Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 58
Chapter 58: Episode 16. Breeding Species (2)
Despite the fat chance of successfully growing the Tree of World, there was no need to discourage the Dark Elves.
They wanted to accomplish something, and I wanted to compliment their attitudes instead of discouraging them.
Such an attitude meant that they were trying to be productive.
Stroking my chin, I asked, “Do you have any other news for me?”
“What news are you talking about…?”
“I heard a few days ago that two new Elves were born.”
Krithli told me two days ago with a lot of excitement that two new Elves had been born.
Had the Mana waves made a change in any way, they must have vaguely felt a difference. There was no way the Dark Elves couldn’t have noticed.
Julium clapped his hands.
“Ahhh! You mean the twins. I was actually going to show them to the Dungeon Master right after the infant ceremony. It’s about the right time, so it would be nice to visit them.”
Dark Elves always performed some sort of ritual for special occasions.
Julium looked very touched.
From Julium’s perspective, the Dungeon Master showed interest in a matter that he hadn’t informed him of in advance. Julium must have misinterpreted this action as the Dungeon Master caring about the Dark Elves.
There was no need to correct his misunderstanding, so I nodded and continued speaking. “I will take a look.”
“I’ll show you the twins right away.”
Julium soon ordered nearby Dark Elves to summon the rest of Dark Elves. He wanted to prepare for the Dungeon Master’s visit in a formal fashion.
I didn’t dislike such formality, so I let him do what he wanted. Slowly following Julium, I observed the forest.
‘The forest that came from the seed of Tree of World sure looks different. The Mana is a lot denser.’
I was sure that such a large amount of Mana would definitely be helpful to the Dark Elves in many ways, even if it failed to grow the Tree of World. I suspected that even anomalies could appear soon. Expecting Dark Elf Hayer to appear would be too much. However, I would be satisfied with Dark Elf Rhoads, a high-level monster.
After about ten minutes of walking, we arrived at a small house, woven with various vegetation. This house was the new residential area for Dark Elves.
I couldn’t find the structure that Lyhee had made, which looked like feces anyway. The Dark Elves must have gotten rid of it immediately after I approved it.
“Here we are, Dungeon Master.”
We were at the center of the residences.
There was a very large house that looked different from other houses.
“This house is made from wood and grass of the best quality. We Dark Elves have newborns stay in this house for three days. It is a ritual in which we hope the Earth will bless the newborns while they feed on dew from freshly-picked leaves,” Julium explained about the ritual.
It seemed that this house was a substitute for the Tree of World. If they succeeded in growing the tree, they would carry out the ritual under the Tree of World for three days instead.
“It certainly looks good.”
“If you wish, my Dungeon Master, I can make it even larger by expanding the top floor.”
“That sure is an interesting suggestion, but I don’t think Lyhee would let that happen.”
“…I guess the fairy would surely be angry.”
Lyhee had her own ways of doing things. She would create weird structures with unfathomable designs, then treat them as though they were masterpieces.
If she discovered a house that looked normal on the top floor, she would complain every day for sure.
“I salute the Dungeon Master.”
“I salute the Dungeon Master.”
As I passed by, a group of Dark Elves who were nearby bowed politely.
Ignoring the group of Dark Elves, I entered the house where the ritual took place.
The house looked to be at least two stories from the outside, but it was just a one-story house with a high roof.
Two younglings who were wrapped in large leaves were wriggling their hands and feet.
“These are the newborn twins. One is a boy, and the other is a girl.”
There were no adult Dark Elves in the house. Based on the absence of adults, I guessed that no one could enter the house until the ritual was over.
I silently approached the two younglings.
Yikes!
I did not open up my Mana, and the younglings looked at me benignly.
I activated my Mind’s Eyes and checked the information about the two younglings.
Name: None
Job: None
Title:
Statistics:
Strength 1, Intelligence 4
Agility 1, Stamina 2, Mana 13
Potential (21/384)
Unique: 51 hours have passed since it was born.
Skill: None
‘This is…’
I was slightly surprised when I looked at the status window.
The two younglings even had identical statuses.
What really surprised me was their potential—the two younglings possessed huge potential. Perhaps they could be the next Dark Elf Rhoads.
Their potential was inferior compared to those of Krathra or Krithli, but the younglings could easily make high-level monsters with at least Level 5.
Of course, potential was not everything. However, it definitely was a very important part of a monster.
‘Is Dark Elf the appropriate breed for dungeons in Korea?’
However, I could not make a conclusion so hastily.
In fact, I had seen only two cases. I needed to see even more before I drew any conclusions.
In addition, this particular tribe of Dark Elves was unusually doing better than other Dark Elves in general.
One Dark Elf Hayer came from this tribe. Even Jinma Dragon was interested in the superior blood flowing in this tribe. I couldn’t rule out the possibility that Jinma Dragon wanted to have his offspring come from this tribe.
As a result, a brilliant genius named Krithli had been born.
‘Maybe it’s just superior blood.’
Sometimes, it happened.
A tribe could fall, but the members managed to carry on their superior blood to the next generation, thereby giving birth to an anomaly that surpassed the limits of species.
It could have been true that this particular tribe of Dark Elves was such a tribe.
“Well… Dungeon Master.” Julium opened his mouth carefully.
I turned my eyes and looked into Julium’s eyes. “Speak.”
“Why didn’t you name your children?”
“Their names?” I asked out of curiosity. No one had asked me to name anything for them.
Julium answered in a quite serious manner, “Yes. It would be a great blessing for the two younglings if the Dungeon Master could name them.”
“You are very bold.” I giggled.
I could easily read Julium’s intentions for asking. Ever since I had accepted Krithli, he had been trying hard to kiss my *ss. Julium was so forthright that it could be embarrassing. However, Julium wasn’t the most shameless being that I had ever met.
In addition, I didn’t think that he was asking too much.
If someone who was incompetent was trying to kiss my *ss, I would have eliminated him or her right away. However, Julium wasn’t incompetent. At least he knew how to get things done.
Of course, I could only tolerate this much.
If one wanted rewards, he or she must first give results.
If he or she asked for more than that, I could not guarantee what would happen.
Feeling the subtle change in the atmosphere, Julium hastily knelt down and put his head on the floor. “Oh, it’s a misunderstanding, Dungeon Master. The other Dark Elves and I know ourselves. We are nothing but loyal servants. Certainly, we are loyal servants. All I want is our tribe to stay in peace so that Krithli can live happily. I thought that it would be a tremendous honor for our tribe to name our newborns with what you had given us. By no means do I ask for more than that.”
Julium’s attitude changed more dramatically than I had expected.
Perhaps he asked for me to name them purely for the sake of the names. It could have been some sort of tradition in their tribe. Of course, he would have wanted to use this chance to get further, if possible…
I clicked my tongue and said, “Get up.”
Boom!
Julium immediately straightened his bent knees.
I continued to speak to him. “Name the boy Roy. The girl will be Rose.”
Swallowing his saliva, Julium asked me, “May I ask you what the names mean?”
I remained silent for a moment.
I wondered how he would react if I had told him that the names came from the word neurosis. I chose these names because Julium was so anxious all the time, which reminded me of neurosis.
I guessed that Julium was always so anxious in front of me because of my cruel punishments, which made him behave like a dog. However, I thought that it wasn’t such a bad thing that he found me difficult.
“The names mean brave and excellent.”
“Thank you. The two younglings will be called Roy and Rose.”
The meanings of names were not important. What mattered was the fact that I had named the younglings.
The two younglings looked at me and smiled. Due to the conditions of the dungeon, they would grow very quickly. In a few years, they would make fine adult Dark Elves.
If they grew to their fullest potential, their growth would be equivalent to a few million points for free on my side. The younglings would make great warriors for me, and I wouldn’t dislike them. I touched their cheeks a couple of times and turned around.
“Dungeon Master, I am planning on holding a festival to celebrate the younglings today. If you could come, it would be an honor to everyone in our tribe.”
“I’m okay.”
Julium looked a little disappointed, but he didn’t press it twice.
He knew very well that I hated listening to the same thing over and over again.
‘Now, I’ll take a look at the Dwarves.’
I left the house and headed for the seventh floor.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find any surprises from the Dwarves.
They were diligently building a house for the human awakened heroes who would show up soon.
The Dwarves built workshops and inns. They were also building a tool shop, and they seemed quite serious in what they were doing. I wasn’t convinced whether the Dwarves would be able to deceive human awakened heroes. However, if their plan succeeded, everything would work out much more smoothly in the future.
‘Will a monster be able to assign a quest to an awakened hero human?’
Awakened heroes learned new skills, obtained new items, and improved their statistics by completing two different types of quests. The first kind was regular quests, which were updated regularly. The other was irregular quests, which, as the name suggested, took place irregularly.
I took note of the irregular nature of the latter kind.
Awakened heroes would be assigned such quests serendipitously after arriving at certain places or encountering certain people or animals.
This observation led me to think of the possibility of a monster assigning quests to awakened heroes.
If such an assignment was possible… The dungeon would be able to hold a greater number of awakened heroes at the same time. In addition, I would be able to completely control them through the quests.
From the perspectives of awakened heroes, quests were things that had to be completed. So long as a mission was registered as a quest, the awakened heroes wouldn’t care whether the quest was just or not; they would solely focus on rewards.
In other words, I would be able to control the awakened heroes as I wished by manipulating the rewards of the quests that were assigned to them.
The plan was worth a shot.
‘The problem is still breeding.’
Everything was going smoothly. However, one thing was not working as I wished.
I needed to find a breeding species that matched the Mana frequency of the dungeon.
‘Time is on my side.’
I decided to stay patient regarding this issue.
I had reversed time and come back. Therefore, I was convinced.
I was quite sure that even the moments in which I was lost in my thoughts would benefit me in the end!
I began to scrutinize every kind of monster in the dungeon. I compared every species of monster to the ones in the dungeon in Japan, paying special attention to their every action.
Such a task demanded much time and effort, but I couldn’t have cared less.
Rather, I was so focused on the task that I often lost track of time.
As a result, I noticed one particular aspect of the dungeon in Korea.
‘Monsters with beast-like characteristics are very active in this dungeon. Their potential is slightly higher, too. The rate of reproduction is also very fast.’
Such characteristics were in vivid contrast compared to monsters in the dungeon in Japan.
I was quite sure. After all, I had looked at several hundred samples.
‘This observation can explain the reason that Carnivorous Bats were so prevalent on the first floor of dungeon.’
I released many Aisle Snakes, who were natural predators of Carnivorous Bats, on the first floor, hoping to reduce the unusually fast reproduction rate of the bats.
However, the fast reproduction rate wasn’t a necessary condition for being an appropriate breeding species; it was merely one of the many criteria.
I had figured out that beast monsters naturally went along with the frequency, and I wanted to take it a step further.
‘Minotaur, Mammathdon, Saber Tiger, and Dark Bear.’
I decided to add four new breeding species to the dungeon.
The four species were very different from one another, and I would be able to easily compare changes, if any occurred.
Minotaurs were a type of cow, a Mammathdon was an elephant, a Saber Tiger was a tiger, and Dark Bears were bears. All of them were intermediate monsters at Level 3.
Adding the new species was very expensive but necessary. As these monsters reproduced, I would be able to save points. From a different point of view, adding the new species was an investment rather than a loss.
As I had planned, I successfully added the aforementioned four types of monsters to my dungeon.
[Great achievement! For the first time, you released over fifteen different species in your dungeon, each with units larger than ‘the number needed for reproduction.’]
[600,000 points will be rewarded.]
It sure wasn’t a loss.
