As I changed back into my human form, I turned to look for the twins. Evelyn was near the edge of the dorm, thrown away from the battlefield from the attack with my tail. Jonathan, who was closer to the center of the dome, was already starting to return to his normal form.
Both of them were on the ground, though only Jonathan had taken a bit of damage. Evelyn, who was only thrown across the battlefield, only suffered from one tail attack. Jonathan, who was immune to flame, only took damage from the power of my breath attack and nothing more.
I turned to look around at the dome around me and found myself staring at the destruction. Even if I hadn't gotten involved, the field would've been scorched regardless. However, even though the dome would've been destroyed no matter what I did, I still felt disappointed that my hard work had been brought to nothing by a wasteland of flames.
I turned to Jonathan, then began to walk up to him. By the time I reached him, he had already come to and was getting back on his feet. Although Jonathan was by now several feet taller than me and no longer looked human, I walked up to him with no consideration for how frightening he was.
"Look around you, Jonathan," I said as I stopped in front of him. Jonathan looked down at me, then turned to look at the field around him. He turned his whole body to look at the carnage around him, then turned back to look at me, "You need to show more consideration for your environment. You have enough power to cause something like this and nearly lost control of it. I had to step in just so you wouldn't kill your sister."
Jonathan looked at me, then nodded. His shoulders slumped a little as his posture weakened. I nodded, then looked to Evelyn. Evelyn had done a good job, using her newfound powers to the best of her ability, but still without losing control.
"I'll have to fix this," I muttered as I looked back at the field again. Although it was destroyed, I couldn't help but sigh in relief as both twins managed to rise to their feet. I was glad they were alright. After I had a good look at the carnage around me, I opened my dungeon menu and looked through the shop as I attempted to find how much it would cost to replace all of this.
Currently, I had 3070 DP, but I was trying to save up for another dungeon core upgrade. After a few seconds of moving through the『 Environments 』tab, I eventually found the same dome and field once more.
"Just under 500, jeez," I groaned in annoyance. Hazel and Icarus walked over to me, then noticed my annoyed expression. Even Evelyn walked over and looked uncomfortable after noticing my expression. I looked to Jonathan, then sighed, "This'll set me back a few days, but it's not too expensive. Try not to ruin it next time you spar, okay?"
Jonathan and Evelyn both nodded, then looked at each other. I looked at Hazel and Icarus, then turned back to the twins. I was lucky they were on my side. In a real fight, I had no idea if I had the strength to fight against them. It would be difficult for both sides because of the flame immunity, so we'd have to rely on the physical power behind each attack.
"I need to get stronger," I muttered. I looked to Hazel and Icarus and appraised them both. Icarus was still level five and Hazel was level three. I was level seven, even lower than the twins when I first met them. We all needed to get stronger and fast. With the Caldwell siblings coming to investigate, it was almost guaranteed that I would end up getting even stronger intruders.
As I was stuck in thought, Aros walked into the dome and stopped when he saw the carnage. He looked around, shocked, then noticed us near the center of the dome. He immediately ran over, concerned, and shouted, "Are you all alright?"
"We're fine, Aros," Hazel replied. I nodded, then turned my attention to Aros.
"Aros, we'll be away for a few days," I told him. The twins and Hazel looked at me in confusion. Aros blinked at me for a moment, then nodded, "We need to get stronger. The twins will stay here and work on condensing their bodies so they can get their human appearances back."
"Will you be going back to Hewe?" Aros asked. I shook my head.
"It would be nice to work as an adventurer for a while, but it's too risky. Icarus is still too young and I'm too weak. With rumors about Icarus and myself hopping around, more people other than the Caldwells might come looking for us. If we run into somebody we can't handle, I'd prefer to be in an environment where I can use my true form," I explained, "We'll go deeper into the empire, probably for a week or two."
"I understand," Aros nodded. He looked to Hazel, then said, "Take care of him?"
"He won't need it, but sure," Hazel replied. Her face was a little red, though she was still as confident as usual. Aros nodded, then turned to the twins.
"Well? Why don't we get started?" Aros muttered. The twins looked at each other for a moment, turned to Aros, then nodded.
"If possible, can you help them learn how to use their abilities better?" I asked Aros, who quickly nodded.
"I'll do my best, My Lord," Aros told me. He looked around the dome, then asked, "Are you planning to replace this?"
"Yes, why?" I asked. Aros looked back to me, then cocked his head as if he was troubled with an internal decision. Eventually, he sighed and looked back at me.
"If I might ask, what is it you intend to do over the long run?" Aros asked me, "Over the next few years, I mean."
I looked at Aros, then began to wonder the same thing myself. Over the last month or so, I had only been worried about exploring the world. Protecting my dungeon was always a task that I worked to complete with ease, but I hadn't actually gone outside for a week or two. I had only been strengthening my dungeon, but I didn't have an actual plan.
Would I grow my dungeon into a multi-layered labyrinth, or would I take to the world and attempt to show my enemies my strength? In the end, I had no idea. I looked back up at Aros, then turned to look at Hazel.
"Grow the dungeon to protect the things and people I care about. I don't intend to let this place be as weak as it is forever," I replied. As I spoke, I felt confident with my decision, so I looked back at Aros and said, "I will turn this dungeon into a place that the entire world will have to fear. Nobody will be able to ignore my power."
"I see," Aros said as he nodded along to my answer, "Do you have any specific plans?"
I looked away from Aros as I began to ponder my answer. Right now I only had two floors. I wanted to get Silfang on the second floor, so she could guard alongside the rest of the Salamanders. To accomplish that, I would have to get a replacement for her boss room, preferably a Kobold. However, as I thought about how I would do that, I began to consider what my end goal would be. How many floors would I create? How many of them would be like mazes and how many would be large ecosystems?
"I think one hundred is a good, decent number," I said, "Once I have one hundred floors, I won't have to worry about anybody reaching the bottom, even if they're a hunter. Then, I'll focus on the enemies and traps to strengthen them over time."
"One hundred floors?" Hazel gasped. I looked at her, surprised. Her eyes widened with shock and her mouth was agape, "Nobody has even managed to reach the end of the first floor, yet you want to build one hundred of them?"
"Yes," I nodded, "I will only be satisfied when I reach a level of strength that the world will have to be wary of. One hundred floors might not even be enough. Each floor will have at least one boss, while a few others will have several minibosses. I'll have to find a way to manage the entire thing, though. Although, coordinating one hundred boss monsters sounds like a pain to deal with."
"Why not create a line of command?" Hazel suggested. I looked at her, intrigued by her idea.
"Yeah, that works," I nodded, "I'll create one hundred floors, each with a boss to govern the monsters on that floor. Above them will be supervisors, or maybe I should call them guardians. Each guardian will oversee ten floors, so there will be ten guardians in total."
"Amazing," Aros gasped in awe, "I do not doubt that you'll accomplish this feat with absolute excellence."
"It will be," I smiled, "In time, this dungeon will rival an entire nation. Nobody will be able to stop us."
"What will you call it?" Hazel asked.
"Huh? The dungeon already has a name," I muttered, "Does the Labyrinth of Aros not work?"
"What? No!" Aros shouted with a shocked tone of voice. He looked up at me and shook his head, "It should be named after you, My Lord. It would be a crime should I take the credit for such an accomplishment."
"You're the one in charge of it, though?" I muttered, "I even gave you a throne."
"A throne? When?" Aros muttered. For a moment, he was silent. Then he gasped and shouted, "Do you mean the chair upstairs? I had already assumed that was just a gift to make my job easier. My god, how foolish I have been to not realize the intentions behind your gift! I have no intention of sitting upon a throne, especially when I don't deserve it."
I looked at Aros, confused, then sighed.
"No. You're the one in charge of this dungeon, Aros," I said. Aros looked at me, confused. I smiled, then said, "Do you honestly think I planned to only make one dungeon? No, there will be many. This is only the first."
Aros stared at me for a moment, his heart beating with excitement. He nodded, then bowed once again. This time, he went down on his knee and kneeled in front of me. I smiled, then turned to Hazel. Her eyes were filled with admiration as she looked at me. Her hands were clasped and a big grin was across her face. Then, she bowed. Icarus looked at me with his chest puffed out and bowed as well. Even the twins, who weren't used to being around Aros or the dungeon monsters in general, seemed impacted by my decision and bowed their heads.