No matter how hard he pried, Xander had been unable to get anything else out of his supposed assistant, and had eventually headed back into his new home to do some decorating. There was only a basic theme going at the moment for all intents and purposes, so he set about duplicating the couple of paintings that he had created over his vacation. There were less than a dozen, which would hardly go far in the massive maze-like structure, but he found that his minions were easily able to copy them. The magically animated beings were hardly capable of inspired thought, but they made decent replicas.

  Eventually he planned to make the dungeon more interesting than just a maze of jump scares and pit traps, but over the course of twenty hours or so, he managed to make good headway on giving the place at least some artistic touch. He also had the idea of placing certain paintings near specific traps so that smart adventurers would see the pattern and figure out how to avoid them. He cackled to himself a bit as he did so, since this wasn’t any sort of altruistic move on his part, but another trap. The bait and switch was that after enough traps to get the pattern established, he then switched things up so the overconfident intruders would then trigger the next sets.

  There were other upgrades he wanted to look into as well, but he still took time for himself now and then. Therefore it was while Xander was taking a swim in the now expanded swimming pool that a system disk popped up.

  

  Warning: Intruders have entered your dungeon.

  An immediate thrill coursed through him, filled with some fear, but also anticipation. He had time before the intruders would get to the throne room, but he also doubted that Mr. Sinclair would be pleased if he dawdled too much. Getting out, he didn’t bother trying to dry off, just stepping into the skirt with roses flowering on it and letting its leaves drink in the excess water.

   the skirt sent him in a husky voice, Xander rolled his eyes, but then chuckled and put on his shirt as well.

   he sent it back with mock scorn. “What is it about my skirts that makes them so weird?” he asked no one in particular as he strode through the halls towards the ‘armory’. “Then again I’m wearing semi-sentient clothing, so clearly I’m the weird one to begin with.” Shaking his head, he stepped into the room where his new armor and weapons were being stored.

  “Talk to me Mr. Sinclair, what are we dealing with?” he texted through the System interface.

  “They started by trying to avoid most of the fights, but were forced into action quickly.” came his assistant's reply without delay. “There are four intruders. Most are various types of fire wielders, and the last is a swordsman, but that one is letting the others do most of the fighting.”

  Xander paused at that information, something about the group sounding very familiar. “It couldn’t be…” he muttered out loud to himself, but his memory was very clear on the matter. Three fire users sounded like Rheagan’s group, and a swordsman who was reluctant to fight anything lined up with Augustus.

  “How strong are they?” he asked as he worked on getting into a set of bone armor.

  “The three fire users are a few levels above you, but the swordsman is significantly stronger, above even Tor. I estimate that he has his first class evolution. Avoid fighting if possible, your death is all but guaranteed.”

  “Class evolution? No, nevermind that for now. Is avoiding the fight even legal? Can the boss of the Dungeon just hide?” There was a long pause, by the end of which Xander was already striding back out of the armory followed by three of the ‘weapons’ he had stored there scuttling after him. Funshine, Tenderheart, and Love-A-Lot may have only been about the size of bloated terriers, but they had powerful insectoid-like legs to carry them and harbored a couple of nasty surprises.

  “It’s certainly a bad idea, though not strictly forbidden. If the dungeon itself doesn’t force them to flee, perhaps you can convince them to leave diplomatically.”

  Xander mulled that over, still heading to the throne room. He actually did want to see the Firestarters again; they had been friendly and helpful for the most part. Augustus, on the other hand, did give him something to worry about. They hadn’t exactly parted on amicable terms, a nasty shot to the nuts and a couple of kicks to the head would leave the wrong sort of lasting impression on most people by his estimation.

  He absently tried to run a finger across his neck, a recent habit when he was nervous, but the digit just felt the bone choker that now resided there. It was totally badass, and definitely functional, even if it made him look like some sort of damned vampire queen. Actually, his entire getup was much the same, bones woven into nearly every part of it and really bringing the necromancer look to a new height.

  Xander shook his head at the thought, but Mr. Sinclair had a point that it had already proven incredibly beneficial to be mislabeled. Apparently, the golden halo thing that Tor had tried to use would have vaporized just about any real undead, and had left him in a precarious position when it had failed. That item was now in the treasure room since Kord hadn’t bothered to pick it up for some reason.

  Amused that he had actual treasure for people to steal, Xander walked into the throne room and started double checking that everything was in order. Rebuilt versions of Carl Jr. and Wendy waited impassively next to the throne itself, with the dozen or so regular sized minions planted along the sides of the main path like some sort of honor guard. Once he verified that the pit traps were primed and hidden, it was once again time to sit and wait. “I wonder how Augustus will react to seeing all of this…”

  —-----------------------------

  With a huge smile on his face, Augustus skipped through the magical woodland full of flowers. He breathed in the refreshing scent of the gorgeous rainbow-colored blossoms and sighed happily as the heady aroma filled him and sent fresh gales of giggles tumbling from his lips. His three deer friends pranced along beside him, their antlers glistening with morning dew. They periodically paused in their gallivanting to look at him, or to lower their heads to the ground and sniff out some delectable grass. He couldn’t help but love them, or the numerous other woodland creatures that came up to give him hugs!

  Sometimes his friends would get the hugs instead, and would release colorful light shows to make the magical satyrs, pixies, and even unicorns sparkle all the brighter! So many new friends came to play, bringing their magical clouds with them to join the romp. Augustus jumped over a fallen log, and then twirled around one of the trees, leaping nimbly over some silly gopher’s hole that opened up beneath him. He couldn’t ever remember feeling so light and so free. There was probably something he was supposed to be doing, but it didn’t matter right now. This was a place full of all the magic, sparkles, color, and joy that he had been missing for so long!!

  —-----------------------------------

  “Guys, I think we have a serious problem here…” Rheagan said, slicing his flaming blade through another of the skeletal monsters. More yellow and purple powder puffed out of its damaged body as it collapsed in a heap, and the young noble nervously double checked that his mask was still in place.

  “Oh really? What makes you say that?” Ignaris hissed with sarcasm heavy in his gravelly voice. “Is it the high level buffoon that could kill us in a single blow who is currently skipping and giggling? Or did I miss something else equally terrifying?”

  “I thought Augustus said he should be immune to toxins?” Sibil half whined, still keeping well out of reach of the insane warrior.

  “He did say that, yes, but… well…” Rheagan waved at the man as he tumbled through a trap, the sharpened bone spines glancing off his heavy armor without seeming to slow him in the slightest. Augustus popped back up to his feet, giggling madly again, and went cavorting off down another hall.

  “We better at least keep up with the imbecile,” Ignaris grumbled, putting actions to words and running around the triggered trap to follow the man. Rheagan and Sibil glanced at each other, but then both did the same. While Augustus seemed to be totally off his rocker, the powerful fighter was basically immune to most of the traps. He had numerous small cuts and scratches on any exposed skin, but the heavier armor he had bought still took the brunt of the damage and his level physique took care of the rest..

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  Turning the corner, they found the man literally hugging a skeletal monster to death, his powerful arms squeezing the monster until its bones snapped under the immense pressure. It still struggled in his embrace, at least until a bead of fire pierced through the coiled vines inside. When the monster went limp, Augustus beamed at it, set it gently down to the side, and patted its head affectionately before resuming his skipping gait.

  Sibil torched the ‘downed’ monster for half a second until the kill notification popped up. “I mean… he’s… still effective? I guess?” she said tentatively.

  Rheagan snorted, but they were already further into this dungeon than he had hoped. What he had hoped for was to have Xander come greet them and explain that this was all some kind of misunderstanding. Then he could have gone home to tell his father, and they could all figure out a way through this. He had known that was extremely unlikely, the world just wasn’t that kind, but even now he still held out hope. It was a bit na?ve, but he had also prepared himself to kill the strange dryad if necessary, or more likely flee as fast as possible.

  What he had not planned for was their temporary member losing his damned mind and becoming completely unhinged. Augustus was supposed to be their backup; muscle in case the worst happened and they needed to make a fighting retreat. That seemed like it would be even more of a stretch now, but maybe they could make things work. Somehow. Sighing, he ran after his team and a wildly frolicking warrior, trying very hard not to notice how the colors around him seemed to be getting brighter.

  —------------------------

  Xander debated about going out to meet the group again, but Augustus had apparently changed his mind and started destroying minions and disabling traps according to Mr. Sinclair. So instead, he found himself simply waiting once again while powerful people came to try to kill him. Admittedly, it still wasn’t nearly as bad as the last time he had sat on the throne to wait. For one thing, he was a lot more comfortable with both his role as a Dungeon Lord and himself in general. There was still some fear, a bit of regret, and of course lingering discomfort every now and then, but overall he felt more relaxed and put together.

   He didn’t relish the thought of the pain and danger that represented, but the group had made an impression on him in the few short hours they had spent together. He pushed that order out to the minions under his command in the throne room, keeping the directives short and simple.

   complained Wendy. Carl Jr on the other hand heaved a mental sigh of relief. . Xander eyed both of them dubiously, still not sure what to make of the System assigned personalities. came the thoughts of Funshine, Tenderheart, and Love-A-Lot in an eerie unison of disturbingly childlike voices.

  Xander considered it, but then after hesitation he shook his head and answered While it was true that the three of them were designed to be non-lethal, there was too much chance of them causing mutilation or accidental death. He certainly would only wish them on his worst enemies, not people he would like to remain friends with.

  Olaf was back in place as well, but the truly dangerous part of that trap minion was the release of his own sculpting spell. It could scoop up someone and hold them prisoner relatively safely as long as he didn’t make Sculpt Bone revert. came the chorus of the dozen regular minions, sounding like a flock of not too bright seagulls. Xander thought back at them . Shifting in his chair, he rolled his eyes when a wordless moan came from his skirt. he commanded, closing the mental connection to the assorted plants.

  He had gotten quite a bit stronger since the last time he had talked to the Firestarters, but they would still be a very dangerous group to fight. Xander really hoped they wouldn’t have to, but he had quite a few new tricks up his sleeves since they had last seen him, including the abilities that he had picked after the fight with the Den Mother. Not having much else to do, he opened his character disk to go over it once more.

  

  Personal Information Disk: Alexander Petrov

  Race: Dryad (Level 13)

  Class: (Reclamation Mage)

  Title: Dungeon Lord (Minor)

  HP: 100/100, MP: 182/200

  Stats (Dungeon Enhanced):

  Strength - 3 (5)

  Agility - 5 (5)

  Resilience - 5 (10)

  Regeneration - 10 (25)

  Intellect - 5 (10)

  Insight - 5 (10)

  Magic Resonance - 10 (10)

  Mana Pool - 16 (20)

  Affinities (Dungeon Enhanced):

  Nature: 90 (99)

  Death: -75 (-50)

  Fire: -50 (-25)

  Water: 25 (50)

  Divinity: 20 (45)

  Heresy: 10 (35)

  Spells:

  Nurture Vegetation: You can expend mana to cause a plant to grow or to heal a damaged plant. Creatures with nature affinity above 75 can be healed.

  Control Plants: You can establish control over certain species of trees, bushes, and vines. The link’s initial cost is based on the size of the plant, and requires a moderate amount of mana regeneration to maintain. Plants under your control can obey commands with improved complexity or be controlled directly.

  Toxic Spore Colony: Create a small patch of mushrooms that release a cloud of poisonous or psychedelic fungal spores when sufficiently disturbed.

  Sculpt Bone: Use mana to contour and form bone into new shapes. Total bone mass is preserved. You can set the changes to revert after a set time or on command.

  Passives (4 of 4):

  Intimidating Aura: Creatures instinctively fear you. This fear can be overcome with sufficient Insight, and creatures at a higher level resist this fear more easily.

  Improvised Weapons: Anything can be a weapon in your hands. You intuitively understand how to deal at least minor damage with anything you are holding.

  Malevolent Motivation: When you execute a minion under your control, each other minion under your control receives a moderate increase to all ability scores for the next hour. This effect ends early if you are no longer in line of sight. This effect does not stack, and does not affect creatures immune to fear.

  Enhanced Traps: Hunters and rogues will both tell you how important a well laid trap is to survival. Your traps take less time to set up or cast, are harder to spot, and are more deadly.

  Features:

  Oaken Bond: You are bound to an oak tree. You can freely merge with or exit your bound tree and sense through it. While merged with your bound tree, you both gain bonuses to your resilience and regeneration based on your own resilience and regeneration. If your bound tree dies, you will suffer immediate backlash and will die shortly afterwards unless you bind to another oak tree.

  Voice of the Woods: You can speak with plants and natural animals telepathically.

  Dryadic Magic: (See Spells)

  Reclamation: Return dead matter to Gaellus in exchange for recovering MP.

  Dungeon Maintenance: Instead of looting mana born entities in dungeons, you can instead absorb their energy. Your body will naturally digest this energy and return it to Gaellus while also granting you bonus mana regeneration for a time based on the level and quality of the entity.”

  Achievements:

  Beginner’s Luck

  Massive Blow

  Underleveled, Not Underpowered

  Don’t Disappoint The Boss

  The Right Affinity For The Job

  Gaze of the Gods

  Scorn of the Gods

  Favor of the Gods

  It’s A Trap!

  Taken altogether, there was a lot more there than Xander had realized, though his stats and affinities reminded him that when he finally stepped outside the dungeon again he would take a significant hit to his power. That wasn’t even considering that he wouldn’t be able to support the large number of minions he had surrounding himself now, and wouldn’t have access to the dungeon grown bone material he used to make his minions and art.

  Still, the list made him feel cautiously optimistic for what the future might hold, and he glanced through it one more time before closing the disk. Less than a minute later, he could hear what sounded like singing coming through from outside the throne room. Multiple voices overlapped in off-tune and out-of-sync raucous delight. “What the hell?” muttered a very confused Dungeon Lord.