《Rise of a Rogue Dungeon》


 Glossary

    Warning! This Glossary contains massive Spoilers if you haven''t read up to the latest chapter!


    (On a side note, the Glossary is currently out of date due to me editing the earlier chapters of the story. So, for now, it will remain out of date until I get around to editing it when I''m done with all of the other chapters.)


    Spoilers: Ratings and Rankings<input class="spoilerButton" type="button" value="Show">


    Rating Tags: Lesser, Moderate, Greater, Exceptional, Unparalleled, Unique.


    Ratings: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Mythical, Legendary, Semi-Divine, Divine.


    Adventurer Rankings:F,F+,F++,E, E+, E++, D, D+, D++, C, C+, C++, B, B+, B++, A,A+, A++, S, S+, S++, X, X+, X++, Y, Y+, Y++, Z, Z+, Z++.


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    Spoilers: Titles


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    <h4>New Title acquired!</h4>


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    <h5>Pixie Slayer!</h5>


    Unlocking Condition(s):Kill A Pixie!


    Effect(s):Pixies and General Fae slightly distrust you when meeting.


    Daemons and Undead are less careful and more trusting toward you.


    (Title Note To User:This effect does NOT apply to High Fae!)


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    <h4>New Title acquired!</h4>


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    <h5>Mana Drainer!</h5>


    Unlocking Condition(s):Forcefully drain Mana from a living being!


    Effect(s):Makes any future Mana drains easier to perform.


    Unique Dungeon Effect:Unlocks Mana Leeches as a selectable race!


    (Title Note To User:Unique Dungeon Effects are granted by Titles and Achievements that are uncommonly acquired by Dungeons.)


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    <td>New Title acquired!</td>


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    Mana Wielder!


    Unlock Condition(s): Possess three or more Mana Abilities and create a Mana Skill.


    Effect(s): Makes all Mana related abilities and skills cost 15% less to use.


    (Title Note To User: This effect also applies to the increased mana cost of foreign assimilated monsters.)


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    <td>New Title acquired!</td>


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    Bat Slayer!


    Unlock Condition(s): Kill more than fifteen Bats.


    Effect(s): Pressures any Bats that spot you causing them to feel nervous in your presence and makes cave critters slightly attracted towards you.


    (Title Note To User: This effect does not apply to Bats created by you.)


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    <td>New Title acquired!</td>


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    Challenger of Evolution!


    Unlock Condition(s):Succeed in forcefully evolving yourself.


    Effect(s):Evolution concedes to your will making any future forceful evolutions easier to perform, and increases the Evolution Potential of Abominations Slightly.


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    <td>New Title acquired!</td>


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    Caretaker of a Nifilim!


    Unlock Condition(s):Form a pact of servitude or friendship with a Nifilim.


    Effect(s):Nifilim are drawn to you and trust you more.


    Unique Dungeon Effect(s):Due to the Nifilim''s Fallen status the Title also grants a 25% cost reduction to Mind, Abomination, Unholy, and Demonic Floor Themes.


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    <td>New Title acquired!</td>


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    Architect of Life!


    Unlock Condition(s):Create a Monster Race that didn''t initially exist.


    Effect(s):Increases Evolution Potential Substantially for the created race, and makes any future Monsters created by you Fortified Mentally, Magically, and Physically by 5%.


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    <td>Unique Title acquired!</td>


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    Leech-Kindred!


    Unlock Condition(s):Must''ve acquired the Mana Drainer or Blood Drainer Title, Leeching Core Achievement, Loving First Achievement, and your first ever Progenitor must be a Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling or Tiny Lesser Blood Leechling.


    Effect(s):Increases Affinity Outstandingly, and reduces the requirements of all Evolution Unlock Conditions for Leech Evolutions.


    Unique Title Effect(s):Increases Intelligence, and Wisdom gain for Leech Monsters, and increases Evolution Potential Tremendously for Leech-Kin.


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    Spoilers: Achievements<input class="spoilerButton" type="button" value="Show">


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    Solo Dungeon!


    Unlock Condition(s): Be born unlinked to any Pixie and succeed in acquiring mana.


    Effect(s): Mana Drain and Matter Assimilation become simpler to perform, and Comprehension increases rapidly opposed to other Dungeons.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    Leeching Core!


    Unlock Condition(s): Forcefully Drain Mana or Blood from a living being and select any variant of Blood Leechlings(UC) or Mana Leechlings? as one of the three first races of your Dungeon.


    Effect(s): Greater affinity and evolution potential for Leeches and Strengthens Leeches within your Dungeon by 25%.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    Rare Beginning!


    Unlock Condition(s): Select a rare rated race as your beginning Race.


    Effect(s): Elevated chances for races rated lower than rare to obtain a higher rated evolution.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    Divine Assimilator!


    Unlock Condition(s): Assimilate anything rated Semi-Divine or higher.


    (This condition must be completed as an unevolved core.)


    Effect(s): Discounts anything rated Semi-Divine or higher created via Mana shaping by 10%.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    Monster Progenitor!


    Unlock Condition(s): Create any available monster.


    Effect(s): Makes the first created monster of any race more potent than its kin.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    Novice Trapper!


    Unlock Condition(s): Create any type of trap.


    Effect(s): Anytime you make something considered a trap you regain 5% of the mana used in its creation.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    Skill Creator!


    Unlock Condition(s): Create a Personal Skill of any kind.


    Effect(s): Lowers the activation cost of Personal Skills by 10%.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    AbominationCore!


    Unlock Condition(s):Select a monster evolution tagged as an Abomination as your first evolution.


    Effect(s):Cause all Fae to distrust you when meeting and feel anxious in your presence, also increases affinity and evolution potential for Abominations and strengths them within your Dungeon by 15%.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    IntellectualCore!


    Unlock Condition(s):Posses 20 or more points in the Intelligence Stat.


    Effect(s):Greater affinity and evolution potential with Elementals and strengths them within your Dungeon by 10%. Also increases the Magical Affinity of any created monsters.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    Theme Virtuoso!


    Unlock Condition(s):Acquire five themes or more, and all require to be unlocked for the first time in the world.


    Effect(s):Makes it easier to combine themes and themes grant increased bonuses to their respective benefits.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    Going Against Nature!


    Unlock Condition(s):Perform an act which defies the will of nature.


    Effect(s):Nature scorns your actions, making most beings wary of you. Empowers Abominations, Daemons, Demons, Undead, and Eldritch within your Dungeon by 10%.


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    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


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    Loving First


    Unlock condition(s):Use your first selected race as your first Dungeon-Kin.


    Effect(s):Increases Affinity and Evolution Potential Moderately for your first selected race. Your first selected race is also empowered by 5% within your Dungeon.


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    Spoilers: Appraisals<input class="spoilerButton" type="button" value="Show">


    Spoilers: Abilities & Skills<input class="spoilerButton" type="button" value="Show">


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    <td>Appraisal</td>


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    <td>An ability unique to Dungeon Cores allowing them to view information about anything within their Dungeon. This also applies to the Status Window.</td>


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    <td>Mana Sight</td>


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    <td>Differing from Mana Sense which can only see mana, Mana Sight allows Dungeon Cores to see through mana as if it were their eyes.</td>


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    <td>Mana Shaping </td>


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    <td>Unique to Dungeon Cores Mana Shaping allows them to mold the world around them permanently, and even allows them to create life so long as they have sufficient mana.</td>


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    <td>Limited Telepathy </td>


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    <td>Allows Dungeon Cores to transmit orders directly into the minds of its produced Monsters.</td>


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    <td>Matter Assimilation </td>


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    <td>Causes any material, liquid, gas, energy, and life not native to the dungeon to be assimilated allowing the Core to recreate it via Mana Shaping.</td>


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    <td>New Skill Created!</td>


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    Mana Discharge!


    Effect: Causes the instant formation of a sphere of pure mana using ten points of mana and fires in the direction the user is facing.


    Range: 30 Meters.


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    Spoilers: Monsters<input class="spoilerButton" type="button" value="Show">


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    <td>Please Select Starting Race</td>


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    <td>Grobs, Rating: Lesser Common - Lesser Uncommon</td>


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    <td>Trogs, Rating: Lesser Common - Uncommon</td>


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    <td>Goblins, Rating: Lesser Common - Moderate Uncommon</td>


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    <td>Gnolls, Rating: Common - Greater Uncommon</td>


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    <td>Kobolds, Rating: Moderate Common - Exceptional Uncommon</td>


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    <td>Orcs, Rating: Greater Common - Lesser Rare</td>


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    <td>Mana Leeches, Rating: Lesser Rare - Mythical</td>


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    <td>Demons, Rating: Common - Moderate Mythical</td>


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    <td>Undead, Rating: Lesser Common - Lesser Legendary</td>


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    <td>Elementals, Rating: Lesser Common - Exceptional Legendary</td>


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    <td>Grobs</td>


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    <td>Grobs are a lesser species of Goblins with even less intelligence than their original race. They make up for this loss of intellect by having greater breeding and birth rates than even Goblins do. Allowing a tribe of ten Grobs to erupt into a tribe of thousands in mere days. Thankfully for the intelligent races of the world Grobs live deep underground in large caves and rarely ever leave their dwelling caves. </td>


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    <td>Available Starting Grobs: Common Cave Grob (L-C), Cave Grob Hunter (L-C).</td>


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    <td>Trogs</td>


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    <td>Trogs are a lesser species of Trolls, losing much of a Troll''s famed physical strength Trogs gain intellect in return nearly rivaling that of Humans. Their breeding rates and birth rates are slightly lower than the average goblins. Trogs generally live deep underground in large caves similar to Grobs and frequently come into conflict with them leading to massive wars occurring between the two. </td>


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    <td>Available Starting Trogs: Common Cave Trog (L-C), Cave Trog Hunter (L-C).</td>


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    <td>Goblins</td>


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    <td>Standing no taller than three and a half feet these short menaces have brought no small headaches to humans for every goblin camp destroyed three more usually take their place no matter what efforts humans put forth trying to exterminate them once and for all. Goblins have weak physical strength being barely stronger than a 7-year-old human child they regularly use numbers to overwhelm and exhaust their enemies.</td>


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    <td>Starting Available Goblins: Forest Goblins (L-C), Cave Goblins (L-C), Moss Goblins ?.</td>


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    <td>Gnolls</td>


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    <td>Looking like a wild dog standing upright Gnolls gather and hunt in packs of twelve to fifty on regular occasions making them dangerous to encounter at any given time as their teamwork makes them a mighty foe in combat. Gnolls commonly live in forest or grassy plains where they hunt anything they can find, but they tend to avoid areas with large concentrations of humans such as cities, towns, and villages. </td>


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    <td>Available Starting Gnolls: Plain Striding Gnolls ?, Stone Fur Gnolls (M-C).</td>


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    <td>Storm Hide Bear</td>


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    <td>Frequently found living in caves situated on mountainsides storm hide bears possess vast physical strength and can augment themselves with the power of lightning making them deceptively fast relative to their size. Their appearance differs little to that of regular black bears with the only exception being the occasional sparks generated by their fur.</td>


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    <td>Rating: Uncommon.</td>


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    <td>Kobolds</td>


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    <td>Usually found in caves Kobolds share similar traits with Goblins except for their strength in which Kobolds vastly surpass Goblins. This high strength originates from the minuscule amount of Drake bloodline that exists within Kobolds and can be seen from their reptilian appearance. This bloodline and its benefits come at the expense of making them challenging to evolve beyond their first evolutions making them an unpopular starting selection among Dungeons. </td>


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    <td>Available Starting Kobolds: Adult Kobold (M-C), Kobold Warrior (G-C), Kobold Hunter (M-C).</td>


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    <td>Drakes</td>


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    <td>Giant reptiles feared for their draconic strength and often associated with Dragons don''t actually share any blood with them as they''re reptiles, and Dragons are overgrown flying lizards. Standing on four legs with a height of thirteen meters and a length of sixteen meters, Drakes bring fear to any who lay eyes on their majestic form, boasting pride and fury more considerable than that of even Dragons which are famed for both.</td>


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    <td>Rating: Unparalleled Mythical.</td>


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    <td>Orcs</td>


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    <td>Resembling Humans in many ways Orcs often believe themselves superior to them and often see Humans as cursed Orcs hence they oft call Humans Soft-skins. Orcs have a multitude of different variants such as Green-skins, Grey-skins, Dark-skins, Flame-skins, and the most common variant Brown-skins. Orcs are often seen as savage beasts, but truthfully Orcs are similar to Humans in almost every way and even boast higher kinship than Humans do; however, that doesn''t make them any less brutal towards Humans. Orcs gather together in tribes led by their chieftains the strongest Orc in the tribe and routinely raid Human and Beast-kin villages kidnapping females to serve as mates and using males as food.</td>


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    <td>Available Starting Orcs: Brown-Skinned Orcs (G-C).</td>


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    <td>Brown-Skinned Orcs</td>


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    <td>They possess two times the strength of adult Humans however they lack the same intelligence Humans possess and boast the most savagery amongst the Orc species. Nonetheless, beware as killing too many of them may cause them to unite their tribes into mighty war host against those who would kill them.</td>


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    <td>Rating: Greater Common.</td>


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    <td>Mana Leeches</td>


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    <td>Mana Leeches are rarely seen by the sapient races of the world. Always living in Mana Springs leads them to be nearly unknown to the rest of the world. Mana Leeches vary wildly in size according to their age starting at just ten centimeters long and four centimeters large all the way up to two feet long and thirty-six centimeters large. Once they latch onto something with mana they won''t stop until its wholly drained in which case for living beings means dead. When created by Dungeons sixty percent of mana they extract goes to the Dungeon Core.</td>


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    <td>Available Starting Mana Leeches: Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling (L-R).</td>


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    <td>Demons</td>


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    <td>Seen as the most brutal and vile race in the world demons are commonly hunted by the sapient races of the world with humans and elves actively hunting them any time they emerge regardless of where that may be. Demons consist of an endless variety of species with more constantly appearing from their otherworldly realm.</td>


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    <td>Available Starting Demons: Imps ?, Fiends (M-C), Succubus (G-C), Satyr (G-C).</td>


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    <td>Imps & Fiends</td>


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    <td>Commonly thought of as evolved Imps, Fiends are actually their own species possessing immense physical strength but no magical ability unlike their smaller cousin the Imp which boasts little to no physical power but has excellent control over magic being able to strengthen basic spells dangerously high without causing its mana to rampage. Imps look like a red-skinned human child with a mouth full of tiny pointy dagger-like teeth. Fiends have the appearance of an adult human bulging with muscle on every inch their body. Their presence grows more terrifying when you account for their height being three times that of the average human and their four demonic horns protruding from the top of their head. </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Imps, Rating: Common. Fiends, Rating: Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Succubus</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Bewitching engines of sex succubi can make the most willful men and women break under their fearsome skill in bed. Succubi use powerful illusion and mind magic to appear as their target''s most extraordinary fantasy whatever that may be. They have the appearance of elves using their beautiful and luscious bodies to cause men and women alike to lust after them.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Satyrs</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Possessing strength greater than even Fiends and a sex drive as high as a Succubus. Satyrs are the horror of any women on the battlefield as they always target them first usually even attempting to violate seized women in active combat. Satyrs appear as giant goat-headed men towering at five times the average height of an ordinary man they commonly wander entirely naked ready to assault any women that are unfortunate enough to come across one.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Undead</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Considered the greatest enemy of the Aruba Theocracy, they''ve declared entire crusades against Dungeons, Elementals, and Necromancers using these beings. Dungeon created Undead contrary to their belief do not actually have captured souls as they are entirely formed by Death Element Mana and nothing else; which causes a death attribute soul to be born as their body forms. This does not apply to Necromancers and Death Elementals as they need a corpse and a soul to possess this corpse to create Undead. Undead can also rise on battlefields which haven''t been purged of bodies.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Undead: Lesser Skeleton (L-C), Lesser Zombie (L-C), Lesser Ghoul ?.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Elementals</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>All Elementals are born as wisps of differing elements however while Elementals may begin frail and arduous to evolve, at their peak, their magic can equal that of Ancient Dragons!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Wisps: Flaming Wisps (L-C), Water Wisps (L-C), Earthen Wisps (L-C), Wind Wisps (L-C), Frost Wisps ?, Lightning Wisps ?, Light Wisps (M-C, Dark Wisps (M-C).</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Wisps</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>An amalgamation of high purity elemental mana that''s gained the ability to form simple thoughts like that of babies, are born with the innate ability to use basic spells of their given element.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Common</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


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    <td>Pixie</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Pixies first born along dungeons they''ve since spread across the world and are recognized as lesser fae by the sapient races of the world. Within Dungeons, pixies use their limited ability to convert ether to mana aiding in a Dungeon''s initial expansion, they also teach and assist Dungeons in their decision making and serve as overseers of Dungeons stopping them from doing things which would harm the balance of the world.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <thead>


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    <td>Shade Wing Bats</td>


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    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Adepts at stealth Shade Wing Bats are found in caves around the world hunting common cave critters and harassing any who disturb their resting places. Shade Wing Bats possess a moderate quantity of Shade Wing Zephyr Bloodline, a fact known only to few.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Shade Wing Zephyrs</td>


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    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Found nesting on mountaintops inaccessible to the sapients who try to tame them due to their high Dark Magic affinity. Shade Wing Zephyrs have become a near legendary sight in low altitudes instead preferring the safeties of the skies even at the cost of being forced to hunt stronger creatures than themselves. Leading to the small population of them growing sparser as they gather in groups and form large nests within mountaintop caves often clashing with Rock Lions which live in the same environment.


    Shade Wing Zephyrs possess the innate ability to combine their Mana Pools to cast high-level Dark Magic spells of which they are so sought after.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Exceptional Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Black Cave Bears</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Black Cave Bears are a common sight around the world always living in caves, going out only when they absolutely need food. There isn''t anything especially remarkable about them as they can''t even evolve into Storm Hide Bears making them be seen as the weakest Bears in the world.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Dungeon-Kin</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Humanoid versions of any monster available for creation.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Null.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


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    <td>Lesser Swamp Gators</td>


    </tr>


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    <tr>


    <td>Found in almost every swamp, these Gators are small at only one meter long, but ferocious and even willing to fight losing battles to their deaths.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Giant Red-Spotted Infectious Mosquitos</td>


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    <tr>


    <td>Seen buzzing in swamps these disease-carrying nightmares are the terror of any sapient entering swamps for all the infections they carry which even with their low rating can be deadly if untreated magically.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Soothing Swamp Striders</td>


    </tr>


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    <tr>


    <td>These creatures found in every swamp in the world are entirely harmless unless they evolve and are largely ignored by most swamp living creatures.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


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    <td>Razor Beak Helions</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Looking like common crows, Razor Beak Helions are often fatally overlooked by sapients traveling in swamps, and where there''s one Helion, there are hundreds ready to swarm unassuming prey stripping their bones clean of any flesh. Razor Beak Helions are more active at night when they swarm into the skies like a living mass of darkness descending on any prey which catches their eyes.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Vigor Bane Toads</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Not deadly alone, Vigor Bane Toads can release poisonous spores when threatened, capable of significantly weakening anything that inhales the spores, usually leading to their deaths.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Signus Worms</td>


    </tr>


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    <tr>


    <td>Tiny Worms found drifting in swamps; when they get into an open wound, they''ll travel along the bloodstream until they reach the heart where they proceed in slowly consuming it causing an agonizingly slow death for their host.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Ancient Basal Wyrm</td>


    </tr>


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    <tr>


    <td>Wyrms are close cousins of Dragons but lack the same strength, however, while they don''t have the power of Dragons their size dwarves that of Dragons more than fifty times over. This makes angering a Wyrm one of the most dreadful situation possible for any being no matter how strong they may be. Basal Wyrms sleep deep underground feasting on Mana as they sleep while their size scares off any would-be attackers making them rarely ever be awoken.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Greater Legendary.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Cave Grob Berserker</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


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    <tr>


    <td>Although tiny Grob Berserkers can still exert considerable strength when wounded or enraged having the power to crush rocks with their bare hands. Grob Berserkers are considered honored among Grobs and often lead war parties against their hated foes, Trogs.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Nifilim</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Cloud-like beings Nifilim were Fae thought to be extinct by sapients, but they still wander the world unable to find safe refuge. Their near extinction status was brought about by the fact they''re excellent enchantment material, causing sapients to hunt them to their current status.Nifilim over the thousands of years since they''ve gone into hiding have developed burning rage against the sapients who hunt them for making mere weapons, armor, clothing, and buildings. Nifilim can use Mind Magic, Illusion, Dark Magic, and Wind Magic with greater affinity for all of them making their repertoire of magic mighty indeed. Contrary to their cute appearance Nifilim have become heartless killers towards their hunters, but they remain kind and caring to those who haven''t hunted them. Their old Fae statuses have been lost due to their downfall into darkness and corruption.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Exceptional Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Leech-Kin</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


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    <tr>


    <td>The Dungeon-Kin version of Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, Leech-Kins are considerably fast, and their small size makes it difficult to spot them approaching until it''s too late. Leech-Kins also drain much quicker than standard Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, and with their suckers, they also gain the ability to drain blood, albeit at a lesser rate than Vitriolic Leeching Abominations. Leech-Kins also gain Minor Dark Magic Affinity, allowing them to cast basic dark spells. They also possess heightened Intelligence, giving them a limited ability to command Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Cloud Stepping Rams</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Cloud Stepping Rams are renowned in the Kalnor Empire for their unique use of Wind Element Magic to create clouds beneath their feet as they prance through the skies unrestrained by physical terrain. Hunting these rams proves an arduous affair due to the clouds they tread upon being excessively large and surprisingly dense, giving them plenty of protection from sapients firing arrows or spells at them from the ground.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    Spoilers: Plants, Ores, Stones, and whatever else


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    <td>Blood-Roots</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Named after their blood red coloring, spear-like tips, and surprising toughness. Blood-roots have been the end of many individuals tripping and impaling themselves onto its sharp tip.


    Blood-roots gain their impressive constitution by infusing mana across their entire stem, being so saturated with mana leads them to be valued immensely by various sapient races across the world.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


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    <td>Malfunctioning Titan Core</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Titan cores, used to power the most powerful divine creations in existence, Titans.


    Titans used unimaginable quantities of mana just to operate, mana provided by their Titan core by converting ether into mana allowing Titans to draw on a near limitless supply of mana.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>This Titan core''s malfunctioned causing it to absorb mana instead of converting ether leading to its surroundings being devoid of mana.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Origin: Melkev Titan of Sundering.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Exceptional Semi-Divine</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Lakinite</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Lakinite, the stone forming the body ofEarth Element Titans, with a coloring of dull lead-grey Lakinite is often overlooked by sapient races for looking like ordinary stone, Lakinite is capable of hardening depending on the amount of mana poured into it, and when forming the body of Titans, it becomes nigh indestructible.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Semi-Divine.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


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    <td>Elwind Stone</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Elwind Stones only found in caves high in altitude or areas with high-levels of Wind element Mana. Elwind Stones are natural Mana converters, turning pure element less Mana to Wind element Mana, converting one point of Mana every ten minutes making them reasonably valuable to sapients and Wind element monsters.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Phynxinite</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Phynxinite found only in high-altitudes, this ore''s possibilities remain primarily unexplored by sapients, with the only exception being Gnomes who''ve long used the metal refined from this ore to insulate their sky-high homes from the high-altitude cold air. Phynx refined from this ore strangely resists both heat and cold, and can only be forged by imbuing Wind Element Mana into it, causing the metal to become soft and malleable.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Exceptional Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    <td>Spine-Roots</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Spine-roots are found in areas with abnormally high Mana levels, and can most often be seen rising from the land within the Otherworld of Demons. Spine-roots are incredibly hard and resilient, making any fragments from them exceptional armors and weapons material. Additionally, their heightened constitution over Blood-roots makes Spine-roots even greater enchantment material. Few sapients have ever laid eyes upon this plant, and even less have ever damaged one.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Exceptional Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    ---


    Spoilers: Assimilations<input class="spoilerButton" type="button" value="Show">


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Assimilated blood-root contains elevated quantities of mana which has been absorbed [+11 Mana points].</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Blood-roots may now be created at the cost of 233 Mana points per Blood-Root.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


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    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Lakinite may now be created at the cost of 460,128 Mana points per meter.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Pixies have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 600 Mana points per Pixie.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Storm Hide Bears have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 289 Mana points per Storm Hide Bear.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    -


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Assimilated Shade Wing Bat contained elevated quantities of Mana which has been absorbed [+17 Mana points].</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Shade Wing Bats have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 2 Mana points per Shade Wing Bat.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Assimilated Elwind Stone contained elevated quantities of Mana which has been absorbed[+117 Mana points].</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Elwind Stones may now be created at the cost of 902 Mana points per Elwind Stone.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    -


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>BlackCave Bears contained minor quantities of Mana which has been absorbed [+3 Mana points].</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Black Cave Bears have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 4 Mana points per Black Cave Bear.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


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    <td>Dungeon-Kinshave been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 422 Mana points per Dungeon-Kin.</td>


    </tr>


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Common Cave Grobs have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 1.5 Mana point(s) per Common Cave Grob.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


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    <td>Phynxinite may now be created at the cost of 527 Mana points per meter.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    -


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    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Assimilated Cloud Stepping Ram contained elevated quantities of Mana which has been absorbed [+79 Mana points].</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Cloud Stepping Rams have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 199 Mana points per Cloud Stepping Ram.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    ---


    Spoilers: Evolutions


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


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    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Evolution:Lesser Mana Leechling!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s):Leechlings must drain anything six times.


    The basic evolution for Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, gaining nothing but size these Leechlings are no different than before.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


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    -


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    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Evolution:Mana Fused Leechling!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s):Leechlings must drain Mana from fifteen sources and drain one thousand Mana or more.


    Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings who''ve drained a tremendous amount of Mana permanently infusing them with it. This gives them greater control over their pilfered Mana allowing them to release it in a Mana Burst causing catastrophic damage to anything caught within its relatively short radius of one meter. Their fusion with Mana causes their body to release a soft pale blue glow, dazzling unwary opponents and distracting those who are wary.Eighty percent of the Mana they drain goes to the Dungeon Core.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Evolution:Storm Blood Mana Leechlings!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s):Leechlings must drain Mana from a Storm Hide Bear and drain five hundred Mana or more.


    Evolved from Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, these new Leechlings can use the same augmentation as Storm Hide Bears do for their fast movements, allowing these Leechlings to catapult themselves onto unsuspecting prey from a distance. Once latched on they can paralyze their target with powerful electric currents and outright fry weaker prey, and they possess an insignificant amount of Lightning Magic affinity.


    Sixty-five percent of the Mana they drain goes to the Dungeon Core.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Evolution:Vitriolic Leeching Abomination!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s):Leechlings must drain Mana from something rated Mythical or above, and drain one thousand Mana or more, also requires for the Dungeon Core to have obtained any Fae Slayer Title and the Leeching Core Achievement.


    Vitriolic Leeching Abominations are monsters reviled by any who set eyes upon them, appearing as a humanoid swarm of Leechlings these monsters drain Mana and Blood from just a touch, requiring any who fight them to be wary of every inch of their bodies. Being weak to Fire and Light, Vitriolic Leeching Abominations prefer the depths of dark and dank caves, where they stay preying from the shadows upon anything which crosses their path, however, beware as Fire and Light may be their weakness it also makes them go berserk with fury against those using these elements. They possess Minor Water Magic Affinity, Minor Dark Magic Affinity, and Little Ice Magic Affinity.


    Seventy-five percent of the Mana they drain goes to the Dungeon Core and Fifty percent of the Blood they drain also goes to the Dungeon Core.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Forced Evolution:Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>A Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon''s very existence defies the will of nature itself and evolves on its own instead of relying on natural evolutions.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>A Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon''s Mind may become unstable due to the forceful nature of its evolution, and all emotional restrictions placed on Dungeon Cores are lost.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Nature will resist further expansion, making it two times harder for Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon''s to expand over the natural world.


    (This does not effect creating Dungeon Floors.)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Dungeon Core will radiate an overwhelmingly Baleful Aura causing the withering death or destruction of anything weak in its surroundings.


    (This Aura extends six meters in radius.)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Increases Affinity and Evolution Potential monumentally for any Abominations, Daemons, Demons, Undead, and Eldritch created by the Dungeon.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>More Changes may be found within your Status!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Evolution:Mana Homogenized Leechling!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s):Leechlings must drain ten thousand Mana or more, and all ten thousand Mana must be drained from something rated Mythical or above.


    Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings who''ve overloaded their body with an enormous amount of Mana, their overload of Mana has prompted their body to be reconstructed entirely out of Mana, giving them significant control over Mana they steal and minor control over Ambient Mana. Allowing them to use a variety of Pure Mana based attacks, and similarly to Mana Fused Leechlings, they can release Mana they''ve drained in a Mana Burst. However, their explosion radius is four meters in radius and much larger than Mana Fused Leechlings''s explosion radius of one meter. Their increased skill over Mana also allows them to detonate pockets of Ambient Mana, causing local Ambient Mana to destabilize and trigger a chain reaction of Mana Detonations within a radius of ten meters. They can easily be spotted from their overwhelmingly glowing sky blue body, and their appearance is challenging to make out because their body is constructed entirely out of Mana giving them a very indistinct lump shape. They''ve lost the ability to dazzle opponents like their Mana Fused brethren; instead, their bright glow makes it difficult for opponents to look at them without feeling like their eyes are burning.


    They drain more Mana than average Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, and Ninety percent of the Mana they drain goes to the Dungeon Core.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    ---


    Spoilers: Floor Themes<input class="spoilerButton" type="button" value="Show">


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Isolation Caves Theme!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>UnlockCondition(s):Must''ve acquired the Solo Dungeon Achievement.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Isolation Caves are lightless caves made to disorient and separate groups, by teleporting invaders and swapping cave layouts. Monsters in the Isolation caves may occasionally teleport near invaders making them wary of every corner even dead ends.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>No monsters naturally wander this floor.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>No Monsters or Magic benefits present in this theme.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Parasitic Swamp!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s):Must''ve acquired the Leeching Core Achievement.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Parasitic Swamp passively drains Mana from invaders at a rate of one Mana points a minute making this floor deadly to linger. It also possesses an artificial sky following its own day and night cycle, making it difficult for invaders to tell how long they''ve been on the floor.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Also passively creates insects and weak monsters within the floor, rated no higher than Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Leech Monsters and Blood Magic minorly.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Atrocious Halls!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s):Must''ve acquired the Abomination Core Achievement.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Atrocious Halls contain experiments that will revile and inspire dread in any invaders, whether that be unholy beasts, the wicked torture of captured invaders, or their very imagination, the Halls will always find some fear in any who enter.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Twisted Monsters wander the Halls, rated no higher than Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits only Monsters Tagged as Abominations minorly and doesn''t benefit Magic at all.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Withering Forest!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s):Must''ve acquired the Leeching Core and Rare Beginning Achievements.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Withering Forest causes anything within to slowly dry up, making invaders need to frequently drink water lest they become withered husks. The Forest also causes equipment used by invaders to degrade until they turn to dust, leaving any trapped within with no weapon, armor, or even clothing on their body.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Withered husks of invaders haunt the Forest after their death, rated no higher than Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Leech and Withered Monsters and Earth and Dark Magic moderately.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Elemental Dunes!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s):Must''ve acquired the Intellectual Core Achievement and the Mana Wielder Title.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Elemental Dunes consist of a vast desert filled with elemental hazards rarely found in the normal world with tornados made of fire and rock, volcanoes erupting water and ice, stinging electrified gales, tsunamis of blood, lights darkening releasing a chilling wind around them, shadows radiating scorching light and various more fantastical and murderous hazards.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Elementals wander the dunes, rated no higher than Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Elementals and all Magic minorly.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Atrocious Heavenly Tower!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s):Must''ve acquired the Abomination Core, and Divine Assimilator Achievements.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>A higher form of the Atrocious Halls, the Tower can create the fears of any invader wandering its floors and will torture captured invaders in unholy torture sessions displayed across the floors, prioritizing any friends or family located within the Tower.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abominations are found on most floors, rated no higher than Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Abominations and Dark Magic greatly.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Plains of Lunacy!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>UnlockCondition(s):Must''ve acquired the Abomination Core Achievement and the Challenger of Evolution Title.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Plains of Lunacy causes any invaders wandering them to become easier to provoke and are more likely to make decisions they would never usually make. The Plains also causes people who''ve unstable states of mind to lose themselves gradually, eventually becoming a mindless beast which attacks anything it spots.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters capable of using Mind Magic wander the Plains, rated no higher than Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Abominations, Demons, and Mind Magic Moderately.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Unholy Cathedral!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>UnlockCondition(s):Must''ve acquired the Divine Assimilator Achievement, Going Against Nature Achievement, and any Fae Slayer Title.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Within the Cathedral Holy Spells are reversed causing the opposite of what it should be, and Healing Spells are also reversed causing damage instead of healing. Anyone entering with a blessing will find it has also reversed causing the opposite, and the connection to their God cut off.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Daemons wander the Cathedral, rated no higher than Greater Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Daemons, Demons, Abominations, Eldritch, and Dark Magic Moderately.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Flooded Leech Hollow!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>UnlockCondition(s):Must''ve acquired the Leeching Core Achievement and the Going Against Nature Achievement.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Hollow is completely submerged underwater making it incredibly difficult and dangerous for invaders to travel through, and the Hollow contains millions of tiny tunnels allowing Leeches access to any area within the Hollow making a swim through an immensely unpleasant one.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Lesser Species of Leeches naturally swim within the Hollows, rated no higher than Greater Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Leeches, Blood Magic, and Water Magic Greatly.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Wild Jungle of Exuberance!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired any Beginning Achievement and Architect of Life Title.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Wild Jungle of Exuberance is teeming with monsters at every corner and is considerably overgrown in all directions, impeding travel and exhausting invaders. The Jungle''s boiling temperature within requires invaders to care not to overstress themselves as they make their way through the Jungle, else they''ll fall prey to heat, before monsters.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monstrous Insects, Monkeys, and Cats prowl the Jungle, making every step further into the Jungle hazardous; rated no higher than Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Insect, Monkey, and Cat Monsters Moderately, and doesn''t benefit Magic at all.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Grove of Forgotten Beasts!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s):Must''ve acquired the Architect of Life Title, Challenger of Evolution Title, and Rare Beginning Achievement or higher Beginning Achievement.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Grove of Forgotten Beasts contains beasts long lost to the world and is shrouded in mist for twenty-two hours a day, only leaving two hours where the Grove isn''t veiled by mist. The Grove also causes minor illusions, attempting to lead invaders astray.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Beasts long forgotten by the world, wander and lurk within the Grove, rated no higher than Moderate Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Bear Monsters, Cat Monsters, Bird Monsters, and Fae Moderately, also benefits Illusion Magic and Dark Magic Greatly.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    ---


    Spoilers: Status


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>N/A''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location:N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name:N/A</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age:1 Month Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race:Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level:16</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Integrity:173/190</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana:770/830</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence:52</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom:26</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Luck:12</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size:19.39/26</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floors:2/3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Themes:Isolation Caves, Parasitic Swamp, Atrocious Halls, Withering Forest, Elemental Dunes, Atrocious Heavenly Tower, Plains of Lunacy, Unholy Cathedral, Flooded Leech Hollow, Wild Jungle of Exuberance, Grove of Forgotten Beasts.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Current Integrity Status:Great, Mana Overburdening has begun to set in!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abilities:Appraisal, Mana Sense, Mana Sight, Mana Shaping, Mana Drain, Limited Telepathy, Matter Assimilation, Floor Creation, Baleful Aura.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Skills:Mana Discharge.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Monsters:Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling (L-R), Pixie (G-R), Storm Hide Bear (UC), Shade Wing Bat (L-C), Vitriolic Leeching Abomination ?, Black Cave Bear (L-C), Dungeon-Kin, Common Cave Grob (L-C), Cloud Stepping Ram (L-UC).</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Servants:Cie.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Titles:Pixie Slayer, Mana Drainer, Mana Wielder, Bat Slayer, Challenger of Evolution, Caretaker of a Nifilim, Architect of Life, Leech-Kindred.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Achievements:Solo Dungeon, Leeching Core, Rare Beginning, Divine Assimilator, Monster Progenitor, Novice Trapper, Skill Creator, Abomination Core, Intellectual Core, Theme Virtuoso, Going Against Nature, Loving First.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ---


    Spoilers:Floor Details


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Floor Details</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Created Floor Theme:Parasitic Swamp.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Created Floor Name:Lyn Shade Parasitic Swamp.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Size:5 km in radius.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Number of Monsters Present on Floor:0</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana Points Used for Creation:166</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size Used for Creation:1.1</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters will now be created every two hours in batches of fifty until reaching a maximum of two thousand five hundred.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters Automatically Created:Lesser Swamp Gators (L-C), Giant Red-Spotted Infectious Mosquitos (L-C), Soothing Swamp Striders (L-C), Razor Beak Helions ?, Vigor Bane Toad (L-C), Signus Worms ?.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Floor Details</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Theme:Parasitic Swamp.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Name:Lyn Shade Parasitic Swamp.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Size:5 km in radius.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Number of Monsters Present on Floor:5179</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters will be created every two hours in batches of fifty until reaching a maximum of two thousand five hundred.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters Automatically Created:Lesser Swamp Gators (L-C), Giant Red-Spotted Infectious Mosquitos (L-C), Soothing Swamp Striders (L-C), Razor Beak Helions ?, Vigor Bane Toad (L-C), Signus Worms ?.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Floor Details</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Created Floor Theme:Isolation Caves.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Created Floor Name:Weaving Caves of the Lost.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Size:165 km in total size.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Number of Monsters Present on Floor:6510</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana Points Used for Creation:12706</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size Used for Creation:16.5</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>No Monsters are automatically created for this Floor Theme.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters Automatically Created:None.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    -

 Core Chapter 1: Unfortunate Birth of a Core

    It heard and saw two things when it first awoke.


    One, a black box that had things on it which it couldn''t understand yet, and second, a rushed squeaky voice sounding out in its thoughts.


    "Cor---"


    The rushed voice was cut off before it could even say its first word by the sound of cracking, followed by a loud rumble that ended in mere moments.


    It was left in silence, wondering if that panicked voice would return. Still, that musing didn''t hold its attention for long, as it instinctively felt the need for something called Mana. It sensed that it should have received some of this "Mana" by now, but for some reason, it hadn''t, and it hungered.


    It quickly searched as much as it could with what it instinctively knew was called Mana Sense. Its search, however, was for naught, as it couldn''t find a scrap of Mana in its surroundings.


    As time passed and hunger continued to gnaw away at its newly-born mind, it could feel what specks of intelligence it had, being consumed to preserve its existence for as long as possible.


    It was becoming increasingly frustrated with its instincts, as they kept insisting that Mana should''ve already been provided by something linked to it called a "Pixie." Perhaps the voice it had heard was this so-called, "Pixie" but then, if that were the case, where had it gone?


    It slowly lost track of how much time had passed since its birth, as it forgot what time even was. It only knew that it was ravenous, and frantic for any Mana it could assimilate.


    Nonetheless, the only thing it could detect was the black box which continued to float before it with strange symbols flashing brightly.


    It was steadily growing furious at the Pixie that should have been present, and at the black box for doing nothing to help with this abyssal yearning that was driving its wavering mind hysterical with hunger and fury!


    Subsequently following what seemed to be an eon to its now feeble mind, it felt something moving and laying its hand on it.


    The first thing that entered its mind, however, was not the sensation of being touched. No, it was the sensation of Mana!


    It took hold of this Mana and devoured it from the being that was handling it; gorging itself with as much Mana as it could pull.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    A shrill scream broke out as the being touching it tried to pull away unsuccessfully. Its screaming and struggling intensified as it fought to keep its Mana and its life.


    Finally, the being''s fighting ceased as its body went limp, sinking to the floor where it laid unmoving, never to rise again. Its very life drained out of it from the brief contact with the Stone laying on the pedestal that stood before its fallen corpse.


    The Stone on the pedestal could now finally understand the black box that had been flashing brightly this whole time.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(46, 137, 255, 1); margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" border="2">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center"> Please establish link with "ERROR-INVALID TARGET!"</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Two new black boxes appeared after it read the previous one, informing it of news which made it smug.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(46, 137, 255, 1); margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" border="2">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    <h4>New Title acquired!</h4>


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    <h5>Pixie Slayer!</h5>


    Unlocking Condition(s): Kill A Pixie!


    Effect(s): Pixies and General Fae slightly distrust you when meeting.


    Daemons and Undead are less careful and more trusting toward you.


    (Title Note To User: This effect does NOT apply to High Fae!)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(46, 137, 255, 1); margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" border="2">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    <h4>New Title acquired! </h4>


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    <h5>Mana Drainer!</h5>


    Unlocking Condition(s): Forcefully drain Mana from a living being!


    Effect(s): Makes any future Mana drains easier to perform.


    Unique Dungeon Effect: Unlocks Mana Leeches as a selectable race!


    (Title Note To User: Unique Dungeon Effects are granted by Titles and Achievements that are uncommonly acquired by Dungeons.)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    As it read these two boxes, it felt gratification at the first one as it remembered the screaming of the Pixie as its life was ripped from it.


    The second one''s Dungeon Effect confused it because it didn''t know what Mana Leeches were. It understood from the title name that whatever it was could likely do what it had done to the Pixie, but it couldn''t understand what selectable race meant.


    So it bitterly turned to its instinct for an answer, and all it got was that it should open its Status for more information, so it did.

 Core Chapter 2: The Beginning of a Dungeon Pt.1

    It watched as a black box unfolded, displaying all the information its status held.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>N/A''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: N/A</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 8 Days Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Rogue Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Integrity: 07/30</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 02/27</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size: 0.1/8</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Current Integrity Status: Terrible, Recovering From Mana Deprivation!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abilities: Appraisal, Mana Sense, Mana Sight, Mana Shaping, Mana Drain, Limited Telepathy, Matter Assimilation.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Monsters: None</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Titles: Pixie Slayer, Mana Drainer</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Achievements: Pending...</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Looking over its status, it instantly became dejected when it saw that it had only acquired two points of Mana from the Pixie. It was further dispirited by its Integrity instinctively knowing that if its integrity had reached zero, it would''ve perished in a similar way to the Pixie it killed.


    Moving to look at its abilities, it was instantly bewildered seeing abilities its instinct never told it about, except for Mana Sense and Mana Drain which it had already used before.


    It began thinking about the first listed ability, Appraisal, and started racking its mind for any information it could dig up, only for its query to be swiftly answered by a black box.


    <table style="border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1); background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Appraisal</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>An ability unique to Dungeon Cores allowing them to view information about anything within their Dungeon. This also applies to the Status Window.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Seeing Appraisal''s description, it started appraising everything it didn''t know about instinctively within its status.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Mana Sight</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Differing from Mana Sense which can only see Mana, Mana Sight allows Dungeon Cores to see through Mana as if it were their eyes.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1); background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Mana Shaping </td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unique to Dungeon Cores, Mana Shaping allows them to mold the world around them permanently, and even allows them to create life so long as they have sufficient Mana.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1); background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Limited Telepathy </td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Allows Dungeon Cores to transmit orders directly into the minds of its produced Monsters.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1); background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Matter Assimilation </td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Allows for any material, liquid, gas, energy, and life not native to the dungeon to be assimilated, allowing the Core to recreate it via Mana Shaping.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Finishing the appraisal spree, it relished the new found knowledge about its abilities and immediately set out to see the world around itself for the first time.


    It fumbled, briefly trying to activate Mana Sight, until it thought of using Mana Sense again, but this time it delved farther into the Mana surrounding it than it had using Mana Sense. This enabled it to see details about its location like the rugged stone pedestal it lay upon, and the rest of the gloomy cave which greeted its sight for the first time.


    Glancing around, it was met with round, lead-grey stone walls surrounding it from every direction, with heaps of the same rock, spread throughout the room. It also noticed some type of red things jutting out from cracks in the floor.


    Further examining its surroundings led it to discover a small arm sticking out from beneath one of the piles of rocks, making it recollect the voice it had heard that was cut off by a loud cracking and rumbling noise when it first awoke. It quickly realized that this must''ve been its Pixie, which got crushed by rocks falling from the ceiling before it could form the link. Drawing its sight away from the crushed Pixie, it spotted another Pixie corpse lying at the base of its pedestal, which it concluded was the one it had drained of Mana. What really caught its attention, however, was the crooked gap in the wall three meters beyond its location.


    As it began moving its sight towards the gap, its exploration was halted by searing pain flaring in its mind and the appearance of two new black boxes.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <tbody>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Warning! User Is Exceeding Maximum Dungeon Influence Range!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Please Select Starting Race</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Grobs, Rating: Lesser Common - Lesser Uncommon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Trogs, Rating: Lesser Common - Uncommon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Goblins, Rating: Lesser Common - Moderate Uncommon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Gnolls, Rating: Common - Greater Uncommon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Kobolds, Rating: Moderate Common - Exceptional Uncommon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Orcs, Rating: Greater Common - Lesser Rare</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana Leeches, Rating: Lesser Rare - Mythical</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Demons, Rating: Common - Moderate Mythical</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Undead, Rating: Lesser Common - Lesser Legendary</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Elementals, Rating: Lesser Common - Exceptional Legendary</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    As the pain in its mind faded away, it felt frustrated and confused at the minuscule influence range.


    The inborn memories it had told it that its influence should have been around fifty meters in radius and not the measly two and half meters it currently had.


    Thinking more about this, it grew worried because it knew that to increase its influence it would need to soak the area around itself in Mana until the area became an extension of itself.


    Just the fact it only had two points of Mana made it clear how bad its situation currently was, and it would need to spend quite a bit just to expand its influence to a more reasonable size.


    Placing the worry about its influence at the back of its mind, it focused on the second box which asked it to select a starting race. Being momentarily confused about what it meant, the Core appraised the black box which cleared its confusion.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Select Starting Race</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: left">


    Allows you to select the first monster race available for you to use.


    Achievements and Titles can be unlocked depending on your pick.


    Assimilating defeated monsters and beasts will add them to your available monsters for creation, however, their Mana cost will be significantly higher than monsters selected from the race menu.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Reading this, it decided to appraise its first available option, excited to see what it would learn about it.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Grobs</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Grobs are a lesser species of Goblins with even less intelligence than their original race. They make up for this loss of intellect by having greater breeding and birth rates than even Goblins do, allowing a tribe of ten Grobs to erupt into a tribe of thousands in mere days. Thankfully for the sapient races of the world, Grobs live deep underground in large caves and rarely ever leave their dwellings. </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Grobs: Common Cave Grob (L-C), Cave Grob Hunter (L-C).</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It didn''t know how smart or what, goblins even were, but it felt to be able to go from ten to thousands in days was undoubtedly impressive. Not getting ahead of itself; however, it appraised the second option, wondering whether these Trogs were going to be better than these Grobs.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Trogs</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Trogs are a lesser species of Trolls, losing much of a Troll''s famed physical strength. Trogs gain intellect in return, nearly rivaling that of Humans. Their breeding rates and birth rates are slightly lower than the average goblins. Trogs generally live deep underground in large caves similar to Grobs and frequently come into conflict with them, leading to massive wars occurring between the two. </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Trogs: Common Cave Trog (L-C), Cave Trog Hunter (L-C).</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Looking at their descriptions, it felt like Trogs and Grobs were complete opposites, with Grobs being stupid and fast breeders, while Trogs were smart but slow breeders. Even the description mentioned them fighting each other. Still being unsure of its choice, it appraised its next option.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Goblins</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Standing no taller than three and a half feet, these short menaces have brought no small headaches to humans, for every goblin camp destroyed three more usually take their place no matter what efforts humans put forth trying to exterminate them once and for all. Goblins have weak physical strength, being barely stronger than a 7-year-old human child. They regularly use numbers to overwhelm and exhaust their enemies.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Starting Available Goblins: Forest Goblins (L-C), Cave Goblins (L-C), Moss Goblins ?.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It only glanced over the information about Goblins, finding them not worth its first pick, and moved to appraise the next option.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Gnolls</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Looking like a wild dog standing upright, Gnolls gather and hunt in packs of twelve to fifty on regular occasions. This makes them dangerous to encounter at any given time as their teamwork makes them a mighty foe in combat. Gnolls commonly live in forests or grassy plains where they hunt anything they can find, but they tend to avoid areas with large concentrations of humans such as cities, towns, and villages. </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Gnolls: Plain Striding Gnolls ?, Stone Fur Gnolls (M-C).</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Although Gnolls were more interesting than Goblins, they lived in different environments than it currently resided in, and it wasn''t taking any risk choosing a race which might not perform well within its cave. It didn''t discount them for when and if it ever reaches a point where it can expand beyond the cave it''s currently in. That, however, could be far in the future as it couldn''t even explore the rest of the cave due to its tiny area of influence over its surroundings.


    Before it could proceed to appraise the next option, it felt something enter its influence which immediately grabbed its attention. It instantly spotted the offender, a giant four-legged mass of fur moving towards the Pixie corpse. It watched as the beast snuffled at the body before deciding it was good enough, and opened its maw wide as it devoured it in a single bite. The beast chewed loudly as the sound of tiny bones snapping filled the room, its eyes scanning for more remains that might be left. It didn''t take long for its sight to land on the pedestal which held a black stone with bizarre runes and diagrams covering its surface; the Core had already blanked out in terror of being eaten by this monstrous beast, which eyed it with curiosity before turning away and squeezing back through the gap leading out of the room.


    Calming itself down, as it watched the beast leaving the room it quickly appraised this creature which had given it its first taste of pure terror.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Storm Hide Bear</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Frequently found living in caves situated on mountainsides, Storm Hide Bears possess vast physical strength and can augment themselves with the power of lightning, making them deceptively fast relative to their size. Their appearance differs little from that of regular black bears with the only exception being the occasional sparks generated by their fur.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Reading over its description, it felt afraid at this beast''s power. It determined its fear was justified when it saw the bear''s rating, as none of the selectable races had a higher beginning rating than it, except for the Mana Leeches.


    Feeling more hurried than before, it returned to appraising the next option on the race list.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Kobolds</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Usually found in caves. Kobolds share similar traits with Goblins except for their physical strength which vastly surpasses that of Goblins. This high strength originates from the minuscule amount of Drake bloodline that is present within Kobolds, and can be seen in their reptilian appearance. This bloodline and its benefits come at the expense of making them challenging to evolve beyond their first evolutions, making them an unpopular starting selection among Dungeons. </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Kobolds: Adult Kobold (M-C), Kobold Warrior (G-C), Kobold Hunter (M-C).</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The Kobolds interested it, leading it to appraise the Drake bloodline with intriguing results.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Drakes</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Giant reptiles feared for their draconic strength and are often associated with Dragons, however, contrary to what most sapients believe, Drakes do not share any direct lineage with Dragons. Standing on four legs, with crocodile-like scutes that can stop even the sharpest of blades, they can grow to a height of thirteen meters and a length of sixteen meters. Their close resemblance to the widely know, and feared, crocodiles makes it easy for any Drake to bring fear to any who lay eyes on their majestic form, boasting pride and fury more considerable than even that of Dragons, which are famed for both.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Unparalleled Mythical.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Its description and rating left it amazed and saddened that it couldn''t acquire this creature to deal with the menace likely living beyond the gap in its room. Kobolds still held its primary interest for now as it moved to appraise the next option.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Orcs</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Resembling Humans in many ways, Orcs believe themselves superior to them and often see Humans as cursed Orcs hence, they call Humans Soft-skins. Orcs have a multitude of different variants such as Green-skins, Grey-skins, Dark-skins, Flame-skins, and, the most common variant, Brown-skins. Orcs are often seen as savage beasts with little capability for empathy, but truthfully, Orcs are similar to Humans in almost every way and even boast higher kinship than Humans do. That doesn''t make them any less brutal towards Humans, however. Orcs gather together in tribes led by their chieftains, the strongest Orc in the tribe, and routinely raid Human and Beast-kin villages, kidnapping females to serve as mates and males to serve as food.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Orcs: Brown-Skinned Orcs (G-C).</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Orcs interested it mainly because they seem like they could deal with the Bear, but its confidence wasn''t too high for them regardless. It was curious to see what the brown-skins had to offer and quickly appraised them.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Brown-Skinned Orcs</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Brown-Skinned Orcs possess two times the strength of adult Humans, however, they lack the same intelligence Humans possess and boast the most savagery amongst the Orc species. Nonetheless, beware as killing too many of them may cause them to unite their tribes into mighty war host against those who threaten them.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It wasn''t very impressed with the brown-skins because it didn''t know how strong humans were, just that goblins can easily cause problems for them, Trogs nearly had the same intelligence, and Gnolls tended to avoid them. It swiftly discarded Orcs from its mind and proceeded to appraise the next option.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Mana Leeches</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Leeches are rarely seen by the sapient races of the world. Always living in Mana Springs leads them to be nearly unknown to the rest of the world. Mana Leeches vary wildly in size according to their age, starting at just ten centimeters long and four centimeters wide all the way up to sixty-one centimeters long and thirty-six centimeters wide. Once they latch onto something with Mana, they won''t stop draining it until they are killed, or the object runs out of Mana, which is lethal to most living beings.


    When created by Dungeons, sixty percent of Mana they drain goes to the Dungeon Core.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Mana Leeches: Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling (L-R).</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Mana Leeches! It held great optimism towards them for being able to acquire Mana for it, but felt they might be too easily killed due to their small size. It placed Mana Leeches high in the possible selection list just for their ability to acquire Mana.


    Looking at the list so far, It placed Mana Leeches first in its mind, followed by Kobolds, then Grobs for their swarming capabilities, the rest didn''t really interest it beyond Gnolls for their coordination in combat. Moving on, the core decided to appraise Demons next.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Demons</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Seen as the most brutal and vile race in the world, demons are commonly reviled by most sapient races, with humans and elves actively hunting them any time they emerge regardless of where that may be. Demons consist of an endless variety of species with more constantly appearing from their otherworldly realm.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Demons: Imps ?, Fiends (M-C), Succubus (G-C), Satyr (G-C).</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Finding little information, it appraised the four starting demons for more details.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Imps & Fiends</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Commonly thought of as evolved Imps, Fiends are actually their own species, possessing immense physical strength but no magical ability. This is unlike their smaller cousin the Imp, which boasts little to no physical power but has excellent control over magic, being able to strengthen basic spells to dangerously high levels without causing their Mana to rampage. Imps look like a red-skinned human child with a mouth full of tiny dagger-like teeth. Fiends have the appearance of an adult human bulging with muscle on every inch their body. Their presence grows more terrifying when you account for their height, being three times that of the average human, and their four demonic horns protruding from the top of their head. </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Imps, Rating: Common. Fiends, Rating: Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Seeing Imps and Fiends appear in the same box felt bizarre to it, but it disregarded it and continued scanning the rest of the Demons.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Succubus</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Bewitching engines of sex, Succubi can make the most willful men and women break under their fearsome skill in bed. Succubi use powerful Illusion and Mind Magic to appear as their target''s most extraordinary fantasy whatever that may be. They have the appearance of elves using their beautiful and luscious bodies to cause men and women alike to lust after them.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Satyrs</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>They possess strength greater than even Fiends and a sex drive as high as a Succubus. Satyrs are the horror of any women on the battlefield as they always target them first, even attempting to violate seized women in active combat. Satyrs appear as giant goat-headed men towering at five times the average height of an ordinary man. They commonly wander entirely naked, ready to assault any women that are unfortunate enough to come across one.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was slightly interested in Satyrs for their physical strength. However, it wasn''t even sure whether they could fit within its cave without being hunched over the entire time. As for Succubi, they were outright overlooked by it for being useless in the current situation.


    As it progressed onto its next appraisal, it heard roaring reverberate through the gap, and sounds of a battle taking place, causing the entire cave to quake.


    It grew worried the room might collapse, but its worrying didn''t last long as the fighting rapidly ended, leaving the cave once again shrouded in its usual silence.


    After being reminded of the fact the Bear still lived within the cave, it moved to appraise its next option, glad that it was almost through all of them.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Undead</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Considered the greatest enemy of the Aruba Theocracy, they''ve declared entire crusades against Dungeons, Elementals, and Necromancers using these beings. Dungeon created Undead, contrary to their belief, do not actually have captured souls as they are entirely formed by Death Element Mana and nothing else, which causes a death attribute soul to be born as their body forms. This does not apply to Necromancers and Death Elementals as they need a corpse and a soul to possess this corpse to create Undead. Undead can also rise on battlefields which haven''t been sanctified or purged of bodies.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Undead: Lesser Skeleton (L-C), Lesser Zombie (L-C), Lesser Ghoul ?.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Feeling irritated at whatever created this useless description, it tried appraising the skeleton, zombie, and ghoul, but got even less information than the box already gave, so it appraised the only other intriguing thing mentioned in the box.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Aruba God of Light</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td> Warning! Appraisal Blocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The sight of its appraisal being blocked shocked it solely because it had no idea appraisal could be felt and prevented! Hoping it didn''t anger whoever Aruba is, it moved on to its final option.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Elementals</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>All Elementals are born as wisps of differing elements, however, while Elementals may begin frail and arduous to evolve, at their peak their magic can equal that of Ancient Dragons!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Starting Wisps: Flaming Wisps (L-C), Water Wisps (L-C), Earthen Wisps (L-C), Wind Wisps (L-C), Frost Wisps ?, Lightning Wisps ?, Light Wisps (M-C), Dark Wisps (M-C).</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It hoped the Wisp''s description wasn''t as useless as the Undead one.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Wisps</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>An amalgamation of high purity elemental Mana that has gained the ability to form simple thoughts like that of babies, they are born with the innate ability to use basic spells of their given element.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The fact that wisps could use basic spells made it curious as to what those were, and whether they were strong enough to kill the Bear. It didn''t hold much hope, however, as it being listed as frail made it likely to be supremely effortless to slay.


    Seeing all the options, it reflected over its most likely choices, being Mana Leeches, Kobolds, and Grobs. The other choices were thought provoking, but in the end, they weren''t useful in its current situation. It finally settled on the Mana Leeches, in large part due to the fact they could get the Mana it desperately needed as there was little to no Mana in the air, making near impossible for it to absorb anything from its surroundings.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <tbody>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Selected Starting Race Mana Leeches Yes/No?</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Yes."


    After finalizing its choice, more black boxes spread out before it, making it wonder when they were going to leave it alone.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <tbody>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! For selecting your first race, the Achievements have been unlocked, and pending Achievements will now be displayed!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Solo Dungeon!


    Unlock Condition(s): Be born unlinked to any Pixie and succeed in acquiring Mana.


    Effect(s): Mana Drain and Matter Assimilation become simpler to perform, and Comprehension increases more rapidly compared to other Dungeons.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Leeching Core!


    Unlock Condition(s): Forcefully Drain Mana or Blood from a living being and select any variant of Blood Leechlings(UC) or Mana Leechlings? as one of the three first races of your Dungeon.


    Effect(s): Greater affinity and evolution potential for Leeches, and strengthens Leeches within your Dungeon by 25%.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Rare Beginning!


    Unlock Condition(s): Select a rare rated race as your beginning Race.


    Effect(s): Elevated chances for races rated lower than rare to obtain a higher rated evolution.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Watching as the final box faded away, it decided to look over its status once again before throwing itself at fixing the current situation.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>N/A''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: N/A</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 8 Days Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Rogue Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Integrity: 08/30</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 02/27</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size: 0.1/8</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Current Integrity Status: Terrible, Recovering From Mana Deprivation!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abilities: Appraisal, Mana Sense, Mana Sight, Mana Shaping, Mana Drain, Limited Telepathy, Matter Assimilation.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Monsters: Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling (L-R).</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Titles: Pixie Slayer, Mana Drainer</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Achievements: Solo Dungeon, Leeching Core, Rare Beginning.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The sight of its integrity recovering by one point made its spirit rise, helping it feel ready to tackle its predicament.

 Core Chapter 3: The Beginning of a Dungeon Pt.2

    The first task at hand would be to find a way to increase its Mana which was resting at two points, and wouldn''t be enough to claim its entire room.


    Scanning the surroundings for anything that could help in this endeavor, its gaze landed upon the red things protruding from the ground. An inspection of these odd spikes that littered the room gave the Core no clues as to what they were, only that their tips seemed incredibly sharp.


    Unable to learn anything more from looking at them, it used appraisal on these unusual objects.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Blood-Roots</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Named after their blood red coloring, spear-like tips, and surprising toughness. Blood-Roots have been the end of many individuals tripping and impaling themselves onto their sharp tips.


    Blood-Roots gain their impressive constitution by infusing Mana across their entire stem. Being so saturated with Mana leads them to be valued immensely by various races across the world.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Seeing the description of blood-roots made it very excited, and intrigued as to how blood-roots could emerge here where there is no Mana at all. This line of thought made it believe the lack of Mana might only be recent, making it even more curious as to where all the Mana could have possibly gone.


    It was left with only one lingering question, if these blood-roots contained Mana why couldn''t it see that with Mana Sense? Following this thought, it concentrated Mana sense onto the blood-root closest to its pedestal, looking for any sign of Mana within it. After keeping its sense locked upon the blood-root for a few minutes and seeing no sign of Mana, it began to doubt whether they actually contained any Mana.


    Judging that assimilating it wouldn''t do any harm, the Core tried doing so for the first time in its short life. It watched as the blood-root glowed, turning thinner more ethereal until it completely disappeared, leaving only tiny motes of grey light slowly dissipating into nothingness. A moment after the last points of grey light faded away a black box appeared, telling of its success and bringing news that made it content.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Assimilated blood-root contains elevated quantities of Mana which has been absorbed [+11 Mana points].</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Blood-Roots may now be created at the cost of 233 Mana points per Blood-Root.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The cost of blood-roots, however, shocked it to its core. 233 Mana points!?! That''s nearly nine times its Mana capacity for a single blood-root! The Core concluded that these plants were more than ordinary, especially considering their rating was above even that of the Storm Hide Bear. It determined to keep its use of these plants to a minimum, hoping to find more applications for them later.


    With enough Mana to expand its influence, it immediately spread its Mana across the entire room using six points to claim the remaining quarter-meter radius it hadn''t controlled within the room. Now having the whole room under its domain, it moved towards the gap, ready to see what lay beyond. Arriving at the gap, it used two more points of Mana to place the entrance to this new area under its control and took in every detail.


    The new area was quite large, being approximately twenty times the size of its core room, and contained more blood-roots as well as some sort of black rock embedded within the lead-grey walls. A large pond, about twice the size of the core room, sat to the left of the entrance, and finally, a colossal golden orb was sitting within a hurricane of Mana at the center of the room. As the Core took in everything, the orb caught its attention the most, since it was drawing all the Mana in the surroundings to its location revealing that it was the reason the entire cave was left with no Mana.


    Examining the anomaly more closely, it spotted the Storm Hide Bear sleeping at the base, bathing in the Mana rotating around it. The Core was curious as to what this orb could be, so it appraised it, hoping to find out why it was drawing all the Mana to itself.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Malfunctioning Titan Core</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Titan cores, used to power the most powerful divine creations in existence, Titans.


    Titans used unimaginable quantities of Mana just to operate; This Mana was provided by their Titan core by converting Ether into Mana, allowing Titans to draw on a near limitless supply.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>This Titan core has malfunctioned, causing it to absorb Mana instead of converting Ether, which has led to its surroundings being devoid of Mana.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Origin: Melkev Titan of Sundering.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Exceptional Semi-Divine.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Gazing at the description, it longed to fix it, imagining itself using the Titan core''s power to create nearly endless Mana. The Core sent one last glance towards the bear happily sleeping at the base of the orb, and returned to its room thinking of ways to eliminate the only thing between it and nearly limitless power.

 Villager Chapter 1: Wild Davirs Find

    Davir''s lived his whole life hunting Cloud Stepping Rams on the slopes of Cloud-Burst mountain, so he can say with certainty that the cave before him hadn''t been there last season.


    Curiosity tickled him however his senses told him going into this cave would be a bad idea, but Davir has never retreated when something piqued his interest. So he slowly made his way towards the cave, a slight chill brushing against his face as he stood at the cave''s mouth, he squinted into the darkness hoping to see anything which might prove to be a threat. Not seeing anything with his sight he made his way down the path leading into the depths of the cave, honestly hoping he wasn¡¯t making a terrible decision by entering this cave.


    Walking along the wide twisting tunnel, Davir felt the Mana around him rapidly thinning the further he moved into the cave reinforcing the notion of this cave being dangerous. Having reached a point where he couldn''t see anymore he used Hunter''s Vision, allowing him to see in the dark as if it were day. Having activated his skill, he continued down the tunnel at which point the air was practically devoid of Mana making his hunting instinct scream at him to leave this place before it would become his tomb. However, Davir stubbornly marched on, entering his sight was an opening which he hastily made his way towards hoping it would be the end of this cave, the moment he stepped through this opening he saw a yellow flash out of the corner of his eye.


    Davir nimbly rolled forward narrowly dodging the attack aimed directly at him. Twirling in the direction of his attacker Davir got to observe what had tried to take his life, standing at one and a half meters in height with a length of 3 meters, the sight of a bear with lightning arcing across its black fur greeted his eyes.


    Cursing under his breath at his luck Davir''s thoughts turned to ways of escaping the Storm Hide Bear before him. Warily watching the bear pull its paw out of the wall it had hit when he dodged, he watched it veering his way, immediately Davir drew his bow and nocked an arrow ready to shoot at any given opportunity. As they gazed at each other, neither wanted to give their opponent an opening, so this standoff continued until Davir took a chance and shot at the bear''s eye hoping to distract it long enough to escape. Unfortunately the moment he let his arrow fly, the bear vanished from its position due to its extreme speed.


    Davir could only twist to his left as the claws raked his waist tearing large gashes which bled profusely as he bolted towards the exit, gnashing his teeth in pain. Behind him, he heard the bear smash into the wall again, unable to control its own maddening speed, and by the time it freed itself, Davir had long left the cave hastening back to town with a warning.


    <hr>


    Elsewhere in an enormous white castle with onyx trimmings, a dazzling young man with golden hair, sharp facial features contrasted by a kind smile, warmth, and compassion could be seen as he greeted the servants cleaning the halls with them returning bows and continuing their tasks bearing smiles on their faces. As he reached his destination, the young man''s aura turned from its previous tenderness into an atmosphere embodying cold contempt towards the large onyx doors standing before him engraved with golden depictions of heroism, freedom, and courage everything he felt the current Empire lacked and needed. Ending his line of thoughts, he stood waiting to be invited inside.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    "Come in Silfus." hearing the loud, hoarse voice calling him inside Silfus pushed the doors open walking gracefully in the direction of a man sitting on massive gold throne trimmed with Star Rubies and engraved with the same depictions as the onyx doors behind him, reaching the throne he knelt before the one perched on the throne.


    "You''ve called father?" Silfus asked in a cold tone making no effort to hide his contempt.


    His father gaze''s inspected him briefly before telling why he''d called him before the throne, "You''ve still no wish to be a commander, I take it?", Silfus instantly snorted when he heard this, "Father, our people, die by wild beasts, pillaging orcs, and marauding goblins yet we fight the Theocracy to the west! Tell me, when will we deal with these threats? After we''ve won? The war is nowhere near its end, and unless we make peace with the Theocracy, our Empire will crumble before the war can end!", Listening to his son''s outburst his expression hardened as he replied, "You care for these commoners so much? Then go to O''te Nill at the base of Cloud-Burst mountain there''s been reports of a Storm Hide Bear being sighted there, and if you care so much for these commoners, you''ll have no problem dealing with it alone."


    Hearing the task, he''d been given Silfus''s expression turned ashen knowing he couldn''t fight a Storm Hide Bear and live; his level only sat at 37 whereas he would need to be around level 80-82 to take one on alone, thinking this he rapidly spoke up, "Father! You know my level is only 37, are you trying to send me to my death?"


    Just as he finished saying this his father''s voice thundered out, "You''ll take Kace with you as your aid and no one else! Now begone!"


    Straightaway Silfus spun on his heel, knowing there was nothing else to be said, and strode out of the throne room, not sparing an extra glance towards his father. As he walked along the halls, he cursed his father in his mind as he made his way towards his quarters.


    Reaching his quarters, he was greeted by the aged voice of his butler Kace, whom he felt had been more of a father towards him than his actual one, "How was the meeting, young master Sil?", Silfus shook his head, "Terrible Kace we''ve been assigned a suicidal task by my mad father. One I fear might be too much for you and me to do any good." Kace sighed regretfully wishing he''d been a hundred years younger to aid Silfus without being a burden upon his young liege.


    "Kace, prepare a carriage we''ll depart at noon and arrive at O''te Nill by the morrow." Kace bowed leaving to fulfill his assignment.


    As Silfus stood on one of his quarter''s balcony gazing at the heavens, he prayed he would succeed in slaying the Storm Hide Bear which threatened the Town of O''te Nill, and prove to his father that he would accomplish and stand by his ideals.

 Core Chapter 4: The Beginning of a Dungeon Pt.3

    Returning to its room, it set out to create its first Mana leechlings which would be instrumental in killing the bear which guarded the Titan core; it thought up its status to see how much Mana remained after its expansions.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>N/A''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: N/A</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 9 Days Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Rogue Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Integrity: 09/30</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 05/27</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size: 0.16/8</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Current Integrity Status: Terrible, Recovering From Mana Deprivation!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abilities: Appraisal, Mana Sense, Mana Sight, Mana Shaping, Mana Drain, Limited Telepathy, Matter Assimilation.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Monsters: Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling (L-R).</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Titles: Pixie Slayer, Mana Drainer</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Achievements: Solo Dungeon, Leeching Core, Rare Beginning.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Deciding it would need to assimilate another blood-root to have enough Mana to create its leechlings it turned to go about its endeavor although it stopped before the pile of rocks which had the Pixie corpse beneath it just to appraise the being that would''ve been bound to it had it not died.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Pixie</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Pixies, first born along Dungeons they''ve since spread across the world and are recognized as lesser fae by the sapient races of the world. Within Dungeons, Pixies use their limited ability to convert Ether to Mana aiding in a Dungeon''s initial expansion, they also teach and assist Dungeons in their decision making and serve as overseers of Dungeons stopping them from doing things which would harm the balance of the world.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Seeing that pixies were actually considered greater rare surprised it, thinking back to the tiny amount of Mana it had obtained from the Pixie it had drained, it felt something was off. It assimilated all the rocks laying on the Pixie only to be surprised by what these rocks were.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Lakinite may now be created at the cost of 460,128 Mana points per meter.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Divine Assimilator!


    Unlock Condition(s): Assimilate anything rated Semi-Divine or higher.


    (This condition must be completed as an unevolved core.)


    Effect(s): Discounts anything rated Semi-Divine or higher created via Mana shaping by 10%.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It felt happy seeing the achievement but its mind melted seeing that cost which it would only be able to dream about unless it restored the Titan core outside its room, it immediately appraised this ludicrous material wondering why it costs so much!


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Lakinite</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Lakinite, the stone forming the body of Earth Element Titans, with a coloring of dull lead-grey, Lakinite is often overlooked by sapient races for looking like ordinary stone. Lakinite is capable of hardening depending on the amount of Mana poured into it, and when forming the body of Titans, it becomes nigh indestructible.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Semi-Divine.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Looking around its room, it came to the realization that its cave and the Titan core''s area seemed to be made of the same type of stone leading it to think it might be within the body of a Fallen Titan. Recognizing it was getting sidetracked it returned to its original reason for assimilating that pile of Lakinite, looking at the mangled corpse of the pixie it began assimilating it fully aware by now that having a Pixie might be useful since they seem to have a lesser version of the Titan core''s ability.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Pixies have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 600 Mana points per Pixie.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Considering the cost, it decided to ignore it ever acquired Pixies until it can actually afford them. Moving across the room, it assimilated one of the larger blood-roots which contained fourteen points of Mana within, feeling ready it prepared itself for creating its first leechling.


    It scrutinized the creation process closely as a tiny black lump came into being before its sight, the creation came to an end without any fanfare and the appearance of a black box.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Monster Progenitor!


    Unlock Condition(s): Create any available monster.


    Effect(s): Makes the first created monster of any race more potent than the rest of its kin.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was surprised at earning an achievement, but it welcomed anything that helped, it also thought of opening its status just to see how many mana points it costs to make a single leechling.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>N/A''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: N/A</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 9 Days Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Rogue Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Integrity: 09/30</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 14/27</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size: 0.16/8</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Current Integrity Status: Terrible, Recovering From Mana Deprivation!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abilities: Appraisal, Mana Sense, Mana Sight, Mana Shaping, Mana Drain, Limited Telepathy, Matter Assimilation.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Monsters: Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling (L-R), Pixie (G-R).</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Titles: Pixie Slayer, Mana Drainer</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Achievements: Solo Dungeon, Leeching Core, Rare Beginning, Divine Assimilator, Monster Progenitor.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Surprised at the minuscule cost, it understood the leechlings were likely incredibly frail, and it''ll probably need a lot of them to kill the bear directly. Creating two more leechlings which looked a tiny bit smaller than the first it comprehended that the previous achievement it earned made its first leechling stronger. Deciding to keep an eye out for this high potential leechling, it absorbed another large blood-root giving it fifteen Mana points which brought its Mana back to nineteen however instead of making more leechlings it went to the entrance of the Titan core''s area and claimed two meters straight into the room at the cost of seven Mana points.


    It began hollowing out a two-meter wide and two and a half meter deep hole beneath the floor of the entrance leaving only a thin sheet of stone covering its pitfall. Feeling pride at its creation, it was further made smug by another black box appearing before it.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1); border-color: rgba(0, 0, 128, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Novice Trapper!


    Unlock Condition(s): Create any type of trap.


    Effect(s): Anytime you make something considered a trap you regain 5% of the Mana used in its creation.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    With its trap built it now felt ready to kill that wretched bear which still slept happily before the Titan core.

 Core Chapter 5: The Beginning of a Dungeon Pt.4

    As it thought of a way to draw the Bear into its trap, it felt a peculiar sensation like when it had drained Mana from the Pixie, and immediately it returned to its room, it''s sight landing on the three Leechlings which were latched onto one of the smaller blood-roots in the room.


    This scene made it feel like it was dumb because rather than assimilating those large blood-roots earlier it could''ve just drained them a bit leaving them alive and intact for using them later. It''s thinking was interrupted as it noticed the blood-root they were latched onto started losing its coloring signifying it was nearly dead, so it hastily told the Leechlings to move onto another blood-root and avoid draining that one again. This discovery still made it happy as it watched its Mana rise by nine points rasing its Mana count to twenty-one.


    Having sorted out the Leechlings for now, its thoughts returned on the Bear and how it would draw it into its trap. It thought of sending out its Leechlings to attack the Bear and get its attention, but it felt the Bear would just kill them then return to sleep instead of looking for where its attackers came from thinking they were all dead. Furthermore considering how hard the Leechlings were to spot it was unlikely the Bear would see any Leechlings sitting at the entrance behind the trap.


    Realizing it would need to get the Bear''s attention from a distance it pondered how to do so, it could try to throw pieces of Lakinite at it hoping it could throw far enough or it could attempt to condense its Mana into a form of attack.


    A quick test in its room revealed it wasn''t easy to throw Lakinite far especially in the Titan core area where it barely had any influence in the first place; this brought its focus towards making an attack with its Mana which proved to be incredibly easy whether it had influence or not.


    Armed with a way to draw the Bear''s attention it created two more Leechlings bringing the count to five and told the Leechlings to gather in the gap where they would stay behind the trap ready to pounce on the Bear when it falls into it.


    Moving to the entrance of the Titan core''s cave it began creating a ball of Mana using up six mana points and looked towards the Bear as it discharged the now glowing sphere of pure Mana which surprisingly grew in size spontaneously when it passed through the hurricane of Mana surrounding the Titan core.


    The sphere started making a loud screeching noise as its hue changed from light blue to dark blue alerting the Bear to its presence who was only able to open its eyes for a second before being sent crashing against the Titan core which lay behind it, which remained unscratched by the powerful collision.


    The Bear rapidly shook its dizziness away, scanning its surroundings for the one who would dare disturb its sleep and it quickly found another ball of Mana heading towards it, this one clearly much smaller than the first, the Bear swiftly dodged around the ball and charged in the direction it came from at blinding speed.


    It watched as the Bear turned into a blur heading in its direction, the Bear''s charge ended abruptly when it stepped on the thin floor which couldn''t hold its weight and caved into the pit below. Gravity pulled the Bear''s body downwards even as its stupendous momentum kept it going forward smashing its head against the pit''s wall knocking the Bear out cold.


    As it watched the dust settle and saw the Bear''s unconscious body sticking out of the pit too small to hold its entire length, it shuddered remembering the ridiculous speed it had just witnessed, and thought what kind of stupid creature makes itself so fast it can''t even control its own speed in the slightest?!


    Shaking its metaphorical head, it watched as the Leechlings drained the life and Mana away from the Bear, it examined the black boxes which had appeared after it used its new attack properly for the first time.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>New Skill Created!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Discharge!


    Effect: Causes the instant formation of a sphere of pure Mana using ten points of Mana and fires in the direction the user is facing.


    Range: 30 Meters.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>New Title acquired!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Mana Wielder!


    Unlock Condition(s): Possess three or more Mana Abilities and create a Mana Skill.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Effect(s): Makes all Mana related abilities and skills cost 15% less to use.


    (Title Note To User: This effect also applies to the increased Mana cost of foreign assimilated monsters.)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Skill Creator!


    Unlock Condition(s): Create a Personal Skill of any kind.


    Effect(s): Lowers the activation cost of Personal Skills by 10%.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It felt satisfaction in its victory seeing these boxes which always seemed to bring good news before its sight, and it will undoubtedly welcome the discount given by Mana Wielder, it was also happy it didn''t lose any Leechlings thanks to the Bear being knocked out by its kiss with the wall.


    Watching as the Bear''s life finally gave away, it was ready to assimilate it but didn''t hold any hope in being able to make one considering the cost of blood-roots which weren''t affected by the price increase for creating foreign monsters it didn''t select from the menu. Before it could start the assimilation, however, more boxes spread out before giving more joyous news making its Core shine in delight.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead></thead>


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Level Up!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 0 ?? 1


    Maximum Mana Capacity: 27 ?? 37


    Maximum Integrity: 30 ?? 36


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Intelligence Stat Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence increases your skill in using Mana lowering the cost of any Mana related action.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Wisdom Stat Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom makes Mana related abilities and skills stronger and also increases Maximum Mana Capacity separate from leveling.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Luck Stat Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Luck grants the random possibility for Mana or Stamina related actions not cost anything!


    Unique Dungeon Stat Effect: Random possibility for creatures to evolve beyond their maximum rating.


    (The Unique Dungeon Effect accounts for ratings raised by greater potential.)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was surprised at the revelation that it could level up but still pleased as having a higher Mana Capacity was always good in its mind, looking away from the boxes it assimilated the Bear once all its Leechlings crawled off of it.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Storm Hide Bears have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 289 Mana points per Storm Hide Bear.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Sighing at the cost, it moved back to its room giving the Leechlings orders not to kill the blood-roots with their draining and opened its status.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>N/A''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: N/A</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 9 Days Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Rogue Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level:1</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Integrity: 10/36</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 37/42</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence: 6</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom: 4</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Luck: 3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size: 0.17/8</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Current Integrity Status: Awful, Recovering From Mana Deprivation!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abilities: Appraisal, Mana Sense, Mana Sight, Mana Shaping, Mana Drain, Limited Telepathy, Matter Assimilation.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Skills: Mana Discharge.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Monsters: Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling (L-R), Pixie (G-R), Storm Hide Bear (UC).</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Titles: Pixie Slayer, Mana Drainer, Mana Wielder.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Achievements: Solo Dungeon, Leeching Core, Rare Beginning, Divine Assimilator, Monster Progenitor, Novice Trapper, Skill Creator.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Core Chapter 6: The Beginning of a Dungeon Pt.5

    Closing its status, it began thinking about its next steps, it knew it had to expand its domain preferably over the entire Titan core''s area, and it knew it had to find a more sustainable source of Mana other than absorbing from blood-roots which were growing more limited every passing moment. It already had an idea to solve both of these issues, the Mana hurricane around the Titan core would give it a sustainable Mana regeneration which in turn would help it expand its domain. However, the Titan core and its hurricane lay more than thirty meters away from its location which would cost about two hundred, and ten Mana points to expand all the way there; furthermore, it would run out of blood-roots to absorb long before it reached the center.


    Leaving its room, it returned to the Titan core''s cave and began surveying for anything which could help with its current Mana crisis. It''s sight once again landed on the strange black rock embedded in the wall nearby noting it worth checking out, and it spotted something which it hadn''t the first time it came into the room, strange creatures hanging upside down from the ceiling over the pond to the left of the area. It was torn between which way it would expand, lying to its right was the strange black stone about ten meters away from it, while to its left approximately twelve meters away were those strange creatures hanging from the ceiling.


    That didn''t last long however as its curiosity towards the creatures won over the black stone, so it started expanding towards the pond without any need to stop once it commenced its expansion. As it reached the pond, its Mana regeneration caused by the Leechlings'' ongoing absorptions was barely keeping up with its usage, but it lasted long enough, now it could view the creatures and actually appraise them.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Shade Wing Bats</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Adepts at stealth Shade Wing Bats are found in caves around the world hunting common cave critters and harassing any who disturb their resting places. Shade Wing Bats possess a moderate quantity of Shade Wing Zephyr Bloodline, a fact known only to few.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was getting more interested in these Bats as it read their description, especially when it appraised the Shade Wing Zephyr.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Shade Wing Zephyrs </td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Found nesting on mountaintops inaccessible to the sapients who try to tame them due to their high Dark Magic affinity. Shade Wing Zephyrs have become a near legendary sight in low altitudes, instead preferring the safeties of the skies even at the cost of being forced to hunt stronger creatures than themselves. Leading to the small population of them growing sparser as they gather in groups and form large nests within mountaintop caves often clashing with Rock Lions which live in the same environment.


    Shade Wing Zephyrs possess the innate ability to combine their Mana Pools to cast high-level Dark Magic spells of which they are so sought after.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Exceptional Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    This description made it wonder if these Bats might be able to gain Dark Magic affinity if they evolved to a higher rating, and made it want them even more. So it waited until its Mana replenished enough to use Mana Discharge and kill one of these Bats so it can assimilate it, hopefully gaining a monster it can actually make this time.


    After its Mana reached nine, it used Mana Discharge firing the sphere directly at the unsuspecting Bats, who noticed too late for them to avoid the sphere as it barreled into them, detonating after colliding with the ceiling. It saw the sphere explode and watched as eyes, teeth, limbs, and organs flew in every direction decorating its surroundings in gore, all the while it could only feel shocked at the display of brutality its sphere had done against the Bats turning them all into bits and pieces scattered in and around the pond.


    Shaking itself out of its stupor it assimilated the most intact remains hoping it hadn''t ruined its chance at acquiring these creatures, thankfully it''s fear turned unfounded as it saw multiple black boxes spreading out before it.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Level Up!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 1 ?? 3


    Maximum Mana Capacity: 42 ?? 62


    Maximum Integrity: 36 ?? 48The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Intelligence: 6 ?? 10


    Wisdom: 4 ?? 6


    Luck: 3 ?? 4


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>New Title acquired!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Bat Slayer!


    Unlock Condition(s): Kill more than fifteen Bats.


    Effect(s): Pressures any Bats that spot you, causing them to feel nervous in your presence and makes cave critters slightly attracted towards you.


    (Title Note To User: This effect does not apply to Bats created by you.)


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Assimilated Shade Wing Bat contained elevated quantities of Mana which has been absorbed [+17 Mana points].</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Shade Wing Bats have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 2 Mana points per Shade Wing Bat.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The high Mana content within the Bat surprised it, but it couldn''t understand why they would have such a high Mana capacity. Nonetheless, the incident with the Bats made it realize that it''s Mana Discharge was absurdly powerful and made it wonder just what its own rating was considering it had turned those innocent Bats into a shower of gore. The Bear, however, had remained relatively undamaged at the time making it think this was probably another difference from its previous haphazard throwing of balls of Mana as opposed to having a proper skill which seemed to increase its strength making the Spheres deadlier.


    Returning to its room, it created ten Shade Wing Bats and left them to hunt in the Titan core area, with its sight returned to its core it opened its status viewing the changes done to it and to see how much Wisdom increased its Mana capacity.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>N/A''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: N/A</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 9 Days Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Rogue Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Integrity: 11/48</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 3/64</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence: 10</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom: 6</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Luck: 4</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size: 0.98/8</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Current Integrity Status: Awful, Recovering From Mana Deprivation!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abilities: Appraisal, Mana Sense, Mana Sight, Mana Shaping, Mana Drain, Limited Telepathy, Matter Assimilation.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Skills: Mana Discharge.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Monsters: Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling (L-R), Pixie (G-R), Storm Hide Bear (UC), Shade Wing Bat (L-C).</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Titles: Pixie Slayer, Mana Drainer, Mana Wielder, Bat Slayer.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Achievements: Solo Dungeon, Leeching Core, Rare Beginning, Divine Assimilator, Monster Progenitor, Novice Trapper, Skill Creator.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Ending its check, it remembered it had forgotten to assimilate more Bats to raise its Mana back to full after being distracted by its thoughts. So it swiftly returned to the disaster zone and assimilated four Bats and moved over to the right side of the room where it expanded all the way to the strange black rock where it didn''t waste any time appraising it.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Elwind Stone</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Elwind Stones only found in caves high in altitude or areas with high-levels of Wind element Mana. Elwind Stones are natural Mana converters, turning pure element less Mana to Wind element Mana, converting one point of Mana every ten minutes making them reasonably valuable to sapients and Wind element monsters.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was disappointed about this Elwind Stone for now because it knew when it assimilated it, it wouldn''t be able to make it at all until its Mana capacity got higher, even so, it still started the assimilation process.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Assimilated Elwind Stone contained elevated quantities of Mana which has been absorbed[+117 Mana points].</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Elwind Stones may now be created at the cost of 902 Mana points per Elwind Stone.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It watched as its Mana rocketed back to maximum capacity shocking it as it didn''t realize the stone could hold Mana and sad at the waste of fifty points dissipating into the Mana hurricane. Nevertheless, it started expanding towards the Titan core now having enough Mana with its full capacity and the remaining Bat bits.


    Hours melted away as it focused on expanding its domain, when it finally reached the Core it felt exhaustion like it had never known before and fell asleep for the first time in its life.

 Royal Chapter 1: A Princes Hate

    Silfus leaned on the window gazing out from his carriage as it made its way through the Noble District, a clear expression of disgust present on his face as he watched the nobles traveling with their armies of servants, making no effort to hide their wealth founded on the misery of innocent commoners across the Empire. How he wished he could throw them out of the capital and personally feed them to the Orcsthat they conveniently ignore the existence of, as they live in their paradises of debauchery and corruption.


    He knew little of what the nobles debated in court, but the simple fact that the war with the Theocracy was still ongoing, told him all that he needed to know. The nobles were not focused on the well being of their people, no, they were focused on expanding their territories, expanding their wealth, and ultimately, their influence in court. But, what good would any political influence be, if, by the end of the war, there was no Empire left?


    The sudden loud rattling of the carriages'' wheels against the rough and decrepit stone road of the Common District, tore the prince from his brooding, as the carriagemade its way down the central road of the Common District. The atmosphere underwent an observable anddrastic change from the beautiful Noble District. Trash lined the sides of the road; beggars cried out to anyone passing by, with most of them going unheard and ignored. The nearby alleyways overflowed with thugs, assassins, murders, and black mages.


    The sound of an auction reached his ears, voices bidding on slaves for lust, rituals and any kind of evil man can do to another; his expression darkening every time he heard "Sold!" Unable to take it anymore he opened the window and told Kace to get them out of the city as swiftly as possible.


    Closing the window, he returned his gaze to the outside spotting a sight that made him want to commit murder. A young blonde, Beast-kin girl naked, her cat ears cut off, her tail stubbed, her body covered in whip markings, and a sign hanging off of her neck reading ''Five coppers per use!'' indicating she was likely going to be disposed of later for being used ''goods.''


    Having seen enough of the corruption he''s had to deal with every time he leaves the city. He closed the curtains unwilling to look outside for fear of being unable to control himself and giving his wretched father a reason to throw him on the frontline of the war between the Empire and the Theocracy.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Minutes ticked by until he heard a knock on his window. He opened it and heard Kace telling him they''d left the city and were now on the road to Cil'' Moore Pass where they would continue onto O''te Nill from there.


    Hegazed, as the landscape turned from flat forests to mountainous forests. Five hours after they''d left the city they stopped momentarily for lunch and to let the horses rest. When they heard howls fill the air, experience from coming out here before allowed Silfus to know they were now the targets of Vine Maned Wolves, making him unsheathe a long sword whose blade was sky blue, its body lined with similar engravings as the ones found on the onyx throne room doors within the palace.


    Silfus used Sparrow''s Sight allowing him to see farther and clearer, which let him spot four-leaf green wolves dashing in their direction with vines tipped with glistening points, waving from their manes as if they were conscious.


    It didn''t take long for them to reach him and Kace, who ran forward catching the attention of the wolves as he looked old making them think he was the weakest of the two. But they couldn''t be more wrong about Kace whose level sat at sixty-four easily allowing him to take on three of the wolves, leaving the last one for Silfus to deal with.


    Silfus eyed his charging opponent as he stepped to his right, dodging the leaping wolf, and cutting three of its six vines off before they could touch him. Leaving him unharmed, while the wolf was missing the vines on its left. With sufficient time Silfus used one of his skills as a Magic Swordsman, creating an ethereal, golden blade that shot away from him before the wolf could turn around, slicing it straight in half, its organs spilled out from its bisected body, and its remaining vines spasmed due to the abrupt death of the wolf.


    Looking around, he watched as Kace finished the last of his wolves with clean precision using small daggers as he moved faster than the wolves could react, and stabbed them through their skulls, ending their life before they knew they had died.


    "We better get moving young master Silfus, lest we draw more wolves to our presence." Silfus nodded, and they hastily continued their journey towards Cil'' Moore Pass and ultimately O''te Nill Town.

 Core Chapter 7: The Beginning of a Dungeon Pt.6

    Awakening, it felt its mind clearer than ever, but something surprised it, a set of black boxes asking something it hadn''t expected to wake up to.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Evolutions Available for Five Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Evolution: Lesser Mana Leechling!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s): Leechlings must drain anything ten times.


    The basic evolution for Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, gaining nothing but size these Leechlings are no different than before.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Evolution:Mana Fused Leechling!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s):Leechlings must drain Mana from fifteen sources and drain one thousand Mana or more.


    Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings who''ve drained a tremendous amount of Mana, permanently infusing them with it. This gives them greater control over their pilfered Mana allowing them to release it in a Mana Burst causing catastrophic damage to anything caught within its relatively short radius of one meter. Their fusion with Mana causes their body to release a soft pale blue glow, dazzling unwary opponents and distracting those who are wary.Eighty percent of the Mana they drain goes to the Dungeon Core.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating:Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Evolution: Storm Blood Mana Leechlings!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s): Leechlings must drain Mana from a Storm Hide Bear and drain five hundred Mana or more.


    Evolved from Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, these new Leechlings can use the same augmentation as Storm Hide Bears do for their fast movements, allowing these Leechlings to catapult themselves onto unsuspecting prey from a distance. Once latched on they can paralyze their target with powerful electric currents and outright fry weaker prey, and they possess an insignificant amount of Lightning Magic affinity.


    Sixty-five percent of the Mana they drain goes to the Dungeon Core.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Evolution: Vitriolic Leeching Abomination!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s): Leechlings must drain Mana from something rated Legendary or above, and drain one thousand five hundred Mana or more, also requires for the Dungeon Core to have obtained any Fae Slayer Title and the Leeching Core Achievement.


    Vitriolic Leeching Abominations are monsters reviled by any who set eyes upon them, appearing as a humanoid swarm of Leechlings these monsters drain Mana and Blood from just a touch, requiring any who fight them to be wary of every inch of their bodies. Being weak to Fire and Light, Vitriolic Leeching Abominations prefer the depths of dark and dank caves, where they stay preying from the shadows upon anything which crosses their path, however, beware as Fire and Light may be their weakness it also makes them go berserk with fury against those using these elements. They possess minor Water Magic affinity, minor Dark Magic affinity, and little Ice Magic affinity.


    Seventy-five percent of the Mana they drain goes to the Dungeon Core and Fifty percent of the Blood they drain also goes to the Dungeon Core.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>The first chosen evolution will be added as an available monster for creation; any other chosen evolutions will need to be evolved normally by creating new Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Seeing that its Leechlings could evolve made it happy, but disturbed its mind as to where they got all the Mana required for these evolutions, quickly checking its status, it saw its Mana was full and realized what they''d done. It had given an order some time ago not to kill the blood-roots with their draining, so when they ran out of blood-roots, they must''ve gone and drained something which it hadn''t said anything about not touching, namely the Titan core.


    Bolting out of its room it''s thought was confirmed when it spotted the five Leechlings latched onto the Titan core draining it of its Mana, making the Mana hurricane be occasionally sapped of Mana by the Titan core as its Mana drains. It wasn''t concerned however and merely elated they were actually draining the Titan core and not the blood-roots around it, in large part due to the fact it knew the Titan core was unlikely to run out of any Mana with just five Leechlings draining from it.


    Having confirmed all the blood-roots remained alive, it started thinking about which evolution to pick as its primary which would add it as an available monster permanently unlocking that evolution. It immediately discounted the first evolution for obvious reasons, looking more at the other three which were all excellent making it unsure as to what to pick, but it finally settled on making its Progenitor Leechling a Vitriolic Leeching Abomination, unlocking it as its available monster and made two Mana Fused Leechlings and two Storm Blood Mana Leechlings.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Congratulations!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling Progenitor will now evolve into Vitriolic Leeching Abomination Progenitor!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Congratulations!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Two Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings will now evolve into Mana Fused Leechlings!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Congratulations!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Two Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings will now evolve into Storm Blood Mana Leechlings!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Congratulations!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Vitriolic Leeching Abominations have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 128 Mana points per Vitriolic Leeching Abomination.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Abomination Core!


    Unlock Condition(s): Select a monster evolution tagged as an Abomination as your first evolution.


    Effect(s): Causes all Fae to distrust you when meeting and feel anxious in your presence, also increases affinity and evolution potential for Abominations and strengthens them within your Dungeon by 15%.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was briefly surprised at earning an achievement, but welcomed it nonetheless as anything which helps its monsters helps it, as for the Fae? It couldn''t care less about them right now as it didn''t even know what the rest of them even were and only knew of Pixies which it thought of as pathetic considering one died from some rocks falling onto it and the other died by being drained by a barely awakened Dungeon Core. Namely itself, so its opinion of Pixies was the lowest it could be.


    It turned off its train of thoughts as it began watching the evolutions which were in progress, it''s attention was mostly focused on the Abomination that was evolving far differently than it imagined. Instead of becoming large, it turned slender growing to a height of three meters and looked like thousands of Leechlings constantly climbing over one another trying to reach the top. It had four glowing orange eyes in the formation of a square. Its eight arms were one and a half meters long each, and each had something that looked like blood-roots piercing out of their palms, their three revolting fingers coiling around them, making them look like a complete nightmare to any who would see them. Its appearance began finalizing as its body color turned darker then it had as a Leechling making it seem like it was melting away in the darkness, finally stopping at being barely visible as its four orange eyes glowed as a fatal distraction to any who met them.


    As the Abomination''s evolution finished, the Core looked over the other Leechlings not seeing much of a difference except for the Mana Fused Leechlings which were glowing a soft pale blue light from their body being oddly enticing to the eyes. As for the Storm Blood Mana Leechlings, their color changed a bit from black to dark red, with streaks of yellow in the pattern of lightning bolts going across their body.


    It told the four Leechlings to return to feasting on the Titan core hoping to make their next evolutions as excellent as these were. The Abomination, however, slunk away submerging itself in the pond leaving only its head above the surface as its eyes scanned for prey.


    With its Mana full the Core expanded its domain over the rest of the Titan core area only stopping occasionally to let its Mana regenerate, and while it was doing one of these breaks, it discovered a hole in the wall behind the Titan core likely leading to more of the cave. It finished taking the entire Titan core''s cave under its control and brought its sight before the hole leading into a new cave for it to explore and expand.

 Core Chapter 8: The Beginning of a Dungeon Pt.7

    Before going into this new area, it ordered the ten Shade Wing Bats to accompany it, hoping to find something which might be able to aid in acquiring good evolutions for them.


    After they''ve all gathered, it leads them down a four meter wide and six-meter tall tunnel which seemed to be going up gradually; It had to spend had to spend seventy Mana to expand across the entire length of the tunnel. As it reached the end, it could see the walls widening until they dropped away revealing a wide open completely barren room with the only exception being a group of Bears smaller than the Storm Hide Bear it had fought before and appraised them.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Black Cave Bears</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Black Cave Bears are a common sight around the world always living in caves, going out only when they absolutely need food. There isn''t anything especially remarkable about them as they can''t even evolve into Storm Hide Bears making them be seen as the weakest Bears in the world.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Seeing the pitiful description, it decided to let the Shade Wing Bats have a try at killing them, hopefully fulfilling some type of evolution condition.


    The battle between the ten Shade Wing Bats and the six Black Cave Bears was surprisingly brutally one-sided as the Bats swooped down clawing at the eyes of the Bears, always staying just out of the reach of the Bears. When one of the Bears tried to flee it was swarmed by five of the Bats who landed on the Bear''s back and began tearing into it eventually ripping out the Bear''s spine.


    The five Bats had gone into a frenzy eating away at the Bear, even crawling into it''s torn open back devouring the organs inside, blood painting the surroundings as the frenzy grew. As for the other five Bats, they were struggling attempting to keep the Bears away from their frenzied brothers. The battle continued until the five frenzied Bats finished their meal and joined their brothers in swarming over the five Bears who were now horribly outnumbered ten to five causing the battle to end swiftly in a similar bloody frenzy as before.


    It watched with satisfaction at the display of violence the Bats showed, the Core considering this good for their overall potential, looking over the Bear parts strewn about, it picked one to assimilate.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Black Cave Bears contained minor quantities of Mana which has been absorbed [+3 Mana points].</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Black Cave Bears have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 4 Mana points per Black Cave Bear.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It at least hoped it could evolve them into something better later and began claiming the now empty cave. It took it a fair amount of time to claim the room which was forty meters in radius, being only twenty meters smaller than the Titan core area.


    It ordered the Bats to follow it again as it headed into another tunnel going further upwards, the tunnel was only about six meters long before it reached an area where bright shafts of light descended from the opening ahead of it and as it left the cave it saw something for the first time, the Sky.


    It looked wonderstruck outward over the vastest place it had ever been in its life, the clouds, mountains, forests, and the very horizon all filled with curiosities waiting to assimilated and drained, but it knew that would be impossible to accomplish without repairing the Titan core, which it now wanted to do more than ever! It surveyed the land it could see closer, spotting some weird grey and brown looking things in the valley far below, something black rose into the sky from most of these grey and brown things making it burn with curiosity as to what they were. However, it didn''t have nearly enough Mana to cover the distance it approximated at being four thousand meters away which would cost around fourteen thousand Mana points to cover the entire distance in a straight line, something which it clearly didn''t have now.


    Turning around and heading back into the cave, it thought of expanding the area around the Titan core with its Mana Shaping, however high the cost may be, after all, the Titan core''s cave is the most crucial place in the entire cave system, and it can''t afford to lose the Titan core under any circumstance. Entering the Titan core''s room, it told the Bats to go back to hunting cave critters and moved to start expanding the room about an extra forty meters in radius which will cost one hundred and sixty-eight Mana points.


    Minutes quickly turned to hours since it couldn''t just dissolve the precious Lakinite making up the walls, so its expansion was unreasonably slow as it had to pile the Lakinite around the Titan core when it felt something enter its influence.


    Two creatures standing upright like its Abomination but smaller, one had golden hair, green eyes, sharp facial features. And was much younger compared to the one standing beside him who had hair the color of rust, brown eyes, and a one and a half foot long rust-colored tail, pointy ears on the top of his head, and an old face as if he would die any time now. It''s curiosity made it instantly fly to their location and appraise them, starting with the golden-haired one.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Silfus''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Silfus Kalnor</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 17 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Human</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 38</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Royal Magic Swordsman</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 274/274</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 78/78</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Kace''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Kace Locan</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 179 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Wolf-Kin</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 64</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Close Combat Butler</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 380/380</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 143/143</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    It was surprising to see a Human and Beast-Kin it had read about in those appraisals before, but it was cautious seeing their levels and the fact it couldn''t see the rest of their status. It told the Abomination to attack the old one and had the Storm Blood Leechlings attack the young one, as for the Mana Fused Leechlings? They were way too slow to make it there before the battle ends, making it think about moving them closer to the entrance for any future visitors from the outside.


    As it waited for the Abomination and Leechlings to arrive, it heard the old one whispering to the golden-haired Human, "Young master, something''s wrong with this cave." The golden-haired Human looked to his right, "What? What''s wrong with the cave?" The old one replied in a whisper, "The Mana, it feels like the Mana I''ve felt in Dungeons, but instead of becoming thicker it seems to be thinning." The Human seemed startled after hearing that, and his whole demeanor turned wary.


    It felt the Abomination slunk into the cave, moving like a ghost it moved behind the old one as he continued whispering unaware of the monster preparing to reap his life, "This feels too much lik--- arghh!" His whispering turned into a cry of pain as his shoulder was skewered by the blood-root looking spike extending out of the Abomination''s palm. The old one tried to push the spike out of his shoulder, but two of the fingers coiled around the spike shot around his neck strangling him. While the third entered his open mouth, sliding down his throat as Icicles burst out from the finger causing havoc within his body, furthermore he was being drained by all three fingers of his Mana and Blood.


    The golden-haired human reacted after being momentarily stunned at the revolting development. He drew a blue-bladed engraved long sword, and not a second after drawing his sword a giant golden knight apparition sprung to life around him mimicking his every movement, with a shout he charged at the Abomination that swung two arms faster than his eyes could follow shattering the knightly apparition, sending the golden-haired human crashing into the floor. As the Human lied in the crater formed from his impact, he had what it thought was water coming out of his eyes, sliding down his cheeks as he pulled out a tiny violet orb from his clothe and shattered it in his hand making the whole room flare up with violet light.


    When the light faded, it saw the crater empty, and it became perplexed as to how he disappeared like that, but disregarded it after seeing the old one was still being choked, and his throat pervaded as he struggled for his life only low grunts escaping his blocked mouth. Mere seconds later he died causing black boxes to cascade before the Core.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Congratulations!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>For killing your first sapient as a Dungeon, an experience bonus has been applied to commemorate this occasion! </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Level Up!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 3 ?? 12


    Maximum Mana Capacity: 64 ?? 154


    Maximum Integrity: 48 ?? 102


    Intelligence: 10 ?? 28


    Wisdom: 6 ?? 15


    Luck: 4 ?? 8


    Maximum Dungeon Size: 8 ?? 16


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Congratulations!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>


    For reaching level 5, you can now make your first floor as a Dungeon!


    Floors can be themed depending on the Achievements and Titles you''ve unlocked! Once a theme has been unlocked you will gain the ability to create objects, and use the trait(s) of that theme, and even merge them with other themes to create combination themes.


    Dungeon Floors have no maximum size and can be made to exist within pocket dimensions essentially acting as tiny worlds within.


    It is optional whether you want to put your floor in a pocket dimension.


    Floors use up less Dungeon size than claiming, allowingyou to grow larger than would be possible extendingyour domain.


    Floor entrances can be placed anywhere within your influence even other floors!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Congratulations!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>For reaching level 10, you can now make your second floor! Themes now also grant bonuses to certain Monsters and Magic!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Intellectual Core!


    Unlock Condition(s): Posses 20 or more points in the Intelligence Stat.


    Effect(s): Greater affinity and evolution potential with Elementals and strengths them within your Dungeon by 10%. Also increases the Magical Affinity of any created monsters.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was absolutely stunned at how many levels it gained from the death of that Beast-kin and wondered why it hadn''t leveled up this much before considering it killed the much stronger Storm Hide Bear, or did it have something to do with the bonus? Whatever the case it was delighted and although it didn''t lack space. It loved the thought of being able to make anything intruding go somewhere other than a few hundred feet away from the Titan core as being able to make the floor in a pocket dimension would make anything entering the cave go through the floors first before being able to walk down the tunnel leading to the Titan core.


    It was also pleased with the achievement''s second effect but didn''t really plan on acquiring Elementals any time soon. It looked over to the Abomination still holding the Beast-kin corpse and assimilated it.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon-Kins have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 422 Mana points per Dungeon-Kin.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was confused at not earning the Beast-kins and immediately appraised these ''Dungeon-Kin.''


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon-Kin</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Humanoid versions of any monster available for creation.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Null.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The small description shocked it, but it figured there wasn''t much more to describe about them, as it just seemed to turn any of its monsters into something similar to the Wolf-kin it assimilated to acquire this.


    Looking around it spotted the Storm Blood Leechlings it had also ordered to come attack, but it completely forgot after seeing the overwhelming display of power the Abomination showed. Ordering them to follow it back to the Titan core it began thinking about what theme it was likely to earn, and dearly hoped they would be useful and not just wastes of Mana.


    <hr>


    Those eyes! Lord those eyes! They shine brightly like torches in the darkness, drawing you into them, unaware of the evil behind them until it''s too late. - Excerpt From The Mad Prince.

 Core Chapter 9: The Expansion of a Dungeon Pt.1

    Entering the Titan core''s cave, its thoughts were interrupted as it noticed a bright red glow coming from the entrance to its Core room making it intrigued as to what was causing such a thing, entering it saw its Core which had undergone a considerable change since the last time it came here. Instead of its old black stone which was dull, lightless, and simply just black with a few diagrams and runes covering its surface. It was now shining brightly like the sky it had seen earlier; its black stone was wrapped in a thin bubble of blood which it assumed belonged to the Beast-kin the Abomination had drained. The most substantial change, however, were the Diagrams and Runic circles which had turned from their previous grey color to shinning an ominous black light and those Diagrams and Runic circles now revolved around the bubble of blood covering its surface, instead of its old inertness. The red light it had seen outside was the light from its Core shinning through the blood bubbled around it, and it assumed these changes had occurred due to leveling up and unlocking the Floor Creation ability which denoted a change in its capabilities as it could now expand to be far more extensive than before.


    Finishing the inspection of its Core, it was now extremely excited to create a floor increasing its safety so it could focus on repairing the Titan core and using the Floor creation it caused a black box to appear before it, awaiting its answer which would open new possibilities for it.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Floor Creation Themes will now be unlocked! Yes/No?</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Yes."


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Isolation Caves!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Solo Dungeon Achievement.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Isolation Caves are lightless caves made to disorient and separate groups, by teleporting invaders and swapping cave layouts. Monsters in the Isolation caves may occasionally teleport near invaders making them wary of every corner even dead ends.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>No monsters naturally wander this floor.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>No Monsters or Magic benefits present in this theme.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Parasitic Swamp!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Leeching Core Achievement.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Parasitic Swamp passively drains Mana from invaders at a rate of one Mana point a minute making this floor deadly to linger. It also possesses an artificial sky following its own day and night cycle, making it difficult for invaders to tell how long they''ve been on the floor. </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Also passively creates insects and weak monsters within the floor, rated no higher than Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Leech Monsters and Blood Magic minorly.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Atrocious Halls!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Abomination Core Achievement.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Atrocious Halls contain experiments that will revile and inspire dread in any invaders, whether that be unholy beasts, the wicked torture of captured invaders, or their very imagination, the Halls will always find some fear in any who enter.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Twisted Monsters wander the Halls, rated no higher than Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits only Monsters Tagged as Abominations minorly and doesn''t benefit Magic at all.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Withering Forest!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Leeching Core and Rare Beginning Achievements.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Withering Forest causes anything within to slowly dry up, making invaders need to frequently drink water lest they become withered husks. The Forest also causes equipment used by invaders to degrade until they turn to dust, leaving any trapped within with no weapon, armor, or even clothing on their body. </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Withered husks of invaders haunt the Forest after their death, rated no higher than Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Leech and Withered Monsters, Earth and Dark Magic moderately.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Elemental Dunes!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Intellectual Core Achievement and the Mana Wielder Title.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Elemental Dunes consist of a vast desert filled with elemental hazards rarely found in the normal world with tornados made of fire and rock, volcanoes erupting water and ice, stinging electrified gales, tsunamis of blood, lights darkening releasing a chilling wind around them, shadows radiating scorching light and various more fantastical and murderous hazards.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Elementals wander the dunes, rated no higher than Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Elementals and all Magic minorly.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Atrocious Heavenly Tower!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Abomination Core, and Divine Assimilator Achievements.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>A higher form of the Atrocious Halls, the Tower can create the fears of any invader wandering its floors and will torture captured invaders in unholy torture sessions displayed across the floors, prioritizing any friends or family located within the Tower.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abominations are found on most floors, rated no higher than Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Abominations and Dark Magic greatly.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Theme Virtuoso!


    Unlock Condition(s): Acquire five themes or more, and all require to be unlocked for the first time in the world.


    Effect(s): Makes it easier to combine themes and themes grant increased bonuses to their respective benefits.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The black boxes came with a bombardment of information into the Core''s mind as objects, materials, and various other things too numerous to fit in black boxes engulfed the Core''s mind painfully causing it to lose control of its sight andbounce back into its Core, further increasing its pain. Hours later as the pain faded, it swore to open the Floor Creation ability any time it earns an Achievement to avoid something like this ever happening again. But it was mostly satisfied with all the things it acquired only being disappointed it didn''t gain more monsters which would fit these floors, but that could be resolved in the future when it evolves more of its monsters.


    Using Mana Sight once again it moved back to the Titan core pondering which theme to use, or whether it should attempt at merging them already considering it earned an achievement which would help with that; however, it settled on creating one of the themes it has now and to leave combining for later.


    It moved towards the exit cave and placed the floor''s entrance at the start of the cave, burying the arch it created using a surprisingly small amount of Mana on, which would be the entrance to its first floor. Moving back it focused as the noise of something ripping reverberated around the cave, this noise was signifying the creation of a pocket dimension which seems like something Dungeon cores can do easily, or maybe the world was helping it. Whatever the case it was relatively easy for it to create the dimension and moved into it ready to make its first floor, which it selected the Parasitic Swamp for its first floor.

 Core Chapter 10: The Expansion of a Dungeon Pt.2

    Floating in the void of its pocket dimension, it felt like a choking pressure on its Mana had vanished, and with it''s Mana free it began creating the Floor.


    The black and empty void exploded into light as land materialized, fresh water surging over the newly created land, Lyn trees bursting out of the water standing on their five crooked ''legs'' which converged into a wide central trunk less than a foot above the water line, the trunk''s full length climbing to heights of 80-160 feet tall. The trunk and twisted branches of the Lyn trees were brownish-grey, while their leaves were verdant green, making for a strange sight when looking up at their canopies which blocked eighty-five percent of the light shining down upon the Swamp from the artificial sky. Four small islets only 42 meters in radius rose out of the water at the north, west, south, east. All of them each had a giant Lyn tree extending one kilometer high from them, towering over the Swamp and casting broad shadows across it depending on the time of day or night, further lowering the amount of light making it to the Swamp below. Pistle shrubs rose haphazardly with no pattern out of the water making it hard to navigate the Swamp properly, Pistle shrubs had the same verdant green leaves as the Lyn trees, but their stems were blood-red making them look like something had bled all over them. The murky green water at its deepest reached ten to twelve feet deep and at its shallowest reached only three and a half feet high.


    It looked down upon the whole Swamp which was a circle five kilometers in radius which looped to the other side if you walked in only one direction, allowing for any invaders not taking note of landmarks to be lost eternally within the Swamp. The only way to exit the Floor was to find a key at one of the giant Lyn trees and locating the matching door on another giant Lyn tree. This, however, was not as easy as it may seem, the door and key moved randomly every three hours, even if potential intruders stood before the very key only seconds away from obtaining it. However, the door and key will never move to the locations with intruders camping nearby hoping to bypass the floor, and if all locations have invaders nearby, the key will appear within a randomly marked Lyn tree within the Swamp. There also can only be one key in existence at any time no matter how many invaders are present on the Floor.


    Navigation by looking up will also have limited usability, for most of the Swamp Lyn tree canopies obstruct the sky making it difficult or outright impossible to spot the giant Lyn trees, and looking up in the Swamp where only small shafts of light can penetrate may be the difference between life and death.


    FInishing its consideration of the Swamp, it finally determined a temporary use for the blood-roots when it can eventually make them. It wanted to place them underwater in the Swamp which would make invaders need to watch out for monsters prowling the Swamp and blood-roots concealed within the water. Pleased with the layout of the Floor, it wanted to add Leechlings to get new evolutions and Bats so they can finally evolve, but just like the blood-roots it was planning to conceal beneath the water, it was out of Mana currently, so all these plans would need to wait. Its need for Mana was steadily growing larger, and it hoped to figure something out with the Titan core which could solve this Mana dilemma. Exiting the Floor, it was set upon by black boxes.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations on completing your first Dungeon Floor!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Floor Details</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Created Floor Theme: Parasitic Swamp.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Created Floor Name: Lyn Shade Parasitic Swamp.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Size: 5 km in radius.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Number of Monsters Present on Floor: 0</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana Points Used for Creation: 166</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size Used for Creation: 1.1</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters will now be created every two hours in batches of fifty until reaching a maximum of two thousand five hundred.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters Automatically Created: Lesser Swamp Gators (L-C), Giant Red-Spotted Infectious Mosquitos (L-C), Soothing Swamp Striders (L-C), Razor Beak Helions ?, Vigor Bane Toad (L-C), Signus Worms ?.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Looking over the Floor details, it decided to appraise the auto-generated monsters to see if they can even match anything it possesses except for the Black Cave Bears which were pathetically weak.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Lesser Swamp Gators</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Found in almost every swamp, these Gators are small at only one meter long, but ferocious and even willing to fight losing battles to their deaths.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Giant Red-Spotted Infectious Mosquitos</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Seen buzzing in swamps these disease-carrying nightmares are the terror of any sapient entering swamps for all the infections they carry which even with their low rating can be deadly if untreated magically.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Soothing Swamp Striders</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>These creatures found in every swamp in the world are entirely harmless unless they evolve and are largely ignored by most swamp living creatures.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Razor Beak Helions</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Looking like common crows, Razor Beak Helions are often fatally overlooked by sapients traveling in swamps, and where there''s one Helion, there are hundreds ready to swarm unassuming prey stripping their bones clean of any flesh. Razor Beak Helions are more active at night when they swarm into the skies like a living mass of darkness descending on any prey which catches their eyes.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Vigor Bane Toads</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Not deadly alone, Vigor Bane Toads can release poisonous spores when threatened, capable of significantly weakening anything that inhales the spores, usually leading to their deaths.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Signus Worms</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Tiny Worms found drifting in swamps; when they get into an open wound, they''ll travel along the bloodstream until they reach the heart where they proceed in slowly consuming it causing an agonizingly slow death for their host.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It thought of most of these as weak, with only the Razor Beak Helions and the Giant Red-Spotted Infectious Mosquitos receiving its recognition, and while the Signus Worm was interesting, it seemed to take an extremely long time for it to kill its host making it ignore them.


    With its first Floor now created, it was time to figure something out for its increasingly growing Mana problem. Arriving before the Titan core, it reached out with Mana Shaping attempting to form a connection with the Titan core which would allow it to use the stored Mana within, but it felt something like a wall blocking its advance no matter how hard it tried to force it. After trying for hours to gain access or form a connection with the Titan core, it still hadn''t succeeded, making a frustration it hasn''t felt since awakening surge into its mind, and then an idea popped into its mind instantly brushing away its vexation and replacing it with excitement at its new plan.


    It''s frustration earlier was building towards itself for not being able to solve its Mana issue, when in that second it decided why couldn''t it change itself? There wasn''t anything blocking it; it just hadn''t thought of it. For now, instead of fixing the Titan core which continued to be far greater than it, it would simply make itself larger to hold more Mana and went straight into its room determined to increase its Mana capacity whatever the cost!


    Focusing Mana Shaping on itself it started expanding its Core causing an explosion of pain to blast through its mind, but it bore on finding the pain lesser compared to what it had felt when the information of what it could make with the Floor themes had flooded its mind. The shining black stone started swelling as it continued shining brighter, the Diagrams and Runic Circles were now revolving faster than its sight could follow, the pain constantly growing, soon overshadowing the pain it had felt from the information overload. Finally, the last thing it saw before its sight plunged into the abyss was it''s Core bursting into millions of pieces.

 Core Chapter 11: The Expansion of a Dungeon Pt.3

    It was drifting within an endless void unable to see any light, its thoughts turned to what had happened, had it perhaps killed itself in its foolish desire for more Mana? Was it no longer going to be able to feel the blissful feeling of using its Mana? Was it never going to be able to expand its domain over the vast world it had seen? Was all that it had accomplished wasted? No! It refuses this! It will not die from simply exploding, IT, WILL, NOT, ACCEPT, THIS!


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! On Forcefully Evolving Yourself!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Forced Evolution: Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>A Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon''s very existence defies the will of nature itself and evolves on its own instead of relying on natural evolutions. </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>A Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon''s Mind may become unstable due to the forceful nature of its evolution, and all emotional restrictions placed on Dungeon Cores are lost.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Nature will resist further expansion, making it two times harder for Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon''s to expand over the natural world.


    (This does not effect creating Dungeon Floors.)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Dungeon Core will radiate an overwhelmingly Baleful Aura causing the withering death or destruction of anything weak in its surroundings.


    (This Aura extends six meters in radius.)</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Increases Affinity and Evolution Potential monumentally for any Abominations, Daemons, Demons, Undead, and Eldritch created by the Dungeon.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>More Changes may be found within your Status!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Going Against Nature!


    Unlock Condition(s): Perform an act which defies the will of nature.


    Effect(s): Nature scorns your actions, making most beings wary of you. Empowers Abominations, Daemons, Demons, Undead, and Eldritch within your Dungeon by 10%.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>New Title acquired!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Challenger of Evolution!


    Unlock Condition(s): Succeed in forcefully evolving yourself.


    Effect(s): Evolution concedes to your will making any future forceful evolutions easier to perform, and increases the Evolution Potential of Abominations Slightly.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Its mind was instantly thrown chaos as it endured the after-effects of what it had done, and it felt itself falling until its consciousness smashed back into its new Core, and it soon looked at itself even more shocked at the changes. It''s Core which used to be two feet in radius was now only two and a half centimeters in radius. Its old black color was gone and replaced with indigo purple with streaks of blood red moving across its surface as if alive. The shining black Diagrams and Runic circles had increased in number, and the speed they revolved around its tiny Core was much faster than before. The bubble of blood wrapping around its Core had compressed, becoming much darker. Itcaused the light shining from its Core to bathe the room in a wine red glow making its whole Core cave seem more sinister. A charcoal-grey-colored mist was billowing off of the surface of its Core blanketing the room. As its mental state began stabilizing, it turned to look at its status.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>N/A''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: N/A</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 19 Days Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 12</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Integrity: 150/150</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 630/630</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence: 36</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom: 18</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Luck: 10</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size: 2.82/24</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floors: 1/3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Themes: Isolation Caves, Parasitic Swamp, Atrocious Halls, Withering Forest, Elemental Dunes, Atrocious Heavenly Tower.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Current Integrity Status: Exceptional, Integrity Restored Due To Evolution!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abilities: Appraisal, Mana Sense, Mana Sight, Mana Shaping, Mana Drain, Limited Telepathy, Matter Assimilation, Floor Creation, Baleful Aura.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Skills: Mana Discharge.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Monsters: Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling (L-R), Pixie (G-R), Storm Hide Bear (UC), Shade Wing Bat (L-C), Vitriolic Leeching Abomination ?, Black Cave Bear (L-C), Dungeon-Kin.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Titles: Pixie Slayer, Mana Drainer, Mana Wielder, Bat Slayer, Challenger of Evolution.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Achievements: Solo Dungeon, Leeching Core, Rare Beginning, Divine Assimilator, Monster Progenitor, Novice Trapper, Skill Creator, Abomination Core, Intellectual Core, Theme Virtuoso, Going Against Nature.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Its mind was once again thrown in disorder as it saw its status which had increased in every way, and its Mana capacity had risen by so much! It laid for hours in its Core attempting to soothe its mind from its current instability, and when it felt like no improvement was being made on the stability of its mind, it decided there was no use continuing and used the Floor Creation ability hoping it had unlocked new themes.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Plains of Lunacy!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Abomination Core Achievement and the Challenger of Evolution Title.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Plains of Lunacy causes any invaders wandering them to become easier to provoke and are more likely to make decisions they would never usually make. The Plains also causes people who''ve unstable states of mind to lose themselves gradually, eventually becoming a mindless beast which attacks anything it spots.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters capable of using Mind Magic wander the Plains, rated no higher than Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Abominations, Demons, and Mind Magic Moderately.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Unholy Cathedral!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Divine Assimilator Achievement, Going Against Nature Achievement, and any Fae Slayer Title.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Within the Cathedral Holy Spells are reversed causing the opposite of what it should be, and Healing Spells are also reversed causing damage instead of healing. Anyone entering with a blessing will find it has also reversed causing the opposite, and the connection to their God cut off.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Daemons wander the Cathedral, rated no higher than Greater Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Daemons, Demons, Abominations, Eldritch, and Dark Magic Moderately.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Flooded Leech Hollow!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Leeching Core Achievement and the Going Against Nature Achievement.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Hollow is completely submerged underwater making it incredibly difficult and dangerous for invaders to travel through, and the Hollow contains millions of tiny tunnels allowing Leeches access to any area within the Hollow making a swim through an immensely unpleasant one.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Lesser Species of Leeches naturally swim within the Hollows, rated no higher than Greater Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Leeches, Blood Magic, and Water Magic Greatly.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    As the last of the unlocked themes faded away, it felt a small burst of pain in its mind, but it wasn''t anything it couldn''t deal with. It was quite happy with the new themes it unlocked and was even more pleased that it got a theme which supported its Leeches more than the Parasitic Swamp it already had. Leaving its Core with Mana Sight, it was ready to go back into its first floor and make the changes it couldn''t the first time, and it was reasonably interested in seeing all the automatically created monsters within its first floor which had reached the cap for them by now.


    Exiting its room for the first time since its evolution it had the four Leechlings, and the ten Bats follow it to the first floor, and it wanted to use the Abomination elsewhere and currently had it guarding the Titan core in the event anything happens. Entering the Swamp, it created one hundred Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings and had them disperse around the Swamp with the four evolved Leechlings. It went towards the northern giant Lyn tree and created a hole halfway up the tree, ten meters in radius and began creating a large two hundred meter cavern within the tree which it was going to use as a den for its Shade Wing Bats. Completing the den, it also created one hundred Shade Wing Bats which it would increase the number of later when its Mana regenerates.


    Now done for the moment with its changes to the Swamp, it left returning to the Titan core which it stared at yearningly for a few moments before beginning to replenish its Mana by draining the Titan core. It moved back and forth from the first floor to the Titan core, as it continued making the changes it wanted to do including placing blood-roots underwater. It also created more Vitriolic Leeching Abominations to inhabit the Swamp and when it made them it was surprisedsince they weren''t exactly like the first one. First off, they were smaller, standing at only two and a half meters tall, and secondly, their eyes were glowing ice blue instead of the orange the first one had, which it assumed was because it was a Progenitor and not a normal one. When it finished, it called up the Floor Details curious as to how they looked now.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Floor Details</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Theme: Parasitic Swamp.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Name: Lyn Shade Parasitic Swamp.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Size: 5 km in radius.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Number of Monsters Present on Floor: 5179</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters will be created every two hours in batches of fifty until reaching a maximum of two thousand five hundred.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters Automatically Created: Lesser Swamp Gators (L-C), Giant Red-Spotted Infectious Mosquitos (L-C), Soothing Swamp Striders (L-C), Razor Beak Helions ?, Vigor Bane Toad (L-C), Signus Worms ?.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was satisfied with the number of monsters now present on the floor and returned to replenish its Mana once again, and as it was draining the Titan core, it felt multiple creatures enter its influence and immediately moved its sight to the intruders who were at the entrance of the cave.

 Core Chapter 12: The Expansion of a Dungeon Pt.4

    "Looks like this is the place Davir mentioned." A mid-aged chestnut brown haired woman called out.


    "A floor entryway, so there really is a Dungeon..." Another one muttered, said person was another woman, young with platinum blonde hair, soft blue eyes, and an alluring figure capable of making anyone turn their heads.


    "Didn''t the Mad Prince come here?" This time a gruff hairball of a man asked.


    "He did according to Davir; moreover there''s the possibility whatever killed his butler''s still wandering around here." Returning a reply to the hairball was a young man with silver hair, golden eyes, and most of all, long pointy ears indicating he''s an Elf.


    "So, its true then, what the prince raves about?" The hairball asked another question and was replied to again by the Elf.


    "Maybe, it''s been hard for the officials from the guild to get anything coherent out of the prince."


    "Alright, we''ll start with the level assessment of the Dungeon. Leonis cast a Faith-Guard on us, and if it breaks wait two days, if we aren''t out by then haul it back to the guild and report that we''ve failed in the level assessment." The middle-aged woman spoke up, interrupting the hairball before he could ask another question.


    "Are you sure Lisa? The Dungeon should be young considering the guild''s last monthly survey turned up nothing." The one called Leonis asked questioningly.


    "I don''t want to take any chances, especially with the possibility of the monster the prince raves about still being within the Dungeon." The woman affirmed.


    It inspected and listened to the ones standing before its entrance, and it appraised them hoping it could get more details than last time it appraised humans. As for the one with pointy ears, knowing anything about him would help.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Lisa''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Lisa Hirilian</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 41 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Human</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 59</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Twin Blade Swordsmen</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 478/478</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 54/54</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Elune''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Elune Trystan</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 18 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Human</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 55</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Frost Step Bladedancer</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 172/172</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 290/290</td>


    </tr>


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    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


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    <td>Gual''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Gual Desmond</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 47 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Human</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 72</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Sky Reflecting Guardian</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 1233/1233</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 80/80</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


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    <td>Fyltun''s Status</td>


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    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Fyltun Gramia</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 103 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Elf</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 61</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Woodshadow Ranger</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 497/497</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 212/212</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Appraising them, it was a bit surprised at their level and wondered if they were considered powerful or weak in the world outside. Moving on from its musing it appraised the one called Leonis and was shocked at what appeared.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Aruba God of Light </td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Warning! Appraisal Blocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It didn''t know why this appeared again, as it didn''t even know who or what Aruba was, only that it blocked its appraisal when it tried to appraise the Aruba Theocracy when it was selecting its first monster race. Curiously it tried appraising him again and got the same result; this made it wonder whether he was actually Aruba or if this Aruba had done something which blocked its appraisal. Whatever the case it was getting annoyed at this Aruba for preventing its appraisal twice, and watched as Leonis cast some weird spell by kneeling, bowing his head, and clasping his hands together over his head, moments after he did this, a bright golden bubble wrapped itself around the others and vanished as if it hadn''t ever existed.


    "There, the Faith-Guard''s applied to all of you." Leonis notified the others as he stood up, casually walking out of the cave heading to prepare the camp at which he would be staying until his teammates left the Dungeon or the Faith-Guard breaks.


    "Alright, let''s not keep Leo waiting for too long and get this done," Lisa announced to the others, who all nodded.


    It watched as they entered the first floor, excited to see how these humans and elf would do in the Swamp. Following them through it saw them tumble into the water, unprepared for being dumped so unceremoniously out of the portal, which was usually gentle in its transfer. It heard them cursing the Dungeon for placing the entrance in the air making anyone stepping through fall down less than a foot into the water below.


    "Fuck this Dungeon already! Would it have been so hard to place the damn entrance level with the ground!?" The soaked Elrune yelled while trying to get algae out of her hair; the hairball Gual was enjoying a good laugh comparing her current appearance to the alluring gal he saw every day for the last two years.


    It didn''t care about their feelings about the location of the entrance, and after they arranged themselves, they began heading north-west.


    "Dungeon''s not a big fan in making it easy on us. I can''t see anything past a few meters, Fyl can you see properly?" Gual observed and asked, looking towards the Elf.


    "My vision here''s the same as everywhere, perfect, so don''t ask me again Gual, even though I know you''ll still probably ask later." Sighed Fyl as he heard a rough laugh sounding out from behind him.


    They continued bantering as they proceed through the dim lighted Swamp guided by Fyl, who as a Woodshadow Ranger could easily see through the darkness of the Swamp, but they weren''t making any progress on getting farther, and slowly they turned warier at the situation. The realization this Dungeon wasn''t going to give them any hints on what to do started dawning on them as their wandering wasn''t leading them anywhere and all they found were weak Gators and the occasional Mosquito.


    Four hours after they entered Elune caught sight of something glowing blue, "What''s that glow beneath the tree?" She called out, but none of them had any idea, so they proceeded to get closer, and the closer Elune got the more she was spellbound by the soft blue glow which seemed to call out to her. Enthusiastically she ran forward as she lost her patience of their warily slow steps, and when she reached a foot away, "It''s b----" *Boom* a blue explosion ripped through the area she stood obliterating her, sending bits of bones and flesh flying. Fyl who had been the closest was riddled with fragments of bones and flesh all over his body, and he''d been hit in his right eye by a bone fragment blinding his right completely. Lisa, on the other hand, was bent over retching into the water below her, at the sight of seeing Elune explode like that, while Gual rushed to help Fyl who was groaning from the pain and sight he''d just witnessed.


    Finishing throwing up everything within her stomach Lisa stood up, and blankly looked at her surroundings which were covered in blood, flesh, and remains of equipment. Her mind grief-stricken having to deal with the loss of the newest member of their group. None of them noticed the sky was darkening, and when Gual did, he looked up and saw the very definition of terror.

 Core Chapter 13: The Expansion of a Dungeon Pt.5

    The sight before Gual was one of horror. The sky was blotted by a black mass of birds and bats, all converging above them.


    "LISA! We need to leave now!" Gual shouted at the top of his lungs as he placed Fyl on his shoulder and started running, only to realize Lisa wasn''t running along with him. Turning around he saw Lisa still staring blankly at the chaos left by the explosion, "LISA MOVE NOW!" This time his shout got her attention. Before she could run after Gual, a red spike pierced the back of her neck exiting just below her chin, and as her eyes quickly became lifeless, Gual met the glowing icy blue eyes of the abhorrent monster which melted back into the darkness from which it came. Silently vowing within his mind that if he ever got out of this accursed Dungeon, he would return to seek revenge.


    The Core watched Gual who was carrying Fyl run into the thickest parts of the Swamp seeking to avoid the swarm of Helions and Bats that was descending upon the remains of the two who''d died. It wasn''t giving orders to any of the monsters on the Floor, and instead, it merely watched how the Swamp would perform without its orders, which seemed to be doing good except for the luck they had at avoiding anything strong for nearly four hours. It was also pleased at the Mana Fused Leechling which had gotten the first kill among the group and immediately slipped away before they could notice it within the crater.


    Gual ran, his breathing coming up short as he spotted a small islet ahead of him. With renewed hope, he put more force in his running, "ARGHH!" That hope was crushed as he plodded on a blood-root concealed underwater. Gual collapsed forward and tried to break his fall with his hands only to have his left skewered by another blood-root, thoughts that he might die within this Dungeon flashed through his mind. His shaken mind was further destabilized when he heard a panicked cry coming from his right, "Ahhh!" Looking over he saw Fyl being swarmed over by small black lumps, and he could visibly see Fyl''s skin turning pale. He didn''t know what those lumps were only that they were also heading for him. Fear drove him to tear his hand and foot away from the blood-roots which they''d been impaled on.


    Slowly he painfully limped towards the giant ''legs'' of the colossal tree before him trying to get away from the black lumps chasing after him. Reaching the foot of the tree, he collapsed unable to move due to the amount of blood he''d loss getting to the tree. As the light faded from his eyes, he regretted going against the guild''s order and wondered whether they''d honestly walked into a Dungeon or Hell itself.


    It watched as the last one bled out on the ground overjoyed that its idea with blood-roots worked and that the Swamp seemed capable on its own.Once he died, it looked to the black box which had appeared.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Level Up!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Level: 12 ?? 14If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Maximum Mana Capacity: 630 ?? 730


    Maximum Integrity: 150 ?? 170


    Intelligence: 36 ?? 44


    Wisdom: 18 ?? 22


    Luck: 10 ?? 11


    Maximum Dungeon Size: 24 ?? 25


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Its previous joy was a little dampened when it saw it had only leveled up and gained nothing else, but it perked up when it saw how much its Mana increased every level, and it decided to let the one outside live. As for why? It was because there''s a chance he''ll cause more of these Humans, Elf, and Beast-kin to investigate itself making it easier for it to level up and evolve its monsters. It was however curious as to how they managed to avoid the monsters prowling the Swamp for so long, making it think whatever that man called Leonis had done caused their immense luck.


    Returning to the Titan core to continue filling its Mana it noticed something different about the room, beyond the pond where a solid cave wall used to stand was a hole with tiny bodies scattered around it. Most likely whatever these were had been killed as soon as they stepped out by the Abomination still submerged in the pond, moving over it appraised the largest of the corpses.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Cave Grob Berserker</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Although tiny Grob Berserkers can still exert considerable strength when wounded or enraged having the power to crush rocks with their bare hands. Grob Berserkers are considered honored among Grobs and often lead war parties against their hated foes, Trogs.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Surprise arose when it saw the appraisal after all these were one of the monster races it could''ve picked in the selection menu, and it assimilated them raising its previous dampened joy back to its full height.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Common Cave Grobs have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 1.5 Mana point(s) per Common Cave Grob.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Its mind was filled with delight at the thought of going to where they came from and using their high numbers to help its monsters evolve, especially the Shade Wing Bats which it noticed regularly go into bloody frenzies. It ordered five hundred Bats, twenty Leeching Abominations including the Progenitor, and two hundred Leechlings to gather in the Titan core''s area, and turned to expand the hole so it could bring its monsters with it.

 Core Chapter 14: The Expansion of a Dungeon Pt.6

    Expanding down the hole took quitea while because of how tiny it was, making it need to expand it so its monsters could follow along. And by tiny, it meant tiny since Common Cave Grobs only stood at one and a half foot tall while the Berserker stood at two, meant that Grobs dug tunnels which were too small for anything other than them to travel through.


    After four hours of working at expanding down the tunnel it reached the location the Grobs came from. Standing at the edge of the cliff the tunnel opened up to, the Core''s vision was filled with a twenty kilometer wide, and forty kilometers deep chasm which had numerous holes dug into the sides with tiny Grobs bustling in every direction. However, the thing which caught its attention first wasn''t the Grobs or how vast the underground chasm was, no what caught its attention was the Beast at the bottom of the chasm whose end the Core couldn''t see. The Beast was so monumental it stunned the Core leaving its mind entirely blank and slightly fearful as it appraised it.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Ancient Basal Wyrm</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Wyrms are close cousins of Dragons but lack the same strength, however, while they don''t have the power of Dragons their size dwarfs that of Dragons more than fifty times over. This makes angering a Wyrm one of the most dreadful situations possible for any being no matter how strong they may be. Basal Wyrms sleep deep underground feasting on Mana as they sleep while their size scares off any would-be attackers making them rarely ever be awoken.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Greater Legendary.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Seeing the description, it didn''t want even want to risk awakening this absolute monster that could eat its entire Dungeon in a single bite and ordered all its monsters to return to where they''d been before only giving extra instructions to the Progenitor to keep an eye on the hole in the event more Grobs emerge.


    As it was returning to the Titan core''s area, its mind shuddered recalling the rating of that Wyrm. Although the Titan core and Lakinite had higher ratings, they weren''t alive like the Wyrm was, making it hope the Wyrm never awakens until it can adequately deal with such a beast.


    Entering the Titan core''s room it was about to go drain the Titan core again, but its mind suddenly froze in shock, why was it draining it personally? It could just cover the whole Titan core with Leechlings which would probably solve most of its Mana problem, so why hadn''t it? The more it thought about it, the greater the disturbance in its mind was growing, did its evolution really affect its mind so much? It decided to fix the mistake it had made and started making Leechlings and ordered them to drain the Titan core. When it finished, it could see its Mana regen was fifty a minute, leaving it extremely satisfied.


    Barely an hour later while pondering its next steps, it felt something enter its influence and the first floor. Swiftly arriving at the entrance, it was extremely confused when it saw the ''thing'' which had entered its Dungeon. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Floating away into the Swamp was a white fluffy looking sphere one meter in radius with what it believed to be two arms with ten tiny fingers each, dangling down from the front of the sphere. The creature had two beady black eyes and didn''t seem to have a mouth. The more it inspected the sphere, the weirder it found it and finally decided to appraise it.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Nifilim</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Cloud-like beings Nifilim were Fae thought to be extinct by sapients, but they still wander the world unable to find safe refuge. Their near extinction status was brought about by the fact they''re excellent enchantment material, causing sapients to hunt them to their current status.Nifilim over the thousands of years since they''ve gone into hiding have developed burning rage against the sapients who hunt them for making mere weapons, armor, clothing, and buildings. Nifilim can use Mind Magic, Illusion Magic, Dark Magic, and Wind Magic with greater affinity for all of them, making their repertoire of magic mighty indeed. Contrary to their cute appearance Nifilim have become heartless killers towards their hunters, but they remain kind and caring to those who haven''t hunted them. Their old Fae statuses have been lost due to their downfall into darkness and corruption.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td> Rating: Exceptional Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Looking over the description, it was surprised at the Nifilim''s Magical affinities, "You watch, you hunger, you''re alone. Like me." The Core was shocked to hear a soft, soothing voice drift into its mind. It quickly returned to its Core wondering if something was near it, but when it got there, it found nothing. It decided to return to inspecting the Nifilim and told the Abomination also to keep an eye on its Core room in case something had evaded it.


    Arriving before the fluffy sphere again, it was about to have something kill the Nifilim when it heard the voice again, "You''re cautious, afraid, and desire the horizon. You cannot obtain the untouchable, you want to expand, you want to kill, you take pleasure for every death within you, but many would stop you. You fear that which you cannot kill, you trust only those under your control, your mind is unstable, your thoughts lost to even yourself. You hate Pixies due to events out of their control, you don''t wish to be controlled, you wish to control, you are evil, but you are not, you fulfill your desires, you take all that interests you, you live your life as you wish only afraid of death, but you have also cheated death.Your every thought is like a book before me, your mind twisted, but not broken, your desires and pleasures which you seek can be easily acquired, but you don''t know how, you wish for knowledge, but have no way within your cave beyond appraisal to learn anything. Your wishes are possible, but patience is required, you live every day needing to do something, but sometimes time is all that can give you what you seek. You grow more confused the more I speak, yet I hold no evil toward''s you, I hold admiration, but saddened you are likely doomed if you follow your thoughts. I desire to burn, flay, and break the sapients just like you; I desire the horizon so that I may be free of hiding and fear just as you, I desire to control, but cannot as you, my mind may be twisted just as you. I wish to help you bring about your desires so that mine may be fulfilled as well. I ask a pact of servitude, you the master, I the servant, but should you stop your killing this pact will be void. Do you accept?"

 Core Chapter 15: The Expansion of a Dungeon Pt.7

    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Unnamed Nifilim wishes to be your servant do you accept? Yes/No.</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    </table>


    Its mind was flooded by the soft voice which seemed to know all its feelings. It feared this Nifilim that could see everything about itself but felt conflicted as to what it should do. The Nifilim''s soft voice was filled with undisguised rage towards sapients, and their goals seemed to align but would they always? No, it didn''t believe so; nonetheless, it still accepted, why? Because the Nifilim would be useful for its magic and knowledge.


    "Yes, I accept your wish of servitude."


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! Unnamed Nifilim is now your servant!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>New Title acquired!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Caretaker of a Nifilim!


    Unlock Condition(s): Form a pact of servitude or friendship with a Nifilim.


    Effect(s): Nifilim are drawn to you and trust you more.


    Unique Dungeon Effect(s): Due to the Nifilim''s Fallen status the Title also grants a 25% cost reduction to Mind, Abomination, Unholy, and Demonic Floor Themes.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It felt the connection forming and solidifying between the two. When the pact finished establishing it looked over to the Nifilim that was undergoing a change in appearance. Its old white color replaced by thundercloud grey. A mouth full of tiny dagger-like teeth formed below its beady black eyes which reflected the same indigo purple as the Core.


    The Nifilim''s mouth broke into a grin containing joy and madness, "You''ve accepted, and now I''m bound to you, you only keep killing, and our pact will be long, you stop, and our pact will be short." The Core had no plans to stop killing, so it ignored the rambling of the Nifilim and instead wondered how to speak to it, "Master wishes to speak? Then do as you have for all of your monsters." Hearing that the Core realized the Nifilim was likely speaking through telepathy, most likely the true version and not the limited one it currently has.


    "You''ll always learn new things, Master. You desire for knowledge, and knowledge will come even to those who don''t want it." The Core was starting to get annoyed by the Nifilim''s talking, "Master grows irritated, but I desire something from Master." The Core who''d been about to tell the Nifilim to shut up, stopped itself, curious as to what the Nifilim wants, "What do you desire Nifilim?" Its sight was met by that of the Nifilim, "A name which was never given to me, an identity to bring my hatred down upon the sapients, you my Master, I request you give me a name." The Core was a little confused as to why the Nifilim wanted a name to seemingly kill sapients, but it didn''t care too much, "Then you shall be Cie." The Nifilim seemed to inflate with joy, "Thank you, Master!"


    After waiting for Cie to calm its excitement down the Core asked what had been disturbing its mind, "How can you know my feelings and memories?" The Nifilim seemed to inflate again; it''s soft voice soothing voice containing a sliver of happiness within, "It''s simple Master, I as a Nifilim am well practiced in Mind Magic. Easily allowing me to view your unprotected mind, but you needn''t worry about this any longer. Our bond formed by the pact allows me to shield your thoughts, and regardless Mind Magic would have a limited effect on you beyond knowing feelings and memories." It was delighted to know its thoughts would now be protected, but still peeved Cie could likely still access its mind.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Cie started speaking again, however, this time the Core was interested in what it was saying, "Master, you''ve left the Human outside alive to draw more of them to you, but you cannot continue along with your plan to kill everything that enters. Master shouldn''t think I''m telling you not to kill them. I want you to kill them, and I want you to kill lots of them, enough to build a mountain from their bones. But if you don''t make yourself worth potentially throwing their lives away. They''ll ignore you making you need to expand outside, which would alert them to the fact you''re vastly different than other Dungeons, and if that happens then, sapients as strong as the Wyrm living below will come to exterminate you. So you must avoid expanding further outside for now and make yourself valuable, immensely valuable, and when the time comes that you grow powerful enough, then bringing true death and terror can commence. If you become invaluable to the sapients, then you can kill more within yourself, and none of the sapients would care, only thinking about how to improve their profits. Just as they had when hunting my kind close to extinction, just like when they threw my kind into the pits of despair."


    The Core no matter how interested was getting annoyed from how long Cie took to get to the point but listened all the same, "The first steps to luring the sapients would be to act as a young Dungeon with high difficulty and high rewards. You already have things which can help with that the Blood-roots, Elwind Stones, Storm Hide Bears for their pelts, and something which I can tell you how to make, but you''ll need more than just these, and you didn''t assimilate anything from the adventurers you killed."


    Cie started floating away while continuing to talk and the Core followed along ignoring its surroundings, "Blood-roots will always be in demand giving you already a permanent source of adventurers. The Storm Hide Bear''s pelt is valued for lighting affinity enchanted armor, so its value is high but limited to a degree but not much. The Elwind Stones, however, can last for hundreds of years meaning that you''ll need to place only a few when you can make them or else you''ll lower their value and thus your own. Now the thing I''m going to tell you how to make is only possible for you because you possess something which no other Dungeon has, the Titan core."


    The Core only now realized it had followed Cie all the way out of the Swamp and to the Titan core, but it was confused, "What can I make?" The Core looked questioningly towards Cie, "Master, a Mana Spring, something which no other Dungeon should have because Dungeons cannot be born in the same areas as Mana Springs are made. Mana Springs are difficult to make artificially because the Mana required would exceed what any ordinary creature possesses, but you have the Titan core which can easily cause the creation of a Mana Spring, whether the Titan core''s operating normally or malfunctioning like yours."


    The Core could see Cie''s expression change from the merry of moments ago to a more somber look, "But, Master something bothers me. We Nifilim used to live aboard Yeol Titan of Breeze which wandered the world allowing the Nifilim to learn many things which are passed down by History Transfer. A Mind Magic spell that allows Nifilim to pass down all of the history we''ve learned of, and among this no Titans we know of were called Melkev, and no Titan we know of has ever fallen on Cloud-Burst mountain. Moreover, the sheer size of Melkev''s core is astounding. Nearly six times that of Yeol who had a fairly large core even among Titans for flying permanently. And Master this brings me to what I find most disturbing from this core, it blocked your access, meaning the will of the Titan still lives on within the core. Something which should be impossible if the Titan fell hundreds of thousands of years ago." Hearing what Cie said, the Core did recall the feeling of hitting a wall when it tried to form a connection with the Titan core, and the Core started getting worried it could be in danger until Cie assured it. "You needn''t worry Master the Titan''s will seems dormant even after the draining you''ve done to it, and you''ll need to move into the pond to make the Mana Spring, but rest-assured the Titan''s will won''t awaken from something so measly as being moved."


    Listening to what Cie told it, the Core ordered the Abomination out of the pond and began pushing the Titan core into the pond, while Cie continued talking, "Once you push the Titan core into the pond, just leave it there for a while, and you''ll soon have a Mana Spring." Pushing the Titan core one last time before letting it roll down into the pond, the Core looked at Cie wondering what it would say next, "Good, now you only need to wait. Now Master, its time for you to make another floor before the one outside leaves to inform their guild. You should use the Isolation caves which would give you the appearance of being slightly hard and young, but nothing which should alert them. However, you''ll need to hide the Titan core, if they find it they''ll take it for themselves, and that would be disastrous for you."


    The Core was somewhat displeased at being told what to do but felt what Cie said was reasonable and turned to make the second floor which would be the Isolation caves.

 Core Chapter 16: The Expansion of a Dungeon Pt.8

    With the Core having a higher Mana regeneration than when it made the Lyn Shade Parasitic Swamp, allowed it to make the other floor themes, but it decided to follow Cie''s suggestion, creating the Isolation caves. It costs less to make a floor than expanding its influence during initial creation however once it leaves the floor it will be considered created, and any further changes will cost more Mana, but it can wait however long it wishes for its Mana to regenerate within the floor. Now that its Mana didn''t take long to regenerate making other floor themes would be more reasonable because each have different costs with the Unholy Cathedral surprisingly costing the most and even more than expanding its influence. Why this was the case was beyond it. Nevertheless, the lowest costing theme was Isolation caves which would allow it to make a genuinely colossal cave system.


    Bringing its sight into what it called the floor cave or the entrance to the cave system. The Core began the creation of the Isolation caves, and immediately linked the exit of the Swamp to the entrance of the Isolation caves making anything completing the Swamp floor end up on the Isolation caves floor. Among the many rock types available from the theme it picked Qert Stone which was dim grey in coloring causing the cave to be very distracting to the eyes.


    Next, it created a web of tunnels intersecting each other making it hard to navigate the tangled caves. It also created a single large open cave ten kilometers in radius at the center of the tangled mess, and within this central cave, it created Grob dwellings like it saw in the chasm and made a total of five thousand Common Cave Grobs to inhabit this area. Now, that might sound like a lot, but just its Abomination alone could likely take out more Grobs than five thousand. After that it made smaller dwellings scattered throughout the tangled caves and placed Black Cave Bears within them, each dwelling having a maximum of fifty Bears. Then it made dwellings at the dead end''s of six tunnels and placed Storm Hide Bears within them with a total of six dwellings and six Storm Hide Bears for them. The Core had no idea how long had passed since it started making the Isolation caves but it was likely a full day, most of that waiting for its Mana to regenerate.


    All the tunnels together added up to a total length of one hundred and two kilometers in length and then add the center cave which was ten kilometers in radius. The Caves looked like a maze from above, all of the tunnels weaving in and out of each other, truly making it difficult to tell where you last turned unless you mark your way, but that too is difficult because Qert Stone can fix and clean itself with Mana. Allowing the Core to set the floor to release one hundred points of Mana across the entire floor to clean and repair the walls every hour.


    Escaping the floor didn''t precisely follow common sense. Anyone trying to complete the floor would need to go into the Grob dwelling cave and merely kill the Grob in the largest dwelling sitting on the throne, and a door would open next to the throne allowing them to move on. But who would expect the exit to be guarded by the weakest monster on the floor?


    Moreover, the hardest thing to deal with on the floor is time. With the size of the floor if you rush. Then there''s a higher chance you''ll be caught off guard by someone from your group being teleported, or monsters teleporting into areas you just checked. While being too slow would leave you without any food trapped within the caves until you starve. And the swapping of layouts which occurs every six hours would make mapping the floor impossible.


    Besides, Storm Hide Bears were the true wild cards of the floor with everything else just keeping anyone within the caves on their toes. The Isolation cave''s effect of allowing monsters to teleport near to adventurers. Meant that Storm Hide Bears could come out of nowhere and with their speed and limited size of each tunnel also meant that anyone would have difficulty dodging in time or have room to even dodge. Anyone struck by a Storm Hide Bear''s charge won''t find their day pleasant, unless they like getting crushed and mangled by a Bear.


    "Master, something interesting''s happening in the valley below." The Cores'' musings were interrupted by Cie''s soft voice ring out in its mind, "What?" Cie''s voice came not a moment later, "Master, it seems the village below is under attack." Cie''s voice seemed to contain some happiness as it said that. However the Core was confused, "Village? And what''s attacking?" It heard Cie''s voice return seemingly containing even more happiness than before, "Master, those grey and brown things you saw in the valley are the homes of sapients, and the rest of the buildings together make a village. Other sapients are attacking the sapient village in the valley." The Core didn''t understand why it had to be told this, but Cie felt its confusion, "Master, the ones attacking the village are what sapients call bandits, and there''s a chance they may come up here to check out the news of a supposed Dungeon appearing here. Those adventurers who entered your Dungeon before made no effort to hide the fact they were investigating the supposed birth of a new Dungeon in this area."


    The Core was perplexed at hearing other words it didn''t understand, and heard Cie''s soft voice sigh, "Master, bandits, are sapients that raid and steal from other sapients. Adventurers, on the other hand, fulfill requests, exterminate monsters, explore unknown regions, and enter Dungeons to take on their trials, mostly for treasures the Dungeons usually contain and give as rewards. However, Master you haven''t made trials like other Dungeons, you made areas which they must overcome, and you give no quarter to them at all, unlike other Dungeons who are generally honorable, and willing to let those who lost the courage to take their trials leave unharmed. But you don''t and shouldn''t do that, it''ll add an air of mystery to you making monster researchers want to investigate you, bringing even more adventurers to escort these fools, and they''ll be drawn even more by the Mana Leeches which are unseen in other Dungeons."The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Listening to Cie, the Core understood more about the sapients and the outside but had something in its mind which it couldn''t shake off. "Cie, why can''t you use History Transfer on me?" Cie voice seemed to inflate with smugness and pride, "Master, History Transfer is a spell created by the Nifilim to only work on Nifilim minds. Making it impossible to transfer everything we know to sapients or other creatures unless we rework the entire spell."


    It understood why Cie''s voice was filled with smugness and pride. After all, this made Cie more precious to the Core, although the Core had taken Cie in, instead of killing it for this exact purpose. To provide knowledge, it didn''t have or would take too long to understand.


    Turning its mind back on the Caves, it decided to add four more Storm Hide Bears, just to make the floor a little harder for these ''adventurers.'' It also added a bat den and a thousand Shade Wing Bats within the ceiling of the central cave, making it harder for the adventurers to get to the Grob on the throne. The Core also placed pit traps like the one it had used against the Storm Hide Bear, but these were a little different containing spikes made of Qert Stone at the bottom, adventurers who step on the thin floor will fall into the pit and get impaled by the Qert Stone spikes within. The Core recognized the pit traps might work against the Storm Hide Bears, but it added them nonetheless deciding that the potential damage and time adventurers might waste to be worth the risk. It also began asking Cie about traps and learned how to make different more advanced traps. The ones it used in the Isolation caves were the pitfall traps from before, separation traps, and flood traps.


    The separation traps were quite simple when someone stepped on a Mana plate in the floor. The one who stepped on it would be teleported a few meters forward, and a wall would drop down behind them in front of their group whom they''ve been separated from. While its possible the trap might fail to separate someone from their group, it also served to delay and tire adventurers by forcing them to backtrack and go down another tunnel.


    The flood traps were similar but different to the separation trap. When someone steps on another Mana plate, the walls in front and behind them will drop down. On the ceiling, a hole will open, and from there two hundred and fifty Shade Wing Bats will flood into the room attempting to kill those trapped inside. If the Bats fail, the walls will lift allowing the adventurers to continue on their way.


    The Core was satisfied at the difficulty being high but not too high that adventurers would avoid the Dungeon. It left the floor ready to see the details.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Floor Details</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Created Floor Theme: Isolation Caves.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Created Floor Name: Weaving Caves of the Lost.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Size: 165 km in total size.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Number of Monsters Present on Floor: 6510</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana Points Used for Creation: 12706</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size Used for Creation: 16.5</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>No Monsters are automatically created for this Floor Theme.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monsters Automatically Created: None.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Looking at the details, the Core felt dumb for forgetting the floors still used Dungeon size, but it was content with the size it had left. Finishing the check, it moved to the Titan core to ask Cie about those bandits.


    Arriving it saw Cie touching the Titan core, it was curious as to what Cie was doing but decided to watch instead of disturbing Cie. "Master?" It seemed however that Cie had noticed the Core''s arrival, "Are the bandits coming?" Clear excitement could be heard in the Core''s voice, it hoped to kill the bandits and level up, but Cie''s news ruined its excitement, "Master, it seems the bandits have been subdued by the hunters living in the village below." The Core was a little gloomy but knew the one outside would leave soon to alert the ''guild'' as Cie called it, and more adventurers would show up soon after.


    Just as it was about to turn its sight away, it saw the pond below the Titan core flash bright blue, before fading away as if nothing had occurred. "Master!" The Core heard Cie yell into its thoughts excitedly, "Master! The Mana Spring it''s been created!" It was surprised at how little time it took for the Mana Spring to be created, "Already? Also, what can you even use a Mana Spring for?" Cie visibly puffed in delight, "Master, the Mana Spring isn''t going to be helpful to you at all, but to sapients? That''s a whole different story. The Mana infused water from Mana Springs isn''t as deadly as Pure Mana nor as volatile. Making it an excellent way for sapients to enhance their potions and regenerate their Mana!" The Core could certainly understand why the Spring would be useless to it and listened to Cie finish. "Master you should hide the Titan core now that we''re done with creating the Mana Spring." Before the Core could move at all, it heard Cie''s voice drift into its mind again, "Master, I''ll be going outside the Dungeon to find materials and creatures I can kill and bring their bodies back to the Dungeon for you to assimilate." The Core sent a mental, "all right" and began hiding the Titan core. It was quite easy for it to hide the Titan core, all it had to do was open the wall and create a twenty-meter room to the left of its own Core room.


    It was quite impatient for the adventurers to arrive but knew it could only wait. Before leaving the Titan core area to go and try something it had meant to do for a while, it told the Abomination to return to submerging itself in the pond turned Mana Spring, hoping the Abomination''s immersion in the Mana Spring might unlock some evolution conditions.

 Core Chapter 17: The Expansion of a Dungeon Pt.9

    Reaching the edge, it looked down upon the colossal Wyrm that stretched on further than its sight could see. The Core felt afraid of this creature which lay far below its Dungeon. It wanted to expand downwards towards where the Grobs lived, but fear that the Wyrm would sense its presence kept it from doing so.


    So, instead of risking awakening the Wyrm, it decided to throw boulders over the ledge and onto the Grobs below. Hopefully, that would make them angry enough that they storm up, find the tunnel leading to it, and become fodder to help its monsters evolve.


    It started carving blocks out of the wall near the hole and threw them over the edge as it cut them out. After throwing about twelve over the edge, it looked down to find that the Grobs had all hidden in their dwellings. They waited a while before slowly leaving their dwellings, but instead of charging up they seemed to ignore the rocks which had rained from the sky.


    The Core didn''t understand why the Grobs didn''t get angry because it had succeeded in killing several with the boulders. It began thinking they didn''t really care if a few of their number died, after all, they''ll just be more later, so why bother figuring out what threw the boulders?


    Slightly crestfallen at the failure it decided to move onto the next thing it had been meaning to try, creating Dungeon-Kin.


    Moving back into what''s now the Mana Spring room, since the Titan cores'' hidden away behind the wall next to its own Core room. It chose to use Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings as its first Dungeon-Kin, mostly because they''re the best monsters it has, other than the Vitriolic Leeching Abomination and Storm Hide Bear, but it didn''t feel the Bear had high evolution potential, so it didn''t use it. As for the Vitriolic Leeching Abominations? They were already ''humanoid,'' so it didn''t see any reason to make them Dungeon-Kin, and started creating its first Dungeon-Kin.


    It scrutinized closely as a tiny twelve-centimeter black figure materialized. It didn''t have any eyes or mouth, and it didn''t have fingers on its two hands; instead, it had mouth like suckers with six large blades within, all angled towards each other in a circular pattern, and when the suckers grip something all six blades can snap shut, locking together and slicing through anything in their path. It can drain blood from the suckers on its hands and Mana from any part of its body. It didn''t have any other features on its body, making it simply a black humanoid figure. It looked so bare that one wouldn''t even think it was alive, and would only realize it was indeed alive if it attacked. As the monster finished materializing, black boxes assaulted the Cores'' mind.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve Created The First Leech-Kin In The World!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>New Title acquired!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Architect of Life!


    Unlock Condition(s): Create a Monster Race that didn''t initially exist.


    Effect(s): Increases Evolution Potential Substantially for the created race, and makes any future Monsters created by you Fortified Mentally, Magically, and Physically by 5%.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Dungeon Achievement Unlocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Loving First


    Unlock condition(s): Use your first selected race as your first Dungeon-Kin.


    Effect(s): Increases Affinity and Evolution Potential Moderately for your first selected race. Your first selected race is also empowered by 5% within your Dungeon.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Unique Title acquired!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Leech-Kindred!


    Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Mana Drainer or Blood Drainer Title, Leeching Core Achievement, Loving First Achievement, and your first ever Progenitor must be a Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling or Tiny Lesser Blood Leechling.


    Effect(s): Increases Affinity Outstandingly, and reduces the requirements of all Evolution Unlock Conditions for Leech Evolutions.


    Unique Title Effect(s): Increases Intelligence, and Wisdom gain for Leech Monsters, and increases Evolution Potential Tremendously for Leech-Kin.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Evolutions Available for Five Hundred and Twenty-Eight Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Evolution: Lesser Mana Leechling!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s): Leechlings must drain anything six times.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    The basic evolution for Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, gaining nothing but size these Leechlings are no different than before.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Evolution: Vitriolic Leeching Abomination!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s): Leechlings must drain Mana from something rated Mythical or above, and drain one thousand Mana or more, also requires for the Dungeon Core to have obtained any Fae Slayer Title and the Leeching Core Achievement.


    Vitriolic Leeching Abominations are monsters reviled by any who set eyes upon them, appearing as a humanoid swarm of Leechlings these monsters drain Mana and Blood from just a touch, requiring any who fight them to be wary of every inch of their bodies. Being weak to Fire and Light, Vitriolic Leeching Abominations prefer the depths of dark and dank caves, where they stay preying from the shadows upon anything which crosses their path, however, beware as Fire and Light may be their weakness it also makes them go berserk with fury against those using these elements. They possess Minor Water Magic Affinity, Minor Dark Magic Affinity, and Little Ice Magic Affinity.


    Seventy-five percent of the Mana they drain goes to the Dungeon Core and Fifty percent of the Blood they drain also goes to the Dungeon Core.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Evolution: Mana Homogenized Leechling!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Unlock Condition(s): Leechlings must drain ten thousand Mana or more, and all ten thousand Mana must be drained from something rated Mythical or above.


    Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings who''ve overloaded their body with an enormous amount of Mana, their overload of Mana has prompted their body to be reconstructed entirely out of Mana, giving them significant control over Mana they steal and minor control over Ambient Mana. Allowing them to use a variety of Pure Mana based attacks, and similarly to Mana Fused Leechlings, they can release Mana they''ve drained in a Mana Burst. However, their explosion radius is four meters in radius and much larger than Mana Fused Leechlings''s explosion radius of one meter. Their increased skill over Mana also allows them to detonate pockets of Ambient Mana, causing local Ambient Mana to destabilize and trigger a chain reaction of Mana Detonations within a radius of ten meters. They can easily be spotted from their overwhelmingly glowing sky blue body, and their appearance is challenging to make out because their body is constructed entirely out of Mana giving them a very indistinct lump shape. They''ve lost the ability to dazzle opponents like their Mana Fused brethren; instead, their bright glow makes it difficult for opponents to look at them without feeling like their eyes are burning.


    They drain more Mana than average Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, and Ninety percent of the Mana they drain goes to the Dungeon Core.


    </td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The Core felt overwhelmed with all the black boxes it received at once and speedily began looking over them. Overall it was greatly pleased with the sudden gains and evolutions, which it already decided to make them all Mana Homogenized Leechlings. However, the Achievements and Titles brought it a tiny bit of dread at using the Floor Creation, knowing there was a chance for it to be bombarded with Floor Theme information, but it knew there was no way around it and opening it now would lessen the overload for the future.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Wild Jungle of Exuberance!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired any Beginning Achievement and Architect of Life Title.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Wild Jungle of Exuberance is teeming with monsters at every corner and is considerably overgrown in all directions, impeding travel and exhausting invaders. The Jungle''s boiling temperature within requires invaders to care not to overstress themselves as they make their way through the Jungle, else they''ll fall prey to heat, before monsters.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Monstrous Insects, Monkeys, and Cats prowl the Jungle, making every step further into the Jungle hazardous; rated no higher than Moderate Common.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Insect, Monkey, and Cat Monsters Moderately, and doesn''t benefit Magic at all.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations! You''ve acquired the Grove of Forgotten Beasts!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Unlock Condition(s): Must''ve acquired the Architect of Life Title, Challenger of Evolution Title, and Rare Beginning Achievement or higher Beginning Achievement.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>The Grove of Forgotten Beasts contains beasts long lost to the world and is shrouded in mist for twenty-two hours a day, only leaving two hours where the Grove isn''t veiled by mist. The Grove also causes minor illusions, attempting to lead invaders astray.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Beasts long forgotten by the world, wander and lurk within the Grove, rated no higher than Moderate Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Benefits Bear Monsters, Cat Monsters, Bird Monsters, and Fae Moderately, also benefits Illusion Magic and Dark Magic Greatly.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    It was quite surprised at acquiring Themes which benefited monsters so different than all the other Themes it''d unlocked so far. It was also surprised to see no new Leech Themes had been unlocked, considering it had just gotten the Leech-Kindred Unique Title, but it was okay with that because the one it had already benefited Leeches Greatly. The Core wasn''t overly interested in these Themes and only considered the Grove of Forgotten Beasts because of it''s ridiculous automatically created monsters maximum rating.


    Bringing its attention back onto the Leech-Kin, it decided to appraise it, curious to learn more about this new species it had created.


    <table style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Leech-Kin</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>The Dungeon-Kin version of Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, Leech-Kins are considerably fast, and their small size makes it difficult to spot them approaching until it''s too late. Leech-Kins also drain much quicker than standard Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings, and with their suckers, they also gain the ability to drain blood, albeit at a lesser rate than Vitriolic Leeching Abominations. Leech-Kins also gain Minor Dark Magic Affinity, allowing them to cast basic dark spells. They also possess heightened Intelligence, giving them a limited ability to command Tiny Lesser Mana Leechlings.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Reading the information about the Leech-Kin left it with enjoyment at its creation. However, as it was enjoying this, the feeling of its Mana being completely replenished came into its mind, shocking it, but it recalled the end of the Mana Homogenized Leechling''s description and realized its Mana regeneration rate must''ve gone up significantly.


    All these new things left the Core strangely exhausted as it told the Leech-Kin to guard the Lyn Shade Swamp against any invaders and drifted off to sleep for the second time in its short life.

 Core Chapter 18: The Expansion of a Dungeon Pt.10

    "Master..." Cie''s voice slowly awoke the Core who felt strangely lethargic. "Master, you need to slow-down your use of Mana. You''re already feeling the beginning signs of Mana Overburdening, and if you continue to regenerate and use your Mana at such a rate, then you''ll burn yourself out." The Core didn''t know what Mana Overburden was, only that it didn''t sound like something pleasant.


    "Master, Mana Overburdening occurs to those who use large quantities of Mana too often. But, Master the fault lies with me for not warning you. In fact, Master, I wasn''t even sure if Mana Overburdening could happen to Dungeons considering how much Mana they commonly use, but I''d assume this only happened because of your abnormal Mana regeneration rate, caused by the Leechlings draining the Titan core." Feeling its mind clearing up as it listened to Cie. The Core was displeased that it would need to limit its daily Mana usage to avoid overburdening itself, but it buried its displeasure knowing there wasn''t anything it could currently do about this matter.


    Instead, it drew its attention onto the two things Cie held. In Cie''s left hand was an orange rock; the Core didn''t know what the stone was, just that Cie wouldn''t pick it up for no reason. In Cie''s right hand was a large woolly-white six-legged creature with two golden curly horns rising from the side of its head. Curiously it appraised them, starting with the stone.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Phynxinite</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Phynxinite found only in high-altitudes, this ore''s possibilities remain primarily unexplored by sapients, with the only exception being Gnomes who''ve long used the metal refined from this ore to insulate their sky-high homes from the high-altitude cold air. Phynx refined from this ore strangely resists both heat and cold, and can only be forged by imbuing Wind Element Mana into it, causing the metal to become soft and malleable.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Exceptional Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The Phynxinite interested it, but it had no idea where it would even use this. Nonetheless, it was still pleased with acquiring more materials and appraised the creature next.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Cloud Stepping Rams</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Cloud Stepping Rams are renowned in the Kalnor Empire for their unique use of Wind Element Magic to create clouds beneath their feet as they prance through the skies unrestrained by physical terrain. Hunting these rams proves an arduous affair due to the clouds they tread upon being excessively large and surprisingly dense, giving them plenty of protection from sapients firing arrows or spells at them from the ground.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Lesser Uncommon.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Master, I''m sorry, these were the only things which I could acquire, anything else is in areas too dangerous for me to enter." Cie seemed disappointed in what it could acquire, but the Core wasn''t really upset because anything new for it, is satisfying in its mind. More than disappointed the Core was curious as to what else was beyond its Dungeon.


    "Cie, what else is o---" the Core''s question was interrupted by a presence brushing against its influence. Whatever it was felt depthless, and the Core''s mind was temporarily overwhelmed, before the presence withdrew back to wherever it had come from.


    The Core''s mind was left throbbing in pain from the brief contact with whatever had touched its influence; its mind instantly turned to the Wyrm as it was the only creature nearby powerful enough to induce such a sensation. Cie had also felt the presence due to it continuously scanning the Core''s mind and had fared better than the Core due to its long practice in Mind Magic.


    The Core and Cie moved to the chasm, questioning if that had truly been the Wyrm or something else from beyond the caves. Gazing down upon the Wyrm they could see everything looked the same, and if such a creature had awoken even for just a moment, it would''ve likely moved. Something the size of the Wyrm moving slightly would disturb its surroundings significantly, and from what they could see, it was unlikely the presence they felt had been the Wyrm.


    Not knowing what had actually brushed against its influence troubled the Core more than if it would''ve been the Wyrm. Returning to the Mana Spring area, the Core placed its useless worries about this situation in the back of its mind and assimilated the Phynxinite and Cloud Stepping Ram.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Phynxinite may now be created at the cost of 527 Mana points per meter.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Assimilation complete!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Assimilated Cloud Stepping Ram contained elevated quantities of Mana which has been absorbed [+79 Mana points].</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Cloud Stepping Rams have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 199 Mana points per Cloud Stepping Ram.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Master, I don''t know what that presence was, but it didn''t seem hostile, and the human outside''s left, so focusing on recovering from your Mana overburdening may be the best course of action." The Core was glad to hear that human had left to report to their ''guild'' as it severely needed a way to evolve some of its monsters beyond their first evolution and others past their second evolution.


    The Core decided to hold off on making any further changes to its Dungeon until after the sapients come to investigate it so that it wouldn''t frighten them off before it can even draw them in.


    <hr>


    Thail stopped before the entrance to their task. The small amount of information acquired from D+ rank adventurer Leonis, running through his thoughts and disappointment towards the D rank group- Ale''s Gump -for entering the Dungeon against their orders. He wished more adventurers would understand how difficult it truly is to assess a Dungeon, and for them to stop using Faith-Guard to guide their way through Dungeons, but nearly every-time he told low-level groups not to use it, they usually laughed him off, unaware of how much they limit their futures by using Faith-Guard.


    "Thail, the Mana''s thinner, seems the Leonis chap wasn''t lying." Thail looked over Curnniliert, "I see that Curn, thanks, now get the others to set up camp, I''ll soon be taking Pert inside the Dungeon so he can make the translocation rune." The man called Curn nodded and turned around towards the large group behind Thail while shouting instructions.


    Meanwhile, Thail went to the right of the Dungeon where a wizened mid-aged man could be seen carving onto a stone slab large enough for ten people to stand on with room to spare. "Pert, how''s the translocation rune coming along?" Pert looked up briefly before continuing his work, "The thin Mana''s making it hard, and there''s a high possibility we''ll need to use Mana crystals to replenish the rune regularly." Those weren''t news Thail wanted to hear, and the Guild certainly won''t like them either.


    "Can you move the rune down to where the Mana''s thicker?" Pert wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he continued engraving on the slab while speaking with Thail, "Yeah, I can do that. Problem is, the rune will take longer to charge, and those wishing to leave the Dungeon by the rune will need to wait a moment, and it''ll also depend on the Mana levels within the Dungeon itself." Thail wasn''t pleased to hear that as the Mana levels dropped the closer to the Dungeon, they were. It was highly possible there won''t be much Mana within the Dungeon either.


    "Damn, alright then, Pert we''ll scrap the idea of just me and you, going in there to set up the rune until we know more about the conditions inside of the Dungeon." Pert gave a simple nod and kept engraving on the slab.


    Thail wasn''t jovial at all, mainly because he knew people would die during the assessment unless they get fortunate and the Dungeon''s similar to an already know one, but that possibility was abysmal. Thail moved before the large group bustling around setting up tents and campfires, "Everyone, listen up! Pert says the thin Mana will slow down the operation of the translocation runes, so we''ll only be using orbs this time around. Tomorrow five groups of ten will enter the Dungeon, and I want the healers outside ready for anything!" Thail''s voice spread across the entire group, and their expressions visibly worsened when they heard they''ll only be using translocation orbs. Some of the group was annoyed about this piece of news due to the high cost of translocation orbs, and although assessing Dungeons usually yielded high rewards, their use of translocation orbs would severely cut into their profits. The rest of the group didn''t care about how much possible profit they lost, so long as they kept their lives.


    "Furthermore there''s a high chance that our Mana replenishment rate will be heavily impacted within the Dungeon. So, tomorrow''s groups will only consist of melee combatants and healers. Mages might not even get a chance to enter depending on the conditions inside." The more Thail announced, the more displeased the group got. "Now, everyone please finish setting up camp and get some rest because I doubt the low Mana within the Dungeon will be pleasing." Quickly, the group returned to setting up their tents and campfires. The group was obviously vexed at the fact they''ll be relying mostly on the translocation orbs, but there wasn''t anything they could do other than grumble their displeasure and continue working.


    Thail wandered off to set up his own tent, hoping to catch some rest before the assessment tomorrow.

 Core Chapter 19: The Deception of a Dungeon Pt.1

    The Core observed the group of over two hundred sapients as they made their camp. It was quite thrilled with how many came, knowing it would get to kill more of them, but it still didn''t know much about them and started to appraise the ones that seemed to be the leaders of the group.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Curnniliert''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location: Cloud-Burst Mountain</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Curnniliert Rugmont</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 29 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Human</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 143</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Iron-Heart Warrior</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 2688/2688</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 263/263</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Erulien''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location:Cloud-Burst Mountain</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Erulien Trystan</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 20 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race:Human</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 125</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Conflagration Bladedancer</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 627/627</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 1571/1571</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Mesquet''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location:Cloud-Burst Mountain</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Mesquet Gyll</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 134 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Elf</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 137</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Restoration Mage</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 593/593</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 2142/2142</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Pert''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location:Cloud-Burst Mountain</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Pert Hollmunt</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 46 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race:Human</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 123</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Translocation Enchanter</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 256/256</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 3980/3980</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Thail''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location:Cloud-Burst Mountain</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Thail Lovso</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 33 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race:Human</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 188</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Stalwart Guardian</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 5694/5694</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 611/611</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Vuveai''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location:Cloud-Burst Mountain</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name: Vuveai Silc</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age: 49 Years Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race: Fox-Kin</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level: 139</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Class: Earthen Mage</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Health: 711/711</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 2399/2399</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Error! Unable to display further information!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Examining their statuses, it was startled to see most of them were double the level of those who''d entered before, and it was especially apprehensive towards the one named Thail Lovso as his level surpassed those around him by quite a lot. Other than the leaders, the rest of the group sat at around level 90-100 making the Core somewhat cautious, but Cie assured it, they were just going to be assessing it and not exterminating it.


    The Core watched as a small army of tents cropped up, and the sky darkened. Giving one last look towards the gathering of tents, the Core returned within the Dungeon to prepare the floors more adequately for these sapients.


    First, it told the Leech-kin to stay cautious and keep itself alive as it stayed on the Swamp floor which the sapients would be entering first. Next, it increased the number of Bats by a thousand and made a second den within another giant lyn tree. It had no idea how well the sapients would fare as the last ones didn''t fight back at all and didn''t give it any hint as to their fighting capabilities, so it didn''t want to accidentally make the floor too hard and cause the sapients to give up on it.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Leaving the Lyn Shade Parasitic Swamp, it entered the Weaving Caves of the Lost and increased the number of Grobs by two thousand, Bats by a thousand, and created six new Black Cave Bear dwellings for an extra three hundred Bears. It didn''t create anymore Storm Hide Bears until it knows how strong they are compared to the sapients outside.


    Lastly, it told the Progenitor to hide along with the Titan core; this was for its safety as it didn''t want to lose the Progenitor under any circumstances, and also because it had no understanding of the Progenitor''s true strength. Conceivably the Progenitor might easily be killed, but there was also an equal chance that it was much more powerful than the Core thought and it might accidentally kill all the sapients. Leaving the Core in a terrible position, so it took no chances and just had it hide. As for Cie? Apparently, Cie could hide itself with illusions, so it''ll be able to watch the sapients along with the Core.


    "Cie, should I seal the path to the Wyrm?" Cie thought over the question for a brief moment before deciding, "No Master, you shouldn''t seal the path, for the sole reason that it''ll make the stronger sapients cautious about coming here." The Core could understand that even strong sapients wouldn''t just go waking up creatures like the Wyrm for no reason.


    Looking around the Mana Spring room one last time before returning to resting its mind, a strange idea popped into the Core''s thoughts, "Cie, what would happen if I placed a Blood-root inside the Mana Spring?" Cie was taken aback by the bizarre question, "Master, I''ve no idea what would happen, but the Blood-root would unquestionably undergo a change due to its oversaturation of Mana." The Core''s curiosity led it to place a single Blood-root into the Mana Spring, and immediately something happened. The Blood-root began glowing sky blue and a web of midnight blue veins spread across its darkening red stem as it grew.


    <hr>


    Thail was stirred awake by a sudden low rumbling that grew every passing moment. Rushing out of his tent, Thail could feel the rumbling growing stronger and the sound of rocks splitting reached his ear. His attention snapped onto the entrance of the Dungeon where the quake and noise seemed to be coming from, but before he could do anything else, he spotted something shining blue pierce through the slope far above the Dungeon''s entrance. A dark red spike with glowing midnight blue veins rose out of the mountain slope, and its size kept increasing as it grew taller, resembling a spire. The dark red spire continued rising for another thousand meters before jolting to a stop and sending one last mighty tremor along the mountain. Thail''s shock towards the sudden event couldn''t be underestimated. The entire camp was now awake; questions flew about the suddenly emerging spire around the camp, yet none had any answers.


    "Thail!" Hearing his name called out by a young sounding voice, Thail spun around and spotted Erulien jogging towards him, "Thail! What in Aruba''s name do you think the Spire is?" Thail sent an inspecting stare towards the spire, "I don''t know, but the Dungeon''s definitely getting more unusual the more we stay here." Erulien nodded at Thail''s words. First, the Dungeon had thin Mana surrounding it which was already unheard of, and now there was this strange dark red spire that towered over their camp. "Thail, answer me honestly, do you think Elune could still be alive?" Worry filled Erulien''s face as he asked his question, and Thail turned his gaze away from the spire, onto Erulien, "Again Erulien, I don''t know, but we''ll find out tomorrow, until then get some rest and hopefully the Dungeon won''t do any more crazy shit." Erulien was downcast at Thail''s answer; he felt Thail didn''t want to dishonestly assure him and wanted him to prepare himself for the high chance that his sister was dead.


    Thail sighed as he watched the dejected Erulien leaving to rest for the night. Thail sent one last look at the spire before shaking his head as he returned to his tent, hoping this bizarre Dungeon won''t get stranger inside.


    <hr>


    The Core could only watch as the Blood-root continued to grow and eventually pierced into the ceiling of the cave, causing everything to start trembling as the Blood-root carved its way out. It only took about thirty seconds for the Blood-root to stop growing, and the Core got to see the aftermath.


    The Blood-root''s expansion had caused the Mana Spring to flood, and the Core quickly worked to expand the Mana Spring so that it wouldn''t dissipate due to its insufficient size. Completing the expansion, the Core looked over the Blood-root whose stem at its base was now fifteen meters in radius. The stem grew much thinner the higher you looked. Unfortunately, the Core couldn''t see how high the Blood-root had truly reached, but it could easily imagine that it likely exited outside above its Dungeon. "Master, would this even be considered a Blood-root anymore?" The Core was just as curious as Cie and appraised the Blood-root for changes.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Spine-Roots</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Spine-roots are found in areas with abnormally high Mana levels, and can most often be seen rising from the land within the Otherworld of Demons. Spine-roots are incredibly hard and resilient, making any fragments from them exceptional armor and weapons material. Additionally, their heightened constitution over Blood-roots makes Spine-roots even greater enchantment material. Few sapients have ever laid eyes upon this plant, and even less have ever damaged one.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Rating: Exceptional Rare.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The Core and Cie were surprised to see the Blood-root had evolved into this Spine-root, and the Core decided to not assimilate it for now, as it would cost a lot to recreate it if its rating had any indication. "Master! This Spine-root isn''t something the Nifilim have ever seen before, and now I''m the first of my kind to see it!" The Core turned its sight onto Cie who''d inflated in happiness. The Core didn''t really understand why Cie was so happy about being the first of its kind to see the Spine-root. After all, everything about the Core was a first for the Nifilim and Cie didn''t get happy towards that. "Master! You''re unique but definitely not the first Dungeon we Nifilim have seen, but this plant, I''m the only one of my kind who knows of it!" Cie''s inflation didn''t falter at the Core''s thoughts, and the Core learned why Cie was so happy.


    The Core left the inflated Cie- who was feeling and inspecting the Spine-root closely -and headed to the entrance hoping it hadn''t scared off the sapients with the creation of the Spine-root. Reaching the entrance, the Core was glad to see its worries were unfounded as it looked down onto the sapients'' camp. The Core expanded its influence marginally outwards, just so that it could see how tall the Spine-root truly was, and it was quite astonished to turn around and see the Spine-root towering a little bit over a thousand meters tall. Its astonishment rapidly wore off, and the Core left the entrance and headed back to the Mana Spring room.


    The Core was shining in excitement towards the Progenitor''s evolution as it had laid within the Mana Spring for quite some time, and if a few seconds of being submerged in the Mana Spring was enough for the Blood-root to evolve so drastically, then the Core couldn''t imagine the Progenitor''s own evolutions.


    Entering the Mana Spring cave, the Core didn''t stop to look at the Spine-root or Cie and quietly returned to rest in its Core, so that it would be ready for any situations during the sapients'' assessment of itself.

 Core Chapter 20: The Deception of a Dungeon Pt.2

    Actually, before you read the chapter, I''ll let you know that if you''ve read the author''s note, I posted on December 12th, but haven''t read the chapter I posted on December 15th. Then I heavily suggest you go and read it, (Chapter 21) or else you''ll miss some developments.


    Now, truly onto the chapter!


    <hr>


    Thail stood before the floor entrance portal, anxiety and excitement running through the group of fifty gathered behind him. For many, this would be their first assessment and an opportunity to gain wealth, equipment, and most importantly, experience in genuinely unknown territory. For those who''d already completed assessments before, they only prayed to live through the assessment and get back to normality. Dungeon Assessments are commonly made up of new and conceited adventurers partnered with older, more experienced adventurers who''ve done assessments before.


    "Alright! Everyone, stick together and watch each other''s backs inside the Dungeon. We''ve no idea what to expect, and we''ll be hampered by the low Mana, so keep it in your mind to use as little Mana as possible. I don''t want anyone to think this will be easy; there''s a high chance many will die during the assessment. It could be you, or your friends and teammates, keep your head calm and collected. If you do panic, I won''t risk the lives of anyone, and I''ll leave you for dead." Thail''s voice filled the tunnel and reminded the group of newbies that this likely wouldn''t be as easy as they believed.


    Thail led the way through the portal, the familiar sensation of weightlessness permeating him as he was transported to the Dungeon''s first floor. However, unlike when he entered other Dungeons, Thail didn''t enter smoothly; instead, he fell from the elevated floor entrance into the murky green water below and was quickly followed by the adventurers following behind him. As more of them came through, a pile of adventurers started forming below the portal. Thail himself was being crushed, drowned, andhammered down into the muddy swamp floor by the adventurers being unwittingly piled on top of him. Fortunately, the constant flow of adventurers falling out of the entrance didn''t last long, as the last of the group of fifty walked through the portal and got dumped unceremoniously onto the adventurers below.


    The adventurers quickly began untangling and getting off of their fellows beneath them, some already bordering on being drowned to death. Thail didn''t suffer heavily from his lengthy submersion due to his high health and increased endurance as a Stalwart Guardian. He had to cough up the water he''d ingested due to the sudden nature of his dive into the water, but otherwise, he was completely unharmed.


    "Everyone alright?!" Curnniliert''s voice rung out and was answered by a multitude panicked shouts for help. "Everyone! Calm down and give immediate aid to anyone still stuck, and don''t hesitate to use health potions on those in critical condition." Thail''s calm and heavy voice silenced the shouts with simple orders. Everyone began helping those who were unconscious, raising them out of the water and using healing potions on the ones who had inhaled too much water or passed out due to lack of air. Those who were barely conscious were forced to cough up all the water they''d breathed in, and stood to the side as they regained and stabilized their breathing.


    "Have any died?" Thail''s voice solemnly called out to Curn who answered with a somber sigh, "Two so far have drowned, and there may be more." Thail shook his head at the disastrous beginning of the assessment, dearly hoping it wouldn''t get worse further into the Dungeon.


    It took less than five minutes for everyone to regain their composures, but the air surrounding the group had grown grave towards their task. "Thail, the final death count''s three, leaving us with forty-seven of the fifty who''d entered." Thail sighed sombrely as he called out to the group, "Alright everyone, we''ll be starting the assessment, and it likely won''t be easy if this start''s not enough of a sign. We''ll move together in a diamond formation and note anything we find, like the Dungeon''s entrance being in the air, instead of on the ground."


    <hr>


    The Core had watched along with Cie who''d inflated in joy at the sight of the sapients stumbling out of the portal, and at the few that drowned to death. However, unlike Cie, the Core''s attention had been directed onto one of the men who wore bizarre ornaments all over his full plate armor, and grew curious enough to appraise him.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Aruba God of Light</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">Warning! Appraisal Blocked!</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    The Core felt like it was going to crack in frustration as this "Aruba" blocked it for the third time. And questions about who this ''Aruba'' was filled the Core''s thoughts, which didn''t go unnoticed by Cie.


    "Master, do you want me to tell you about Aruba?" The Core immediately boomed out a reply to Cie, "YES!" Cie flinched slightly from the intensity of the Core''s words, but recovered swiftly nonetheless, and filled the Core in on some details about Aruba.


    "Master, Aruba is widely considered by the sapients as the strongest and most influential God of them all. However, the sapients have twisted his values and ideals heavily for their own use, according to what the Nifilim have learned from Aruba himself and his host. The sapients have labeled each of the Godseither good, neutral, or evil. From what the Nifilim have learned these labels are erroneously wrong, as each God has their own beliefs on what their element means. Take the Gods of Darkness as an example; some believe darkness means secrecy or deception while others might consider it to mean being shy or reclusive. Their varying beliefs on their element makes it impossible to label all Gods of a specific element as evil, and makes it even more erroneous for sapients to attempt to twist their Gods'' beliefs or alignments. Aruba himself believes his light means truth, but not just any truth, the truth of nature, of personality, of intentions, and lastly truth to oneself. While the humans and many more sapients have twisted Aruba''s image. After Aruba self-destructed his own vessel, the humans and many more sapients twisted his image to match their own ideals by labeling him the guardian of man, the light of justice, and the protector of good. They then used this twisted image to wage wars against other sapients that they claimed acted against Aruba''s will. Ironically, doing so went directly against Aruba''s own beliefs towards the light, as they had lied to themselves, which he hates most of all. He even hates sapients who try to hide their love of killing, sexual pleasures, and general crimes, instead of being truthful about them. Nowadays Aruba rarely personally gives out blessings, and most are given out half-heartedly by Aruba''s host to any who pray enough towards him."


    The Core still felt irritated at not knowing why this ''Aruba'' kept blocking his appraisals, but Cie could make a guess as to why, "Master, it seems you cannot appraise any who have obtained a blessing from a God." The Core shone in agreement that the blessing was likely the cause for the blocks, but it didn''t discount the possibility of Aruba specifically being the one who was blocking its appraisals.


    "Master, from what the Nifilim have learned, Aruba himself has gone into seclusion and stays within his divine realm nearly all the time. He has been so ever since he self-destructed his Divine Vessel in anger and displeasure towards the sapients who lie to themselves. The destruction of his vessel resulted in the loss of two entire armies of over seventy thousand men each, ending the long feud between humans and beast-kin. This eventually led to both groups twisting his image in their minds. The humans and beast-kin have spun the tale into one where Aruba wanted to stop the downfall of both races by ending their war, instead of the truth where he was simply enraged and displeased with them, and decided to punish them by destroying their armies and cutting off their way of interacting with him by the destruction of his divine vessel." The Core understood from Cie''s words that Aruba likely wouldn''t care for many sapients. Its attention broke off from Cie as the sapients had started to move away from the entrance portal and further into the swamp.


    The group showed obvious difficulty at navigating through the darkness of the swamp. Their lack of rangers with the same capabilities as the one named Fyl made their progress excruciatingly slow. The Core watched as the sapients waded slowly through the swamp, wondering if they''ll even survive the first floor...


    <hr>


    Thail''s wariness had reached its peak as they made their way through the dimly lit swamp. His worry further compounded by the seeming lack of a trial, which had appeared in all other Dungeons he''d been in so far.


    His heightened alertness enabled him to spot a small yellow flash at the corner of his eye. The flash faded away as a small, dark red lump rocketed past Thail before he could react. The red blur barrelled into a man who didn''t even have time to notice the threat and was sent crashing into those following behind him. Bright sparks arced across the water, and the whole group could feel an electric current running through their bodies, numbing their senses and making several of the closest ones seize up and collapse into the water.


    Before any of the group could react, thedark redmenace shot away from the man it had hit, back into the swamp''s blanketing shadows. Curn promptly began shouting orders, and for the second in a day, the group had to use healing potions to aid those they could, while some had already died due to the electrocution.


    After the hectic attempt from the group to save the ones affected by the electric current, Curn brought the news to Thail. "We''ve lost another four to whatever that had been... Thail, what should we do?" Thail felt like he''d aged two years from the brief period of time they''d been inside the Dungeon. He gave a solemn order, "Everyone! Gather up! We''ll be leaving the Dungeon to rest and return with mages. We''re in no position to continue as we are now." Many grumbled in dissatisfaction at Thail''s decision to retreat, but heeded his order nonetheless.

 Core Chapter 21: The Deception of a Dungeon Pt.3

    As the Storm Blood Mana Leechling shot away from the dead adventurer''s corpse back into the swamp, two black boxes appeared in the Core''s mind.


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Level Up!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="text-align: center">


    Level: 14 ?? 16


    Maximum Mana Capacity: 730 ?? 830


    Maximum Integrity: 170 ?? 190


    Intelligence: 44 ?? 52


    Wisdom: 22 ?? 26


    Luck: 11 ?? 12


    Maximum Dungeon Size: 25 ?? 26


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="background-color: #000000">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>Congratulations!</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>For reaching level 15, monsters automatically generated by floors may now evolve, though with significantly increased evolution conditions than normally created monsters.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The Core was relieved to finally be able to continue leveling up, and opened its status.


    <table style="background-color: #000000; border-color: #000080" border="10">


    <thead>


    <tr style="text-align: center">


    <td>N/A''s Status</td>


    </tr>


    </thead>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>Location:N/A''s Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Name:N/A</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Age:1 Month Old</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Race:Sacrilegious Rogue Dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Level:16</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Integrity:173/190</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Mana: 770/830</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Intelligence:52</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Wisdom:26</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Luck:12</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Dungeon Size:19.39/26</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floors:2/3</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Floor Themes:Isolation Caves, Parasitic Swamp, Atrocious Halls, Withering Forest, Elemental Dunes, Atrocious Heavenly Tower, Plains of Lunacy, Unholy Cathedral, Flooded Leech Hollow, Wild Jungle of Exuberance, Grove of Forgotten Beasts.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Current Integrity Status:Great, Mana Overburdening has begun to set in!</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Abilities:Appraisal, Mana Sense, Mana Sight, Mana Shaping, Mana Drain, Limited Telepathy, Matter Assimilation, Floor Creation, Baleful Aura.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Skills:Mana Discharge.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Available Monsters:Tiny Lesser Mana Leechling (L-R), Pixie (G-R), Storm Hide Bear (UC), Shade Wing Bat (L-C), Vitriolic Leeching Abomination ?, Black Cave Bear (L-C), Dungeon-Kin, Common Cave Grob (L-C), Cloud Stepping Ram (L-UC).</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Servants:Cie.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Titles:Pixie Slayer, Mana Drainer, Mana Wielder, Bat Slayer, Challenger of Evolution, Caretaker of a Nifilim, Architect of Life, Leech-Kindred.</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td>Achievements:Solo Dungeon, Leeching Core, Rare Beginning, Divine Assimilator, Monster Progenitor, Novice Trapper, Skill Creator, Abomination Core, Intellectual Core, Theme Virtuoso, Going Against Nature, Loving First.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The Core slowly looked over its status, delighted that its Mana capacity was once again increasing. As it finished, it noticed the sapients retrieving orbs that seemed incredibly similar to the one the human called Silfus had used to escape.


    "Cie, what are those orbs the sapients are using?" Cie bobbed in glee as it reminisced over the death of the adventurers while answering the Core''s question. "Master, those are translocation orbs. They are strenuously created by high-level translocation enchanters. The orbs this group is using likely do not belong to themselves, and were probably given out to them by the guild for their assessment." The Core''s curiosity was piqued as to how high a level was required to make such mystical objects, and Cie didn''t miss the Core''s curiosity. "Master, these orbs are made by Rank-Y enchanters, so they are completely out of reach for those who lack immense wealth, but the guild has its own supply constantly replenished by the co-founder of the guild. However, that does not mean they give them out often. They generally do so only for assessments, and during times of emergency, as their supply is limited, and crafting these orbs takes an immense amount of Mana and time."The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The Core was growing more intrigued by the sapients the more it learned about them, "How strong can sapients grow to be, and what are these rankings they have?" Cie''s bobbing came to an end as the last of the adventurers translocated away.


    "Master, sapients can grow tremendously powerful. At their lowest, they are level-0, but at their highest? Well... that is not known yet, asthey have constantly been growing stronger and have adjusted their rankings to match their growth. However, some sapients can never level up, why is unknown. The only thing that is known is that they cannot earn experience from killing or working. The Farisian Guild, guides, manages, andregulates those who can level up; they also issue quests, tasks, requests, exploration notices, and many other jobs for adventurers to complete.However, the Farisian Guild isn''t the only one around, but they are the leading authority in the region on those who can level up due to their affiliation with God of Wind Farisian, the founder of the guild, and the one its named after.


    The Farisian Guild are also the ones who set-up the sapients'' current ranking system, starting at Rank-F all the way up to Rank-Z. Those at Rank-Z, Master, I pray you never encounter. Rank-Z adventurers can fight the Wyrm one-on-one and triumph. Thetop Rank-Z to date sits around level 10000, and is the highest sapients have managed to reach, as going higher takes an excessive amount of time and experience. Each of their ranks has two stages that each add a plus after the rank; The greatest Rank-Z has reached Rank-Z++, and if they grow beyond level 11000 a new rank will be created accordingly. However, Rank-Zs are incredibly rare, and those that reach such a rank generally are not very active in the guild; instead, they pick areas with powerful monsters and hunt them to level up, or if it is a working type job, then they find a quiet place to work until they can level up. There are some who have given up their journey to the heights of power after their long struggle just to enjoy the luxury their overwhelming power can bring them. Although there are things which can affect the difficulty of leveling up, generally only classes and race do this. More rarely, there are curses that can slow down experience gain, and blessings that can increase it.


    The sapients that are performing the current assessment are at maximum Rank-C+ and at the lowest Rank-D++. But Master, while that may sound low, the truth is that out of hundreds of thousands of sapients, only two might reach Rank-X. Even less will reach Rank-Y and Z, in fact, C ranked guild members make up the bulk of adventurers. Nonetheless, this does not mean there are not many B to S rank adventurers; it is simply that they do not find Dungeon Assessments to be worth the time it can take to complete them when they could be leveling up instead."


    The Core was happy to learn about the sapients and their rankings, though it wasn''t eager to meet higher ranking adventurers like B ranks or above. It still couldn''t really get a sense of how powerful its monsters were, but it was clear that Rank-C adventurers were going to have a tough time dealing with them. It was also still not certainof the Progenitor''s strength, but, it guessed its power to be at around Rank-B. The Core also decided to ask Cie about something the adventurers had been murmuring nervously about. "Cie, what are trials?" Cie seemed to have been expecting this question.


    "Master, trials are found in Dungeons, either upon entering or after a designated point or location has been reached within the Dungeon floors. These trials are found in all Dungeons with only one known exception that I know of; you, Master. You are the only Dungeon so far to seemingly not have the ability to make trials, and I can guess, Master, that it has to do with your lack of a link with a Pixie. Another thing you lack is treasures, but I am not talking about placed materials or valuable plants like you have currently. Other Dungeons seem to be able to set rewards for completing trials, and these rewards are commonly things the Dungeon would have no way of knowing how to make via Mana Shaping, so it must be another ability granted by their links. But, Master, you possess what other Dungeons do not have; freedom. You are unlinked, unbound by their laws and rules, free from the management of Pixies, and most of all, you have an object beyond all valuethat other Dungeons would only dream of, a Titan core."


    The Core was pleased to learn its unlinked status likely didn''t make it miss out on powerful abilities, and while creating trials and treasure might sound amazing, the Core could care less about benefiting sapients. At least, beyond how much it currently did, anyway. It was annoyed that Cie still hadn''t explained what trials actually were, however.


    "Master, please be more patient. I will explain what they are. Trials after being activated by sapients entering the Dungeon, or reaching a certain location on the Dungeon floor; send a notification to the sapients who have activated it, informing them of what they must do to complete the trial and what they may earn if they succeed. Trials have a wide variety of completion methods, ranging from simply killing monsters, surviving a specific amount of time, enduring hazards created by the floors, or solving a variety of cryptic puzzles. These trials also almost always open the entrance to the next floor as well, so that is the reason the adventurers were getting nervous from not receiving any. It is usually especially easy to trigger the trial for the first floor, as everything is normally much simpler at the start of a Dungeon, but they weren''t outright concerned because some trials only trigger upon entering specific areas on the Dungeon''s floor, or after reaching a certain distance within the floor. The trials'' notifications are shown the same way that your status is displayed, but the color of the box is different for everyone.Why this is has become a heavily debated topic among sapients."


    The Core could understand from what Cie was telling it that its own floors were much harder for sapients to complete due to there being no hint in the form of a notification to be found on its floors. They will need to figure everything out about and solve the floors themselves without help from trials. It also had no intention of changing this, as like Cie said before, the difference in itself compared to other Dungeons would surely draw attention from the sapients even if they didn''t get far into it.


    The Core turned its attention away from Cie, as it had no more questions for now, and headed towards the outside, wondering what the adventurers were up to now that they had translocated away.

 Core Chapter 22: The Deception of a Dungeon Pt.4

    A loud buzzing filled the camp outside the Dungeon as the translocation rune flared to life. Violet light burst out from the rune carved onto the stone slab, and when the light faded, ten adventurers staggered off of the plate, disoriented from the stomach-churning shift.


    The moment the last man stumbled off the large, engraved stone, the rune flared back to life, heralding the arrival of another group.


    Pert counted the adventurers coming out of the rune, knowing they wouldn''t have returned this quickly unless they encountered difficulty progressing through the Dungeon. His final count came up with forty-three people who had successfully come back, and that told him the Dungeon probably wasn''t going to be easy for them to assess.


    Pert made his way towards Thail, who had been the last one to use his translocation orb so that no one would be left behind.


    He could see that Thail seemed lost in his thoughts as he walked with long strides towards the camp. Thail''s short, black hair and armor were soaked and partially covered in what Pert guessed was algae and mud.


    He cursed his short stature as he hastened after Thail who was quickly making his way through the group of adventurers that were taking off their soaked, muddied, and algae-covered armor. He could smell the scent of something burnt as he passed several people laying on the ground, looking worse for wear than the rest of the group.


    Finally catching up to Thail, Pert panted, "It''s bad?"


    Thail exasperatedly sighed at Pert''s sudden and straightforward question, "The first floor''s entrance is floating in the air inside the Dungeon, and three drowned due to theirs and everyone else''s fall out of it. The last four were lost to some tiny, red monster that moved exceptionally fast, at least,... faster than I could see." Pert could tell that Thail was distraught at his failure to spot and kill the monster that had attacked them.


    "I didn''t even have the time to see any detail about what killed them, except for the fact that it uses lightning magic or an ability related to lightning." Pert furrowed his long, greying eyebrows at the mention of a creature that could use lighting, as monsters that could use it were always a headache in battle.


    The challenge in combating them was due to either the extreme speed or sudden explosive power they could release, and Pert didn''t like the fact that Thail wasn''t able to identify what had attacked them.


    "How was the floor''s condition?" Thail rubbed his forehead with his right hand as he recalled what he witnessed moments ago. "Horrible, that''s how I would describe it. The entrance''s position makes no effort to help either. It isn''t totally dark, and we get about five to six meters of visibility. However, navigating the floor will still be incredibly difficult as we won''t be able to orient ourselves using landmarks, and monsters will be able to easily stalk us from distant shadows. Torches won''t light far enough to make much of a difference over what''s already visible, so Setting Stones will be what we''ll need to use to see farther, but that will eat even more into the payoff at the end of the assessment."


    Pert was certain the other teams weren''t going to appreciate this news in the slightest, but he knew everyone would cede to the decision.


    "How many do you plan to send back to retrieve the stones?"


    Thail briefly thought over how many stones will likely be needed before answering, "Twelve, that''s how many people will return to Ot''e Nill and get as many stones as possible, which should be around thirty-six." Pert gave a short nod at the amount as Thail turned around before his tent and looked towards Pert, who nearly walked into him due to his abrupt stop.


    "I''m also thinking of having Curn and twenty others go back as well to get any more supplies we might need." Pert wriggled his eyebrows, and scratched his short scruffy goatee with his left hand in hesitation.


    "Thail, the crossing''s going to be soon. The monsters and beasts living on the upper slopes of Cloud-Burst mountain will undoubtedly venture downwards, so I suggest we all pack up and return to Ot''e Nill."


    Thail groaned at being reminded of the crossing, but ultimately agreed with Pert about returning to Ot''e Nill for the crossing''s duration. "Alright, we''ll return to Ot''e Nill, and keep watch with the town''s guards for the crossing." Pert was all too happy to return just to rest in a proper bed. Now that they knew more about the Dungeon, they would be able to bring more suitable supplies from the carriages in Ot''e Nill, which couldn''t follow them up the steep slopes of the mountain.


    <hr>


    Arriving at the entrance, the Core could see the sapients were dismantling their tents, and the sight made it begin to worry that its difficulty had scared off the adventurers. Cie, however, had different thoughts. "Master, this group came without any carriages, and that was probably because they could not bring them up the steep mountainside, which limited the supplies they could bring."


    The Core was relieved that Cie didn''t think it had scared the adventurers away, but it did have a question about the explanation, "What are carriages, and why couldn''t the sapients bring them?" Cie seemed to bob in pride at its knowledge over the Core.


    "Master, carriages are essentially hollow squares, but can be other shapes, made of wood or other light materials, and use circles called wheels that can rotate as they are pulled. Carriages can be loaded with either sapients or supplies, and easily be pulled by horses or some other creature sapients have tamed." The Core was almost certain that carriages would be useless to it, but it was happy to learn of them no matter how basic Cie''s explanation likely was.


    "How come they can''t bring these carriages here then, if they can be easily be pulled?" Cie''s bobbing lessened slightly, but still continued. "Master, I should tell you that Cloud-Burst mountain is the tallest mountain ever found so far by the Nifilim and even the sapients." The Core was growing more curious about the surrounding region, but continued listening to Cie, instead of interrupting.


    "Much of the nearby Kalnor Empire sits upon a plateau at the foot of the mountain, and the land becomes much steeper the higher up the mountain you go. This makes it impossible for carriages to reach where we are without something incredibly strong pulling them up the mountainside, but even that isn''t enough. To bring carriages here, the sapients would need to stabilize them constantly with magic or else they would fall over due to the uneven terrain. Moreover, rocks wear down the carriages'' wheels incredibly quickly, so they would need to change them out often." The Core was surprised to learn it was in such a difficult location to reach, but it wasn''t overly concerned as the sapients seemed to have no trouble reaching it.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Before the Core could question Cie further, an excruciating thrumming began filling the Core''s mind, reminding it of its ongoing Mana Overburdening. This was something that Cie didn''t miss, "Master, although your overburdening is not severe enough to completely burn you out, you should be careful as not to worsen it." Worry was evident in Cie''s thoughts and its beady eyes.


    "Cie, is there any way I can fix my overburdening myself?" At the Core''s question, Cie wobbled its arms left-to-right and inflated slightly.


    "Master, I can try to inspect your Mana paths. However, I would not hold much hope, as Dungeons have incredibly powerful seals placed upon them at birth, which has blocked any attempts to peer into the secrets of Dungeons by anyone or anything. But you should not lose all hope as the simple fact that you lack a Pixie will make it much easier for me to possibly view your paths. It might also help if you return your awareness to your core." Promptly following Cie to its room, the Core felt uneasy knowing that its Mana Overburdening was affecting it in more ways than it could perceive.


    Upon entering its core room, the Core was immediately unsettled by the changes that had occurred to itself in the brief time since the agonizing pulsating began.


    The runic circles and diagrams blurred as they revolved around it, the blood wrapped around it was no longer calm, but instead rippled violently. The mist billowing off of its surface was darker, almost black, instead of the old charcoal-grey color, it had been before. Lastly, the blood red streaks moving across its indigo purple surface were now zig-zagging rather than traveling in a straight line.


    It quickly returned to its physical body, hoping that Cie would be able to find a way to fix its overburdening.


    The Core watched anxiously as Cie placed several protection spells on itself, flashing brightly with each cast. Cie knew that the backlash incurred by trying to see the insides of a core would be unforgiving from previous attempts by the Nifilim.


    "Master, your overburdening should go away on its own in approximately thirteen months. Are you sure you want to proceed?"


    Thirteen times its current age?! The Core was already impatient and tired of resting, so it could barely imagine idling for that long. It was also eager to continue expanding the Mana Spring and Spine-root''s cave so that it could find more caves and things to assimilate. Additionally, it feared the changes that had happened to its core, and worried its overburdening might cause permanent sub-surface damage.


    "Yes... I''m sure." With the apprehensive affirmation, Cie reached towards the Core with its slim, long arms.


    Cie winced as its fingers entered the blistering blood bubble enveloping the Core. However, Cie''s excitement towards learning something new made it press on, even as the blood was singeing the fur covering its hands.


    On both of Cie''s palms three interlinked white circles shone into existence as it cupped the small core in both hands.


    The Core felt the painful beating in its mind melt away from the blissful feeling of Cie hands. Despite the intense sensation, the Core was still shocked by how hot the bubble around it was, and the fact that Cie was able to endure it anyway. The Core attributed Cie''s endurance to the faint green glow radiating from its fur, which was likely one of the protection spells Cie had cast earlier.


    "Master! Ready yourself; This will be far from pleasant!"


    In both of Cie''s palms the circles burned brightly, and the Core felt a broiling pain even greater than when it had evolved itself sweeping away the euphoric sensation of Cie''s hands.


    While the Core was in pain, Cie, on the other hand, was in pure ecstasy at the feeling of its mental projection penetrating the Core''s surface and the sight of the Core''s Mana paths. It was probably the first being in history to have seen the Mana paths of a Dungeon Core, and the sheer number of them left Cie stunned.


    Crisscrossing like a spider''s web within a seemingly endless void inside the Core were trillions of magenta Mana paths that luminesced true indigo, indicating the presence of the purest Mana known to the Nifilim. However, all but one thousand five hundred and seventy-four were blocked by tiny black runes. The number of paths that weren''t blocked was impressive, but compared to the trillions that were, the amount was insignificant to say the least.


    The overwhelming amount of Mana paths, the Mana they contained, and the runes that blocked them, all served to kindle Cie''s interest. However, it had no time to indulge in its insatiable curiosity, and immediately imprinted the layout of the open Mana paths, and the flow of Mana within them, to its mind so that it would have no way of ever forgetting this sight.


    Having gotten what it needed, Cie swiftly cut the link to the mental projection within the Core''s insides. It was just in time to spot a wave of pure Mana the runic circles revolving around the Core had released to thwart the unwanted intruder.


    The Core had been in immense pain throughout the entire duration of Cie''s check, but had still been able to notice that the runic circles were pulling on a power source that it couldn''t see. The immense draw of power was causing the circles to oscillate to such a degree that it could feel pulses of pure Mana coming from them. However, the intense effort it was exerting to keep itself conscious left it with no way to warn Cie of the impending danger.


    The dark blue wave of pure Mana collided with Cie, and for but a moment, Cie''s protection spells clashed with the tide, causing the entire room to light up with a bright green shine. But the spells could not stop the tremendous force that had been unleashed, and they shattered. With nothing protecting Cie, the wave smashed into it, blasting it out of the Core''s sight and into the Mana spring room.


    Upon the wave''s collision with Cie, the runic circles had dimmed as their glow turned from just black to a blend of both black and grey.


    The Core was astounded by the power the circles had unleashed. However, it overcame its shock and swiftly left its core to look for Cie while ignoring the throbbing pain in its mind.


    It quickly found Cie, who was laying, unmoving, near the center of the cave. The Core was worried that Cie might have died, but a look at its status window showed that Cie was still listed as its servant, and certainly not dead.


    Gazing at the unconscious Cie, the Core was left unsure of what to do, but decided to move Cie into the Titan core''s hidden cave.


    After moving Cie and returning to its core, the Core could feel the throbbing increasing in intensity, and now dearly regretted its impatience.


    It felt stupid for not having asked Cie about the possible effects the inspection of its Mana paths might cause, but it was already done, so the Core didn''t mull over the thought for long. Instead, it turned its attention to the runic circles, wondering from where they drew the power they had used and whether it could do the same. However, the Core lacked any understanding of what they were, so it couldn''t even begin to comprehend them, let alone use the power they had.


    It also looked at the diagrams, wondering what they could do compared to the runic circles. But it hastily tore its sight away from them, as it could feel the pounding continuously growing stronger and felt like its core would burst if it continued for much longer.


    Much to the Core''s dismay, its vision began slowly fading into black as its anguish grew. On the edge of its remaining vision, it could see symbols like the ones within the runic circles. These were not contained within the circles, however, and floated around the Core, who was fighting with every inch of its mental power to stay awake and observe this strange occurrence.


    It could see that each of the symbols were different except for four of them, and that they were trying to arrange themselves in a specific order as if they were being guided or were alive. They rapidly organized themselves in a straight line and began floating towards the Core who was watching this display with burning curiosity, enough even to overcome the pain in its mind.


    It didn''t take long for the symbols to reach the Core, and once they did, they disappeared into the Core''s surface without leaving so much as a trace of their existence.


    Seconds after their disappearance, however, the Core''s pain redoubled and slammed it with a mind-piercing agony, instantly plunging it into the darkness of unconsciousness.

 Adventurers Chapter 1: The Adventurers and the Crossing

    The sound of footfalls, clattering armor, and numerous hearty conversations echoed down the lower slopes of Cloud-Burst mountain as the group of adventurers steadily made their way back to Ot''e Nill.


    At the group''s head was Thail, whose dark-brown eyes were sweeping the ground looking for the safest route down the rocky, moss-covered slope. He had been leading the adventurers around groups of resting Stone-Shelled Armadillos on the slopes, and occasionally checking the sky for severe weather, or any Qetzes that might be trying to stalk them.


    Following two steps behind him to his right was Curnniliert, who was chatting with Pert, and Erulien, who was carrying Pert on his back due to his abysmal endurance.


    "Pert, have you heard from Mesquet about his experience with the crossing?"


    Pert was glad to see that Erulien seemed to be coping with his sister''s disappearance, but he could feel that underneath Erulien''s liveliness and enthusiasm was a deep feeling of regret for having allowed his precious sister to join an adventurer''s group of her choice.


    "No, boy, I haven''t asked Mesquet about his prior experience with the crossing, and I hope you haven''t either. You should remember what happened the last time you thoughtlessly pried into Mesquet''s past..."


    Erulien chuckled briefly before looking over his shoulder at Pert with a smug expression plastered across his face.


    "I coaxed it out of him with my charming looks and subtle questions this time, leaving no way for that geezer to discern that I was intentionally trying to dredge up his past." Pert leaned back and let out a weary sigh as he shook his head in exasperation, causing Erulien to stumble slightly.


    "So, what did he say about the crossing? Was it different from what the books tell us?" Curn''s voice drifted up from just ahead of Erulien after he regained his balance.


    "He didn''t say much more than what the history books say. Only that the mental and emotional influence caused by seeing the World Titan itself is severely underrated within the books." Curn knitted his brows in dissatisfaction as he brought his gaze back onto the rugged path, resolving to ask Mesquet about his complete experience with the crossing later.


    "Boy, where did you see Mesquet last?" Pert''s unexpected inquiry into Mesquet''s location tingled Erulien''s sense of amusement, "I don''t know old man, maybe you should hop off of my back to go have a look?" Erulien cheekily suggested with a small grin on his face.


    Pert quietly mumbled in annoyance, as he knew that if he got off of Erulien''s back, he would have to finish the remainder of the trek on foot. He wasn''t confident in being able to do that, and so he didn''t budge, his grumblings quickly fading into the mountainous winds.


    Curn turned his attention away from Pert and Erulien, who had begun bickering over inconsequential matters, to Thail, who was quietly listening to the conversation.


    "Where do you think we should guard during the crossing?" Thail pondered over Curn''s question, "We''ll be arriving from the northern hills, and I think a vast majority of the monsters making their way down the slopes will also come from the north, so we''ll guard the hills with the imperial regiment that should be present during the crossing."


    Curn concurred with Thail''s decision, and turned his attention back to Pert and Erulien''s continuous bickering.


    <hr>


    At the tail of the group was a bald man with ears shaped like sword blades, smooth skin, a short, pointy nose, faded eyebrows, and a face that looked no older than twenty-five years old. Yet, this elf was a witness to more than a century''s worth of history, making him ancient compared to average humans, but young for elven standards.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Walking beside him to his left was a beautiful woman with long, amber-colored hair that fluttered freely in the cool gusts of wind billowing down from the mountain''s looming peak. Her hair flowed around two tall, fox-like ears of the same color sprouting from where a human''s would normally be, cascading past a generous bosom, and nearly brushed the belt of her dark emerald green robe. Just below that, a long, fluffy tail that faded to white at its tip extended from the loose waves of silky fabric.


    Her long and slight eyebrows were carefully trimmed, blunting some of the animalistic nature of her appearance. The predatory smirk playing on her lips revealed a mouth full of tiny, sharp teeth, and most prominently, four interlocking canines that gave most of the tempting expressions she made have a threatening air about them. However, her threating atmosphere is almost entirely blown away by her enthralling pale-blue eyes that seemed to reflect the sky above. Further increasing her almost unearthly appeal was her sharp cheeks, slender jawline, and snub nose.


    Vuveai''s silken robe loosely clung to her voluptuous figure, while her unsecured breasts bounced with every step she made.


    Her beauty was dreamlike, but most certainly real, and one that ran strongly within the glamorous Silc family.


    "You sure love messing with that kid, don''t you?" Vuveai coyly asked with her right eyebrow raised in an alluring manner.


    "I don''t..." Muttered Mesquet with an exhausted expression before placing his right hand against his temple, and hopelessly cast the most effective restoration spell he could without accidentally erasing his memories. As he expected, the migraine Vuveai had given him persisted.


    A quiet, playful laugh came from the beauty walking alongside him, further increasing his headache and desire to be off this mountain and away from this seductress.


    "It didn''t look that way to me..." She leaned towards him and cooed softly into his ear while crossing her arms, which pushed her breasts dangerously close to popping out of her robe.


    "Please... just stop, it won''t work, not in a hundred years." Mesquet slightly sped up his pace, putting some distance between him, and that demoness that was annoyingly trying seduce him at every opportunity she got.


    The soft giggling coming from behind him made his right eyebrow twitch in irritation. He sped up further, hoping to ditch her entirely, regardless of Thail''s order of having to work together.


    <hr>


    Abruptly, everyone among the group could feel the hairs all over their body standing, and the sudden increase in pure Mana density and pressure made some simply cough, others retch up their breakfast, and more than a few lower-level adventurers collapse from the sudden decrease in wind element Mana.


    The whole group had come to a halt, while healers moved about helping those who had collapsed from the shift in Mana levels. Most of the group was tense, believing they might be under attack, but Mesquet, and a few others knew the actual cause of the shift.


    "Old man is that...?" Erulien''s question didn''t seem to register in Pert''s mind as he scratched nervously at his goatee.


    "Old man!" Pert was startled by Erulien''s shout, and nearly fell from his back, "W-what is it?" Erulien looked over his shoulder and into Pert''s eyes, which seemed agitated, "Why are you so jumpy old man, it''s not like beasts will suddenly rain down from the mountain, at least, not yet."


    Pert frowned, "I''m ''jumpy,'' you fool, because I was startled!" Erulien laughed off Pert''s small fit of anger and turned to Curn, "Do you think by this point the World Titan is rising out of the expanse?"


    Curn sent an unworried glance to Erulien, "I think so. The pure Mana density here wouldn''t rise by such levels and so quickly on any other occasion."


    A loud clap rang out from Thail, causing many tense and nervous adventurers to jump in surprise, "Everyone! The crossing is likely going to occur within the next three to four days! As such, we will be guarding the north of Ot''e Nill along with the Imperial regiment for the duration of the crossing!"


    Thail''s voice resounded across the whole group, and excitement washed over a majority of the adventurers whose faces now shone in anticipation at being able to experience a downright legendary centennial event. Most will only be able to witness it once in their lifetime. However, some dreaded the troubles and horrors the crossing brought along with it.


    Having finished his announcement, Thail briskly fell back into a steady pace towards Ot''e Nill, with the rest of the adventurers trailing behind him.