Dungeon Overlord (OLD Version) Chapter 13 - New Dungeon Creatures (Patreon)

During the past several days, Archaon was seriously pondering on what to do with all of the Dungeon Echoes that he had obtained from the invasion force from the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers.

The overall final number was something above the 100,000 Dungeon Echoes, and right now, he has precisely 114,000 Dungeon Echoes. Among the invaders that had come to his Dungeon, there were also many who were at Level 2, mainly the trained elites, and there was a good number of them, in fact. 

Coupled with the Dungeon Echoes that he already had, he was now sitting on a vast number of the Dungeon Echoes that needed to be used in some fashion to strengthen the Dungeon and in a rather ingenious way.

A situation like this won't be coming any soon, though; he was planning to attack the Harrenhal so that one would give him another 100,000 Dungeon Echoes, perhaps even more considering the number of people living in that monstrosity of the Castle and the surrounding areas that he also planned to destroy with his monster army.

He was thinking that he could get a solid 250,000 Dungeon Echoes to 300,000 Dungeon Echoes from the conquest of the Harrenhal, as it was the heart of the Kingdom of the Isles and the Rivers.

Obviously, a lot of the Dungeon Echoes would be going to the environment of the Dungeon right now as he planned to buy the Magic Gathering Crystals and place them across the Dungeon.

This would result in the ability of Dungeon to siphon Magic from the world where the Dungeon was located to speed up several times. 

Another thing that came out perfectly was the number of the killed Dungeon Creatures was very high in the end, which solved the population crisis within the Dungeon. Previously, his Dungeon was facing rampant overpopulation, especially regarding the Goblins, but not only them. 

Even Kobolds and Gnolls suffered huge losses during the invasion of the Dungeon and the subsequent Monsterphillia, which was something that he really needed. During the Begginer's Protection Period, all Dungeon Creatures received tremendous boon to their birth rate, and the time needed for them to grow was covered greatly.

That led to a very high population of the three basic Dungeon Creatures within the Dungeon, and that was something far more than his Dungeon could handle without internal collapse. 

To create a successfully working Dungeon, one needs very strong internal stability, and one needs to have a very advanced ecosystem within the Dungeon. That one was rather skewered by the Begginer's Protection Perion to a great degree.

Now it was time for another wave of the Dungeon development, though Archaon would really appreciate it if he could get some sentient species of the non-Monster Type that could be the building block of his civilization in the Dungeon.

One could think of the Dungeon as a miniature world with the Dungeon Master being the Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent God that was guiding the direction of the Dungeon. 

If the Dungeon Master wished, he could create the Dungeon that was filled with nothing but mindless monsters that didn't know anything aside from the carnage and slaughter. Or they could create a Dungeon where an advanced civilization of species thrived.

One could say that everything depended on the will of the Dungeon Master. Archaon aimed at the combination of both because he wanted to create a Dungeon that was indeed a reflection of the real world in fact.

There would be the elements of the advanced civilizations, while some parts of the Dungeon would be filled with species of no intelligence or whatever to imitate the ecosystem of the real world perfectly.

Now, he was standing in front of the Dungeon Heart as he was pondering what he should choose as the next Dungeon Creature because he had over 100,000 Dungeon Echoes, so he was considering going for something better.

Unfortunately, due to the restrictions imposed on the Dungeon Heart, there wasn't really that much to choose from. The Dungeon Fairy Yihi was floating around as she had just finished playing with her bees on the 3rd Layer of the Dungeon, the Garden Lair and returned to the Dungeon Heart Room.

She flapped her tiny wings as she landed on his shoulder and started kicking her legs in the air as she was in rather good mood. Normally, because the Dungeon was filled with the Kobods, Gnolls and Goblins, she couldn't go out and play with them.

But now that the Dungeon Overlord was going to add some sentient civilized species to the Dungeon, she was delighted at the thought because she would have more friends to play with. 

Thus, for the entire time, Yihi was in a very good mood.

"Yihi can recommend some good species to add to the Dungeon that are recorded in the Dungeon Heart. Unfortunately, the Master would need to upgrade the Dungeon to the Unique Grade to access the bigger catalog of the Dungeon Creatures or just capture them through the old way and let the Dungeon Heart scan them. But there is one species that the Dungeon Overlord would certainly appreciate, Yihihi..."

The tiny Dungeon Fairy explained, and she giggled while Archaon looked at her, because she, in the end, was the most knowledgeable person in the Dungeon. At the same time, as he was looking at the Dungeon Fairy Yihi, he received a Mission from the System.

[Mission: Upgrade the Dungeon to the Unique Grade

Reward: Dungeon Creature Customizable Card x2]

He read the description, and there was nothing else aside from the Mission and the rewards of the Mission, which were actually very good. The Dungeon Creature Customizable Card was something that allowed him to create any Dungeon Creature he wished, thus bypassing the limitations imposed on the Dungeon. 

The final quantity of the Dungeon Creatures would depend on the quality and the power of the Dungeon Creature that one created through the Dungeon Creature Customizable Card.

"What race are you talking about?"

Even though the Dungeon Fairy was rather playful and mischievous, she was carrying out her duties as the Dungeon Fairy splendidly and without any fault. That was something that he was sure of, so he quickly asked Yihi what she had in mind.

"Dark Iron Dwarves. They are particular species of the Dwarves that are best suited to live in the Dungeon. Not only do they have the usual superior aptitude towards the Metallurgy, Blacksmithing, and Building, but at the same time, they also have very commonly strong aptitude towards the Sorcery and Magic."

As he heard about the Dark Iron Dwarves, he recognized the name because they were from the world of Azeroth, and they were indeed very suitable to be the Dungeon Creatures. Yihi had indeed suggested something very useful because the dwarves of any kind would be very useful to the fledgling Dungeon. 

With the addition of time, more and more species would call the Dungeon their

Obviously, though, this would be very pricy because the sentient species like the Dark Iron Dwarves would cost a lot of the Dungeon Echoes. Especially species like the Dark Iron Dwarves, which have many advantages and high potential.

[Dungeon Creature: Dark Iron Dwarf

Dungeon Creature Type: Humanoid

Level: 1

Cost: 500 Dungeon Echoes]

The price was indeed rather steep, and this was just the Dark Iron Dwarf at Level 1.

Usually, when one was creating the Dungeon Creatures through the Dungeon Heart, their price was about 10 times the Dungeon Echoes obtained from the being of the same Level that was killed on the Dungeon. 

 As the normal Level 1 Being was worth 10 Dungeon Echoes, the price of the normal Level 1 Dungeon Creautre was around 100 Dungeon Echoes, but here it was 500 Dungeon Echoes, which was fifty times the original worth of Level 1 Being and five times the average cost of the normal Level 1 Dungeon Creautre.

Still, it was a rather good deal because the potential of the Dark Iron Dwarves was very high, and more importantly, they would be very useful when it came to building things within the Dungeon.

Because he had far more than enough of the Dungeon Echoes, he went ahead and bought 60 Dark Iron Dwarves for the 30,000 Dungeon Echoes, which put a serious dent in the state of the Dungeon Echoes in his possessions. 

Originally he had planned to use almost all of the Dungeon Echoes, it not he development of the Dungeon's environment, but if he had the possibility to start ahead the preparation for the future stronger worlds, then he didn't really see the reason to deny it. 

At the same time, the Dark Iron Dwarves would be very well used in the upgrades of the Dungeon, especially when he merged the Harrenhal into the new Dungeon Layer. This was the first larger investment into the Dungeon Creatures since he had arrived in the world.

Soon enough, in front of the Dungeon Heart, a group of the Dark Iron Dwarves has materialized. 

Dwarves were squat and powerfully built. Non-dwarves might have difficulty telling males and females apart from a distance. The women are slightly less built and have slightly less gruff voices, but are known for fighting with as much (if not more) determination as the men.

On average, women reach a height of 137 centimeters while men generally stand around 142 centimeters tall, regardless of which type of dwarf they are, with most being stout to varying degrees. Some males do reach just above 152 centimeters.

Their stoutness belies great swiftness and dexterity, and they are able to move with stealth that most other races assume impossible for such stocky beings. 

Archaon observed the Dark Iron Dwarves curiously, as this was the first time he had seen a dwarf in real life. Indeed, unlike Dungeon Creatures like Gnolls, Kobolds, and Goblins, which primarily acted on their instincts, the Dwarves were an intelligent race. 

One capable of deep thought and great wonders. 

The Dark Iron Dwarves that were created through the Dungeon Heart instinctively knew that he was the ruler of this place so they immediately knew whom to they had to kneel. Unlike the other races inhabitating the Dungeon, the Dark Iron Clan of Dwarves was highly intelligent. 

Their requirement for the living space and everything around that would be much higher than that of the Gnolls, Kobolds, and Goblins that were inhabiting the Dungeon right now. Aside from that, Archaon also needed to create the best possible conditions of living for them, because he needed them to thrive. 

Creating any more Dark Iron Dwarves through the Dungeon Heart was rather costly, so he was going to depend on the natural reproduction rate. Which would be also rather problematic, considering that he had just 60 of the Dark Iron Dwarves and their fertility wasn't really that high in the first place.

In the future he would need to create several more of the Dark Iron Dwarves through the Dungeon Heart and also buy something that would increase their fertility to they could start reproducing and create rather stable population for the Dungeon, because with the 60 of them, it was hard to do anything.

Archaon also wanted to see the legendary martial might of the Dark Iron Dwarves that were combingin their Sorcerery with the good old steel of the dwarven forges, that was making them very dangerous foes.

At the same time, as he observed these Dark Iron Dwarves, he pondered where he should send them, because there wasn't really suitable Dungeon Layer for them right now.

Obivously he couldn't send them to the Tower of the Storms, because there they would be clashing with the Goblins for sure. And while the Caverns of the Bureoze seemed like a good idea for the Dark Iron Dwarves, it wasn't due to very high presence of the Kobolds and Gnolls that were all around the 2nd Layer of the Dungeon.

That was leaving him onylw ith the Garden Lair, butt that was only a temporary solution. Even if he didn't take into he consideration other things, it was far more than obvious that the dwarves didn't belong to the forests and jungles like the Garden Lair. 

Due to the fact that he planned another Monsterphillia in a few months, he would take the Harrenhal and create a new Dungeon Layer where he would create a suitable conditions for the Dark Iron Dwarves to live.

For that he would need to create there several big mountains and at least one active volcano for their forges. The volcano would be essential for the large military-industrial complex that he envisioned to be built in the future, and that was impossible without an active volcano.

At the same time, the Dark Iron Dwarves were fire-resistant to a very high degree and could withstand extremely high temperatures.

This allowed them to perfectly utilize some of the most hazardous environments to their advantage, like the active volcanoes, where they could build their forges to produce countless pieces of weapons, armor, and other types of armaments.

Archaon praised Yihi for this choice in his mind as he decided to let her have around 5,000 Dungeon Echoes to spend as she wished. Because she was carrying out her duties as the Dungeon Fairy very seriously, he decided to reward her with some extra Dungeon Echoes so she could play. 

He already knew that she would invest all of the Dungeon Echoes that he had prepared for her into the bees that she was breeding. It was highly possible that she would buy some powerful types of the Bees.

Archaon then used the [Mind's Eye] on the Dark Iron Dwarves, checking out their attributes and skills, which were rather similar. All of their stats were in the ranges of the Level 1, but closer to the upper degrees of the Level 1.

All of them also had some racial skills, namely the [Fire Resistance (R)], which was common for all of the Dark Iron Dwarves, but some of the dwarves had individual skills.

"So, who is a leader amongst you?"

Archaon asked as he looked at the group of the Dark Iron Dwarves. Because all of them looked pretty similar in the aspect of clothes, it was very hard to determine which one of them was their leader, but he was sure that one of the Dark Iron Dwarves was the leader among them.

"That would be me, My Lord. Name's Mogarh Irondoom, leader of this group of the Dark Iron Dwarves."

One of the Dark Iron Dwarves introduced himself to Archaon as he stepped forward, while Archaon scrutinized the leader of the Dark Iron Dwarves properly, noticing that the Mogarh Irondoom wasn't that far from reaching the Level 2 in fact, which was rather surprising.

With just a few weeks, he suspected that several of these Dark Iron Dwarves would be able to reach Level 2 in real. Especially if he created a suitable environment for the Dark Iron Dwarves, which he certainly planned to do.

"For the time being, you and the other Dark Iron Dwarves would remain at the Overlord's Shrine before I create another Dungeon Layer that would have an active volcano and proper mountain range for you to live. Your proper workload in the Dungeon would be to build things, mainly buildings of the future city that would be located on another Dungeon Layer, and make equipment for the other sentient Dungeon Creatures."

Archaon said to the group of the Dark Iron Dwarves that bowed to him deeply, as the loyalty towards the Dungeon Overlord was deeply ingrained in their very own beings due to being created through the Dungeon Echoes.

He planned to place the Dark Iron Dwarves on the layer where the future city would be located, as that would be the largest Layer of the Dungeon. The one where he planned to place the Harrenhal would be an ideal place for them.

"Per your orders, Dungeon Overlord."

The leader of the Dark Iron Dwarves, Mogarh Irondoom, stated as he then excused from the Archaon's presence. The Dark Iron Dwarves had a rather strong attitude towards the Magfic and Sorcerery, so he was able to sense the power of the Archaon rather clearly.

As he watched the Dark Iron Dwarves depart under the leadership of Yihi because he told her to place the Dark Iron Dwarves somewhere at the Overlord's Shrine. He then returned back to the thinking, as he was still pondering over how to spend the rest off the Dungeon Echoes. 

He still had around 84,000 Dungeon Echoes, which was a rather large investment in Dungeon development.

He decided to go with the good number of the Magic Gathering Crystals that would increase the rate of siphoning ambient Magic from the world where the Dungeon was located and thus increase the density of the Magic in the Dungeon. 

Obviously, these things were rather pricy because one of them, at the lowest grade, cost 10,000 Dungeon Echoes, so he bought outright 8 of them for the 80,000 Dungeon Echoes and thus spent everything that he had. 

While it sounded like a lot, these eight Magic Gathering Crystals would increase the density of the Magic tremendously within the Dungeon. And that, in turn, would make the environment better, which would result in a faster rate of getting stronger within the Dungeon. 

This was especially true for the Dungeon Creatures, which mainly depended on the quality and quantity of the Magic Power inside the Dungeon. The stronger, denser, and bigger the amount of Magic Power in the Dungeon was, the better it was for the Dungeon Creatures.

Unfortunately, this also means that he was left with the 4,000 Dungeon Echoes for Yihi instead of the 5,000 Dungeon Echoes that he had planned initially. However, that would only mean that she would have one thousand Dungeon Echoes less to spend.