** ** ** Dungeon Core ** ** **

After the fall of one of the Troll Squirrels, Bastill came to realize that he needed a break. He was always busy now. He would complete task after task with a simple plan in mind. He never took any time to relax and think deeply. He would occasionally meditate, but it seemed to always be forced.

He really just needed to relax. With the stress of trying to perfect his Dungeon in the way he sculpts, only stopping until the statue was perfect, he was building up unwanted stress and anxiety. That would lead him to rash decision making, which would have a negative effect on his work and efficiency.

It was hard to just sit back and relax. He had an expiration date after all. He had less than five years at the moment until Claire returned. He needed to be as strong as he could be, but getting things done quickly without thought wouldn’t make him any stronger. The best ideas needed time to develop.

Besides what’s the point of living if you are always digging in the dirt. At some point you need to stop and smell the roses. Ideas are what make someone strong. They have a foundation. The greatest people throughout history had a dream and a desire. Before Bastill continued on with his task it was time for him to think about why he was trying to live. What was his point of existence.

In his past life his desire was to sculpt and create beauty. He loved it and he still did, but there was nothing behind that. It was a career, but it was simple. He had greater aspirations then merely sculpting beauty every day. He had wanted a family. Natasha was the one on his mind when he wasn’t sculpting.

He never had a family growing up in the orphanage, but this life would be different. He looked around his cave and realized he already had a family now, but he hadn’t taken the time to get to know them now. He barely even knew kitsune’s Kits. He had made his very own family in the dungeon and it was time to get to know them. He decided to start at the very bottom as he opened up the Ecosystem Menu and smelled the flowers.

He planned to look at the other creatures in his dungeon after inspecting the House of the Flora.

Ecosystem Menu

House of the Flora

Giant Toad Stool- Description: Large Mushroom, Red with white spots, Grows up to fifteen feet tall, grows in patches, Purpose: Great for ambushes, Effects: Releases spores to reproduce

Enhanced Moon Shade- Description: Wide Circular Dark green Leaves, grows abundantly around, Grows one foot tall, Purpose: Food Source, alchemic ingredient, Effects: When eaten increased strength

Enhanced Mandrake- Description: Long thick green grass, with large tubular roots, Grass grows half a foot tall, roots can grow up to a half foot diameter, Purpose:Food Source, alchemic ingredient, Effects: When eaten heals common ailments and increased sexual prowess

Massive Oak- Description: Large tree, restricted by the fifty foot ceiling, produces large nuts, green leaves, Purpose: Nuts are a food source, Troll Squirrel Deity Effects:Nuts are used to reproduce

Giant Fern- Description: Large green fronds, fifteen feet tall, grows in patches, Purpose: Used for building damns, great for ambushes Effects: Spores on the underside reproduce

Enhanced Elder Berry Bush- Description: Large thicket growing bush, grows dense and ten feet tall, can cover tens of ground, large berries with four inch diameter, Purpose: Perfect for making a den in the middle of the patches, Effects: Berries contain all vitamins

Enhanced Whistling Leaf- Description: green grass, carpets the floor, releases a hum, Purpose: Humming calms the mind, Effects:, Oxygen released

Enhanced Elves Ear- Description: Green red vine with small leaves, covers the walls and ceiling, Purpose: , Effects: When eaten magic restoration

** ** ** House of the Long-Ear ** ** **

Wenet peered out over her kingdom of Hares. She was their queen and though she rarely left her room, she made an exception for today. After talking to the Kitsune, she had become attached to the idea of Elites. She chose today to be her personal rest from bringing forth the younger generation. Instead she would be inspecting her kingdom to see who would be up to the job of elite.

The Dracula Hares were slightly larger than the forms they had come from. They stood two feet tall with magnificent mahogany fluffy coats. Their two elongated teeth drew in her attention with the contrast of bright white against their coats.

She herself stood at three and a half feet tall. As the queen it was of course necessary to not only stand above her kingdom, but also have the most power. The top creatures were bound to be on the top of the hierarchy. It was the way of the environment. In her contemplation she was interrupted by Bastill, “It’s rare to see you outside of your cave, what brings you out?”

Of course he wants to know, might as well answer I guess.

“I’m looking around,” she replied.

All it does is ask questions instead of using some ingenuity, but it must be difficult to think when you’re a small gem. It’s not its own fault. I’m not it’s mother.

She owed her evolution to Bastill, but they were still so different to relate to each other. Bastill always came to her and Kitsune for advice for his problems. For a little rock it sure had a ton of problems. She didn’t hate Bastill though.

Life is hard. It’s harder when you’re stupid.

She knew Kitsune loved to talk to the Dungeon Core, but she just didn’t find the appeal. Occasionally good things came out of it though. For example when the prey grew stronger her subjects stopped having skirmishes with the foxes. She never understood why they fought to begin with. She had gotten along with Kitsune to begin with. He would also instigate friendly battles with his offspring.

She had found it weird that he only had eight children. She herself was a mother to all her subjects. She reasoned that foxes and hares were bound to be different. After listening to Kitsune she also discovered that some of the original creatures had even more bizarre birthing techniques from the spider’s. Through hearing the detailed account, she had accepted Kitsunes own methods to be saner.

Eating your own mother? The children depend on their mother for guidance.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

She noticed one of her newer youngsters coming up to her, “Mother! Mother! Mother! I caught and ate one of the ‘water rats’ with my siblings! Its blood was great! We were thinking of going after one of the ‘spike ball’s’ later. Can you give me any guidance to take back to my siblings?”

She smiled at her little one, “Be swifter little one.”

The little Dracula Hare nodded and continued,” Thank you mother, what about the ‘nut crazy ones’?”

She smiled at her little one again, “Be swifter little one.”

The little Dracula Hare continued to nod, “What about the weird ‘two-legged masked ones’?”

She smiled a little bit more as she looked at her little one, “Be swifter little one.”

Aww to be young…

She watched her little hare bound off to rejoin his brothers and sisters. She knew they would grow up well. They had her as a mother after all. She continued her search for some older Dracula Hares. She wanted her elites to be the best of the best. The older stronger ones would be the best for this decision.

She came upon a battle of between four Dracula Hares and a Troll Squirrel. The Giant beast held no chance against the four veteran Dracula hares. As she had instilled into all of her children, they were swift. Even the foxes could no longer compete with their speed. They could keep their cleverness, but never would they be swift like her little Dracula Hares.

The leader of the group could be picked out from the battle. He was the swiftest of course. His long ears slicked back as he bound cross the ground towards his foe. He also bared a noticeable white tip at the end of his feet. It created an illusion of him floating off little clouds when he ran.

Just the group I was looking for. They can spar with Kitsune’s children later. It is decided that they will be my elites. Hmmm… My four winds. Better call Kitsune over.

** ** ** House of the Fox ** ** **

Freaking ‘Nut Munchers’…. Just staring at their god damn tree all day long… They are just asking for it I know it… I should have the Kit’s wipe them all out. I sure Bastill wouldn’t mind one missing species.

Kitsune was watching the Troll Squirrels walk around the Oak Tree. Occasionally ramming their heads into to bring down some acorns. He constantly sent glowering looks over to them. He was just waiting for them to mess up. If they gave him any reason at all then he would slaughter them all.

He was completely disgusted in them. They were the dumbest things he had ever seen, and he didn’t trust things that dumb. He knew dumb things made mistakes. He didn’t want to deal with the consequences. The one he had kicked down the ‘pit of death’ had not come up yet, but that didn’t stop kitsune from vigilantly keeping watch.

I know the problem there is just one tree, which concentrates them all in this one area. If I mention this to Bastill he can help spread more trees out. There problem solved.

He had noticed ‘The Swift One’ wander into the room to watch some of her children fight the ‘nut munchers’. He was quite pleased by their abilities and choice of prey. Kitsune suspected that she had come in here to select them for the elites. He knew that although her own swiftness had surpassed him, he still had the upper hand in his cleverness and sneaking around.

As he lay in the thick brush that Bastill called ‘Enhanced Elder Berry Bush’, he heard Wenet mentally project herself to him, “Kitsune I was wondering if your Kit’s would be up to a little sparring match with some of my own children.”

Kitsune silently crawled out of the ‘big berry bush’ hoping to give Wenet a little surprise, but her large ears caught on to the slightest rustling and she turned towards him, “I should have known you’d be snooping around here. Anyways let your children know to come over. I want to see how my own little children compete against yours.”

Kitsune let out a loud howl which was replicated eight more times from somewhere else in the dungeon. Before not to long the Kits were present and eagerly looking forward to whatever Kitsune had in store. Ruby was the first to speak, “Does Wenet wish to play today dad?”

He looked at Ruby with her light purple eye’s shining brightly as ever, “Yes and no. She wants to play a different game. She has some prospective Dracula Hares she wants to watch you play with. Go listen to what she has to say.”

He watched as his Kit’s turned their attention towards Wenet, “Now I considered having you fight against each other, however your numbers heavily outnumber my children. I came up with another idea that Kitsune brought to me earlier. We will have a hunting contest between you and my ‘Four Winds’. The winner between you two will be the first to become an elite from the Dungeon Core. Let’s see if your cleverness can keep up with my children’s swiftness. You will have twelve hours to hunt as much as you can. What do you say?”

Kitsune had hatched the idea to hold a contest for the right to become the first elite. He hadn’t left the dungeon in a while, but nothing else had come to investigate. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring in new creatures for Bastill and test his Kit’s strength. He wouldn’t get many more chances like this. Once the humans officially set up, they would have no chances of walking out of the dungeon worry free.

Watching his Kits’ nod emphatically he decided to not waste a second longer, “Begin!”

The Dracula Hares had already left the room while the Kits were scampering to their feet and dashing out of the room.

Let them hunt safely.

** ** ** House of the Mask ** ** **

Chicane crept around the outer exterior of the room that housed the Large Oak Trees. Keeping his stealth activated he crept around the room. He saw the Floor boss of the ‘House of the Long-Ear’ hop into the room. He figured she was probably here to watch her children who fought the Troll Squirrels.

Chicane remembered how the discussions of Elite’s was listed in their library of fern scrolls, which they kept in their safe room. As he continued to watch all of a sudden the second Floor Boss from the ‘House of the Fox’ crept out of the Elder Berry bushes to the left of him.

Shit shit shit. I didn’t even know he was there!

Chicane kept calm to prevent himself from losing his stealth. He had worked hard to gain this skill and level it. There were only five others with the skill. He was irreplaceable to the House. He continued to watch and listen as he discovered the plans for the contest. As soon as it began he booked it as stealthy as he could back to the safe zone.

When he had finally finished crawling his way through the small tunnel he came out on all of fours to be greeted with a large moving statue with a feminine figure holding a child. He nodded in respect to the being. Her head had a whistling leaf woven crown that hummed a beautiful tone as she moved through the air.

The rest of the room was covered in little fern huts. They had yet to find a better method of housing and were growing out of room to house others. They had even designated a new job of Digger to extend the walls of the safe zone. He went to seek out the chieftain Afeard to report his findings.

The chieftain was one of the oldest of his kind alive. He was the wisest of them all and it had been unanimous when he was voted in. Chieftain Afeard had large cruel scars that blinded his right eye. Four long claw marks proudly displayed across his face like a badge of honor. Since he now had to lead their house he couldn’t leave the safe zone anymore.

When Chicane got to largest fern hut in the village he was stopped at the door by two guards. He gave one of them his report instead and left. He had to respect the Guards, because not only could they make his life harder, but they also served their house and risked a lot. The position of Guard was one of the easiest to lose your life in. They fought on the front lines and would even hunt for real food.

Food had been a constant problem for them. There was plenty of greens and berries, you can’t grow strong on berries and roots alone. One needed meat for that. This is at least what the top leading researcher had concluded in the weekly board.

Chicane was just about to head to the board to see if there was any missions or new information for him to read, but a new commotion had broken through the calmness of the safe zone. When he looked around for the noise he noticed it was headed in his direction. He quickly got out the way. He noticed one the oldest Guards making his way towards the chieftain’s Hut. His name was Niccolo and behind him his team of four other Guards followed.

What really caught his eye was the well-known Artifact that had been discovered recently. The God of this world had created a beautiful white Artifact and hid it away in the moving Fanged Chest. He knew chieftain Afeard had been trying to get his hand on the Artifact. It would bring great power to their house. Now here it was! They had retrieved it at last!

The two guards watching chieftain Afeard’s door quickly went to fetch their leader. The chieftain walked out with his half-marred face and looked at the approaching Artifact in delight with his one good eye. One could see the joy upon his face. It nearly glowed like the moving statue.

Niccolo walked up to the leader and knelt down before him while holding out the dagger in his open hands. Chieftain Afeard walked up with a skip in his step as he went to claim it, but quicker then ‘The Swift One’ herself Niccolo regripped the handle and swept it forward fluidly like one of the streams throughout the dungeon. Blood spurted forward as the chieftain’s throat was savagely torn open. The remaining good eye he had closed as he slumped ungraciously into a puddle of his own blood.

Niccolo raised the originally bright white dagger up in the air. The red blood of the Afeard stained it now. Niccolo spoke out, “No longer will we hide in the shadows! They think of us as prey out there! We couldn’t continue living in fear all our lives behind that timid old man. I will lead this generation to victory! I WILL MAKE THE HOUSE OF THE MASK A REALITY! Brethren and sisters, stand with me or be killed like the weak scum you are! We Racoonoids Will Stand Strong!”

Chicane watching the among the assembly watching entered stealth as he made his escape.