"Lord Aureys?" I heard Aros yell with fright. I turned to look at the source of the sound, then saw Aros looking at me while resting his palms against the arms of his throne in an agitated state. I waved my hand and began to walk over to him. Icarus walked behind me, then quickly ran to Aros as he recognized the giant figure in armor in front of him.
Aros quickly got off of the throne, then bent his knee to the ground as he bowed his head to me.
"Sorry for the sudden visit," I told him as I looked around. As expected, the boss room hadn't changed in the month that I had been away. If anything, I was the one that changed. Aros was still as strong as he was before I left, though he now wore a thick red cape that hung down to his ankles.
"It's no matter, My lord!" Aros quickly said, "I just wish I had time to prepare a feast! You haven't been here for a month, so why have you returned now?"
"Do I need a reason? I just wanted to see how everybody's been doing since I've been gone. I'll go and visit Silfang in a few minutes," I said. Then, as I remembered the Salamander Elite that had been acting as the dungeon's only miniboss, I turned to Aros, "How has she been, by the way?"
"Lady Silfang has been working harder than anybody, My lord," Aros told me, "Even the Salamanders directly under her command have been showing more diligence than expected of them."
"Oh?" I chuckled, "Good. I still have a few leftover DP, but now that i'm here, I want to ask you for your opinion on what I should do with them. Should I save up and buy another floor, or should I just upgrade the core?"
"You're asking me?" Aros asked with a confused tone. I nodded.
"You're here more than I am. I want your opinion before I do anything you disagree with," I explained, "If you don't say anything, I can take that as an answer as well."
"No! I-I mean, My Lord, I would be very happy if you use the rest of your DP to upgrade the Core," Aros told me, "I believe it'll be more beneficial to have a stronger dungeon than a larger dungeon."
"I see," I said. Then, after I left Icarus to play with Aros, I quickly walked around the throne and began to traverse down the narrow spiral staircase. Aros turned to watch me walk down the staircase, but soon turned his attention back to Icarus.
As I made my way down the staircase, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. Even though it had only been a month since I was last here, it felt like years. With each step I took, I ran my fingers across the cold stone walls. After a familiar thirty seconds of walking, I finally reached the bottom of the staircase.
The core room, the first room in my dungeon, waited for me. The walls were plain and the ceiling was dirty. There weren't any sources of light in the room other than the small floating crystal ball in the center, but my eyes weren't affected by the dark.
I walked up to the crystal ball, then placed my palm against it's cold surface.
『 Upgrade Dungeon Core for 1000 DP? 』
『 Yes 』『 No 』
I quickly pressed『 Yes ], wincing as the rest of my DP disappeared. I watched as the orb began to radiate the light of the sun. The flash of light only lasted for a moment, but it was long enough to force my hands to my eyes in an attempt to protect my vision. There was no sound that came alongside the light, nor was there any heat. After the light disappeared, it was as if it had never existed in the first place.
﹃
Dungeon Core of『 Labyrinth of Aros 』has leveled up!
Dungeon Core is now Level: 3
All Dungeon Boss and Miniboss monsters are now Rank D
Please choose a specialized reward!
『 Skill Shop 』『 More Mobs 』『 Discounted Prices 』
﹄
"This is a hard decision," I sighed. When I looked at the three options in front of me, it took me a long time to decide which one to ignore first. After a full ten minutes of arguing the pros and cons of every option, I had managed to throw out『 More Mobs 』. The reason for this decision was quite simple, as『 More Mobs 』would most likely lead to expensive mobs, which I didn't need right now.
『 Skill Shop 』looked tempting, as it wouldn't hurt to have a large array of spells. I somehow managed to get『 Dungeon Visit 』without using a skill shop, so I wasn't sure how useful『 Skill Shop 』would actually be. However, when I realized that『 Discounted Prices 』would make building more floors easier to accomplish, my decision was easy.
『『 Discounted Prices 』has been unlocked. 40% discount applied to all Dungeon Items 』
"Forty percent is nice!" I shouted as all but the main windows disappeared. I turned to look at the dungeon panel, then noticed a change in the top right corner.
﹃
Available DP: 617
Current DP Gain: 50 per day
﹄
"I have enough to get the boss room for the second floor. I might as well promote Silfang already," I sighed as I turned back to my shop once more. A few seconds later, after another sharp decline of DP and an exasperated sigh from my end, another notification popped up.
﹃
Second Floor Unlocked
Please Designate Placement
﹄
After I read the message on the notification screen, it disappeared and revealed the map. The entire dungeon was made clear to me, as if it was a battle map depicting an entire region. Now that I was looking at the entirety of it, I realized just how complicated the hallways and maze really was.
It was a miracle I managed to make one so good on my first try. After I looked at the map, I realized I had something in my inventory. After reading the title of the single item, I realized it was the boss room for the new floor. However, after I clicked on it, I realized I had the ability to choose exactly where to put it. I could choose to put the boss room right below or above the main boss room, or I could even decide to put it at the entrance.
Eventually, after a lot of thought, I decided to do the best possible thing for my current situation. I didn't want to risk having Silfang be the first enemy intruders fought, so I split the current dungeon in half.
The first half, which housed the kobolds and winding cave systems, became floor number one. On the northern tip of the first floor was the location for Silfang's boss room. After I promoted her to a 'boss' figure instead of a 'miniboss' I instantly felt a shift in power throughout the dungeon.
﹃
Due to the presence of two boss monsters, the overall power balance of the dungeon has changed
To compensate for this change, both the dungeon as a whole and Aros, Dungeon Boss, have increased in strength
﹄
It was like I was sitting in a rocky boat by myself, but then somebody heavy decided to step inside of it. The effect of Silfang's promotion rippled through the dungeon in a similar way.
"She'll be really happy," I smiled. Then, I turned my attention back to the map. Once the first floor was ready and all of the traps were set, I turned my attention to the second floor. The second floor, which was the other half of the dungeon, was the section built like a complicated maze. The hallways were cut straight and there were traps everywhere. I hadn't yet seen the traps in action, but most of the ones on the second floor were made to hide in the walls.
There were pitfalls, spikes, falling boulders, flamethrowers, and even a trap that squashed intruders between the walls. For this floor I decided to relocate the main boss room to the South-Eastern section of the dudgeon, as well as the Core room.
Just like the first time I changed the layout of the dungeon, I felt no physical change from the room around me. It was like nothing had happened at all.
After both of the floors were situated perfectly atop each other, I connected the two floors by a large staircase only accessible through Silfang's boss room. Then, after I was satisfied that everything was complete, I began to scroll through the store again and browsed for interesting things to get in the future.
While I did this, I eventually found the purchase for the third floor. Thanks to the recent core upgrade, the third floor boss room was cheaper. Before, the price was 500 DP. Now that I had a 40% discount, the new price was 300 DP.
"I'm surprised the price didn't increase" I muttered, "That's strange. I'll buy one of those once I get enough money. It doesn't feel right to make Silfang guard a floor occupied entirely by Kobolds, so I'll try to get something like a Kobold Elite to replace her. Then, she'll move down to the second floor while Aros gets a floor entirely to himself. Who knows, maybe his floor will be a giant ecosystem?"
After I finished taking care of the dungeon's duties, I returned to the throne room and looked at Aros. Because of the message earlier, I knew Aros's strength had increased. However, the change I found was much more drastic than I was expecting.