Well it would seem there was more to my cave adventures after all. I tried probing the wall some more with my mana, hoping the level up I got would maybe change the outcome. Unfortunately the void behind the cave in was just as unpassable as the first one I came across. Instead I decided to check the actual dimension of the cave in, finding it to be about 4 feet and about 3 feet deep in. It sat at the northern end of the wall, as far from the water’s edge as possible.

I decided for now the important thing to do would be leave it be until I consolidate my forces. My monsters weren’t bad, but I would love to be able to get them to gather some more levels and possibly get access to more evolutions. It also wouldn’t be a bad idea to add a few monsters of my own, and truly turn this cave level I’ve slowly built into a proper dungeon. A lot of stories from Earth had them relying on the sentient beings finding them, but I had a vague feeling that wasn’t happening anytime soon for me.

Instead I had 2 options right now. I could either, open up the cave-in and see what is down deeper, or send my monsters back outside the main entrance. I had better chances of gaining levels myself if I opened the cave-in, as my monsters may be able to kite whatever is there back to my territory. Or I send them out the front, to possibly gather small animals and plants for me to form templates of. I would lose out on the experience but I had no doubt there was a greater variety outside than deeper in the cave.

Suddenly a third option popped up to mind. I could try and create a water based template and explore the underground lake. Honestly it might not be too hard to do the lake option with either of the first 2 options.

I truly wanted to grow in levels myself, but in the end, I decided it would be best to grow my creatures and templates by scavenging outside. I would have to keep the scouting parties to day only, as I remembered the monster that had come from the mountains top. Either way I now had a reasonable amount of Lesser Kobolds to make a true scavenging party, and I could also send some bats with them for scouting purposes.

The biggest fear for the outside though was if one of my monsters died. If the other monsters were unable to retrieve the body and bring it back I would lose them permanently. That could also go towards any lake exploration or even the cave-in, but I felt I could claim those much more reasonably than I could if they were outside the cave.

Either way I decided on my path and decided to start working on it. The first thing to do was to grow more of those forget-me-not flowers for their healing abilities. A task easier said than done since they were a flower that required sunlight to grow. I pulled up their template to see if I could possibly change that someway, but by making it so they could live in the cave they actually lost their healing effects. It didn’t make much sense to me that they would lose those properties without the sun, but magic world means new magic rules I guess. So first I needed to find a way to possibly change the interior of my cave to let sun inside for them to grow.

I remembered the tutorial had mentioned being able to make my rooms however I desired them. My hope was that meant I could make dungeon instances that looked and felt like you were outside or in different biomes. I thought about changing my current cave biome to be more outside, but my creatures I currently had were made specifically for the caves.

But maybe instead of changing all of them I could change just one. I focused on my main cavern, where my core still sat. I had plans to move my core and my Mana Pool to a new room, maybe now was the time to do so. I decided to move my Mana pool to my southernmost room, a little closer to the entrance than I liked, but my only real option. I did not want my core and the Pool to be in the same room, hoping to use the Pool as a distraction from my body. I focused on the Mana Pool to see how I was going to move it when the option popped in front of me.

Mana Pool

Would you like to move Mana Pool to a new location within your dungeon?

Yes/No

It was nice to see it was a pretty simple process to move, so I selected yes and chose its new location. It didn’t happen immediately, instead mana gathering around the Pool before it teleported to the location I had in mind for it. Once it popped up I noticed that it was completely empty, all the mana inside just gone. It wasn’t that big a deal, it only took a few minutes for it to refill, but I would have to remember that for any larger pools I may have in the future.

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Next was moving my core, but unfortunately there was no option like the Mana Pool. Instead I just got a system message.

Moving your Core

To move your core you must have a creature you trust move it for you. Later on there are abilities or skills that allow you to transfer it without help, but you do not currently have access to any of these.

Well I guess for now it was going to have to be a manual move. My first worry though was that I wouldn’t be able to float like I currently was between the stalactite and stalagmite. I hoped I could be place somewhere and the system recognize it, otherwise I was going to just be a pearlescent shiny rock on the ground. I guess there was no helping it and sent a message over to my Alpha Lesser Kobold to come to my core. She was still recovering, but sprung up at my summons and basically raced to my core.

When she arrived I sent a message that I needed her to grab my core. Her eyes widened and she trembled slightly while staring at my pearl body. I was confused at her reaction before she bowed her head and asked to go to the water’s edge for a moment. Still perplexed I figured she wanted a drink or something, forgetting that it was brackish water. She race back into the new cave, dashing down to the water. She stopped and checked the water to the best of her ability, something I was proud of, that she had the sound of mind to still be cautious. When she felt it was clear she knelt down at the edge before furiously scrubbing her hands and claws. She took a solid few minutes just scrubbing before standing and drying her hands in the air.

She quickly came back to stand in front of my core, before kneeling in front of the stalagmite it was positioned on. It took me a moment to realize she was waiting for me to explain what to do. I was still a little confused at her whole hand washing antics, but figured it was a way of paying respect towards me. Then I sent a message explaining that I needed to move my core to a new room and that I would need her help in doing so. She bowed her head even deeper, before answering me, with feelings of pride and honor.

I located an area in the new cave I was moving to, to settle my core. The cave was basically a square with a small alcove in the southeastern corner. I decide to place my core there, as it was out of sight and had nothing really there but a few stalagmites and stalactites.

I sent an image to my Alpha, showing here where I wanted her to bring me. She nodded, still not looking up before standing to reach for me. I had been worried her drawing so close to my core would cause me to freak out, but I felt nothing of the sort. In fact when her hands reached me I instead felt the connection between us grow more than it had ever been before. I could feel all of her emotions, of pride and honor, as well as the fear that she would somehow fail me, or even worse harm me.

Getting such a strong dose of her emotions reminded me once again on how alive my creatures were. They were not just some constructs meant to protect me, but basically my children. I once promised myself to think through my actions and truly do all I could to protect and nurture my creations. Yes I allowed them to hunt and fight with each other at times, but that was the nature of life. Overall though it was up to me to help them grow stronger in order to defend the walls we all lived in, so that they may enjoy life and live as comfortably as I could make it.

My Alpha carried me slowly, a guard of my other creatures gathering around her as she walked. I hadn’t noticed them gathering, but I guess they realized that something important was happening. Slowly she reached her destination, before stopping in the alcove I had directed her to. I took a look around and decide that I like being on a stalagmite, so I directed her over to the one that was in the corner. She reached out, balancing me just above the point, but did not quite let me go. Suddenly I could feel my mana gently encapsulate my core, causing me to gently float out of her hands and light atop the stalagmites point.

As I had left her grasp I could feel her want to pull me back so that the connection stayed strong. Instead she let me drift out of her palm and once again took to kneeling in front of my core. Except this time all of my Lesser Kobolds, Foxen Bats, and Guardian Giant Centipedes joined her. I watched over them, as I felt there joy and love towards me flood our connection. Then I returned my own feelings toward them.

Feelings of love and pride on how they have grown. Of hope for their futures and the curiosity of what they would become in time. And of gratefulness for being there beside me and being my family. When that last emotion hit them I could feel the surprise of being treated as family came over them. They worshiped me like a god, but I did not want that. I wanted my creatures, my children, to trust me but also correct me if they thought I was wrong. I was able to bring them to life, but I could no more see their destiny as they could. IU did not mind them relying on me to help them make choices in the future, but ultimately I wanted them to live their own lives as well.

Of course it was during all of this back and forth that I felt it. A new intruder had just came in through the crack. And it was not alone.