《Devious Dungeon [Dropped]》 Prologue 1/2 - Culmination [Edited] Runic College Tower, Headmaster¡¯s office ¡°And that concludes the report of our new student admissions.¡±, finished a slightly wrinkled middle-aged man sporting an advanced receding hairline with his dry, droning tone. While others in his situation usually grow out their facial hair, I have rarely seen such a case of bushy sideburns that connect beneath his nose, in an equally bushy moustashe. I awoke with a start from my blank expression and stroked my beard, as if in consideration to cover my previous inattention, while stealthily wiping away a string of drool from a corner of my mouth with my thumb. ¡°Yes, thank you for the report Derrik. We¡¯re bound to get few noble brats trying to throw their weight around as usual despite being traditionally meritocratic institution. Do as per custom and throw them out of the dormitory for a month or two to sleep on the ground. And remember to make sure that all of their servants leave the valley at the end of the day.¡±, nodding to myself, I start gathering my research notes regarding my latest findings. I can¡¯t be bothered to be distracted by mere administrative duties as my research is almost complete, with only requiring finalizing the runic arrays, and acquiring the last ingredient I requested from the Empire. Quickly glancing around the office and bookshelves covering the walls, in case I forgot a stack of notes somewhere. Wouldn¡¯t want anyone accidentally finding out the subject of my research. As I gathered the last of scattered papers, I noticed Derrik still standing in front of my desk with his notes, staring at me with a straight face while his moustache starts bristling like a thorny bush. Well as straight as it can be with his nose like a broken hawk beak. I swear he could be mistook for a zombie from his behaviour from how emotionless he usually seems to be, unless you can read the small signs he exhibits. With a sigh I set down my stack of notes aside, put my elbows on the desk and rested my chin upon my hands and rested my gaze upon the man. ¡°Yes Derrik, is there anything else that requires my attention?¡±. He coughed lightly into his fist before speaking with the same dry tone as always, ¡°Headmaster, issue you mentioned was yesterday¡¯s agenda, and I¡¯d appreciate for not always blanking out during my reports.¡±. I kept a straight face despite my suddenly twitching eyebrow. I swear he has made creating utterly tedious reports as an artform of its own. ¡°Today the report was about your supposed speech for the new students as of tomorrow, as well as regarding new donations to our institute. Also, the item you requested was surprisingly delivered today amongst the donations from Faelitor Empire.¡±. I blanked for a moment before my hands started shaking in excitement, totally ignoring the supposed speech. Drawing a quick breath and reigning in my growing excitement and locked my gaze with Derrik, as he stood there with his slightly hunched posture. ¡°Which one did they send? I already told them decades ago that small ones are useless for my research at this point.¡±. Derrik continued with his dispassionate tone and gave concise report, ¡°They sent their largest one, a size of a human head, spherical, no visible faults or impurities. Highly mana conductive. Not surprisingly, they only agreed to loan it for two years. The amount of power one can wield with it is a powerful deterrent against any army, and they also sent their thanks for providing them your new detection array in the trade.¡±. I felt my breath quicken and excitement grow. Finally I could complete the final step to my research of almost a hundred years, with only a meager trade of one of my less advanced arrays meant for detecting all beings with a soul. I never disclose my advanced ones, otherwise I may have to start worrying someone bypassing the ones I have in place. I leaned in my chair and injected mana to a small rune in the array carved on the handle of my desk drawer, deactivating the minor protection enhancement. Pouring the mana in a wrong part of the array, activates a larger one covering the room, removing the air from inside while locking the door. Rummaging the drawer I found a list of materials I was looking for, and placed it on the desk in front of Derrik. ¡°See to it that materials in this list are delivered to my private research room in the basement from the vault. Immediately.¡±, I said with barely contained excitement making me rush my words. ¡°I¡¯m going to prepare for the final experiment immediately as the leylines are still ebbing with power in this cycle. I¡¯ll be damned if I let some speech for snot nosed brats keep me from completing my studies for another year.¡±. I quickly stood up grabbing my pile of notes as Derrik took the list and suddenly lost his composure as his eyes seemed to bulge out of his head, while his moustache bristled up like a porcupine. Suddenly perspiring, Derrik started sputtering, ¡°H-headmaster! Are you planning to empty our vault of all the rare materials?! The amount you¡¯re requiring is most expensive ones within decades worth of donations of rare materials! Decades!¡± he protested loudly as I kept heading out of my office. ¡°And I have been the headmaster for this college over a century for the sake of those materials! Now stop dawdling and go get me those resources!¡±, I said with a cackling glee as I headed out of the door towards the stairs. Finally I broke that stoic demeanor of his. I¡¯ve been trying to do that for twenty years, and the best result was always a frown and a click of his tongue. Rushing down the spiraling stairs, I headed towards the lowest basement floor to my research room. I had to hurry with preparations so that I could finish the test before the ebb of the magical energies within the leylines starts to recede again. Heading downstairs, I passed bewildered students and other magus as they dodged out of my way. They stared at how their grinning headmaster ran downstairs with his robe fluttering and beard trailing behind him, skipping the steps as he headed down in a hurry. Screw the proper image, I¡¯ll be dead or retiring from the position either way after this test. The only reason I was doing the job was the agreement with the previous headmaster, as the Runic College is a separate city state of its own, headmaster acting as the central leader. In return for being allowed to use the materials for my research as I see fit as a new headmaster, I was teaching runic arrays to those brats. All the while I traded some of my crappier ones to other countries, gaining an influx of new students and resources. Well, at least the position intimidated most of the annoying pests after my life to keep their distance. The founder of the college few hundred years back, chose the location for this tower by locating a converging point for leylines, making it easier to cast spells and cultivate the mana-heart with the mana saturating the air. The lowest floors were deep underground, just above the converging point of three leylines. Reaching the door to my research room, I quickly manipulated my mana to write a combination of runes to fill the blank spot within protective arrays on the door. As the runes flashed, the protective array powered down. Opening the door, I checked the hidden alarm arrays in the room as a normal precaution to check if I have had unwanted visitors, or attention from scrying spells. Seeing none of my safety measures being triggered during my absence, I looked around the room. This gloomy space carved into the stone had seen almost a century of use from me, and was filled with results from all of my research subjects from that time, as well marks from my mishaps during the experiments. I was hit with a wave of nostalgia, as this was the last time I would do an experiment in this sanctuary of mine, regardless of the result. I slowly took in the sights in the room illuminated by light crystals, and looked over the large circular room with a diameter of 25 meters. A little over a third of the wall was covered by bookshelves filled with my research materials. As the subject of it was, at least partially, highly illegal in nature, I had to hide all my source materials lest the various churches or states get rid of the books. Over half of the books were about magic and runes pertaining to the souls, their usage, and methods of manipulating them. I chuckled to myself, as I imagined some aspiring necromancer stumbling upon my research in the future and growing hysterical from excitement. A more likely scenario would be some member of a clergy hunting down necromancers and gets a heart attack from the shock of this discovery. After all, I am a highly reputed headmaster of the Runic College Tower, famous from my knowledge in runic arrays and magic, while being infamous from my temper of disregarding the social norms and bounds. None knows that I have knowledge far surpassing the normal bounds of necromancy in the arts of soul manipulation and control, or the extent of my research with the runic arrays. Biggest source of shock for everyone would be that I have done forbidden research for over a century right under the noses of everyone without being found out, and having the various churches and states to voluntarily fund it for me. This research would have been almost impossible outside the college, as soul magic was banned along with the death magic some centuries ago due to a part of heavily scorned necromancers attempting to conquer an empire or two for a revenge. My research could be said to be an offshoot of necromancy, as I borrowed main concept from their usage of phylacteries, yet I aim to reach far beyond what one of those rare liches could do. Pfff. Those amateurs only used elementary knowledge for enslaving or storing souls. They never sought to bypass the limits. Other books were filled with information of different materials, their combinations and runic arrays.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. I shook my head and headed to the other equally long wall, lined up with workstations and storage shelves for different materials I had ran tests with. I reached my main working station and grabbed the pouch filled with nine highly mana conductive spheres, carved full with runic inscriptions. Dropping off my notes on the worktable, I tied the pouch on the belt and grabbed blueprints for the massive runic array carved on the floor. I have spent decades perfecting this array with my research and have only waited for the final piece for my experiment, massive manastone, that the empire finally loaned to me after decades of pestering and trading of new runic arrays. Not that they would ever get it back after my final experiment. I quickly started comparing the carvings on the floor to my notes in order to find any mistakes. I would only get one shot at this. As I was halfway through my final check, Derrik arrived with a pair of young novices half hidden behind the large crates they carrying. They were sweating and gasping from exertion as they had carried considerably heavy crates of materials down a long set of stairways and hallways. I motioned for them to put down the crates near the runic circle as I ignored them and continued my inspection. As I finished checking the rune carvings, I noticed that Derrik was looking around the room with a slightly shocked expression, along with two students standing in front of the crates they brought. Last time he visited here, I hadn¡¯t started making the array. Hah, it seems he has yet to recover from the previous shock before getting a new one. At least he¡¯s handling it better than those slack-jawed novices. As if they¡¯d never seen proper runic array! Still, quickly preventing them from getting a proper look around my research room, with forbidden research literally covering the walls, I quickly snapped my fingers to get their attention. Mana was used to amplify the sound to a small explosion, startling the duo and causing them to fall on their butts, along with a startled cry, as they tripped upon the crates. Derrik jumped a little from the surprise, and quickly resumed his stoic appearance, standing next to the array. I turned to Derrik and gestured towards the novices, ¡°Thank you Derrik. You can escort them back, the following part of the experiment can get fairly dangerous if my concentration slips, so I¡¯d rather not be disturbed from any reason.¡±. Not to mention how the room is filled to the brim with illegal material. As I turned towards the crates, I noticed Derrik showing a rare awkward expression before opening his mouth, while the nervous students left the room. ¡°Headmaster, can¡¯t you reconsider going through this experiment? Purely the amount of those rare resources is worth a sizeable fortune. I would recommend postpo¡­¡±, I raised to hand to interrupt him. ¡°Derrik, you¡¯ve served me well for almost two decades. Yet all my experiments ever since I became the headmaster had been aiming this for over a century, and it is the only reason I joined this college in the first place. This was the agreement between me and my predecessor when I became the headmaster.¡±, I sighed and continued. ¡°After I start this experiment, go to the office and find the documents from a lockbox that¡¯s hidden in the floor below my chair. I have already tuned your mana signature to the runic array keeping the location hidden. Now, off you go.¡±. I waved my hand before stepping over to the crates. Derrik hesitated for a moment, before giving me a small bow and left the room. When Derrik closed the door behind him, I activated the protection arrays again, essentially sealing myself against outside intrusions. As I laid my eyes upon the massive mana stone, I couldn¡¯t help but stare it for a moment in wonder. It was a perfectly crystal clear sphere, with no impurities within, and emptied from mana. An unique specimen among naturally shaped mana stones, as most are colored, unsymmetrical, or mixed with impurities. Perfect for being a part of my final experiment. Gently stroking it with my hand, understanding why it took so long to have the empire loan it for the experiment, for it was unique in both quality and capacity. Lifting the head sized mana stone, I gingerly carried it to the central piece of smaller dual circles in the middle of the array, placing it upon a pedestal prepared for this occasion. The second dual circle had a slightly raised circular platform where I¡¯ll be sitting during the activation, right next to the mana stone. I quickly arranged pouches and different containers from the crates. Most of the materials are results of my experiments, containing various materials that can be used for runic arrays. As just carving the array to the stone results in shoddy and temporary work, because stone can¡¯t handle excess magical energies for long. The usual result is a low output and fast degradation of the array if no mana conductive materials are being used. Most of the pouches and containers are filled with various liquids and powders processed from fairly expensive materials and metals. I have found out during studies that certain mixtures solidify when mana is channeled to them, and are highly conductive. Normally I would use metals for the mana channels, yet the amount of mana I¡¯m going to use would quickly distort other metals than the fabled mithril. But I can neither smelt it, or have resources to buy it for an array this massive. First I carefully mixed the powders in correct ratio, before pouring even amount of the mixture at the bottom of every runic inscription in the array. Next I started quickly filling the carvings with the catalyzing liquid, carefully filling every carving to the brim. I looked over the array, checking against any overflows of the mixture, as the next part causes partial activation when mana is going to start filling the array, through the runic lines. Distorted runes when channeling raw mana from three leylines is the last thing I want to experience at this step. I took the manastone filled pouch from my waist, and controlled my mana to move the orbs above their respective locations within the array, three for each leyline. Each orb had a slot carved for them within the array, meant for being the focus point where the raw mana enters the array. Activating the array on the mana stones, I released my control, dropping the mana stones to their slots at the same time. Each of them flashed shortly in bright azure, as carvings in the manastones activated, feeding the mana within stones to the array. Mana started flowing throughout the array, filling the runes while the mix of powder and catalyzing liquid started reacting, releasing a deep blue smoke. The smoke billowed throughout the room, hiding the floor from the eyes as the smoke clinged close to it. Only the now glowing arrays was visible through it, and I waited while the mixture hardened in the carvings. Carefully observing the process for a moment, I proceeded towards the smaller circle and sat down facing the mana core. Now I must wait patiently while array is nearing completion, yet I couldn¡¯t help but to shiver from a mixture of emotions. This is it, final moments before I find out if all the theories and tests I made were right or not. Over a century of constant research, skulking around, dealings with miscreants for information, just for a single, crazy, absolutely ambitious leap for a something never seen before. All it took back then was a single obscure tome of necromancy dealing with souls and a conjecture that it should be possible. It started with a chuckle, slowly gaining intensity until I was roaring in laughter. I had already lived over 230 years and only had a couple decades left in me, give or take a few years. I¡¯d already become leading expert in Runic Arrays and was one of the strongest mages in runic magic. Little did they know that most of my achievements stemmed from my research in the ¡°abhorred¡± soul magic. And yet it was also the reason why I¡¯m trying to encroach upon the territory reserved for the Divines with my research. This could be called culmination of all of my lifelong research, as I was about to transcend mortality. After a while when my laughter died down, I noticed it was almost the time for last phase as the air started to hum from concentrated mana. A moment later whole rune array started to glow brightly, shining and reflecting within the smoke clinging to the floor. Smoke changed colours from white to purple to the deepest blue as the smoke roiled upon the array. It was time. I closed my eyes taking a deep breath, sharpening my concentration to the highest point while gathering all of my mana, down to the last drop. I went through of my mental checklist of what to expect after array activates. This was going to be worse than when I was thrown into middle of a pack of anthropomorphic, sex-crazed, bipedal man-eating rats from a failed alchemical experiment, all because of the trade for necromantic books fell through. At least I won that fight, and got the damn book. Even if the information within was outdated. When the array activates, both me and the mana core must be empty from the purified mana. Opening my eyes, I simultaneously pushed all of my existing mana to the activation array, gritting my teeth against the nausea from sudden mana deprivation. My vision grew hazy, and I felt like throwing up from the massive headache I was introduced to. As I started wobbling I quickly bit off the tip of my tongue, feeling the taste of salty iron in my blood filling my mouth, using the pain to focus myself. When the array fully activated and started drawing a maelstrom of raw mana from the leylines beneath me, I spat a mouthful of my blood upon the mana stone to form a connection to it through my blood. While the mana started flowing in the rune array, mana concentration in the room kept climbing, while the array was already glowing almost blindingly white. Being emptied from the purified mana, I connected my mana heart to the array. Upon connection forming, the array started to draw a torrent of raw mana from the leylines into my body. Turning half delirious from the sudden influx of nausea, splitting headache and abrupt mix of euphoric feeling and ripping pain from the power that felt like it¡¯s trying to turn me inside out while being both freezing and burning hot at the same time. Veins bulged from my body, wriggling like a nest of worms. Screaming through my clamped teeth, convulsions wrecked my body, as I tried to finish the final step using the raw mana. Normally my mana would respond instantly and smoothly to whatever I ask from it, yet this time it felt like I had mounted a bucking and kicking, carnivorous wild horse that fought against everything I did while it tried to eat me. As I fought to mold the mana to form the runes for the spell, pain only intensified. Veins ruptured all over my body, spilling my blood all over my failing body, painting a bloody visage. My teeth were splintering as I bit them down hard, and the pain kept worsening as my organs started breaking down. The spell was only half-formed when my mind started growing hazy from the massive loss of blood and excruciating pain. I only had one though hammering in my head constantly. Do it. Even if I die, finish it. Frantic beating of my heart kept slowing down as it kept pumping my lifeblood out of my mutilated body while raw mana kept shredding my insides. Even if I die, finish it. As my mind grew hazier, the pain wreaking havoc upon my concentration was replaced hazy shroud of looming death. Finish it. As the darkness encroached upon my vision, I almost had it, I only needed to solidify the raging raw mana for a moment for the spell to take effect. It was so close, I could already feel the control starting to slip and the runes started to grow more erratic. NO! FINISH IT! Gurgling animalistic roar escaped from my throat filled with blood as my mind gained serenity but for an instant, while blood mixed with bits and pieces of my innards splattered all over the mana core again. As I managed to solidify the spell, I croaked with last of my breath ¡°Fuck this...¡± as my body teetering on the edge finally died, and world turned to black with a rending flash of pain. Prologue 2/2 - Vertigo [Edited] Unknown area I don¡¯t know how long I was out, yet as soon as my mind started awakening, I was hit with pain even worse than before I passed out. I tried to shout, squirm, fight it back, yet nothing could be done to alleviate the pain I felt. ¡°Finally you¡¯re awake!¡± someone said with obvious relief, yet I felt as my head is going to explode from sheer volume of it, almost sinking my mind back to the darkness. ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t! Quick, there is no time! I can heal the damage to your soul, but I must take you somewhere before that. Do you agree?¡± the voice, rushed to explain with obviously lower volume than before. ¡°I am a male! And no, damage to the soul doesn¡¯t heal by sleeping! I can heal your soul if you let me take you out of here, do you agree?¡±. This time sound sounded indignant along with a tinge of panic. I think before the pain flares again, preventing me from thinking for a moment. This time I heard an exasperated sigh before the oddly transgendered voice continued with another quick explanation. ¡°I¡¯m helping you to help myself! You understand selfish reasons, right? So do you agree? Time is running out.¡±. Wrecked with pain as I was, I couldn¡¯t put this out for much longer. I don¡¯t even know what state I am in. I feel like there¡¯s something wrong with this, yet I feel myself slipping away again as the pain intensifies. He said he can heal me from this pain. Instantly upon saying this, I felt something repulsive burrowing somewhere within me. ¡°Finally! Alright, I¡¯ll heal you and send you out on your way. This time you are going to sleep for a long, long time.¡±, voice was tinged of obvious relief and¡­ Anger? Why? Before I managed to form my thoughts, pain flared with far more intensity than before. I felt something being ripped from me, something that I felt was a very important part of me, and my whole being and soul felt as if I was being melted down and darkness started to fill my mind again. ¡°Damn that idiot! It was ... close ¡­ universal ¡­ melted ¡­ rem....¡±, as I fell into the darkness I still heard the voice saying something. * * * Void between dimensions ¡°WAKE UP!¡± sounded like a thunderclap in my mind as I woke up with a jolt. I automatically flinched as I felt spike of familiar sharp pain wrecking me, as I waited for more to come. ¡°Oh relax, you have been healed along with your soul. Not that they have any difference anymore¡±, I heard a somewhat melodious, yet distinctly manly voice saying. ¡°Hey! Calm down, I can answer some questions for you. In fact I think you have a quite few of them. I also want to clarify some things. Like, how in hell did you get in here?¡±, asked the voice with curiosity. Sighing, the voice continued, ¡°Alright, this might take more time than I thought. This is the void between dimensions, and I read the thoughts you project outwards, as you can¡¯t obviously talk normally while being a friggin¡¯ crystal ball.¡±. This revelation caused a shock run through me as the implications hit me. I yelled with triumph, growing confused towards the end. ¡°Yes, different dimensions follow different set of laws and you¡¯re stuck between them. I was returning from front seat section of how one dimension almost went through a dimensional law reformation. So what¡¯s the last thing you remember? And what research?¡±, voice said with an obvious tinge of gloating for a misfortune of another changing to curiosity. Taking the whole reading the minds thing with a stride, as it wasn¡¯t that rare from where I come from, I quickly organized the events in my mind. I started recounting with my research and the experiment to meld my soul with a massive mana stone above the merging point of leylines, through the painful process with all the gory details. After that I remembered I woke up for a moment in excruciating pain, heard someone and then¡­ Nothing before this. ¡°By the ever bountiful, bouncy booty of Tira, I¡¯m impressed of what you achieved. For you sir, I tilt my imaginary hat.¡±, sounded the voice with small sense of awe. ¡°As for the memory tampering, let me see that.¡±. As soon as he said so, I felt some flowing, slick, waterlike substance cover me, filling me with trepidation. When it seeped within me, I felt it dissolving something. Feeling a shift within me, the memories of pain and the events filled my head. Remembering what he said at the end, I yelled out in outrage. That voice started snickering, before giving in to a raucous laughter. ¡°Ha! First time I hear someone said that about a god of law and order! When I meet Elessaria next time I¡¯ll be sure to prod him with this one. It was his essence that was sealing your memories.¡±. Hearing what the voice said, I froze for a moment. Snorting, the voice said with a flamboyant touch, ¡°Hear ye, hear ye! In front of thy fascinating company stands the god ruling over the lesser domains of shadows, deception, freedom, learning and temptation. Generally known as God of Darkness or as the Ever Charming Rogue, Trendal. I came here from my dimension to gleefully watch entertaining event you caused. And you, sir shiny ball, were royally screwed by the god of your original dimension before you managed to finish that.¡±. ¡°Now, before you explode in another amusing tirade about our mutual friend, let me explain some things to you as in what happened.¡±, as Trendal grew more serious, I held back my grumblings and focused as my interest was piqued. Weird how I can now control my emotions more easily, yet my inquisitive nature got stronger. Clearing his throat, Trendal began explaining. ¡°You see, what you did wasn¡¯t supposed to be possible. You became something that isn¡¯t supposed to exist in your world, and what you are now, is generally known as a Dungeon Core in my dimension. The dimensional rules in your old world controlled mana differently, in form of leylines and your runic language used for casting spells. What you did, didn¡¯t fit into the laws of that dimension, thus those laws started to break down, before they would be formed anew with a new set of laws that would include your existence.¡±. I quickly interrupted his explaining as this disturbed me the most. Trendal¡¯s voice grew slightly awkward as he explained, ¡°Well¡­ Let us start with last question first. The place you did your experiment, it may have slightly¡­ vaporized. The runic array you made, was an epicenter for a massive upheaval that sent the mana within the leylines to disarray, basically splitting the world along them as they erupted. The mana went rampant as the continents splintered, and the leylines are no more. It would take a decade or two before the mana is settled down enough to form new ones. Your new crystal body was sufficiently reinforced by descending divine energy to stay unscathed during the event.¡± I said with a slight regret upon hearing the death of my assistant of twenty years. ¡°You seem largely unaffected by the consequences of your experiment, even if it was successful. I guess the transformation from human emotions to the one of a dungeon core is faster than I thought. Not that I mind it.¡±, Trendal said with a surprised tone. I stated to him matter-of-factly. With an amused chuckle, Trendal continued. ¡°An amusing point of view, fitting for a weird dungeon core floating in the void. Besides, you had been sleeping for a month since the event happened. I had decided to leave as the show was mostly over, before finding you floating in the void on my way back. Anyways, getting to the point now, as a new existence, you were supposed to ascend as a new god of your kind and govern over a five lesser domains. Yet he couldn¡¯t just kill you with his power, as during the formation of new laws you were protected by the them. Thus he interrupted you during reforging of your soul and body, and struck a deal with you.¡±. ¡°Now, when he ¡°healed¡± you, he stole the power of divinity causing you the pain during the reforging, essentially making you a mortal. Elessaria then threw you in the void while ¡°taking you away¡±, even sealing your memories about him as a bonus.¡±. At this point I felt smoldering rage starting to build up within me, and I decided to just go along with it, wenting my rage from the recent events with Elessaria while they were still fresh upon my mind. Raging for a time, not even being aware of how time passed, I felt a familiar slick substance covering me, forcefully suppressing my emotions. ¡°Now that you have had your tantrum, and finished voicing out the hundredth, yet still amusingly creative, torture method for Elessaria, I¡¯ll proceed with the explanation.¡±, said Trendal with a chuckle. ¡°The reason he did was to stop the reformation of the laws and to prevent chaos it would cause. That would have been antithesis to Elessaria, as he controls a major domain of Order, and he would be greatly weakened due the chaotic period when everything would have been over. Also he is the most boring god I have met as his lesser domains are Law, Stability, Runes, Tradition and Contracts.¡±. Having my feelings forcibly suppressed, I still felt calm as I pondered upon these revelations. I had a feeling that it wasn¡¯t the whole reason he came at me. With the conjectures I made, I decided to voice my theory to Trendal. I said with a slightly smug tone, being a mortal capable of what I caused. Trendal seemed to freeze for a moment before starting to laugh hysterically. I could hear he was extremely amused for some reason. As he calmed down, I could swear I could somehow hear the mischievous glint in his voice. ¡°And how would you like a chance to pay back to him?¡±. For a mere moment I almost agreed straight away, but seeing what happened last time I agreed to something a god suggested, I immediately grew suspicious. ¡°Ha! Growing smarter already, are we? Good!¡±, Trendal said with a mirth in his voice before growing more serious. ¡°You see, Elessaria only prevented your divine energy changing you any further, but your soul still has what it managed to absorb before he got to you. I¡¯d say you have a third of what was supposed to be yours. Now, the rest are most likely sealed somewhere, as not even gods can destroy divine energy.¡±. Trendal reaching this point in his explanations, I felt that this stank more and more. ¡°Ah, now you get to the point. You see, my pointlessly shiny friend, you can¡¯t grow to a divinity in your original dimension anymore. And as a part of your contract you made with him, depending how you interpret it, his ¡°healing¡± and ¡°taking you somewhere¡± means he can just keep your divine energy, and throw you out of the dimension. This way he can keep the dimensional laws stay the same as you stay ¡°healthy¡±. But there is also a catch to it. If you become a divine, there is nothing for him to heal, thus the contract will become null.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. With a clearly growing excitement in his voice, Trendal continued, ¡°After the contract is voided, he can¡¯t keep your divinity away from you anymore. If you deign to choose the correct domains upon your return, causing the stopped change of dimensional laws to begin anew, you could possibly kill him when he is at his weakest. If you play your cards right. With your partly divine soul, you can create binding contracts with divines by making them agree to a proposed deal or vice versa. As a dungeon core, you can only be contract individual mortal souls coming to you in person. This is to prevent you being enslaved to a vague concepts, such as organizations or groups as a whole. Of course, breaking a contract will cause direct harm to your powers, or even destroying your soul, depending of the clauses in the contract.¡±. As he started growing more excited, I got more worried about his motivations. I don¡¯t know how, but somehow I knew he was grinning gleefully with a wide smile. ¡°But why else? I get to benefit from it as well. As a tidbit I¡¯ll tell how divines gain power after ascending. They act according to their lesser domains, and the bigger the effect, the greater the power gain from it is. As for me, this whole thing works directly with 3 of my domains, maybe 4 if I get lucky. But those are just bonuses for me.¡±, as he stopped for a dramatic pause, I waited with bated breath to know what is more important for gods than power. ¡°It seems like it would be interesting! After a few thousand years, life of a divine can get quite tedious without a proper source for amusement.¡±, Trendal finished with a cackle. It doesn¡¯t make sense to me that a god would do something like that out of a boredom. As I voiced my opposition, he started with a mock tone of hurt before explaining his version of this grand fable. ¡°But it would be a great story! Besides Elessaria is a prude, always hampering all of the fun things others come up with. Like you! You would make a great story among the gods. How you, a mortal broke the wall and attained godhood on your own. Yet a scheming hermaphrodite god cheated you of your power, and cast you to the void. How you began your road of vengeance, went through multiple challenges to regain the power and freedom that should be yours by all rights! After regaining your power, you would break down the foundations of the Evil Prude, reclaiming the rest of your powers before bringing down the hammer of vengeance upon him!¡± I swear, this guy sounds like a bard, I thought and asked with an interest. ¡°And then you decapitate him. Or seal him for eternal torture, depends on your tastes.¡±, he finished with a shrug. It is starting to get annoying how I just know what someone does even though I don¡¯t see anything. I thought for a moment about his gains about this. ¡°Ah yes, about that. You must regain your divinity in another dimension as you are now. As you got interrupted during ascension, you are still for all purposes, an eyeball sized newborn Dungeon Core. Even though you might be something special with your partly divine soul.¡±, Trendal finished sounding a little unsure. ¡°Huh, so Elessaria even stole your physical body that was already infused with divine energy as well.¡±, Trendal said with interest. ¡°Not that it matters before you ascend. Anyways, dungeons are basically underground labyrinths that are filled with treasures, traps and monsters. They have multiple floors, and the deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets. At the bottom of the labyrinth is the Dungeon Core controlling everything.¡±, he explained. , I questioned. ¡°You could consider that their job is the same as leylines in your world. They draw up the mana from underground, refine it, and the excess gets released to the outside. Reason for their growth and methods as a dungeon, are their instincts as well the way they spread the mana to the outside. As the adventurers visit dungeons, they kill monsters, gather resources and regain their mana, they¡¯re circulating it along with what circulates to the air from the entrance to your dungeon.¡±. , I kept questioning, while feeling sceptical upon these ¡°normal¡± practices. Trendal sighed and continued with explanation, ¡°Ah well, as a mortal Dungeon Core, you¡¯ll have these instincts as well. Maybe a somewhat weaker due your intelligence and ego, but they¡¯re still going to be there. I also suspect that the forceful removal of most of your core, that Elessaria did, will have some effect upon you. Main reason for luring adventurers is that they release their refined mana when using it, replacing it with the raw mana of your dungeon. They then refine the mana for their own use like they do outside. Also when they die inside, you get stronger boost of mana, and some other benefits.¡±. ¡°As for why Dungeons have an entrance, you could think a Dungeon as a chimney and mana as a smoke. As there is somewhere for it to go, the rate you gain mana gets faster within the dungeon domain. Spreading your influence requires a higher density of mana than what you¡¯re claiming as your own, released by the the lifeforms within your dungeon, as well what you gather as the raw mana seeps from below. As the density grows, you can keep expending deeper, towards the higher concentration of mana. Without entrance you can¡¯t sustain a large dungeon domain as the flow of mana grows sluggish, limiting your area of influence and power as a dungeon to a minimum. If you just keep gathering mana without making a proper dungeon, almost anyone can just walk in and take you out, as they sell you as a mana stone.¡±. I disdained the idea of being used as such. Trendal started snickering. ¡°That would be impossible. All sentient races project a soul field within Dungeons that prevents Dungeon Core using mana against them as a part of Universal Laws. Dungeons have control over their area of influence, thus the need for protection against it for sentient beings. When in Dungeon, they have a field around fifty meters around them so you can¡¯t suddenly create traps, spawn monsters or anything like that within that area. This field prevents the dungeon core directly controlling the mana that forms the dungeon domain, as well as increasing the amount of mana you need to use for any action within the immediate vicinity of the domain. The walls infused with your mana drastically dampen the effect of the soul field, nullifying it almost completely after going through twenty meters of solid materials.¡± I could feel the pity Trendal was projecting onto me, obviously from my constant attempts of trying to stay in isolation. With a mocking sniff, he continued, ¡°Seems like you¡¯re aiming to spend thousands of years alone, in the dark damp earth, waiting for some hero destined for greatness to claim you as their personal mana core.¡± ¡°Enough of that line of thought, the reason you want to do that, is to have symbiotic relationship. You give them stuff, they keep coming while donating mana by using it or by dying within the dungeon. They also bring new knowledge and other goodies for you. And most important reason of them all, they keep you sane as you have something to do, instead of observing a wall of stone for hundreds of years.¡±, Trendal finished with a serious tone. ¡°Dungeon Cores are usually born in a blank state, with no mind of their own and only instincts to devour and grow. In universes with them, there are spiritual beings that need mana to survive and seek them out for a contract. Some seek partners, others seek a slave to control.¡± ¡°As a Dungeon Core, you can understand intentions of the words even if you don¡¯t know what the words mean. Like a simplified version of what the other is saying. Those seeking a core for their own uses might use flowery language while highlighting positive parts of the deal for the newborn core, trying to trick it to agree for a soul contract. Those tricked dungeon cores are actively trying to get their helper killed and might form quite malicious dungeons, lashing out to surroundings by sending their creatures out of dungeon. Some become malicious if they experience a serious injury from ignorant beings early on.¡± With a yawn Trendal droned on, seemingly very bored already, ¡°Most of the helpers are spiritual beings, and try to actively help the dungeon. This also leads them to form their own ego and thoughts, leading to a specialized and more complex dungeons. Sometimes Dungeon Core can also form a contract with the sentient races under the protection of divines, yet this is exceedingly rare as it requires them to throw away their divine protection for their soul, essentially damning their soul in the cycle of reincarnation for a few cycles. Dungeon Core can house the souls of those it has made a soul contract through the connection they share, if they happen to die and Core chooses to do so.¡± , I ask with a puzzled tone. ¡°Ah yeah, those buggers that throw away their divine protection spend a few lifetimes reincarnating in one of those hellish dimensions, not that they always suffer from a poor fate either. Some of those have gained enough power as devils or demons to rise above the common rabble over there. Normal soul is wiped clean from any memories as they die, while those with, even partially, divine souls keep their memories.The reason Elessaria threw you in the void, instead of a random dimension, was to keep you eternally sleeping instead of dying and reincarnating.¡±, Trendal answered with an off-handed tone tinged with disinterest for the subject. As I wanted to keep questioning Trendal, he suddenly perked up. ¡°Hey, instead of harassing me with this shit, I¡¯ll help you to find a contractee with previous experience! He should be able to answer all of your boring questions. So let us start with the main issue. I¡¯ll move your core to a nice location and help to find a contractee, if you allow me to follow what happens in your Dungeon Domain. Do you agree?¡± I felt shivers going through me as Trendal asked my agreement and I felt something touching my soul, as if asking a permission to proceed. It felt only slightly warm, and honestly I thought that this deal is a good one, yet it leaves too many loopholes for my tastes. , modifying the contract, I felt it shift slightly where it was touching my soul. Suddenly the more neutral feel it had before, turned to a more warm, positive feeling. , I exclaimed with an amused tone. I felt Trendal raising his eyebrows as he chuckled. ¡°Now this is how you should do the contracts. As a rewards for learning this point fast, I agree to this contract of yours.¡± As soon as Trendal said so, I felt the tendril burrow into my soul and settle in there. Somehow I could feel what the contents of the contract were when I focused upon it, as well the backslash it would cause to my soul when the contract is broken. I also felt the revolting feeling of my previous contract with Elessaria, confirming that the bad feeling I had when meeting him last time was due the bad contract. ¡°As a congratulations for learning significance of them, I¡¯ll give you a hint while you¡¯re still under the calming effect of my divinity. How much of your runes do you remember and understand?¡±, Trendal said with a snicker. It took me a moment to register what he said, and I started going through my memories. I remembered studying runes, using them, devising new methods and doing my research, yet I couldn¡¯t remember how a single rune looked like or the meaning of any of them. I couldn¡¯t even remember how my face looked besides my beard! As soon as I thought this, I felt my rage flaring up for but a mere moment before it was mostly suppressed again. , I said my voice seething with the anger I was still able to feel through the suppression. ¡°From my point of view, it may actually be better that you lost your memories about the meaning of the runes you used, instead of the methods how you apply them. The runes you know are not the same within my dimension, meaning that knowledge would have been a hindrance to you. Besides, I think those memories are bound with your divinity, or he wouldn¡¯t have been able to steal them. You¡¯ll get them back when you reclaim it anyways.¡±, Trendal said with an unconcerned tone. Conceding to his point of view, I begrudgingly reply, ¡°Now, as a dungeon core, your emotions as a human are toned down considerably. Things like lust, pity, regret and such are such. Now what you still have, weak as they are, are things like curiosity, greed, rage and such. They are basically a set of emotions Dungeon Core needs for survival. Having a previous experience of controlling variety of stronger emotions, that should be easy. Now as I have kept yours suppressed, I have also been probing you around with my power.¡±. I froze from this revelation and promptly imagined the slippery thing covering me being covered with small, slimy tongues trying to burrow into me... ¡°Stop you pervert! Nothing of the sort! Keep those imaginations about my divine power to yourself!¡±, Trendal started to vehemently protest with a voice filled with a nausea. ¡°Don¡¯t go mixing me with the deviant gods that like that stuff. It¡¯s my shadow that¡¯s wrapping your core. Not a frigging monstrosity of a tongue or tentacle.¡±, he finished with an offended tone. ¡°Look, I just scanned your soul aura and core. I was curious as you¡¯re the first one with partially divine soul I have seen. I just noticed that you seem to have a space within your soul like us divines, but a smaller one. It should feel like a small hole to somewhere else within your soul.¡±, Trendal explained his findings. As soon as I focused on it, I felt my mind drawn to a dark space surrounded by a white sphere, with a tinge of gold and purple on it. Within the middle of the space, I could see something floating. I tried to hurry there, but couldn¡¯t feel anything what to move as I didn¡¯t have a body. Frustrated I focused upon my target and felt myself suddenly moving according to my thoughts, before stopping in surprise. Again focusing upon the the target, I reached it almost instantly this time. Most startling thing was that it was just a badly mutilated corpse with nothing intact and blood spattered all over the remains. As I circled around it, an idea hit me. Was it my corpse? That beard looks familiar. Why would I have my old body within my soul as a mutilated corpse? Was this some sick joke by Elessaria? As I withdrew myself from the space, I was pelted by intense waves of curiosity. ¡°Heeee¡­ Interesting. You seem to have your avatar body within you, but from the condition you said it was in, it wasn¡¯t able to draw in any divinity. I wouldn¡¯t recommend taking it out until you grow in power and knowledge to fix it, as it will take large amount of mana to do so if you don¡¯t have any divine power. And I¡¯m just projecting my feelings like you project your thoughts.¡± , intrigued, I continued my questioning. ¡°You could think the soul domain the divines have as a kind of personal space we can use at will. Also, as a divinity, we can create avatars when we want to descend down and pla- err, meet those with mortal a body. We usually imbue them with divine power so they¡¯re harder to kill, as without it, your avatar is only a normal mortal. As for what you can do with it, you can control a living, mortal body again. Some dungeon cores may create a monster that they can possess, with no mind of its own. Although they can¡¯t fully fuse with the body, controlling them is not nearly as smooth as they could move with a proper mind. You should be able to fully fuse your mind with your avatar, yet I don¡¯t know how it¡¯ll affect your functions as a dungeon core. You¡¯ll have to eventually try it out on your own.¡±, Trendal finished with a slight interest, before rushing to change the topic. ¡°Now as you clearly don¡¯t have enough mana to take out your avatar as a beginner dungeon, and you don¡¯t have any divine power, so that¡¯s that! I¡¯ll send you down to a place where you can survive, and after that I send some contractee for you! How does that sound like?¡± Apparently he has grown bored enough so I can squeeze anymore out of this strangely helpful god. ¡°Tch, so sly. Fine fine, I¡¯ll send you to a nice mountain some distance away from a civilization. As for other stuff like language and knowledge, ask when you contract your helper. As it would ruin my fun to reveal you too soon, I¡¯ll wipe the memories of you from the potential helpers that got axed. Now let us get this show started!¡±, As soon as Trendal finished with a relieved sigh, I heard a tearing sound. Feeling Trendal grabbing my core before moving through a membrane of something. All I could make out during that short moment, was that it felt far more violent than the energy Trendal was using to cover me. As soon as I was on the other side, I could suddenly feel everything in my surroundings within a ten meter radius. As I focused on this feeling, my focus suddenly shifted and I could see again! As soon as I did so, I turned my attention towards Trendal. He looked like an average height man with lean muscles, curly black hair reaching his stubbled angular jaw. He wore black leather armor with a hooded, dark green cloak reaching his knees. He had prominent cheekbones, slightly hooked nose and piercing black eyes. At this moment he was contemplating something with a playful smile upon his lips while looking into a distance outside of my vision range. Suddenly he chuckled. ¡°Ah, I found you a nice place. Sorry, can¡¯t take you there directly or other divinities might sniff you out too soon. So, I¡¯m going to give you a short time blessing against physical damage, and throw you to that mountain range down there.¡±, Trendal smirked while bouncing me from hand to hand, causing me to feel slightly nauseous if I didn¡¯t focus on looking at something within my area during the movement. Ominous feeling crept over me, maybe I shouldn¡¯t have probed him with so many of my questions. ¡°Well you see, or not. We¡¯re above the planet called Peltas, and the distance to the mountain is around 2000 kilometers, give or take a few. And without me throwing you, you¡¯d just get stuck on some paltry crack in the ground on the surface instead of a small and cozy, sealed cave in the bedrock.", I saw a slightly manic grin to form upon his face as he went drew his arm back. "Now just relax, you will be just fine, This won¡¯t hurt at all. I¡¯ll just need to add a little spin to my throw to hit the exact spot...¡±, Trendal said with a sickly sweet voice despite my vehement protestations. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later!¡±, Trendal yelled as he threw my core, with a promised spin. As I couldn¡¯t focus my sight onto anything, an intense sense of vertigo assaulted me. For the first time in my life I wished I could vomit just so I could feel a little better as I fell through the skies of my new home, Peltas, cursing the now cackling God of Darkness for acting like a juvenile. I only asked a few questions from him. Chapter 1 - Partner [Edited] Peltas, Certain mountain range, a small and cozy cave With a small pop, I appeared in the cave that thrice damned, lumpy piece of a troll¡¯s ass called a God of Darkness, talked about. Upon arrival, my spinning stopped with the transfer, and I dropped in a crevice on the floor with a small clink. I tried to make myself feel better with some mental retching from my prolonged fall from the orbit, as my vision was able to re-orient itself again. Damn that vindictive, cheating piece of a divinity. As soon as I reached a shadow near the ground, his ¡°short time physical protection¡± warped me through them! He could have done that straight away, instead of playing with me. Well, at least I don¡¯t have an entrance yet. Gathering my bearings, I spreaded my awareness around me, noticing that he wasn¡¯t wrong about the part of the cave being small. It was just an empty pocket within the ground, with a relatively smooth ground as the walls formed a teardrop shape. I was situated in a small crevice in the middle of the room. The teardrop area was around a five meters wide and seven long, with a ceiling three meters above me. As I was inspecting the room, I noticed that I can see everything in the pocket with crystal clear clarity, despite the darkness. Huh, no blind spots. Would have been a neat ability to have when I still had a body made of flesh. And mentioning about body, I haven¡¯t yet seen myself since turning to a dungeon core. Controlling my point of view, I tried to move my vision outside of my core like before. IIt felt like I bumped to a wall, that kept pushing me back as much as I pushed against it. As kept pushing, I felt mana within me trying to join in the attempt. Intrigued, I stopped pushing and my mana settled down immediately. Sensing the amount I had, I was dismayed having such a miniscule amount of it compared to before, that I gave a mental sigh of resignation. No wonder he mocked my attempts to do without adventurers. I haven¡¯t had this little mana since I awakened my mana heart! But screw the normal methods, I¡¯d rather continue doing it my own way! I took control of half of my mana and forced it to push against the wall I felt along with my will. Results were surprising, as when my mana left my body, it pushed the wall back with an ease, and kept spreading evenly within the air. Soon the mana was spent and I somehow felt having a total control over the area my mana had saturated, almost covering the air within the cave. Spending half of the remaining mana I had left, I filled the rest of the pocket with my mana. Now I could move the mana I had spread with ease, sensing everything within it. This time I tried to move my vision outside me again, not feeling any walls preventing me this time. Upon focusing on the air above me, my vision shifted instantly as my perception changed. I could now see my core below me, along the rest of the cave floor. I was located in a crevice in the floor, neatly lodged within. My core was a perfect sphere of deep purple color, with a thin veins color of an azure spreading from center. Intrigued, I focused closer, seeing that within the orb, the azure veins of grew from the middle to the outer layer. Veins were connected to a small, slightly deeper hue ball of purple right in middle of my core. Those purple veins were also formed from crystal, giving off a glow of their own as they seemed to slowly pulse with a peculiar rhythm. After admiring the beauty of my new body, I refocused my gaze to the rest of the cave. Feeling around, I noticed how the area was slightly expanding. Looking around for the cause, I noticed how some of my mana seemed to seep within the surrounding stone. Inspecting the effects by focusing upon a small rock further away from me, I noticed how my mana slowly in the air slowly penetrated the rock. Quickly looking at the surfaces where my mana touches the stones, I noticed how this phenomenon happened everywhere. When my mana had fully filled the rock, I had an urge to scatter the mana fused with the rock. Doing so, the rock shattered as the mana broke it down, turning into a motes of mana tinged with a brown color. Looking upon these motes, I instinctively pulled them to my core. Upon pulling the motes, they dissolved to a stream of energy flowing towards me, alongside with the tinge of brown mana. The energy flowed almost instantly to my core, turning to an azure mana as it went through the purple veins. Suddenly I just knew that the small rock had been a piece of granite, how it was formed and how I could make more with my mana. This is amazing! Instant purification of mana and gaining knowledge from dissolving something with your mana! Oh the possibilities I can do with this! With a delighted glee I moved my mana according to the new knowledge and created a small sphere of granite, feeling a small drain in my remaining mana reserves. Ignoring this in my excitement, I started creating stones of various shapes, sizes and densities. Small pile of cubes, pyramids, cylinders and coins made out of stone formed on the floor as I blacked out. Waking up, I felt the familiar effects of mana exhaustion. Nauseating feeling filled my groggy mind. Wonderful, again the feeling of nausea. After starting my experiment it has been only feeling besides pain and wrath against that void cursed prick of a hermaphrodite. Surprised as how mild the feeling of anger was compared to when I originally felt it, I tried to inspect how I actually felt now, as Trendal warned me about how lopsided my feeling have become. Hmmm¡­ Not the blinding rage that took away my reason so much that Trendal suppressed my feelings. It seems to be more constant feeling now, simmering within me. I felt¡­ vindictive? Looks like dungeons are prone to have a raging fit when pushed over the edge more easily, and cold hatred aimed for a revenge even if it takes a long time to achieve it. Not that I mind this change, I was planning on it anyways. Yet I have to keep a lid on my feelings when I get angry, wouldn¡¯t want to lose control of myself during an episode like that. Stopping my introspection, I noticed the feeling of nausea was slowly lessening as I regained a little more of my mana. But from where does it come from? Focusing my attention to my domain, I noticed specks of slightly chaotic motes of mana slowly floating from below, before being slowly drawn to my core. As the motes entered within my core, chaotic flow abated, while motes turned to a mana and joined my reserves. Spreading my focus upon my domain, I noticed more of those motes of raw mana slowly floating towards me. I willed them to me, significantly fastening the process. So this is what he meant by dungeons purifying the raw mana. It is not instant like when draining the dissolved mana from earlier, maybe because it was already partially refined and not chaotic. I wonder what happens to the extra mana when my reserves are full. As I kept most of my focus on regaining my mana, I willed my perspective to move again. Looking on the azure veins more closely, the motes of raw mana entered me from where those veins reached the surface, before flowing to the center, where my mana reserves were located. Looks like those veins of mine have the ability to purify the mana I draw in. I wonder if I can inspect the insides of me with more detail. Deciding to wait until I had filled my mana so I could use my full focus, I sank into meditation for a while to hasten the process even more. When I awoke while brimming with mana, I tried to shrink my vision within myself. Feeling the familiar shift in my perception, I focused upon the center of my core. Magnifying within my vision, I saw a beautiful orb of purple with streaks of azure, shimmering from mana within. Mesmerized with how it seemed to constantly pulse with power, I kept observing it rapt attention for any changes, as I kept stuffing the already full reserves with even more mana. At first I didn¡¯t notice anything, but as I kept looking for any changes, I felt full. Still keeping my focus upon drawing mana, I felt a slight strain within me and purple part of my center seemed to vibrate slightly. As it did the strain lessened, while the center shifted ever so slightly I¡¯d never notice it without focusing on any changes that might happen. Shift was so minuscule it might as well not happened, yet the center grew. I was instantly exultant upon the discovery, as this meant I could grow my reserves easily. I decided to spend most of my time drawing mana while waiting for Trendal to finish rest of our deal, as well experiment with what I could do with my mana as a dungeon core. * * * Unknown time later, within the small, cozy pocket I was already growing impatient with that slacking excuse of a god. I didn¡¯t have any sense of time in the darkness, as I could fully sink into a ¡°feeding mode¡± with meditation, cutting my perception off from surroundings. I had expanded my cave to a twenty meter wide and ten high circular dome, crafted myself a granite pedestal, where I was grasped within a claw-like extension formed from five curved spikes, with some room for me to grow larger. I had also created an arching doorway towards the original pointy end of the original teardrop shape. I was still a size of an eyeball, yet my originally miniscule center within my core, had grown to fill me halfway. I suspected that I wouldn¡¯t grow in size until I was fully converted to the new shade of purple that my center had. Main discoveries I made during this time was that I could extend my domain through solid materials by seeping my mana in them. This method was slower, but I could also modify the stone within the sphere of my influence. I had smoothed the floor and walls, while reinforcing them by compressing them with my mana. I now had a half a meter thick barrier made out of condensed stone that¡¯s infused with my mana. I also noticed that I could easily create detailed shapes according to my imagination when I was converting my mana. Although my mana reserves were still so small that I have to spend half of it, if I created cubic meter of stone instantly or break down five cubic meters of stone. I could also withdraw my domain of influence if I wished to do so, and it didn¡¯t have to be spherical in a shape. Out of boredom I had been extending my doorway to a small hallway with a same dimensions of two meters wide, four in height for a ten meters or so. My domain had only reached fifty meters because I spent most of my mana to experiment with my new powers. As I again got the urge to expand again when I was full with mana, I suspected these being the instincts of a dungeon core at work. While debating with myself whether to follow these instincts for now or keep growing my center, I heard a familiar voice sounding within my mind. ¡°How is my favorite dungeon core faring today? I hope you¡¯ve been busy with whatever you¡¯ve been up to for the past twenty days?¡±, sounded an upbeat greeting of Trendal. ¡°Mind granting me a permission to visit your domain and summon the candidates?¡±, he then proceeded to ask and I felt a tendril of his soul touching the edge of my influence, giving a feeling of temporary nature. I¡¯d wager I can rescind this permission whenever I wish, yet I also felt someone observing my paltry dungeon from outside my domain. This must the part of our deal where he can observe my domain as he wishes. As I granted permission, I noticed a tendrils of darkness gathering to form a cocoon in front of the doorway, disappearing in a puff of smoke as Trendal made his appearance. Spreading his arms wide with a flourish while wearing a shit-eating grin on his face, the God Darkness promptly asked, ¡°So how was your arrival, I hope it went smoothly?¡±. I responded immediately summoning a piece of art I had been practicing since I had enough mana for it, spending half of my reserves on it. Trendal ended up staring a large arm growing from my pedestal, sporting an universal sign for all humanoids. A very detailed serving of ¡°fuck you¡± in a form of a towering middle finger. He broke down in a laugher, eventually wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. ¡°I see you¡¯ve been practicing. However, I come bearing gifts, as I have located a few entities with corporeal forms, that have their fair share experience with dungeons, and are receptive to contracting one.¡±. This immediately gained my attention and I responded by removing the arm, leaving me a little under half of my mana reserves after my pointed stating of my opinion.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Now, they won¡¯t be able to see or hear me as I summon them here, nor will they have clear image of how they got here. I¡¯ll introduce them to you one by one with a short introduction of their species, while I let you handle the the meetings with them. If you end up declining them, I will return them and seal their memories of this little event.¡±. Trendal had proceeded to summon an armchair made from shadows to the side, that I couldn¡¯t perceive with my domain, and promptly slumped on it. , I inquired from him. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that, they will think they came here on their own volition to make them reveal original purpose, without any previous preparations. I will slightly twist their perception of how they got in here, and to reveal their desires more easily. And before we start, I think it is a time for you to choose a brand new name for yourself. A part of becoming a Divinity, even partially, is forgetting your old identity to remove any attachments to it. Though it would be amusing to watch if you end up being named to a shiny marble or something similar.¡±, Trendal said with an amused smile as he pulled a bottle and a goblet from a small ball of shadows that appeared next to him. I snorted in my mind, as he was obviously just looking for an amusement by probing at me. As soon as I mentioned my name, I felt something shift within my soul, as my new name was deeply branded to it. ¡°Precisely so Faran. A fitting name indeed, with the dual meaning of a gambler and a pathseeker. If you did not have a name when forming a soul contract with your partner spirit, they would have been able to name you. Even I avoided asking your name upon our meeting, so you wouldn¡¯t accidentally give me your old name before you understood your situation. Now, remember that incoming entities don¡¯t know that you already have an ego, or are able to speak coherently. Also, do take a note for the future, that you can speak directly to their minds because of their inherently weaker soul fields. Beings with a normal soul fields are unable to hear you without a proper medium. They won¡¯t be able to perceive my existence or voice either. As such, their react to you like to any newborn dungeon they just happened to stumble upon.¡±, Trendal finished and proceeded to pour a drink of whatever he had to himself. ¡°Now that we¡¯re ready for the show, let us get started!¡±. With a snap of his fingers, shadows twisted at the doorway and with a pop a small winged creature appeared. While it tried to get its bearings, Trendal gave short introduction of it. ¡°This fellow is commonly known as an imp, they tend to be found across different dimension as summoners don¡¯t care about them enough to send them back. Quite mischievous ones.¡±. Trendal sipped his drink and watched with interest about how the meeting will proceed. I focused upon the imp, noticing how it affected my domain, distorting my control over my mana within one meter from it. Doesn¡¯t seem like the soul field is too strong with spiritual beings, I thought to myself with interest. Focusing on the features of it, I immediately thought a fitting phrase to describe it. Ugly son-of-a-bitch. Stunted red body with stubby short arms and legs, sharp talons and a pot-belly. Its head was bald with a large, pointed ears flopping to the sides. It had a large, pointy nose, squinty eyes, sharp jaw and a mouth full of crooked yellow teeths. And it was obviously a male as it didn¡¯t seem to deign to wear anything to cover it. As it screeched in surprise and flapped bat-like wings attached to its back, I winced mentally from the annoying sound. As the imp cleared his confusion and focused its gaze upon me, it gave a high-pitched laugh and flew to my pedestal, starting a tirade of high-speed talk. ¡°Hi-shiny-core-my-name-is-Ezratelmathus. I-help-to-make-you-strong-and-powerful. You-need-to-protect-me-and-give-me-mana-and-I-can-teach-you-all-about-dungeons. Let¡¯s-make-a-deal-oh-Shiny-Sparky?¡±. Imp finished saying all that under a three seconds, and I felt somewhat neutral tendril with a tinge of slimy feel to touch my core. I promptly declined deal with this flying, discolored miniature swindling goblin. As I sent a wave of annoyance towards smirking Trendal, he snapped his fingers and the imp disappeared in a puff of smoke. , I sent to Trendal with a stronger wave of annoyance, as I had learned to shield and project my thoughts and feelings during my time of waiting him. Basically I was unconsciously yelling all the time when I met him the first time, allowing him to easily read all of my thoughts flashing in my mind back then. ¡°You could call it a comedic opening act. From my point of view, your reaction to the poor imp was amusing to say the least.¡±, he chuckled to himself to my reactions as he sensed my dismay. ¡°Now, the next one is the most common variety of dungeon helpers. They tend to share the knowledge of how dungeons work and want to help them grow quite earnestly, as they need mana-rich environment for reproduction. They are commonly known as Dungeon Fairies.¡±. This time Trendal summoned new candidate with flourish of his hand. As the puff of shadows vanished, I saw a busty woman size of a hand wearing a tight fitting dress seemingly made from leaves. She had a blue hair as long as she was tall, and a four wings like a dragonfly on her back. As she blinked rapidly to clear confusion from her big, purple eyes, she proceeded to rub her pretty face with her hands when she saw me. Blinking rapidly once again, she covered her eyes with her small hands for a moment, before peeking through her fingers at me. Gasping, she swinged her arms to the side, before flying to me with a gleeful laughter sounding like small bells tinkling in the wind. ¡°Wow, what a pretty dungeon core! Much better than mommy¡¯s murky brown partner!¡±, exclaimed the fairy while observing me with her eyes wide open. ¡°Your core has so pretty colors! Just like my eyes and hair!¡±, she giggled as she kept flying around my core. ¡°If you protect me and let other fairies visit, I teach all you need to know about being a dungeon! I¡¯ll help you to grow big and strong, and help you anyway I can! Oh this is going to be great, none of the other fairies has such a pretty dungeon core as their partner! I give you a name of Bob, as in Best-of-Buddies! Let us make a deal!¡±, I felt the now familiar tendril reaching me, filled with comfortable warmth, showing how beneficial the deal is. Yet somehow the fairy irked me. ¡°I already have a name, thank you very much.¡± As soon I projected my thoughts to the fairy, her wide eyes grew even wider and her jaw dropped. Then she started squealing in joy while flying rapidly around me. ¡°Oh-my-god, oh-my-god! This is amazing! Newborn dungeon with a personality! This is great! We¡¯re gonna get so strong easily! What¡¯s your name?! Hey, let us make a deal already, I know everything mommy taught me in her dungeon! Pleaaaaase?!¡±, She floated in front of me staring my core with her her big, glistening eyes while pouting cutely. ¡°No.¡± As the thought was projected, fairy stiffened in shock with a mouth wide open, and vanished in a puff of smoke. ¡°What was wrong with a dungeon fairy? There¡¯s a good reason so many dungeons have them as they give one of the most beneficial contracts.¡±, Trendal asked with genuine interest while cocking his head to the side. I projected with a shudder while he clicked his tongue in annoyance from my reaction. Thinking about my answer for a moment, I replied, Trendal just cocked his eyebrow, while rubbing the stubble on his jaw in thought. As he started tapping the side of his nose with a finger, he suddenly started grinning. I immediately grew wary as last time he had that same shit-eating grin, Trendal threw me from the orbit and summoned the imp. Trendal must have noticed my feeling of wariness as he hurried to explain, ¡°No no no, I wasn¡¯t grinning about you, I just thought a perfect candidate among those left. He should fit your needs perfectly, with extensive, if rather unique, knowledge about dungeons among the helpers.¡±. Yet the grin on his face still didn¡¯t fade in the slightest. ¡°This fellow is a rare halfling of two races, a shade wisp and a fairy. God knows how he came to be, at least some other god than me, and his work history might be both amusing and ironic to you.¡±. This time Trendal took the his time, as he swapped the goblet with a full bottle of beverage and placed a bowl of variety of snacks upon his lap. Then with a wink at me, he summoned the third candidate. This time the smoke didn¡¯t fully disappear, as I saw something that was a size of a fairy, vaguely humanoid shaped mass of shadows floating there. It didn¡¯t move, or need to reorient itself, so I just kept observing the floating mass of shadows as it did the same. This went on for a couple of minutes before I grew impatient, and the reason certainly wasn¡¯t because of some god snickering at me from the sidelines. , I projected to the shadow and saw it twitch. Soon it coalescent to a shape of a man in his 40¡¯s, black hair tied to a short ponytail with a touch of grey at temples. He had slightly hawkish look in his black eyes, with a refined facial features, slightly hooked nose with a trimmed moustache underneath it. He also sported an equally trimmed goatee on his strong jaw. Mostly I was surprised how he wore a black jacket, pants and shoes as he stood ramrod straight with his hands clasped behind his back as he stared at me. ¡°Well this is a surprise. First time I see a rank one dungeon with a fully formed ego that is not decades old at the least.¡±, shade-fairy said with a surprisingly deep voice while cocking his eyebrow at me. He then proceeded with a slight bow while holding his right hand upon his heart, ¡°Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Elan, a half-blood born of a shade wisp and a fairy. May I dare to ask why and how I came here?¡±. At this point I checked the now shocked god, seeing him a mouth open while his hand with a cupcake from his bowl of snacks had frozen midway to his mouth. Pleasantly surprised from his reaction, I turned my attention to Elan. ¡°This could be called a job interview, for a contractee to a dungeon core. You are the first one that has noticed how unnaturally you just suddenly appeared here. Can you explain what tipped you off?¡±, I continued with increasing interest towards him. Elan gave a curt nod and proceeded with equally curt explanation. ¡°I was in captivity, waiting for a new contractor amongst the magi. Also the way of summoning through shadows was¡­ peculiar to say the least, as it completely ignored the constraints I was held in.¡± Seeing as I gave no further explanation, he stood there and waited for me to continue. ¡°What experiences you have with dungeons? Would you be willing to contract yourself to one?¡± Elan gave a slight smile before proceeding. ¡°I had been contracted to a dungeon for a mere couple of decades, before I was captured and the core was promptly destroyed by a church. That dungeon had started creating undead beings, that those fanatics following the God of Light hate with a burning passion.¡±, at this point a frown formed on his face as he continued. ¡°After my capture, I was sold to a local branch of adventurers guild to serve a magi. He then proceeded to force me into a master-servant contract, where I began my new job for the last two centuries. I was used to communicate with matured dungeons during negotiations. Mostly they tried to use me to try cheat the dungeons for favorable contracts, or benefits. As for contracting myself to a dungeon, depends on the dungeon itself and contents of the contract, as I don¡¯t wish to repeat my previous experiences.¡±. , as I continued my questioning, I also noticed Trendal following the discussion with a rapt attention, while speedily munching his snacks. Elan snorted disdainfully as he began explaining, ¡°Of course they reacted violently. Usually outright trying to kill the contract holder if possible, as contract with a dungeon becomes void if the other side dies. If the holder escapes the dungeon alive, older dungeons used every loophole in the contract to kill or harass adventurers, or outright denying any possible rewards as long as the contract was effective. Usually that resulted influential people losing quite a lot of money, wanting them to make their sudden cause to the loss of income to ¡°disappear¡±. That is how I changed masters multiple times as they tended to survive only a few decades upon contracting me, before succumbing to pressure or greed, and trying to cheat a dungeon with a contract. Unfortunately they had constrained me so I couldn¡¯t escape even if my contractor died.¡± , I inquired from Elan. ¡°I have seen multiple dungeons ranging between rank two to four. Many of them were classic examples of caves filled with goblins, animals, plants, or other common monsters at the early levels. More older dungeons could reach a rank three monsters, one even had a rank four named monster guarding the core room. Their layouts were more sophisticated, filled with an advanced monsters of certain type. For example, one dungeon was specialized in kobolds and gigantic lizard like monsters with various environments.¡±, he replied in a stoic manner to my question. While Elan had been explaining his experiences, I grew increasingly excited about the prospects of contracting him, as he held superior experiences of how adventurers dealt with the dungeons, and how they expanded themselves. Calming myself down so my excitement would not show up in my voice, I continued. Upon hearing the question, Elan¡¯s pupils shrank for a moment as he proceeded to stare at me without an answer. After a moment of silence, he answered. ¡°Partners, with no control over the other. Rights to give commands to dungeon creatures. Protection against harm, and a sanctuary to my soul upon death, with promise for reincarnation at a later date. In return I provide you all of my knowledge and help.¡± I chuckled to myself, indeed experienced negotiator. Elan¡¯s contract was good, yet left some loopholes for him to exploit if I don¡¯t add my own terms. Elan was seemingly taken aback for a moment, before smiling widely. ¡°I see you¡¯re not an idiot that leaves loopholes to the contracts after all. Very well, contract is more than fair, and will be null if I try to cause harm to you. I agree.¡±. When the agreement left his lips, soul contract took effect and I could suddenly sense his location through our connection. His soul field also stopped interfering with my domain as I said with a glee. All the while certain annoyance had been whooping at the side since the contract took hold. Meanwhile Elan gave a proper bow with a smile, as opposed to the earlier shallow one upon our initial meeting. ¡°Glad to be of service, partner.¡±. Chapter 2 - First Steps [Edited] The world of deities can be divided in two separate parts. Major divines ruling over the dimension, with lesser deities below them. It is believed that the lesser deities are actually ascended people of their dimension, having reached the divinity on their own. Even so, the lesser deities are considered of being vastly inferior in power to the major divines, as during the countless millennia many of the lesser deities have died battling each other, while none of the major divines has fallen. Major divines have not deigned to meddle with these battles, unless deities personally act directly against mortals, upon when they directly kill the offender. It is believed from multiple accounts throughout history, that the deities are not allowed to directly act against mortals without risking serious consequences. - Excerpt from a research paper of an unknown student of theological history Unknown mountain range, Faran¡¯s Dungeon Finishing our greetings, Elan gave a small cough in his fist to gather my attention. ¡°Pardon me for asking, but as you are obviously in the beginning stages of dungeon, how did you manage to summon me here from a warded cage?¡±. Looking at Trendal, he was currently humming to himself while feigning being more interested in cleaning his nails with a dagger than Elan¡¯s question. He had also gotten rid of his snacks and drinks. I feel that he¡¯s just trying to show off how easy it is for him to use his soul domain while I can¡¯t even access mine yet. Of course I tried that early on, but all of my mana wasn¡¯t even able to enter the damn space, being blocked by a dense barrier. Conveniently taking his feigned disinterest and silence as a tacit approval to speak about him, I turned my attention to Elan. Taking a moment to register my ridiculous sounding words, Elan¡¯s eyelid started twitching furiously as he frowned. ¡°I¡¯d rather not get lied to right at the start of this partnership. Explain this whole matter with more in depth, as in where is this deity, and who it might be?¡±, Elan¡¯s voice had a touch of anger in it, and I noticed Trendal grinning at me with schadenfreude. I sighed mentally about how much trouble associating with this God of Darkness is going to give me. Elan¡¯s expression grew more discontent while my explanation went on, and as he was about to open his mouth, he got interrupted by indignant the deity in question appearing behind him. ¡°Hey! No need to tarnish my reputation among mortals any more than it already is! What¡¯s wrong with breathers here and there when I have some downtime from my godly duties? I even brought you the candidates to pick from!¡±, Said the smirking Trendal, standing behind Elan while leaking some of his divine power, causing him to tremble while his eyes tried to bulge out of his skull. Noticing the state of my newly gained partner, the now familiar shit-eating grin seemed to split Trendal¡¯s face from ear to ear as he obviously got amused by Elan¡¯s reaction. ¡°See! Now he got terrified because you gave him some weird ideas about me! As this concludes our deal, I¡¯m off as you two get to know each other. See you soon!¡±, giving a wave of goodbye, Trendal vanished in the shadows. Watching poor Elan for a moment, I decided to say something to snap him out of stupor. With a start Elan forcibly calmed himself down, but apparently he was still shaken as he floated erratically up and down. Muttering something under his breath, Elan finally seemed calm enough as he cleared his throat while steadying his floating. ¡°My apologies for doubting you earlier, but claiming that a no less than a god was helping a newborn dungeon sounded preposterous. But now I see how you¡¯d have fully formed personality with the help of the divine...¡± I immediately stop his horrible misconception about me with an indignant tone, Ah, Elan¡¯s eyelid is twitching again furiously. Thinking about this, I should probably give him a rundown about the events leading to his summoning. * * * I was watching Elan as he sat on the floor with a slightly haggard and dejected look upon his face. ¡°Allow me to straighten this out Mr. Faran.¡±, Elan said with a defeated sigh. Is it me or has he suddenly become more respectful while addressing me? ¡°Originally human, you deviced an unheard method of transferring your soul to a massive mana core, becoming a first dungeon core in your dimension?¡±. With a mental puff of my imaginary chest, I replied proudly. ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± ¡°As a first of your kind, you were in middle of being promoted to a godhood, while causing a planetwide catastrophe when¡­ a prude hermaphrodite of a god came to you.¡±, Elan voiced a small prayer for his transgressions against the said god. ¡°That god then proceeded to deceive you, stopping your ascension and throwing you to the void, all the while stealing your knowledge of the runes you used the magic within your original dimension. All in order to prevent the changes to the dimension so he doesn¡¯t lose his powers.¡± ¡°That indeed happened. And by the wretched, damp crevice of thrice damned imp stuffed in his nostrils, I¡¯ll eventually pay him back with a massive interest.¡± Elan shuddered to the image I painted to him before continuing. ¡°In the void, God of Darkness, Trendal coincidentally found you, woke you up, and explained the situation to you as he took an interest to you. You then proceeded to vow vengeance against a god as a newborn dungeon core, struck a deal with the Lord Trendal, getting thrown down on Peltas from the orbit as a result. Some time later he then helped you to find a contractee, me being the misguided being accepting that role.¡±, upon reaching this point, Elan promptly covered his face with both hands, fell on his back on the floor and let out a despairing sigh. I started deflating a little. If I didn¡¯t see it in front of my eyes right now, I wouldn¡¯t have believed it. Earlier proud and proper Elan was nowhere to be seen, as he rolled around on the floor, groaning and still covering his face with his hands. I started seeing why Trendal liked to harass others for shit and giggles. Getting to see this kind of reactions seemed to be quite funny. NO! Bad thoughts! I will not let that slacking weirdo of a god to corrupt me so easily to his ways! I mentally vowed to myself. Deciding to let Elan do whatever he needed to do in order calm himself down, I went back to meditating in order to grow my mana capacity. * * * Awakening from my meditation, first thing I noticed was Elan had already regained his composure and tidied himself back to normal. Disturbing part however, was how he leaned in with his nose almost plastered to my core, and kept staring at me with an extreme interest. Deciding to ignore his behaviour for now, I stopped accumulating the mana. With a start, Elan straightened his back as he regained his passive expression, greeting me. ¡°Ah, you have awakened. May I ask what were you doing?¡±. I asked with confusion as his eyes gained a weird shine for a moment. ¡°Most intriguing. I assume this is the method from your dimension? It reminds me how higher ranked dungeons with a personality gather mana, yet this seems to be slightly more effective. Normally young dungeons don¡¯t actively try to gather more after being full, rather they keep using it for expanding to reach surface as fast as they can out of instinct.¡±, Elan commented with a thoughtful face, slowly stroking his goatee with one hand behind his back. I stated with pride, until remembering my current situation, finishing with a dejected tone. Elan had listened my explanation while nodding to himself. ¡°I see. That mana heart sound like a monster core, which can be found within creatures surpassing normal animals as they can cast magic. On Peltas, spells are not casted with runes, rather there are two ways to divide between monsters and humanoids.¡±. Elan started pacing in the air, hands clasped behind his back.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Now, the difference between the two are that monsters, such as I, utilize their cores when casting magic. We use mana from our cores by following instincts we¡¯re born with, or we can try to improve our spells throughout our lives. Monsters control the surrounding mana by melding it with our mana from the core, or infuse our bodies with it through a special method. The way I meld with shadows to become intangible is a skill I was born with, and I use darkness element to infuse my body with it.¡±. As Elan kept explaining this new system of magic, I forgot my dejected feelings and focused my attention to him. ¡°As for sentients without core, they manipulate mana outside their bodies through the use of soul energy. They might untap this potential as they go through ¡°Awakening¡± ritual upon reaching the age of 13, or sometimes by surviving a near-death experience. Some have vast soul energies, capable of becoming magi. They control mana with incantations formed from words of power, otherwise known as runic language. More experienced magi can omit the words completely from simple spells, while shortening incantations from more advanced ones. What I understand, is that words of power help to mold the mana to form a spell from it, thus learning to do it directly leads to a faster casting and more controlled spells.¡±. As Elan kept explaining, I grew more incredulous. What was that slipshod method? Same spells could obviously be vary greatly between casters, unlike with the rune magic I was familiar with. It focused upon creative uses of runic arrays, resulting in plethora of spells, limited only by your understanding of the runes and arrays. At this point Elan turned to face me. ¡°Now the second type of sentient lacks the vast amount of soul energy to control a lot of mana, and are the most common variety. They lack the control and energy to form spells, deciding to forgo it completely as they only draw the mana in their bodies, slowly refining themselves with mana. Magi also do this, yet to a lesser degree as they focus upon their spellcasting. Depending on method of training and element of the mana, they can keep reinforcing their bodies to an almost ridiculous degree compared to a normal humans. They usually become soldiers in service of others, or adventurers and mercenaries. They also have researched some unique methods to use mana within their bodies, mimicking the natural abilities that monsters can do innately. Such as bursts of speed, or partially melding with elements for various techniques.¡± Wondering how I would deal with a bunch of doped superhumans with my still quite pathetic dungeon, I decided to forgo this train of thought until it became more relevant. I had more important things to focus upon for now. Elan returned to his pacing and continued his explanation. ¡°Runes are used with inscription as a means to give permanent effects upon something, such as a staffs for a mage increasing a flow of mana, or a shield with increased hardness. While these ¡°arrays¡± you spoke sound fascinating concept, inscriptions are formed from a chain of words of power that specify the effect upon item. These words of power are similar to the runes as a single letter is a word in itself, yet the form is different. Albeit I must confess, my knowledge about inscription is very limited.¡± ¡°Mana capacity is mostly provided by the strength of the soul, while infusing your body also adds to it for a small amount. Casting magic drains the energies of their soul, eventually causing magus to faint in case he pushes it too far. In some rarer cases, they push themselves beyond the limits of their soul energy reserves, exhausting said energies completely, as they fall into a coma. Death, or permanently crippling your energies, is a very real consequence of this kind of a reckless action. Mana already within their bodies is but a small amount compared to what they can control with spells, but using up that mana causes severe exhaustion to the body. , I finished with forlorn feelings. Elan gave me a smile filled with schadenfreude and puffed up his chest. ¡°It may indeed feel such, as I have had my utmost displeasure to recently experience you uprooting my common sense and beliefs about the dignity of a major divinity.¡±. With a displeased huff I asked something that had been on my mind since I met Elan. Elan¡¯s expression turned to a one with self-deprecation as he answered, ¡°Why else than as an attempt to preserve some of my pride. During the beginning of my forced servitude I was always forced to stay quiet, sit still and such when not needed. Instead of staying there with a constantly forlorn expression and sulking in the corners, I started dressing and acting like this. It was how I could annoy those around me the most, when they were expecting me act like a lowly slave they sought to make me as. Unlike those other broken things they had captured, I was not eager to please them.¡±. He fell into a thought for a moment before shaking his head. ¡°Anyways, as I acted like this for almost two centuries, it has become a habit already and I feel most at ease by doing this. You could say it became my natural disposition. How about you, Faran. How did you became to act like an obnoxious jerk, ignoring proper conduct more often than not?¡±, Elan finished with a smirk. Groaning, I wondered how I seem to get stuck with this kind people. Elan stared me for a moment, before promptly ignoring my answer as he floated to the side with a shrug. The nerve of him! I thought while feeling indignant. , I asked from Elan. Floating back to me with a sigh, Elan gave me a basic advice for now. ¡°First of all, you need to expand your domain and create a maze of different rooms, as you expand towards the surface. As for the direction, I think the tunnel you originally started is heading there. It is a part of the instinct of the dungeon cores to open a way to the surface first and foremost.¡±. ¡°You know when you¡¯ve reached the surface when your domain reaches the outside air, as it will dissipate. Dungeon Domains remain only while underground, breaking apart when reaching the surface. Your first goal should be reaching the surface and creating a small hole as an entrance. Dungeon mana itself can lure fauna of all kinds, and I can help you to collect flora from the vicinity. As of now, your core is still pitifully small, and the events you went through with the god in your dimension, might be a direct cause of your weak instincts. As you grow in power and gain enough knowledge, you start innately knowing what to do as a dungeon. At least that¡¯s how I see it as the older and more powerful the dungeon, the more complex the methods they use.¡±. As there was of no use for Elan to keep explaining more advanced methods for the time being, I focused on starting to properly build my dungeon for now. Yet I still decided to forgo the common method of ¡°normal¡± dungeons, as I had never cared about following the norm. Otherwise I would still have my human body, or be dead in some ditch of my old world. At least I still have my old body, even if it is a bearded pile of bloody mush floating within my soul domain. * * * I have focused most of time for expansion of the dungeon and my domain for the last 2 months. As I grew in size, the amount of raw mana coming my way also increased slightly, while most of it is still used to sustain my domain. Not enough for warranting a sudden boost in power, but enough to support my increasing usage of mana. My center now fills half of my core, and my capacity is over ten times the original. I have noticed that my domain breaks down some of the raw mana before it reaches me, supporting itself without me paying any attention to it. I have advanced my domain for almost 300 meters to one direction, and now only a meter thick stone wall is between me and the outside. Instead of creating traditional square rooms and nice hallways with a smooth floors, I opted for a more natural looking caves with a height varying between six to ten meters depending on the cave. Of course the cave floors were uneven to hinder proper footing. During my expansion, I noticed how the stone within my domain was slowly being reinforced by my mana. According to Elan, this is the reason why most dungeon walls are notoriously hard, if not downright impossible to break down without mana. Breaking them down becomes even more harder if I make the material as dense as possible. ¡°I must say I¡¯m impressed by your tenacity for preparing. Also these caves with natural obstacles slow down the advance of adventurers while simultaneously giving your future creatures multiple places to hide.¡±, Elan said while flying through the massive system of caves for one last time before I open my dungeon to the outside world. Most of the caves have a variety of stalagmites and stalactites combined with uneven ground, while overhangs protrude from the walls. Connecting tunnels between the caves are wide enough for two men to walk side to side, with occasional stalactite hanging low enough to force them to duck out of the way. I¡¯m growing giddy with excitement as I can already imagine the atmosphere in my dungeon with ever changing terrain full of flickering shadows, grinding the nerves of intruders while checking for hiding monsters. During my downtime with creating dungeon, I have asked Elan for more information about this world and other random tidbits. One of the weirder differences is with the time. Instead of week, they have tendays. A month is four tendays, and a year has 320 days. However, the year on Peltas is slightly longer, as a day is 28 hours long. The day and night are not equal in length, as night only lasts for ten hours due to the two suns. This concept took me awhile to wrap my head around, as I was used to equal days and nights and one sun. Even the dawn and evening are ridiculously prolonged, each lasting for three hours. Elan started going through our plans after arriving to the soon to be entrance, while I was following him with my focus near him. We found out that he can now sense exactly where my focus is, when it is close enough to an area near him in my ¡°spirit mode¡±, as I¡¯ve started calling it out of convenience. At least he has no trouble of knowing when I¡¯m within hearing distance of his normal voice. While I can keep overall focus on my whole domain, I will miss all the details, such as hearing voices or such, unless I focus into a smaller area. We could also communicate mentally within my domain, yet Elan prefers speaking normally out of habit when there are no intruders nearby. ¡°Now, remember to create small enough hole to keep larger animal outside the dungeon for now. It takes too long to influence them with your mana and to take them over as you¡¯re now, while they scare away all of the smaller ones. I will go and gather variety of flora and small insects you can absorb to start growing within the caves.¡±, Elan reminded me again as he had done so multiple times for last few days. With a mental sigh, I gathered mana to form a hole of half a meter wide to the wall. I wanted to do this with some flair, as I was brimming with mana, so I packed more of my mana to the wall along the pathway I was creating. Elan gave an exasperated sigh and hid behind a smaller stalagmite close to the soon-to-be door. First I vaporized a thin circle almost through the wall so I don¡¯t accidentally crack the wall wide open. I could feel mental grin forming, as I had thought to test this method when I started playing around with my mana, while expanding the caves. As I compressed more and more mana from my pool to a part of the stone cylinder closest to me, I felt the structure of the stone start to break down from excess mana. I released all of my control over the compressed mana, causing a muffled bang along with a blast of stone powder. Blast of mana spread the dust all over the cave and I watched how it glittered in the sunlight coming through the newly opened circular hole. ¡°I hope you enjoyed yourself by wasting most of your mana for a puff of powder, Faran.¡±, Elan frowned and floated next to the hole in his shadow-form as the stone dust just floated through him. Quickly peeking outside, Elan took some distance from the sunlight. ¡°Looks like the night is still few hours away, I¡¯d rather wait for the night as keeping up the shadow-form in the sun drains me mana disgustingly fast¡±, Elan stated matter-of-factly before changing his tone to a more snarky one. ¡°Oh, and congratulations Faran. The stone you tried to blow up has been splattered as a small cone of dust in front of the hole.¡±, he finished with a snort. Elan had grown increasingly sarcastic as he noticed how I occasionally spend mana for nothing else than my own amusement with no concrete results to show from it. I ignore his complaints as I started figuratively running on walls from boredom during last half a month, as I kept finishing the cave system. Not to mention my instincts started to wake up as I didn¡¯t head straight to the surface, instead stopping right before it. Those same instincts wanted me to enlarge the hole I made to a properly sized entrance. I also noticed I could control the surface area infused with my mana on the outside as normal, reinforcing and reforming it. Huh, looks like I can make proper doorway for my dungeon later on. As I now had a pathway to the outside, I felt a shift within my domain. Motes of raw mana were now rising faster through the ground, increasing my passive mana regeneration speed by half. I assume that when I open larger entrance, instead of a small hole, the speed should be faster. I still couldn¡¯t expand downwards too much, because the density of mana within my caves wasn¡¯t enough for it. I assume I need to advance as a dungeon by creating my monsters dungeon flora, so mana within my domain grows more dense. Turning my attention to the sunlight streaming through the hole, I felt excited as I could finally start doing what I¡¯m supposed to do as a dungeon core, instead of a glorified miner. Finally I could relieve myself from that mind numbing boredom of playing with stone, that I¡¯ve recently subjected myself into. Sculpting caves is fun for only so long before coming increasingly tedious. Looking to Elan who had flown atop a hangout to take a nap, my excitement deflated just like the result of my mana blast. Bah, it¡¯s only a few more hours of waiting after two months of doing the same thing over and over. Nothing special. I thought to myself as I tried to keep my excitement in check. I failed in convincing myself, and I started focusing on Elan in order to pressure him to move out earlier. I don¡¯t care whether he really fell asleep or not, pressure is pressure! He can sense it anyways! Chapter 3 - Grand Opening [Edited] We call those capable of surviving on nothing but mana, spiritual beings. These beings have a multitude of forms, such as wraiths, banshees, various undead creatures, summoned demons and various spirits of nature. Malevolent variety of these beings are generally hunted down by people, while the rest are known to be neutral towards the other sentient beings when met in isolated areas. Their nature also makes them very long-lived races, capable of living for hundreds of years. Most commonly seen spiritual beings are different kind of fairies, wisps and other such beings. While those with corporeal form can survive with only mana they absorb, they are much more like normal mortals, than those with intangible form. For an example, fairies like eating and need to sleep like any other being, and they can also absorb the mana from the food they intake. - Excerpt from ¡°The Compilation of Monster Races, Volume IV¡±, organized by the Adventurers Guild * * * Outside of Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Elan¡¯s POV As the night fell, I headed to the opening Faran made for his dungeon. I chuckled to myself remembering how I had felt his annoyance to the delay, while I waited for the darkness of the night to fall. I didn¡¯t know what dangers were waiting for me outside, so I assimilated myself with the darkness, turning to my intangible shadowform. Ability I had an access from my shade wisp heritage, gained through an accident, when my mother absorbed the essence of one while pregnant with me. An act she wouldn¡¯t have done if not for me, as she was wounded by the aftermath of a spell aimed for the wisp. When fused together with the shadows, I was impervious to all physical harm, and nearly invisible for all purposes in the shadows. Upon arriving to the outside, I had better time to take a look of the forest I spotted outside with my previous peek to the outside. I should be able to find a lot of materials for Faran to experiment upon, seeing that he has been bored out of his mind with nothing else to do, than shaping the caves. It should be interesting to see what he does with all those samples. While this would be one of my many future incursions to the forest, at first I should prioritize samples that can be grown in the dark. A quick look near the entrance revealed a bunch of moss and a few insects scurrying atop it. With no dangerous animals nears the exit, I changed to my corporeal form and collected what I could with my small body. As I returned to drop the samples within the dungeon for Faran to analyze, I could feel his expectant emotions radiating from his focus, or as he likes to call it, ¡°spirit mode¡±. Snorting to myself for his naming sense, I headed outside again before he could interrupt my work. Looks like I have to keep an eye on him when I finish with gathering samples. For now Faran doesn¡¯t have enough mana to try anything outlandish with it, like when he originally wanted to create series of gigantic caves without enough mana to sustain them, so I should be able to relax for tenday or two when he is busy experimenting with the plants and insects. I thought to myself. While I was contracted to a dungeon for a mere two decades, I never got detailed information how they do things beyond rank 3. Most of my knowledge comes from the side of adventurers, and occasional visits to a dungeon. Having dropped initial samples for Faran to work with, I once again melded with the shadows and flew higher to take an overlook of the surroundings. Flying above the treeline, I saw how the entrance of the dungeon was located next to an overgrown forest, growing upon a large plateau. Deciding to fly even higher, I noticed how the plateau sloped down to a large valley nestled between mountains, with a river flowing right through it. Seeing how the origins of the river were within the mountains, I suspected underground river being a source for it. The plateau itself was three kilometers in diameter, with the valley many times larger. It may take some time before anyone will come in here and senses the disturbance of the mana because of the dungeon. Looks like Faran can grow his dungeon in peace for now, due to the isolated location. I hope that whatever he does, is enough to pass the first hurdle for new dungeons that are found. I must try my best to ensure that Faran appears to have more worth than trouble to the people, so no one doesn¡¯t just get rid of him before he grows in power. Satisfied with the overlook of the location, I flew down to the forest, to continue collecting samples for my new partner, a total oddity amongst dungeons from what I¡¯ve seen. * * * Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Faran¡¯s POV Elan had been constantly working last night, and brought me a multitude of samples of surrounding flora and fauna. I soon discovered that I could drain the energy of small insects with a little effort, killing them in the process. Absorbing their corpses was as easy as absorbing the stone, yet impossible to do when target is alive. Along with the wide variety of flora, I also had a selection of insects to fill my dungeon with. Elan had already mentioned that dungeons either summoned everything themselves, such as undead, golems and new monsters, or created ecosystems where they reproduced by themselves. Obviously, I lack the knowledge to create artificial monsters like golems, so I plan to create basic environment with what I have. First, I needed to upgrade this droll environment with some flora for food, as I did not want to support creatures with only my mana. I started with covering the floor of first cave with small layer of dirt for plants to grow on. Focusing on the structure of the moss I absorbed first, I analyzed the structure in my mind by creating a model of the moss. Something tugged my mind and I subconsciously modified it, by changing the veins to similar structure I had in my core, making it capable of absorbing ambient mana in my dungeon. Afterwards I proceeded to modify the moss itself, making the structure more durable and lush, looking like a soft, dark green carpet. Satisfied with my creation, I pictured where to place the modified moss. Focusing upon a patch of dirt, I instantly recalled the structure of the modified moss, while I could accurately imagine how the moss would look when created, as if it was already a reality. These instincts may be handy, but it mostly annoys me that I don¡¯t know what I can do before I attempt to do something new like now. Quickly testing this with the other plants Elan had gathered, I could easily recall structure and image of the plants growing within my dungeon, just like with the moss. While this would make my creation work extremely simple, I still need to find out the limits for these changes in how my mind works now. Elan isn¡¯t helpful on this regard, as he was bonded to a young dungeon that took over a decade to start talking properly. While those older ones he met certainly did not reveal a single detail to outsiders. Creating a patch of moss, it grew and spread out quickly as I poured mana in it. Deciding to grow patches all over the cave, I repeated the process a few times. After half of the cave floor was covered in it, I focused to what happened around the moss. Raw motes of mana that were slowly broken apart by my domain, seeped within the vein in moss. Those veins then started to slowly, but surely break down the mana as the moss absorbed the remnants. It released some of it back to the air, while absorbing the rest to grow and spread out. For now I couldn¡¯t see any difference, but I had a feeling that having mana remain within the plants would increase the overall density of mana within the dungeon. Satisfied, I covered the overhangs and crevices with dirt as well, before creating a carpet of moss to cover the walls. I left the patches of moss to spread on their own for the rest of the floor. Most of my mana spent from filling the small cave with moss, I returned my focus upon my core to meditate as I started to refill my mana with a mental sigh. This was going to be another long and tedious process as a dungeon. Grumbling to myself about lack of mana in initial stages, I decided to focus upon the meditation. And originally I had hoped a more exciting life with tricking adventurers to their deaths, with a promises of riches and glory in a dungeon filled with monsters. Looks like I still have a long way to go. * * * ¡°No, I can¡¯t catch any small animals for you to play with. As you can clearly see, I¡¯m not exactly the right size for it. Not to mention, Do you know how hard it is to carry something heavier than yourself? Especially if it fights back?¡±, Elan frowned at me as I had suggested getting something bigger. During the last half a month, Elan had scoured the nearby forest from anything new, that he could carry back for me to absorb. I suggested. Elan sighed as he started rubbing his temples. ¡°I already told you, the creatures with a soul needs to die in your dungeons, or you can only create copy of a dead animal without a soul. Or a skeleton, which you¡¯re not trying to create! Generally dungeons with any undead are suppressed, or destroyed, as I have told you before.¡±. I was once again denied from trying to create small skeletons by Elan. I had noticed that while creating insects, I also had to create a blank soul with an imprint from my own. Otherwise I couldn¡¯t control them, or they didn¡¯t have any loyalty to me, but ordering insects to do different stunts is fun for only so long. Like making them move in formations, or trying to build a tower with them. I even tried to get Elan play a mock war with me, with insect armies, but that plan failed as well. ¡°By the gods! Why was I stuck with a dungeon that doesn¡¯t act like one or do things like one should? You could go and make them deadlier by yourself!¡±, Elan exclaimed while throwing his hands in the air. This deflated Elan as he slumped down while letting his hands flop to the sides, and turned towards me with a mournful look on his face. ¡°You don¡¯t have to remind me about it. It was I that made a contract with you before knowing the details.¡±. With a defeated sigh, Elan straightened his posture and continued with his explanation. ¡°Normally you either create your own creatures from various parts, fill them full of mana to strengthen them, or you let them fight it out and try to get them evolve. As they kill others in your dungeon, they drain some of the mana for themselves. Eventually when they get strong enough, they form a core within them, becoming a monster. This also happens outside as some animals evolve to a monsters over time, or by hunting humanoids or other animals.¡± I explained with a slightly embarrassed tone. Elan¡¯s posture straightened even more, he clasped his hands behind his back, frowned at me while his eyelid started twitching furiously. I briefly wondered if he knew that he always did that when he got angry. ¡°Faran, did you again try to experiment with some stupid idea like when you tried creating some weird souls for insects?¡±, Elan asked with a stern voice. As I said this, Elan¡¯s eyelid started to blur, and a vein bulged on his forehead.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. . Not yet at least, I mentally added. At this point Elan exploded and went on for a long tirade of irresponsible actions, lecturing me about proper actions and making me to consult him, before starting some whimsical tests on methods not beings used, on my own before wasting mana. Well the point was, that I should stop wasting so much time with my random actions and grow stronger before I¡¯m found. * * * Another half a month has passed while I experimented upon the insects. During this time I have managed to alter the souls as they were forming during creating them, altering or adding certain new instincts. As of now, predatory insects are aggressively trying to kill each other, creating a bustling scene of carnage in the caves. More passive ones feed upon the moss and ferns in my dungeon, acting as a source of food for aggressive species. They also act hostilely towards intruders coming near them. For now I haven¡¯t been able to properly grow any plants needing sunlight, despite the mana becoming denser. For now I have been limited to moss and similar plants. While constantly checking the dungeon, I made an interesting discovery with the air quality. It looks like my domain slowly purifies the foul substances from the air, if I do not will it otherwise. I also noticed how my original feeling from filling my cavern with plants and insects, was indeed proving beneficial to my dungeon domain as I suspected. Plants refined raw mana for their own use, releasing the rest to the air, while insects released most of the mana they held upon dying. Small part of the mana they hold is absorbed by the killer, while the plants being eaten also provide miniscule amount to one eating them. I have come to think my ecosystem as a mana storage used to increase the density of mana within my domain. Currently I¡¯m holding back with the expansion, and only keep saturating the area with more mana. Elan was originally against this type of action, yet I noticed how the flow of raw mana increases with denser mana in my domain. Maybe the instinctual expansion all the time is not wholly beneficial to the growth of the dungeon? During the constant emptying and refilling of my mana reserves, I have almost advanced to the second rank as a dungeon core. Central area of my core has almost completely filled it, and I have prevented advancing my rank for a moment. I have a feeling I am going to fall asleep for a time as I finish this phase, thus I want to finish couple tests and create some protection for my core before that. Currently I was focusing on yet another infusement test. This time I was experimenting on a climber vine that would grow near the ceiling on stalactites. I was slowly infusing only the veins with mana, trying to turn them more crystalline substance, as partially the same as veins in my core are formed. I had been slowly changing the vine, occasionally strengthening rest of the plant, especially the roots. My aim was to allow them to work as a source of light through absorbing the ambient mana. The veins had already gained a slight glow of their own, slightly tinted with green of the plant, and I started finally seeing the crystallization to take hold in a part of the veins. Holding back my excitement so I would not start being impetuous, I carefully expanded the effect through rest of the veins. Soon enough I felt a slight tug on my mana, as the plant started draining more. I carefully let my mana flow freely to the vine as it changed in front of my eyes, with the crystal gained flexibility and increased the amount of light it produced. The roots dug deeper in the stone, while rest of the vine grew more firm. The vine was only thick as a thumb, and a couple meters long, clinging tightly to the stalactites with a series of smaller vines. Sudden source of light sent insects scurrying to the darkness, as the climber vine finished the transformation. It now had a gentle green glow, reaching a distance of twenty meters in the cave. Carefully examining the flow of mana from it, I noticed how it was self-sustaining from the ambient mana, not requiring me to actively sustain it. I quickly formed a normal fern on the ground, so I can later see if it could survive under the light. I started boasting to the ever doubtful, grumpy Elan. ¡°Forgive me for being doubtful after days of of exploding bugs, wilting plants and spontaneously dying, grotesque attempts for new combinations. I¡¯d rather have you rank-up so I can enjoy from a period of silence and normality for a change.¡±, Elan answered with a dry tone. ¡°Now, if this works as an alternative to the sunlight, you should start creating some traps I told you about, at the later half of the dungeon. Especially near the core. While this may arouse some suspicions due to you being obviously a newborn core, dungeons are usually found first by either poor peasants, hunters, or bandits. Neither type is a good for new dungeons, as they tend to steal the core if they can, and sell it for a quick money as a mana stone. People can earn more money by selling you, than by selling the location of you¡±. I mentally frowned upon the very idea of some crass, uneducated hillbilly killing me when I slept during the rank-up, removing my core from the dungeon with their greedy, grubby hands. , I conceded, yet didn¡¯t forget to poke fun at his latest idea. My comment sent Elan sputtering, ¡°I have you know that those ideas come from the the gathered knowledge I have obtained! Those traps are used by all of the dungeons before they obtain knowledge on how to create magical traps!¡±. , I added sarcastically. Elan sniffed disdainfully. ¡°Well then, I assume you can do much better work with basic, non-magical traps, than centuries worth of collective knowledge for dungeons can. Besides those you mentioned were only some of the basic traps of a dungeon.¡±. ¡°Well yes, yes I can. First things first though. I need to start spreading these vines along the caves so I can first start growing most of the plants I obtained, as the fern is actually growing now. Especially some of those basic alchemical components you found. Although the moss improved the original atmosphere, it is still a rather dull place.¡±, I replied with enthusiasm. As Elan snorted for my self-assured victory, I went to work. I was going to turn these caves to a veritable jungle of plants! * * * For the next tenday, I spent most of my time creating some tall ferns, vines, flowers and even thorny creepers all over the caves. I had strengthened the plants, and made them to grow faster in case of them being cleared out. Larger plants in the underbrush were half a meter tall, hiding the smaller plants and insects underneath them. I also created normal vines to grow near the crystal vines on the ceiling, as well as creeper vines to grow along the walls. Some of the thorny vines were hidden amongst the plants. The flowers added more color and variety of smells within the caves. I had even amplified the properties of some flowers with interesting effects, such a strong scent causing mild confusion or slight hallucinations. Amongst the plants Elan brought me, I found an oddity I embraced with a glee, and added to every green fern I had. One of the plants contained chemical that was otherwise harmless, yet released a highly toxic gas when burned. You never know if some jumpy pyromancer decides to advance in my dungeon by burning everything, so I decided to dissuade such an action early on seeing that I had the perfect solution. I left small paths leading to the next tunnel, so humanoids can move through with relative ease, yet exploration would be rewarded with some of the basic plants used in alchemy. Preparing against people that would just cut down everything, I strengthened the roots of the plants to reach deep into the stone. This way the plants would be able to regrow easily without my help, by relying on absorbing the ambient mana. Insect population exploded since I started creating the other plants, and I had started to see some of them growing more powerful through each generation. Unfortunately the amount of mana they could hold, was miniscule, making the process a slow one. As I hadn¡¯t found any metals to absorb during my expansion, my possible variety of traps was woefully limited. I had to limit my creativity for when I get better materials. In preparation for traps, I expanded my domain ten meters deeper, allowing for some experimentation with them. First wave of traps was a source of great amusement for Elan, as I went with traditional thinly covered pitfalls with a twist of sharpened spikes at the bottom. I let him laugh, nothing like lulling intruders into thinking that I only have common traps. Last part of the dungeon gets nasty. I had created a six meter wide, ten meter deep circular hole with jagged spikes at the bottom. I had also added acid from some of my stronger bugs, strong enough to slightly melt the skin, and created a 3 meter deep pool of it at the bottom of the pit. Next 2 meters of the wall above the acid was filled with irregularly placed, hardened stone protrusions curving downwards. Good luck trying to use ropes to pull up someone, as those protrusions were wickedly sharp, and snapped off if you tried to step on them. As a lid I used a half a meter thick stone, with two axles were fitted within the holes on opposite sides, and I added protruding stoppers to keep the lid rotating beyond upright position. Lid was kept in place by the other half, that was only slightly thicker, resting upon a groove in the stone. When a person moving deeper to the caves stepped on the stone plate, hidden under the carpet of moss, the plate would tilt to an upright position as the victim dropped in the pit. Upon reaching the vertical position, the plate would hit the stoppers and slam shut again. Second type of trap was a stone plate with a sharpened edge at the bottom of it, resting upon a small stone cylinder protrusion, that can withstand only 50 kilos. Placed in a narrow passageway, the cylinder breaks if someone steps on it, and the blade cuts through a vine running underneath it. The vine is rooted to an opposing counterweights hidden under the floor, keeping them suspended in the air. Each weight in connected with another vine to a blade of two meters long, hidden within a natural looking crack on the wall. When triggered, the blades swing to the opposite directions. One blade aims for the ankles from front, the other aims for the knees from behind. Blades were made of stone I sharpened and hardened as much as I could. Third was a variation of the blades with a shorter, more curved blade. This time stone plates were hidden under the moss in an open area of the caves, with blades appearing from the floor. The blade was only one meter long, swinging from the front, or from behind, of the triggering plate. I had some fun testing out these traps, as I imagined resulting reactions of various clumsy adventurers. Fourth trap was in my core room. I slightly expanded the dome to be slightly wider than the floor, and created circular hole for my core at the top, with some room for me to grow. As Elan carried the core up, I created four curved talons to hold me up there. To hide my glow, I grew my go-to light source, crystal vines, all over the dome. At the end of the room, I created alcove with a deep enough hole to house a crystal vine out of sight, with stone bars in the way. They should see the crystal vine glowing within the alcove, as it was partially casted in shadows. Trap itself was a same kind as the first one, yet the floor was a meter thick, and it only activated when someone walked near the alcove, where the supporting stone was located. To make sure I get all of them within the room despite them weighing down the other side, There were massive counterweights on the side with alcove, with supports strong enough to carry only fifty kilos of extra weight on top of them. When they break and weights fall, whole floor in my core room swings like a pendulum, before coming to a stop at upright position, as the counterweights keep the floor in upright position. Bottom of the trap has two grooves to fit the counterweights, while rest of the pit is naturally filled with jagged spikes and acid. Only now I feel safe enough to initiate my rank-up, even though Elan has yet to see smoke from any campfires during nightly scouting. We decided to fully open the entrance before I start. With any luck, some smaller animals wander inside as they get lured by the mana, and get either killed by my now ferocious insects, or stay long enough for my domain to corrupt them. There might be even some larger animals going deep enough to trigger the traps. Currently my mana capacity is almost 50 times of my pitiful starting value, needing only a last push for my rank-up, before my core has been wholly converted to a new structure my center has. Strength of my domain within my dungeon has tripled with all the lifeforms processing and storing mana for me, and so has my recovery rate. When I widen the entrance to my dungeon, I feel how the flow of raw mana slightly speeds up throughout the whole dungeon. Satisfied with my preparations, I sink into my meditation aiming for the rank-up. * * * Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Elan¡¯s POV When Faran started making normal pitfalls after boasting his skills, I already thought he had been just boasting along with his sarcastic comments. Yet as he started creating those rotating pitfalls filled with weak acid, I had to change my thinking. When he made those bladed traps in pathways, I was even thinking that it was crazy how he could make such things with only stone and vines. Those weren¡¯t meant to instant kill anyone, they were meant to maim the intruders. But the modified versions shooting from the floor left me flabbergasted. Forget about crazy, this goes beyond that. Those traps are most wicked contraptions in this dungeon. Hard to detect with knocking on the floor with a spear-end, hidden beneath a layer of moss, and even making escaping them as hard as possible. All the while the aim of those traps causes shivers to run through my spine. Faran even tested the positioning of them, by creating a wooden model of an average sized human, in a middle of a step. Even now my balls shrivel when I think how the stone blade cut through the groin region. And with the next trap, the direction of the blade changes to attack from behind. When I was still in a slight stupor from his latest trap, Faran asked my help to move his core to the top of the dome in his core room. I thought he wanted to get out of the reach of would-be-thieves, yet I was shown that there would be no end to the insidiousness of this wicked core. Faran only called his final trap ¡°an insurance, just in case they come this far¡±. As if a bunch of wicked traps and staying out of reach from most of the people wasn¡¯t enough, he turned the whole core room into a gigantic trap. In the event the trap is triggered, even the meter thick floor ends up covering him when the floor is in upright position. I force down a shudder running through me, as I imagine what the poor souls mapping this place have to go through if Faran gets enough time to build up his dungeon. Not for the first, and certainly not for the last time, I wondered what kind of a demon possessed me to make a contract with this lunatic of a dungeon. With someone so irregular, it seems like I will not be much of help to Faran until he starts dealing with adventurers. Sighing, I started flying towards the fully opened entrance to wait for a few hours for my nightly scouting. ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll finally get some animals to play with in here. With nothing but bugs skittering around, these caves are still rather dull.¡±. Shocked, I almost crashed to a hanging stalactite from realization of how much like Faran I started to sound. Oh, the Mighty God of Darkness and Shadows, please do NOT let me turn to a something like Faran. I prayed fervently. As I did, I did hear a faint snickering from the shadows around me. A shiver ran through my back and I felt goosebumps all over me. No, I just did not hear snickering. Absolutely not, must be just my imagination. Or Faran. Yes, it must have been Faran snickering while meditating. Being around him must be starting to affect me too much. As an even fainter snort resounded behind me, I started speeding towards the entrance with a cold sweat trickling down my brows. Going out during sunlight today didn''t sound so bad after all. Chapter 4 - Knowledge and a Bunny Faran¡¯s Soul Domain I slowly awakened from the forceful sleep my rank-up put me in. Taking a look around I noticed something weird, I saw my mushy avatar that was supposed to be within my divine soul domain. The way I looked around felt strangely natural, unlike the way I have yet to get fully used to the all-compassing view as a dungeon core. Then it struck me. I¡¯m looking around as if I had my human body. The hell is going on?! I quickly tried to look myself, and noticed I had a small body formed from mana, albeit blurry and gender neutral one. No! I refuse to have problems with my gender like that bastardly hermaphrodite! No matter how I got here, this is a problem I must solve before anything else! I started to circulate my mana like when I was still human, yet it didn¡¯t budge. Instantly changing to the innate way I control mana as a dungeon, I felt the mana forming my body twitch. As I tried to force it to move, twitching continued, yet nothing else happened. Remembering how mages use mana in this world, I changed my method and formed a mental image of a lean man with well defined muscles around 1,8 meter tall. He had a short hair and a full-beard reaching his chest, wearing hooded robes and holding a staff. Staff was formed from a gnarled wood as tall as the man, curving to a three quarters of a circle with shining orb floating middle of the hole. Yet I left the face shrouded. Then I willed the mana forming my body to solidify according to the image. Feeling the strain as mana slowly started flowing, it felt like I was trying to cast a spell over my capacity. I slowed the flow of mana and went for an endurance race. Slowly but surely the mana flowed to a new shape, yet I also felt the strain on my mind. Soon I felt headache forming, turning into a full blown migraine as my new form was nearing completion. Migraine soon turned to a blinding one, yet I was almost there. As I felt a snap within my body of mana, I knew the form had stabilized. Relaxing my focus in relief, a presence appeared within my soul domain. Powerful, yet benign and soothing. Victorious grin plastered upon my face, I started to black out. ¡°Congratulations young dungeon, and¡­¡±, the presence started speaking with a warm, motherly tone before noticing my state. ¡°Oi! Don¡¯t you dare to fall¡­¡± I heard the voice turning to indignant tone as I kept falling unconscious from exertion, grin still plastered upon my face. I got my manly features back! Hah! I¡­ got¡­ my¡­ balls¡­ I thought with satisfaction as I blacked out. *** Waking up a second time in my divine soul domain, this time with a form I could accept. I stood up and started checking my new body of mana, satisfied how the changes stayed even when I fell unconscious. As I was quickly checking if I still had my manly bits, I felt the earlier presence appearing again I was groping myself. ¡°Ah I see you woke¡­ THE HELL YOU ARE DOING?!¡± The voice turned from benevolent mother to an outraged fishmonger¡¯s wife faster than you can snap your fingers. After a last look, I let my robe of mana to drop down and cleared my throat. ¡°Ahem, testing testing. Haa-ah. Finally I can speak again with something else than my mind.¡± Looking around, and not seeing anyone, yet feeling the presence growing angrier by the moment, I quickly took a more dignified stance with right hand over my heart while holding the staff in my left, and gave a small bow. ¡°This one is known as Faran, and I was checking if I managed to form working male-parts from that disgustingly gender-neutral blob of mana. May I know who I have the pleasure to welcome upon my soul domain?¡±. I asked politely, while totally ignoring my earlier indecent exposure, stunning the female voice to a stupefied silence with my lack of shame. After a minute of silence, the presence turned from angry to a disbelieving one. ¡°You were supposed to be a newly advanced dungeon of a second rank, yet you have a clear identity, fully formed, shameless personality, AND you know of a soul domain?¡±. Turning suspicious she kept questioning. ¡°What are you? Certainly you don¡¯t expect me to believe you¡¯re a dungeon core? Out with it, before I smite you!¡±. Sighing, I shook my head and decided to just rile her up for the heck of it, as she felt like a deity, and they don¡¯t seem to be allowed to mess up with either my dungeon, or soul domain. Otherwise I would be seeing an avatar already. Or being smited. I was already having a second bad day within a row after my rank-up, and I needed to blow some steam. I now had a stuck-up target that can¡¯t hit me back, unless I agree to it. Maybe I¡¯ll could cause some trouble for Trendal while at it. I thought with a glee. I decided to steal moral high ground with an aggrieved tone, and keep her from thinking straight. ¡°The hell you¡¯re talking about! I just fully grew the central area to fill my core, woke up in my soul domain, reformed this body of mana and fell again unconscious from the strain. Then you intrude here, act high and mighty, throwing a fit and accusations like a overripe wife finding his hubby having an affair with a younger woman. You¡¯re the intruding here, casting blame without reason or right! If you have any business with me, then stop the bullshit and get on with it. You have as much of a right to demand something from me as a pile of shit from a dung-beetle! Go harass Trendal, the God of Darkness, if you have to.¡±, I finished with a huff, mentally grinning that Trendal will get unwanted attention soon. As I started looking around for the exit, I felt the presence turn into one of a total stupor. Must have been first time for a mortal soul to bash her. Ignoring the now silent deity of something, I headed towards the exit, only to feel my new instincts screaming against leaving when I stepped near the exit. With an exasperated sigh, I turned around. ¡°Now, I feel like I¡¯m supposed to do something here as a part of my rank-up. Can we get on with the business, or can I lodge a complaint somewhere to get someone else to do this?¡±. Upon hearing my latest comment, owned of the voice awoke from her stupor and started muttering with mostly indistinct words, with occasional insulting terms and curses being just clear enough for me to hear. Clearing her throat, the voice continued with a huff. ¡°If I wouldn¡¯t be bound to do this job, I would not help a freak bastard of a dungeon like you. You¡¯re worse to deal with than those twisted, malicious cores, or worst of the humans! They at least treat divinities with a proper respect!.¡±. ¡°I¡¯ve been called worse, and respect is earned, not demanded.¡±, I replied with a shrug, continuing with a grin. ¡°Besides, I wasn¡¯t the one breaking the conundrum first, acting like an owner within the soul domain of others. I haven¡¯t had many pleasant experiences when dealing with the divines.¡±. She growled at me before stating her business. ¡°I have come here to give you necessary skills for a rank two dungeon core, and proving you have advanced enough personality, to explain the process.¡±. ¡°You will be granted new basic skills upon each rank-up, and a chance to choose a knowledge to summon lowest tier of monster from a race of your choosing. Upon higher rank-ups, you can choose to learn to summon higher rank monsters of previously chosen race. For now you will gain knowledge how to modify atmosphere and how to change the behaviour of your summons. So quickly tell me what race you want, so I can get rid of your presence.¡±, she ended with a sneer.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. I snorted, ¡°I doubt you don¡¯t have to provide information about the races, try to cheat me again and I will make sure to ask about every possible race with agonizing details. Besides, if method for changing behaviour is done by modifying souls upon summoning them, I already learned how to do it. Can you swap knowledge entailing it for something else?¡±, this time it was my turn to sneer as the presence turned muddled. Stuttering, she asked with disbelief, ¡°H-how d-did you learn it?! You shouldn¡¯t know how to interact with souls! And I don¡¯t want to explain all the races to you! Just pick something so I can finish this already.¡± I grinned with glee, ¡°You¡¯re too naive to try to cheat me in this fashion. You said you¡¯re bound to this ¡°job¡±, and were obviously forced to explain me more than you wanted to do. You couldn¡¯t deny it when I wanted to swap already learned skill to another I have yet to learn, and lastly, you said you ¡°don¡¯t want to¡±, instead of ¡°have to¡±. Thus, I assume you¡¯re not allowed to lie to dungeon cores.¡±. Judging from sullen silence, I got it right. Why couldn¡¯t all the deities be this naive and easy to handle? If so, I wouldn¡¯t have any of these troubles with them. ¡°Now, either do your job properly, or we¡¯re going to stuck here for a looooong time. I am certain that my core is absolutely safe for as long as we need to spend here. Hell, I might even pray to Trendal to forward my plight to your superior, as you certainly don¡¯t seem to act like one of the main Divinities.¡±, I could feel her blanching from my threat. Apparently her boss isn¡¯t forgiving type with intentionally botched jobs. Even divinities seem to have a lot of work. Expect that eternally bored pain-in-the-ass. Or he is intentionally ditching his work. Sounding dejected, she said, ¡°Fine, you guessed right. I can change the knowledge to the next one that¡¯ll teach you how to form monster cores, or how to grant soul to plants, making you able to give them a set of simple commands. As for the races, depending on specifications, I can give a list to choose from. They¡¯re the initial race for monsters, with limited intelligence, a state previous to forming monster cores.¡±. Considering for a moment, I thought about what kind of dungeon I want to make. Not going for the traditional route of fighting fairly was already obvious. I also needed something capable of ambushes. I guess I can try to learn how to make monster cores on my own, if I can observe how they form when an animal or insect evolves to a monster. Besides, I still have some holes in knowledge about forming souls. More advanced knowledge on the subject might bridge these gaps, or when I can start testing modification of animal souls, instead of insect ones. ¡°Give me the knowledge on how to form plant souls, and a list of races capable of living in a dark with a tendency to ambush or trap their prey.¡±, I voiced my decision. ¡°Fine.¡±, she said with a sullen tone. ¡°Gnolls and goblins can see in low light easily and like to ambush or swarm their prey, kobolds do the same, but they also use crude traps and see in the dark. Different snakes follow different attack patterns, and all have a thermal vision. Then there are the slimes, various bugs, and some plant monsters. Rest are more advanced races.¡±, the voice finished curtly. I absolutely will not pick first three races. Cowardly, weak, and they stank. Most of all, they breed like rabbits. Slimes are brainless, I can slowly grow up a choice of bugs if I so decide. Plant monsters have same weakness as everything in my dungeon now. Slow, vulnerable to fire and a low lethality. ¡°If I pick snakes, do I get one of each type, or only one?¡±, I asked before deciding. ¡°All basic types such as, large constrictor type, highly poisonous, yet territorial one, and one with weaker poison that lives in communities. All three varieties have types for both wetlands and grassland.¡±, she answered curtly. ¡°Splendid, I choose snakes as a starting race, along with knowledge for creating souls for plants, and atmosphere modification.¡±, I declared with mirth as I bowed with a flourish. ¡°Finally. This knowledge is transmitted through after a simple soul contract is formed to prevent spreading knowledge provided by me to to other mortal races, excluding dungeon cores. Do you understand?¡±, She finished with a relief as this disastrous meeting for her was going to end soon, obviously growing lax as the it was almost over. However, I noticed that as this contract was originally between normal dungeon cores, and a deity, the contract would originally be one-sided, as only one whose soul contain divine power can contract divines, while divines can contract anyone. This would prevent dungeon cores spreading the knowledge to their dungeon helpers or other races, excluding dungeon cores, as they would most likely lose said knowledge upon trying to do so. I rushed to use my, slightly so, modified version so we would both be included in contract before she would have the chance to do so. Nodding, I assumed serious attitude, fitting for the gravity of the situation I feigned to show in tone as I said, ¡°Fine, keep my peculiarities as a dungeon core to yourself, and I will receive the knowledge containing full knowledge of creating souls for plants, modification of atmosphere within dungeons, and aforementioned set of snakes as a starting race. I will keep said knowledge secret from other mortal races, besides other dungeon cores.¡±. ¡°I agree.¡±. Being too hasty to leave my splendid company, she immediately agreed before feeling the tendril of a soul contract reaching her, falling into my trap. Yet as soon as she said so, she gave a loud cry disbelief, denial, and anger. No wonder, she just got toyed and screwed by a mortal. And I even followed the conditions for the contract she mentioned to the letter, while she can¡¯t forward information about me being special to anyone. Ah. What a glorious feeling. I was wrong about lately having only shitty mornings. Screwing a deity over a deal so that she can¡¯t even tell anyone details about me, can cure all your misgivings about shitty days. I now stole the trademark shit-eating grin of Trendal, and used it with a great relish. ¡°Now that the contract is done, please provide the information as contract stated.¡±, I said with the grin still on my face. Atmosphere was filled with anger, shame and bloodlust, and she gave an almost feral snarl before the needed knowledge was implanted in my mind, filling it with the knowledge on how to permanently adjust the atmosphere in my dungeon, and how to create variety of snakes with souls. With a smile filled with schadenfreude, I threw my last jab at the deity. ¡°I guess I never mentioned possessing a smidgen of a divinity in my soul, when I mentioned my soul domain, you never bothered to check whether or not it was a normal soul domain for mortals. I¡¯ll trust you keep what you learned today about me a secret.¡±, I turned around, stepping through the portal with a joyful laugh without waiting for a reply. *** Faran¡¯s dungeon, Elan¡¯s POV It has been a few days since Faran started his rank-up. His core has grown slightly while it slowly pulses with mana. He could awaken at any moment now. Purple color of the core keeps growing deeper, as does the azure veins within. I might as well go and check if some smaller animals have been lured in. For the last two days plenty of smaller animals have come to the entrance, yet fled back to the forest after a moment. Quickly flying through the tunnels in a shadow-form, I arrive to the entrance. As it is still a daytime, I avoid going to the outside. I have occasionally seen a hawks flying in the sky when I check the surroundings from the doorway. This time I see a pleasant surprise. A pair of squirrels have entered the cave, and are eating some of the bugs. I had suggested to keep aggressive bugs away from the first cave, so animals don¡¯t leave straight away. I don¡¯t mind killing humanoids and monsters, but I like watching these harmless, fluffy critters going on with their life. I watch how the squirrels run along the walls and crystal vines on the ceiling. As I focused on squirrels, I didn¡¯t bother watching if there were any other animals coming near entrance. Not until the squirrels froze in their running and looked towards the doorway. I saw a bunny, carefully sniffing the fern near the entrance. As the squirrels started moving again skittering, and causing small scratching noises upon the rock, bunny froze and flicked its ears. For a tense moment I thought it might run away, yet bunny kept sniffing the fern and took a tentative bite freezing again. By the divines, I hope Faran didn¡¯t do anything too weird to the ferns with during his testing. Like adding a strong sedative or paralyzing poison. As soon as the thought came, bunny was already voraciously devouring the fern in large bites. I floated above it, shocked of the voracity it showed upon eating a simple plant. While I was still a little stunned, Bunny stopped feeding frenzy it was in, tensing and preparing to bolt. A small growl and a yip sounded from outside, and a she bolted towards the inner caves with full speed, fox chasing behind it. With a start, I flew after the bunny that was speeding through the caverns, as we neared the central caves. Flying as best as I could, I weaved between the rocks, ducked underneath the vines and stalactites, and made sharp turns to avoid bushes and large ferns. I heard a yelp of pain as the fox had stepped upon a thorn and stopped pursuing the bunny. It whined pitifully and started to limp towards the exit, with a bloodied paw. Not seeing the bunny, I worriedly flew to the to the next cave, letting out a relieved breath seeing it unharmed even after that mad rush. Smile grew upon my face as I flew closer to the slightly heaving bunny. Suddenly the bunny let out a small screech of pain, as a half a meter long centipede had bitten she on the leg. Panicking, the bunny kicked the centipede off, and bounded towards the deeper caves. ¡°BUNNY, NO!¡± I yelled as the ground cracked when it landed, and ground fell from underneath it, dropping it down to the doom of first of the traps Faran made. A classic pitfall trap with a wickedly sharp, jagged spiked. Instantly painful wailing sounded from the pit as the bunny screeched. I rushed to the pit, hoping that it wasn¡¯t a serious wound. My hopes were ruthlessly trampled upon, as I saw the bunny. Jagged spike had speared through the stomach, and the intestines were wrapped around the spike, that glistened darkly in the shadows from the wet blood. Bunny was kicking around wildly in pain, spilling the blood and intestines all over herself, while screeching pitifully. Soon bloody foam started coming out of her mouth, while screaming gained choking undertones to it, muffling the sound with occasional gurgling. As she started started frothing and convulsing, I paled and couldn¡¯t look anymore at the suffering of the bunny. Soon the sounds of the last moment of the bunny ended with a thumping kick, and a gurgle. I landed next to the pit and sat down. The moment I did so, I heard Faran mentally hollering, ¡°Yee-es! Rank-up complete!¡±. Instant later I felt the presence of his focus upon the pit as he started laughing. ¡°Fantastic job! It¡¯s a fine congratulations gift. I just learned how to summon snakes and was wondering what they would eat, but you solved all of my problems before I even knew it! Bunnies are just what I needed for a them as a prey.¡± As I groggily flew upwards, my thoughts still in shock, saw him absorbing the corpse of the bunny and said with a frosty expression. ¡°You monster.¡±. I felt him grow confused as he asked me ¡°Umm, what did I do? I just woke up. It wasn¡¯t me that splattered that bunny all over the pit this time.¡± Hearing that I stumbled in my flight, crashed to a stalactite, and kept flying like a drunken bee toward my hidden bed in the core room.. Chapter 5 - Taking an Advantage I watched for a moment as Elan flew away unsteadily, bumping into obstacles on his way. With a mental shrug, I left my questions for later. He was obviously shaken by something. After repairing the trap, I quickly scanned rest of the dungeon, noticing a pair of squirrels moving around in the first dungeon room, and a fox with a wounded leg. As the squirrels seemed to enjoy more about racing all over the cave, I focused upon the fox. It had a large, bleeding hole in the front paw. The soul field of the fox was weak, just covering the body. Smelling opportunity, I quickly accessed my new knowledge about the snakes I could create. Forming a blank soul while imprinting it with my mana, I started adding guidelines for behaviour. I soon noticed that I could add more instructions and with greater detail than with mere insects. Looks like the more complex the creature, the more instructions I can define. Oh, this is going to be fun. Finally being able to start properly experimenting with my powers as dungeon, I was giddy with excitement. As I was creating the highly venomous snake, I made it focus on ambushing with hit-and-run tactic, aggressive hunting behaviour, hostility against those disturbing the dungeon domain, and feelings of absolute loyalty towards me and Elan. I also reduced their territorial aggressiveness against opposite sex, so I could have few of them in one of the larger caves, perhaps co-operating against intruders and keeping the numbers up. Satisfied for now, I started creating a body for it in second cave from the first, infusing the soul to it. Creating the soul for the snake took a chunk of my mana, using a fourth of my mana to create one. Worth the cost with hereditary instructions infused in the soul. As the large snake came into being, it was momentarily confused, only driven by instincts. I projected instructions to hide on the path of the fox, snake perking up and following the orders without delay. Snake used the natural camouflage, and hid within the plants near the less obstructed path the fox was going to take. With bated interest, I waited observing the snake as the fox drew closer, with the limping gait it was travelling with. Couple minutes later, fox reached the range of the snake, yet it stayed still. As the fox was was passing by, I wondered if something went wrong. As the initial disappointment started to appear, snake struck from behind with blinding speed, piercing the neck of the fox with his impressing 10 centimeter fangs. The wounded fox froze for a second, before starting to froth from the mouth, and collapsing while violently convulsing upon the cave floor. Snake drew back and waited. Sending my satisfaction to it, I absorbed the corpse of the fox. Satisfied, I now needed male bunny and female fox for my dungeon. I ordered my snake to stay within the cave as I may have some work for it soon enough. I decided to try out the infusion with mana to the squirrels, as they were happily playing within my dungeon, oblivious to the fact that the mana within my domain had already seeping within their bodies through their weak soul fields. I slowly increased the concentration of mana around them, hastening the process along. I spent next ten minutes infusing my half of my mana to the squirrels, when I suddenly felt the same connection to them as to my other dungeon creatures. Squirrels stopped their playing, looking around confused. I tried ordering them to the next cave with the snake, and they followed readily enough. Yet I felt the connection wasn¡¯t that of loyalty, more like following along. I made my snake hide within plants again, and sent only one of the squirrels to it. As the snake almost crushed the body of a squirrel when biting down on it, I quickly absorbed the corpse as I ordered remaining one to its death. Fantastic! I now have some prey for the snakes! I thought with satisfaction. Keeping them alive with only mana would be a massive drain for my current resources. Deciding I should try to bait male bunny for my collection, I created a couple of normal female rabbits with absolute loyalty to me and Elan, and decided to make it a habit. I don¡¯t need them to think saving their lives if we¡¯re in danger. As an afterthought, I infused a little mana to their pheromone gland to lure male rabbit more quickly. Satisfied, I ordered the snake to wait in hiding for a foreign rabbit to approach either of the two I created. For the rabbits I told them to ignore the snake. Having spent most of my mana, I withdrew my consciousness to my core and inspected it. I had grow about a centimeter in diameter, doubling my mana capacity during rank-up. Out of curiosity, I inspected my previous center, noticing a new one with slightly different colors appearing there.The new deep purple color was slightly more clear and vibrant, and the azure veins within were slightly brighter, being a slightly thinner when compared to the earlier ones. Looks like dungeon cores grow their capacity by growing their centers again and again, yet why does the color change? Also the new purification channels seem to be thinner and that doesn¡¯t make sense as less mana can fit in. Unless¡­ Mana condensation? Such a novel idea! maybe same holds true for monster cores! I grew increasingly excited and had to forcibly calm myself down. I must see how and where animals evolving create their cores! Insects are too slow to grow stronger. Maybe I should create a proper playfield for a massive competition for survival for all of my animals. First I need to need to give prey a chance to fight back against predators, make them omnivorous¡­ Yes! I¡¯ll create a free-for-all competition for survival where only strongest live! But first I need to create a proper playing field for them¡­ And then I must do some testing and acquire missing pieces¡­ Ha! This is getting even more interesting! *** Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Elan¡¯s POV For the last month I haven¡¯t stepped out of my small personal space Faran made for me after I had gathered materials for him from the forest. It was a small apartment with an escape route, hidden behind a thin stone slate in the dome within his core room. Light came from a small crystal vines on the roof, and furniture were created from customized bushes and ferns to look like carefully grown, living pieces of art. My bedroom was within the second room, as I kept some interesting plants or findings in the first room. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. I have spent my time thinking hard whether to cut the contract between me and Faran, as our natures are too different. Honestly, he would have been better with a normal, overly enthusiastic dungeon fairy that was introduced before me. She would¡¯ve supported his crazy quirks and insane ideas, as they make him stronger when he eventually succeeds. I noticed that unlike during our initial negotiation, Faran is normally unhinged with his desires, and seeks to only further his knowledge. I also wonder why he did pick me, as I was obviously least qualified to guide a dungeon with my meager experience. Though nowadays he doesn¡¯t seem to need my advice, and I can feel his excitement as keeps doing his experiments. I haven¡¯t dared to step out of see what he had created, as I spurned him right after he completed his rank-up, and made just so Faran-like comments without any malicious intentions. He doesn¡¯t seem to regret any of his actions when I admonish him of his stupidity. Yet somehow he seems to at least respect my opinions and try to control himself afterwards. At least for a while, until he finds something else just as interesting as previous experiment. Truth to be told, I don¡¯t know how to face him as I fear how he¡¯d react. He had been nothing but a proper partner, respecting my opinions, asking what I think of some crazy ideas he had sprouted, and asking nothing of my experiences for the last two centuries after the ¡°interview¡±. He hasn¡¯t even once scanned my small home after creating it, just telling me ¡°It¡¯s your place, if you want something changed, just tell me. Otherwise I will not bother you when you¡¯re inside, as it will be your personal space.¡±. How by the eight divines does he have propriety of respecting personal space when he usually does whatever he wants? I¡¯m not the only one that can break our contract, and honestly I¡¯m starting to feel the limit approaching. After all, I pledged to ¡°help him to the best of my abilities¡±, and here I am, avoiding him due to my own outburst. All he did was to appear there when I was at my lowest, and I took it on him. Only saving grace is that I¡¯m not much of a help in the beginning stages of a dungeon, besides providing knowledge how other dungeons look. Sighing, I think it is the time to grit my teeth and face his disappointment or wrath from spurning him like I did, as Faran didn¡¯t do anything else than be his usual insensitive, idiotic self. With a depressed chuckle I move to the door, hesitating for a moment before sliding it to the side. Taking a deep breath, steeling myself for whatever may come, I step outside of my apartment. The moment I step outside, I¡¯m met with a blast of so condensed excitement, that I involuntarily step back from overwhelming feelings. As soon as I recover, Faran is already barraging my mind with a childish glee. ¡°You¡¯ve never believe what I¡¯ve created! The best survival of the best arena for everything, with only strongest being the winner! I have multiplied the evolution rate for all animals and a few are already almost at the level of a new monsters! Within months we might see a new monster being born!¡± ¡°Listen, Faran. I have something important to tell to you.¡±, I said and felt a slight confusion projected at me. As I was slightly nervous, I proceeded to clear my throat, and projected my most sincere expression as I began. ¡°I have been thinking about our partnership, and I feel like I did something inexcusable back when you awoke from your rank-up. So I¡¯d like to apologize about what I said to you.¡±, Bowing deeply to Faran¡¯s core, I held my position. For some reason I felt his confusion grow greater and I started nervously sweating while still bowing. ¡°Ummm¡­ So what did you do wrong? I don¡¯t remember such events happening at all. Are you sure you didn¡¯t get confused? You hit your head pretty hard and couldn¡¯t fly straight after all.¡±, Faran kept talking, as if he couldn¡¯t even remember me calling him a monster for just being insensitive. Shocked, I stood up and exclaimed, ¡°But I insulted you when you had just awoken from rank-up! You had done nothing wrong, yet I scorned you for your insensitive comment!¡± After a moment of silence, Faran exclaimed, ¡°Oh, right you called me a monster. Well that was mild compared to what I have been called when I was human by some. No worries, I¡¯m basically a living crystal at the moment, essentially a monster anyways.¡± I was stupefied how easily he dismissed my worries, before he continued with excited tone. ¡°But more importantly, you should see what I have managed to do! This will soon allow me to understand how to create monster cores for my creatures! I spent almost a month setting this up when I was experimenting!¡± I sunk in my thoughts while Faran kept explaining what he had experienced during his rank-up. Honestly, most of it was ignored as I processed the events that had just transpired. Maybe he wasn¡¯t that bad of a partner, and I started to despise myself for misunderstanding him so badly. At least until I heard him say, ¡°and then I scammed a deity. Afterwards¡­¡± At this point I screamed at him as my eyebrow started twitching, ¡°YOU SCAMMED A DEITY?! How stupid can you get?!¡±. I was absolutely wrong, I must control this suicidal idiot from killing us both. ¡°Well yeah, some bitch with holier-than-thou attitude started bashing me as I woke up in my soul domain, so I got back at her. The scamming didn¡¯t hurt her at all, but you can bet she was pissed when she realised a mortal just one-upped her as easily as turning your palm. Such a naive kiddo shouldn¡¯t try to make deals with professional crooks like me.¡± Faran huffed with an obvious pride, despite the contents of his bragging. I couldn¡¯t even feel my brow anymore from the furious twitching as I raged,¡°Angering a deity is suicidal! Disastrous! You¡¯re going to get us both killed!¡±. All I got from this moron was a condescending snort. ¡°Even full gods can¡¯t intrude my territory, and she¡¯s not probably even a full divinity. Just a some poor kid charged with a job above her skillset.¡± ¡°Gods can send visions to mortals! She can send adventurers to kill us!¡±, at this point I felt consideration from him, before he snorted again. ¡°No she can¡¯t. She¡¯s serving someone with at least neutral feelings towards dungeons. Besides, I think that would be interference outside her job and cost her more than gain with a petty vengeance. At most we¡¯ll get a visit from a neutral source.¡±. I must get some means to control him, he¡¯s too unhinged when acting alone. I didn¡¯t even notice how all of my previous worries were blown away by the new ones. What is personal anguish when confronted with a possible wrath of the divine? ¡°But who cares about some bitchy goddess, let me show what I¡¯ve accomplished!¡±, Faran continued as he brushed off a pissed off goddess like a piece of dust on his sleeve. ¡°Now there are a few battles going on. Don¡¯t worry, they are perfectly loyal to both of us. Let us go and see how killer squirrels gang up on a slasher rabbits when they¡¯re feasting upon a bunch of poisonous snakes!¡± At this point I froze in terror. I should¡¯ve never left him alone for a month. I made a massive mistake. Disparaging and yelling at him for corrupting perfectly fine, fluffy critters, I finally reached a scene of carnage. Around ten squirrels, triple their normal size, with scythe like claws and needle sharp teeth were furiously slashing at three rabbits double their size. Yet those rabbits had a muscular, lean build, with a set of equally ferocious, yet larger teeth and claws. One rabbit bounced with incredible speed, slashing a squirrel¡¯s stomach open, splashing blood and dragging innards all over the cave. Squirrel died twitching as three squirrels leaped upon it¡¯s back, ripping into rabbits back, dying the brown fur with crimson blood. I floated there stupefied, as rabbits slashed squirrels down one by one, with squirrels bringing down the the rabbit that they on to, ripping his flesh to the shreds. As the previously cute critters, now turned to killing machines, slashed at each other with abandon, a small group of snakes set upon them, killing both the squirrels and rabbits with a few bites. Upon looking more closely, the dead snakes were the same type that was dead on the ground from the beginning. With a touch of a pride, Faran started explaining, ¡°You see, I spread tunnels and burrows all over the cave system for them. The ceilings, walls and floors are now full of nests and routes for them to move and breed in, while open areas are a free from all, strong eat the weak. I had so much fun trying out different mana infusements, forced mutations and behaviour modifiers!¡±. As he blabbed on about his experiments, I vowed to never, ever leave Faran alone for a month to start his insane experiments again. To leave Faran alone, is to invite a disaster at you. I was just recovering from my stupidification, when he made most surprising comment so far. ¡°You know, if you like fluffy, small critters, I can create a small closed area with peaceful, even smaller than normal ones. I¡¯ll even throw in extra fluffy white fur for all of ¡®em!¡±, I guild feel his obvious amusement. He must have noticed of my fondness for a small animals from my reactions. Striking straight at my weakness, damn him! But still, I couldn¡¯t help but give a disgruntled agreement as I ignored what happened in the caves, and return to my apartment. There is no shame giving in for the cuteness! Yet I¡¯ll be damned if he ever catches me with a smile. I must make sure he doesn¡¯t start one of his experimentations again on other small furry animals... Chapter 6 - Shock, Revelations and Therapy I was currently ecstatic, as I had expanded first floor of the dungeon during the last month. I created more caves, and filled whole dungeon with holes, burrows and pathways for my creatures, prohibiting them from fighting in there. I wouldn¡¯t want the ecosystem between my killer squirrels, slasher rabbits, and vicious snakes to collapse due extermination. Besides, newly spawned creatures suck with combat with no experience. I¡¯d rather keep a sizeable reserves, and they can duke it out as much as they want to within caves. I have even strengthened my dungeon against foreign intruders by creating as dense stone as I could, for a fifty meters in all directions. Currently they have even chosen territories. Bunnies live under the floor, snakes in the walls, and squirrels within the ceiling. My bugs never stand a chance anymore, being there just to create atmosphere and such. I even toyed with temperature and moisture of the air, making the caves closer to a rainforest. During the beginning, I got too excited with changing my furballs of death, and snakes were almost wiped out. Thus, I had to enhance the snakes to being more resistant to their claws and teeths, or boost their abilities. Now my vipers are more adept at concealment, and have somewhat harder scales. They tend to pick off stragglers. Constrictors grew in size, being now five meters in length and 30 centimeter thick, with dense muscles, very hard scales, and a maw full of retractable, extremely sharp teeths. To kill them, bunnies need a large group, while squirrels go for the eyes. Recently I saw one burrowing through the eye, so it could reach the brains. It is always pleasant surprise when they learn new tricks. I only keep a pair of them in both of the caves before core room, as a floor bosses of sorts. As for the pit snakes, they tend to live in communities still, yet were easily massacred early on. I decided to go with different approach for them, and shrank them a bit, giving a strong muscles for fast movements, and a mouth full of small, sharp and poisonous teeths. Those little fellows actually rip their prey to shreds after they paralyze the victim. Poison in itself isn¡¯t that strong, but it works after a few bites. As for the last cave, I created a small, secret path to an enclosed space with modified bunnies and squirrels. Bunnies were shrunk to a size of a fist, with a very soft, fluffy white fur. I had to tone down their tendency to breed incessantly to keep their numbers down. They are also very mellow in nature, not prone to being scared. Squirrels were turned to a half of their size, with a vibrant red fur and a fluffy tail. Somehow I get the feeling that Elan has been spending most of his time in there, even wanting me to move his home there. Currently my domain was thick with mana, even passively seeping downwards. I have been expanding there as I keep wondering the layout for my second floor. My domain reached a 60 meter depth already, and my mana reserves have grown to a two hundred times my original amount. Now, should I create a circular pathway, or stairway downwards as I broke my cave theme with my core room. While I was pondering my options, I felt a familiar presence asking a permission to project an avatar. Debating whether to ignore him or not, I sighed with a resignation while I gave him permission. It wasn¡¯t as if he couldn¡¯t just spy on me, with our deal and all. With a twirl of shadows, Trendal appeared with a frown on his face. ¡°Do you know what you¡¯ve done! You idiotic dungeon! I have had my hands full of taking care that mess that follows me everywhere!¡±, he exclaimed with indignation. ¡°What mess? Only thing I have done within these months is¡­ Oh.¡± ¡°Oh!? Is that all you can say? By the Mazzak¡¯s moustache, I tell you what you¡¯ve caused!¡±, slapping his hand on his forehead, Trendal leaned backwards and gave a mournful sigh. ¡°During your rank-up, you did something that managed to get Goddess of Wind, Ilessa to keep asking me if I would know about some weird and rude dungeon core. Now she has been hounding me for the last two months, before I managed to ditch her! I haven¡¯t even had time to enjoy myself, and had to work all the time! WORK!¡± Turning sideways towards alcove in my room, keeping his tragic posture, he then pointed there. ¡°I demand an explanation of what you did to get her attention!¡±. As soon as he finished his words, he then suddenly pointed straight at my core on the ceiling, with a slight blush creeping on his neck. ¡°Wait, was that amateur I met during my rank-up an actual goddess? I thought she was some young deity seeing as easily I tricked her¡­¡± Hearing this, Trendal immediately perked up, stopped his posturing, and summoned himself a cushioned armchair made from shadows. Sitting down he proceeded to take relaxed position, with one leg over the armrest, eyes glimmering with interest. ¡°Oh do tell me more. I know how those rank-ups usually go, and Liriel, the Goddess of Death, with her domain of souls is in charge of them. Some three hundred years ago, Ilessa lost a bet with her, and had to handle some work for her. Now, quickly tell me all the juicy details you can, and I¡¯ll forget the troubles you brought upon me.¡± *** As I finished explaining the events that happened during my rank-up, skipping the knowledge I was provided, I was greeted with Trendal roaring in laughter, tears streaking down on his face, armchair toppled down with him sprawled upon it. At this point Elan came from his petting zoo, and promptly froze upon seeing a God of Darkness sprawled upon a fallen armchair, pounding the floor with his fist, and laughing his ass twitching in the air. Elan stiffly turned around, and headed back through the entrance tunnel to rest area. As Trendal got himself under control, shadows covered the area. As they dissipated, he was once again in the same position on the armchair as before, tidied up, still snickering to himself. ¡°By the Tira¡¯s bouncing booty and perky tits, no wonder Ilessa almost lost it and harassed me about you. She wouldn¡¯t live it down in ages to come, that a few months old dungeon core told her off, treated her like a kid caught with a hand in a cookie jar, ¡°extorted¡± advanced knowledge, and hustled her to keep quiet about the peculiarities of the core. All the while she only needed to take a good look at your soul domain to avoid it! Bravo! Now I can extort her to let me laz¡­ Do my work in peace. Yes.¡±, Trendal finished with a small cough, before chuckling again. ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to ask, but who are those you keep mentioning when you exclaim at something?¡± Taking this a good moment to ask about something as he was in good mood.The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Oh, Mezzak and Tira? They¡¯re just other major divines. Mezzak, God of Fire, has an impressive handlebar moustache. While Tira, Goddess of Water, happens to have a domain over passion, and a body fit to ignite it. Thus my frequent comments about her wonderful assets.¡±, Trendal said with a lewd smile, his eyes slowly losing focus. With a start he returned to his senses and proceeded to explain more. ¡°Ahem, there are eight gods in this dimension, yours truly being one of them. There are the necessary God of Life, Kelthar, and Goddess of Death, Liriel. They are accompanied by elemental gods. Goddess of Earth, Destria, God of Fire, Mezzak, Goddess of Water, Tira, and the one you met with, Goddess of Air, Ilessa. Then there is that pompous prick known as God of Light, Othar. And finally the most awesome of them all, the ever charming favorite of the ladies both mortal and divine, God of Darkness, the Handsome Rogue, Trendal.¡±, he then finished with a flourish of his right hand, while keeping left upon his heart. It would have looked more impressive if Trendal wasn¡¯t still lazing in his armchair, one leg over the armrest. Grinning at me, he proceeded to sit more normally. ¡°Now how is your dungeon going? I imagine you still have some work to do before being ready for human intruders, as normally that takes at least couple years for dungeons?¡±. ¡°The hell? I finished my first floor just now, and was planning for a second. Now I don¡¯t know how other dungeon cores do their job, but I¡¯m happy with mine. Couldn¡¯t you just look how I¡¯ve been doing?¡± I asked incredulously. I doubt my dungeon is normal by any standard. ¡°Well that would be boring! I like surprises, and knowing it all beforehand ruins those! Last time I had time to see your progress was two months ago! Normally dungeon cores need to be at rank three to possess a threat, besides a pitfall, to adventurers. At that point they can create monsters, posing a threat to a novice adventurer or soldier.¡±, Trendal said with a thoughtful expression while scratching his head. ¡°Well, take a look at the cave that¡¯s directly behind of the alcove, there is a good example of my dungeon for you.¡± I said while mentally snickering. Trendal was excited as he stared to the direction I mentioned, before growing an incredulous expression and cocking one of his eyebrows. ¡°I hope you¡¯re just messing with me with that meadow within a cave. The hell is with those fluffy mini-bunnies and squirrels? And that house! By the Kelthar¡¯s wrinkles, you spent time creating square vines growing in circle and leaves looking like tiles for a roof? And why is Elan just lying there, looking half-dead with blank eyes, while those fluffy critters swarm over him?¡±, Trendal was growing more and more dissatisfied with each passing moment. ¡°Whoops, that was Elan¡¯s petting zoo and a rest area. My bad. Well, let us go on a walk through the caves. Let me know how it compares to other dungeons.¡± I let my amusement to show through. With a humph, Trendal stood up and dismissed his armchair. *** As Trendal reached the entrance of my dungeon, he was giddy with excitement as he twirled around arms wide, his cape fluttering. ¡°I wasn¡¯t wrong about you! Your current floor is downright deadly for prepared beginners, not to mention random stragglers. I really love what you did with those traps and critters! Most amusing thing was how bloodthirsty and brutal they have become. Especially when a group of squirrels ambushed those wounded bunnies, after they were massacring a bunch of those smaller snakes!¡± I ignored his theatrics and asked a question I had wondered for a some time. Doesn¡¯t any other dungeon have sophisticated traps, puzzles or something like that? Shaking his index finger with a smirk, Trendal continued, ¡°Nooope! They¡¯re triggered traps, magical traps, pitfalls and such. They¡¯re meant to kill, nothing fancy about them. Besides, before you learn more about your abilities as a dungeon, you¡¯re not gonna get a chance to make too complex of a dungeon. As a thanks for an amusing tour, I¡¯ll let you on a secret. Dungeons also use inscription when they make their stuff. The way they use them is different from normal though, so do your best to learn them!¡± Might as well create the second floor then. My vipers have managed to kill a few new animals entering the first cave during the last months, so I¡¯m thinking about creating a larger caves below the first floor. As of now, this radius of 300 meters is already packed full of activity, and caves are too small for anything bigger than they currently have. ¡°Sounds like you have a plan then, my rounded friend! Keep up the good work, and I¡¯ll pop up later to check your progress.¡±, Trendal said in a jovial tone, before turning serious. ¡°However, I suggest you keep up the fast pace you¡¯ve been growing at. Ilessa is currently influencing mortals with her domains of travel and luck, both aimed at discovering you. Reason being most likely for causing trouble and screwing her over. Even if you didn¡¯t cause any damage, just the humiliation of being tricked by a mortal is enough for her to be angry for a few years. Most likely you will see humanoids discovering you soon enough.¡± Damn, I thought I had more time to grow in power. Well, at least I will be able to learn a lot more when absorbing humanoids and their gear. I commented with a mental shrug. Now Trendal got his usual shit-eating grin on his face as he said, ¡°You will most likely see her again during your next rank-up. If she tries to cause trouble or ¡°forgets¡± to mention something, just say that you¡¯ll pray to Liriel to handle your affairs if she is intentionally sabotaging you. Goddess of Death has domains over souls, judgement and wisdom, and she has a quite vindictive stride if someone messes up her work on purpose.¡±, ending with a knowing shudder, Trendal starts to fade in the shadows. ¡°Try not get yourself killed before I come visit again!¡±, Trendal says, while leaving only his shit-eating grin visible for a moment, before that too disappears. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m the one planning to do the killing around these parts.¡± I said to the faded presence. Now, let¡¯s see if I can expand deep enough for what I had planned. I return to my core, as the next part is easiest here. Using mana from both of domain, and my core, I first spread it over my current domain. From there I start slowly pressing it down, expanding the influence I have deeper, crossing the 60 meter mark with ease. With my current domain still having a dense mana, I easily reached the depth of 70 meters, before my mana started running low, and pressure against descending is rising. While meditating to regain my mana, I went over with what to use for the next part. I have some animals I have yet to use, as I have kept two vipers hiding within the first room to kill new arrivals. I already have foxes and wolves, some birds I had to corrupt as vipers couldn¡¯t reach them, variety of different flora as well. I might try to even grow some trees next, as my previous caves were too short. For other surprises I might as well create something plant based as I have yet to experiment with it. I was too busy with modifying souls, as knowledge from it gave me ideas for my current fluffy killers. Alright, the goal it at least 90 meters below my current floor! Might as well give heads up to Elan before I finalize my plans. I thought while focusing upon his zoo, only seeing Elan still laying on the ground, face down, and covered under mass of white fur with streaks of red. ¡°Hey Elan! I know what I¡¯m going to do for the next floor, let me give you a rundown¡­¡± I started before he cut me off. ¡°Leave me alone! I haven¡¯t recovered from the shock Lord Trendal gave me with his ridiculous appearance! I absolutely refuse to leave here before I have wiped the events from my memory!¡±, Elan yelled, scaring the fluffy mass off him. He stood up with a stern expression, took a bunny and a squirrel under his arms, and walked to his house with brisk steps. I stared at the furry mass of white and red bouncing after him. ¡°Right, take however long you need! I¡¯m going to go and build the second floor.¡± I said, slightly confused. Trendal was an idiot, lazy, and used a lot of theatrics. But no one has said the gods had to be dignified. They may spread the image of such for their gods, or imagine how their god should be. I don¡¯t know about that, and I don¡¯t like divinities that much. So I don¡¯t care how they act. Now that I¡¯m expecting visitors, I might as well complete my doorway according to the starting race I chose. I decided to form the shape inside the stone, before removing the extra. I wouldn¡¯t want to make a mistake as I can¡¯t spread my domain to the outside air. I chose my vipers for the model, and created a massive, 5 meters tall and 3 wide snake-head, with an open maw and sharp teeths almost reaching the ground. Spending a lot of time to make it realistic as possible, and creating it from obsidian, I ended up needing a rest from lack of mana before it would be ready. After a few hours of rest, I also decided to create an archway, that looked like a mass of snakes rushing towards the entrance, within the mouth of the viper head. The archway led to a short tunnel, walls filled with lifelike carvings of snakes. Strengthening the obsidian to the limit, creating a stronger stone than the granite I usually use, I removed the layering stone and revealed my work to the world! Or at least to the forest. Nevertheless, my new entrance had no rough spots, glistening darkly in the sunlight. Maybe they think it only has snakes in it. No matter, it was imposing enough. Chuckling at the thought, that someone fearing snakes might not make through the door without soiling themselves. Snake carvings within the doorway seemed to dance as shadows moved. Going back to my meditation, I decided to focus my efforts on my incoming expansion, in case certain goddess manages to get some adventurers traveling here. I need new furry or scaled killers here, and a safer location for my core. Chapter 7 - Forest, Feathers and Fluffiness Elan took a couple days to overcome his shock from the shameful display Trendal showed him. When I asked him why it would be so shocking, his eyes glazed over while he replied in monotone. ¡°I remember no such thing happening. Last time I saw Lord Trendal, was when I was summoned here.¡± While Elan decided to live in denial, I told him that the so called deity I met during rank-up, was actually the the Goddess of Wind, Ilessa. While he was still flabbergasted, I also mentioned that she has supposedly targeted me with her domains of travel and luck, significantly hastening the process of me being found. I would be found eventually anyways, when I grow in strength. According to Elan, dungeons release a constant pulse of mana from the entrance to the surrounding air, making them easy to find for mages or those sensitive enough. Of course I received a verbal lashing from Elan, mostly targeting my stupidity of offending divinities, or attracting trouble like a ¡°gold coin thrown in the slums¡± as he so aptly put it. At least he was impressed of the lifelike carvings of my entrance. As I actually have those creatures in my dungeon, he told that the adventurers will assume I just copied my creatures. Usually dungeons have much simpler entrances, or even just a hole in the ground. Spending next two tendays carving the space for my second floor, I opted to create much larger caves. Largest one is over half a kilometer long, and almost 300 meters at the widest part, reaching a nice height of 80 meters. Finding a perfect idea for how to use the birds I have captured, I left a massive pillars reaching the ceiling in the caves. I also turned 10 meters of stone to a soil for the trees, creating a bunch of crevices where the roots can start growing to the stone for anchoring them in place. The cave walls are littered with pathways leading to caves for my creatures, both large enough for the wolves I plan to make, and small enough for the snakes. Atmosphere is nice and warm, just nice a forest during a sunny day. For the light source I had to start being creative, as previous crystal vines were not bright enough. I created a new variation of these vines, by making them grow a massive crystal on the roof, and twining around it to keep it up. While successful in the experiment, they used too much on my mana when shining all day along. This is when I gave those greedy vines a soul, making them grow dim enough to simulate a night, while they stored mana for 12 hours each day. This way I didn¡¯t have to supply them any extra, as they survived on ambient mana, naming them as crystal sun vines. Speaking of ambient mana, it has grown stronger as I expanded. My second floor has half as much mana than the first floor, even without any creatures yet. It has also sped up the growing rate for saplings of various trees, as they now reach a height of fifteen meters. Other plants, bushes and vines have also grown rapidly. I have some plans for those as well, as I was not going to use my traps elsewhere than connecting tunnels. Even then only the basic blades of obsidian from the walls. After creating my entrance, I noticed how it is better compared to the normal granite, being significantly harder when compressed. I think it now reaches the hardness of an iron blade, even without any mana reinforcing it. As I have yet to create new creatures, I filled the floor with my squirrels, bunnies and snakes for starters. Now the young forest is also filled with a scenes of carnage, but unlike before, snakes and squirrels have an advantage because they can scale the trees. Before I start experimenting with birds, foxes and wolves, I plan to create some plants with a soul. First I take a thorny creeper vine as a template, reinforcing the roots and making them grow deeper, creating a thin crystal veins throughout the vines, hardening the thorns, and making the vines tougher to cut, I create a simple soul with instruction to wrap around the targets stepping near it. It can sense the prey nearby by sensing tremors with its roots. Satisfied, I spread them around the caves. Next I combine creeper vines with a flower that releases a sweet scent, causing a slight confusion. I noticed how squirrels liked the scent while being immune to the confusion on the first floor. I make it a parasitic plant growing along the branches of the tree, before hanging down towards the ground. I make these vines highly elastic, making them able to lift a grown man up from the ground. Infusing it with a soul, I give instructions to wrap around creatures touching the hanging vines, and lifting them up to the branches. I also left it with a command to ignore snakes and squirrels. I chuckle as I think how the adventurers would react these strangling vines when they find them the first time, and spread them sporadically around the forest. For camouflage, I create few more normal versions with different flowers around the forests. No need to announce that hanging vines equals danger. Next I turn my attention to the pillars. They are covered with moss, handholds, outcrops and small outlooks capable of holding a few adventurers. I need a bait for them to climb these pillars, so I turn my attention to a more potent herbs I did not place on the first floor. No reason for me to heavily reward people coming to my first floor. For an attention grabber, I create a few of the weaker herbs useful for potions on the overlooks a few meters above the ground. I start growing some better herbs, that are used for making a healing potion according to Elan, above the height of twenty meters. I keep this up until near the top, the herbs change to ones needed for reducing mental fatigue for mages, fairly rare pieces according to Elan. I also make their roots to grow deep in the stone, so I don¡¯t have to create them again after harvesting. They will grow again in a couple of days. I grow around thirty herbs for healing potions and five for mental fatigue over the surfaces of every pillar. Various herbs of different purposes are already growing around the the caves, hidden within the underbrush. As there is no rewards without risks in my dungeon, I recover my mana for my first experiment with a new creature. I take a normal, fast flying bird for my next target for experimentation. Finally I can have some fun after a constant hounding of Elan. He had been watching me like a hawk when I was creating my second floor. I think he still resents me for how I changed the bunnies and squirrels to incarnations of a furry death. Grunting at the weakness of my source template, I try to rack my brain how to strengthen them to be a threat for climbing adventurers, I draw a blank as I haven¡¯t absorbed any larger birds. Mentally shrugging, for starters, I make them thirty centimeter high, create a sleeker body and making their bones denser. Going with my normal method, I make wicked talons for them and I decide to create my first test subject on overhang midway of the pillar. It is fairly impressive looking while strutting confusedly around the small space. Ordering the bird to fly, it jumps off the overhang, spreading its wings wide. I watch in dismay as the bird desperately flaps its wings, dropping like a rock towards the cave floor. Diving beak first towards the ground, it hits a protruding root, splattering with a loud crunch as all of the bones in its body broke spectacularly. The crash caused a feathery chunks of flesh and bones spreading in the nearby area. Note to self, do not make birds too heavy next time. Focusing upon the remains of the bird, I finally realized that the dense bones are indeed too heavy, as I accidently filled up even the hollow parts of them. While checking the head, I noticed the small hole the beak left to the root. Quickly scanning rest of the root, other bones only left small indentions where they crashed down, before breaking. I felt as if I had a momentary enlightenment, I rushed to make a bird number two. This time I only doubled the size, slightly strengthened the bones, sharpened the talons, before making the beak a length of a finger. I was going to remake them as flying daggers! I quickly created a wide wall of wood, attached to the pillar at a slant, before ordering the bird to dive at it. As the bird crashed against the wood, causing a shower of blood, bones and guts to fall in the trees below, staining the pillar on the way, I rejoiced as there was a notable puncture in the wood. With a glee I threw myself in the experimentation for the best form for my Daggerbirds, I let Elan to enjoy his fluffy companions even though I was supposed to tell him before I creating new creatures. I certainly didn¡¯t want to impose upon his personal time. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I¡¯m only thinking the best for Elan, he needs his rest and relaxation. Definitely so, I thought as the second bird splattered against the wooden wall. My core literally tingling with excitement, I thought, Finally I got to the fun part of making my second floor! Humming within my mind, I watched as third bird splattered to the wall. *** Two days later, I was forming a finalized version for a new creature for my dungeon, when a sudden shout broke my concentration as I was startled, and mana poured in for the creation ran wild. ¡°FARAN! I specifically told you to tell me before experimenting! By the abyss, what have you been doing!¡±, Elan flew near my spirit mode, yelling with an indignant expression. I looked to my failed creation now on the ground. It was fleshy blob of something with a tufts of fur and pieces of bones sticking out, along with a tail of a fox. Elan saw as it died with a violent convulsion, before I had time to absorb it. Quickly removing the glaring piece of evidence, as they do say, out of sight, out of mind. Too bad it was not working, as I still had the corpses of previous versions laying around. I quickly absorbed those as well. Veins bulging on his face with a familiar violently twitching eyelid, Elan stared at me with a frowning, stern face. He was floating ramrod straight with his hands clasped behind his back, and his usually tidy goatee was now bristling like a rolled up hedgehog. Damn I was in trouble. ¡°Ahem, I was just finishing populating my second floor. I only need to add the foxes.¡± I quickly explained. ¡°I see that you¡¯ve been busy while ¡°populating¡±. Why you didn¡¯t tell me that you were going to do it?! You keep wasting mana as you let your mind wander!¡±, Elan asked with a sarcastic tone turning to one of anger. ¡°I was going to, but you were busy with petting your fluffy companions, and I surely didn¡¯t want to intrude upon your time of relaxation. I was being considerate, and protected you from mental harm, you see?¡± I assured my enraged companion meaning to placate him, only causing him to grow even angrier. However before he continued admonishing me, he quickly scanned the area, noticing a ground and trees full of bloodstains and feathers, along with my self-employed team of cleaners. Squirrels were sprawled all over the grassy ground, with bloody maws and bloated stomachs, sleeping contently. Looking up he then noticed gory additions upon the pillar, a mass of gore, filled with feathers, guts and pieces of flesh still trickling down from the wooden wall. I quickly absorbed everything related to my experiments before projecting a feelings of pure innocence towards Elan, hoping he didn¡¯t see them too clearly as the crystal sun vines were in their resting period, plunging the cave in darkness. Alas, I forgot he can see in dark as well as under the sun, if not better. I received yet another unavoidable verbal lashing for a half a day, only ending as Elan lost his voice and felt that mental communication ¡°Is insufficient for conveying the feelings I feel from witnessing the atrocious scene of my cruel abuse of animals¡±. Somehow he didn¡¯t seem to feel that way when I was toying with snakes or plants, only when I modified something small and cute. With a fur. As I regained my mana while being admonished, I proceeded to create the final creature for the second floor. Vicious looking fox with my trademark sharp teeth and sharpened talons. It was double the size of a normal one, powerful muscles under a durable hide, sleek body with a brown fur and a tail ending to a very sharp, dense bone spike. I¡¯ve already seen them slashing and stabbing with it with a deadly effect, causing shallow slashes or deeper puncture wounds to the bunnies. I designed it for moving with short, quick bursts during a combat. Along with loyalty to me and Elan I infuse to every soul I form, I added aggressive behaviour of a hunter towards the bunnies and squirrels, instinct to dig tunnels under the trees for dens, and aiming to cripple larger beings with hit-and-run tactics in battles. Satisfied, I finally release a mental sigh as I completed the job of creating new creatures. Even interesting work will get tedious if you don¡¯t have any breaks. For now I will focus on growing my new center so I can reach my third rank, and wait for the constant fighting to produce a monster with a core. I would even name and contract first of the evolvers from each species, so I could keep them as a boss monsters. Elan reminded that I can¡¯t contract any beings without a monster core, with the exception of humanoid species casting away their soul field protection, and pledging themselves as servants of the dungeon core. Even then I need to grant them a name that works as a focus for the contract. Afterwards their souls, along with their memories, are transferred within my core upon their deaths. However, with their memories, they also remember their body, so they can only evolve through time and combat. I didn¡¯t touch the wolves much when I created them. They are already a fine hunters, so I only grew their size by half, increased the density of of their bones, muscles and hide. Now their teeth and claws can pierce hardened leather, as well themselves being resistant to slashing attacks. I placed two packs per a cave, making them fight for territory within the woods. My constrictor snakes were being killed too easily by the wolves, while being too slow to catch other prey, unless attacked. So I made them ten meters in length, as thick as a human waist for the most part, changed the teeths for a slightly hooked, triangular shape with a sawlike edges. Their scales are now tough enough to resist the attacks from the wolves for a short while. I also combined the muscles with the vipers, making them capable of lightning quick attack when coiled up. Their instincts are to move through the trees, and to attack from distance with a bite, before coiling around the prey, crushing their bones with a squeeze. The final form for daggerbirds is around 20 centimeters tall, with a half a meter wingspan. Their feathers and bones are tougher, and muscles in the wings stronger. The beak is 7 centimeters long, slightly flat while sharpening to a pointy end. This time I didn¡¯t modify their claws. Daggerbirds start having nests from halfway of the pillars to the top, attacking those getting too close to their nests. They attack with a dive, piercing the target with their beak. I had to change the shape of their spine for it being able to handle attacks on fleshy targets without it shattering instantly. If they dive against a hard object, such as wood or hardened leather, they still die from the impact shattering their spines. Daggerbirds are omnivores, eating berries, insects and occasional squirrel they hunt. Climbing adventurers better be careful, as if they slip because of their attacks, it is going to be a long way down. Wondering how long it will take for some visitors to show up, I decide to sink in my version of sleep, meditation. *** Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Elan¡¯s POV Faran did it again! Right after I relaxed my watch over him, he started ¡°experimenting¡± to create those twisted, brutal killers of his. He even behaved himself the last half a month already! I noticed something was wrong when I didn¡¯t hear from him for two days as he was busy creating some killer vines and creating a full ecosystem for his forests. Those animal creations of his, even when they¡¯re resting, the end result of his modifications made them look somehow menacing, their bodies riddled with scars from battles, bodies rippling with muscles built for combat. With a shudder I fly faster to my sanctuary, the only source of light and joy in this hellhole of perpetual slaughter between all creatures. The only peaceful spot in here. Going through the stairwell Faran turned his old core room, I notice that he didn¡¯t stop his wicked ways even here. I told him transition from floor to floor should be safe, like in other dungeons. Yet he created a one and half meter wide stairway, without railings, to circle down along the walls of a twenty meter wide and eighty meters deep pit. He even purposefully made the some steps narrower, deeper steps, or a slight angle towards the middle of the pit, all to make one not careful where they¡¯re stepping, to stumble and fall to their deaths. At least he conceded to create alcoves every twenty meters for adventurers to pass a team heading the opposite direction. I soon reached the top, opening the hidden sliding door to a small tunnel. Closing the door as I went in, I unconsciously sped up as I neared my place for soothing my mind after Faran¡¯s latest stunt. No matter how much I yell at, berate or curse him, he just takes it in a stride, shrugs it off and continues with something else. How you get someone to behave if he¡¯s not fazed by any admonishment? I haven¡¯t yet found a way to control Faran¡¯s idiotic tendencies to constantly waste mana, as I don¡¯t know his weak points. Maybe I will find out them after adventurers start showing up, so I can get him grow even stronger. Reaching the cave with a meadow, complete with recently added small grove of trees reaching a height of 5 meters, I sit down and watch as white fluffy ball bounces towards me. Catching the soft bunny, I place it upon my lap while stroking it, feeling how my stress is melting away. Starting to feel content, as my eyes started to soften, I focused with a start as a thought hit me. Don¡¯t tell me Faran made these cute, just the right sized animals for me, just to stop me watching over his shoulders all the time? Devious plan Faran, truly devious plan indeed. I kept thinking all the while still stroking the now content bunny. But soon I don¡¯t have to fly all over the dungeon to keep a watch over him. Knowing Faran, he is going to focus on ranking up again. At his pace, I only need to be patient for a few months. Then I will be having the last laugh, as he can¡¯t sneak around to do his experiments in secret! As my sneer turned to chuckling, and from there to a devious laughter, the bunny on my lap sighed happily, twitched its nose for a moment and fell asleep as I kept stroking the soft, fluffy fur of his. Chapter 8 - Hunted Hunter After meditating for two days, with seeing only small increase in power, I decided to update my current core-room, spending next couple days on it. My domain is still recovering from the expansion, thickening constantly from mana, so I had limited room for a trap this time. The room was a thirty meter circle in build, with 4 meter tall straight walls, before turning to a domed ceiling. Like previously, I covered the dome in crystal vines, yet this time I created a small obsidian pedestal at the opposite side from the door, attached to the wall. Pedestal had a bowl-like shape at the top, with a small sun crystal vine within. Above the pedestal, at the height of 4 meters I created an obsidian head of a constrictor snake, with my core placed within the maw, hidden from the sight behind the teeths. Only the purple glow with a tinge of azure revealed my position within. As a hint, the floor within five meters from the entrance was made from white quartz, bordered with a waist thick rim of obsidian, shaped like a scales of a snake. Stepping out of this half-circle would get you killed, as rest of the floor is barely held up by a few rods of stone, along with underside of the floor being almost carved through by a grid of lines. When a person walks to the middle of the floor, it breaks to pieces. Same happens when trying to circle around at the edges. The pit underneath the floor is filled with strong poison from the vipers, filling the room with poisonous fumes if the floor breaks. Elan keeps calling me paranoid with how I create massive traps enough to stop large groups from touching my core, yet I like to make sure they don¡¯t get the chance. Currently Elan has been informing me about about the ranks for adventurers, which are simple enough as they use different metals for the ranks. Basically they are divided into four main groups of Beginners, Adventurers, Veterans and Elites. Beginners use plates made with Copper, Bronze and Iron, while adventurers use Silver, Steel and Cold Iron. Veteran ranks use Gold, Black Steel and Platinum, while Elites use Mithril plates with small emeralds per rank. Above the normal rankings are Primes, carrying adamantite plates, with a diamond for each rank. To my dismay, Elan estimated I can barely hold my own against a group consisting from a four to six experienced Iron Rankers. !That can¡¯t be right?! My defenses are above my rank, and surely they can hold better against a group skilled in using weapons?¡± I exclaimed at his estimations. Nodding to himself while stroking his goatee, Elan continued his explanations, ¡°Unprepared, yes. Usually Iron ranks have already a good teamwork, and guild with map the dungeon with Adventurer ranked group, scouting out all the traps and creatures. If they assume you¡¯re rank 2 core, they¡¯ll most likely send a group of Silver ranks capable of killing rank 1 monsters while alone. As you don¡¯t have any monsters yet, you won¡¯t be able to pose a threat to them. Unless they don¡¯t do their job seriously, and somehow get themselves killed.¡±. Shrugging to himself, he then finished. ¡°Well I¡¯m sure they will keep sending beginner ranks for harsh training in here, maybe even more silver ranks later on as you gain monsters. When the adventurers start first coming in, you will most like experience fast rank-ups until the fifth rank, as the mana you get from people dying is enough to give you a lot of it. After the fifth rank, you will need something more than mana to rank up. What that is, I don¡¯t know that. The dungeon I was contracted earlier with, was only fourth rank when it was destroyed and I was captured.¡± ¡°Fine, I just hope they fall into traps or something. Until I get my next rank up, I don¡¯t think my domain will be strong enough for a new floor. Seeing as I expanded to my limits at once, instead of doing it gradually. Besides, currently I only lack knowledge from absorbing different materials and creatures. For now I don¡¯t have much to do besides wait for my creatures to form their core.¡±, I replied with dejected feelings. Now I only had to wait for something to happen while I kept growing my mana reserves. I couldn¡¯t even do anything useful without an avatar. With a start I remembered something from before I threw myself into creating second floor. Chuckling to myself as I found something to do when I get bored next time, I went back to my meditation. *** Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Elan¡¯s POV Flying towards the entrance to the dungeon, I thought back on what Faran has been doing during last month. While the creatures of his haven¡¯t yet gained a monster core, Faran has been trying to do something with his mana. And usually ending up wasting it. I thought with a defeated sigh. Why can¡¯t he just be a little like those normal dungeon cores, being able to single-mindedly focusing on something simple, like gathering mana, instead of those experiments of his. He hasn¡¯t even said what it is, that he¡¯s trying to do, besides that it¡¯s going to be a surprise. Deciding to stop my lamentations as I reached the archway to the outside, I marveled at the lifelike depictions of snakes, seemingly flowing towards the outside. Arriving outside the dungeon, I noticed how they daylight was receding at the end of the dusk. As the hawks were usually resting at this time of the day, I saved my mana, and didn¡¯t turn to my shadow-form. Flying above the treeline, I conducted my customary scan of the nearby area for any new activity. When my gaze rested upon the area near the river, I saw a trail of smoke rising from there. Frowning, I thought back upon how Faran said that the Goddess of Wind, Ilessa is making mortals more likely to find him. I¡¯m worried about being found out so soon, yet Faran seems to almost welcome it. I flew back to the dungeon to report that we might have visitors soon. *** Valley near Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Hunter Rilus I threw some more wood to the campfire me and my pal Erwin set up near the river. He was a lanky fellow with a set of clothes made from furs he had hunted. He had a thin eyes an¡¯ hooked nose, with prominent cheekbones and pointed chin. Poor Erwin couldn¡¯t grow a proper beard, so he grew a sparse moustache. He kept a messy, long ponytail. While we were huntin¡¯ at our usual place a few days trip away from our village, the prey there seemingly vanished. That was a tenday ago. Finally we couldn¡¯t take it anymore, as we had to gather enough pelts fer both of us. Erwin here needed some fer a new bow and arrows the trader was goin¡¯ to bring fer him in half a month from now. I needed enough furs fer endowment so I could marry that perky daughter of the next door widow. Her father was a lumberjack that died to fer a pack of wolves a year ago, and now the family is running real low on money. I¡¯ve saved enough during half a year, so they can¡¯t afford to turn me down when I ask fer the daughter, Anna. No matter if the daughter is twenty years younger than meself, just turnin¡¯ a ripe sixteen. Now I don¡¯t mean to sound like I¡¯m braggin¡¯, yet I¡¯m handsome fella meself. My head is full of shiny black, curly hair, I have a sharp eyes, broad, slightly crooked nose as some bastard broke it years ago. I have a strong, stout body. Far better than my pal Erwin. As we had tracked the animals for a three days straight, we came upon this fine mountain valley here. Erwin keeps talkin¡¯ like sumthing felt wrong, like he could¡¯ve come here even without followin¡¯ the tracks. Well I had a feelin¡¯ I could get lucky by headin¡¯ to the plateau over yonder. But fer tonight we camped next to the river, while rotating the watch. Both of us heard the wolves howlin¡¯ when the dusk was endin¡¯ and the night fell. The night passed without problems as we broke the camp. When we talked about findin¡¯ something to hunt, I pointed to the plateau near the mountain. ¡°I have a feelin¡¯ we¡¯re gonna get rich over there Erwin.¡±, I pointed to the direction I wanted to go. ¡°I don¡¯t know Rilus, I get a bad feelin¡¯ as if I¡¯m supposed to go there. I don¡¯t think we should go over there.¡±, Answered Erwin while looking nervously towards the plateau.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Erwin listen to me. A bad feelin¡¯ fer you, a lucky feelin¡¯ fer me. Besides there are wolves around here in valley. The howls didn¡¯t come up from the plateau last night. I say we go and check this out. It takes only a couple hours of hiking.¡±, I persuaded Erwin as he started having a cold feet. Damn this coward, he always keeps avoiding taking risks when huntin¡¯. Without me pullin¡¯ him along we wouldn¡¯t get those occasional wolf hides at all. ¡°Allright Rilus, allright. I come with ya to check it out. But I think we should be careful.¡±, Erwin agreed. ¡°Grab you pack, I feel like this is gonna be our lucky day!¡±, I said a laugh, before making my way towards the plateau. *** Near of Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Hunter Erwin I don¡¯t like this at all. The bad feelin¡¯ is getting stronger now, and Rilus just keeps goin¡¯ forward. He always drags me to some risky business. Last time we almost got killed by a pack of wolves when he went near their den. Worst is that he had his eyes on a nice kid living as his neighbor. Her father even flattened his pudgy nose over a year ago when he caught him staring his daughter changing clothes. As we kept goin¡¯ through the forest, I noticed how his greasy hair gathered a bunch of leaves and twigs on it as usual. Rilus is a good hunter, yet he should keep his mouth shut more. I¡¯m the only one that can stand his company fer a huntin¡¯ trip. I don¡¯t know why, but he thinks himself the most handsome fella in the village. Too bad fer him, none else does. Not with that flattened, pudgy nose, swollen eyelids keepin¡¯ his eyes half-hidden, or that scrawny beard he¡¯s so proud of. His body is normal enough, only he¡¯s a tad pudgy fella. After a short while we reached the mountain wall near the edge of this forest. I almost shit in my pants when I saw a friggin¡¯ giant black snake with an open maw, gleaming in the sunlight. While I kept starin¡¯ at the lifelike snakehead, Rilus suddenly bursted laughin¡¯ and went fer the head. ¡°Erwin! We¡¯re gonna get rich! We found a dungeon!¡±, he rejoiced while I gathered my bearings. My bad feelin¡¯ grew and my back was covered in a cold sweat. ¡°Good fer us Rilus. Now let¡¯s get outta here and report this to a guild fer a reward. I don¡¯t like this place, it gives me the creeps.¡±, I said as I took a couple steps away. ¡°Now now, we need to look inside to see if it¡¯s really a dungeon Erwin. The guild will have our ¡®eads if we give them a false report.¡±, Rilus said while looking closely within the maw of the snake. ¡°Look! Here¡¯s a path inside! I see some light there. Now come over here and stop yer shivering. We gotta see what¡¯s inside. You take up the rear.¡±, he said while readying his bow. Taking a deep breath, I also slung my bow from my back, and nocked an arrow. With careful steps, I approached that creepy doorway, and saw it full of lifelike carvings of snakes. ¡°The hell is with this creepy place? Is this place full of snakes? Rilus ye know I hate snakes. I don¡¯t wanna meet a group of ¡®em.¡±, I started nervously babbling when walking through the doorway to a small, hot and humid cave, with some weird, glowing vines on the ceiling. Rilus hushed at me and looked towards the two tunnels in the cave, before checking the plants growin¡¯ in the cave. Soon he took a sharp breath and picked couple of plants amongst the ferns growin¡¯ there. ¡°Look this Erwin! These are worth at least a silver each! Don¡¯t remember the names fer them, but herbalist Trent said these are used fer the healing salves or potions!¡±, with a joyful laugh, Rilus tried to look fer more, but those were all that he found. As he didn¡¯t have an extra pouch upon him, Rilus reluctantly handed the herbs fer me. ¡°Put these in yer pouch, I try to look fer more deeper in the caves¡±, Rilus said as I put them away. Feeling chills crawling up my back, as if something was watchin¡¯ us, I told Rilus, ¡°I think we should get outta here. The air feels different and we have the proof fer a guild.¡±. He just readied his bow and told me with a greedy glint in his eyes, ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem to be dangerous. This must be a new dungeon as we haven¡¯t seen any monsters. Now shut yer trap and lets sneak quietly forward. If it looks dangerous, then we get outta here.¡±. I shut my mouth and followed him to the right tunnel, sneaking after him. As we got to the next area, the weird vines on the ceiling gave a dim light to the cave full of forest plants, and the humid air made caused us to sweat a lot. Rilus pointed to one part of the caves, and I saw a five rabbits eating something fifteen meters away, between a couple of pointy rocks sticking from the cave floor. He then pointed to the rabbits and readied his bow, me followin¡¯ his lead. As long as they aren¡¯t snakes, sure we can quickly hunt some rabbits for extra proof, I thought to myself. Rilus quietly counted to a three, and we both released our arrows with a small twang of the strings. Our arrows hit two of the rabbits, one dying instantly, one giving a screech as it fell. I expected the remaining rabbits to run away, yet they turned to look at us, with a bloody maw full of sharp teeth, before bouncing at us with a screech similar to the one now trashing on the cave floor. Paling, I yell at Rilus as I back away ¡°Demons! Those are not rabbits! Run!¡±. Rilus seems to be frozen in place as the first demonspawn bites into his thigh. With a startling scream, Rilus drops his bow and tries to pull his skinning knife from the sheath, as he starts hitting the biting rabbit with his fist. Right after the other two also bounce at him. One attacks the other leg, and the other jumps at his flailing arm, biting into the forearm with a snarl. I see how the rabbits are slashing his flesh with their claws, splashing blood all over as Rilus falls on his back, screaming, while he drops his knife as he fumbles with it. I turn away and keep running with tears streaking down on my face as I hear the desperate screams of Rilus, him yellin¡¯ to save him. With a last look before disappearin¡¯ behind a bend in the tunnel, I see how one of the vile demon spawns rips into his neck with its bloody maw full of sharp teeths. All I hear is last gurgling scream from Ritus as I kept runnin¡¯ to the entrance, not turnin¡¯ around fer a moment. I gotta escape from this hellhole! Ritus is already a goner, I can¡¯t save him anymore!, I consoled myself, not thinkin¡¯ how I left him for dead when those demons came at us. *** Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Faran As the two hunters I tentatively named as Twitchy and Fugly, I noticed how I could understand what they meant with their words, yet details escaped me. Turning to Elan who was flying near the ceiling in his shadow-form, I asked him, ¡°I don¡¯t suppose I¡¯m starting language lessons after this? And why do I understand what you are saying just fine?¡± Glancing at me with a cocked eyebrow, Elan answered mentally with a confused tone to me as Fugly turned joyful from finding couple of herbs I left there as a sample. ¡°What do you mean? I thought you knew we spoke an older form of Elven language? Those men are speaking in Empyrean, or common tongue, spread around the world hundreds of years ago by now fallen empire.¡±. ¡°I speak elven tongue? This is common tongue where I¡¯m from. It is pretty much the only language there besides some ancient and forgotten ones. And the runic language. Should¡¯ve asked about the languages earlier. Oh they¡¯re soon at the bunnies!¡± I wondered before focusing my attention on the hunters. Elan had flown to the next cave while I just kept watching how the Fugly tells Twitchy to shoot at the group gathered there. I kept my two vipers in the first cave hidden, ready to kill one of them, as I wanted to kill only one of them ¡°naturally¡±, while other one escapes. As they shot at the bunnies, killing one instantly, I guided the bunnies to ignore Twitchy and focus on Fugly. Focusing on the battle, I saw how the first bunny bit through the hide trousers, starting to slash with the claws. Fugly started screaming and fruitlessly pounded at the bunny with his fist, while fumbling with his knife. As the other two bunnies bit at him, he was screaming even more, panicking against my little slashers. He slipped on the moss, falling on his back, and the bunny biting his leg pounded towards the kill. As the bunny ripped through the windpipe with its sharp fangs, Fugly gave gave a last gurgling scream, splashing the blood all over the place as the three bunnies savaged his corpse. During his last moments of struggle, Fugly managed to soil himself, just like Twitchy leaked something from his pants while escaping. As the Fugly drew his last breath, unlike with dying animals, I could see a small part of his soul staying behind, while the rest was too hazy to see how it was formed. With animals I could see how it is constructed, and copy it, yet this piece seemed to contain something that the main soul left behind before departing. Curiously, I processed it like raw mana, clearing it from impurities I saw in it. Drawing it towards me, I suddenly knew parts of Empyrean language, as Elan called it, and some random knowledge about hunting and skinning. Killing the human also gave me a burst of mana, almost the same amount I can gain by meditating for a tenday. I almost regretted not killing Twitchy as well, but I needed a messenger. As I absorbed the piece of knowledge and mana, Elan turned visible, looking towards me with a serious expression. ¡°Now you see why I didn¡¯t say anything about languages, as you will learn them eventually by enough people dying in your dungeon, and purifying the pieces they leave behind. Now, you must understand that while not purifying the knowledge grants you slightly more of it, it also gives you the memories and feelings related to them. Those new feelings can be addicting to a new dungeon. While you can clean these impurities later on with a bit of time, if you gather too much of them without cleansing them, you will start losing your personality. At the same time it gets harder to clear gathered impurities.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me this earlier? This should¡¯ve been basic information about what happens when people start dying in my dungeon?¡± I asked Elan, still slightly confused about how the new information seemed to gather to a different part of my mind. Nodding, Elan kept explaining, ¡°First of all, you¡¯re already irregular dungeon core, so I had to observe if the method is indeed the same, as it would only cause a minor inconvenience to you otherwise, as you could cleanse the taint from one human easily. Secondly, even without me telling you about it, your instincts as a dungeon seem to awaken only when encountering a new situations involving them. If you knew about it, you might¡¯ve suppressed the instinct of how to properly process it, as I wasn¡¯t sure how the dungeon normally removes the impurities.¡± Pointing at the Fugly, Elan stated, ¡°Now you should probably absorb the rest of him and his gear. At least you will learn how to make some processed iron and whatever he has in his backpack.¡±. Promptly following Elan¡¯s advice, to the dismay of my bunnies in middle of their meal, I absorbed the now dead hunter and his gear. I also noticed how the information I have gathered so far as a dungeon, slowly flowed to the part of my mind with the knowledge gained from the hunter. I only had a nagging feeling that it should¡¯ve been like this from the start, doubting that this was one of those suppressed instincts for dungeon cores I have yet to awaken completely. From the hunter I learned how to make a proper wood for bows and arrows, basic iron for the arrowheads and knives. I also learned how to make basic processed leather for clothes, pouches and so on. What a poor fellow, I didn¡¯t learn much, but at least he had some copper coins hidden on him. Now I at least know the basic form for the currency around this area. I thought with disdain. Deciding that only proper gains from this event was new knowledge of how to create iron, copper and processed leather, I continued my occasional practice on how to condense a primitive version of my avatar of mana I now had within my soul domain. So far I have been able to condense mana to a shape of an orb, yet it wasn¡¯t a solid looking enough. Just one attempt costs me a third of my current mana, but I was getting closer. At least then I could appear as a ghostly orb of mana, and try to learn how to speak out loud by sending my voice through vibrating condensed mana. Chapter 9 - Trade, Evolution and the Guild Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Faran¡¯s POV It had been half a month since I let the hunter escape. My attempts at solidifying mana were stuck, as I missed something. I could solidify my mana to a ball, yet it took most of my concentration, with a half of my mana, to do it. Not to mention the constant leaking that happened with it, forcing me to keep feeding more mana to keep it in the solid state. Only good thing I learned from doing this, has been that I learned how to draw most of my solid mana back to my core, wasting less of it. This has also surprisingly helped me to slightly condense the raw mana before it enters the veins in my core, speeding up the process slightly. Currently I have filled a third of my core with a new center, massively increasing my reserves to five hundred times of my original reserves. Alas, I don¡¯t know how well off I am in comparison against monsters, as humanoids with divine protection work differently with mana, lacking the core of their own. Might as well ask that from Trendal next time I see him. I thought with a shrug before turning my attention to my latest source of interest. As I have kept following the progress of my creatures, I noticed how a few of them are saturated with mana, almost ready to form a core. One of them is surprisingly one of the original strengthened vipers I created, having survived until now. Unlike others of its kind, she has proven for being a prudent one, attacking only from ambush against other creatures moving alone or small enough groups. She even changes the caves after each successful attack, avoiding the groups that learned of its presence. Few days ago the viper had moved down to the second floor, drawn by the mana density. Second is a bunny that delivered killing blow to that ugly and greedy hunter. Apparently foreign creatures and humanoids grant more suitable mana for advancements to my creatures, being different in the type. The bunny has now grown larger than others of his species, while being more aggressive than normally. Lastly, is the alpha wolf in the largest cave at the second floor. After a series of gruesome fights against the other pack, he managed to get most of the kills, while subduing the other pack. He sports an impressive scars, formed from a three jagged vertical lines, over his now blinded eye. He has also grown larger than normal wolves, while being more ferocious in battle. Other creatures are still in the process of gathering more mana through living longer, or killing more of others. Out of the three, I assume the snake and the wolf are closest for advancing, as the state of mana within them has grown increasingly chaotic as they keep killing. I have yet to see any patterns with how mana is behaving, yet I spend most of my time within light meditation while keeping a constant focus upon those three. Elan has also informed me, that it would take some time for the news to reach the guild, as we seem to be somewhat far from civilization. I assume I see some results for the upcoming advancements within next tendays. *** Meanwhile, Village of Lorra, Traveling Merchant Deithus ¡°And I tell you, we must get rid of that den of devils! Poor Rilus was savaged by those demon spawns! I can still hear his screams in my sleep! Deithus, you gotta report this to the guard in the town! We ain¡¯t safe fer long if those vile spawns get here!¡±, kept the haggard looking hunter yelling at me, as I was preparing to head back to the city of Josmar from here. This small, rustic village of Lorra was a last stop in my peddling route. I sighed to myself as I couldn¡¯t even sell the bow he ordered for himself. Luckily a village guard took a liking to it and I didn¡¯t have to eat a loss for it. Now as I was going to return, he suddenly appeared raving about a nest of devils and whatnot. I turned towards the frantic hunter blocking my way while sighing again, ¡°Now look here Erwin. The guard or lord of the town aren¡¯t going to do anything without proof. Your words are going to be taken as a ramblings of a madman, with nothing else coming from it. Either provide proof, or I have to ask guards to remove you from preventing my departure.¡± ¡°I made a map fer you! Isn¡¯t that enough?! I should¡¯ve never listened to Ritus about his mumblin¡¯ about a dungeon, that ain¡¯t nuthin¡¯ else than a den of devils I say! Even the doorway was a glistening, black and full of snake carvings! I tell you, they looked like they¡¯d jump straight at ya!¡±, as Erwin kept blabbering, I suddenly noticed words about a dungeon and the entrance. I quickly interrupted his ravings. ¡°You never mentioned anything about dungeons or weird entrances to a caves. What was that about? What exactly killed Rilus?¡±, I asked with now growing excitement, as information about unclaimed dungeons was worth a large sum of money to the right bidder. I didn¡¯t have large enough status to try to sell information to the nobles or mages, yet adventurers guild was generous enough with such rewards. ¡°That¡¯s what Rilus said fer me! Entrance was a giant head of a snake, and the air within the caves was hot and moist, and all kinds of forest plants grew there! On the ceiling were weird, glowing vines, and as me and Rilus went deeper, we saw ¡®em! The devil spawns were eating something further within, and Rilus wanted to shoot at ¡®em with our bows!¡±, Erwin grew even more frantic as I seemed to listen him now. One of the guards looked like he was going to come and get rid of my crazy company, and my future bag of gold. I quickly waved that everything was okay, and the guard left after throwing a sceptic glance to the crazy hunter. ¡°Saw what? Can you give me more details about what killed Rilus?¡±, I coaxed the lunatic. ¡°Those devils looked like normal animals! As our arrows hits ¡®em, one died instantly while other started screeching fer a moment. Then they turned around, with a maw full of blood and sharp teeth, bounded towards Rilus as he was closer, and started slashing him to shreds! There was so much blood, and he kept yellin¡¯! I couldn¡¯t save him man, I couldn¡¯t do it! So I ran. As I took a last look, the devil spawn looking like a rabbit ripped the throat of Rilus and I can still hear his last gurgling scream, as he choked on his own blood! I can¡¯t even sleep at nights as I keep hearing the screeching of those devils, and how Rilus kept screaming!¡±, Erwin broke down sobbing, falling to his knees on the muddy road while grabbing my legs. Other villagers were avoiding us, and throwing disgusted stares at him. Even my horses tethered to my wagon were getting nervous because of him. Catching a sniff of him, instantly grimacing from the thick smell of unwashed body, I tried to pry him off. ¡°That sounds terrible place indeed. Erwin, get a hold of yourself and focus! Now, can you give me the map to that den of devil with¡­ killer rabbits? Along with anything else you collected from there as an additional proof, so I can give it to the guards so they can come and destroy that den of devil¡­ rabbits?¡±, I tried to soothe the man while prying him off from my legs. Still sobbing, the now broken husk of a man took a pouch from his belt, shoving it in my hands. ¡°It¡¯s all here! Herbs Rilus took from within and the map I made! Thank you Deithus, thank you! Hurry and report that vile place! I haven¡¯t slept properly from knowing that the evil place still stands!¡±. Eager to get rid of the man, I quickly checked the contents, seeing herbs used for basic potions, and a leather map, showing the location of the dungeon nearby. Satisfied, I spoke with a smile full of assurance, ¡°Of course! I will go and report this place to a proper authorities in Josmar, so they can handle it! You can trust me on that! Now I must hurry with this, and be on my way.¡±. I quickly jumped on the seat of my wagon as the relieved smile spread upon the still crying, lanky hunter, kneeling on the muddy road next to my wagon. With a wave to him, I hurriedly left so he wouldn¡¯t get the idea of coming with me. Luckily other villagers seemed to think the man had become crazy, as otherwise he wouldn¡¯t still have the herbs from a dungeon to give as a proof. Normal villagers at the frontier don¡¯t seem to realize the importance of a dungeon. Yet I still must hurry and be on my way. Stolen novel; please report. Wouldn¡¯t want someone else to claim those gold coins from reporting a dungeon. I should get enough for opening my own shop, maybe even come and set one near the dungeon! I thought as I drove the wagon towards the gates. As I kept imagining the future profits of managing a store near the new dungeon, I started involuntarily grinning to myself. Maybe I can include building me a store near the dungeon as a part of the rewards. Nobody would imagine that I, Deithus, would own a store near a dungeon while still 27 years old! Normally I would had to keep trading for a few more years to save enough money for a store of my own. After reporting this, I could buy one with only the reward money! Excited from the future I painted, I went through the village gates and headed towards the large frontier city of Josmar, a home for a hundred thousand souls, and closest office for adventurers guild. It would take me a tenday with my wagon, heavily loaded with goods I traded from the villages, as the roads were muddy from the heavy rains of last days. Deithus¡¯ General Store? Deithus¡¯ Dungeon Store? Or maybe just Deithus¡¯ Supplies? I kept thinking with a goofy grin on my face as my horse dragged the wagon through the muddied road. *** Few days later, in Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Faran¡¯s POV Seemingly chaotic mana started to get drawn within the small vortex within the brain of the alpha wolf. Vortex was located right in middle of the brain, slowly forming a sphere of condensed mana at the bottom of the spirals of mana. As the now agitated mana started chaotically move within it, some of it headed to the spiral, while the rest wantonly roamed the body. Occasionally destroying parts of it, while following mana instantly healed the damage, recreating stronger than before parts. The wolf was in obvious pain, shaking and growling, while old blood poured out of the pores as the new blood was being produced. The previously blinded eye was being repaired, as did some smaller scars upon his hide, yet the three vertical scars upon the previously blind left eye were left untouched. The change had started upon wolf dealing a killing blow upon a constrictor snake it had hunted with the pack. Rest of the wolves had packed off from the alpha from the pressure of mana it emitted upon changing, watching nervously from the side. I had immediately felt the change in the air as the alpha had started sucking in the surrounding mana, resulting in the chaotic flow within. I noticed how the monster core formed in where the two halves of the brain join at, slowly replacing the cluster of nerves with the now forming core. Like with my core, the monster core has a center, yet the veins connect with nerves in their brains. I eagerly study the process of evolution, as the rampart mana seems to be drawn to the muscles and weapons the wolf used most when fighting. Maybe the memories drive the change to boost what are the best weapons for it? Quickly dismissing my idle thoughts, I keep my focus upon the wolf as it evolves. Eventually the wolf is left heaving from the change it went through, matted with discharged blood, still shaky from the ordeal. After the change, the wolf was double the size of others, And I could feel a slight elemental properties from the mana it now had within the core, a centimeter wide sphere. The alpha seemed to have affinity towards fire, maybe because what is sought was best for battles, or because its innate nature fit it the best. Normally the alpha fought ferociously, using strength instead of grace, not bothering with the wounds it suffered. Worthy subject to observe with other creatures. Does the elemental affinity dictate the natural disposition of the creature, or other way around? Worthy of experimenting upon with other creatures before upgrading the wolves. I didn¡¯t even have time to entertain the idea before Elan, having come here after I notified him of the evolution, instantly retorted as I leaked my feelings. ¡°Faran, please save experimenting upon the creatures later and wait for a few days for the rest to evolve. Surely you need more examples of various creatures before starting experiments? You might even miss the evolutions if you start anything now.¡± ¡°Fine! I know that, but it has been so boring lately. Tell me more about the monsters and contracting with them.¡±, I said as I gave up on going straight to experimenting, and thought to myself. Damn Elan has learned how to start pushing some of my buttons. Maybe I should considers how to create a small, fluffy fox eating fruits for survival as a secret weapon against Elan? He wouldn¡¯t want anything that eats his critters, and that should distract him for a while. Sensing something, Elan glared at me suspiciously for a moment, before proceeding to explain. ¡°Seeing as how the wolf successfully evolved, you should give it some time for getting to know the new abilities of its body. I assume you can¡¯t yet contract it properly, as it has just only now gained rudimentary intelligence for it. As it started from a normal, albeit stronger, wolf, the new evolutions will be harder to achieve. Even with killing the adventurers as a named monster you can resurrect. Also, as a dungeon, the stronger the monster is, the less you can directly control it. But you don¡¯t have to worry about the ones you created ever rebelling, as you can shatter the imprint within their souls, killing them instantly. Foreign monsters must pledge their loyalty to you, allowing you to imprint their souls, before the same is possible.¡± As the alpha had rested for awhile, it now stood up, towering above the rest of the pack, before joyously howling towards the ceiling. Rest of the back joined to the howl, as the alpha headed back to the den with explosive leaps, being obviously stronger than before. ¡°The mana I can sense from the core of alpha is only small portion of mine, maybe one part out of hundred. Is it because of just evolving or are my mana reserves so vast compared to the normal monsters?¡±, I questioned Elan as we watched the rest of the pack savaging the corpse of a large snake. ¡°Yes. As a dungeon core your mana reserves are truly enormous, and habitually control amounts straining to the most of the mages, not to mention the pure complexity of creating something from mana. Nothing else besides the divines can do it, after all. From what I gather, only those existences bordering at the top, being nearly deities themselves, could ever hope to start fathoming what dungeon cores do from their birth. Even so, as soon as a dungeon core dies, it goes inert, losing the ability to store more mana than a mana stone of the same size. Otherwise, all mages would manically try to gain one for themselves.¡±, Elan answered with a dry tone. Considering this for a moment, I had to agree with Elan. Ever since I became a dungeon core, I have constantly been doing what was previously impossible to me as a human mage. I also have to admit, that had been a great source of research for me as well. As a human, my capacity to the mana also held me back, always making me to seek larger mana stones for their storing ability to boost my spells or replenishing my spend reserves. Mentally shrugging, I threw these thoughts away as they are little of use for me. ¡°Enough of that for now. When are we seeing more of the adventurers? It has already been over a tenday since I let that hunter escape.¡±, I asked from Elan as I can¡¯t observe what¡¯s outside my dungeon. At least for now. Sighing to himself, Elan slumped his head for a moment before answering. ¡°As you asked yesterday, it might take a month or two for adventurers to arrive. Depends on how eager they are to lay claim upon your dungeon, and how far their nearest guild hall is.¡±. ¡°I just noticed that I¡¯ve never asked one thing, why call themselves as an Adventurers Guild? From what I understand, most of them are mercenaries, working under the name of a guild. Surely the reason isn¡¯t such a simple thing as ¡°being an adventurer sounds better than being a mercenary?¡±¡±, I asked with sudden insight as I kept questioning Elan. Snorting disdainfully, Elan answered, ¡°That is indeed so. Originally the Guild was only working within the old Empyrean Empire, and separated from the normal mercenary groups through a new identity. Some of the strongest people back then didn¡¯t want to join more wars, decided to create a faction neutral to all countries and armed forces, focusing upon killing monsters and such. Even today, the guild itself stays neutral, but the members can be contracted for different activities, as long as they don¡¯t involve themselves in armed conflicts through contracts. Such things are left for mercenaries.¡± Sighing, he continued, ¡°Currently the Empyrean Empire is no more, yet the guild has spanned the continent, becoming a truly neutral faction accepting all humanoid sentients under divine protection within their ranks. Each large enough city has a branch office for the guild with a strong, trustworthy and retired adventurer leading it. Same goes for any dungeon they manage to lay their claim on, as those are their main source of revenue, and controlled training environment for all ranks. Depending on the dungeon, they might set up a large presence over the immediate area, buying the rights to the land from the owner, while paying percentage of the income as taxes.¡±. ¡°As an organization spanning across the continent, the adventurer plates work as an identification as well, being bound to the owner with their mana, copy being held in the guild hall. Upon death, the mana signature within the plates dissipates. Plates are being made so that they can only be bound once, making the creation of forgeries far more difficult than getting your own plate. At least if you¡¯re not trying to pose as a higher rank than you really are.¡±, Elan ended with a huff, obviously not pleased upon the choice of the subject, having been enslaved for the guild for a two centuries. ¡°Alright, I keep watching the bunny and a snake for evolution. Afterwards I can start my own experiments to get the process down with other creatures, before upgrading the ones in the second floor.¡±, looking surprised as I acquiesced to his suggestion of waiting, Elan cocked his eyebrow. Sounding genuinely worried, he asked me, ¡°Faran, are you okay? No mana constipation? Weird palpitations in your core? No split personalities?¡± Snarling mentally, I answered with annoyance, ¡°You being worried about me sounds incredibly sarcastic! Of course I can change how I do things, you gave me perfectly logical suggestion!¡± Looking the shocked expression upon Elan¡¯s face, like last time he saw Trendal in a compromising pose, I couldn¡¯t help but verbally jab at him. ¡°But I will still experiment upon the bunnies and squirrels!¡± Seeing his now grimacing face, I mentally laughed at him as I withdrew my focus back to my core, leaving Elan fuming on the second floor. Chapter 10 - Guardians, Guild and a Lovetap Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Faran¡¯s POV I was watching how the last one of the three creatures, the bunny that killed the hunter, was getting used to its new body. Viper had evolved two days later than the wolf, while the bunny took four more days. The viper gained resonance with the darkness element, not surprising seeing that she favored stealth even more so than normal vipers. Her size grew slightly to a 4 meters, while being as thick as a human arm, and she was even more adept at hiding now. Most of the upgrades were focused upon her poison and fangs though, giving birth to an even deadlier venom, and reinforcing the fangs with her new element. After seeing her in action, I could easily see how the fangs can now pierce thick hides with ease. Alpha had dominated the cave he lived in, suppressing the other pack. With his upgrade, he grew even more powerful body, focusing upon strength. Currently he can crush the scales of the constrictor snakes with a bite, while being able resist the crushing hug of them with his body. The bunny seemed to gain elemental powers of wind, making me slightly unhappy from the association with the Goddess of Wind, Ilessa. His size stayed at double of the other bunnies, while his claws grew even sharper, growing more like how I called them, slasher bunnies. Unlike before, he seems to be flitting around in a fight, doing hit and runs while bleeding enemies to the death. Upon observing the different evolutions, I noticed how the core grows in slightly different sizes, proportional to their size of a brain. Upon asking Elan, he said cores are indeed located within the brain, while size may differ, the difference in purity offsets the amount. I think some monsters, like the alpha wolf, grow in power while accumulating more first, before starting to purify the energies. While some, like the viper, grow stronger while purifying the energies and later on condensing them. The bunny looks like a mix between the two. Currently the alpha has grown more intelligent, as has the viper. I assume such thing happens eventually for the bunny as well. For now I¡¯m prepared to first contract the evolved creatures, so they don¡¯t accidentally get killed after I start converting the creatures in the second floor. I was planning to leave the bunny on the first floor, while placing normal constrictors from second floor as a boss in the caves before my old core room leading to the second floor. According to Elan, I should be able to easily contract the creatures in my dungeon, seeing as they instinctually know that I am their creator. Doing so will improve their power, as during the contract I will need to infuse them with my own mana. I can also link with its mind with ease, as they already have the imprint from me upon their souls. Focusing upon the wolf, I merge with its mind. The alpha gives a startled yelp, then looks around in confusion, seeking the intruder within his mind. I can¡¯t hear any thoughts like from humanoids with a language, all I get are feelings, concepts, from his mind. Somehow I understand what each of them means, as those feelings and concepts are translated to a language I can understand. From the alpha I can feel fear, hesitation and, to my surprise, even reverence. ¡°Creator, greetings. Orders, wishes?¡±, the alpha asks from me. Okay, so they don¡¯t seem to be best talkers for now. I think to myself, and plan to keep things simple for them to understand. ¡°Reward for the alpha. Name, and a contract. Become stronger, as my guardian.¡±, I tell him, sending the understanding of the contract I¡¯m planning to bestow upon him. The alpha grows excited, ears perking up, starting to wag its tail. ¡°Contract, name, I agree!¡±, alpha sends with a tongue lolling outside of its mouth. Huh look at him, what a good doggie¡­ Hey wait a second! Where did my ferocious, battle-mongering alpha wolf go? I think in dismay upon seeing his radically changed demeanor. Is he a simpleton? No I better focus now. I quickly clear my mind from distractions as I prepare for the next step, following my instincts as a dungeon core. ¡°I will bestow you a name of Renzi, The First Alpha. I, Faran, take you as my guardian, granting you power, and offering a sanctuary for your soul. Renzi, do you agree?¡±, as I granted him the name, I saw a small shift in his soul, the same I went through when I gave my name to Trendal. I barely finished voicing the contract, as Renzi already agreed with a happy bark. I suddenly felt a connection to him forming, and that connection moved to the area of my mind with other knowledge as a dungeon core. I swear, I don¡¯t see my prideful, strong, and brutal alpha anywhere now. I thought to myself as I gathered my mana, sending it towards Renzi¡¯s core. A whirlpool made of mana formed atop the core, like during his original evolution, drawing in the extra mana I was feeding to him. He underwent the same effects as before, chaotic mana ravaging his body, ripping it apart and healing it after. I spent an hour as I slowly fed mana to his core, watching as the mana within grew more purified, and his body grew stronger, yet staying the same size. His fur turned black, gaining a slight tint of red within as he accumulated more fire element. He was now 1,5 meters high at the shoulders, and 2,6 meters long with a sleek body rippling with muscles. Seeing as Renzi was getting near his limit, soon being in danger of dying, I withdrew my mana. I would leave the detailed inspection of him for later, and let him rest from the upgrade. ¡°Welcome Renzi, first of my guardians. Rest now.¡±, I sent to Renzi as I absorbed the gore on his body, as he answered in a tired, yet oddly satisfied tone. ¡°Creator, my gratitude. I defend the Creator, kill all intruders!¡±, Renzi said with conviction, before passing out. I sent orders for the creatures to not attack him while he recuperated, startling most of them from unexpected contact. Surprisingly, that took a third of my mana, albeit most of it leaked out. From what I observed, most of it went for fixing small imperfections throughout his body, as well somewhat boosting his mana in the core. As soon as I inspect him properly, maybe I can use him as a reference when creating wolves with a core. As I upgrade other wolves, I should be able to see if they look different with other elements. I thought to myself as I shifted my focus upon the next exper-, I mean candidate, the viper. *** Meanwhile, Frontier City of Josmar, Traveling Merchant Deithus¡¯ POV Having sold my merchandise of the latest trip, netting a profit of three gold and seventeen silver coins, I left my wagon to the stables of at the inn I frequent during my visits in Josmar. Silver Tankard is favored by merchants, as the inn is located near the market square, along a well patrolled route of city guards. This makes the more rowdy members of society to avoid frequenting the place, and with enough coin the barmaids will warm your bed at nights. The owner, former merchant himself, also prefers the clients being more cultured, refusing to rent rooms for groups of mercenaries or adventurers. As a result, the tavern in the first floor is a rich source of information through the merchants and travelers gathering there. Walking through the streets covered in gravel, I arrive at the local building of Adventurers guild. It is of an impressive size, located along the main road between the marketplace and the western gate. Four stories tall building with first floor made from stone, it occupies the whole block with training grounds next to it. They also provide lodging for the guild members, along with a bar services, on the first floor. Stepping inside through the double doors to the large lobby, I am greeted with a sight of a groups of adventurers milling around a large notice board on the left side of the room, along with a set of large stairs rising to a second floor. On the left side of the stairs, is a desk with a clerk sitting behind it, ready to handle adventurers either accepting or reporting a mission. Behind him was a door leading deeper in the building. On the right side I can hear a rowdy voices, coming through a doorway to the tavern area. Heading towards the clerk with confident steps, I stand in front of the young, smart looking man manning the desk. As I arrive to the desk, he gives me a business smile nearing perfection, asking with a pleasant tone, ¡°Hello. How may I be of service?¡± Slightly smiling, I grab the pouch I got from the hunter upon my waist as I say, ¡°Hi, I am a traveling merchant, Deithus, and I have come to report an unknown dungeon found in the western wilderness.¡±. As the smile upon clerk¡¯s face froze, I could feel the stares from the adventurers behind me, as the noise died down. Stiffening, with a cold sweat forming on my back, I keep focusing on the clerk. With a start, the man recovered, and stood up with a slightly stiff smile. Showing a way with his hand, he then proceeded to guide me towards the stairs, glancing at the adventurers. ¡°Follow me please. This talk should be had with the officers of the guild at upstairs, not in the lobby.¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Glancing behind me, I saw a few hungry faces upon the adventurers, and hurried to follow the clerk to the upstairs, feeling the stares on me as the hushed conversations started. I should¡¯ve known! With no nearby dungeons, adventurers are traveling to the wilderness from Josmar, with no guarantee of profits. And now they know that I know a location for a dungeon, with certain profits. I despaired at my mistake I made for being too excited of my future profits. I wonder if I can survive with this information, the word is surely going to spread around by those chatty adventurers. Especially if other parties with an interest are going to come after me. Oh, how did I manage to make such an elementary mistake?! I¡¯m a merchant for divines sake! I kept disparaging myself as I followed the clerk to the upper floors, tightly gripping my pouch. Soon we arrive in front of a large double doors on the fourth floor, with a sign of ¡°Guild Master¡± hanging atop them. Feeling trepidation, I realized that I was soon going to meet the famous mithril ranked adventurer leading the local guild hall for the last decade, Torgin. Before retiring at the age of 64, he was a part of famous group of mithril ranked adventurers, acting as a frontliner with his longsword and a shield. Even now he keeps training both himself and a new generation, while keeping good relations with more open minded nobles, such a Duke Wyrinth, lord of the city. The clerk quickly rapped on the door, and stood in attention, being slightly nervous. From within the room came a tired sounding voice, with a deep, penetrating quality to it, ¡°Enter.¡±. Clerk opened the door, ushering me inside as he gave a slight bow towards the guild master. The office was a large room, with a low table in middle of the room, surrounded by a pair of sofas and armchairs around it. Next to the walls on both sides was two large bookshelves placed at the corners, with a left side having a large windows, and right side of the wall was decorated with a different weapons, along with an armor stand of impressive set of Black Steel plate armor. Above the low table in middle of the room, hung an enchanted chandelier with light stones, shaped like an upside-down lotus flower. At the end of the room, was a sturdy, heavy looking large desk filled with stacks of paper, with a tired looking guild master sitting behind it. In front of the desk was a pair of wooden chairs. The man had a tall, muscular body with wide shoulders, and he looked to be in his early 50¡¯s, wearing a simple leather boots and pants, with a green shirt under a leather vest. Torgin had an angular face, bushy eyebrows, slightly greyed, light brown hair, divided to the sides from middle, reaching his strong jaw. He had a jagged scar starting from between his brown eyes, going across the bridge of his nose to the right cheek. His face was covered with a permanent looking stubble, like he was too lazy, or busy, to shave properly. ¡°Master Torgin, I brought a merchant Deithus to report about unfound dungeon in the western wilderness. Unfortunately, the adventurers at the lobby also heard about this, so I rushed him to you.¡±, the clerk said with an apologetic tone. I looked at the now frowning man, feeling a sense of pressure in front of him, as he said, ¡°Fine, good work. You may return to your duties at the lobby now.¡±. The clerk bowed once more, before leaving the room, closing the doors behind him. Torgin focused his gaze upon me, saying with a stern tone, ¡°Well then, lad. I hope you spoke the truth, as otherwise you may be torn to shreds in the streets when the rumors start circulating and nobles want the information you¡¯re supposedly to have on you.¡± *** Local Adventurers Guild Office, Guild Master Torgin POV Finished in scaring the young merchant, I look him more closely. He is of an average height, with a lean body, wearing a clean set of light green traveling clothes and leather boots, with a grey woolen cloak on his back. Dark brown hair tied to a short ponytail, with a pleasing, yet common, facial features. Has a short beard under his shin, that was now shaking nervously as he tried to get a sound of his mouth. He was gripping a pouch on his belt, from which a dagger was hanging on the opposite hip. Maybe I should stop circulating my mana, poor man obviously hasn¡¯t had training with it. I thought to myself as I stopped reinforcing myself. ¡°Now that you know the situation, why don¡¯t you take a seat and start from the beginning.¡±, I said as I waved towards the pair of chairs in front of my desk. With a start, the young man started walking across the room, stumbling slightly as his foot caught the carpet. Blushing, the merchant proceeded to sit on the chair. Nodding to myself, I said to the very nervous merchant, ¡°Now, why don¡¯t you introduce yourself first, and then tell me how you came upon the information upon this new dungeon.¡±. With a slight stammer, the merchant then proceeded with his side of the story. *** ¡°... and then he gave me this pouch, with a map and couple herbs gathered from the dungeon¡±, Deithus finished as he placed the pouch upon my desk. Rubbing the bridge of my nose around the scar, I groaned to myself. ¡°Someone always gets greedy when finding a new dungeon, getting themselves and others, dead. Luckily the other hunter managed to escape from the dungeon creatures. From the sound of it, it should be a young one, with snakes and other small animals within.¡± Snorting, I then continued, ¡°Well, the hunter learned his lesson, although he might never view the rabbits he used to hunt the same ever again. It¡¯s the first I hear someone being driven crazy by a bunch of furry critters, even dungeon born ones.¡±, laughing to myself, I saw the confused look on the face of Deithus. I proceeded to open the pouch and looked over the herbs, sensing a good amount of residual mana in them. Certainly grown in mana-rich soil. Nodding to myself I took a look in the map, seeing that the marked area was already within the mapped area. Definitely points towards either a young dungeon, or the young merchant got duped by wrong information. ¡°Pardon me for asking, but what does the dungeon born mean?¡±, the young merchant asked with confusion evident on his voice. Shrugging to myself, I answered ¡°Ah, that¡¯s how we call dungeon creatures. See, as they can create almost anything, even a bunch of killer rabbits, why don¡¯t we then see more of these monsters along with normal ones already outside the dungeons?¡± Chuckling at the still confused merchant, I continued without waiting for his answer, ¡°The creatures created by the dungeon can¡¯t survive outside for long. As soon as the creatures leave the dungeon, the mana of the dungeon starts dissipating, eventually killing them. This usually happens within an hour, and the same happens when we kill the creature in dungeons. Most of the mana dissipates in the air, with a remnant mana of different types, such as fire or earth, staying within the carcass.¡± Leaning on the desk with my elbows, I locked my gaze on Deithus. ¡°Now you see why the dungeons are so lucrative. They provide a wide variety of different materials, keep to themselves unless provoked, and most of all, they can learn how to make different materials, plants, creatures, or even weapons and armors. Currently we are lacking a proper vantage point for our forays in the wilderness, as just building a town without a source of revenue isn¡¯t enough, making the true worth of this dungeon even greater. Now, as this dungeon is young, with any luck we can make it very profitable endeavor. Not to mention the resources we can find in the surrounding areas. The worth of this new dungeon is too high to let greedy nobles to handle it, as there are countless examples of them turning the dungeon hostile with unfair contracts they make with them. From what you can do now, is to get a backing of your own, before you¡¯re implicated in the politics around this dungeon.¡± Seeing the young merchant growing serious from the explanations regarding the dungeon, I continued observing the youngster, interested in the choice he¡¯ll make. Earlier I saw nothing from his demeanor that would suggest him deceiving me. Yet it is still possible that the crazed hunter was wrong. After thinking for a while, he then opened his mouth, ¡°Master Torgin, I¡¯d like to associate myself with the adventurers guild, and open a store of my own near the dungeon as a reward for this information.¡± Looking at the now very serious young merchant, I broke in a laughter. His confused face started growing ashamed as I managed to calm myself down. ¡°Now now, I wasn¡¯t laughing at your desire to join under our guild, I was just amused from how little you want. You obviously don¡¯t know how much money the information of this particular dungeon truly is worth, do you?¡±, without waiting Deithus to answer, I proceeded with my talk, ¡°Now, I can certainly provide the reward you suggested, and I will add something on top of it, when we confirm the location of the dungeon. Depending on the surrounding area, your shop will be placed in a premium location, in the central square of the new town. Moreover, we will build it next to our guild hall location over there for extra security, and provide you with five hundred gold coins.¡± As I kept talking, Deithus¡¯ mouth kept opening more and more, as his eyes started glazing over. I snapped my fingers to make him focus again, ¡°Now don¡¯t get too excited yet, lad. We still gotta confirm your information. Of course, while we¡¯re waiting results, we will make a binding contract. Seeing as I can¡¯t sense mana from you, we will be using your blood to activate a soul contract item. Now, before you grow worried, this is a normal procedure when you get to a high enough position, or handle a lot of money. The item basically allows us to make a contract magic users, internal or external, can make without. As a bonus, no one can tamper with the contract after it has been done without both of us agreeing to it.¡± Seeing his eyes glazing over, I sigh. ¡°We can work out the details later. Now, you should sleep in the guild from now on, to avoid the questioning of the other parties. I will arrange a scouting party for appraising the dungeon. Now, excuse me for a moment, I¡¯ll send someone to bring refreshments in a moment.¡±, I said as I grabbed the pouch with the map and herbs, and headed towards the door, grinning as I got away from never-ending pile of paperwork. Maybe I should ask relocation if this new dungeon really is there. Let someone else argue with nobles, and I¡¯ll get to do some real work once in awhile. I thought as I walked through the hallway with a spring in my step. *** Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Faran¡¯s POV I watched as Elan kept laughing at my latest addition of special bosses. I refused to acknowledge him as a guardian. By the unknown darkness that is the both the void and a hole between your buttocks, THAT is not gonna be my guardian! Looking at the half a meter tall, seventy centimeters long, light brown streak of fur bouncing and skittering happily all over the caves, while chirping happily with a high-pitched tone, I despaired. Even my bloodthirsty bunnies changed their nature after gaining a name? Merro, The Slasher Bunny, grew sleeker, and his claws sharpened noticeably. Currently he is very happy for gaining a name. While he was bouncing around, a group of smaller snakes interrupts him, and happy chittering turn to a screech of rage, as he starts dashing amongst the snakes with a hit-and-run tactics, slashing them to pieces. Elan looks forlorn as the happy bunny turned to a psychopathic slasher, as the smaller snakes are cut to a chunks of meat, splashing the pieces, guts and blood all over the stalagmites and the cave interior. Merro started chittering happily again, and kept bouncing all over the cave, eventually starting to roam the network of caves. ¡°Fine, it is still your creation. Turning from a happy bunny, to a berserk slasher within a mere moment, wouldn¡¯t be possible otherwise. And I was looking forward to seeing something more¡­ normal within here.¡±, Elan said sullenly, as the previous failure of me producing a bouncing, happily chittering, normal monster bunny was washed away with some good old blood and gore. ¡°But I still refuse to add a bunny amongst the guardians! And no squirrels either! If you want something furry amongst them, there is already Renzi.¡±, I told to Elan, as he had wanted me to try and create a fluffy guardian for his resting area as I was experimenting anyways. Elan took a serious pose, standing straight as he clasped his hands behind his back, and talked with pride, ¡°I refuse to acknowledge that beast among the fluffy furries, no matter how great his fur feels! He is not soft and cuddly!¡±. I snorted at Elan¡¯s views of fluffy animals. As he can now do what he wants, and I¡¯m enabling his obsessions, he has grown overly enthusiastic of small, fluffy animals. ¡°I rather focus upon upgrading the second floor monsters. At least Izael, The Obscure Assassin turned out right, as she acts like she should and is smarter than Renzi or Merro. Even if she is rather prideful.¡±, I commented at how the scaly second guardian of mine turned out. Elan immediately turned indignant, ¡°Prideful?! She outright ignored me with a huff!¡±. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that bad, she¡¯s just shy. And the way her tail twitches when she¡¯s happy is cute. She is still at the size of 4 meters, thick as a human calf. Only her teeth and poison were upgraded by a large margin. Although I really like her new coloring of dark green.¡±, I quickly defended Izael, as I was most happy with how she turned out. ¡°She slapped me with her her tail! That wasn¡¯t a twitch!¡±, Elan yelled at me. ¡°No no no, that was a twitch, after all when I talked to her, she did that all the time.¡± ¡°I still have a bruise on my chest from that!¡± ¡°Fine fine, I will tell her to not give any more love taps to you.¡±, I finished with a snicker. ¡°I will now go and rework the creatures in the second floor. This might take me a while.¡±, I told the still fuming Elan as I moved my focus on the second floor. Maybe I should start small, like squirrels or bunnies? Or the small snakes? I wondered as I hummed happily in my mind. Chapter 11 - Upgrades and Visitors Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Faran¡¯s POV Last tendays has been busy for me, as I upgraded monsters in the second floor. I also added hidden tunnels connecting the first two floors, so that the animals evolving to monsters can easily head down to the second floor. During the first couple of days, I met with a series of¡­ complications when forming the core for my creatures. Seeing as the size of the core must be correct for each race, or the mana runs rampant, there was a serious epidemic involving mutilated corpses, exploding heads, twisted corpses and so on. Elan only took a brief visit to the second floor as I was starting with bunnies, before promptly shutting himself within his sanctuary, as he witnessed how the head of the bunny turned into a geyser of mushy brain matter, blood, and various other pieces. The chunk of flesh with a tuft of hair landing on his head certainly had nothing to do with it. Nevertheless, I managed to make my monsters. Daggerbirds living higher up were changed, leaving those living closer to the treeline normal. They didn¡¯t change much, besides all gaining the affinity with wind, making them faster, and their beak sharper. They took a green hue at the end of the feathers, while the rest kept the original light grey coloration, with black beaks and claws. Squirrels took after the affinity for earth, changing their fur to a deeper brown color, enhancing their capabilities overall in a balanced manner. A monster squirrel is now a match against normal bunny at the first floor. Bunnies on the other hand had a variety of affinities, mostly focused upon air, water and earth. Their different evolutions didn¡¯t have that much of a difference yet, but earth affinity ones were sturdier, water ones fairly balanced with slightly improved regeneration, and the faster air ones. The foxes also took after the earth, changing their coloration to a brownish red, while making their bodies sturdier and the hide thicker. They moved alone, capable of hunting the bunnies moving in a small groups. Smaller snakes living in a community took after the water, improving their speed and poison, and grew to a two meter length. Constrictor snakes took after the earth, strengthening their bodies, especially the scales. They also grew to an impressive 8 meter length with a body as thick as human torso. The vipers were, not surprisingly, with a strong affinity to the darkness. They grew to a similar size and properties as Izael, yet as a downgraded version. Their speed, camouflage and poison were weaker than her, yet still way above their original form. Wolves grew to a form resembling Renzi, yet slightly smaller, and gained affinity for either fire or wind. Those having the fire affinity, had the same coloration as Renzi, yet the red hue was weaker. With the air affinity, the hue changed to a green one, and the body was slightly sleeker. Those with a fire affinity were also more aggressive than normal, seeking battles with other packs or constrictor snakes. I wasn¡¯t able to change my plants to monsters, so I was planning to wait until they accumulated enough mana to evolve naturally. With the constant draining and meditation I was doing, I grew my center to fill half of my core, way faster than with just normal accumulation of mana. Elan grew distraught upon hearing that, as now I had perfect excuse to keep doing my experiments. He only commented my progress as being ¡°unnatural, inconceivable, freak of a nature¡± among other, less flattering things. The concentration of mana had grown thick at the second floor, so I was able to start growing my domain again. For now I widened my domain of the second floor, reaching a half a kilometer in all directions from my core. I haven¡¯t yet decided what kind of an expansion I am going to make, as I was still waiting for the adventurers to show up. According to Elan, the guild tends to feed a new resources they hope to obtain to the dungeons. Speaking of adventurers, I also prepared four better traps with the iron I could now make to the tunnels leading to the second caves and to the last cave. I filled the connecting caves with a normal creeper vines, that grow all over the surfaces of the cave. Triggering vines have a soul, and have roots under the floor, while growing tendrils deep in the ceiling. There they are connected to a small lever, which they pull when someone steps on the roots. The lever then dislodges a two meter long, thirty centimeter wide cylinder of iron with a sharp spike at the end, dropping it down a couple steps after the triggering spot. The drop is ten meters above the ceiling, hidden behind a thin covering of stone. According to Elan, the scratching sounds the bar makes while falling, should be enough to warn adventurer ranks if they¡¯re careful enough. Well, if they¡¯re weak enough, then we get a skewered adventurer by a 4,7 tons of iron dropping down. Just so that I don¡¯t hand over free resources, I also left a small, covered hole in the floor, large enough to fit the iron spear of death. If they don¡¯t knock it out of trajectory, I get to keep it. I doubt it will stop easily even if someone is under it. I have also changed the behaviour of my creatures in the caves, limiting the size of their groups to a maximum of five per type of the creature within the first floor, while same goes for the wolves on the second floor. Smaller creatures can move in packs of ten at the second floor. If the adventurers come at their dens, they are allowed to assault in full force. This should keep their numbers up, as even the wolves grow to their full size within a tenday with the help of dungeon mana. Bunnies and squirrels are proliferating at insane amounts, growing to a full size within two days, yet they are also dying in the largest numbers. Constrictors take as long as wolves to grow as well, and after spawning the clutch of eggs, are left to fend on their own with enough food to last for a few days. With this, I have made sure that I don¡¯t have to spend my mana spawning any creatures, even if adventurers keep killing them. After all, most of the mana is released back to the dungeon domain as creature dies, while mana from adventurers is bound to be more tasty than from the hunter. Satisfied, I went to refine my latest secret weapon against Elan, in a small closed-off cave near his sanctuary. I got the form down, yet the food for it was still an issue. Just you wait Elan, when I succeed, I can convince you to almost anything! Anything I say!, with an evil laughter I had been practicing, I proceeded to experiment with my latest ideas. *** Outside Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Adventurer Rand Kellia Arriving near the marked location at the clearing near the river, I scanned the the map provided by the guildmaster as I oriented our location. Looking around for landmarks, I turned over to the scout of our team of five. ¡°Erand, we¡¯re getting close to the place marked on the map. It should be on the mountain wall in that direction on the plateau. Scout the location of the entrance, and report back as we set up the camp.¡±, I said as I pointed the direction, stashing the map in my pouch. The man nodded, dropping his backpack under a nearby tree, and started heading through the woods towards the plateau as he unslung his ironwood shortbow from his back. Turning to the rest of my teammates, I divvied up the job for everyone. ¡°Pete, gather the firewood, Vernon and Trent set up the tents, while I make the fireplace.¡± ¡°Oi Rand, why you¡¯ve been getting the easiest job this trip? You know how annoying it is to gather wood with my equipment.¡±, grumbled Pete, our sword and board user, wearing a set of cold iron chainmail armor along with plated boots, shin and forearm guards. Pete was 1,8m tall human, with a shoulder length blond hair tied to a ponytail, slightly oblong shaped handsome face, with a strong jaw and prominent cheekbones. Currently he was scratching his short beard that he sported under his chin with a frown on his face. Normally he¡¯s a calm, easy to get along person, but he had been walking three days in thick woodlands with his equipment, after we had to leave our horses to a small fishing village of Lorra.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°¡®Cause I¡¯m cooking! If you want to do it, then lets switch.¡±, I pointed out, sparking an immediate reaction from Trent. ¡°Hell no! Last time I ate Pete¡¯s cooking, I had to get Vernon to remove the poison from me!¡±, Quipped the half-dwarf with his beard bristling as he unpacked the tents. Trent was 1,6 meter tall with a broad shoulders and muscular, stout body. He had a shoulder length red hair braided to a ponytail, with an equally colored thick, full beard growing down to his chest. Strong, angular facial features with a wide jaw, and light grey eyes under a bushy eyebrows. Trent was boisterous in nature, liking to joke around during the fights. Raising my eyebrow, I looked to the now blushing Pete as he turned towards Trent. ¡°Hey! Who would have known that a wild parsnip we normally use in cooking would do that!¡±, Pete explained with a righteous tone. ¡°Hemlock and parsnip stem looks quite different from each other. And we both know you aren¡¯t that good with differentiating common plants.¡±, said Vernon, over his shoulder as he kept piling up the ropes and stakes for the tents. He was an average height for a Half-Elf, with a sleek body and a feminine looking features, thin eyebrows, slightly prominent cheekbones, and a pointed nose and a sharp chin. Vernon had a slightly almond shaped, green eyes, and he wears his blond hair in a short ponytail reaching his shoulders, showcasing his slightly pointed ears. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear that from a trap of a herbalist!¡±, quipped Pete. As soon as the word ¡°trap¡± left his mouth, Vernon was already turning around with a iron stake, throwing it at him. Pete blocked the throw with arm guard, with a small clang as the metals hit each other. ¡°Hey! That¡¯s gonna leave a mark!¡±, Pete yelled as he checked out the damage. Deciding to step in at this point, I interrupted the quarreling trio. ¡°Enough of that. Trent, I¡¯ll be cooking, don¡¯t worry about that. Vernon, don¡¯t throw object at people commenting your looks. Pete, if your new cold iron armor gets scratched from iron stake, you¡¯ve been duped. Now get to the work!¡±, with a chorus of agreements, the trio kept working. I placed my spear against a tree, and took of my backpack, setting it down. Taking a short shovel from the side strap, I dug a shallow pit for the fire, and gathered some stones around the edges. Spotting a fallen tree nearby, I swapped my shovel for a small chopping axe. Hacking the branches off, I cut two three meter pieces from the trunk. As I circulated my mana through my body, I lifted the piece up, carrying it at the fireplace. While I was returning with the second piece, Trent and Vernon had already set up a small tents for each of us. Trent had pulled out a fishing pole, while Vernon prepared to cast a repelling boundary spell. It was basic spell for life mages, and it kept away all insects and small critters. Even larger animals were affected, yet they only felt discomfort when crossing the boundary of the spell, as the weak spell was meant to repel living beings. Vernon moved to the center of the camp, pulling out a mana stone with a simple runic inscription, meant for it to keep feeding mana to a spell cast upon it. Holding the manastone in front of him, Vernon chanted a short incantation, controlling the life element in air to form a bubble around our camp. When Vernon finished his chant, a small wave spread from him, and a familiar sense of discomfort washed over me as the boundary spread out, stopping at fifteen meter mark. The mage then took out a small wooden stake, with a rounded hole on top of it, and pressed it into the ground. After placing the mana stone in the hollowing, he then stood up and proceeded to sit under a tree near his tent, taking out a notebook out of his pouch. ¡°You can update the journal later today. Erand is still scouting out the location for the dungeon.¡±, I said as I set down the log I was carrying, and stopped circulating the mana within me. ¡°I have time as I wait for a lunch. If Erand finds the dungeon, we might get busy mapping it out.¡±, Vernon replied with a dissatisfied tone as he took out a quill and a bottle of ink. Sighing, I explained, ¡°You know that our team was only one above silver ranks to move out within the same day. Guildmaster Torgin wanted to make sure no accidents happen, even if the dungeon is supposed to be a new one.¡± Snorting, Trent said from the side as he was untangling a fishing line, ¡°Yeah right, a baby dungeon is easy enough for a silver ranks. A team of steel rankers with ya at cold iron rank is serious overkill for a new dungeon. We should¡¯ve gone deeper in the wilderness, or gotten a job for killing some hobgoblins for a challenge.¡± Scratching my head, I decided to tell them some extra information the guildmaster gave me as he briefed me for this mission. ¡°You know, Master Torgin said that there might be more to that dungeon than that. If we find it, there is going to be a new city built here as a spearhead for the expedition to the wilderness. And it¡¯s under the name of the guild, not under the nobles. This would mean that in the future our trips to the wilderness would be half a month shorter with a staging point here.¡± Shaking his head, Vernon commented as he was writing in the journal, ¡°You know none of us cares about the politics. Even if we are getting a nice amount of money from this, young dungeons are not interesting. They¡¯re just a bunch of caves, filled with moss, small plants and insects. Only at later ranks, or when they get access to lightstones, can they support more diverse life and spawn monsters. From what I understood, this place was covered with a routine sweep for a new dungeons almost a year ago. Even now I can feel only small disturbances in the mana, meaning that the dungeon is at the first rank, perhaps peak of it.¡±. Vernon cleaned his quill, stoppering the bottle of ink, and packed them away with a notebook. Trent stood up with his fishing line now untangled, and quipped over his shoulder as he walked towards the nearby river, ¡°Ya know Rand, we¡¯ll do this scouting with professionalism as always, but this time we¡¯re little miffed at you for accepting a job this boring without consulting us, even if it was a favour to Master Torgin.¡± Sighing to myself again, I turned towards the woods where Pete was crashing through, carrying a bundle of firewood, grumbling to himself. Maybe I should dig into my spices and try to lift the mood up with tastier food. Hopefully the dungeon isn¡¯t that boring, or I¡¯ll get my ass kicked when we return, even if the basic pay is 30 gold coins for each member of the team. I thought as I headed to my backpack, and rummaged for my jars of spices. *** It was past midday already, and I was simmering down a pot of stew over the fire, when Erand returned to the campsite. Trent was also grilling a two trouts he caught, by slowly rotating the branch they were skewered with, the fat occasionally dropping to the fire followed by a small burst of flames. The quiet scout of our party was a human of an average height, with a sleek body trained for speed and dextrous movements. Erand had a short, dark brown hair, slightly handsome, oblong face with angular cheekbones. His large, black eyes with a sharp glint to them quickly scanned the campsite, stopping for a moment over the pot of stew. Under his slightly crooked, previously broken nose, he grows a short moustache connecting to his short beard under his pointed chin. Stepping to the campfire where we were gathered, Erand promptly sat down, holding his hands out. I grabbed a bowl from the pile I had placed near the fire, and filled it with a stew. Handing him the bowl, Erand pulled the still steaming stew close to his face, taking an appraising sniff. Trent, getting impatient with the suspense, blurted out what we all were thinking, ¡°Well? Did ya find the dungeon?¡± ¡°Yes.¡±, was the short reply as Erand kept blowing to cool down the stew. ¡°Don¡¯t ya keep us in suspense! Details, give us the details!¡±, grumbled the half-dwarf. ¡°Half an hour trip, entrance made of obsidian, resembles a giant head of a snake. Archway leading to a short tunnel within the mouth is filled with carvings of snakes.¡±, said the scout as he took a careful sip from his bowl. ¡°Alright, stop teasing Trent, you know he doesn¡¯t like when you try to keep your answers short.¡±, I said as I kept filling the rest of the bowls and passed them to others. Sighing, Erand spoke with more details, ¡°Tunnel leads inside a cave, certainly a dungeon. It has a source of light in form of vines with some kind crystallized veins within them. Variety of forest plants are growing in there, I suspect it has already contracted a dungeon fairy or something with a tangible body. Otherwise someone brought the plants within the dungeon, which is doubtful. The first cave isn¡¯t that large, twenty meters wide, and ten in both length and height, it has an uneven ground and only had normal insects within. Cave also had both stalactites and stalagmites as an obstacles. There were two tunnels leading to different directions.¡±. Shutting his mouth, Erand kept sipping his stew as we mulled over his words. Looking at the Vernon, I quipped at him, ¡°Not so interesting dungeon, right Vernon?¡±. He snorted, ¡°Well, at least those vines with crystal veins are a new one. And judging from the entrance, there will certainly be need of some poison removal if you get careless. Other than that, I hold my tongue before we see the rest of it.¡± Rest of the meal went in silence, as each went through our mental checklist before the dungeon dive. Finishing the meal, I doused the campfire, and attached potion pouch on my belt. It was a small, rectangular box made out of hardened leather. Within was a five glass tubes of of various liquids. One antidote, one mana fatigue removal potion, and 3 advanced healing potions. Luckily we had Vernon, as healing potions only accelerated normal healing, making it possible for bones to heal in a wrong position if not set correctly. I have even seen what happens if someone is stupid enough to drink one, when bones are crushed to pieces. That guy had to smash the bones all over again, as a mage capable of healing set them straight again. Advanced healing potion is enough to heal a stab through your stomach within a minute, or a broken bone within five. They¡¯re 10 gold coins a piece, yet every adventurer keeps at least one with them, as gold in your pouch will not save you from bleeding out. Effect gets weaker as time passes, until after seven minutes it ends. Weak or normal healing potions don¡¯t last as long, or heal as much, but are cheaper option for some. As each one was carrying their weapons and potion pouches, we set out towards the dungeon, in a slightly less gloomy atmosphere than the last few days. Maybe this trip will not be so boring after all? I thought as we trailed towards the plateau where the new dungeon was located at. Chapter 12 - First Contact and a Breakdown The long term studies show, how dungeons have a personality, and are capable of conversing with other races as they grow older. Most of this is attributed to the mostly spiritual creatures that accompany the dungeon cores, most common of them being the Dungeon Fairy. It is believed that having a someone to talk to, much like human infants, helps dungeons to form their own personality faster. These beings contract themselves to the dungeons in return for protection and mana to sustain themselves. Records show of them appearing again within dungeons upon being killed, much like unique creatures within dungeons. Conversing with the dungeon happens through these helpers, as the dungeon cores don¡¯t have their ability to speak to minds of the races under divine protection, due to the soul fields we project within the dungeon. Thus the helpers are known mouthpieces for the dungeons, and are used with communicating with them. Other option is to contract such a creature to yourself, in order to bypass this mouthpiece, and talk to the dungeon itself through the avatar that some of the older dungeons are capable of projecting. Making a deal with dungeon should be done with utmost care, as dungeons only make advanced soul contracts. As such, they can only be bound by such for as long as the contractee lives, making it important that young, still naive, dungeon isn¡¯t cheated. It is highly recommended to create contracts with only the dungeons with an advanced personalities, for dungeons are known to grow enraged upon discovering how they previously made a multitude of disadvantageous contracts when they grow in intelligence. Worst events include dungeons turning outright inhospitable to life for a century, spouting magma out of the entrance like a volcanoes, or causing outbreaks of plague with a swarm of disease ridden monsters swarming out of the dungeons. Some dungeons even turn necromantic in nature, spreading their death element infused mana in the surroundings, causing the undead rise up spontaneously outside the dungeon. Most of these events required the destruction of the dungeon core, as they devastated the surrounding regions. Recommended course of action when discovering a young dungeon, is to provide it with desired materials, and if available, contact the contracted helper. If the helper is a fairy or a wisp, there is a high chance of co-operation of mutual benefit without a soul contract. However, if a demonic being, such an imp, is to be discovered being the helper, it is best to destroy the dungeon if an alternative helper can¡¯t be provided for. For dungeons with a demonic helper, often turn hostile as they mature to a wicked personality. Excerpt from the book ¡°Working with the Dungeons¡±, by a Scribe Elijah Doller *** Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Faran¡¯s POV I noticed a strong disturbance to my domain at the entrance of the dungeon as I was recovering my mana from my slight upgrades to the first floor. Focusing on the first cave, I saw a cloaked individual wielding two long daggers stepping within, looking around the cave with vigilance. Curiously, I tried to focus upon him, only to have my senses being blocked near his skin. I could only sense that he had some darkness element mana within him, more than my rank one monsters. Even his cloak excluded some of the same mana, while his daggers were made from some metal giving off a slight sense of coldness to the surrounding air. Out of curiosity, I tried to gather my mana within the soul field of his, not being impeded by it. Trying to form the mana in shape of a copper coin, the mana turned chaotic, dispersing into the air. So no transforming the mana to the matter within the field. I thought to myself, as I started testing the mana cost according to the different distances. While the cloaked man was busy checking the side tunnel entrances, I created a different sized pebbles within the other caves, testing if the amount of stone infused with my mana had some different effects. The man had now started slowly inspecting the plants within the cave, while I managed to ascertain the effects to the mana cost by the distance. In short, creating a pebble within a hundred meters was as costly as creating a cubic meter of iron, while the cost returned to normal after two hundred meters if there was enough of mana infused stone in between the man and the created pebble. The presence of the man didn¡¯t affect the mana of plants or creatures, or my ability to gather raw mana, only creating something out of it. As the man was starting to leave, I did my last test, as it would tell if I would be able to communicate with them directly. Within the next cave still under the soul field, I condensed my mana to a visible ball, in accordance to my previous attempts of creating an avatar from it. I wasn¡¯t prevented from condensing it, yet as I tried to make it explode, mana dispersed immediately. The cloaked man stepped out of the entrance, while sheathing his daggers on his lower back, as I thought upon the revelations. Yet another thing I should ask about from Trendal. For now it looks like I can somehow interact with adventurers, yet can¡¯t try to directly act against them within their soul fields. A sonic boom made from mana seems to go over the limit, while condensing a solid ball of mana doesn¡¯t. Damn, where do these limitations come from? Bah, not important for now. Soon I can see how the adventurers handle my dungeon! Stopping my pondering, I looked for Elan. Focusing upon Elan as he was petting a squirrel in his personal cave, I informed him of the events with an excited tone. ¡°Elan! The adventurers are here! One of them scouted the first cave already.¡±. Startled, Elan suddenly straightened his back, scaring the squirrel as it jumped out of his lap. Looking after the now escaping critter for a moment with a forlorn look, Elan stood up and cleared his throat as he turned towards me. ¡°I see you are getting excited. Did you sense how strong he was?¡± ¡°Stronger than Renzi or Izael. I think I keep them away from the adventurers, as even that guy alone could kill them, not to mention other adventurers.¡±, I said thoughtfully. Elan flew up from the cave floor, heading towards one of the small tunnels connecting to the other caves. Clasping his hands behind his back, Elan then said over his shoulder, ¡°I would assume he might have been a Steel ranked adventurer, as Renzi of Izael can fight against a Silver ranker. It looks like they might have sent a fairly strong group for you, certainly not a silver ranked one like I thought. It will be hard to kill any of them in here, if the rest of the group are at Steel rank as well.¡±. ¡°Not interested in killing them. Yet. If I kill a Steel ranked ones in my dungeon right away, they won¡¯t send any weaker ones. That would mean that strong adventurers would keep coming without me being able to kill any of them.¡±, I explained to him. ¡°When those of silver ranks or above use mana within your dungeon, some of it will leak out and you can absorb that. It is not much, but if they keep visiting, they will eventually give as much mana as you would gain from killing them. Especially because you have self-sustaining economy with your creations, instead of summoning your monsters and plants.¡±, Elan said thoughtfully and he stroked his short goatee. ¡°Most of all I¡¯d like to see how they react to my creations and traps. I need to see how professionals handle them, so I create even better ones later on. Too bad I can¡¯t understand details of what they¡¯re going to say, as my proficiency with Empyrean language at the moment is negligible.¡±, I complained to Elan, who only deemed to roll his eyes at me. ¡°Wasn¡¯t Lord Trendal interested in seeing when adventurers arrive here? Shouldn¡¯t we inform him?¡±, Elan suddenly asked as he was flying through the pathways above the caves. I immediately dismissed Elan¡¯s suggestion with a disdainful snort. ¡°As if he needs more excuses to run from his work, whatever that is. Only reason he hasn¡¯t visited more often, is because he isn¡¯t interested of the process, only if the result are amusing. Just ignore him, he either comes on his own, or misses the fun.¡±. Growing somewhat nervous from dismissing the God of Darkness, Elan replied, ¡°As you wish, Faran. There is still some time before they arrive if the scout just left after all. I just hope that Lord Trendal doesn¡¯t take it personally that we didn¡¯t inform him.¡±. I hope he will be able to handle himself like he was when we contracted soon. After the first meeting of Trendal, he hasn¡¯t been the same. I sighed to myself. *** Some time later, outside Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Adventurer Rand Kellia¡¯s POV Our group was currently examining the entrance to the dungeon Erand scouted out. Vernon was impressed by the level of detail the snakes were made, as they seemed to move as shadows shifted around them. ¡°Look at this!¡±, yelled Trent, as started banging the fang of the giant snake head with back of his throwing axe. ¡°Cold Iron doesn¡¯t make a dent in this obsidian! I think the dungeon has some surprises for us, as this ain¡¯t normal for a baby dungeon.¡± ¡°Stop aggravating it before we even got in! It is obvious that the dungeon spent some time on making this, and repairing the entrance takes time for them!¡±, said Vernon as he was still observing the carvings of a smaller snakes. ¡°Alright, prepare your weapons and let¡¯s head in!¡±, I said to the group, turning to the Erand. ¡°The first cave didn¡¯t have any creatures within it last time, besides normal bugs?¡±, I questioned our scout, gaining a nod as he drew the twin daggers, twirling the one in his left hand to a reverse grip. Everyone being ready, I gave the order to move out, ¡°Let¡¯s move with Pete spearheading the formation, Trent after him and Erand holding the rear. I take the middle and Vernon moves after me.¡±. With a chorus of affirmative grunts, the group fell in line as we moved through the archway of snakes. Upon arriving within the cave, we were surprised from the amount of light, even though Erand already told us about it. The vines on the ceiling and stalactites glowed with enough intensity to turn the atmosphere to a late evening, casting shadows all over. There was also small sounds of insects throughout the foliage. While everyone took in the sights, Vernon was mostly interested in the vines casting the dim lighting. ¡°Ingenious! These vines seem to glow through the atmospheric mana only! I doubt they would survive outside high mana density!¡±, the now distracted Life mage exclaimed with admiration. I had to admit, this is a now one, as usually dungeons grow certain plant species or light crystals that adventurers usually provide them with. ¡°Which way we go from here Rand?¡±, asked Pete, pointing towards the tunnels on either side. ¡°We¡¯re supposed to map the dungeon either way, so go with your gut feeling.¡±, I replied as I looked around. Without another word, Pete headed towards the left side while the rest followed. At least after Erand pushed Vernon along, before he would start to take samples from the vines. Moving through the tunnel, we arrived at the next, larger cave. Pointing above with his short sword, Pete warned us, ¡°Small animals size of a cat moving on the ceiling and stalactites. There seems to be small tunnels around us. Watch out for sudden attacks.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t there supposed to be some killer rabbits at the beginning? We could use some fresh meat for the stew.¡±, quipped Trent as he looked around.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Let¡¯s get a move on. I¡¯m sure we¡¯re going to get more rabbits than you can eat.¡±, I told Trent. As we reached the middle of the cave, there was a small chittering sounds above us, and three creatures jumped at me and Vernon from nearby stalactite. Quickly thrusting my spear is rapid succession at the creatures, I pierced all three straight through. As the blood splattered on my arm, two of them died instantly, while the last trashed on the tip of the spear for a moment, giving a last screech. ¡°Now we have killer squirrels size of a cat, with a claws as large as my fingers. The hell is this? House of critters gone mad?¡±, asked Trent as he looked the squirrels lined up on my spear. Throwing the speared animals to the side with a wave of my spear, I said with a tone of amusement as we continued deeper, ¡°At least not rats. Remember the last time we saw a dungeon with them? Swarm of rank one rats, size of a dog running at us?¡±. Frowning, Trent looked around as he said, ¡°Rats, I hate rats in a dungeon. If I see some I¡¯ll burn the cave with a lot of ¡®em.¡±. ¡°Trent, you got your rabbits for a stew.¡±, said Pete as he pointed towards a group of five brown rabbits, double the size of previous squirrels, staring at us from near a tunnel entrance they come out. Rabbits gave a screech, showcasing their maw full of sharp teeths, before bounding at us with a single leap. Pete slammed two of them away with his shield, along with a sickening crunch as their bodies broke, before bisecting a third one with his sword, sending both halves of the rabbit splattering against a nearby stalagmite. Trent slapped a rabbit flying back where it jumped from, with a side of his axe, as well as slapping the remaining rabbit to the floor with his palm, stunning it momentarily. Crouching down, he picked up the still stunned rabbit, dangling it from the neck. ¡°Here ya go! Inspect this fella before it goes to the pot!¡±, Trent chuckled with a grin on his face, as he lifted the rabbit towards me. Looking at the rabbit, I noticed the claws being as large as the squirrel had, yet more sturdier and shaped for slashing, not grabbing like they had. Recovering from the stunned state, rabbit started thrashing around violently, hissing at us with bared teeth. Teeth were sharp like needles, meant for puncturing flesh. ¡°Nah, this guy is too ugly for my pot. If you want to eat it, be my guest.¡±, I commented as soon as I was done with my inspection. Shrugging, Trent broke the neck of the rabbit, throwing the body to the side as he answered, ¡°Bah! Who knows what this little bugger eats around here.¡±. As his arm went wide, there was a quick movement towards it. With a curse, Trent swung his axe, decapitating the snake aiming for it. ¡°By the Mazzak¡¯s hairy crag of damnation! I hate this kind of snakes!¡±, Trend exclaimed as he picked up the still trashing corpse of a viper as Pete chuckled at him from the side. ¡°Don¡¯t go growing careless in middle of foliage reaching your thigh because you grabbed a bunny. You saw the entrance.¡±, Pete said, earning himself a scowl from Trent. ¡°Three meters long, poisonous viper going for ambushes. Enough to warrant carrying antidotes with you in here. Can you show me the head? I want to inspect the poison.¡±, Vernon commented from behind. Dropping the corpse, Trent grabbed the head while grumbling, and threw it to the waiting half-elf. After a moment of sensing the head, Vernon then sucked some of the poison in his mouth, tasting it for a moment before spitting it out. ¡°Certainly strong enough to kill a beginner adventurer within a minute or two. We could handle a few bites before getting sick for a day or two.¡±, Vernon commented with a slightly numb tone to his voice. ¡°Alright, fun time is over. Let¡¯s keep scouting out this dungeon, and keep an eye for the critters. The one getting bitten first is doing the dishes for a week¡±, I said with a grin. *** Faran¡¯s Dungeon, Faran¡¯s POV ¡°This is boring! They get through too easily! I can¡¯t get good enough examples with them acting like having a walk in my dungeon, instead of actually fighting.¡±, I said to Elan with a huff as we followed adventurers moving through the dungeon. ¡°While the creatures don¡¯t pose any threat to them, and they found both types of the pitfall traps, they will soon arrive to the section of caves with bladed traps. Those should cause some surprises for them. At least Lord Trendal hasn¡¯t missed anything of interest.¡±, Elan sent me mentally, as we were on the ceiling above the adventurer group. Suddenly, I was feeling the familiar feeling of Trendal asking permission to manifest his avatar. Speak of the devil¡­ I thought as I granted it. ¡°You sneaky ball of crap! You didn¡¯t call me on the fun!¡±, exclaimed the God of Darkness, as soon as he appeared from the shadows, startling Elan in giving a yelp. Adventurers below stopped from the sudden sound, looking around suspiciously as the mage started chanting a now familiar spell for detecting life. Trendal frowned at the chanting mage, taking a quick look at Elan who was still frozen from the shock of suddenly appearing divinity, slipping away from his shade-form he used to follow the adventurers. Clicking his tongue, Trendal waved his hand, creating a bubble of somehow perfectly transparent darkness around us. ¡°I thought you couldn¡¯t intervene with dungeon domains?¡±, I questioned Trendal from his use of powers within my domain. ¡°It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t. Normally I am not allowed to use my powers within. Shielding us from detection is fine, as it was my fault Elan turned to wooden statue and would be found otherwise. That, my spherical friend, would be bad. Someone tying you to a ball with your limbs, before rolling you down a mountain level bad.¡±, Trendal explained as he bent towards Elan, and started poking his forehead with dissatisfied expression on his face, turning his back at me. ¡°Bad for me or you?¡±, I asked with a wry tone. Trendal looked over his shoulder at me, with a mock face full of shock as he exclaimed, ¡°Is there any difference of troubles between brothers?! I can¡¯t believe you would throw me away just like that!¡±. At this point Elan started shaking as he asked with a quivering voice from me, ¡°F-faran, you¡¯re b-brothers with L-lord Trendal?! A-are you joking?¡± Trendal turned to Elan with his shit-eating-grin on his face, answering with a jovial, yet dramatic tone, ¡°Indeed we are! Long lost brothers, which fate brought together in a place most unlikely! Separated before birth, Faran here is my younger brother! As he reached godhood on his own, an Evil Prune intervened, stealing the power that was rightfully his! As he cast Faran to die alone in the void, Fate intervened, bringing the long lost siblings together, and I managed to save him from certain doom! Aiding him with his revenge and helping him to regain his powers, I brought him to this planet, Peltas!¡± As Trendal explained with dramatic flourishes and tone, Elan started shaking even more, and his eyes started bulging out as Trendal continued, ¡°On Peltas, Faran gained a possibility to reach godhood again as a dungeon, with me watching over him! If this is not brotherly love between¡­¡± ¡°...Brothers with different mother and father.¡±, I interrupted his story. ¡°...Brothers with different mother and fath- HEY! I was weaving a grand backstory for you! I almost had him!¡±, quipped now offended looking Trendal. ¡°You almost managed to induce a seizure to poor Elan. He was shaking more than some of my experiments when I practiced creating monster cores.¡±, I said as I looked towards Elan who was almost foaming from his mouth. As the eyes of Elan stopped bulging out, and he calmed down a little, he then turned his questioning eyes towards Trendal, who now wore an indignant expression. ¡°Fine! We¡¯re not really brothers! Happy?¡±, Trendal exclaimed before turning towards me. ¡°Maybe you should go rest for awhile, you¡¯ve had enough of excitement for one day.¡±, I said to still shaky and haggard looking Elan, as he gave a stiff nod before starting to turn around, only suddenly stopping when in middle of it. ¡°NO! I¡¯ve had enough of this! My common sense has been repeatedly broken, shattered, grounded to a dust, and now finally blown away! Nothing is normal with you! Not the advancements, methods, creatures or how this joke of a god keeps literally popping in to visit you! Even the way you keep pissing off every single divinity! I even gained more grey hair because of your actions!¡±, Elan suddenly bursted out in a rant at me and Trendal, who was looking at Elan with a mixture of shock and curiosity. Elan straightened out his posture, combing out his hair with his hands, straightened his outfit, and clasped his hands behind his back as he stared at me. ¡°Now let¡¯s us slightly modify the original contract. The contract hold true as per previous agreement, yet you are forbidden intentionally acting in a manner that I consider suicidal. Do you agree to this?¡± ¡°So I can¡¯t keep screwing with Ilessa during my rank ups?¡±, I asked from the serious looking Elan as Trendal watched our exchange like a cat finding a new toy. ¡°Absolutely not! Intentionally angering a divinity is called being suicidal!¡±, Elan replied sternly as his eyelid started twitching. ¡°But if she starts it during my next rank up?¡±, I tried to plead with Elan, as poking fun at divinities is one of my newer sources of enjoyment after becoming a dungeon core. ¡°Forbidden! Trying to smoothen out relationship with a divinity in charge of the knowledge you gain is must! Angering her is suicidal for dungeon cores!¡±, he replied with a faster twitch. ¡°Contacting the adventurers to strike a deal with them for more resources and knowledge?¡±. Changing tactics, I tried to ask another thing I was planning. ¡°Denied! You¡¯re too young for that! Actions that can be explained by me advising you are allowed! Purposely showing your specialties as a special existence while too weak is suicidal!¡±, Now frowning with a furious twitching eyelid, Elan stared at me. ¡°Then I can¡¯t keep insulting Trendal either?¡±, I asked with a mortified sounding voice, as the topic of the latest question started slowly growing out his familiar shit-eating-grin. Suddenly Elan turned thoughtful, stroking his goatee as he replied, ¡°That can¡¯t be considered suicidal. Trendal seems to weirdly enjoy you insulting him. Allowed.¡±. At this point, Trendal¡¯s face froze comically between a half formed grin and a shocked expression directed at Elan. Looking at the now stoic helper, I gave a crestfallen sigh, as I replied, ¡°Fine. I, Faran, agree to the changes in our contract.¡±. As I did, I felt how the contract within my soul shifted to accommodate the new addition in it. ¡°Hey! What happened to Lord Trendal?¡±, the now recovered God of Darkness asked Elan with a stern face. Sniffing at Trendal, he replied snidely, ¡°The ¡°Lord¡± went to look for dignity of the ¡°Divine¡± and the ¡°God¡±, you seem to have left it somewhere¡±. Staring at Elan incredulously for a moment, Trendal suddenly started chuckling, before breaking down in a fit of laughter. After he recovered, Trendal wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and said to me with an amused tone, ¡°I swear, even your helper has taken after you? You sure you¡¯re not corrupting others with just your company?¡± ¡°I think you broke him down three times so far with your actions. You sure you don¡¯t gather grudges from him?¡±, I asked back. ¡°That isn¡¯t part of my domains so why would I do that for nothing?¡±, Trendal asked with puzzled look. ¡°If I remember correctly, your domains were shadows, deception, freedom, learning and temptation. I¡¯m seriously starting to think that you chose them from being tempted to slack off, learning how to deceive and hide within the shadows to free yourself from work.¡±, I quipped to the now awkward Trendal. Even Elan started staring him at this point. ¡°Nope. Definitely not! I¡¯m certainly doing my job as a divinity properly, it is just that I occasionally get free time as a god when things are working properly! Or don¡¯t you trust the word of the God of Darkness, major divinity?¡±, Trendal asked with a righteous tone. ¡°¡°No.¡±¡±, Elan answered the same time as I. As we looked to each other, Elan started chuckling as I laughed. ¡°Fine have it your way then. I¡¯ll get back to my divine duties.¡±, Trendal answered with a sulking tone as he faded away. After he left, I told Elan, ¡°That was first time I got the last laugh against Trendal. It was more satisfying experience than with me tricking Goddess of Air.¡±. Elan grimaced at my last comment, before stroking his goatee with a chuckle. ¡°Indeed it was Faran, indeed it was. As soon as I decided to throw my preconceptions away, it was oddly¡­ freeing experience. Especially when I finally faced Trendal, who gave me so many shocks.¡± Glancing at me, Elan continued to my dismay, ¡°Yet you have shocked me more times than Trendal with your utter lack of self-constraint and common sense! I wonder how you even survived to live over two hundred years as a human acting like you have!¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t that bad as a human, after all, I survived and was a highly respected among other mages. After turning to a dungeon core, I seem to follow my desires more freely along with my heightened curiosity.¡±, I defended myself. ¡°Fine, didn¡¯t you want to see how the adventurers are doing? They must¡¯ve passed the first blade trap already.¡±, Elan said as he turned back to his shade-form, having a more self-confident posture with him as he flew towards the group of adventurers. Finally the original, self-confident Elan is back. Luckily I don¡¯t have to worry about his mental well-being anymore. I thought with satisfaction as I moved my focus upon the adventurers closing on the first blade trap hidden in the floor. *** Rand Kellia¡¯s POV ¡°The hell is with dungeon? These caves are full of creatures, yet only a small groups attack us, if at all! Not to mention those wicked traps! There was absolutely no mana from them like usual, and instead of a normal pitfall, we got a friggin¡¯ trapdoor to a pitfall designed to prevent suckers from getting back up! Then there were those obsidian blades designed to maim you, not kill! Worst of all was that creepy yelp from the few caves back, with a damn laughing from the shadows later on!¡±, Trent grumbled constantly as we kept advancing through the dungeon. I had to agree with him, this dungeon was weird. Creatures were not yet monsters, and were ones meant for causing bleeding wounds. Sophisticated traps seen in older dungeons, yet without mana triggers for them. Just purely mechanical ones. Those obsidian blades hidden in the dark cracks in the walls, slashing at ankles or knees. Not to mention the thick foliage with small pathways meandering around the stalagmites. We found some herbs within the underbrush, yet there are nests of smaller snakes with weak paralyzing poison, as well as vipers ready to ambush you with deadlier venom. This place would be dangerous to those under silver rank if they slack off even a little bit. ¡°Less grumbling, Trent. Keep your eyes peeled out and test for traps. Even if the creatures are weak, some of those traps can cause injuries to even us.¡±, I reminded him as we got closer to the next tunnel. As soon as I said so, I felt the moss under my feet sink down and something snapping underneath it. ¡°TRAP!¡± I instantly yelled as a warning for others, when an obsidian blade shot out of the floor, cutting towards me. Instead of dodging so we could examine the trap, I predicted the trajectory of the blade, getting involuntary shivers down my spine, and blocked it with the shaft of my spear. Grunting slightly from the hit as I only slightly reinforced myself with mana, I stopped the blade aiming at my groin. Vernon game a long whistle behind me while Pete exclaimed ¡°Trap with a blade slashing at your groin from below? Which sick bastard thinks of these ideas for this dungeon?!¡± Looking at the length of the blade before releasing it, I shivered once more as I said, ¡°This trap was directly aimed for the groin. The length and the shape of the blade is designed to hit the groin, not armored chest or stomach.¡±. ¡°I swear the one feeding these ideas to the young dungeon is a devious bastard! Ye all have seen these traps. I haven¡¯t seen such a wicked contraptions within early levels in any dungeon we¡¯ve been into!¡±, cursed Trent as he carefully poked the floor in front of him with a shaft of his battle axe. ¡°I think I should go first to test the floor against the traps with my spear. These might not be the only traps of this kind in here.¡±, I voiced out as I moved to the front. Vernon¡¯s Sense Mana or Sense Life weren¡¯t useful with this kind of traps, so we couldn¡¯t count on him. Erand was watching out against anything trying to sneak upon Vernon. Pete and Trent didn¡¯t object at all with my decision. Even though we all had the skills and reflexes to avoid these traps, no man wanted to risk getting his groin slashed open. This dungeon was not a normal young one. Update Announcement Hello my dear readers! During this short break, my thoughts kept going back to the previous chapters when writing chapter 13, essentially interrupting the creativity somewhat. Thus I decided to remove the cause of the interruptions, by doing a small rework on the story so far. It''s fairly annoying when you have an idea, go to write it, and lose all inspiration as your thoughts jump backwards to earlier chapters. :blood: I have decided the route the story is going to take, and preliminary levels of power for the adventurers and mages. I will be rewriting the story (no noticeable changes to the plot so far), while slightly modifying the content. Mostly I will be adding to it, uploading the edited chapters during the rest of the week, along with a chapter 13. I''m trying to smoothen out the flow of information (not too many infodumps at once), while laying the foundations for the rest of the story. Uploaded chapters will be marked with an [Edited] tag. Wordcount can be expected to rise throughout the chapters due to extra content/increased details/slightly modified content. I decided to do this early on, as the itch to rewrite would only have risen chapter by chapter, interrupting me when I try to write. Expect the first edits to upload during today, or tomorrow morning at the latest. Below is a preliminary strength chart for non-mages, by the courtesy of unified standard of adventurers guild. *** Note: Mana techniques use mana to augment bodily functions up to the Platinum rank, before being able to manifest outside the body. Such as hiding from perception with melding the mana within the body with the darkness element when in shadows (user is perceived as one of the shadows). Under the light, the effect is noticeably weaker, if not non-existent. At Mithril ranks, same technique causes tendrils of darkness to form from the body, even further hiding the user within the darkness. Under the light, the user seems to be little less tangible, obscuring the perception of others. Other examples are using air to move silently/faster (melding the presense with the wind lessens the influence it has on you, including the sounds caused by you), while users of fire can boost their explosive power (such as boosting muscles). Each element has their own properties, with some of them having some overlapping effects through different means. Relative techniques are varied, while some of the best methods are controlled by nobles/highly influential families. Adventurers Guild and Magi College have their own high grade techniques/spells.
  • Beginners use plates made with Copper, Bronze and Iron
    • Copper ranks are normal humans with a little skill with weapons = Can kill a Goblin with some trouble
    • Bronze rank can handle himself with weapons = Capable of fighting 2-3 goblins at the same time
    • Iron ranks are proficient with weapons = Capable of killing rank 1 monster.
  • Adventurers use Silver, Steel and Cold Iron
    • Silver ranks can handle most rank 1 monsters with ease, with or without magic.
    • Steel ranks have started reinforcing themselves with mana, and can fight against rank 2 monsters.
    • Cold Iron ranks can solo rank 2 monsters, and are at mid stages with mana reinforcement. Can use smaller techniques involving mana.
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  • Veteran ranks use Gold, Darksteel and Platinum
    • Gold ranks are capable of fighting rank 3 monsters, while proficient with mana reinforcement, being at upper ranks of body strengthening. Skilled with mana techniques.
    • Darksteel ranks are capable of fighting most rank 3 monsters solo, reaching a limit of normal body strengthening. Experts at mana techniques. Longevity reaches up 120 years for humans.
    • Platinum ranks are capable of killing rank 3 monsters solo, in the middle of making the mana reinforcement permanent. Mana techniques at the peak of skill, training with the precise control of mana.
  • Elites use Mithril plates with small emeralds per rank
    • First emerald ranks have permanently reinforced their bodies with mana, begin able to move it outside the bodies to imbue weapon or a piece of armor with it. Capable of affecting the surroundings with mana techniques. Longevity reaches up to 150 years for humans.
    • Second emerald ranks can imbue both weapons and armor with their mana, manifesting their elemental properties with techniques. Can fight against rank 4 monsters in a team.
    • Third emerald ranks can impose small amount of control to their elemental affinity in a small area around them. Elemental techniques further fuse with the elements, trying to attain the domain. Stepping into the domain needs talent with element manipulation, and insight to the element itself.
  • Prime, carries adamantite plate, with a diamond for each rank. Extremely rare people.
    • First diamond ranks have manifested a small domain of 5m near them, having a greater degree of control to their element within it. Doesn¡¯t need techniques to control the element anymore. Assimilation of their elemental mana within their bodies, further reinforcing it, and increasing longevity (up to 200-300 years depending on affinity, and if they keep progressing).
    • Second diamond ranks have slightly larger domain of 6m, able to manifest their elements within the domain. Assimilation of elemental mana complete, bodily strength now double of mithril ranks. Capable of fighting against rank 5 monsters.
    • Third diamond ranks are capable of condensing their mana over a weapon or armor, granting it elemental properties according to their element. Greater control over their elemental affinity within their domains of 8m.
  • Semi-Ascended. Basically one or two people within millennium become one.
    • Capable of condensing mana upon their body, forming an elemental armor and weapons, while being in complete control of their elemental powers within their domain of 10m. Elemental mana transforms the body, double the strength of mithril ranks, vastly increased longevity (up to 500 years).
    • Step into service of their patron god (Mostly decided by elemental affinity), being restricted upon how much they can act in the world, whether they have a patron or not. Aim for the enlightenment to step into the world of minor deities, or further assimilate with their elements, becoming elementals.
Announcement! Hello everyone who had enjoyed the story and sorry for lack of any updates! Might as well tell the reason straight away as I have been diagnosed with somewhat serious case of depression and I''m currently on a sick leave due it and under somewhat mild medication. My lack of socializing has only made it worse, so I aimed to get in contact during this period, even if it''s through internet. Currently I have been taking such a long break from this story that I''m installing my training wheels for storytelling through fanfiction (less need for me to invent a background for the whole world and focus on events and characters). I''m currently doing a story combining questing system for the MC, with votes deciding the aim for training and actions, while dices will tell how well everything goes. Global events also get rolled, but battle will not get any rolls, as all will hinge on your training and knowledge up to that point. So aiming for a lucky break or acting like you''re invinsible can and will get you killed.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. I don''t know if I''m ever continuing this story, most likely I will aim straight for a rewrite under a different name, so this story can be considered dead. Sorry for everyone who had hoped for the story to continue (Even if most of you have already forgotten this). Anyways, I''m planning to write the quest part of the story here under a different username for some time before editing and posting it here after proofreading the story. I''m trying to gather some headway with chapters so I can slowly work them together. Best regards, Kraggy