'In the end…w-we're s-so…s-small…'
Those words, plus my one remaining hand reaching up to the stars above me, were the last things I remembered before I woke up again.
Awaking with a jerk, I looked around frantically, trying to see where the hell I was, because I most certainly wasn't on that alien world where I last remembered being!
I was in a room that looked to be carved from stone, with eerie torches of black-tinged green fire dotted equidistantly around it. There was a large archway three times the height of a regular door set into the wall in front of me, with a pair of large stone doors set into it. Carved into the centre was a symbol, a stylised bug of some sort.
Looking down at myself to assess my injuries, I froze. Expecting to see my beaten, battered body and equally battered Weaver/Skitter costume, it was something of a shock to see a completely whole and intact body…including the arm that Scion/Zion had ripped off. The clothes I was wearing were made of spider silk and the chitin armour I preferred, but they were styled as the kind of clothes you saw young noblemen wearing in The Count of Monte Cristo, albeit altered to fit a female form and with some more cosmetic changes.
I wore a pair of thigh-high boots with chitin armour over them, thin trousers that felt as if I had a great deal of flexibility in how they moved, a shirt, vest and ankle-length trench coat that were all at least lightly armoured and a pair of gloves with chitin over the back of th4e hand and knuckles so I could do a bit more damage when I punched.
It was also with a bit of shock that I realised that I was sitting down on a seat…no…a THRONE! An actual goddamn throne that was carved from a single piece of rock…obsidian, I think? No way…you can't get chunks of obsidian this big, can you?
Wait…I…I wasn't…insane…?
A wave of relief filled me and I slumped back slightly in relief. I didn't know how this was possible, nor did I care. I was sane again, with no chance of the rampaging goddamn 'Queen Administrator' Shard driving me insane! I could feel my power, sure, but it was just four or five times stronger than my time as Skitter/Weaver and still limited to arthropods, so whatever had put me back together had mostly undone the complete unlocking of my 'Agent' that Panacea had flubbed.
A vision of my chest flashed in my memory and I looked down at it again to confirm the accuracy of the memory.
…
Who the hell gave me a boob job?! I had barely been a large A-Cup before, and now I was a definite large C-Cup! Maybe even a small D-Cup! These puppies were bigger than Glory Girl's!
A tinkle of bells drew me out of my slack-jawed shock at my newly increased feminine figure and a screen appeared in front of my eyes like a hologram.
[Welcome!]
You have been reincarnated on this world of Pangea as the newest Demon Lord! Congratulations on your rebirth and promotion!
As a Demon Lord, your goal is to build a dungeon to protect yourself from the invading forces of the Human and Demi-Human races! As you build a larger and larger dungeon, the amount of life-force it generates will increase, restoring life to the tired land.
Unfortunately, this inundation of magic and life energy will also cause the creation and reawakening of monsters, which will attack the other races. Due to this minor unfortunate flaw, the Humans and Demi-Humans attempt to locate and purge the dungeons of Demon Lords as soon as is physically and magically possible.
We apologise for the inconvenience.
As a newly born Demon Lord, you likely have little to no idea how to use any of your newfound powers and abilities. To aid you in this transition, you will now go through a short tutorial on how to expand and manage your dungeon, summon monsters and improve your own abilities.
First, say 'Status - Self' aloud.
I stared at the window for a moment, debating about whether this was a twisted joke played on me by my own twisted psyche as it fell deeper into insanity or if it was reality. A quick pinch of the skin under my sleeve proved that it wasn't a dream.
OK. Whatever. I'd play along. "'Status - Self.'"
A new screen replaced the old one.
Human Name: Taylor Hebert
Demonic Name: Hellebore
Title: Demon Lord of the Swarm
Race: Archdemon
Class: Demon Lord
Level: 1
EXP to Next Level: 50
Magic Field Slots: 3 (2/3 occupied)
HP: 500
MP: 500
Strength: 20
Endurance: 20
Toughness: 20
Dexterity: 25
Intelligence: 30
Wisdom: 35
Charisma: 10
Luck: ? (Error)
As you can see, you are no longer human! You have been lucky enough to be reborn as an Archdemon, the second-highest rank of Demon Lord races that there is! To find out more about your new race, press the name!
Dumfounded, I did so.
Archdemon: A race of demonic beings who are the second most powerful of all races chosen to be the core of a Demon Lord Dungeon. Archdemons start with most non-dungeon related stats at twenty, with bonuses for feats, achievements and abilities you possessed in your past life.
Archdemons start off with the [Title] field unlocked, as well as with three magic field slots open rather than the usual two. You also have access to your Archdemon form via the [Demon Form] Skill. Archdemons also possess all of the skills, strengths and weaknesses of regular demons unless otherwise noted.
I was still reeling, but my mind was also processing all of the information I was being given. When the screen prompted, I pressed the [Demon Lord of the Swarm] title.
Demon Lord of the Swarm: Owing to your familiarity and skill at manipulating arthropods in your previous life, this title was granted to you upon reincarnation. It grants you [Insect Magic], which is automatically allocated to the second slot in your Magic Slots, as well as locking your Primary Dungeon Monster Type as [Arthropod]. Additionally, you are granted the [Swarmbringer] and [Insect Queen] Skills.
Interesting. Without prompting, I hit the [Demon Lord] class.
Demon Lord: A Unique Class that can only be granted to one being in a generation. It grants the being that possesses it the Authority of the Planet to create and administer a dungeon to restore life energy and magic to the surface.
Demon Lords are granted the [Lordly Demonic Presence] and [Dungeon Authority] skills upon receiving this class, with further skills and boons appearing after certain landmarks are achieved in the dungeon. In addition, you are granted [Dungeon Magic], which is automatically allocated to the first of your Magic Slots.
That…was interesting. Bursting with questions, I move on to my Magic Slots.
Magic Slots: A unique feature of demonic beings, Magic Slots allow them to 'junction' certain magics into these mystical places in your soul, granting you access to them and allowing you to learn by doing, rather than the Human way of practicing a spell dozens of times before being able to cast it. It also allows rapid spell growth because the magic is literally a part of your soul. In the case of Demon Lords, the magics you possess also influences what creatures, terrain and traps you can possess inside of your dungeon.
Current Magic Slots:
1) Dungeon Magic (LV1, Locked)
2) Insect Magic (LV 1, Locked)
3) EMPTY
Uh-huh…the 'suspicious things' folder is starting to fill up here. At the prompting of the little box, I said 'Skills' aloud.
Skills
Nigh Invulnerable Demonic Body (LV MAX): {Passive} As a member of the Demon race, you have a body stronger and more resilient than most of the other races. As an Archdemon, this trait is taken to extremes. Mundane weaponry (IE, weapons without magical enchantment, the blessing of a god, chi enhancement or some other form of supernatural enhancement) will suffer from a 98% reduction in damage when used against you, which is reduced to an 88% reduction if used in combination with the user's skills. This is a skill automatically given to members of the Demon Race.
[Demon Form] (LVMAX): {Active} As an Archdemon, you possess two forms: your Human form, which you reside in currently, and your Demon Form, which you can invoke by calling out your Demonic Name and revert by uttering your Human Name. As you have not visited the [Demon Form] Customisation Screen to design it, you currently cannot use this skill. An Archdemon Racial Skill.
Lordly Demonic Presence (LV 1): {Passive} As a newly-minted Demon Lord, you have the ability to command the attention of your subordinates or minions. At Level 1, you can order one subordinate around. This is a unique skill of the Demon Lord Class.
Dungeon Authority (LV MAX): {Passive} You have been chosen to create a dungeon by the Will of the Planet Itself. As such, you have complete autonomy from The Will of the Planet (so it doesn't micromanage you), as well as the Gods (who will definitely try to smite you) and the Demons of the Pit (who would try to kill you in horrible ways or enslave you). To reflect this, you are able to remotely view every part of your dungeon simply by closing your eyes and willing it, costing no MP. Additionally, any follower, cultist, devotee, Paladin, Holy Knight or Hero who serves a god/goddess/pantheon of the same or demon/demoness/pantheon of the same will be unable to summon any form of Omniscience, Divine Will or any Servants/Avatars of the god/demon that they serve. Holy/Demonic Skills from creatures born outside of your dungeon will also cost twice as much MP to cast and maintain.
Wise Tactical Acumen (LV 45): {Passive} In your previous life, you were skilled at making snap decisions in the whirling melee of combat, and were noted for making the right choice in the heat of the moment more often than not. This skill grants you +30% to the effectiveness of any tactical command you give using the [Lordly Demonic Presence] skill.
Queen of Escalation (LV MAX): {Passive} In your previous life, you were able to become the acknowledged shadow ruler of a city, defeat one of the strongest beings on your world and fight against nigh-impossible odds…with nothing more than your own grit, determination and the low-tier power of arthropod control. To reflect that, this skill combines the effects of the skills [Feel no Pain], [True Grit], [Emotional Suppression] and [Absolute Focus], allowing you to use any two simultaneously. Additionally, your skills will level 20% faster.
[Swarmbringer] (LV MAX): {Passive} You are accustomed to controlling an immense amount of lesser creatures with precision control. Reflecting that, this skill grants you the ability of your former power set that allows you to control any and all insects within your control radius with the only limit being how many there are within it. Additionally, you can also use the senses of the insects to see/hear/speak with.
[Insect Queen] (LV MAX): {Passive} You were formerly a powerful insect controller, who fought and defeated vastly more powerful enemies with cunning, skill and tactical forethought. To reflect that, this skill grants you the ability of your former power set to control insects with a ten block radius of yourself with absolute precision. Additionally, any arthropod-type monsters (Arachne, Arachnos) will automatically be fearful and subservient to you and all arthropod monsters within your dungeon will be slightly empowered.
Whew…those are some OP skills. I was glad about the last two essentially giving me back my old powers, with a boost. The thing about Arachne and Arachnos fearing me was weird though…do they even have those on this world? I doubt they'd mention them if they didn't exist, so possibly?
Those are your skills, abilities that grant you power. It should be noted that for a human, level fifty is usually the highest that they can reach, with a few lucky members managing to reach level sixty. Members of other races, such as the Elves, Dwarves and Fae can and have reached the maximum level of one-hundred in skills. Skills can be learned by practicing motion or mental acrobatics, or by being taught by someone, or an alternate method that will be discussed elsewhere.
Now, say 'Status – Dungeon' aloud to view the status of your dungeon.
Doing so, I was treated to the view of both a picture of the dungeon, along with its stats. Aside from one largish square box which I presumed was the room I was in, the dungeon I lived in was simply a long thin corridor about a mile long. While that left plenty of scope for future growth, it did leave something to be desired in the utility department. I mean a straight line? Really?
Dismissing the simplistic design of my dungeon for the moment, I turned my attention to the stats that hovered next to it.
Dungeon Name: Dungeon of the Devouring Swarm (Temporary)
Dungeon Level: 1
Floors: 1
Rooms: 1
Room Limit: 1/8
Corridors: 1
Corridor Limit: 1/16
Monsters: 0
Bosses: 0
Traps: 0
Mana Available: 50/20
Dungeon Mana Daily Intake: 5
Dungeon Points (DP) Available: 300
Daily DP Allowance: 10
Mana to Create Next Floor: 100
That…was not encouraging.
Taking a closer look at the last part, I was confused. How could I have fifty out of twenty Mana? That made absolutely no sense, both practically and mathematically.
This is a map of your dungeon. Simply as it may be, it is your home. We are going to start with the basics. Dungeons generate both life energy for the world at large and mana for you to work with in order to purchase monsters and expand the dungeon. All dungeons start with a limit of ten mana before they are even created (don't ask). Each room adds five mana to the total amount that you can store at any one time, as does each corridor, with each room/corridor also adding +1 to the Daily Mana Intake. Size and width of said rooms are irrelevant except in special cases. Special rooms can raise the Mana Limit, as well as the amount of mana you gather per day.
Each floor of your dungeon has both a room limit and a corridor limit, as you have a limited ability to endure Mana with just one floor. If you somehow manage to get more Mana than you have the ability to store it, such as right now, it is generally advised that you spend it post haste, as prolonged overabundance of Mana can inflict you with Mana Poisoning. Too much of a good thing is bad for you.
Once you have gathered enough Mana, you can create a new Floor, which raises the amount of Mana you can store by twenty and raises the natural Dungeon Mana Daily Intake by ten.
Mana is generally spent on purchasing, resizing and filling rooms with monsters, traps, terrain and other things, while Dungeon Points, or DP as shorthand, is used to purchase unlocked monster upgrades, traps, special rooms and other miscellaneous items. You receive ten DP for every floor in your dungeon, plus ten DP for achievements, milestones and other non-lethal methods.
The more lethal methods of gathering Mana and DP involve killing intruders. You receive Mana for absorbing the life energy of anyone who dies within your dungeon (Which has nothing to do with souls. Life energy is the living energy of the body, the soul is another thing entirely), and you also receive DP for absorbing the equipment from their bodies (Leave them their underwear at least, though.). Absorbing the equipment also unlocks upgrades and equipment for you to purchase with DP. Repeated absorption of the same items will yield a lower yield than something new.
Huh…OK, that…kinda-sorta made sense? Not exactly happy about the fact this box thing seems to be poking me towards killing people. I still haven't gotten over the suspicion that someone was trying to screw me over again, so my paranoia was at MAX.
At the moment, this dungeon, while suitable for standing around in, is not suitable either for living in or for defending yourself. It is time to remedy this situation. Open the Room Purchase Screen by saying its name to continue.
Doing so, I spotted three options; [Standard Template Rooms], [Freeform Build Room] and [Demon Lord's Chambers]. I pressed the last option.
[Demon Lord's Chambers]: A room that does not count towards your Maximum Floor Room Limit, but does increase your DMDI and your Stored Mana by the usual amounts. Comes equipped with a modest bed for those Demon Lords that like to sleep off of the cold, stone floors.
Well, if I was going to have to stay here for a while, I may as well be comfy, right?
The room cost twenty Mana to build, which I paid. The map of the dungeon came to the forefront and I was asked to place the central point of the room on the map. I pressed my finger to a point behind the room I was currently in, which was marked on the map as 'Lair of the Demon Lord', which was a far to grandiose name for this bare stone room.
Almost at once, a loud rumbling could be heard from behind me. A moment of this and a cheery 'ding' sounded.
[Demon Lord's Chambers] has been built! Overall Mana reduced to 30/20, DMDI increased by 1, Upper Limit of Available Mana increased by 5!
Do you wish to create a corridor between the [Demon Lord's Chambers] and the [Demon Lord's Lair] for free?
Y|N
Obviously.
After it was built, I got another notification.
Achievement Unlocked! [Hobo no More!] You Earn 10 DP!
Corridor built! DMDI increased by 1, ULAM increased by 5!
New Room Templates Unlocked! [Entrance Hall] can now be built!
Traps have been unlocked! [Basic Pit Trap] has been unlocked! [Rockfall Trap] has been unlocked!
Decorations have been unlocked Too many to conveniently list!
My right eye twitched at the first part of the notification. Someone was having way too much fun with this. More fool them; I got DP out of it!
Moving away from my irritation with snarky message boxes, I eyed the other parts of the announcement. Increasing the amount of Mana I could store at once was a good thing. I now could safely store 30 Mana without suffering negative effects, plus my daily intake had risen from 5 to 7. It didn't sound like much, but baby steps, right?
Now that you have created a place to sleep, you must now create a room for monsters. To do so, select the [Standard Template Rooms] option and select whichever room you wish and set it in the indicated area of the map.
I could see why they were called the 'Standard' templates; there were only about half-a-dozen choices: cube, rectangular, dome, triangular (odd one that), doughnut and small maze. Putting a small maze (which was basically just a bunch of dead-end corridors connected in the middle) at the start wasn't in the cards, so no. triangular room was out to, because I couldn't think what to do with it. Doughnut (why that name? Now I was hungry…) was also out. I shrugged and randomly chose one…rectangular. I put it on the point specified, making sure it overlapped with the already present corridor. Unlike before, I was also asked to choose its orientation, length and overall dimensions right now, as changing it later would cost more Mana.
I played about with it a bit, with the room ending up about the length of three or four American Highschool classrooms (or at least the ones at Winslow, the only ones I had seen in person…), the width of two and a half (maybe) and the height of one and a half. Once I finished that, my Mana went down by five more points.
Achievement Unlocked! [Cut Your Rooms to Suit Your Needs]! You earn 10 DP!
New Room Built! DMDI increased by 1, ULAM increased by 5!
Monsters have been Unlocked! See Monster Spawn Screen for details!
New Traps Unlocked! [Slime Trap] Unlocked! [Basic Tripwire Trap] Unlocked! [Simple Wooden Arrow Trap] Unlocked!
Again with the irritating comment via achievement…
The traps made me raise my eyebrows. They were all very basic; pits, falling rocks, tripwires, wooden arrows…just about the only unusual one was the one with slime. What was that all about?
[Slime Trap]: A basic magical-type trap involving a transparent slime. Hidden from sight, if stood upon, the slime is destroyed and reduces the friction of the area it once existed on to zero, causing whosoever stepped on it to slide forwards without any control. Best used in combination with other traps, as it is only mildly embarrassing for the victim rather than dangerous. 5 Mana to emplace, 2 Mana to reset. Can be improved upon.
O….kaaaayyy…so what did a tripwire trap do?
[Basic Tripwire Trap]: A basic mundane-type trap involving a thin length of twine. This trap can be set up in one of two ways. First, it can be used as a wire to trip people up. They fall forwards, getting slightly hurt and very annoyed in the process. Secondly, it can be used to set off other traps once tripped. It should be noted that it is very easy to break this trap. 5 Mana to set, 1 to reset. Can be improved upon.
Huh. Looks like even these basic traps have a lot of nuances to them that aren't obvious when you just look at them. A lesson for later, I think.
Now that you have created your first room, you must now select which monsters to stock this floor in. As you have the Title section unlocked and received the title [Demon Lord of the Swarm] from your achievements in your past life, your Primary Monster Race is automatically insects. You can purchase a Second Race once you purchase your Second Floor, a Third Race at your Fiftieth Floor, a Fourth at your Seventy-Fifth and a Fifth at your Hundredth Floor. After that, you can only purchase a new monster race every hundred floors.
Please select what type of insects you wish to use on this floor.
- Millipedes
- Spiders
- Crickets
Once your Monster Race has been chosen, please select the terrain for this floor.
- Cavern
- Brick House
- Abandoned Fortress
Well that's interesting. It was trying to make me chose the bottom two, because buildings were familiar to me. Thing is, pitfalls, rockfalls and the like were more effective in the dim light inside a cave, especially if the ground was uneven. Plus, I knew exactly which species to select for it.
I chose 'Spiders' and 'Cavern' respectively. I was then directed to open the Monster Menu.
Available Monsters:
- Small Spinner Spider (5 Mana)
- Small Web Spider (5 Mana)
- Small Venomous Spider (6 Mana)
Looking at them, I could see that they filled out the three vital positions of playing defence; the Venomous Spider was for close quarters, the Spinner was long distance and the Web Spider was the one that laid traps.
I could work with this.
Having to follow the instructions of creating one of each spider, I was told exactly what they could do. The Web Spider could spin webs all over the place for the other spiders and even cover the entries and exits of the room, but it had almost no ability to protect itself. The Venomous Spider was quick but its poison was fairly weak at the moment and was vulnerable while in the middle of biting. Finally, the spinner could lob strings of webbing at the enemy to tangle them up, but was slow and weak in close combat.
Just out of curiosity, I opened the upgrade window for the Spinner Spiders.
Spinner Spider Upgrades:
- Increase the stickiness of the webbing – 10 DP
- Increase the speed at which the Spinners can fire webbing – 10 DP
- Further upgrades locked.
So…I could upgrade these guys twice at the moment and that was it? Well, any port in a storm.
I bought both of them before looking at the traps when the tutorial prompted me.
Traps:
- [Basic Pit Trap] – 5 Mana/5 DP – [Upgrades]
- [Rockfall Trap] – 10 Mana/10 DP – [Upgrades]
- [Slime Trap] – 15 Mana/10 DP – [Upgrades]
- [Basic Tripwire Trap] (standalone) – 5 Mana/5 DP – [Upgrades]
- [Basic Tripwire Trap] (Linked to second trap) – 10 Mana/10 DP – [Upgrades]
- [Simple Wooden Arrow Trap] – 10 Mana/10 DP – [Upgrades]
So DP could be used to pay for traps in a pinch? Good to know. My Mana situation was abysmal and I wouldn't get anything done past a little bit every day. I wonder what the upgrades for the tripwire traps were…?
Basic Tripwire Trap Upgrades:
- Upgrade tripwires to be made of ordinary spider silk to increase its durability – 5 DP
- Upgrade tripwires to automatically reset once any invaders have left the dungeon – 15 DP
- Upgrade tripwires to set off any traps they are attached to if cut – 10 DP
Those were some good upgrades.
Before I could do anything else, a loud thump sounded from right in front of me. I jerked my head up and saw…
OK, so I've been reading a lot of Dungeon-style fanfics and LitRPG's recently, and most of them had dungeon Cores. One though, had the Demon Lord hiding in it. So I thought to myself, 'Hell, why not?'
So here we are. Taylor gets press-ganged into being a Demon Lord. Let me know what you think. And for those who guest review, please keep it to one review per chapter.