"Yes, master. Right now, there are several thousands of Kobolds that are within the Cavern of Bureoza. Most of them have reached Adulthood; due to the accelerated growth, most of them reached Adulthood in two months instead of several years, but this is the effect of the Beginner's Protection Period. After its end; the Dungeon Monster will go poof down and boom! Yihihi..."
The little dungeon fairy floated around Archaon. She happily giggled while explaining the state of the Dungeon. He understood that the Dungeon would be soon enough facing overpopulation, and he would need to drastically lower the population of the kobolds to maintain the ecosystem of the Dungeon.
That would require some effort and release the Monsters into the world and let them slaughter humans. This would be a good thing because it would attract attention from the humans that would be sending there their soldiers.
Either to destroy the Dungeon or to obtain the treasures that he places across the 1st Layer, the Tower of Storms.
Due to the effects of the Beginner's Protection Period, all of the monsters aged very fast, much faster than they should, and now the Dungeon was facing severe overpopulation in the Cavern Bureoza and also in the Garden Lair.
Disrupting the ecology of the Dungeon was a very bad thing because the Dungeon, just like any outside world, had its own delicate ecology. The overpopulation of the Dungeon Monsters was one of the worst things that could happen, in fact, because that could totally destroy the ecology and disrupt the functioning of the proper Dungeon.
However, at the same time, it was important to take note that it's not like the Dungeon couldn't work in that way, but it would be much less efficient that way. He would also need a steady supply of humans and other outsiders entering his Dungeon so he could convert them into the Dungeon Echoes.
"And the Gnolls and Goblins?"
Gnolls were also another species of the monsters that were living in the Cavern of Bureoza, while the Goblins were mainly living in the Tower of Storms as they thrived more in the "ruins of something that appeared to be building" or whatever.
"Goblins are doing good in the Tower, Yihihi... but the Gnolls are already fighting for the space and territory within the Cavern of Bureoza with the Kobolds."
Both Kobolds and Gnolls were species that thrived underground. Thus, both of them were placed in the Cavern of Bureoza as that one was decided to be an enormous underground cavern complex as Layer of the Dungeon.
And because they were facing overpopulation, they started fighting in the territory rather fiercely.
Contrary to the popular belief that the Dungeon Monsters were not fighting each other, that was one huge bullshit. One could imagine a Dungeon as your average nation or kingdom, with several species living in it.
If there was a need for territorial expansion due to the lack of living space, they would, of course, start fighting each other. Such a conclusion was only logical, but fortunately enough, the Beginner's Protection Period was coming to an end, and this would be already swiftly resolved.
***
Several days later, the 4th Layer of Unnamed Dungeon, Overlord's Shrine
Training in the arts of the Pyromancy was rather straightforward for Archaon, as his very own Magic Capacity and abilities, coupled with his Arcane Stat, allowed him to get a fast grasp on the Pyromancy.
Due to the presence of the [Grimoire of the Izalith Pyromancy (Legend)], he was able to learn the Pyromancy at a staggering rate and was able to increase its mastery to Apprentice Level of mastery rather fast.
[Grimoire of the Izalith Pyromancy (Legend)] was very useful because it explained the arts of the Pyromancy thoroughly and to the utmost detail, which allowed one to progress very swiftly in the mastery over the Flame.
Not to mention, the Pyromancy was a very powerful branch of Magic due to the sheer destructive potential that it had. Just the most basic Spell of the Pyromancy, the Fireball was able to burn an adult man to ash in mere seconds.
Especially even the most fundamental spells of the Pyromancy were very effective and deadly against anyone who wasn't Level 3 or didn't have any means of protecting himself from such Magic.
Archaon had to admit that the addition of the Pyromacy greatly extended his repertoire and increased his combat prowess to a new level. With the slow assimilation of the Template of the Gehrman the First Hunter, Archaon knew that if he wanted to grow more powerful in a short span of time, he would need to look in a different direction.
According to the System, once he fully assimilated the Template of the Gehrman the First Hunter, he would be at least Level 8 in terms of power, so that was very, very powerful.
For comparison, if even Level 7 was dropped on the 21st Earth, then the sole chance of stopping such an individual would be through either very heavy bombardment or nuclear weaponry usage, but even that wasn't sure.
People won't stay in one place if they are attacked, especially the ones that are fairly powerful and know how to fight, and they will fight back. Currently, at the depths of the Dungeon, Archaon was sparring with the Dragon Slayer Ornstein, mostly using the Pyromancy in combat to test the capabilities of his newfound Magic.
Because he was originally from a world where Magic was nothing but a myth and legend, Archaon was very excited at the prospect of using Magic, and he was incorporating the Pyromancy with the combat and mixing it with the martial skills of the First Hunter.
In today's spar, Ornstein, as usual, was using his Dragon Slayer Spear while Archaon was using the Burial Blade in the form of a scythe as several tens of Fireballs burned around the visage of the Archaon and shot towards the golden armored knight.
Archaon's golden eyes looked intensively at his opponent as he started off. His white hair, which was cut to shoulder length, fell onto his face as he dodged the incoming spear.
Even though neither the Ornstein nor Artorias had recovered their original strength, they were still extremely fearsome warriors, and even though their Level was the same right now, both of them could defeat Archaon with little effort.
Such was the difference in the aspect of skills, yet at the same time, Archaon was progressing very fast with each spar. Due to the effects of the Template of the First Hunter and his own observations, sparring with far more skilled opponents was greatly beneficial for him.
But unfortunately for him right now, Ornstein just cut through the Fireballs with his Dragon Slayer Spear like they were nothing and attacked Archaon once more, forcing the white-haired man to flip backward with acrobatic grace as he swung the oversized scythe at the golden-armored knight.
As one would expect, the swing of the Burial Blade was stopped by the Dragon Slayer Spear in one moment because the former leader of the Four Knights of Gwyn immediately realized Archaon's plan.
The man in question was far more experienced, and his mastery over his skills was much higher than Archaon's, so there was no way that the young Dungeon Master could outsmart the man who fought for Lord Gwyn in the Lands of the Ancient Lords, slayed his enemies and untold horrors of the Lordran and decimated the entire armies.
Ornstein and Artorias repressed the pinnacle of the Lordran and its people, they were the strongest and most skilled warriors and knights in the entire forsaken world, that was the reason why Gwyn chose them to be leaders of his armies and led them in his name and stead.
But Archaon didn't falter as he conjured another set of fireballs and shot them toward the golden-armored lion knight in the meantime, he hurled fire into the orb and shot it toward the Dragon Slayer, who was destroying one Fireball after another with ease.
At the same time, he swung his scythe at the Ornstein, but amid of it all, he transformed the Burial Blade back into its curved sword shape, which caught the Dragon Slayer off guard a bit, but he recovered almost instantly as he dodged the Fire Orb and kicked Archaon to his stomach, as he crashed at the other end of the sparring ring.
"It was a good spar... you are getting better, My Lord."
Ornstein said as he helped him to stand up, though Archaon had to admit that his kick hurt like hell; he didn't hold back at all with his strength.
Ornstein was only a step away from reaching Level 4 with some training, and he knew how to utilize his strength almost perfectly, so everything that he threw at him hurt like hell. Still, he was training either with the Ornstein or Artorias every day to hone his skills in the battle to make use of the Begginer's Protection Period of the Dungeon to the maximum.
He preferred to reach a state where no one among the natives could match him in sheer might or skill in the ASOIAF world, and he felt that he had most probably achieved this goal.
Sans a few very powerful individuals that were deeply connected to the Magic or were not even human in the first place would be exceptions to this rule. But such people could be counted on one hand, and they were mostly very rare; for example, Night King, R'hllor, and other similar beings fell into this category.
[Congratulations! Stat: Skill has been increased by 1.]
[Congratulations! Stat: Bloodtinge has been increased by 1.]
[Congratulations! Proficiency in the Magic: Pyromancy (Ex R) has been increased by 1.]
[Congratulations! Proficiency in the Magic: Pyromancy (Ex R) has been increased by 1.]
[Congratulations! Proficiency in the Magic: Pyromancy (Ex R) has been increased by 1.]
[Congratulations! The Assimilation of the Template: Gehrman the First Hunter has been increased by 1%.]
After the training, he read through the notification from the System as he began dismissing them one by one, as he noticed some growth in the Pyromancy as he used the skill rather extensively during this spar, more than usual.
He also managed to increase his assimilation by 1% of the Template, which was rather a good result from the training and sparring.
"The Beginner's Protection Period of the Dungeon is going to end soon. Are you still set on confronting the Tarasque, My Lord?"
Every single time, when he heard Ornstein calling him "My Lord", Archaon wanted to flinch, because it sounded...
Fake?
Yes... that would be the right word.
He wasn't his Lord in the true sense and meaning of the world.
Hopefully, that will change with time, but we shall see so.
"Yes... the Tarasque is a High-Class Creature, and this one is a youngling capped at the Level 4 stats and is rather weak by the standards, so I believe that I can defeat the High-Class Creature like Tarasque. Obtaining youngling Tarasque is worth the risk; the Creature can grow far more powerful than it is right now, and for the Dungeon, it will take a very long time until it can create a proper High-Class Creature."
High-Class Creatures were the highest-class of creatures that could be created with the usage of the Dungeon and they were the most powerful of all. Not only that, but the species that were categorized as the High-Class had the highest potential.
Unfortunately for Archaon, because he was right now in the low magic world, where Magic wasn't that dense, and there were not really many powerful people, he was aware that it was impossible for him to create powerful creatures just with the gains from this world.
Thus, he came up with a different strategy, as he would need to use the Dungeon Echoes and create Creatures with the potential to reach such a level in the future. They would be far more worthy in the worlds that were categorically stronger.
ASOIAF World wasn't really that strong, and there were not particularly strong individuals, aside from the Night King, who was probably the most notorious; the rest of the people were just ordinary humans.
The only notable individuals were those who had pushed their bodies to the limits, so he predicted that there should be a good number of Level 2s in this world, which was essentially the Level of the Elite Trained Human Level, and there should also be some Level 3s that reached the Superhuman Level as it was termed by the System.
Those were mostly the ones that had some sort of connection with the Magic, be it the Dragonlords of the Valyrian Freehold that mastered their Magic and had a bond with Dragon, which made them stronger and more resistant to the outside things, especially diseases and most probably poisons to a certain degree.
***
Preparing to fight the Tarasque was rather bothersome, because he had to study the strategy against the Tarasque. Aside from spending time with the Dungeon Fairy, Yihi was right now dragging him to the 3rd Layer of the Dungeon, the Garden Lair, to the secluded place where she was keeping her bees.
The Garden Lair was a place that was shaped like an enormous valley, filled with trees, rocks, stones, and many, many kinds of flora. And even fauna, there were countless goblins across the Garden Lair as they were the dominant species in the Garden Lair like Kobolds and Gnolls were the dominant species in the Cave of Bureoza.
"Master, you should taste the honey; it is really good! Yihihi!"
The small Dungeon Fairy was flying around him happily. She laughed while chasing bees, and Archaon tasted the honey that was produced by the bees in the Dungeon. He had to admit that it was categorically better than any honey he had ever tasted.
It was only logical as the honey that was produced in the Dungeon was produced by a special type of bee that was magical in nature; thus, even the final product would be magical in nature, and in many ways, it would be far superior to the product that wasn't magical in the nature.
Archaon tasted more of the honey as the Dungeon Fairy finished playing with the bees and flew next to him, as she floated around Archaon and attempted to snatch a honey from him with one swift movement.
He had already learned not to let her have much honey because she would go sugar-high and fly around the entire Dungeon, annoying everyone around her. Although she didn't mean it bad, she just wanted to play, because Fairies were playful and mischievous in the nature.
"No more honey for you; you already ate one whole jar this afternoon."
Archaon stated as he put the jar of the honey far from her reach; as the little fairy pouted cutely that her favorite treat was denying her. He learned that if Yihi ate a lot of the honey, she would become rather hyperactive, and it was a pain in the ass to deal with her then.
The last time that happened, she was playing hide and seek with Archaon, as he didn't really have the heart to say no to the small thing when she started throwing around tears and a disappointed look.
Fairies were also pretty annoying to deal with, and they could be rather bothersome because they didn't take any for an answer and they liked to prank people...
Like, really, really much...
"In one day, the Beginner's Protection Period will end. Do have we prepared everything for it?"
Archaon asked as he himself was going after the end of this conversation to fight the Tarasque in hopes of subjugating the Creature so that he could obtain another useful Dungeon Guardian.
He suspected that the reason why the Tarasque was even sent here was to serve as a potential Dungeon Guardian if the Dungeon Master was strong enough to subjugate the young Tarasuqe.
Archaon also spent a lot of time studying the Tarasque because while it didn't really seem like it, his Dungeon Fairy was very knowledgeable about the monsters and Dungeon Creatures.
A perk of being a Dungeon Fairy was that the moment any monster was created through the Dungeon Core and was registered in the database of the Dungeon Heart, then the Dungeon Fairy would obtain all information necessary about the said monster.
The same thing could be applied to Tarasque, who was summoned as temporary guardian of the Dungeon. Yihi had extensive information and knowledge about the Tarasques, their habits, combat styles, personalities, and practically anything that he could ask for.
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
This famous quote by Sun Tzu is something that Archaon always tried to adhere to because information and knowledge were the true power one could hold. From the Yihi, Archaon has learned everything from the weaknesses of the Tarasque to its habits during all stages of its growth.
He was rather lucky that the Tarasque that was spammed in his Dungeon was still the younglings, or he would never be able to subjugate it. The Adult ones were around Level 5 or Level 6, as they were threats to entire nations themselves when they reached Adulthood an developed their abilities to the maximum.
Much less being said about the Elder Tarasques, who were far older, and as their species grew until their death or until they were killed, some of those could reach ridiculous proportions when they were larger than a True Dragon more often.
He knew very well that Tarasque would serve as a good Dungeon Guardian, and he was rather sure that he could create another High-Class Creature only in the far future. As unfortunate as it was, the ASOIAF world didn't have enough potential for such a thing.
In the end, it was rather a weak world.