Lewd Dungeon, Chapter 201 (Patreon)

Chapter 201 – Tier

Finally, the last of the Golden Host of Pofmis had either been captured, slain, or converted. To say that I leveled up from all their wonderful XP would be underselling things greatly. I kept all the XP, but shunted the better part of the mana I gained from their deaths to my pet dungeon on the moon. After all, I had already finished my ‘reception hall’ preserving the site of the Apollo 11 landing, and was preparing to open the first permanent portal there. She needed mana if she was going to grow into something strong enough to pose a challenge to the people once I opened up the gates.

I gained 17 levels in a single shot. That would be a big deal under any circumstances. But for me, right now? Well, it was even better.

As the last holdout got collared and enslaved to become the communal property of the Vurlocks outside the Water Temple, a wave of energy pulsed through me, and through the dungeon. If I was a movie villain, I’d probably be laughing, with lightning flaring from my fingertips, screaming about unlimited power or the like. It felt like I was burning, and it never felt so good.

I was transcending to Tier 2.

Tier 1 Level 50 complete.

Initiating   Tier 2 ascension.

Calculating   options…

New   options available for Race, Class, and Profession. Advancing to new options   will offer new abilities and skills, but may close off other courses of   advancement due to specialization. Tier 2 Races, Classes, and Professions are   generally more powerful than Tier 1, but are typically more focused on   individual aspects of a Tier 1 race, class, or profession. Skills or   abilities already gained are not lost, however.

Do you   wish to advance to a Tier 2 Race?

Yes / No

Do you   wish to advance to a Tier 2 Class?

Yes / No

Do you   wish to advance to a Tier 2 Profession?

Yes / No

Tier 2 Race Options

Demonic   Dungeon Core – The Dungeon Core is infused with demonic power. This allows   the core to grow a demonic body around it, allowing the core to move and   fight on its own. The care can move freely within the dungeon, but cannot   leave. Gain increased benefits from corrupting enlightened creatures.

Unlocked   by: Presence of demons in dungeon.

Divine   Dungeon Core – (RARE) The Dungeon Core is infused with divinity, further   stepping along the path to becoming a true god under the System. The Dungeon’s   area of influence is treated as holy ground for its new faith. Gain increased   benefits from the worship of those not bound to the dungeon.

Unlocked   by: Having over 500 worshippers

Enlightened   Dungeon Core – The Dungeon Core gains the ability to transform into a mortal   being of an enlightened species. While transformed, the Core can leave the   dungeon for short periods.

Unlocked   by: Use of enlightened creatures as floor bosses.

Free   Dungeon Core – The Dungeon Core gains the ability to move freely, creating a   body like their avatar. They lose direct control over the established   dungeon, but are able to move outside the dungeon as they see fit, with an   aura of their influence following wherever they go.

Unlocked   by: Sending an Avatar outside of the main Dungeon.

Hive   Dungeon Core – The Dungeon Core gains the ability to induct other dungeon   cores into a hive mind, using their abilities to increase its own. The Dungeon   Core gains all skills, templates, and minions belonging to the subjugated   cores, and adds their processing ability to its own.

Unlocked   by: Subjugating one or more Dungeon Cores in a Dungeon War.

That was… a larger list than I expected. I honestly did not expect that ‘Dungeon Core’ would have much in the way of evolution paths or whatever the system was here. After all, my true form was a crystal stuck in a pocket dimension underground. That did not exactly leave much room for traditional evolution.

Looking more closely at the options, though, the choice was relatively straightforward. Demonic would leave me vulnerable to spells like the one the fallen champion of Pofmis tried to use on me. Enlightened and Free would rob me of one of my key defenses here on Earth, the fact that, as a dungeon, I was basically outside the law. If I went out of the dungeon’s influence in my true form, then someone could find some way to try and make me pay for being such a bad, bad boy. And the less said about becoming a hive mind the better.

Divine Dungeon Core Abilities

+10   INT, +10 WIS

+5   INT, +5 WIS per level

2 Unassigned   Attribute points per level

Gain   increased power based on the number of worshippers not bound to your dungeon.

Your   dungeon and its domain is now considered holy ground for your faith

Servants   of gods hostile to you suffer -10% penalty to all stats while inside your   dungeon.

You   may create a divine messenger to act as your voice outside the dungeon.

This looked slightly underwhelming at first glance, but I could already see how it was far more interesting than initial appearances would make it seem. Just penalizing my enemies in my domain would be powerful enough, since it worked as a percentage, rather than an absolute value, but the unquantified amount of power gained from worshippers meant that I might get some really nice bonuses if I grew my faith more. And divine messengers were always a nice arrow in the quiver to have.

Clearly, I wasn’t the first dungeon core to stumble upon this path to divinity. Well, I’d heard that my plans were not entirely unheard of. And I could easily see how a dungeon could end up being worshipped, especially in primitive cultures. But the System was very quiet on whether any dungeons had actually become full gods (and I had spent a lot of time researching), which suggested that the nascent faiths were wiped out at some point, before the core could become a true god.

Tier 2 Class   Options

Breeding   Dungeon – The Dungeon has specialized in monsters that breed with adventurers   and each other. This leads to more potent results from breedings, and increased   biodiversity, offering a better chance for rare and unique monsters to spawn   from breeding. Opens up specialized breeding options.

Unlocked   by: Having a creature forcibly breed a creature not belonging to the dungeon,   and give birth.

Evolutionary   Dungeon – The Dungeon has specialized in creating new evolutions of existing   monsters, increasing the variety of creatures in their dungeon. Opens new   evolutionary options.

Unlocked   by: Causing multiple evolutions of monsters.

Magos   Dungeon – The Dungeon specializes in magical effects, traps, and equipment,   rather than seeking new creature types to inhabit its floors. Opens extra magical   options.

Unlocked   by: Using spell effects on every floor of your dungeon.

This was another easy choice. Both the Breeding and the Evolutionary options were nice, but that was less my focus as a dungeon, and more just another way to break down those who came into my halls. They were tools, not goals. Magic was also a tool, but it was one with a lot more scope and utility than the other two.

Magos Dungeon   Abilities

+10   INT, +10 CHA

+5 INT,   +5 CHA per level

Magic   effects cost 20% less MP.

Enchantments   created by dungeon or dungeon-bound creatures have 20% chance to have   increased power for same material cost.

Dungeon   structures are immune to hostile magic.

Magic   traps are 10% more effective.

Looking at the Magos dungeon class, I was unsurprised. It wasn’t spectacular, but it wasn’t bad, either. I suspected that the reason why my options were so lackluster was because I was focusing primarily on doing my own thing, like my plans to become a god, rather than just being a dungeon. The System seemed to react to your focus, to some extent, so that was to be expected.

Tier 2 Profession   Options

Blessed   Cult Leader – While any true cult leader (as opposed to simple charlatans)   will find the power of their chosen idol or god flowing through them, a Blessed   Cult Leader is directly in touch with their chosen entity, granting them   greatly increased powers, both in terms of magic, and in their ability to   attract followers.

Unlocked   by: Founding and growing a cult from 0 to over 100 worshippers.

Despoiler   of Virtue – Many villains out there have rampaged across the land, but the Despoiler   of Virtue always takes time to taste the sweetest unplucked fruits, or taking   otherwise virtuous people and turning them from their path. There is no depth   of depravity to which they will not sink, if they believe there is   entertainment to be had there.

Unlocked   by: Violating (or causing to be violated) 25 virgins within 1 galactic   standard year.

Divine   Slaver – (Ultra Rare) Divine entities are rare, with most worlds having only a   few hundred out of a planet of billions. Divine entities which practice the   slaver’s profession are even rarer. But a slaver who rises to divinity and   continues on their path can gain unique insights and powers from his slaves,   and use them to further his worship.

Unlocked   by: Being a divine entity and owning over 50 slaves.

Harem   Master – Harem Masters are lords of debauchery, gathering all the pretty   flowers they see, and taking them all to their bedchambers, to properly enjoy   them all. While Harem Masters may vary in character and the number of harem   members they take, all are united by the fact that they care more about the   harem as a group, and the pleasures it offers them, than the members as   individuals.

Unlocked   by: Having a harem of at least fifteen members.

Hedonite   – Hedonites not only enjoy the rush of throwing themselves into sensation,   but they gain power from it as well. A hedonite gains power from the acts   they commit, and gains further powers of persuasion in bringing sensation to those   they meet.

Unlocked   by: Making at least 10 people climax 1000 times each within a galactic   standard year, through action or by setting the conditions for the action.

Legendary   Charlatan – The Legendary Charlatan is a consummate actor, trickster, and   liar. He weaves his webs of lies, and all believe him. So powerful are his   deceptions that even those who know the truth may doubt what they know. The   Charlatan’s powers of persuasion are drastically strengthened.

Unlocked   by: Maintaining a lie that is believed by at least 200 people for a galactic   standard year.

Lord   of Corruption – (Ultra Rare) There are those who can corrupt others, and turn   them from their proper path, and then there is the Lord of Corruption. The   Lord of Corruption can take even the most devoted paragon of virtue, and tarnish   them.

Unlocked   by: Corrupting over 100 individuals with divinely-powered classes (like priests   and paladins) and making them forget their oaths within a single galactic   standard year.

This was interesting. Some of the professions felt more like classes. But then, there were plenty of those. Like Merchant could be a class or a profession. Both made you better at buying and selling, but the class gave you extra bonuses, like being able to earn XP from making deals, while the profession allowed you to have some bonuses, and still have a class that wasn’t pure support.

The choices were all much more interesting than the race or class ones, too. There were no ‘bad’ options, as far as I could see, but I was definitely leaning towards the rarer ones. If I knew anything about the System, it was that ‘rare’ meant ‘powerful’. By that line of thinking, ‘ultra rare’ was probably even more powerful.

Still, looking at the two, the decision really came down to which road I wanted to walk down. Lord of Corruption would allow me to better twist the minds of those who came into my halls, turning them to my service. But Divine Slaver offered greater potential benefits, depending on who I enslaved. It was the pick between the specialist and generalist paths.

However, I knew from experience that specializing too far left vulnerabilities, unless you had a team to watch your back. I was alone, with my bound minions and my worshippers. I didn’t have allies to rely on. In the end, that made my choice for me.

Divine Slaver

+10   CHA, +10 WIS

+5 CHA,   +5 WIS per level

Slaves   owned by you grant you add to your MP and mana regeneration.

Slaves   owned by followers of your faith add to their masters’ MP and mana   regeneration.

Slaves   owned by you gain +10% to all actions while following commands.

You are   able to use skills your slaves have as though they were your own.

That… was huge. Oh, the first couple items were nice enough. Extra mana and mana regeneration was always nice, after all, and I could always support my minions being better at their tasks. But being able to use the skills my slaves had? That was HUGE!

And speaking of skills…