Morning in Bed

It was an old dream. A combination of memories and regrets. Floating, deprived of all sensation, in an endless dark void waiting to respawn. There was no time here. One could go mad thinking it was seconds or years between dying at the hands of an adventurer and reawakening as though it had never happened. Occasionally, very very rarely, one would get the sense that they weren’t alone in the void. Maybe a distant shout or scream from another monster pleading to be released. Maybe bumbling in to something else, cold and lifeless in the void. Once, after being killed by a massive wave of adventurers exploring every nook and cranny of Mt Imporne as they climbed on their way to kill the boss, he could have sworn he felt the massive hide of the great beast itself as he waited in the dark.

How had he died this time? Had he lost everything? Was the dungeon, the slime, and the goblins all just a Dream, a hallucination of a tired mind? No! He refused to allow that, he WAS Baal. He was a boss no matter how minor. He was the master of his own dungeon. Of his own fate. He struggled against the unrelenting nothingness.... and awoke safe in his soft warm bed. The naked goblin barbarian snuggled against him, still mumbling in her sleep, and the slime resting on his exposed nether regions.

He pulled the fur blankets close around them once again. It was early. Far too early to get up even if his sleep, as disturbed as it was, was finished.

There were already notifications waiting his attention. He needed to plan the next set of expansions for the dungeon. But first, food!

Careful not to disturb his sleeping minions he reached out with a free hand and placed it against the stone wall. The summoning circle flailed to life on the wall and as the skeleton carefully exited the horizontal opening, the orc was pleased to note it took just slightly more than half his mana to use the summon now. Another clear marker of his progress.

He still had thirteen of the delicious slabs of pork. Taking one out of his inventory he instructed the skeleton to hold it over the flames of his new fireplace. With the food issue taking care of itself, he turned his attention back to the waiting system alerts.

Wisdom of the Ages has activated!

That was nice. It was now the seventh day since his last respawn. An unusually long time to go without dying to be sure. And perhaps the reason for his unpleasant dreams. He pulled open his character sheet

Baal, Level 4 Orc Novice
Monster, Microboss, Orc, Explicit
Experience to level up – 2
Attributes:
Strength 19
Dexterity 10
Stamina 26
Charisma 10
Intelligence 14 (+3)
Wisdom 18
Luck 23
Skills:
Crafting (Woodworking)
Crafting (Stoneworking)
Crafting (Create Magical Items)
Feats:
Liegelord - Rumors have started to sway the local monster population to your banner. Each day, there is a small chance that local creatures will spontaneously convert to your side and ask to join you. Increases the odds of positive Diplomatic checks with other monster tribes. You may also receive gifts from monsters seeking to stave off your wrath or gain your favor
Hardy Endurance - Racial trait. Increases stamina gained during level up. Stamina refills faster during rest. Stamina decreases slower during exertion.
Silver Tongue - increases the chances of positive conversation checks due to persuasion or intimidation based on Charisma
Blessings of the Dark Ones - Blessing (Curse?) from the Ancient creatures of the Dark Abyss who have recognized an abnormal magical aptitude in the caster. Caster’s Dark attribute spells deal x2 more damage. Immunity to all Dark attribute damage. Take x2 more damage from any source of Light attribute attack. Studying any Arcane Knowledge is gained more quickly. {-note- a Blessed Feat from any source unlocks the normally hidden Luck attribute.}
Wisdom of the Ages – gain a constant, passive buff to your intelligence based on the time since your last ****.
Spells:
Dark Energy - a simple Dark Attribute projectile orb of magical energy. Variable damage based off caster’s intelligence and amount of MP used to charge. Dissipates after 10 meters.
Summon skeleton - creates a humanoid skeleton the same level as the caster. Unarmed and capable of following only simple commands. Durability is based off caster’s intelligence. Costs a set amount of MP from caster to maintain

That was unexpected. The feat had increased his intelligence bonus by an additional two this time instead of one.

Also encouraging was that he needed only two more experience points to level up. He could easily gain that just by hunting. Level five... it probably wasn’t that impressive all things considered, but to a monster that had only dreamt of leveling up before, it was astounding. The blinking alert for the fame tab finally pulled him away from his own statistics.

Fame: 102

Got a minion! + 3 ( Expanded)
Got a minor Minion! +1
Lured from another faction! +2

Survive an Enemy Vendetta for 2 days! +2

A Quest has been Issued Against You! +8 (Expanded)
First Quest Bonus! +5
Quest Accepted! + 1
Quest Accepted! + 1
Quest Accepted! + 1

That... was not good at all. He had hoped the vendetta would simply go away in its own. Clearly that was a false hope. And now there was a quest of some sort featuring him. Because he had pissed off the wrong adventurer? Because he was a boss now? Because of his dungeon? There was no way of knowing. He had only vaguely heard adventurers using the word before and it seemed to be just a flimsy pretext for their usual mayhem.

But at least he was back over one hundred fame again. He idly browsed the menu looking at his current options. He could still level up his Liegelord ability. Likewise he could Empower his new barbarian recruit. Alternatively one hundred points could buy him a new servant. One more powerful than the dust golems.

He put the thought on hold and moved on to his dungeon construction options. Most of the useful sounding rooms were still locked out for one reason or another. And, although he still had plenty of stone, he knew he had used the last of the ore as well as the better wood in last night's weapon crafting. Again he made mental notes of the rooms he would like soon and closed the window.

That settled his first set of actions. More harvesting. And even though he had already spent the last few days hunting with the barbarian, he needed to really put her through her paces and see what his newest minion was capable of.

The smell of the searing meat was causing his stomach to growl which in turn was slowly rousing the two minions... or was the slime always awake and just not moving?... it was impossible to tell when it didn’t have eyes and didn’t really breathe.

The female goblin stirred and opened her eyes still half asleep. It was so warm and comfortable, though she could still feel the after effects of last night’s sex in her bruised and aching loins. There was also a strange emptiness now. She snuggled closer to the large warm orc until she realized what she was doing and backed away, hiding her face in the blankets. She had lived her entire life wearing only a loin cloth. Why did she suddenly feel so exposed?

The orc had the skeleton bring the breakfast over to him so he could carve several servings off using the earth dagger he had created the day before. The smell of food eventually brought the goblin out of hiding and they shared their meal in relative silence as he dismissed the skeleton and took the rest of the meal into his inventory.

Standing up from the large bed, the orc began gathering his clothes he had carelessly shed the night before. The armor set he had created for the goblin was still set out untouched. She crawled after him still wrapped in an oversized fur blanket. He motioned to the waiting armor, then watched amused, as she quickly pulled the items under her blanket. She seemed to struggle to equip them for the first time under her makeshift tent. He had time to fully dress and put his old staff in the room's large storage chest even as the bulge under the blanket continued to squirm. Finally he tired of waiting for her and pulled away the cover, revealing the small gobliness struggling to put on the last rabbit fur lined boot.

Even though the goblin chiefess wore a similar rabbit fur armor, the two looked very different. Where the vest had pushed up the chiefess’ large breasts into a valley of cleavage, the barbarian’s smaller perkier breasts were hidden under the fabric but her well toned stomach muscles were in full display. The chiefess’ round bubble butt was practically poured into her tight short shorts; but, while the barbarian’s ass wasn’t as full, her shorts were cut more like fur lined bikini briefs revealing all of her shapely green legs.

She seemed to be very happy but also very self conscious standing before her new master in her new armor.

“Very nice,” he praised her and watched as her skin flushed a deeper shade of green.

He washed down his breakfast with some mana water and again felt a surge of power. He would need to identify it sometime but for now he just offered the water skin to the goblin. She eyed the water suspiciously but the thirst from the salty meat won out. Despite how loud as the female goblin had been during the night, she was quite this morning. That suited him fine. He had enough questions of his own, he didn’t want to waste time answering others.

As he walked out of the Master’s Suite he was facing the path leading to the altar and realized he hadn’t inspected the unique feature yet. He wanted to top off the water skin in any case so he walked out to the suspended island.

Altar of the Dark Ones
A heretical altar dedicated to the Ancients of the Dark Abyss rather than any god.
Living beings sacrificed at the altar deliver double experience points.
Sacrifices at the altar may increase status regardless of level up.
Sacrifices at the altar may unlock hidden powers of the Blessed.
Sacrifices at the altar may unlock hidden dungeon upgrades.
Altar may be upgraded with ???
Complete the ??? by sacrificing a(n) ??? with ???

“Suo”

The slime sounded almost reverent and the orc had to agree. This was an astoundingly powerful artifact. Assuming of course he could ever bring a sacrifice to it. Though the altar didn’t specify adventurer or monster, only that it be a living being. He could try and bring a squirrel or rabbit as a test. In the meantime he filled the water skin from the top of the waterfall.

The gobliness waited for him at the top of the stairs. She stayed near the wall, clearly avoiding the central pitfall. Given time she would have to get used to it... or not. As long as she was useful he didn’t particularly care how she felt about the dungeon itself. He had bigger things on his mind and as luck would have it he could do most of the things at the same time.

• Level up
• Collect resources
• Expand the dungeon
• Verify the goblin’s abilities
• Return to the goblin tribe for more hunting

Slime and goblin in tow, he left the dungeon and went back up the familiar mountain trails. The two kept watch as he pounded boulders and as luck would have it he caught the camouflage effect of a lizard as they approached the third such rock.

He kept Suo back and allowed the goblin to charge in alone. Though he subtly charged a magic blast if she was in danger. This time, however, his assistance wasn’t needed. The barbarian rushed forward, a tomahawk in each hand. Having witnessed the lizards tongue in action the day before against the goblin scavenger, she ran in a zig zag pattern to keep it from getting a clear attack on her. She flanked the larger lizard, hacking and slashing with the twin blades as she spun and screamed in a berserk fury. The magical flame of the right ax trailing behind her as the increased attack speed of the left ax helped propel her forward. The lizard hissed, clawed, snapped, and kicked wildly as she took chunks out of its hide but the monster was clearly overwhelmed by the smaller goblin. Given the speed and ferocity if the attacks Baal wasn’t sure himself if he could withstand her for long. The equipment he had crafted gave her a huge boost of course, but her natural grace and prowess were undeniable.

In short order the lizard fell and a system alert showed the twenty experience points he gained from her kill. A burst of music announced his level up accompanied by an unfamiliar but welcome surge of power. He even felt a little taller.

Baal, Level 5 Orc
Experience has grown Novice into Initiate
Monster, Microboss, Orc, Explicit
Experience to level up – 482
Attributes:
Strength 19 -> 20
Dexterity 10 -> 11
Stamina 26 -> 30
Charisma 10 -> 11
Intelligence 14 (+3) -> 16(+3)
Wisdom 18 -> 20
Luck 23 -> 24
New Spell!
Miasma - a cloud of Dark Attribute fog surrounds the caster at a radius of (intelligence/2) ft. This cloud saps the strength of any hostile living creature or magical construct resulting in reducing all stats by [(caster’s intelligence/8) not to exceed 50%] unless they pass a magic defense check. Constantly drains MP while active.

A new class and a new spell! Had any monster ever succeeded at such growth? He might still be a pebble in the grand scheme but this proved he could be more.

Initiate didn't really sound much more impressive than novice. Still the spell was unexpected and interesting. He supposed it only made sense that a magic caster would gain new spell as they leveled up, but given that he had never considered gaining levels to be a realistic goal, he had never given it much thought. It didn’t look very useful at the moment, only shaving a couple of points from the stats of enemies as they got very close. But it did seem like the kind of debuff that would grow as he got stronger, and if used strategically...

As he had checked his updated status, the goblin barbarian continued to attack the dead lizard.

“Enough!” he finally ordered.

The barbarian slammed the two tomahawks down a final time as she craned her neck back to look at him. Exposing all of her sharp teeth, she hissed at her liege. Her normally yellow eyes were bloodshot red. He stood his ground against his minion. Gradually her rapid breathing began to slow, she blinked away her red eyes, and turned to normal.

He hadn’t seen her loose herself to bloodlust in the previous days hunting, but she had usually been reserved to landing a finishing blow and not front line combat. Her strength appeared to be a double edged blade. He wasn’t sure if it was even possible for one of his own minions to turn on him, but he also wasn’t interested in testing the question at the moment.

“Wha?” She finally asked emerging from her daze.

“A fine display of strength,” he praised her.

She seemed confused but happy at the compliment. He examined the desecrated corpse before continuing.

“Though it looks like we will need to work on your self control.”

Unable to loot the remains, and with Suo not having eaten, he allowed the slime to swallow the dead lizard as he looked over the goblin. She has taken a few minor scratches, and possibly caused a few more herself against the creature’s scaled hide, but the most impact seemed to have been to her stamina. A short rest and she would be fine.

His plan of action was therefore decided. Suo would continue to guard him as he gathered resources. Meanwhile the goblin would exterminate all the lizards she could find for their precious experience points. Though he warned her to avoid any groups if she found them, and to come back if she took any true damage. He gifted her a single healing potion just in case of emergencies and they went their separate ways.

By the time he had finished his usual path of resource gathering up the mountain to the plateau, he and Suo had killed two lizards while he received experience notifications that the gobliness had killed another eight. He gave the prearranged signal of a long whistle and waited for her to return. There was something else he wanted to get from the mountain before they left.

The goats were shaggy and fast. They nimbly climbed the near vertical cliff faces. They were tasty enough roasted over a fire, but his true intention was to try and take one back alive. Normally hunting the goats was problematic for him at best. They could easily outrun him and even outpace his magic blast of Dark Energy. His skeleton summon trick was useless on the tall cliff walls. Though he had tried once or twice to throw the unfeeling pile of bones down from a higher vantage point at the goats. Even then, they could avoid the grasping hands of the falling skeleton more often than not. And on the rare occasion the skeleton managed to snag a goat and hang on, recovering the remains was then a trek in itself. However, now he had a larger arsenal at his disposal.

The gobliness was eager to try and throw a tomahawk, after all they were ranged weapons as well. But he knew how unlikely they were to hit and how difficult the precious weapon would be to recover. He had the new shortbow, but neither he nor the barbarian had the necessary skill to properly use it. There was another option though. And it was also a chance to try the special ability before he gave it away.

The orc took the stiletto dagger out of his inventory and pointed it at the cliffs. The nearest goat was a mere forty feet away as the crow flies, but it knew it was as good as untouchable high on its perch. It regarded the small group almost arrogantly as it chewed the dry grass that grew from cracks in the rock. A cloud of angry wasps poured out from the extended blade. Each was over an inch long and had the same green sheen in its exoskeleton as the blade itself. The goat heard the roar of the swarm and began to scramble up the narrow ledges but the insects were faster. They attacked their target without mercy. A single sting was painful but far from fatal. As a whole however, they overwhelmed the poor animal in short order. They attacked the body, the joints, even the eyes and formed large welts. As sure footed as the animal was normally, it was now panicked and ****. All it took was a single misplaced hoof and it tumbled down the rock wall. The orc raised the blade away and the swarm vanished as quickly as it had appeared. The goat was bruised and bloodied and in obvious pain but it was still alive. He summoned a skeleton to haul the beast for him and they finally returned to the cave.

And not a moment too soon. The orc didn’t mind the screams of his victims, in point of fact he rather enjoyed them, but the constant pained bleating from the goat was grating his nerves. He was also worried about the unwanted attention the noise might gather. Fortunately though they made it to the dungeon, and to the altar, without difficulties.

As the skeleton held the still struggling beast to the smooth black surface he realized he didn’t really have a good weapon for the sacrifice. He had given away the short swords. The stiletto dagger was more for piercing. He supposed he could beat the thing to **** with his staff but that seemed gratuitous... It had to be the dagger for now.

It took a couple of stabs and cuts but the alert finally activated as the goat’s cacophony stopped for good.

Altar of the Dark Ones Activated!
Your sacrifice was acceptable
Experience +2
Dexterity +1

True to its description the altar had doubled the one experience point non monster creatures normally gave but the real treat was the free dexterity. The corpse vanished from the altar but in its place were two new items

Goat Wool - (common)???

Goat Meat - (common)???

The altar didn’t seem to care that he lacked the skill to strip the corpse. It had just absorbed the body and left behind the useful items. Quite the useful bonus.

He took the items the altar had left him and took the stairs down to the second level where the workshops were located.

He had more than enough stone at this point but his ore and wood were still severely limited. New rooms were now available that looked useful: trap workshop, training grounds, improved storeroom, barracks, armory, mess hall. The question was which would help him the most right now.

The trap workshop seemed self explanatory. Build traps to ward off adventurers and protect the dungeon. Though at the moment there was precious little to protect and he doubted he could craft anything that could kill more than a lost toddler.

The training grounds, if the blueprint was any indication were massive. Practically as big as one of his tower ring levels. The label ‘a place to train yourself and your faction’ was vague yet promising.

As for the improved storeroom, well he was using slightly more than half his current dungeon inventory space, and he hoped upgrading the room might give some clue as to a way of combining or remotely managing the inventory space, but his current plan was to be far away for some time anyway. In the worst case if he needed more space he could always dump out some of the excess stone.

The barracks, armory, and mess all seemed more geared to his followers. Places to eat, sleep, and store excess equipment. It was almost like the system was encouraging him to grow an army. Not an unattractive concept. But sadly not one his current strength would really allow.

Given his current options his choice seemed clear, the question was just where to fit the massive room.

Again he went to what he considered the ‘back’ wall, the furthest from the dungeon entrance a level above, and four stories beneath his own bedroom.

Construction:
Baal’s Dungeon
Training Grounds
Requires:
30 stone
20 Wood (Any)
15 Ore (Any)

It was a steep resource cost and an even steeper progress bar. He set the golems to work and retreated away from the noise and into the workshops. First step was using the appraisal table for his new items

Goat Meat (common)
Uncooked food item.
-note- Eating raw food may result in a status ailment

Goat Wool (common)
A basic cloth resource. Can be used as a primary resource for item crafting or secondary resource for insulation. No special properties.

“Goblin,” he called out.

As soon as the word left his lips he realized he was doing the same as he had with the slime. The goblin barbarian had been resting on top of a chest in the corner but stood when called. He examine the small green warrior. Her bold stance with her hands on her rabbit fur covered hips. Her strange half shaven, half pony tail haircut trailing an array of colorful feathers. Unlike the slime though, he could ask her the question.

“Do you have a name?”

“Name?” She seemed genuinely surprised at the question. Eventually she just shrugged, “Why need name?”

He could sympathize. He had never considered it himself before this week.

“Come here and place your hand in this table,” he gently guided her to the appraisal table that stood nearly as tall as herself. “From this day forth, your name is Feathers.”

She still seemed wary and confused, but as her status changed to reflect her new name her emotions swelled. He had just given her an impossible gift. Something that changed the very core of her character. She wasn’t simply valued. She was special. Silent tears fell down her puffy green cheeks as Baal held her from behind and read her character sheet.

Feathers, Level 4 Goblin Barbarian
Monster, Goblin, Explicit
Experience to Level Up: 111
Attributes:
Strength 17
Dexterity 15
Endurance 14
Charisma 11
Intelligence 8
Wisdom 12
Skills:
None
Feats:
Barbarian Rage - Barbarians are likely to fall into an uncontrollable frenzy while fighting, increasing damage while decreasing chance to hit as well as environmental awareness. May lead to damage to allies if Friendly Fire is enabled.
Goblin Cunning - Racial Trait. Goblins are opportunistic scavengers and crafty, if simplistic, builders. Increased chance to find additional items while looting corpses or containers. Decreases time for trap crafting or placement. Decreases time for item crafting.

The barbarian rage made sense after what he saw earlier. However it looked as though she was missing the skills needed for her own racial trait. Most goblins were either scavengers who could loot or tricksters who could place traps. Her distinct barbarian class missed out on all the above skill sets. Still, the feat had a lot of potential, and he was already working for a way to expand the skills he needed.

He stepped back, carefully withdrawing her hand from the tall table. She went back to her corner still in a daze.

It seemed he had also picked up another two gemstones during the morning harvesting so he quickly identified them as another amethyst and emerald. None of the stones he had appraised had yet been another piece of obsidian. It seemed he was right to regard it as special. He wanted more of the useful stone, much more. But for now he was unwilling to tempt another encounter with an adventurer to go back to the streams.

He used a final unit of scrap ore and pine wood to make an additional bundle of arrows, assuming most would be lost until the goblins became accustomed to the new weapon. And that was only if his assumption that they had ranged skills held true. Then he walked out to the central column to inspect the golem’s progress.

Even with their considerable construction skill boost, they had barely made a dent on the progress bar of the new room in the short period of time. He left them to their work and headed down to the bottom floor.

He unequiped his clothing and accessories and put away his staff. He did feel stronger after leveling up twice but his body remained rather short and pudgy. His grey green skin and thick body hair was illuminated in the soft torch light that ringed the room. The female goblin stayed back but her eyes clung to his flaccid manhood which dangled between his thighs. Orcs, or goblins for that matter, were hardly known for their hygiene, but he had always fancied himself different than his cousins on the distant high plains.

He eased himself into the warm pool, careful to avoid the deeper waters, and made his way to the waterfall at the center. Most of the water fell in close sheets strait down the sides of the circular altar island high above, but some droplets inevitably scattered during the drop so that by the time the falls met the pool the middle of the circular waterfall was filled with a fine mist. It so happened that the uneven excavation of the pit had left an outcrop of rock at the surface underneath the falls. Even though it was a slippery perch, it made for the perfectly isolated spot inside the ring of falling water. The noise and shower was more pleasant than he would have thought. And strangely, despite the constant flow of water, there was no real current. He drank strait from the source of the mana spring and again felt a surge of power. Meanwhile Suo happily bobbed and splashed circles in the water around him.

He moved away from the falls and signaled to the wary gobliness still sitting at the bottom of the stairs to join him. So far she had done as she was told, but he knew he had more bribed her to his side than truly swayed her. He needed to grow their bond. She begrudgingly shirked off her new rabbit fur armor to once again reveal her small but muscular frame. She stepped into the edges of the pool but the much shorter goblin stayed far away from its center. Goblins were not swimmers. Her lord approached her and began to pull the feathers from her hair and lay them at the pool’s edge. His thick fingers fumbled at her short braid until she finally relented and helped him release her dark green hair.

He pulled her up to his shoulder and waded out through the waters that, while just over his belly, would have been well over her head. He sat on the raised rocks under the falls and placed her on his lap. He ran his hands through her hair and over her slippery skin as the enchanted waters washed away a weeks worth of sweat and grime. She could feel his cock on her back, not quite soft, but certainly not the iron monster she knew it could become. His hands moved down and cupped her apple sized breasts and teased over her tiny hard nipples.

She wasn’t excited, she told herself. It was simply the cold temperature.

But the water was warm. She bit her lip to keep from moaning. And as his hands stroked their way across her belly button the warmth inside her was also spreading. She was relieved that the waters hid her own wetness which was freely flowing by the time his thick fingers were spreading her thighs and probing her most precious spot.

Her whimpers and squirming were increasing to keep pace with his own roaming fingers. He teased the tiny hard button above her opening. As he spread her tight lips with finger as thick as most goblin cocks she was mumbling apologies and pleading for more. He worked slowly yet steadily, one hand buried in her privates while the other held her close, kneading and stimulating her upper body.

Her begging became louder and laced with profanity as she rode his digit. She had half turned, licking and sucking and biting at his dripping exposed chest. He held her tightly as her climax washed over her and the falls washed away the evidence. Then he carried her back to the edge to rest. His own manhood stood stiffly, but he ignored his primal desire to bend her over the pool's ledge and mount her. It wasn’t quite midday. There was plenty more he had planned today.

“Suo” The fat slime joined them.

The orc shook his head at his minion. Suo had grown in height to about two feet but it had also expanded to almost five feet around as it clumsily lumbered up onto land.

“Don’t you think that’s too much?” He chided the still jiggling blob.

Dozens of small streams of water began spouting out of the slime at all angles as it started to shrink back to its normal size.

“Suo” the slime answered.

If it had a face, he was sure it would be pouting.

“Fine,” He acquiesced. “You may absorb the water from my skin and dry me off.”

He really was too kind.