essence to conjure one. Meri could do it for twenty.
Below the monster entry was the option for traps. There were over a dozen shown, but most of them were grayed out.
Looking at these prices, Meri could summon a damn army of goblins… or we could set up a trap or two.
When Gabriel focused on the idea of only displaying ones Meri could afford, the Interface flashed, and only five remained. A new bar at the top showed a row of buttons.
He tested them out and found they provided different ways of sorting the information. After a few seconds of messing around with them, he shifted his attention back to defense.
&nb
sp; “There’s a listing of traps we can build now,” Gabriel said as he turned to look at the gorgon. “It wasn’t there when I checked yesterday.”
She nodded, which sent her snakes into a hissing fit as they flopped about. “The Dungeon Interface is reactive and does not present all possible options, only those considered relevant. At the start of yesterday, our Domain was so small that traps would have been pointless.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed how it keeps adding more detail and options as I learn new things. I’ve looked over these prices. There are only five that we can afford, and three of them take a while to reset.”
Again his Prime nodded, though her head-snakes were ready this time, and they undulated gracefully. “Many of them also require mana or Essence from the Core, Master. Lady Merideva is still quite vulnerable. You need to be careful not to set up too many traps or conjured monsters. If she runs out of Essence, her Core will shatter.”
Gabriel flinched at that little detail. He quickly read over the entries on the first two traps he’d found.
One was a shocking trap that would strike any intruder that crossed it with a stunning blast. He liked it because it was selective, attacking only enemies, and wouldn’t get wasted on the goblins he was sure would constantly wander through it.
Or Cindra.
Plus, its output can be adjusted to do more or less damage. There’s even an option to make it nonlethal.
The second was an extra-dimensional pit trap that would replace the floor when triggered, opening a ten-by-ten-foot pit beneath whoever tripped it. While it wasn’t selective like the other, if Gabriel placed it wisely, they could block off an entire passage.
Like the tunnel out in front of the Core Room I added to her Domain yesterday. If it works the way I hope, it might discourage any adventurers from even entering her room. Though, with the expanded Domain, we could place some further out.
As he read through them more carefully, his shoulders sagged when he spotted what Sthuza was talking about.
Both traps have an active power draw.
He sighed and switched back to the Resources pane to check their Essence income. He flipped between them a few times and compared the numbers, trying to work out the risk to Meri.
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