Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 104

Chapter 104: Episode 29. Abnormal Breeding (1)

I was on the eighteenth floor of the dungeon.

It was a mountainous area, home for the Saber Tigers.

There were more than six hundred Saber Tigers, but they did not form herds.

Saber Tigers formed different groups, and every group had a hierarchy.

About fifty of them would form one group. The different groups of Saber Tigers occupied different territories and would try to conquer each other’s territories.

I thought about the best of all the Saber Tigers, which was a male tiger.

The tiger, the leader of a hundred other tigers, succeeded in mating.

It had mated with many females in the past, but surprisingly, none of the mated females bore its offspring. This time, the tiger mated with a tigress with an attractive tail, and the union finally bore fruit.

The tigress gave birth to one cub after three months of pregnancy. The cub was very healthy.

The problem was… the cub had a different color of skin.

A normal Saber Tiger would have a fine and brown mane. On the other hand, this cub had a white mane. Its entire body was white, and it stuck out in its group.

What made a Saber Tiger so special was its agility and ability to be stealthy in the darkness. A white tiger such as this cub could be easily seen and therefore, easily attacked.

The tiger then made a decision.

It had put so much effort to bear life to this cub, and the cub was supposed to lead the rest of the group in the future. The tiger did not want any other males to take over its position in the group.

So, the tiger trained the cub harshly and ruthlessly. It made the cub hunt Orc herds, which the master of the dungeon occasionally put in the dungeon. The cub followed the trainings well.

After a few months, the tiger realized that it was mistaken.

This cub was different from normal Saber Tigers.

It was going to be the true king of the Saber Tigers.

However, this small king was too outstanding.

The cub dared to challenge the master of the dungeon.

I thought about the white Saber Tiger, which I referred to as the white one.

It was only a few months old, but it had grown into an adult tiger.

Furthermore, the white one started leading dozens of Saber Tigers, forming its own group. Most of the Saber Tigers that joined the white one were young tigers.

After the white one was born, the reproduction rate increased dramatically. About three hundred tigers were born around that time.

As the newborn tigers grew, they had to establish a pecking order. The white one was the most outstanding tiger in such a fierce competition.

However… the white tiger did not seem happy about its victory. It acted as though it was entitled to be victorious. The white one had other complaints instead.

First of all, it was the most intelligent. The gap between the white one’s intelligence and the others’ was so large that the other tigers seemed dumb to the white one. Furthermore, the white one was incomparably more agile and stronger. It could take down five adult tigers by itself. As the white one grew larger, these gaps grew wider, too.

Dominating this floor was a piece of cake to the white one. The white Saber Tiger felt that this floor was too small.

Yes, it was indeed too small.

It wanted to expand its territories to the other floors.

However, the other adult tigers tried to stop it. They told the white tiger that it should not and could not disobey the master. They also told the white one that once it stood in front of its master, it would obey the master naturally.

The white one thought that it was nonsense.

It thought that it was a king and the epitome of freedom. No one would dare stop it.

Krrr!

The white tiger roared.

Then the tigers in its group gathered around.

The next plan was to conquer this floor. The white one wanted to become the true king of the Saber Tigers and escape this floor.

Then it would dominate the other floors and become stronger than the master of the dungeon.

The white Saber Tiger claimed that it would become the true king of this place.

The white Saber Tiger’s group started getting larger.

Thanks to its overwhelming power, the white one could dominate other groups and make them surrender.

Soon, about half of the Saber Tiger population had surrendered to the white one.

Then there was a clash.

There was another tiger that was as outstanding as it was.

And the other tiger was a black one!

The black Saber Tiger was another anomaly, which was born around the same time as the white one.

The black one and its group grew larger on another side, and its group was as large as that of the white one.

Furthermore, the black one was strong. The white one acknowledged its power, too.

However, there could not be two kings.

The two were destined to clash.

The two tigers started to fight and struck each other with their sharp teeth.

They fought until both of them were covered in blood. In the end, the white one was victorious.

The black Saber Tiger admitted its loss, and the white one became the king.

However, that was not the end.

Being a king of this floor was not enough. The white Saber Tiger made up his mind to become the king of the entire dungeon, and he advanced to the next floor with a large group of tigers.

When they moved to the next floor, the tigers ran into the Dark Bears.

The tigers outnumbered the bears. As a result, the tigers easily defeated the bears and expanded their territories. However, the twentieth floor was a sea. The white tiger thought about its options, and it decided to take a detour.

The tiger tried to figure out ways to cross the sea from the lower floors.

As the white one and its group advanced towards the lower floors, they defeated and plundered their enemies. The tigers finally reached the fifteenth floor.

Unlike the other floors, the Dark Elves dwelled on this floor.

The white one was elated, because it believed that the Dark Elves would know of ways to cross the sea.

However, the white Saber Tiger did not know how to compromise. It believed that anyone or anything that did not belong to its group was the enemy. The tiger thought that forcing the Dark Elves to reveal the method to cross the sea was the best solution.

Soon, the tigers clashed with the Dark Elves.

“This is such bad timing. The fairy has fallen, and the Dungeon Master is very busy…”

The tiger looked at the Dark Elf leading the others in front.

The leader was female. She smelt different from the other Dark Elves. At the same time, she was emitting an intimidating aura.

Krrr!

She must surrender.

“I do not know how these tigers escaped the eighteenth floor, but it is a side effect of abnormal breeding. I guess we do not have many options. There is a saying that a beating will tame a disobedient dog.”

“My lady, we will take care of this issue.”

“It is okay, elder. That White Tiger and Black Tiger are much stronger than the normal Saber Tigers. It is a good thing that they are yet to be adults. In this case, I am sorry but I need to step in.”

Boom. Boom.

When Krithli grabbed her wand, a Spartoi walked out.

“What would my Dungeon Master say if he was in this situation?”

“He would say-”

Krrrr!

How dare you let your guard down in front of me?

The white tiger roared aggressively, but Julium, who looked very relaxed, snickered and spoke.

“- that one should know one’s place.”

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I was on the top floor of the dungeon.

Crossing my arms, I was looking down at Lyhee, in front of the Dungeon Core.

Lyhee had passed out. She was laid down like a corpse and was barely breathing. A fairy was a spiritual being and did not need to breathe; Lyhee’s breathing was merely an act. However, if she stopped breathing, she would return to the origin.

“Ah…”

Lyhee shivered lightly.

I calmly stretched out my hand and felt her forehead.

Then she started to tremble violently.

“Abnormal breeding. When the ecosystem of the dungeon started breaking down, the Dungeon Core and Lyhee’s health began to deteriorate.”

Everything started to happen a few days after I came back from the World of Spirits.

The reproduction rate started to increase dramatically and affected the flow of mana.

At that time, I thought such a change was temporary. However, it seemed that I was mistaken.

When Lyhee first told me of her pain, I should have taken actions.

I tried to remember what happened back then.

“Master, Lyhee is a bit sick.”

“…”

“I feel dizzy and can’t stop shivering. Did I catch a cold? Ah! Is this what they call love?”

“…”

“Phew, I am really sick. Lyhee does not even want to fly anymore. Lyhee will lie on top of the master’s shoulders.”

There were symptoms.

Had I not ignored and investigated a bit further, perhaps the outcome could have been different.

Unfortunately, I did not take Lyhee’s complaints seriously, and here I was in front of a sick Lyhee.

I thought about the abnormal breeding. The reproduction had increased by five hundred percent compared to the previous rate. The Dungeon Core had impacts on the mana of the monsters in the dungeon. Now, the capacity of the Dungeon Core had reached its limit.

Had the reproduction rate increased gradually, the number of newborns did not matter. If I could tune the mana, I didn’t need to care about the Dungeon Core. Such a tuning was nothing more than helping the monsters adjust to the dungeon.

“I think I have some clues about the cause. It must be the Tree of Origin.”

I was correct. The Tree of Origin was the only thing that could affect the reproduction rate.

However, I could not fathom why the tree started to behave like this.

“Even if it released blessings, they should not affect the abnormal breeding.”

At first, I thought the reason for the situation was the continuous blessing of the statue of the Goddess of Abundance. Therefore, I stopped the blessings and waited for the situation to get better. Unfortunately, nothing changed. Instead, the reproduction rate increased even more.

“Master…”

Lyhee started talking in her sleep.

Grr! She also ground her teeth.

Lyhee was much more special than the others to me. How could I abandon her, the fairy who devoted herself to a stubborn person like me during the previous life?

Unless Lyhee decided to get in my way, I would not abandon her.

“My Dungeon Master.”

“Is that you, Krithli?”

When I turned around, Krithli approached me.

“I have some news to report. Is that okay?”

“Of course. What is the matter?”

“A White Tiger and a Black Tiger escaped their floor and invaded the fifteenth floor.”

“Ah, the two tigers. Did they really attack the fifteenth floor?”

I had been informed about the births of the White Tiger and the Black Tiger. Both of them were anomalies, which would become either level five or level four monsters once they were fully grown. Furthermore, a White Tiger was a special monster, which could not even be purchased in the store for everything.

However, they attacked the fifteenth floor. If the Dungeon Core was working fine, such an invasion would not have taken place.

Without my permission, no one could have left their designated floors.

When I questioned Krithli, she replied.

“I think that the cause is the abnormal breeding. My fellow Dark Elves and I captured the tigers, but they are still very aggressive.”

“I must take a look at them.”

“My Dungeon Master, this is not an urgent issue.”

Krithli, who looked concerned about Lyhee, glanced at where the Dungeon Core was located.

However, I shook my head.

“No. I will go and take a look.”

I thought about the monsters that were not under the influence of the Dungeon Core.

I was quite curious about the tigers; not only did they escape their floor, but they were also bold enough to invade other floors. Such an event was unusual, and so were the tigers.

I arrived on the fifteenth floor. The White Tiger and the Black Tiger were tied near the Tree of Origin. It seemed that the Dark Elves banished the other Saber Tigers back to the eighteenth floor; I could not see any of them. I needed to teach these culprits a lesson.

Krrr!

Grrr!

“Here they are, the white and the black one.”

I calmly stared down at the two tigers.

The White Tiger and the Black Tigers bore their sharp teeth and roared aggressively.

However, I could see the fear inside them.

Even if they were no longer under the influence of the Dungeon Core, they could not completely escape from me.

“It seems that they have some grudges…”

The tigers were monsters living in my dungeon, and they were challenging me. It was nonsense, but I found their challenge quite funny at the same time.

At that very moment, the White Tiger lifted its head and tried to bite me.

Krrr!

“Now I know. Yes, there cannot be two kings on one mountain.”

I could not help but snicker.

Looking at the tiger’s attitude, I started to understand better.

Dominating the eighteenth floor was not enough for this one; the tiger wanted to be the king of the entire dungeon.

However, there was no way that this tiger would become the master.

The master of the dungeon was me. And of course, I was the owner of the White Tiger.

“My Dungeon Master, could you permit me to execute this filthy monster? How dare this tiger challenge the master? I cannot forgive it.”

Krithli, looking slightly mad, came close to me.

However, I raised my hand and stopped Krithli.

“I, the king of the dungeon, must show this one how hard it is to become a king.”

Drawing Rage out, I spoke to Krithli.

“Know your place.”