I made my way through the rocky interior of the Mine area. It wasn’t long until I arrived at the passageway connecting the Forest area and the Mine area.

I moved through the damp tunnel while letting my thoughts wander.

‘Okay, main problems in my Dungeon… Number one, no DP,’ the glaring problem made me want to bash my head against the wall. I can’t properly arm my dungeon against the approaching danger because I don’t have any DP.

DP: 80

I checked my remaining DP through the Dungeon Menu once more, further cementing the fact that I am ill-prepared in my endeavors to strengthen my Dungeon. There are just too many problems I have to deal with at the moment.

One, DP… Two, mobs… Three, mob strength… Four, my damned debuff… And last and most important, a subjugation force…

There is no telling when they would arrive. They could either arrive tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow. Hell, they might not even show up, but that was highly impossible.

They must see me as a threat now. A rogue monster capable of smashing about a dozen average Hunters before going down itself. What’s worse, it even had command over an entire Dungeon, as well as intelligence on par with a human, if not more!

My arms felt grass. I looked around and found myself surrounded by vegetation thick enough to somewhat impede my vision, but not enough to hamper my movement.

Striding through the forest, I use the Dungeon Menu to locate the training monkeys. A few minutes of walking brought me to a clearing where gorillas, chimpanzees, and mandrills alike were wrestling each other to the ground.

Once one of them saw me, however, they stopped and gathered in front of me like loyal soldiers.

“Boss!” all of them yelled, the gorillas and mandrills baring their teeth while the chimps submitted themselves to me.

“Is this all of you?” my question piqued Gong’s interest, as he was the primary instructor on how to fight, albeit in a way that a skilled human could exploit.

If this was Earth in the Middle Ages, it was fine; all they had to do was grab the human and rip him in half. Here, though, that is impossible to do. Not only do the inhabitants of this world have guns, but they also have magic! Imagine what they could do to counter a wild animal?

“No, Boss. Manny with little green men. Lead around Dungeon,” Gong pointed at a direction, prompting me to look at said direction. I brought my gaze back towards the waiting group of primates with a nod.

“All right. All of you, form a circle. Gong go to the center and remove your armor and weapons,” the primates nodded and quickly formed a circle, with Gong following my orders and heading to the center. He stripped off the armor and placed it neatly in the corner, as well as his weapon and shield, and tended to by another gorilla.

I followed Gong to the center and he looked at me curiously.

“All eyes on me!” my voice immediately brought their attention. “Pay close attention to how I fight.”

I will confess, I am not a great teacher. I have no idea how to fight, but if I can incorporate somewhat-human fighting techniques into the primates’ repertoire of skills, then all the better.

I drummed on my chest, signaling the start of the fight/spar. Gong responded by drumming on his chest as well, before charging in, his hands stretched out towards me. I countered by smacking one arm aside, while grabbing the other, before pulling Gong and going in for the kill.

Namely, biting his neck. With a gorilla’s bite force, it can easily pierce through the flesh of a human, and even bone. Showing them this fight will let them be proactive in using their bites as a means of killing off an enemy.

I came to a halt just as I was about to bite Gong’s neck and released him.

“One, if you can, bite your enemy!” I could see the primates nodding at my words. “Next…”

Both me and Gong went at it again, but this time, instead of bringing him close to biting him, I punched Gong in the face with my gorilla strength. Needless to say, Gong was sent flying backwards. Thankfully, I didn’t put that much force into my punch, otherwise, Gong would be dead.

“Two, if biting is not possible, punch them!” I then pounced on the downed Gong and proceeded to strike his joints, neck, stomach, chest, and head. “Three! Go for the weak spots!”

I relented and let Gong recover himself.

“Gong, grab your shield and club,” I said, pointing to Gong’s fighting shield and club. I grinned, then roared as I drummed on my chest. Gong replied by smacking his shield with the club and roaring as well. “And four! Remove your enemies’ fangs!”

Gong rushed me, intent on bashing me with his club. I dodged to the right so he wouldn’t smack me with his shield and grabbed his arm, then yanked the club with my other arm. Gong was confused for a moment before a club bashed into his head and caused him to drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

I look around the clearing and see the primates cheering. Well, this is one way to demonstrate live fighting. I waited for Gong to recover, then handed him back his club.

“You did well,” I said as I patted his arm. Gong bared his teeth once more, content with having served his purpose. “Once I get some DP, I’ll be sure to reward you.”

From my words alone, Gong was already on the next moon.

“Yes! Boss!”

“Now then,” I scanned the clearing once more. “Gong, can you teach them what I taught you?”

Gong nodded with enthusiasm. It looks like only one demonstration was enough to get him to learn. I patted him once more and stuck around to see how he trains the rest of the primates.

I was not disappointed.

Come a few days, these primates would definitely be a threat to any invader on their lonesome, assuming that the invader was a normal human. I said my goodbyes and left the primates for their training. Next thing on the agenda, recruiting, good thing I had Domino direct a few chimps to lure in some monsters.

If I’m not mistaken, they should be in the Poison Swamp area or outside, and I’m not too keen on approaching the Poison Swamp area without any form of poison resistance.

A few moments of contemplation later, I had made my decision.

“Domino,” her face appeared on the holographic screen in front of me thanks to the Dungeon Menu.

“Papa…?” Domino blinked; her face still as expressionless as ever. “Assistance…?”

“Yes, can you tell the chimps in the Poison Swamp area to kill about 90% of the monsters they lure in, and bring the rest to the Forest area?”

“Understood…” Domino nodded. I then cut off the transmission and headed back to the Dungeon Core Room.

‘While waiting for the DP to come rolling in, I’ll be busy doing some blacksmithing,’ I thought to myself with a frown. I was forgetting something… Ah, right!

“Also, Domino,” I opened the comms again – I’m calling it comms for convenience’s sake – surprising Domino.

“Papa…?”

“Can you also instruct the Goblins or primates to tame the monsters that are brought in the Forest area?”

“… Understood…”

“Very good, I’ll give you a reward once everything is all over,” my words seemed to make her perk up. I could even see her slightly pointy ears wiggling.

“Yes… Papa…” she bashfully replied as I cut off the comms and continued my way towards the Dungeon Core Room.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]

~ Third Person POV ~

“Are you certain this will work?”

“I’m not really sure, but of all the Hunters in this branch, your party has the highest chance of success.”

“And what if it doesn’t?”

“Then we move to Plan B.”

“… Very well…”

Lennon bowed as Nicholas gave him permission to leave. He did just that, and left the room before heading downstairs to where his party members were waiting.

“What did he say?” Kayla asked with concern.

“Haah… “Let’s not get into that here,” Lennon said as he looked around the crowded room full of Hunters going about their business. “Too many ears.”

“…Okay,” Kayla agreed, with the twin Elves nodding in agreement. Grurnuir was nowhere to be found.

In a part of the town not that far away, said Dwarf could be seen trudging along the pathways with a gloomy aura.

“It happened again…” Grurnuir recalled the time he was exiled from his hometown. He grabbed the ax he was given by his father before his death. “Damn it… Why? Why again…?”

“Damned Demon. Once I get mah hands on yer horns, I’mma rip it out of yer damned skull!” his grip tightened on his ax. Thankfully, no one was nearby as he trudged along.

Walking on his lonesome, just like the times before he met the party.. Grunuir vowed, he would have his revenge against the bastards who wronged him.