Now that my slight existential crisis on my mortality was over, it was time to explore. The whole time I had been talking to my creatures, my Mana had slowly been spreading throughout the cavern. I also had to check both my status and my monster’s status, to see how much we had grown. Overall I still had plenty of things to do and keep my mind off my thoughts. First I decided a quick glimpse at my own status would be the best option, so I know what my max Mana was.

Name

Mythos

Species

Dungeon Core

Level

6

Sub species

Pearlescent

Life

4/4

Life Regen

.7 per min

Mana

37/37

Mana Regen

7.3 per min

Strength

n\a

Intelligence

30

Constitution

7

Wisdom

43

Dexterity

n\a

Luck

7

Monsters

31

Rooms

4

Ability Points: 13

Taking a look at my status I was starting to see some patterns. I was gaining one constitution every other level. It also seemed my Intelligence and Wisdom were following a pattern of +3/+4 for two levels, then +2/+3 for two levels before repeating. I don’t know if this would be permanent, as I don’t think my Mana amount would keep up with my building. I can only hope at certain level milestones those amounts may change. The 5 ability points per level seemed a lot, but overall I wasn’t one to complain.

I decided to drop 8 points split between my Intelligence and Wisdom again, leaving me with 41 Mana and 8.1 Mana regen. I wanted to check out my monsters as well, but that’s when my Mana came upon something interesting. At the edge of the water hidden in a small cove was a patch of small round balls I was unable to claim. Focusing in on it I could feel my Mana slowly seeping in, reminding me of the mice when I had found that first nest. I had a thought at what they could be and a quick scan confirmed it.

It didn’t pull up a table but instead just informed me that it was a clutch of Tatzelwurm eggs. Now I had gotten the template for said Tatzelwurms, but their Mana cost was insane. A tough core was 24 Mana alone, but the template I had for them cost a whopping 50 Mana. Looking at the template showed that the Tatzelwurms I had fought were actually specifically made for the deeper caves, meaning that these 2 had come from farther in. They had probably came up to lay their egg clutch and had the misfortune to meet up with me.

But that wasn’t the only thing that made them so expensive. The mucous membrane was due to them being closer related to salamanders, making them amphibious and able to survive in water as much as land. The funny thing about it was that this cost was for just a base Tatzelwurm. The venom Tatzelwurm cost another 10 Mana on top, so 60 altogether. To be honest I had never really taken a close look at the skink template I had received either. The cost for the skink wasn’t half bad, at 24 for a base, and 32 for an Ice attuned one. It was weird that the base Tundra Skink didn’t have an Ice attunement, but I guess it was rare to have an elemental core of any type. A reminder on how lucky I was with my female Guardian centipede.

It was strange though that I was able to push my Mana into them. The mice nest I had found so long ago didn’t allow me to lay claim to the babies. Which is when a thought crossed my mind. Was the reason I couldn’t claim them due to the fact the parents were still around? Thinking back I never tried claiming them after the parents had died, just sent my female centipede in for a cleanup. The thought that maybe I didn’t have to slaughter all the young ones left a bad taste in my mouth, but what was done is done. Since I now had this knowledge I had a chance to lay claim to a creature that would cost me way too much right now. There were only 6 eggs which was a little on the small side, but considering the size of the full grown Tatzelwurm it wasn’t that surprising.

I was curious on how I was going to care for them, but I would cross that bridge when I got there. I know I was putting a lot of things for future me to deal with, but what could I do. Right now my priorities lied in claiming the new cavern and continuing my expansion so that I could finally move my core. Of course this giant cavern could no longer be where I put my Mana Pool, so I would have to rethink that. But I now had a giant underground lake to lay claim to, plus new plants and cave insects to bolster my ecosystem skill. Some more diversity could only help me at this point, though I was wary on how large the cave was.

It had been almost 2 hours since the battle had ended, and I had no end in sight for the cavern. I had slowly started claiming the water’s edge, but my Mana hadn’t actually laid claim to any of the water itself. It would seem water was much like the wall, only allowing me so far before my Mana was getting dispersed by the underwater current. The fact it had a current at all showed that this underground lake may be connected to the ocean outside. I didn’t know if it was an ocean or large lake earlier, but the underground lake had a salty composition. Which made the fact that the Tatzelwurm, an amphibian, was able to survive and thrive strange. I guess that must be another reason for the higher cost.

But making the educated guess that this lake had some connection to the outside led me to believe the mountain range ended at the coast. Either way I had another way to get outside, though I had no real marine animals to use for it. But just the fact that I had access means I had some more ways to expand my legendary creature goals, as the mystery of the seas and oceans led to many stories. Of course for now they would have to be small enough to survive in the lake, but even still the lake was quite large. I had passed almost 25 feet deep into the cavern and still didn’t see an end. There was no more walls of black luckily, but who knows if that would remain true.

Letting my Mana continue I decided a quick glimpse at some monster statuses would be great for now. First my female and male bat pair.

Name

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No name (female)

Species

Foxen Bat

Level

8/10

Family

Microchiroptera

Life Points(LP)

18/18

Mana

22/22

Skills

Echolocation, Ringing Blast, Enhanced strength

Name

No name (male)

Species

Foxen Bat

Level

3/10

Family

Microchiroptera

Life Points(LP)

11/11

Mana

10/10

Skills

Echolocation, Ringing Blast, Enhanced strength

It would seem my female had gained 3 levels, while my male’s revival only cost one. Of course for all I know he had gained a level from fighting the Crawler before they came upon the Tatzelwurm, so I couldn’t be a hundred percent. Either way my female was growing in Mana quite quickly, so I could only wait in excitement for what her evolution choices would be. My male would have to do his best to catch up, but seeing how she still hadn’t left his side this whole time, he had nothing to worry about.

Next was my 2 Guardians, both male and female.

Name

No name (female)

Species

Guardian Giant Centipede (Ice)

Level

4/10

Family

Scolopendridae

Life Points(LP)

30/30

Mana

13/13

Skills

Frozen sting, Regeneration, Frost shield, Parry blow

Name

No name (male)

Species

Guardian Giant Centipede

Level

4/10

Family

Scolopendridae

Life Points(LP)

28/28

Mana

14/14

Skills

Paralyzing Sting, Regeneration, Shield, Parry blow

Weirdly enough my male centipede had more Mana than my Ice attuned female. He also had less health, so maybe his stats were distributed more towards the mental stats than physical. I’m not sure why this was the case, but again I didn’t see the battle before the Tatzelwurm or how they had been fighting. The only thing I had noticed in the fight was that the female like charging head first, taking hits as she dished them. My male had instead took a chance and latched on, not letting go while dealing pumping his venom, rather than just straight blows.

Finally was my two female Kobolds. The other monsters that had fought had also gained some levels, but going through all of them was an arduous and slightly repetitive task for later.

Name

No name (female alpha)

Species

Lesser Kobold

Level

5/10

Family

Canidae

Life Points(LP)

28/28

Mana

9/9

Skills

Stealth, Dark-Vision, Harden Claw

Name

No name (female)

Species

Lesser Kobold

Level

4/10

Family

Canidae

Life Points(LP)

24/24

Mana

6/6

Skills

Stealth, Dark-Vision, Harden Claw

Their statuses were quite similar, though it would seem my first female was considered the alpha. It would seem my Lesser Kobold pack was going to be a matriarchal one, though maybe time would change that. Though looking at my other creatures, they all seemed to be led by the first of their kind, who are all female. Either way, my alpha seemed to be slightly more boosted in stats, but not by much. Though her Mana was quite high, so maybe she could be a shaman if that exists in this world.

Either way, it would seem my little monsters were growing quite nicely and I could maybe see some evolutions soon. But since I was looking at statuses I decided a quick glimpse at my little mouse wouldn’t hurt.

Name

No name

Species

Fanged Field Mouse

Level

5/5

Family

Murids

Life Points(LP)

6/6

Mana

4/4

Skills

Enhanced Night Vision, Resist Poison

Oh would you look at that, I guess I would find out how evolution works earlier than later.