Explore and Expand

Fame increased!
Fame: 115
Survive an Enemy Vendetta for 1 week! +10
A Quest Against You has been Updated! +28 (Expanded)
Quest Failed (x2) +5
Quest Failed (x1) +5
Quest Failed (x1) +5
Quest Accepted! +4
Quest Accepted! +2
Quest Accepted! +1
Quest Accepted! +1
Diplomacy +4 (Expanded)
Rumors of your power and magic are spreading! + 2
Rumors of your domain are spreading +2
Got a minion! +8 (Expanded)
Domain Sired lesser minion +8

The blinking menu greeted him as he opened his eyes. This was getting to be a bit much. It seemed like every menu was starting to show incorrect information. The free fate points were nice but there was no way his minions had continued to multiply the way the menu showed. He’d be waist deep in goblins and slimes.

The orc shuddered at the nightmarish scenario.

He was over one hundred fate again, and that gave him options. He also had new crafting items available. And of course, there was the ever present need to gather more resources and food.

Feathers was still asleep and snuggled against him. Her well used and bruised hole was a darker shade of green but all the rest of the physical evidence of their coupling had been removed. Almost as if someone or something had been cleaning them in their sleep.

“Sussuo!” The slime chirped and rose from the foot of the bed once it realized its master was awake.

“Yes, yes, good morning,” Baal replied as he carefully untangled himself from the sleeping barbarian.

The day before had been one of rest and recuperation, today he needed to be back to business. The goblins had cleared out of the altar room but they had still left a mess behind. He made a note to address that with Bunny. The gods only knew what the new barracks looked like already. The dungeon was quiet as he and Suo descended the spire.

The Bubble Bee floated down from the lookout room to watch them. The elementals never seemed to rest. The hyperactive air elemental must be very bored when the rest of the dungeon slept. Baal ignored it.

“Suo you need to gain levels. Go to the arena and practice,” the orc ordered the slime.

“Suo...” the slime chirped sadly as it slowly rolled away from its master, stopping several times as if to look back.

Baal stared down the dark slime until it crossed the arena threshold. The little thing was starting to get an attitude. Was it a side affect of its transformation, or maybe from spending to much time around goblins. Either way he didn’t like it. Suo was the one minion who earnestly followed his orders. Unfortunately there wasn’t much else he could do to fix whatever was still broken with it, but at least he could make the slime stronger.

The forge was quiet as well, the smith not yet awake and at his hammering. Baal moved to the crafting bench and checked the new menu options.

It looked like he now had access to create new totems. His skill was only good enough for the simplest ones, but it still opened up a variety of new options.

Cyclops Crow Feather (common)
Oily feather of a one eyed bird.
Lesser fetish component for increasing accuracy.

Fox Paw (common)
Severed foot of a forest fox. Lesser fetish component for increasing evasion.

Rabbit Paw (common)
A severed rabbit’s foot... lucky? Lesser fetish component for increasing luck.

Rat Fang (common)
Sharp tooth of a large rat. Lesser fetish component for increasing chance to cause status effect disease.

Badger Claw (uncommon)
Front claw of a forest badger. Minor fetish component to increase piercing damage.

Harpy Feather - ???
unidentified items cannot be used in crafting

He had small stacks of certain components, but only a single silk thread at the moment. His attention was immediately caught by the system warning next to the harpy feather. The orc had taken the time the day before to go through the new items. But it looked like he had still missed some. Not long ago he could count the entirety of his possessions on a single hand, now he was loosing track of them. For once it was not a bad problem to have.

A short trip to the warehouse and appraisal table later and he had two new alerts.

Harpy Egg (uncommon)
uncooked food item. Delicious when scrambled.
-note- eating raw food may result in a status ailment.

Harpy Feather (uncommon)
colorful, surprisingly sharp, feather from a harpy’s wing. Fetish component for increasing dexterity.

The single harpy feather was intriguing. Free stat boosts were always welcome. However, in this case he himself didn’t immediately need better dexterity and another stat had served him surprisingly well.

Baal selected the rabbit paw and began to craft. It took quite a bit of tapping even with his create magical item skill, but eventually a new accessory sat on the table in front of him.

Lesser Lucky Rabbit’s Foot
+1% luck

The new item would take an accessory slot. It could be worn as a brooch, bracelet, or necklace. However, the orc’s were currently all filled with the sapphire ring and opal ring and necklace. He briefly considered if he had made a mistake. The tiny boost of luck was less likely to help than the additional magic attack and manna of his current accessories. But finally he conceded that even if it wasn’t much use for him, it would be a good addition for a follower. After all luck was apparently locked for everyone but himself. Giving it to another minion could result in a unexpected benefit. Not that he had much to loose at the moment.

He spent more time crafting simple leather armor for his minions. Most the goblins already wore pants and shirts, but the newest arrivals were still in their primitive loincloths. The elder didn’t appear to need anything so Baal took the remaining leather scraps and made a few boots and skullcaps.

He had some new gems as well. Baal had learned his lesson against hoarding them. If he was going to loose them anyway, he might as well add them to weapons or accessories. But by now he was tired of tapping and his attention was being pulled elsewhere.

There was new movement and sounds in the dungeon. It seemed like some of his minions were awake. Sadly there were no smells to indicate breakfast. Even for beings as ravenous as goblins, the feast from the night before must have still left them sated. Although he wasn’t exactly hungry, Baal could still eat a bite.

There were still noises coming from the arena. Hopefully that meant Suo wasn’t shirking off its training. The orc ignored the large room and moved across to the minion area. He peaked into the new barracks room as he passed. There were still a few sleeping goblins but what was shocking was the state of the room. The day before the room was orderly arranged, storage lockers to the left, rows of bunk beds to the right, enough for a dozen minions. Now the room was trashed. The bed frames were mangled, the mattresses torn and... chewed? Fur bedding was draped from smashed lockers used as makeshift nests.

Baal sighed angrily. He wasn’t about to let his dungeon be so disrespected. The goblins were his followers. He didn’t need vicious little animals, he needed a well trained and disciplined army.

He passed the two builders as they neared completion of the second barracks room and entered the mess hall. Several goblins inside appeared to be nursing their first ever hangovers. Bunny was playing with Ash and watching over the lone toddler. She rushed to greet him but pulled up short as she realized the unhappy expression on his face.

Baal took his infant daughter, cradling her dark haired head in his large arms. He traced the light green spots as she giggled and cooed. But he remained silent as Bunny nervously fidgeted in front of him.

“Uhm,” the gobliness began but he cut her off with a stern look.

“Come with me,” he ordered simply as he turned and walked back out into the hallway, Bunny sheepishly following behind.

He stood in the doorway to the ruined barracks and continued to pamper the child, ignoring her mother and letting her stew.

“Explain,” he finally spoke up breaking the tense silence.

“Make better?” Her response was somewhere between a statement and question. She clearly sensed his unhappiness even if she didn’t understand it.

“Do you not like my dungeon?” He asked the goblin.

“Dungeon good!” She hastily replied. “Just... no sleep good...”

The orc raised a dark eyebrow silently prompting her to continue.

“Bed soft. Open. Feel scared.” She worked her fingers as she attempted to explain.

It made a certain kind of sense. After all he had also spent a lifetime sleeping on the cold floor of his cave with nothing but straw or maybe a rough hide for comfort and a stone wall at his back. It was encoded into them to hide in dark corners. Of course they would feel exposed. It wasn’t a simple transition to a civilized bed. Yet he had adjusted hadn’t he? Was it really so difficult for them? In any case, whether they liked it or not he expected a certain decorum from his minions.

“Once the builders finish the new room they are going to fix this one. No one is to touch that room until I say so. Understand?”

She quickly nodded.

The orc carefully handed their daughter back over to the gobliness.

“I can sympathize with your uneasiness, but it is safe here. I expect the goblins to take good care of this place. Otherwise you’ll need to leave.”

Bunny gulped audibly at the threat if expulsion.

Baal took a knee in front of the scared goblin.

“That’s the worst case scenario. Take care of our home and I will continue to take care of all of you.”

He took the rabbit’s foot charm out of his inventory and looped it over her neck. The soft fur of the severed appendage nestled into the deep green valley of her cleavage. Bunny beamed at the unexpected gift and quickly wrapped herself around him. She somehow managed to squeeze her soft flesh into him without squashing their child and eagerly kissed the orc.

The kiss was already quickly escalating when he broke away.

“Fix it,” he reminded her as he motioned to the destroyed barracks before leaving.

He was tired of crafting. And although he still had hundreds of slime cores to identify, he was in no hurry to try that again either. Instead he moved to the arena.

Suo was indeed following his orders and attacking the training dummies. The slime didn’t exactly have any combat skills to practice. It just lashed out with its dark squishy tendrils. But it was at least gaining valuable experience points. The difference of a few stat points or levels went a long way in combat.

And while he was thinking of that topic, he moved to the keystone next to the door. He had already learned basic staff and hand fighting. Maybe he could unlock the next levels. Even if he couldn’t gain more experience himself he could at least gain more skills from the room.

Trying to unlock higher training on the keystone opened his fame menu. The basic combat training had each only cost ten points, he could certainly afford to upgrade or unlock more.

The E rank staff fighting was grayed out when he attempted to select it.

Error insufficient combat arena room level

Fine, if that was how things were going to be, he moved the fame menu out of his way and brought up the construction options for the room. Unfortunately here again he found the upgrade option grayed out.

Error insufficient dungeon level

Fuck!

It felt like the system was doing this intentionally. How was he supposed to upgrade the dungeon? So far new construction seemed to unlock as he gathered the materials and made space. But he doubted the answer was as simple as just growing the floor plan. After all, there was already a sprawling labrynth of caves growing beneath him. So what else had he done to unlock something new?

He looked through his menus until his eyes fell on a long neglected feat. The first boon he had used his new fame to grant: Liegelord.

How long had he sat at liegelord level two? He quickly switched back to his fame menu. One hundred and fifteen points. More than enough. Thirty points spent and the feat’s level moved to three. From the build menu still hovering in the background he could see several grayed options fill in, however the upgrade option he wanted wasn’t one of them. Forty more fame points spent and liegelord grew to level four. He idly wondered what monsters might appear before him now asking to join, but that thought was cut off as the grayed out upgrade button finally filled in. The resource cost was high, though he had plenty of stone, it would take nearly all of the wood and ore, some of his coins, and oddly a few of the animal hides.

“So be it,” he thought as he accepted the price.

Warning training inaccessible during upgrade

He dismissed the pop up even as Suo curiously tapped the training dummies. It noticed the change as well apparently.

“You can stop for now,” Baal confirmed.

“Suo!” The slime happily chirped as it joined his side.

He could have the goblins work on it, but they’d be busy cleaning their own mess for a while and then he’d need them to forage for more resources. But at least he had better options available than hammering the wall himself now.

“Bee!” The orc shouted into the ceiling.

Within seconds the Bubble Bee zipped through the stone archway and hovered in front of him.

“Go fetch the Dust Golems to work on this room!” He ordered.

Within seconds it was gone. If only all his minions were as fast and capable. Then again it would be harder if they all shared the lack of hands. Oh well. Nobody was perfect... other than himself of course.

It would take the earth elementals a long time to make it out of their caves and to his level. He wasn’t going to sit around waiting for them. As Baal walked out of the arena he bumped into Feathers as she walked in... with a noticeable limp.

“Train,” she greeted him gruffly as she subconsciously covered her sore ass.

“Training is closed,” he informed her. “At least until the golems upgrade the arena.”

Feathers grunted in frustration and turned to leave.

“Stop!” He commanded. “Bunny and the builders are busy. I want you to take whoever isn’t on guard to collect more resources.”

He looked down at his boots before continuing.

“Try to find more of the lizard skins.”

“Ugh” she grunted a curt reply, then squealed as he suddenly swatted her fur lined ass.

Her scowl might’ve been more convincing without the barely contained smile and deep blush. He allowed her to retreat with what remained of her dignity.

The air elemental returned, buzzing urgently in front of the orc. It clearly wanted something. Once again he cursed the lack of decent communication with his followers.

“What?”

Buzz

“What do you want?”

Buzz

“Suo!”

“Dammit don’t you start!”

Buzz

“Enough, just show me.”

The transparent Bubble Bee lead Baal down the spire to the lowest level and headed in to one of the caves. He really didn’t want to mess with whatever was going on in there, but he knew he had put it off long enough. Rather than use a torch in the confined space, the orc activated his armor of darkness spell. Instantly the lightless caves came to life. It was an odd sense. It wasn’t that the cave was illuminated in artificial light, he was just suddenly able to see all the details even through the darkness. The slime rolled along beside him without issue. For a moment he wondered if this was something similar to how Suo always saw the world. However his thoughts were quickly cut short as he hurried to follow the swift elemental.

Even though he knew they were freshly constructed, the caves appeared to be completely natural. Though the gravel strewn floors were mostly even to allow easier access, the walls and roof were jagged natural outcrops patched over with lichen and moss. Stalactites and stalagmites constantly interrupted the trail. There were even small pools of dripping water, wide varieties of mushrooms growing in colonies, and small pale millipedes and crickets.

The elemental lead him through a path of winding branching tunnels until the cave opened into a mid sized cavern. The room was oblong and littered with boulders. There was a larger pool of cold water on the slick, sloping, mossy floor. Openings to more cave entrances branched out into the darkness. A thick web linked a group of rocky outcrops, though there was no sign of the spider. The elemental headed for the web and again buzzed for attention.

Lying in the floor, half covered in web and dust was an item out of place with the dull rock.

Bronze Beetle Carapace - ???

Excellent, the orc thought to himself as he collected the unexpected item drop. The beetle was dead and the spider was apparently gone. Nothing more to worry about. Tapping the web it too dropped into a collectible item ball.

Spider’s Silk - Uncommon

Movement from one of the further caves caught his attention and for a moment he thought the spider had returned. Instead one of the clunky Dust Golem’s emerged into the room. Even through the unlit cave and magical armor it recognized the orc. Upon seeing its creator, it gave a quick awkward salute, before moving back towards the entrance.

Baal heaved a soft sigh of relief.

“Suo!” The slime exclaimed with a splash as it dove into the shallow pool and interrupted his relief.

“Stop tha...” Baal trailed of his admonishment as he realized what the slime was playing with.

Hidden on the edge of the pool a bug had been perched on a stone. A large bug. It scurried away from the inquisitive slime and headed up the nearby wall. Six legs. Thick shell. He couldn’t see color in this strange dark view but he knew what it would be. Bronze.

Bronze Beetle

The name pop up was blue. A member of his faction. Then it disappeared into the recesses of the cavern.

The bugs didn’t shed. He had its corpse tucked safely away in his inventory. How then was it alive and well in front of him. Baal looked around the cavern again, this time paying more attention to the nooks and crannies and small spaces he had previously ignored.

Bronze Beetle

Bronze Beetle

Bronze Beetle

He thought back to the fame reports and the new minion list that had been steadily growing each morning. How many dozens had it added that he had dismissed as a flaw in the system.

Fuck

The orc quickly retreated from the suddenly lively caves, passing the slow moving earth elemental as he left. Even without the air elemental guiding him, he oddly seemed to know the way. It didn't require thought or concentration. He just knew which turn would lead him out and which lead deeper into the mountain. In little time he saw the dim glow of the manna pool room and released the magical enhancement surrounding him.

Even though the caves were just as much a part of his dungeon as the roughly chiseled stone of the spire, he somehow breathed easier as he stood next to the manna pool. He unconsciously moved to put even more distance between himself and that dark labyrinth and climbed the winding stairs to the production level.

Baal moved to the appraisal table and pulled out the beetle remains

Bronze Beetle Carapace - (uncommon)
A beetle exoskeleton. Can be used as a bronze ingot for crafting.

That was new. So far he had only the scrap ore as a metal resource. Now it seemed his pest infestation was providing an unexpected dividend. The orc changed rooms to the forge. The room was empty, Feathers had likely taken the smith foraging once he was out of materials. Baal looked at the crafting options. There were new bronze armors and helmets, bronze shields, and an array of bronze weaponry. All of it was no doubt better than the tarnished metal counterparts he had been creating. Sadly he only had the one piece. At least for the moment.

Baal considered his options. Surely the best use would be to craft a new piece of armor or weapon for himself. He needed headgear. A bronze helmet then? He hovered over the craft item button. It just didn’t seem the right choice. Yes he needed to improve his gear. He may have been stronger than he had ever hoped, but now that he had a taste he realized how deeply his thirst for power ran. He needed more than a trinket. Yet even a small boost would go far for his followers. He had given Bunny a boon already, so then...

He stopped as his eyes fell on a new entry. Perfect. He took the stone hammer he still had hidden away in his inventory and pounded out the bronze bug piece. Once the main piece was finished he then added a gemstone before finally moving to the crafting bench to add the final touches. The final item used up several of his lone item drops but the end result was both lovely and surprisingly powerful. Perhaps it was too much. But what was done was done. He could always find more to replace what was used.

“Suo?” The slime inquired.

“It’s not food!” He quickly declared to the gluttonous minion.

Just as he was admiring his handy work, the Bubble Bee joined him. It zipped around him humming rapidly.... urgently?

“What?” He asked the elemental even though he expected no response.

The air elemental zipped towards the doorway then hovered as it continued to vibrate. He moved to follow the clear creature but it was moving even faster than before. He chased after it, the slime following quickly behind. They moved out of the crafting hallway, ignoring the spire staircases and instead moving towards the minion area. As he crossed the wide spire level he saw and heard the dust golem’s already at work upgrading the arena, but he paid them no mind. Something was wrong in the barracks? The mess hall? Was it Bunny? His daughter? The orc sprinted behind the fleeting elemental as his mind raced.

The Bubble Bee paused for a moment at the entrance to the hallway of the minion area, waiting for him. As soon as he approached however it sped off once again. However, rather than move further into the minion area, it went up the narrow winding staircase to the lookout room.

Baal sprinted up the four flights of spiral stairs, thanking his increased stamina at each landing. He raced through the curved hallway outside the spire room and burst into the guard room above the entrance.

The two goblins on lookout were panicking. One was holding a large stone over its head as it peeked into one of the holes in the floor. The other was holding a poison and paralysis flask in either hand as it struggled to decide which to use.

Baal was about to question them when he heard the loud scraping of the wooden door below swinging open. He held up his hand in a motion to stop his panicked minions as he took stock of the situation.

“See love, I told you. A whole fuckin’ dungeon that’s off the map!” A male voice echoed from below.

“Eh, I never fuckin’ doubted you!” A deeper male replied.

“Sure love. Aw, there's no goblins hanging about this time.”

“Maybe someone beat us here? There was that weird ass light up here the other night.”

“Doubt it love. Forums haven’t said nothing ‘bout this place. Besides I already nicked the best stuff!”

“Ya good on ya man, enough to pay for all new gear, new guild building, and change leftover. Makes ya wonder what asshole was stupid enough to leave gemstones lying around like that.”

“Right?! Not my problem though, eh? Bloody hell thats new!”

“Gate wasn’t here before?”

“No way love. Neither was the obvy trap ‘ere.”

“Does that mean it’s a build in progress? Ya think it’s a guild? Maybe admins working on an unreleased dungeon?”

“Dunno. Aye that’s got her. Minor paralysis. Could've been a piece of work for any idiot too stupid to see her.”

Baal took a chance to lean in and take a look at the room below. Two adventurers. Male obviously. The one who had just disabled the paralysis dart trap was still kneeling on the floor. He wore light armor, mostly leather, though it looked high quality. Tall brown dog ears perched on top of a humanoid head and a bushy tail protruded out of his back end. His weapons seemed to be a set of daggers at his waist. His name was in pink.

Harry Fluffykins - ???

The other adventurer with the deeper voice stood over him. He appeared to be wearing an equally nice set of medium armor with a flowing cloak. There were more metal pieces fitted to the dark leather. A bow hung across his back and an unsheathed long sword was currently resting against his shoulder.

Mast3r_R - ???

That name was in red. Not as dark as the one who had issued the vendetta, but still darker than Baal liked.

Baal considered his options. He had high ground and the element of surprise, but at least one of the adventurers clearly had a ranged attack. They were high level and had easily disabled the trap. At least the gate had temporarily halted them. He could send the skeleton and slime down to fight, but he doubted in close quarters combat even if he won that they would come away without fatalities.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“How’d you even find this fuckin’ place?” The tall human asked.

“Eh? Oh right’o it was Wally’s quest we took the other day.” The dog man was examining the metal portcullis as he talked.

“Find the roaming orc boss? Stupid ass personal quest, but he was paying good just to take it.”

“That’s the one. Anyways everyone knows there’r no orcs in The Great Demon Forest. The hordes’r all out on The Wind Steppes. So I got to thinking and I remembered the orc hermit that’d pop up on Imporne time t’ time. But fuck me if I could remember which hole was his. Figured I was buggered for time anyway. Ended up here!... ya hearing that love?”

“Hear what? Water?”

“Aye the waterfall there goes through the whole dungeon, it brilliant, but I swear I hear a bloody jackhammer!”

“You’re fuckin’ loosing it man”

“Aww now don’t be like that love. Just saying is all. Maybe they’re still building her, right?”

“Ain’t no way in fuckin’ hell someone’s in there hammering like a fuckin’ power tool. I don’t give a fuck if it’s a gnome, a dwarf, or your tea drinkin’ fuckin’ king. Now can you open this piece of shit or not?”

“Afraid not. There’s nothing to open. She’s not locked, just shut tighter than your gamma’s knickers.”

“Fuckin’ waste of a day!”

“Come on love. It’s a posh place! I may not be able to pick her, but she’s just scrap metal. Enough **** should get the job done.”

“You don’t mean?”

“Aww, you’re not still sore about that are ya? She’s a right cunt, but ya know she’s good for it.”

“Fuckin’ damnit.”

“Don’t be like that. Even if we add another share, if it’s a haul like before we’ll still be aces.”

“Ok. Fuck it. But you’re calling her!”

“Of course! Now come on, give us a kiss.”

“I told ya, not fuckin’ outside!”

Baal watched the two adventurers bicker back and forth, but at least they were doing so as they retreated from the dungeon. He moved to one of the camouflaged windows outside to watch them as they made their way back down the winding mountain trail. He didn’t relax until they were gone from sight, but it sounded like they would be back.

The goblins too, finally relaxed as they saw the anxiousness drain from their lord. Suo simply rocked in place by its master, waiting for the next interesting thing to happen. The goblin holding the rock moved to put it back into one of the waiting crates. However, once the stress of the situation was gone, its strength from holding the stone so long finally left it. Instead of putting the rock inside the goblin accidental tipped the entire box over, spilling stones across the floor in a flood.

“Clean it up,” the orc ordered absent mindedly as he considered how to further reinforce the dungeon.

The two goblins scrambled to return the rocks. Even the slime joined the fun, though rather than picking them up, it simply ate them one at a time. The goblins had barely begun when, as the tenth stone dissolved in the slime, a short burst of music erupted in the small room.

The system tones broke the orc out of his thoughts as he and the goblins gawked at the dark slime.

“Suo?” The slime looked slightly happy with the sudden attention.

“What was that, Suo?” Baal asked.

“Suo.... Suuoooooo!” The blob seemed to be searching itself. Its smooth gelatinous surface suddenly hardened over. The dark slime suddenly looked very much like a smallish blackened boulder.

“Sssuuuoooo...” the slime struggled in its suddenly unyielding form. Then as quickly as it had hardened, it once again smoothed out and relaxed into a Slimey puddle.

“Suo,” it sighed contently.

What the fuck?