Keimen City, Noble District

Laying on a king sized bed were three people. One was a fat human noble and the other two were women of different species. An elf and a harpy. Those two laid dead on the bed, grip markings around their necks and bruises and cuts on their bodies. They had just died after having to endure a grueling time with the nobleman.

The fat noble was panting heavily while having a disgusting smile on his face. One that made him seem inhumane. It was out of the feeling he got rom fraping demi-humans and then killing them. It made him feel ecstatic. He brushed his bangs backwards and wiped his sweaty face, then laid back in bed.

"Hahaha! More! More! More! More! I want more! Where is Maude!?"

He yelled at the top of his lungs, signaling for his attendant to enter the room. The large doors burst open and a woman dressed in light armor, with a short sword at her side entered the room. She scowled at the disgusting sight before her then looked at the naked fat man.

"You called?"

She bowed to him, and he sat up.

"Maude! Where is it?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't get you."

"You know, my new toy."

"T-Toy?"

"Yes. I sent for a dhampyr. Hasn't she arrived yet?"

"O-oh. About that."

"Hmmm? What? What? What is it? Did something perhaps happen to my new toy? You know I like my toys in top condition. If something has happened to my new toy I'll kill you."

"Erhm, no. Could you wait a few more days?"

"A few more days? No! No! No! I want that dhampyr now! I want to cuddle it and pamper it. I want to take care of it forever. The one creature that I can enjoy myself with to the fullest. One that won't snap after single use. I want it now!"

"B-but-"

"But what? Are you saying that you will offer me your body?"

The noble tilted his head, inspecting Maude's body. This caused the swordswoman to internally cringe, but she didn't show it.

"True. True. You have a well-endowed body with a slight muscular touch to it. Were it not for that ugly scar on your face I might have considered it."

Maude grit her teeth at the noble's observation and thought to herself.

'Who was it that gave me this scar, you pig?'

"Could you wait a little bit longer? The other package for you just arrived."

"Other package?"

"Yes. Your other package."

Wearing a grin, Maude clapped her hands and a hooded figure in black walked in. His face was concealed with a black mask that had a red jewel on it and on his shoulder was a huge creature with grey skin and purple hair.

"Grimm?"

"Yo, boss! You asked for one Ogre princess? Here she is."

"Ogre princess? I didn't ask for it?"

"Huh? But Maude said you wanted me to get this for you."

Grimm and the noble turned to look at Maude and she had a malicious grin on her face.

"Maude? What is the meaning of this?"

"Well, your birthday is coming up next week and I thought you would want to celebrate it by having the ogre tyrant's daughter to yourself."

The noble man was stunned, speechless and frozen as to how to respond. Soon, he simply smiled and said,

"Maude? You truly are my most loyal servant. Hahaha! All you need now is a good face and you would be perfect."

"Oh thank you. Buutttt…"

"But what? But what? What?"

"Can't you just settle for what we have in the basement until a week's time?"

"Hmmm… In that case, let's move the dhampyr to my birthday and I'll have this one now."

"W-wait. I was thinking, that why don't you have both of them on the same day?"

"Oh? Yes! Yes! Yes! Great idea! Hahaha! I can't wait for a week from now! Ok then, bring in the next batch of monsters."

"As you wish."

Maude and Grimm stepped out of the room, whereas a cat demi-human and lamia were sent in. The lamia hissed and Grimm shuddered at the sight.

"Still not gotten over your fear of other vampiric species?"

Maude asked

"Nope. I hate vampires with every fibre of my being. Even if I am one."

"Tch. You complain about stupid things."

"Hahaha… Same old Grimm you know. Anyway, why did you ask me to get this huge sack of meat?"

"Didn't you hear me back there? I said it was a birthday gift."

"Please, it doesn't take a genius to know you hate your old man. What are you planning?"

"Like I said. Nothing. You are being paranoid. Also, I have a mission for you."

The two reached a cellar and when they opened the doors, it led to a staircase that went further down. They began to go down the staircase.

"If it's another Larm forest infiltration mission, I refuse. I could have died in this one. If we weren't lucky that Derbyshire and his guys were collecting slaves at that moment I definitely would have failed."

"Relax. It's not an infiltration mission. I just want you to find somebody for me."

"Who?"

"It's a dhampyr. According to the slavers, she ran into Larm."

"You literally just said this wasn't going to be an infiltration!"

"Shhhh. Don't worry. She just entered the West."

"T-the West? The Mad Witch's part? And you want me to go? Are you stupid? No!"

"Look at this."

The woman pulled out a scroll with several names written on it.

"W-what is this?"

"It's a list of slaves."

"Huh? But then, why are some of them glowing golden and the others aren't?"

"Heh. You see, it's this new collar the boss made. It allows for us to check the status of those wearing our slave collars, as well as restrict them from using their abilities or harming the boss."

Suddenly, two names disappeared.

"W-what happened? Why did those names fade?"

Maude looked up, and Grimm could tell she was pointing to their boss' room.

"You mean, the highlighted ones are those who are still alive?"

"Yes."

"But then. There's only one highlighted one, now."

"Exactly. Now you know your target."

They finally reached the bottom of the stair case, then walked through a tunnel. When they emerged, they were met with a very repulsive scene. Cages of all shapes and sizes, containing all sorts of creatures. They were being lashed and punished by men and women dressed in armor.

The cries of the oppressed slaves filled the halls and their tears were enough to slightly flood the place. When Grimm caught a whiff of the blood that was everywhere, he almost lost to his vampiric urges. However, the jewel on his mask prevented that.

"Tch… I really hate this place."

"In that case, give me the ogre. I'll take her from here. You, just work on finding my target."

"You sure? She's kinda heavy."

"I'm sure. Now give her to me."

Grimm dropped the unconscious ogre on Maude, then took the scroll she was holding. The woman nearly collapsed under the weight of the ogre, but she wasn't ready to admit that.

"Urgh… Why is she so cold?"

"Well, it's because I froze her blood. She didn't realize what I was doing until it was too late, so here we are."

"Ah, whatever. You can form a team to go in your stead. It would also be a problem on our side if we were to lose you. It's not like we can just waltz into the Realm of Eternal Night and recruit another vampire."

Grimm looked at the name in the scroll.

"Ulva? That's my target? Ok, I'll send some guys in there. I'll give you feedback when I get it.

_____________________________________

Day 26

'Alright! Let's do it! Let's conquer the dungeon!'

"You are so, going to die today and it won't even be funny."

"Tori-kun is weak, so Tori-kun shouldn't try it."

"Um… did you not nearly die the last time you just stepped foot into the cave?"

"Lady Hinotori, you may be strong, but I think the dungeon is beyond your current capabilities."

I got all these sorts of comments when I asked anyone to go to the dungeon with me. It was depressing and demoralizing, but nothing would stop me. Eventually, after enough bothering, the spider king decided to tag along with me. I finished my daily quests and we headed off towards the cave.

"Lunch, are you sure about this?"

'Yeah, yeah. Don't think too much about it. We'll use just one day to clear it and we'll be legends.'

"Ugh… we are dying today, aren't we?"

'You're too pessimistic. Don't worry. I've prepared tons of stuff and a lot of magic.'

I told her.

"A lot of magic? Bird brain, I definitely have more magic than you do and they will be more powerful than yours hands down, so what's the point?"

'Hmm, you sure?'

"What do you mean, "Hmm, you sure?"? I'm sure! I was born 3 months before you, remember?"

'Ha! Bug eyes, you think inside the box too much! I shall wow you with my amazing magical abilities!'

"Huh?"

'For example, I shall teleport us to the dungeon now.'

"W-what? Teleportation? You can use spatial magic?"

Rather than telling her, I grabbed her and activated the skill. With [Auto Mapping] I could directly map the coordinates, but I had the agent do it for me instead. It was in a sense, more convenient. Shadow Travel only worked in places with shadows. Unlike regular teleportation, it didn't have the disadvantage of me accidentally teleporting into a wall or something. In fact, it could be navigated through. Rather than calling it teleportation, I guess it could be said to be a shortening of the distance between two spaces. The only problem was that it would only work where there was a shadow. Well, that wasn't something I would need to be thinking about at the moment.

After descending into darkness, we reappeared inside the cave.

[You have entered the Forbidden Dungeon]

The system message confirmed this for me.

"A-Are we in the dungeon?"

'Yeah.'

I looked around and could see skeletons starting to rattle. I decided to take a peek at their stats.

STATUS

[Name: -

[Species: Undead Soldier Level 25/50       

[Status: -

[Age: 10 years                     

[Rank: D

[Race Rank: Tier 2

[Talent: E grade

[Titles: |Of World|, |Dungeon Mob|

[Blessings: -

[Level: 45      Exp: 10/2500

[Health: 1300/1300      Stamina: ???/???    Strength: 300      Speed: 270    Defense: 250      Dexterity: 285    Intelligence: 10        Luck: -

|SKILLS|

[Unique Skills: -

[Passive Skills: [Undying], [Weak Constitution], [Slashing Enhancement], [Stabbing Enhancement]

[Active Skills: [Parrying], [Novice Swordsmanship]

[Affinities: [Darkness Affinity]

[Magic: -

[Resistances: [Slashing Resistance], [Stabbing Resistance]

'Ah… they aren't really strong, are they? Even though they have much higher levels than I do.'

I noticed that their levels were quite high compared to me. I guess having a high level didn't necessarily mean you were strong. Well, that would make sense. If there were a level 1 human baby and a level 1 elephant, I guess you could say that the level 1 baby elephant was stronger. So, numbers didn't really matter. It was dependent on skills. That was why someone of a level of 29 like me was already C rank.

"Hmm? I guess not."

The spider said. That was a bit surprising, then again, if my theory of her being from earth was right, I guess it wouldn't be so surprising. Well, it was time to find out anyway.

'Eh? You can tell their strengths? Do you have something like an appraisal skill?'

"Something like it, but better."

'Hmm? Interesting. Could it perhaps be a unique skill?'

"Unique skill? You say some weird things. Why would a spider get a unique skill?"

'True. I guess they don't just give them to stupid spiders.'

"What?!"

By the way, this was her status screen.

STATUS

[Name: -

[Species: Black Vampiric Weaver Queen Level 49/50       

[Status: Anxious

[Age: 3 months                     

[Rank: C+

[Race Rank: Tier 3

[Talent: A grade

[Titles: |Newborn in a New World|, |Survivor|, |Bug Slayer|, |Cannibal|, |Traitor|, |Bug Lord|, |Rare Species|, |Usurper|, |Spider King|

[Blessings: |Blessings of *****|, |Blessings of the Divinity of Dark Nights, Yatendouji|

[Level: 94      Exp: 12,000/ 13,400

[Health: 4500/4500      Stamina: 3370/3370    Mana: 3,900/4,500    Strength: 990      Speed: 1570    Defense: 950      Dexterity: 1285    Intelligence: 90    Magic: 80    Luck: 80

[Skills: -

Yeah, she had me completely overwhelmed stat wise and from the looks of things, she possessed a lot of dangerous skills. She really was a king and so damned close to B rank. I was no match for her anyway I saw it. I really couldn't beat my 3 month old senpai.

[Would you like to form a party with the target, Yokino?]

Ø  [YES]/[NO]

'A party, huh? Like in video games? Benefits please.'

<<Notice: If you create a party with you as the party leader, you will receive 20% of the experience points your members receive. Also you can use Location Share to know where your members are and the Mana Share skill to share your mana. You will also receive portions of their rewards and experience points will be distributed amongst you with response to the most contributions>>

'Huh… that seems fair from what I can tell. Ok, I'll form a party with her.'

"Hmm? What are you talking about, chicken?"

She came to my side.

'Oh, I was just saying I'll form a party with you through the system so we get benefits from leveling up together.'

"You're weird. You say it like this is a video game or some weird web novel."

'Ah… could you perhaps, not have access to the system?'

"What are going on about?"

'Oh, that's right, I forgot that others don't have this. It's my unique skill.'

"Eh? Your unique skill? I thought yours was a body type. Lemme see, lemme see."

GULP.

'H-How did she know that? Is her unique skill one that allows her to tell the unique skills of others? Or is that just a skill she learned? Agent?'

<<Notice: It is impossible to tell the unique skills of a person through normal means>>

'Abnormal means, please?'

<<Notice: Using a high grade appraisal stone, or forcing the target to spill the secrets of their own abilities>>

'I-I see…'

"Chicken?"

'Oh, sorry. Sorry. Um… I can't show it to anyone who is not part of my familia.'

"Eh? Why not?"

'I don't know. It just says so right here.'

[Members of your Familia have access to your system]

I was certain there were those who were confused, but I told the leaders about the screen so they should have explained it to the others by now. Meaning, the others should know that they aren't supposed to spread the fact that they can't see it.

"Hmm… what are the benefits of this system?"

'Benefits? I'm not sure, but I guess I grow stronger faster than most people. I mean, I'm almost as strong as you now. A week or two and I'll be able to surpass you in stats. I guess I can see other people's abilities as well and stuff.'

She looked to be in serious thought. Groaning and moaning, twisting and turning, rolling on the ground and grunting in internal conflict, almost making me laugh at the pathetic display.

"Ugh! Fine! Make me a member of your familia."

'Eh? Is that how you ask someone to join their family?'

"Tch… Please, can I join your familia?"

'Of course.'

[The Black Vampiric Weaver Queen wants to become your servant. Will you accept?]

Ø  [YES]/[NO]

I accepted her into my family.

[You have acquired one servant.]

[Congratulations: You have acquired 28550 minions]

[Your familia has grown tremendously!]

[Your familia has leveled up 5 times!]

[You have unlocked more slots for Captains!]

[You have unlocked the General slot]

[Your Charisma has increased tremendously! You have acquired the [Family Head] specific skill [Loyalty Test]]

[You have acquired 200 familia points!]

[You have received the Quest: Familia Head Duties]

'Ah… you stupid spider! You cause me too many problems.'

"Eh? What do you mean?"

'You didn't tell me you had over twenty thousand subordinates under your control. I upped and broke the norms again.'

"What are you talking about? I've got about fifty thousand subordinates."

She proceeded to say something completely absurd.

'Ah-'

"Just kidding~"

She teased me then I kicked her.

'Annoying bug.'

"What's the big idea?!"

She complained and I ignored her.

[A Party has been formed]

[You are designated the Party leader]

[Party skill [XP Share] activated]

[You will receive 75% of the XP gained during combat, regardless of whether it was your kill or not, and vice versa]

[Party skill [Mana Share] activated]

[You both now share the same mana reserves]

[Party skill [Location Share] activated]

[You will now know each other's locations no matter how far away you are from each other]

'Hmm, I see. Ei, bug. You seeing this?'

"Yeah. It's kinda weird seeing a screen, but I guess I more or less understand."

'Cool, then, in that case, attack that undead soldier.'

I ordered her and she looked at me as if I were insane. Eventually she simply shot a ball of water into the skeleton, breaking it without much effort.

[The servant Yokino has defeated an Undead]

[The servant Yokino has acquired 400XP] [XP: 12,400/ 13,400]

[You have acquired 300XP] [XP: 405/4590]

"Seriously? They are actually this weak? I should have done this a long time ago! Woohoo!"

She yelled and ran off deeper into the cave.

'Ah- But you…'

'How does an undead give so much XP? Ah… whatever.'

I sighed, then chased after her.

[Party Members: [Hinotori Hyakkiyako (Party Leader)]

                          [Yokino]

[Dungeon Conquest progress: Ground Floor (incomplete)]

***

'[Fire Magic: Fire ball].'

I shot a ball of fire at a skeleton with a sword that was running towards me, but with the effects of [Saint] and the fact that undead had a natural weakness to Fire type moves, I ended up killing it in one blow.

[You have acquired 230XP] [XP: 405/ 4590]

[The servant Yokino has gained 115XP] [XP: 12,515/ 13,400]

'Wow, we are actually getting a really good amount of XP for killing these simple undead. I wonder how much XP the dungeon boss will give us.'

"Hahaha! This is great. I can feel myself getting stronger!"

Yokino screamed in joy.                                   

'Kukuku… This is a blast. It's just like a dungeon from back home! All the XP. If only there were item drops and chests with good stuff.'

[System Master ##### is interested in your suggestion]

'Wait, what!?'

The system didn't say anything else, so I ignored it.

I walked next to the scattered undead, picked up the bones and ate them,

[Due to the unique skill [Evolver], you have acquired [Slashing Resistance]]

[Due to the unique skill [Evolver], you have acquired [Stabbing Resistance]]

[Due to the unique skill [Evolver], you have acquired [Novice Swordsmanship]]

'Wait! [Novice Swordsmanship]? Because I ate the undead that waves swords around? Alright then, let's go loose!'

"Hahaha! Die you undead! Wait… Do undead even die?"

The spider was on a rampage. Powerful water bursts, lightning blasts and hard earth were being flung at the undead. She really didn't hold back against them, crushing them left right and raising her experience points quickly. I on the other hand was testing out the [Novice Swordsmanship] skill, simply swiping a sword I picked up from the ground. The skill wasn't especially doing anything to me. Maybe I needed to face an actual opponent for it to show?

[You have acquired 3213XP]                                                                                                   

[You have gone up 1 level]

[Your level is now 15/30] [XP: 1260/4755]

[The servant has gained 5607XP] 18,122/ 13,400]

[The servant has leveled up!]

[The servant level is now 50/50] [XP: 4722/14,500]

[The servant has acquired the skill [Illusion magic]]

'Hmm? She's reached her racial level climax. Which means she'll be evolving after this.

"Ah, chicken. I just got a new skill?"

I looked at her.

'Speaking of which. How did you use to know that you had acquired a new skill before?'

I asked her. I was sure if she had shoulders she would have shrugged.

"I don't know. I just knew? Although learning to use them is always a problem for me. Luckily I'm a quick learner."

'Huh… let's go back then.'

"Erh, but I just got this new [Illusion Magic]!"

She complained. Had she already forgotten about the fact that she wouldn't be able to move in a bit?

'Sure. Go ahead.'

She turned around and started mumbling some weird stuff to herself. It didn't take long for me to see some weird mist coming off of her body. It was sort of eerie.

'Is this… Illusion magic?'

<<Notice: It would appear that the target is making their own brand of the illusion magic>>

'Her own brand? Damn, what kind of unique skill does she have?'

The mist stopped forming and the spider slowed down.

"E-eh, tch. Fine… Let's go.

There was clanking and I noticed a new presence in the area. I ignored the spider for this presence and ended up laying eyes on a different undead from the others. It was a bit bigger than the others and dressed in black armor and releasing an eerie aura.

"Hmm… [Holy Fire Magic: Divine Fire Ball]."

I didn't even waste time on it. I shot down the skeleton with my Holy fire magic. Surprisingly, it ended up knocking it out with that one hit.

[You have defeated a special summon: The Undead Knight]

'Special Summon? Was this guy supposed to be tough? I'm starting to doubt the danger of this dungeon. It isn't really impressing me.'

[You have received 2,900 XP][XP: 4160/4755]

[The servant has gained 2000XP][XP: 6722/14,500]

The skeleton turned to ash and its armor was left behind.

[The Undead Knight Dropped Items]

[The Demon Armor Set]

[Equip all parts of this set to unlock the set bonus]

[You have acquired 1x [Demon Breastplate]]

[You have acquired 2x [Demon Shoulder pads]]

[You have acquired 1x [Demon Long sword]]

[You have acquired 1x [Demon Shield]]

[You have acquired 1x [Demon Helmet]

[You have acquired 2x [Demon Boots]]

'It left loot! Let's pick those up.'

"Um… That looks a bit heavy."

'Yea, don't think too much on it.'

I picked up the pieces of armor that had fallen one by one.

[Demon Helmet: Grants User +10 Defense]

[Demon Shield: Grants user +30 Defense]

[Demon Breastplate: Grants user +5 Speed and +10 Defense]

[Demon Shoulder pads: Grants user +5 Defense]

[Demon Boots: Grants user +10 speed]

'Oh nice'

I then picked up the black blade and it reflected my image perfectly. It was a beautiful blade that gave off this weird, ominous vibe.

[Demon Long Sword: Grants user +30 attacking power]

I put them all in my item box and dusted my hands happily.

"C-Can we go now? I'm not feeling too well."

She said. I looked at her weakened state and only one thing could come to mind.

'Mission Complete.'

"Huh? What are you saying?"

She was obviously very confused, but that didn't matter now. I walked up to her and stepped on her head, forcing it down.

"What are you doing?"

She grunted beneath my claws.

'Oi, spider. Now tell me who you really are.'

The whole purpose of me specifically pestering Yokino to come with me to the dungeon was to confirm exactly who she was. There was no way she was just a spider that acted out of the norm and became stronger than a king in 3 months. And there was the fact that she possessed a unique skill. Something wasn't right anyway I looked at it. Yokino was definitely a reincarnated person. So I came up with the plan of exploring this dungeon with her today to find out. I would leave her to clear most of the skeletons. I could simply leech off of her experience gain and when we entered the first floor, she would definitely find it difficult to escape if the rumours about the strength of the monsters in the dungeon was true. She could simply teleport out, but I already confirmed that she didn't possess any teleportation abilities and her stamina wasn't really impressive to be honest. It was only a matter of time till she ran out of steam and would turn to me to help her escape. However, now I wouldn't let her escape till she told me the truth.

"W-What do you mean?"

'You… you actually come from earth, don't you?'

"E-Eart-??"

'Don't try bullshitting me. She already told me about you.'

I noticed that the spider was just stuck in place after I mentioned "She". Had Alpha talked to her before? Well, I guessed that would be logical.

"Fine! You're right! I come from earth, ok? So what are you going to do?"

She just confirmed everything.

'Well… I didn't think up anything beyond this point. Haha, feels nice to know someone in the same situation as I am in.'

I laughed off the issue.

"Wha-?!"

'Let's go, then, Yokino.'

I grabbed her and used [Shadow Travel] to escape from the swarming skeletons.

DAILY ACHIEVEMENTS

[Tori acquired the skill [Stabbing Enhancement]]

[Tori acquired the skill [Slashing Enhancement]]

[Tori acquired the skill [Parry]]

[Tori acquired the skill [Weak Constitution]]

[Tori acquired the skill [Undying]]

[Tori acquired the skill [Feather Ingnition]]

________________________________________________

[The servant Yokino has reached max racial level]

[The servant Yokino's evolution has begun]

[The servant Yokino Successfully evolved into an Undine Vampire Arachne]

[A specie variant of the Arachne species. They usually possess a high affinity for water and have a craving for blood. Not very good at combat, but exceptional in illusion magic. Weakened under sunlight and long exposure might kill them.]