Uno

This world.

It was seriously weird.

Why?

Well, somebody was eating my dungeon monsters.

Wasn’t this supposed to be the other way around?!

What the hell?

Were rats even edible?

Or since they were born in a dungeon weren’t they stuffed with some weird magical mumbo-jumbo, which would prevent consumption?

The idea of feeding sentients felt pretty unpleasant, but my dungeon instincts were silent on this matter.

What I remember from Brighton's speech was that he seemed to imply that the dungeons were created to help the sentient races. To keep them afloat so to speak. As such it would be illogical for the meat of their creations to be inedible.

Unless they were clearly poisonous, undead, or otherwise construct-like.

And I already knew that all of these were themes I was going for in the long run.

Adventurers eating my minions didn’t matter. It was just a minor annoyance. And I guess while changing my monsters to contain some type of poison or disease would probably please Gangria it would surely piss off the other Gods.

So it was something that I couldn’t do right now. At least not overtly so.

A little fix here and there should be okay.

This balancing act felt quite tiring.

But on the other hand, because of these adventurers (no - soldiers I guess?), I was learning new things, which was never a bad thing. Especially when listening in on the hunters - their explanation about the ecosystem really tickled my fancy.

It would be rude to disappoint.

Heh.

Creating unique plants to be eaten by massive herbivores and then those herbivores to be in turn eaten by the sneaky predators. Ever-turning wheel of life, which would gain power over time. In theory even without the upper limit?

This was quite an idea for the next floor.

And yes. I managed to do it!

All the dead people I absorbed, their equipment and this whole “open yourself to the world, Uno” thing pushed me toward the first Dungeon Core Level. And even a bit beyond it. Which meant that I could dig, which my drones already started to do. The stairway down was already done, anyway.

Of course, it was located in the false core room which was a problem in itself.

Was this mechanical core even detachable? My onyx core could be easily carried away, be it by minion hands or some machine, but the false one with the wall it was embedded in… Yeah. Another thing to experiment on later. I would begin to rush only when the adventurer parties managed to reach Ratling Warrens, not a moment earlier.

Which didn’t seem probable at the moment.

Speaking of adventurers - they managed to gather their pioneering team. It consisted of two rangers with dual daggers - I guess they were here for frontline duty, or maybe trap disposal? Their Luna Kingdom affiliation was pretty obvious at this point. Then there was also a girl armed with a bow and a small boy with a grandiose staff, probably a healer or maybe a mage. Last, but not least was a big, green-skinned man with a two-handed sword. He was wearing chainmail with a rather plain helmet. Obviously a warrior of some kind from the Geinard Kingdom.

His color was clearly off, but nobody on the team commented on it, so I didn’t have any additional information besides his name. Kidaro.

It kinda bugged me, but most of my focus was on the mage/healer - Callisto. I had plans for him after all.

Their party left the safety of the first room and delved further.

Why did I decide to leave it empty? It was some kind of instinct. That and years of RPG experience. You must gather your party before venturing forth and all that jazz.

Their group, unlike the earlier scouts, were moving by the left-hand rule, which meant they would soon leave the Twisted Tunnels my drones dug without any problems.

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Which was unacceptable.

To leave the first guest room without meeting the host? Nope.

I nudged the Decapitator in the right direction. It slowly lumbered forth but with deceiving speed. They heard him right away but decided to avoid confrontation.

Not-gonna-happen.

It took a minute or two, but my monster managed to catch up. The traps manned by Ratlings were disabled instantly when it stomped nearby, while the ones in the adventurer's way were instead prepared to catch them unaware.

Sadly their senses were too good. That and the constant surveillance of the two rangers. Nobody fell into the pit or was skewered by the spears.

Was my design simply bad, uninspired, or was their knowledge just too good?

I had to get a bigger sample of visitors to decide further.

And maybe then add a few more surprises.

Anyway - they decided to make their stand and as preparation, the traps around them were swiftly disarmed. Smart.

As the Decapitator blades peeked around the corner I could hear shocked gasps. Nice reaction. One of them even screamed in indignation.

“Why is there a boss in the second room?!” The leader-like figure asked into the thin air. For a moment I was sure that he somehow understood that I was sentient, but it just seemed to be a cry of anger at the perceived injustice. “Kidaro, to the front, try to block its blades! Jina! Hit it in the middle, there is a fleshy growth there! Callisto start casting and tell us when you’re ready to attack! Uliss - with me!”

The large green man grunted in confirmation and walked forward, while two rangers shadowed his steps.

Yet my attention was somewhere else entirely. It seemed like the young one was a mage, not a healer. Excellent! Just what I needed - especially because I still didn’t crack the whole magic conundrum. How it worked, what were the exact rules? Which trope was being used here? Chants, runes, maybe some good old imagination? All of them? None? Was it just a deal with gathering energy flowing through the world, or was there an even more complicated explanation? Maybe affinities were a thing for the mortals too?

So many things to test.

Thus I decided to switch from passive entertainment to actively trying to kidnap the mage. Maybe one or two more people too. Their meatshield looked interesting, but I could only aim for a backline. Too bad.

Maybe next time.

The analysis of the dead adventurer's bodies would have to wait for another time. I had very much alive guests to entertain right now.

It took only a few seconds for the melee warriors to charge ahead, locking blades with the abomination. It screamed loudly - startling not only its enemies but me too. I didn’t know it was capable of making any sound… not to mention that.

It was a strange roar - a combination of scratching metal and a deep, loud scream, which seemed vaguely human. It only added to the creepiness factor. Eight out of ten.

However, the frontline was stopped only for a moment, shaking off the fear effect immediately. Their leader was first to run forward, likely to show an example and raise morale. His blade however only bounced powerlessly from Decapitator's iron body. A *clang* was heard and he winced in pain, barely keeping hold of his dagger.

True to its name the beast used one of its “hands” to swipe horizontally, but the half-elf was nimble enough to avoid that clumsy move. His partner - Uliss, was it? - reacted immediately, lunging forward in an attempt to cut down the monster's leg. Once again however the material it was made from proved impervious to damage. Only a small scratch was left.

What was worse for them - it was already healing.

It was then that the orc-like man waltzed forward yelling and swearing while trying to smack down the monster with his sword. An overhead swing with a lot of momentum behind it.

The zweihander comically bounced back, but this time he elicited a reaction.

Just not the one he expected though.

A large, greyish tentacle sailed forward and grabbed one of his arms, trying to drag him closer to the thirsty iron blades. The Decapitator trembled with excitement, the edges of his “hands” getting ever closer. The victim tried to desperately stop it, but he couldn’t do much when being dragged. He even left skid marks on the floor.

His companions reacted by focusing their attack on the fleshy tentacle - a much more tempting target than iron blades. As soon as the dagger pierced the rough monster's skin it was forced to abandon the prey, screaming again in indignation.

All the while the bow-girl tried to pelt it with arrows.

To no avail may I say.

They backed away for a moment, breathing heavily. The boy-mage was chanting something slowly under his nose. I could see the fire gathering in his palms.

Seeing that the mage was close to unleashing his spell I pinged the squad of Lebirs led by the one armed with a Crackling Mace to move even faster. The second team was composed of five Ratling Spear Throwers. I gave the order to intercept.

And then a few things happened.

One after another.

One - the Ratlings shot the mage. That was good.

Two - the mage somehow managed to fire off the spell in Decapitator's general direction. That was bad.

Three - the spell melted a fair bit of my monster, forcing it to scream yet again and disabling two of its blades, but it also singed the green man. That was good and bad.

Four - the green man caught fire like a match. That was good. And amusing.

Five - my squad of Lebirs stumbled out of the corridor, grabbing the mage. That was good.

Six - they were instantly spotted by the rangers. That was bad.

Seven - their leader started screaming about “magi-tech weapons”, “forbidden” and “forgotten cache”. That was… weird?

Eight - with an order in a language that I didn’t understand the remaining party members shot the mage and the burning man. And then they ran away.

Disappointing.

At the very least I’ve got a certified mage to play around. His body was in pristine condition. Not counting the hole in the skull. And some holes in the arms? And legs? Damn, these Ratlings were merciless.

There was also this strange orc-like man. The parts that didn’t burn - bones mostly.

Still, a profit was a profit.

I wasn’t going to complain.

Much.