"I got one! I got a big one!!" - Aino

"Don't let it go! Pull, PULL!!" - Black Bone

"What are those two doing...?" - Garami

The loud shouts of Aino and Black Bone made me look up from my System Window and found them hauling a huge, swordfish-like monster from the lava lake. ...swordfish? In a lake?

It's the third day of our "attack" on the Lava Lake area...if you can call it that. I mean, we're only going fishing here. 

One of the Blastfield outposts, village-like areas for the people trying to conquer the Blastfields, had been selling "Magma Fishing Rods", a special item that lets you fish for Magma element monsters living in areas like this place. So we splurged on some high-quality rods and started to haul those suckers up from the lake. 

Honestly, fishing wasn't on my timetable before we reached the outpost three days ago, but Bones' presence and that they advertised the lake back at the station made me change my gears. Originally, I wanted us to hunt in the normal fields so we got used to the highly volatile area, but the lake monsters are all of that kind, so this plan works too. 

Things are going better than I expected. The lake monsters give lots of delish materials for the Dungeon. Especially for the Monster-stat and the Strength-stat. We're already reached rank E for both! At the end of this week, they should have gone to D. Maybe even C if we're lucky. 

Aino, Bones, and a bunch of dwarves who were also fishing at the lake started to work together to dismantle as many materials from the fish corpse after it was killed by a collective slam from the dwarves' hammers and Aino and Bones' magic.

There are some unwritten rules here about that you should assist in defeating any monsters that are fished up, and that the materials are the properties of the person who hauled up the fish. 

Speaking of the dwarves, it seems they're completely immigrated to the Blastfields from wherever the dwarves' home country was. The Blastfields do have lots of mining-related materials, as long as you're careful about any natural landmines. Then there is stuff like the scales to the lava fish that can work as half-decent materials for forges and other smithing-related items. I mean, they used to be part of a fish swimming in lava...

"Lass, we got Slimes from the east! Two of them!" 

Oh, they appeared from outside my detection range. Sneaky slimes. 

I wasn't fishing. I lost interest in it after failing to catch ANYTHING on the first day. So I volunteered to join the "lake guards", a group of warrior dwarves who guard the fishermen, from the monsters who try to prey on the non-combatants. 

A quick run allowed me to get close enough to join the battle against the two slimes from a distance. ...tch. Just simple E-rank slimes.

Not giving the Blast Slime, a slime that looks like a red ball of goop that was glowing yellow-ish at its core, the time of the day, I threw my Helheim dagger at it and let the cold of the underworld do its thing on the flammable slime. 

As for the Volcanic Slime that had lots of volcanic rocks on its body like a shell, I chanted the magic spell for the Darkness Lance spell and pierced the rocks with the spear of darkness produced by the eponymous spell. 

"Thanks, lass!" shouted the warriors before they finished the cooled-down slime and the slime whose defenses were broken. 

It's not like the dwarves couldn't have beaten the slimes on their own, but the Blast Slime would retaliate any damage with a heat-based explosion if I hadn't cooled it down. The Volcanic Slime's defense is tough, but a well-placed Darkness spell is enough to give the mighty dwarves an opening to squash the hot ball of goop and rocks. 

So yeah, I'm on support duty. Kinda forced to. My most "offensive" skills are the web-related ones, useless in this burning hellscape. Then there's the fact that the dwarves are already experienced at fighting the monsters here even without help, so, me butting in without any proper plan is just gonna be a disturbance. 

Finally, I got the two daggers I can throw as a form of long-range support, and there's also my Evil Eyes. [Slowing Evil Eye], even at its low level, reduces the speed of the monsters, [Weaknening Evil Eye] lowers their stats overall, and [Poison Evil Eye] is pretty good on slow targets and when I have a proper vanguard.

Proper vanguard...

I looked at the duo busy dismantling the lava fish over at the lakefront. A Fox-type Beastkin and a mage-type Skeleton...

Impossible. We need a more decent vanguard. Our party is too magic-heavy. Even if we include Bloom, who's staying home because of the dangers here.

Theoretically, we do have Nyx and Nala, both being what you could call "tank-types" in terms of their status builds, but Nala doesn't fare well in these environments, and Nyx is more of an attacker...

"Lass, you forgot to pick up this." 

One of the dwarves, a regular of the defense force, came up to me and handed over the Helheim dagger I threw earlier. 

"Thanks." - Garami

"Thanks to ye, lass. We haven't had our backs blasted by those wretched slimes ever since ye joined the guard." - Dwarf

"It's no prob. And it's only as a part-time." - Garami

Dwarves appear to be bad with perception-type skills of the kind to detect monsters. The whole concept of "searching" seems to be as unpopular as ever even among the player base. Most monsters come at you even without searching. Having a high defense build or someone who can act as a tank (or bait) makes sneak attacks practically useless...

Until you reach the more advanced areas and the few sneaky monsters' attacks become so harsh you have to rely on more than just defense, that is. Due to this recently-discovered fact, there's been a boom of Scout-line class takers. As one of the few Scouts from the game's beginning, this news is warming my heart.

"Ah, that's too bad. And ye are sure ye don't want to stay for longer?" - Dwarf

"The pay's good, but I'm a busy woman. I'll stay for a while though." - Garami

0.5 AP per day plus extra rewards depending on the slain monsters is a good thing, but the construction of the Dungeon comes first. And I could prolly get more AP if I went serious and went on a quest-clearing spree from what the Union provides.

"Great! And lass, if ye ever need a check-up on ye tools-of-trade, try to find me. I know the best smiths in this region, so I could introduce ye to them." - Dwarf

"Really?" - Garami

"Consider it a thank ye from us in the guard. The price for the burn medicines has risen lately." - Dwarf

Meaning the guard must be regular customers of the apothecary. Makes sense.

Seeing as there were no other monsters within the detection range of the area I was designated to, I went back to looking over the System Window I had opened up before.

It shows a list of "Dungeon themes". Before the update, the theme of the Dungeon was only a cosmetic change. Now it's affecting what types of facilities you are allowed to set up, among other stuff. These themes had to be separated from the normal Player Room themes, but the Dungeon themes can be used as Player Room themes. Just not the other way around. 

Normally, an aspiring Dungeon Ruler is forced to obtain one of these Dungeon-specific by purchasing it from the Dungeon Shop, another new feature added with the update, or through some other methods.

We "Senior Dungeon Rulers" (a nickname conned on the Dungeon Ruler-restricted BBS), however, are allowed to obtain a Dungeon theme for free~.  And thank god for that. The more expensive themes easily reach the 7-digits! 

My skills automatically warn me if monsters are getting too close to this area, so I have the chance to look at the various themes. And there are a LOT of them! I've had lots of time to kill while I was busy acting as a part-time guard, so I managed to find some good candidates:

• Creepy Tomb-theme:
  • Many tombstones and graves can be found in this Dungeon.
    Specters and other creatures of fear roam free.
    Do you dare walk toward your own grave?
• Sin Urban-theme
  • A city filled with pleasures and unholy desires.
    Demons and vile creatures lurk behind every corner.
    Can you survive this dangerous nightlife?
• Terror Jail-theme
  • The gigantic jail of fear, loaded with dangerous inmates and jailers.
    The creatures of trauma that lurks in this prison will make sure you never escape.
    However...will you allow them?
• Netherworld Royal-theme
  • A royal castle, filled with the legions of the netherworld.
    Demons, monsters, and the undead. They all will greet you oh so "friendly". 
    Can you reach the king of this wretched area? Or rot in the prison cell in the cellar? 
• Stone Master-theme
  • The majestic constructs of stone and soul tower above all.
    Both makers and creations of stone make sure this majestic citadel will not be taken.
    Are you going to respect or destroy these fantastic monuments?
• Mystic Woods-theme
  • The forest of magic and fantasy. 
    The inhabitants of these strange, alien woods are sure to keep you spellbound.
    Can you navigate through this treacherous flora?
• Dark Cavern-theme
  • The caves of absolute darkness.
    Creatures that are unseen by the sun prey on the fools who enter their domain.
    Now, are you a fool, or a hunter?
• Flame Ritual-theme
  • The ritual grounds for calling on the great gods and demons of flames.
    Ritualists and their creatures will prevent your intrusion into their rituals.
    So, will you end up as an offering, or will you face the great, summoned beast?
• Blood-boiling Arena-theme
  • The fighting arena that makes the crowds go wild!
    The martial artists from all over the globe gather here to crush each other!
    Will you walk away with the champion belt or a bunch of broken bones?

There are lots of other themes, but these caught my eye for now. There are also other variations of the themes, like the Ritual-theme could be used for the other primary elements.

As for the monsters they are talking about...it's not related to the monster lines, but the Dungeon's "common line". It can be considered the 13th, or maybe the 0th, monster line you can use when creating your floors. These monsters are less rare compared to the others, but they are not restricted to specific monster lines or elements. They are, however, limited to what kinda Dungeon you have.

What I don't get is why the simple descriptions are written as if they are for the invaders' sake, yet the more detailed information is written with the Dungeon Rulers in mind. How strange...

"Garami! We got a huge one over here!" shouted Bones from the lakeside, returning me to the present.

"Go help ye friends. It's almost ye break anyway," said the dwarf while giving me a wink.

Taking him up on that offer, I made a small jog over to where Bones were busy pulling his fishing rod for his dear life...along with a bunch of macho dwarves. Something is going on...

Then, all of a sudden, a lengthy...tentacle-thingy emerged from the lava lake and snapped at Bones and the dwarves. Then several more of them popped out of the lake and started to attack the people who were calmly fishing just seconds ago.

And...ten of them are headed toward me. Why!? Go for Aino, you stupid tentacles! You're not making an R-18 show outta me!