Question – How does one grow stronger in this world of fantasy?
There are 2 answers.
First answer is the manifestation of the talent, growth, efforts and training.
These manifestations are called [Skills].
These skills are a form of the power that had been created by the creature's own efforts, or they were a manifestation of their born power.
Skills are divided into multiple categories.
The most common categories are [Learn] type skills and [Born] type skills.
Learned skills – Skills that can be learned through effort and training.
Born skills – Skills that are part of the said being's existence, a part of them that can be acquired only when the being in question is born, matures or evolves.
Second answer: Classes and races.
Some beings out there possess something called [Level], with most of those beings referred to as "Monsters".
Monsters are beings that can grow and evolve, reaching new heights.
Simply put, [Race Level] is their body's "maturity". Once it hits the limit, the body will be able to undergo evolution, transforming the monsters into their new and improved self.
But what about the creatures that don't have their own [Race Level]? For example, humans? Do they evolve?
No.
Humans don't have the [Race Level].
However, the lack of the said [Race Level] can be instead replaced with the [Job].
"Job", also known as "class," is an…. "Shape".
A "shape" that allows the person potential to progress in specific areas, stretching their abilities, helping them out learning new abilities. In a nutshell, if you wish to develop your archery skills, pick the [Archer] class, if you wish to help in developing your farming abilities, pick the [Farmer] class, and it will help you in developing your "farm" related skills or could possibly help you manifest a brand new skill related to farming.
However, you cannot just pick any class you want. You need a "root". What is the root? Simply put, your vessel needs to be able to fit the class "shape".
But how to acquire the root?
The way is pretty simple.
Develop and obtain skills.
For example, obtain the [Archery] skill in order to obtain access to the [Archer] class.
Want to obtain the [Blacksmith] class? You need to obtain the [Blacksmithing] skill.
"You need something to grow your class out of", simply put.
Those are the two basic explanations about the skills, classes, and levels.
Why?
The dungeon master isn't exactly a living creature.
It is a construct.
Can a spoon evolve and become a much bigger spoon? Does it possess the ability to evolve?
No.
Golems do not possess the ability to evolve like normal beings.
Then it should have class, right?
This answer is also wrong.
Reason?
Can an object learn how to sing? How to swing a sword? All by itself without anybody's help?
Golem shouldn't have any ability to even obtain a class.
....
And yet there was expectation.
The dungeon master had a [Job] slot.
Why does it have something that it shouldn't be possible to have in its possession?
The reason for it is unknown.
But there could be two explanations.
The golem possesses its own personality, a consciousness.
Or it being the dungeon master.
It could also be the two above, combined into one, which resulted in this special mutation, allowing the dungeon master to possess class.
Anyway, those are the main basics and most important information about classes, skills, as well as evolutions.
Now, why is this explained right now?
Well… This.
[You have acquired skill: [Arcane Element Magic: Basic – Level 1].]
Dungeon master training had finally borne fruit.
It obtained magic affinity.
Arcane Element - Also known as the "Elementless" element.
A very basic element that pretty much represents "mana" itself instead of elements like "fire", "water" or "wind", the most basic and simplest element.
Pure mana.
A most basic element that pretty much anybody could learn and use.
However, there was obviously a problem.
Even though the dungeon master had acquired an ability to use magic, and even though it is the most basic of the elements, it cannot really use it.
Why?
Because of its golem core, the main organ of the dungeon master, which allows it to move around.
True, the dungeon master's core inside his body has a lot of mana, much more than any other golem inside the dungeon, but it is nowhere near enough to use magic.
Golems need mana to move around in their bodies, like blood.
And like blood, if you were to run out of it, you would obviously meet an unfortunate end.
So right now, it cannot really use any proper spells, even if it were to learn how to cast them.
However, the dungeon master didn't really care about learning spells or anything extremely powerful.
All it ever wanted to learn was core engraving coding in order to develop his dungeon.
And this process itself does not require much mana in the first place.
The time for real learning had come…..
But unfortunately, before it could even start learning anything related to the subject, the peace of the dungeon came to an sudden end as something or someone just entered the dungeon.
"!"
(Invaders.)
The third attack had come.
And this time, it was rabbits once again.
The two rabbits that escaped had returned, alongside 3 other rabbits.
It was obvious that they came back for the rematch..... But there was something odd.
There was one more rabbit.
A rabbit with bright red eyes and a much bigger body, as well as a different tone of fur.
This thing may look like a horned rabbit, but in reality? It is not.
Or to be more specific, this is an evolved monster that was once just a horned rabbit.
Murder rabbit.
An extremely aggressive monster known for its behavior to not stop fighting and not running away the moment it starts fighting somebody.
This evolved monster was the leader of its small pack.
And that monster was extremely pissed off.
Why?
Because the dungeon entrance is located right in the middle of its territory, and also killing two of its subordinates.
It saw the dungeon as nothing more than a hindrance and recognized the object as "invader".
The reason why it didn't attacked the dungeon before was because the monster was out hunting. But as soon as it came back, it instantly went to the dungeon.
And here is the next problem that is extremely obvious.
The dungeon master had yet to do any modifications to its monsters.
Meaning that all of the monsters in the dungeon are still pretty much just "TRASH".
And like that, the monster went into the dungeon, and it wouldn't take them long to encounter one of the puppets.
Which would end up with pretty obvious results.
"…"
(Bad.) – thought the dungeon monster as it saw the giant rabbit rushing at the human mannequin, knocking it down with ease, before then easily finishing off the monster with its kicks, crushing its wooden body.
Human mannequins were only a BIT stronger and tougher than regular wooden mannequins.
They could be more dangerous…. However, as said before, its engraved coding was still "trash", meaning that their attacks were easy to dodge and counter, making them completely useless at everything.
Not only that, but the dungeon master doesn't have an infinity about of DP points, and sacrificing the 2 horned rabbits and 3 adventures doesn't give 1 000 DP points.
There is also the fact that the dungeon master used a lot of points to develop the research, and there is also the fact that the human mannequin uses more DP points than the wooden mannequin in order to be produced.
In short, the dungeon was poor right now, and if it were to lose its monsters now, things would get extremely dicey.
"..."
(I.)
The dungeon master realized that the golems do not stand even a bit of chance against the rabbits, especially against the giant rabbit.
So, the dungeon master decided to confront the enemy on its own.
"!?"
But it couldn't.
As soon as it tried to leave its room, it was stopped.
It couldn't move too far from the dungeon core.
Reason?
The connection between the dungeon master and the dungeon core.
The dungeons, especially very young dungeons, have not developed or strong enough connection yet, meaning that until the dungeon core grow strong enough to stabilize the connection, if not completely remove the range limit, the dungeon master is effectively trapped inside the dungeon and it cannot even go too far away from the core at all.
It was trapped against its will.
"…"
(Not....Good.)
Since the dungeon master could not leave its room, all it could do was just watch.
It watched as the rabbit pack leader, alongside its monster, took down still stupid and useless puppets without sustaining too many injuries. A one sided beatdown.
Not only that, but the sheer aggressiveness of the Murder Rabbit, its ferocity and the deadliness of its fang and horn had stood out, as the creature just destoryed everything in its path while the dungeon master just watched it happend.
"…"
(Danger.)
(They will be wiped out.)
The dungeon master knew that the golems could not even stand up to the rabbits.
But it also knew that it could not do anything.
Not only that, there was also a problem with the lack of miasma.
And the only way to restore that miasma was golems.... Which were right now just getting destroyed.
All of it made the puppet feel something.
Something it didn't like.
An emotion.
"Anger".
The puppet was pissed off.
It was pissed off at the monster running its dungeon when it wasn't ready yet.
It interrupted it while it was about to start doing its research.
And it was pissed off since the dungeon master knew it couldn't possibly replace monsters soon since it run out of DP points.
It wanted to murder the creatures that had invaded its dungeon.
It wanted its rage to be let loose.
It was waiting for the invaders to finally get into its room so it could murder them itself.
"!"
And before long, the rabbit pack leader, alongside its rabbits, saw the entrance to the dungeon main room – the Dungeon master room that was positioned right in front of the dungeon core room.
The rabbit monster approached the room and entered it without even a bit of hesitation.
But as soon as they did, one of the rabbits was stabbed in the side of their head with a claw, which alarmed the other rabbits instantly and made them leap away, before then staring at the mannequin noble holding an corpse of the just killed rabbit.
Dungeon master removed its claws from the rabbit corpse while the pack leader charged at it, before then leaping at the dungeon master, who just stepped aside and then used its claws to stab the creature in the side, only to miss an stab as the rabbit's quick movemenet was able to avoid direct hit, which resulted in the creature side only getting grazed.
"!"
(Fast!) - thought alarmed dungeon master, who did not expected the rabbit monster to be this fast.
And while the dungeon master was paying attention to the murder rabbit, the other horned rabbit charged in all at once, trying to hit the dungeon master.
However, dungeon master was wary of the attack as it swinged around its arm, knocking back some rabbits, while making some others back off in order not to get hit.
"…"
"!"
The dungeon master noticed the pack leader coming from behind, causing the dungeon master to once again dodge to the side as the pack leader leaped past it and rejoined the pack.
"…"
(Small rabbit, less danger. But too many – dangerous.)
(Big one, biggest danger.)
Dungeon master quickly understood the priorities.
The small ones on their own are weak, but if they attack together, then they could pose some trouble.
However, the big rabbit all on its own is enough dangerous.
Without even trying to give an moment of rest, the rabbits all charged at the puppet, who tried to hit the leader, only for it to dodge and have the claws stab a different rabbit in the face instead, while the leader, who had dodged the attack, had leaped toward the dungeon boss and stabbed it in the side with its horn, managing to dig deep into the puppet wooden body.
Alongside the leader, some other rabbits also attacked at once, tackling the puppet and making it lose its balance from countless impacts.
But even so, the puppet did not give up.
Its limbs were still okay and it didn't had anything like human organ to protect.
Even if its body is destroyed, as long as the core is okay and it still has limbs, it can fight.
So, it grabbed the pack leader's head and then stabbed it in the eye with its claws, causing the giant rabbit to scream and start trashing around, moving the puppet body around against its will, while the other rabbits didn't hesitation and launched their own attacks against the puppet, bashing it with their bare bodies or stabbing it with their horns.
However, the dungeon master paid only attention to the pack leader.
Truth to be told, the dungeon master was panicking.
Why?
Because he was surrounded?
No.
It was the pack leader action.
(Curios!)
The dodge and then solid stab had catched the dungeon master completely off guard, it did not expected it all, and this also got the dungeon master curious in the most inopportune time, wondering how it did that.
This time, curiosity mixed with shock resulted in panic, trying to understand how the rabbit did it. This made the curiosity of the dungeon master this time turn against him and resulted in it overthinking.
(How it did it?)
(Why fast suddenly?)
(Why more power?)
(How?)
Curiosity of the creature had awakened in the worst possible timing,whichh in turn caused the dungeon master to leave itself wide open for the smaller rabbits' attacks.
The shock was so surprising that it lasted for a moment, giving the rabbits a second chance to launch their attacks, which in turn snapped the dungeon master out of confusion.
Dungeon master then gaze at the monster and realized something.
(Throat.) - The dungeon master remembers the death of the young adventurer, it had killed by slitting its throat.
The dungeon master aimed for the throne and stabbed its claws into the pack leader's neck, which in turn caused the rabbit to get even more violent as it was not the one panicking.
The creature thrashed around more fiercely, trying to break free from the dungeon master's hold, but the puppet didn't give up.
It held to the monster's throat and ripped it off.
The blood began gushing out everywhere from the ripped out throat of the monster, even causing it to instantly lose all the energy it had, slowly stopping down before then completely stopping moving.
"..."
In one instance, all of the remaining rabbits just stared in panic and fear, instantly freezing them in place.
They just stared as their leader just died right in front of their eyes, and their blood was splattered everywhere.
And now? They were all left.
They and the dungeon master stared at the remaining rabbits.
One of the rabbits tried to back away in fear, but that caused the dungeon master to leap at it and stab it with its fingers, impaling the creature, which in turn caused all other rabbits to panic.
The rabbits instantly started running away in fear, but the dungeon monster did not plan on letting any of them escape.
The dungeon master tried attacking some of the rabbits, stopping two of the rabbits in their tracks, as well as the one it had just stabbed.
However, the injured rabbit tried to get away, causing the dungeon master to get distracted and allowing the fourth rabbit to run away right underneath the dungeon master's nose.
One of the other trapped rabbits tried to get away as well, but was quickly noticed by the dungeon master, who stabbed the creature.
But again, the dungeon master made a stupid mistake of focusing on the monster that tried to escape at the time, resulting in the other rabbit managing to escape.
"…"
(Can't leave..... They escaped.)
The dungeon master felt annoyed and angry.
It let two enemies go. It wanted to kill all of them after they had destroyed all of the golems.
It was pissed off.
...
…. Still, it managed to catch 3 rabbits and 1 big rabbit, so it wasn't a complete waste.
But even so, even though it had just won this battle, the dungeon master had only grown more wary.
It understood that it had screwed up in more than one way during the fight.
Not only that, but all of the dungeon monsters that were just made to replace the old ones had been destroyed.
With this, the dungeon had completely lost one of its sources of income.
"Panic"
"Fear"
"Annoyance"
(Big rabbit… Strong as the first enemy…. But a lot of small ones with it…. Annoying.)
(What if…. A lot of rabbits come? A lot of big ones come?)
Dungeon master was worried about the future.
It was the second attack done by the rabbits.
"What if another rabbit attack comes when the dungeon isn't ready?"
The dungeon master realized that the big rabbit was as strong as the first party of adventurers, but the problem was that it didn't come alone.
True, it now knows how to somewhat deal with the rabbits; it knows that their horns are bad news, especially the big rabbit horn, but their throats can still be ripped off. It realized that they have a weak point that they can exploit.
However, it was worried about something else.
Why was the second attack stronger?
What if more powerful enemies show up?
What if more big rabbits show up?
Fear and worry.
Panic.
….
And then desperation.
Honestly speaking, there was only 1 option that the dungeon master could do right now.
And that was learning about core engraving coding.
However, it wasn't just that.
It understood that upgrading the dungeon alone won't do.
It understood that it also needs to be "upgraded" in order to fight stronger opponents in the future.
It knew that if it didn't start working now, there may not be a future for it or its dungeon.