I sat down in the throne room and looked at the stats of the Dungeon through the Dungeon Menu. 

I can safely say that I can ignore Strength, Mystic, and Movement for now. Those sound more like stats you improve at the mid-game rather than the start, or stats you take advantage of if they're greater than the rest due to the start bonus... which I didn't get! In any case, I have no reason to improve them until I get outta the "beginner phase", which is making this Dungeon start to turn even by a little.

Knowledge is also postponed for later. I've already got tons of stuff to figure out, so getting a list of more stuff this place is capable of, which I may even not be able to do because of the Dungeon's low stats, ain't worth it in the beginning.

What I can focus on now at the start is the three creation-related stats: Facility, Subordinates, and Treasure.

The Subordinates-stat is probably the most important one for the moment. The Dungeon is several kilometers big, so I need personnel that can help me guard it. I also need to make the Dungeon somewhat self-sufficient in the future if I wanna travel to other places later. Having strong and clever subordinates is the only way to make this possible.

However, the Facility-stat may turn out to be equally important. What good is a bunch of monsters if you can't take care of them all?

There are more reasons for me to worry about this stat. The Dungeon Menu called its traps "weapons", and the Dungeon has a level. How do creatures raise their levels? By defeating other living creatures. Then maybe, the Dungeon does that as well, and its weapons are its traps.

I don't think that's the only way for a Dungeon to gain levels, but what if the invaders defeated by Dungeon Monsters only give a percentage of the EXP compared to when you kill them with traps? Like how the [Party] skill only gives some of the EXP your party-members kill? Therefore, I wanna consider the option of traps very carefully.

Last, but not least, is "Treasure". I wanna increase this one as well. We've taken with us as many weapons as we could hold from Armveil's place which we're gonna improve the Dungeon Monster with. To say it simply, I'm doping the monsters by gifting them powerful items. Still, we need bait to attract invaders, and humanoids are more for treasures than anything. Besides, food items are also part of the Treasure Creation page when I browsed through it before. We need food for hungry monsters... except for the undead.

...In the beginning, I should try to get Subordinate to at least F, then try to see how far I can go with Facility. There's nothing that says that Dungeon Monsters can't evolve, so it's not the end of the world if I can't create high-tier monsters from the start. And hey, I'm living proof that even trash can become a walking disaster... maybe not with a capital D, but hey, it's still good. I can work a little with Treasure, but that one won't get much of a chance to shine until humanoids appear in the Dungeon.

With that said, I assigned one DP at the Subordinate-stat to start. It went up from G to F without any problems.

...And here I was dreading the thought of me needing to use all the DP to increase a single stat once. I assigned one point to the Facility-stat and saw it go to F as well. Then I added one more... huh? The DP value decreased by one, but the Facility-stat didn't go up. I used one more DP, then one more... and reached E.

So, the cost for increasing a stat goes up as the rank increase. Pretty obvious, but it's nice to have proof over the stuff here.

I have 5 DP left. I can either stuff it all into the Facility-stat and see if I can reach rank D, assign the DP equally over the five untouched stats to see if they all need 1 DP to reach rank F at least, or confirm if it's all stats that need 3 DP to reach rank E by trying them on the Subordinate-stat.

I thought about it a little and decided on the third suggestion. As I saw my DP going down to 2, the Subordinate-stat reached rank E. 

This strengthens the idea of the needed DP to increase a stat being static for them all. Still, I got two DP left. If I assign them to a stat that should be unfit for my Dungeon, and it still increased with just one, then I'm safe enough to say that there won't be any difference between the amount anymore. Which stat should I test it with...

I placed one DP into the Strength-stat and saw it increase to F. If I added it to Knowledge it would be like I thought of myself as stupid...

Feeling satisfied with today's experiments, I assigned the last DP into the Treasure-stat for good measure, which reached rank F without any problems.

Things are starting to look decent now. It's starting to get dark outside, so I'll drain the last of the CP so I can go to sleep without dreading waking up to an overflow.

Opening the Facility Creation menu in Dungeon Customization, I looked over what I could make. Still, the lack of FP is harsh. Can't I add some more Safe Areas? Or something similar... hey, guess I can.

I found a special Facility named "Small Treasure Chest"... does it need such an obvious name? The costs are 5 CP to set up and it needs to be filled with an item of a certain quality, meaning you can't use it as a trash bin. On the other hand, you gain more FP for each chest on a floor, and I'm able to place up to 6 Small Treasure Chests in the Dungeon... hmm?

I Identified the Small Treasure Chest tab by accident and saw the requirements that I needed to unlock it: [Facility: F, Treasure: F]. 

The Treasure-stat does more than just improve the items you can get, huh... 

I added five more Treasure Chests, then filled them all with a Wooden Sword, 1 CP each. With 3 CP left, it's safe to say I've escaped an overflow for now. Good night.

---

And good morning! I jumped off the hammock I'd made in the throne room and packed it away. I opened the Dungeon Menu and saw that I had 93 CP now and 11 hours left before the others could enter. Now's a good time to look at the monsters I can spawn. 

I opened the Subordinate Creation and looked at the monsters available:

A lot of options popped up. And why do I have Skeletons and Zombies, but not the Lesser variants? I tapped at the Skeleton... oh! I can choose between Lesser or normal! Guess if you have a high-rank monster of a certain line, then only the highest-ranking specimen will show. 

The Dusk Imp and Aqua Imp's difference in costs confused me for a moment until I realized that the original value for them both is probably 5 CP, but the Darkness discount reduced the Dusk Imp to 2.5, which got rounded up to 3. The Aqua Imp only has half the discount compared to the Dusk Imp, so it is ended up at 4 CP.

I decided to summon one of each variant so I could experiment with them all. The descriptions didn't give me a complete picture of their abilities after all. 

Almost all my CP went into the monster summoning, and ten magic circles appeared in front of me. The circles are the same reddish-purple color as the Dungeon Core by the way.

Starting from the left is the Sandstalker. A sand-colored scorpion around the size of a cat. This is the small variant? It's gonna be interesting to see its "parents".

After the scorpion came the Small Lesser Arachinara. A dark-colored spider, but it doesn't have the "aura" of a Darkness attribute. Around the same size as the Sandstalker. It looks strangely cartoonish, to the point of being a little cute.

Next is the Lesser Demonia Bat. A bat with extremely dark fur. It flew up to the roof after it was summoned and started to make itself comfortable.

After that was the Lesser Skeleton Animal. I chose a wolf as it's the type I use the most. Strange thing is, all the animals I could choose are the same as the blueprints I've stored. 

The Lesser Skeleton Wolf didn't look that different from those I can create on my own. It acted like a real dog, quite different from the ones I can make with an [Undead Servant] controlling it, and way different from the undeads that were made before I got [Undead Servant]. The first guys were like mannequins. 

To the wolf's right was a duo of small humanoid creatures, just a notch shorter than goblins. They had large ears and eyes, one of them having blue fur, and the other was black-furred. They looked up at me with enough expectation in their stares that it made me believe that I had summoned two Revis. They're kinda cute. I should let Revi have some as pets.

Next to the Imps was the undead-combi. A Skeleton that was kneeling on one leg in front of me, and a smelling and decaying zombie that had patches of its body rotten off, just standing there and made an "Oheeee~" voice all the while. Despite the Zombie being female from its appearance, there's no eroticism even with her being dressed in rags. Heck, her assets have fallen off...

I looked away from the undead (even more so from the zombie) and observed the Cave Scorpion. I had the option to create a Lesser Small Cave Scorpion, a Lesser variant, and a Small variant, but this guy felt like a strong contender, so I brought out the best at the start.

It's got a rock-colored exoskeleton and huge pincers. It's pretty big, being high enough for its head to reach my waist, but it should be able to squeeze itself through even the smallest paths in the Dungeon.

And finally, at the very end, was the Zerbreus. A humanoid with blue skin, bat-like wings, a slithery tail, and a set of horns. This individual is a woman, no, a femme fatale! The skimpy, bondage-like outfit she's wearing doesn't help in hiding her perviness either. She's got waist-lengthed, dark-brown hair, yellow eyes, and the sclera are black-colored, just like mine when I use the Evil Eye.

"My Lady, it is my deepest pleasure of meeting you." 

The demon-lady spoke!? Wait, she's a humanoid, so it wouldn't be too strange that she could speak... where did she learn to do that? Guess it would look stupid of the Dungeon Master to ask that... let's have Revi do it for me someday.

"Mhm." - Garami

I tried to answer her with as little astonishment as possible, but crap, she caught me off-guard... calm down, you wimpy demon. It's just a spawned monster. Nothing to be afraid of... maybe.

"Then, my Lady, what are our tasks to do for you?" asked the demon woman, as if representing all of the summoned monsters... maybe except for the Zombie. I can't even guess if she's thinking about something at all.

Still, what should I have these to do? I only summoned them to get a chance to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. I've already Identified their stats... why do they all have so many skills from the moment they're born? Some of them are even above Lv.10... oh. That's an idea.

"Sandstalker! Arachinara! Show me your powers through a battle between each other. However, killing the opponent is forbidden." - Garami

I ordered the small scorpion and spider to do a mock battle with the most dignified voice I could bring out. I wanna see how the newborn monsters can perform in battle, so to get an even better look at their abilities and not just their stats and skills. 

The other monsters moved to the side and watched the battle between the two arachnoids. 

The scorpion tried to stab the spider with its stinger while the spider tried to use [Spider Thread] to trap the scorpion. In the end, the scorpion rushed forward and grabbed the spider's front legs with its pincers, lifted it, and slammed it down on the floor. The spider was knocked out cold, and the scorpion stood with one leg on top of the spider, as if saying it was the victor.

I ordered them to stop and used a recovery spell on both combatants.

The scorpion may be a Small Lesser now, but if I can get my hands on some of the scorpions higher up in the evolution line, they will become great soldiers. The spider on the other hand shouldn't be placed on the front line. Instead, I should find a way to utilize its webs in some way. Handmade traps could be a handy method for saving some FP.

"Next! Demonia Bat and Skeleton Wolf! Again, killing the opponent is strictly forbidden!" - Garami

The next mock battle began. The bat screeched at the wolf from the air, but the wolf ignored it and ran to the wall, did a double-jump with the wall, and caught the bat who was too late to escape.

"That's enough!" - Garami

The bat's no fighter at all. Rather, Skeleton Wolves are too speedy for most creatures of the same racial rank for there to be any contest. Guess the bat is also a complete support character like the spider. Better said, I can think of them as air-to-ground support of the saboteur type. 

"Skeleton Wolf, your next opponent is the Aqua Imp." - Garami

I'm pretty well-known with the undead's battle potential, so I'll use it to get more data from the others like the Imps...

"Imps, do you want to use any weapons?" I said while producing various small weapons that I had in my Storage and stored in [Necromantic Rite]. 

The Aqua Imp accepted a small spear with eyes almost shining with gratitude. The Dusk Imp took a small wand with an equal expression. Their descriptions did mention they could use weapons, but Identification didn't show that they had any weapon-related skills, so I want to make sure whether they can use one or not.

The first mock battle was the Aqua Imp against the wolf. The fight was pretty close due to the wolf's speed, but the Imp managed to win thanks to its weapon. The second fight after I healed the wolf turned out even worse. The Dusk Imp used some rooting spell to keep the wolf in one place, then blasted it with a Dark Bullet.

Yup, that's right. The Dusk Imp's so good with magic, despite being "newborn", that it could use two powerful Darkness spells. 

I then made a tag-team of the imp-duo and the undead-combi, with the Skeleton being equipped with a spear. The undead is barehanded.

The result was the undead-combi's loss, mostly due to the Zombie being unwilling to cooperate... or rather, incapable of doing so. Those descriptions were damn precise there... 

In the individual matches, the Skeleton won against the Aqua Imp, and the Zombie defeated them both by brute-forcing herself through their attacks. She almost killed the Dusk Imp due to her brainlessness. Useless on a strategic level... unless it's a strategy that requires walking meatshields.

The final fight was between the Cave Scorpion and the Zerbreus, the latter equipped with a one-handed sword.

The Cave Scorpion's strategy wasn't so different from the Sandstalker, assaulting the Zerbreus with its stinger, but it also used its pincers from the start. The demon woman tried to parry the pincers, but the exoskeleton was so hard, it nicked the blade's edge. She took to the air after the Cave Scorpion slammed its stinger to the ground.

"Sleep!" 

The spell hit the Cave Scorpion dead on... why can all my subordinates use magic from the moment they're born? I had to go through lots of pain before I could use my first spell!

Anyway, the Cave Scorpion is down for the count, snoring with a snot-bubble coming outta its nose(?). The demon woman wins.

I gave them some food I had taken with me as a reward for participating in the mock battles, the winners got some more fancy stuff, and had them patrol the Dungeon with the excuse of making them get used to the place.

Phew..., that was tiring. Being a Dungeon Master ain't all that easy. Heck, later on, I can just create some stuff with Treasure Creation. A 1kg big chunk of pig meat only needs 1 CP, so I'm not gonna go in the red because of that.

However, having to act like some overlord... damn taxing for someone that hates crowds like me. Glad I got Mira and the others to help me with this stuff. 

After resting my poor body and soul a little, I started to go over the data I earned from the mock battles.

The G-ranks are practically useless in a straight fight. Having them evolve or use them in an unorthodox way is the only solution.

The F-ranks are the same. The Imps may have some talent, but only at the point where they can fight newbie adventurers, and only because the opposing side is hesitating to hurt the cute-looking Imps. 

As for the humanoid-undeads, then no comment. They need to evolve unless they wanna act as mooks... hey, that's also an idea. Those guys cost only 10 CP, so they'll work well as disposable pawns. Using the slow-but-sturdy Zombies could trick invaders into a false feeling of security before slapping something that's just as durable, but with more attack- and speed behind their name.

For the E-ranks, the Cave Scorpion will act as a great tank. Wonder if Iron could try to teach an elite group of them? As for the Zerbreus... not so sure. The individual that I got turned out to be a decent magic warrior, but who says that all of them will end up like that? I need to summon some more... but I don't have the CP for it!

And there's one more thing I noticed: it's possible to add classes to the monsters. However, the only class available was the Soldier class. Meaning, the first three stats may also have an effect on potential classes I can grant the monsters.

The Cave Scorpion was only available due to having Strength at F, plus the bonus of having a Cave-type Dungeon. So, if I also improved Movement, it could lead to me unlocking the F-rank undead animals. 

Wait, if Strenght = Warrior-line classes, Mystic is for Magician-lines, and Movement = Scouts, what about Artisan-line classes? Maybe the Knowledge-stat?

Argh, there's too much stuff to make sure of with this place!

---

It's been eight hours since the mock battles. The Pseudo-Peace is running out in half an hour. During that time, I've redecorated the Dungeon a little in the hope of a little scheme I've thought up would lead to something.

I exchanged four small rooms and 1 FP for a middle-sized room at the entrance of the Dungeon. From this room, there are four different paths, including the one leading to the entrance of the Dungeon.

One of the paths leads to a room where I've placed another Water Source, a water hole to be honestly speaking. The second path leads deeper into the Dungeon. And the third leads to a currently empty room.

The idea is to make the Dungeon popular with the wildlife here. Simply put, I'll allow the monsters to enter the middle-sized room without anything to stop them, using the sound of the Water Source as bait. Depending on the situation, I'll have them drink their share of water and escape without attacking them. Other times, I would have several Zombies and Skeletons attack the invaders as they tried to make their escape.

The trick here is to make it possible for the invaders to understand that they can escape the undeads by going out of the Dungeon and keep the survival rate of these water hole-visitors around at 80% or so. This will lead to more and more visitors arriving for a drink, so I can slowly grind my way up the Dungeon-ladder.

As for more difficult invaders, such as high-rankers, I'll go hardcore at them and have Mira and the rest attack with Cave Scorpions and Zerbreuses. This also goes for those that try to go deeper into the Dungeon. 

This is to make the local monsters get the message that "only the weak and humble gets spared". This will give me a steady supply of lower-ranked monsters, which will not be affected if we terminate any stronger parties of monsters. Of course, I plan for more strategies later on, but the CP's not enough for further large renewals of the place, even if it's at around 30 now.

I sat down on the throne again, being more than a little pleased in my work. I decided to watch the other's situation outside with the Dungeon Map function that I found by chance after fickling around with the commands. Guess it's normally unlocked when you reach a certain grade with Knowledge, but since I'm already in the ownership of [Auto-Mapping], that need must have been bypassed.

They've made camp close to the entrance. The bat I sent with a message to them is playing around with Revi and Alf. Hmm, I need to make something like a hangar for the Mercenary...

What's that? Identification, Identification... seriously, what's that!? I want it! What does the Kigal-Note have to say......

Eh? Are you serious? This... this is bad! Damn bad! T-the Dungeon may be crushed on its first day already!!