"Your tribute had been a great sustenance. You are a hunter unlike any others. Weak but resilient, small yet strong. I name you Nimrod, The Great Hunter."

Unlike the first time, this time it didn't hurt. As the mana shaped him, he felt stronger, faster and more importantly, his head felt clearer.

He felt something growing in his chest. A well of great power. It was the start of a thing called a mana heart, the thriving force of a mana beast or for him, a dungeon monster.

As the changes stop, he knew that he was different, much more than before. Yesterday, he was just a small mouse about to be preyed by the accursed rat but now, he was much stronger than the one that had attacked him and his family.

He looked at the shining orb in front of him. At first, he had thought of it as just a newborn like one of his litter and had decided to take care of it. That was strange as those of his kind never adopt others, even young ones from their own kind. Maybe it was the new intelligence or because he felt a connection to it.

But now, he knew what it was. The thing was his master. He remembered his master words. He had been bestowed with a thing called name by his master. Nimrod.

Nimrod rubbed his master affectionately but there was no response. He felt uneasy. Something was not right. He focused. His master presence was weak like that of a starving litter. And starving litter never survives. He knew this. He had his second litter after his first litter failed due to starvation. He had also seen some of his sibling die due to starvation.

Without a second, he bolted out. He needed to hunt and bring food to his master. He didn't knew how his master ate but he knew his master still did for his master had ate the prey he had given him in front of his eyes. It was a strange sight.

Nimrod bolted through the meandering tunnels he and his mate had made. He felt that the tunnel had become smaller but he still squeeze through. He passed the many chambers that were strewn along the tunnel. After a few while, he emerged out into the outside.

The world was dyed in darkness as it was night and there was no moon. Billions of stars strewn across the night sky. The stars were the only source of light.

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The above ground was a wide spanse of sand and rocks as this region of the world was a desert called the Arav Desert. The mouth was hidden underneath a thorn bush.

In the desert, the night was the time for living activities. Every creatures were awake. It was a big battle field. Everyone were a hunter and everyone were being hunted. In this surrounding region of the desert, due to the modifications made upon him by the dungeon core, Ozymandias, Nimrod was one of the apex predator.

Nimrod spread his senses. His ears were out, listening to every little sound. He sniffs, smelling the air for scents of prey. His eyes roll around, looking for any movement.

In the distance, a large beetle was roaming around, looking for any succulent food it could find. Unlucky, it step closer to something that it should not have, a giant tarantula trapdoor.

In the flash, the trapdoor open and a hairy, black eight-legged creature pulled in the beetle into the hole, never to be seen again. However what the spider didn't knew was that the moment it show itself, it had become the hunted.

Nimrod sprinted forward. He reached the trapdoor. With his teeth, he yank opened the trapdoor and went in face forward.

The unsuspecting spider put up a fight but it was at a great disadvantage. Its bite was poisonous but not as much as other spiders. It always relies on ambush and strength to overcome it's prey. In this battle, the tarantula had lost its element of surprise as well as strength for Nimrod was a dungeon monster not a normal creature like it. Moreover, Nimrod was an Arav mouse, who were known for their resilience to poison and hunting skill.

After a brief struggle, Nimrod emerged victorious out of the tarantula hole with the spider, which was half its size in his mouth. Without much difficulty, he took his hunt inside the tunnel and into the dungeon - The dome.

As soon as he entered, something jump up on him. A flurry of brown and white shot up against him with a fury. It was his mate. He squeak in order to relay the message that it was him.

His mate ceased attacking. For the first few seconds, Nimrod didn't knew why she attacked him but then he realised. He had changed. He had grown twice larger than his mate. His fur had also turned more reddish brown. He look like a different mouse than before.

It took a while to convince her but it work out in the end. He tried to explain that their master was starving but she didn't seem to understand. In the end, he had to warned her and their litter to not partake of the food he had kept around his master body and then went back up.

His next hunt was a black scorpion, deadly and poisonous but small compare to him. He dance around and incapacitated it quickly by going for the stinger. It was swift as he had dance with scorpion for his entire life considering these were his main diet.

After killing the scorpion, Nimrod brought it back to his master. When he returned, the spider had become a dry husk. His master had eaten but was still asleep.

He went back up again and again until the nest was full of scorpion, spiders and other insects remains, both eaten by his master, mate and litter. He didn't feel exhaustion. He still felt vigorous and strong even though dawn was near.

When hunger approach, he ate his most recent kill, a giant millipede. While eating his meal, he saw a large and elongated scaly creature chasing a creature with bushy tail.

Fear gripped his entire being. That creature was a snake. It was one of his worst enemy. He had never managed to killed an adult snake and had always fled.

But looking at it, he knew it will be a great source of food for his master. An unknown feeling of excitement grew inside him. Adrenaline.

Then he spoke, for the first time in his master tongue.

"Kill."