^^ the Artisan's Hall, Arboretum Library Interior ^^

The Sixth through to the Eleventh Waves were all the same. The beasts weren't impossible to kill with the right weapons and tactics, and most everyone of our people got to Level Ten at least, either from them or from slaying the rabbits and fish we used as food, and the increasing varieties therein as new waves came with new versions of the same animals; Rabbits became Hares, Badgers became Honey Badgers, mice became Rats, Finches became Starlings, so on and so forth. We erected towers all over the city that looked no different from ancient Japanese architecture from the outside, at Kenny and Akira's insistence, and found almost three dozen more survivors to populate the villages. Designating the villages as 'Breeding Grounds' greatly increased the fertility of everyone within, and somewhat to our bemusement or horror, babies were born within a day of pregnancy, instead of nine months. Luckily they seemed to be growing at only twice the normal rate, in the weeks since we'd discovered that particular curiosity, so all was still somewhat well. As well as could be expected, really, in this situation.

To my surprise, Baby Artisans were on that list, as apparently Kenny's Game was stronger than I thought and the Ancient Artisan found him amusing and adorable, and they were followed by more variants of dryads and dwarves, as apparently the first Gatekeeper I'd bought, who'd given himself the name 'Grant', had become infatuated with my matronly Dryad, and the two pined for each other from a distance when anyone was around. As I was unfortunately privy to everything inside the Dungeon, I also knew about their numerous midnight rendezvous, and the many babies that came of it spoke volumes.

Still, everyone found a way to cope with the abject despair that was the small number of survivors. The old Capital, the Castle and its grounds, became a sticking point for Akira; he wasn't exactly a stark patriot or anything, but he valued history, and demanded that the Palace be preserved, so now the entire castle grounds sat at the top of a honeycomb plateau, a hundred meters off from ground level, preserved perfectly. He lived beneath it, and tended to the gardens religiously when we weren't hunting. Kenny began practicing his ancestral craft of Distilling again, using it as a form of therapy as he gained the same 'Artisan' Skill as I had. Moira managed to breed a species of very tiny hound that looked a lot like a Malamute, if Malamutes were shoulder-height, perpetually sharp-eyed wolf dogs with a personality that was a mixture of cuddlebug and irritable diva, (which, on second thought, did seem accurate other than the size,) recreating several million years of evolution through sheer grit to give herself an animal companion, and she pampered the bitches with enthusiasm to encourage plenty of litters. The others found themselves in their work, designing new poisons and medicines with what we had, which was a dwindling supply of goods.

Then, disaster, as the Legendary Beast of the Twelfth Wave, this wave, had been a Rabbit, and it had used its ability to take control of all the rabbits in the city, turning them on us. It'd taken almost three days to destroy them all and get to the main Herd, but the EXP had been massive. Our herd had been nearly ten times the size of the original, nearing thirty thousand members, and only through the use of chemical warfare had we succeeded; our poisons were tested on the rabbits for efficacy in the first place, after all. Now, however, the rabbits were all dead, so until their numbers could grow back to comfortable levels, it was going to be a fish and fruit diet for us all for a while.

I sold most of the Loot I'd been given in order to create more Artisans and traps and monsters, and the EXP as well, bringing myself back down to Level Three in order to pay for several Master Artisans and another Ancient Artisan, as the number of Legendary Beast Coins and Apex Predator Coins we had beggared belief after these Twelve Waves, and there was need for more hands to do the work. This Artisan was an elderly man who spoke very little and preferred to leave talking and orders and all to his apprentices, but he was just as skilled as the Lady Artisan, as far as I could tell.

All in all, as the Twelfth Wave ended, my people looked like Pay-To-Win players, because each of them had weapons and armors made from Legendary Beast Loot, and those that contributed the most to the kill were given the gear boosted by the Coins; this meant all our combatants eventually had their own Armor Set and Weapon, and my own had been enhanced three times, with three Mithril Coins. It's appearance hadn't changed, but the Buff to Strength and Constitution had risen from 5 to 20, making me a bit of a monster in terms of physique.

Name: Sybil Yvkin-Auerbach; Age: 25 (88)
Class: Dungeon Lord
Level: 2 (88/100)
Grade: A+
Strength: 75/10           Intelligence: 30/10
Agility: 50/10              Wisdom: 30/10
Physique: 70/10         Charisma: 30/10
Innate Skills: Monstrous Physique Lvl 4 (Super-Human Body Lvl 5+)
                         Quake Lvl 5
                         Sprint Lvl 5
                        Charm Lvl 5
                        Intimidate Lvl 5
                        Artisan Lvl 4 (Innovation Lvl 5+)
Class Skills: Dungeon Master's Guide Lvl 5
                       Dungeon Magic Lvl 5
                       Dungeon King Lvl 5

With a sigh, I clicked a different tab on my screen, and manually expanded my territory yet again, taking more of the countryside around the city and the massive dome that surrounded it all from the very outskirts of the metro area, extending in a perfect circle into the bay to create a protective barrier that extended a hundred meters tall before it even curved to connect at the top, meant to protect the city from even a tidal wave, were one to arrive. Inside the waters protected by that dome, we'd bred various fish species' we'd cloned from fish carcasses found in fish markets, from things like dolphins, sharks, sea turtles and box turtles, to sea anemones and jellyfish, which were all terrifying monsters, but very useful at keeping the peace and hunting down anything that trespassed inside the dome. Of course, some alterations were needed, because this Wave had awakened me to the possibility that my own Monsters could be turned against my people, so I included methods to destroy them all, if it came to that. Latent explosive charges inside the walls of the Artisan's Shop, demagnetized lightning rods in the water of the bay and the sewers, virulent poisons to be released and target animals only, so on and so forth. I sent my list of requirements to Fatima and Sari through the email system Kenny had managed to work out via some technical know how and some magical tinkering with the dungeon, and then refocused on the task at hand.

I'd designed a new Dungeon in a different city, intending to take back the whole of Japan with this Class, and then eventually the world, but creating it was the issue. I would need to have some territory there, and then claim an existing structure to start myself off, or at least I assumed it to be so, as there were no explanations beyond what little the Artisans knew, which wasn't much beyond what they'd already shared. For the past several Waves, having already encapsulated Tokyo in a Dome, I'd been extending my reach towards the nearest metropolitan areas, Chiba, Yokohama, and Saitama, and now I'd have to choose which one I wanted to invade; they hadn't been under our influence, so they likely had gone more according to the Grey Court's plans, being wiped from the map and made into a haven for beasts, so it would be a bloody struggle to get in if I didn't go quietly... something I was notoriously terrible at, even before I wore shiny Plate Armor.

For what would likely not be the last time and was definitely not the first time, the System slapped my plans into the dirt and laughed in my face, as a screen blinked into existence over top of my Dungeon Master's Guide tabs.

Territory Cannot Exceed Current Event Area.

"Gaaaah, fuck you!" I hissed irritatedly at the screen, swiping it away and directing the new territory to spread in a perfect circle outwards, pressing up against the apparent 'limits' of our 'Event Area'. Whatever was left, I extended downward, intending to claim as much as it would allow me to in every direction; I'd already found the ceiling, at five hundred meters in the air, so I figured it must be the same downward, and I was quickly proven right.

A door opened behind me, one of the ones leading to the apartments for the 'leaders' of our little city, Akira, myself, Kenny, and Moira. Akira usually stayed under the Palace, but he'd been here to defend the Village while I went out to find survivors and hunt down the Apex Predators before they bred. "Sybil? You're slightly more irritable than usual. Why?"

"Hmph; seems I can't buy land outside the 'Event Area'... that means each Area in the country played its own game, and without a Dungeon to protect themselves, I worry for them. I also worry that the 'Second Stage' will be them all being released to invade what few survivors remain, which will basically just be us."

The elderly Japanese man in a much younger man's body grunted to show his wary agreement, leaning against the Throne I sat in. "Indeed... given the psychopathy and childishness shown by this 'Lord of the Grey Court', our 'Game Master', I can understand that this 'Event' is simply a war of attrition meant to amuse those who could destroy us in moments if they intended to, like they did the millions of people in this city, all in the space of ten minutes! How long can we last without numbers overwhelming us? How long can we last before we starve? How long can we last before we lose our sanity? I also believe there must be one or two of these people who are doing this that are... maybe not Benevolent, but at the very least not Malevolent. Your acquisition of the Dungeon Lord Class, for example, was either a very advanced AI aiming for peak efficiency, or a targeted effect of intentional sabotage. A group of Veterinary Biochemists surviving the initial attack and now working to either domesticate or eradicate these dangers to the world? My belief in the powers of Karma is strong, but my belief in Direct Intervention is becoming increasingly, disconcertingly plausible as time goes on."

"Mm... my bet is on an opposing Court. One who knows the abilities they gave us will do nothing against whatever their test is."

His brow furrowed deeply, a bitter frown puckering his expression. "... you think it's a poisoned apple?"

"I think it's a blank bullet in the sixth chamber of a very real gun. I think they gave us a weapon they're immune to, just to fuck over their rivals, knowing that in the end they'd get the glory of destroying us, because they gave us a weapon that only they could defeat."

His expression blanked slowly, a paleness seeping into his already milky features. "What a terrifying concept... but what could we face that this dungeon wouldn't defend us against?"

"... Explosive Ordinance such as C-4 or Hydrogen Bombs, Burrowing Monsters, Undead, Invisibility, Diseases, Intelligent or Self-Aware Monsters, Plant Growths, massive earthquakes... and People. The list is actually rather short, but every option upon it is dangerously potent."

He nodded, grunting again at the state of things as I'd said it. "Alright, so all we can do is try to plan ahead; what Courts are left? How many are there? Is this based on the Grey Courts of the English Faeries? Is it Roman Spirits? It isn't Asian, I know that much, the entire setting is far too..."

"Westernized and Modernized Dark Ages Idolatry mixed with Modern Game Concepts?" I supplied with a weary grin, and he chuckled at that, nodding.

"Yes, that... but, say it's European Faeries; the Court of Beasts is a name for the Summer Court, headed by Oberon. Next is the Court of Rot, the Court of Autumn. Then the Court of Ice, then the Court of Growth, Titania's Domain. Rot will likely be Undead, like you pointed out, or maybe Disease. Ice will probably be an environmental or elemental challenge, maybe to take away our source of Heat and freeze us the death. Spring will be when our plants come to life and attack us, most likely. So, what can we do right now, to defend against these threats?"

I grimaced softly, but said what immediately came to my mind. "... We could throw every body from every grave in the entire city into a pit and cover it up with oil-soaked dirt and kindling, so when the Court of Rot rises them, we can burn them all and get the EXP, all at once. As distasteful as it is, in the end, this is the apocalypse, and they're just bones. So long as we keep the records of their families, they won't be forgotten, and I'll happily pay my respects to them for the rest of my life if it means we don't have to fight them directly and chop up people who should have been left to their duly earned rest."

He was silent for several minutes, grimacing and looking off into the distance, until a noise at the entrance made him look at the doorway sharply, his sword halfway drawn before he noticed the small woman I'd just carried back into the castle in the doorway. "Ah... apologies. Welcome to our Home, Young Lady. My name is Akira Young; the woman next to me is Lady Sybil Yvkin-Auerbach, the creator of this Castle. Do you require something of us, or are you simply exploring?"

She shook her head, stepping forward and bowing at the waist. "Young Lady I am not, Sir Akira, I only look this young due to the effects of this... Game. No, my name is Nina Toyama, and I came to thank the Lady Sybil for her assistance in my husband's protection of me and our grandchildren. My Class is one of Support and Healing, a Cleric, but it has no battle abilities and a limit to Healing, and so I was... not confident of our survival, before your arrival. That only my Darling died was a blessing I will treasure bitterly for the rest of my life."

"Your thanks are unnecessary, and in fact misplaced; I regret to inform you that it was my own lack of caution and preparation that lead to the Horde of Rabbits being quite so large and aggressive, and as such the increased difficulty of the Twelfth Wave lies squarely upon my shoulders. I will bear the weight of every single death it caused upon my soul until the day I die in defense of this castle and it's people, or until I destroy with my own hands the Evils that brought this Game upon us all. Your Husband's Sword and Armor were recovered, regardless, and will be returned to you once repaired."

She perked up from her gloomy expression, a steel in her gaze and her spine alike. "That is not necessary; I shall do the maintenance myself, if I'm able. It is our Family's Tradition."

Akira nodded seriously, opening the Loot Hoard and withdrawing the worn and dull blade and dented armor, handing them to her with a deeply respectful bow of his own which she hastily returned. "In that case, I will direct you to the Artisan's Hall; there you will find all the tools you need for repairs or maintenance."

With her back straight and her gaze full of steely determination, she allowed herself to be led off into the Artisan's Hall, which was where the three Artisan's Shops we'd bought had been given the option to merge into an 'Artisan's Hall'; it could hold 50 Artisans instead of 30, separated into individual workshops and storefronts, and it allowed two Artisan's to work together to increase the efficacy of any one creation, depending on their individual ranks and how well they worked together. Interestingly, it was designed in such a way that it could trade with other Artisan Halls in the world instantly; if there were any more ever made, at any point, we could trade between them and hopefully kickstart a new economy in the shattered ruins of society. My thought was, given our steady access to Legendary Beasts and Apex Predators, we had command of what was originally an extremely rare and difficult to acquire, -and thus inherently valuable,- commodity, which would ensure our community continued Thriving.

Lastly, (and most importantly, from the unchallenged viewpoint of both my colleagues and the villagers,) there was the Library that was added to the mall to fill the empty spaces, converting the Shops' Aesthetics from clinical perfection into that of a fantastical elven library both inside a tree and built from it and filled with them; more impressive than its beauty, however, was its Depth, as within it was held all of the literature and data that we'd been able to pull off of all of the Servers that were accessible before the Internet died, some fifteen days into the 'Game'. The Digital Library of Alexandria was our first and most important target, knowing the apocalypse had arrived and time was limited, and so with the impressive computational abilities of the Dungeon's AI, we managed to download its entire contents: a cloned copy of every website, forum, and article which had ever existed in all of the history of the internet, and every book ever digitally stored in the internet, including all of the Literature of Japan and the other developed nations, -plus many other fallen or third-world nations, either anecdotally or from Museum and Collegiate Archives as well as secondhand historical accounts found within digitalized journals and records,- and it was all now stored and being recreated in book form by one of the villagers who was deeply, deeply dedicated to the preservation of knowledge and history, spurred on by my colleagues and I as we were all academics in deeply involved fields of study. (It also had all the pornography ever made, as I was made clearly aware in the first twelve hours of its existence, and my disappointment in my colleagues had been deeply discomforting for most of them. I didn't even object to the creation and consumption of pornography, but using The Library of Alexandria to look up porn seemed... overtly disrespectful.)

Of course, the Artisan's Hall had been set in the Mall that'd become the original Rabbit's Warren, so it was damaged greatly during the exodus of said rabbits, but the shops were individually barricaded at the end of the stacks of books that pertained to their particular craft and individually protected from the inside, so none of the Artisans or Villagers within had been harmed, and in two hours all of the damage to the building would be repaired, though Jorvik was... nonplussed, shall I say, about the extensive damage to what he already considered his library. He was the Head Librarian, the Historical Scribe, the Keeper of our own personal Library of Alexandria, and his blazing Wrath towards anyone who so much as sneezed on his precious books had made sure that even the two Ancient Artisans left the administration of the Hall to him when it came to anything other than their own personal Shops, and they sent their apprentices to him to find books within the stacks.

Once the regrettably 'Ms.' Toyama had been led off to the Hall by Akira, I gave thought to what we'd talked about, and decided to fix at least one thing that we could currently fix; any Burrowing monster could come right into the bottom of the dungeon if they could get through solid stone. To fix that, I spread the remains of the many structurally damaged skyscrapers we'd torn down beneath the dungeon, in a hexagonal grid that covered the entire Area and spread into the wall as well, connected to the metal grid of the same type that supported the glass portion of the dome, and acted as the conduit for all the solar energy and water gathered by said dome, shocking to death anything that touched it and also heating all the air within by the water that flowed everywhere, even under the streets. In this manner, the ground was protected from burrowing creatures, because they'd have to dig through fifteen feet of high-voltage tungsten-alloyed-steel to get at anything above it. That finished, I sent the blueprints to Kenny for a second opinion with a penned note. 'Subject: Restructure; please confirm w/in the Hour.'

"Now, what will interrupt my attempts to sleep this time?" I sighed before setting my armor on the end table and falling into my bed bonelessly. Not even ten minutes had passed when a startling thought sent me shooting up out of the bed, chasing down Akira and Ms. Toyama in just my sleeping robe.