historical

Reattaching the limb of Mariona wasn't a hassle, or anything too strenuous. Just grab the limb, carefully align it with the part where it was severed, and dump the contents of the potion into where the two were separated and watch the magic happen.

Sure, this did cause Mariona some discomfort, as evident from her face making some strange expressions, but all in all, the operation was a success.

After being thanked by the twin elves, with Mariona having a bit of difficulty using her now reattached limb, I waved them goodbye and went on my way back to the Dungeon Core room.

That was until, Domino contacted me through the comms.

"Papa.. More primates back.."

"Alright, tell them I'm on my way." And with that, I waved the screen away. Instead of a clean schedule, now I have to deal with more monsters being added to my Dungeon..

I hope they're not orcs and goblins. Ideally, I would like to have some more lizardmen, but I can only hope.

Making my way through the passageway connecting the Human area, as well as the Monster area – I'm calling them those to differentiate the areas fairly easily – I decided I might as well check up on the rest of the city while I travel.

Once again, walking under the giant gate just outside of the passageway, I entered the city looking lively as ever. Even with this many monsters working on building the city, there still wasn't enough time to finish it completely, but at least there was enough to at least build decent housing for the entire population to rest in once break came.

Greeting the monsters while I was walking was a pleasant experience. True, some of them might be here because of fear, but mostly, now that Nicholas was in charge, they were at least more accepting of the fact that I was their ruler, and I treated them fairly, even if Nicholas was the one giving the orders.

They must believe that even if Nicholas was the person giving the orders, if those orders came from me, then I was their true leader, and I was also accommodating them, giving them more than what they had before.

A smile growing on my face, I continued my trek as I finally made it out of the city and onto a path heading towards the entrance of my Dungeon, and it was there I saw the group of primates, along with a group of monsters I was not expecting to show up here.

Arachne..

Monsters with a human half on top, and a spider half below. All of them also looked damned gorgeous, both male and female.

"Boss, we back." Gong, my right-hand gorilla, said with a smile. He gave me a salute, to which I responded with a nod.

"Good, I see you've invited some Arachnes into my Dungeon." It was at this point, a female Arachne, their leader, I presumed, approached me and bowed.

"Greetings, Dungeon Master." The Arachne leader said with her head bowed. "My name is Aratella, and I am the leader of our Arachne tribe, The Steel Thread Spiders."

She raised her head back, giving me a good view of her beautiful face. She had eight eyes, each colored lavender without pupils, luscious red lips that had a tiny jut of a fang showing, and hair as silver as real silver.

She only had a few garments on, barely covering her modesty, but accentuating the curves of her human body.

The spider-half, however, was a terrifying sight to behold. Now, I don't have a fear of spiders, but seeing an insect that would normally be the size of your pinky, be the size of a large dog?

It gave me chills.

"Greetings, Aratella." I greeted her back, not showing her my tiny fear of her spider-half. "My name is Jionni, and as you suspected, I am the owner of this Dungeon."

I approached the Arachne, standing up on my hind legs to close the distance between our height.

"Now, I've sent my followers," I gestured towards the primates who were standing guard, "to go look for some monsters who would gladly place themselves under me for protection, in exchange for their services. I assume that you've considered my offer?"

"Yes, quite." Aratella replied with a shake of her head, her numerous spider legs fidgeting about. "You see, humans are pushing through the forests, hunting any monster they can see to extinction."

Aratella clutched the pendant hanging on her neck. "They've already taken away most of our loved ones."

The rest of the Arachnes looked downcast at their situation.

"It seems that not only the alraunes are facing the same threat." I mused to myself, to which Aratella focused her gaze back on my face.

"Indeed. Humans nowadays are pushing their boundaries, proclaiming ourselves as none other than dumb animals, vying for the taste of their flesh." Aratella scoffed, rage slowly consuming her emotions as she recalled the death of her husband and child at the hands of those humans.

"It is as you say." I replied, fully understanding what the humans – those in the Human supremacy faction, that is – actions were causing.

The destruction of life itself, in an attempt to make themselves look superior amongst the thousands of species living on the surface of this world.

"Forgetting those depressing topics for the moment." I coughed into my hand. "What services can you offer us, other than being defenders in case of an incoming invasion?"

"A steady supply of silk and thread the strength of steel." She replied quickly, wanting to change the topic as well as the depressing thoughts. "We just need a sizeable forest to live in, and we're good."

"On that topic though," I stared at her spider body. Aratella, noticing the stare, sighed and spoke the answer to my question.

"Yes, we eat meat and blood, but we can sustain ourselves with just animal meat and blood."

"Perfect." I smiled once all those issues were out of the way. "Gong here will show you around the city. After that, you can pick a place where you want your tribe to set up homes, and I'll create a forest where you want it."

"Thank you, Master Jionni." Aratella said with a sultry voice as she slightly pulled on her top, barely covering her breasts. "Though, if you'd like, I can offer more than just thread and silk."

".. Erm.. No, silk and thread are enough. Thank you for the offer though." I said while fidgeting. Why the fuck would a woman, who had lost a loved one, maybe a husband or child, ask that kind of question towards a man she had just met..? 'Although, I've been wondering what a literal spider-monkey could do..'

I shook my head at those thoughts. "Well then, it has been a pleasure to meet you, Miss Aratella. I hope you enjoy your stay in my Dungeon."

"I see. Thank you for your generosity, Master Jionni." Aratella pouted.. I quickly got the fuck out of there before I lost more of my sanity and brain cells.