Uno

The remaining adventurers ran away pretty much unimpeded.

My creatures on site weren’t exactly what you would call nimble, so catching them was impossible.

I guess that meant one of the perks of being dexterous enough (like the rangers) was a higher survival rate? The mages and heavy-duty fighters had more staying power, but when everything went to hell it was a thief or a rogue that escaped unharmed.

Such was life.

I asked Lebirs to bring back the spoils, seeing as I couldn’t exactly absorb the still alive mage. Or rather barely alive. The ranger arrows managed to deal a large amount of damage. Luckily it wasn’t enough to outright kill the boy.

It somehow made me question this world - was it hit point based? I had no indication of such a thing, but maybe it was because I was a dungeon core?

Anyway, I tried to mend his wounds with a healthy dose of mana and ingenious duct tape, which in this situation worked similarly to a bandage. Yet my knowledge of human physiology wasn’t really that good. I remembered few tips from the National Geographic program seen on TV and there was a bit of understanding gleaned from dissecting dead bodies, but no matter what it didn’t allow me to become an expert on saving lives.

That was why I considered the final effect satisfactory.

The mage wasn’t dead.

But he also wasn’t completely “here”.

I might or might not have broken something. In my defense, there was a hole in his brain. My duct tape mana stopped the blood loss and saved his life. But at what cost?

I admit - it wasn’t a laughable situation.

This guy represented the knowledge of the outside. Which I needed mostly because it wasn’t as outdated as Daniel’s. On that note, should I even call him by this name? My Analyze tells me he was turned into the Guardian. So maybe it would be a better idea to call him just that?

Who knows. Not like the person in question can answer.

Bah.

Since his creation was my decision I was going to call him just that. The Guardian. The soul-hive Guardian was too complicated. I would probably forget it too. The simple was always good.

Back to the topic.

I need to stop getting sidetracked.

So. The human mage.

I had a few ideas on how to check his magic before and after death, but since Gangria told me that soul-fuckery was out of the question my options were limited. For now, I settled on dragging his body towards a stone slab I erected in Fake Core Room.

It kinda looked like a sacrificial altar I once saw in a book. My intentions were much less grim though - it was a hospital bed prepared in the name of science!

Too bad moving my patient through the dungeon took time.

Because of that, I focused my attention back on the camp that sentients made in the first room.

Mostly because it was on fire.

People were screaming and fighting, one side clearly winning. The ranger folk was killing off the heavily armored soldiers. There were only seven of them left before, but even under the sudden attack, they managed to kill and maim at least a few of their opponents.

It was clear that they didn’t understand what was going on - their confused cries were enough to understand that. The attackers were speaking in a language I didn’t understand, but their bloodlust was self-explanatory.

I didn’t really care about their scuffle.

It was still just more food for me.

The shouts quietened with time, as the humans fell on the ground, while blood, guts and broken weapons were quickly absorbed by me. It was a curious thing that I could devour them only when sentients left the vicinity. I wondered why, but once again - knowing the rules was enough for now. The tests and understanding would come after I was safe.

The half-elves already took care of the burning tents and watched as I greedily devoured their former companions. Then they scattered in small groups, trying to gather water and food from surroundings.

Which meant hunting my rats and harvesting the Bone Lichen growing on the walls.

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The Ratlings weren’t taking it lying down, but the skirmishes seemed to be pretty much skewed towards the sentients. After all, rangers had a lot of experience with hunting wildlife, while my minions pretty much only fought the undead.

Not to mention that only the inexperienced younglings were being sent so far from the Ratling Warrens. Guarding the road to my core was more important.

I was about to return to the False Core Room when a conversation gained my attention. Mostly because it was in a language I could actually comprehend.

Three rangers sat near the entrance to the room, clearly guarding the way deeper into the dungeon.

“Was that really necessary?” One of them asked while leaning on the wall. His green clothing and leather armor looked out of place in my silvery wilderness.

“What do you mean?” The second one asked lazily while checking an arrow after arrow. He meticulously searched for damage, looking over every fletching, shaft, and arrowhead.

“You know. Slaughtering humans.”

“Captain said it was necessary. That’s the only explanation I need.” Answered the arrow guy, while the third, silent ranger only nodded.

“I understand, but what he had done…”

“What we had done.” Interrupted the second ranger.

“What we had done.” The warrior repeated his words while gulping heavily. “What we had done may very well spark the war with the Geinard Kingdom.” He turned his head down, contemplating. “We’re not really in a position to fight on two fronts.”

“Only if one of our compatriots spills the beans.”

“Or if the dungeon manages to send this information outside.” They looked at each other in silence. And then started laughing.

“Hahahahahaha!”

“Haha Haha Haha!”

“Hyaahahaha! G-good one!” The arrow-checking ranger smacked his companion on the back. “It may be a Forgotten Dungeon, but remember that they’re still as stupid as the other ones.” His white teeth were showing for the first time.

“Haaaa…” The first ranger wiped off a tear. “Yes, yes I know. It was just a jest. Still, we will have to make a dash for our lines, no matter the consequences.” His face turned serious. “I’m not sure how many of us will survive such a trip.”

“Yet we can’t have it any other way. The information is just too important.”

“I still can’t believe it.” He knocked on my hallway wall. “It doesn’t look that dangerous.”

“Probably devoured the cache in one of the deeper levels. That’s when the really bizarre stuff starts to appear.”

“Not our problem now.” The silent ranger spoke, surprising them both. “Just do your job and don’t complain.”

“Yes, don’t worry about us!”

“Yup. It was just talk.”

The men stopped talking and I retracted my consciousness.

Now… that was strange. Cache? Forgotten Dungeon? Information? At least now I understood that they were leaving pretty much straight away. Which would leave my entrance empty…

I wasn’t about to let this chance slip by.

But first - let's focus on my new captive.

The team of Lebirs already dragged him onto the slab. I made sure that it was pretty comfortable, as much as stone can be. I even carved small rows for the blood to flow freely. And made chains to keep the patient in place.

Which were being used right now, the clumsy undead fingers trying to fit mage arms and legs in them.

With a grunt, I ordered Lebirs to back down and started to grow the copper “tentacles” from the ceiling. Somehow the Mechanical Core being in vicinity allowed for better precision and soon many instruments of tor-... I mean science hung down awaiting my input.

For now, I used the hand-like parts to cuff the patient. It was probably an unnecessary precaution, but it was better to be safe than sorry. The boy didn’t even grumble, his wide-eyed stare coupled with a blank expression. His face was pale, arms and legs burned by fire, while the flesh had signs of something that looked like… mana corrosion? His veins were turning unhealthy blue and slowly the color was creeping up and up.

Note to self: Don’t use my mana duct tape on living beings.

Second note to self: Also don’t use it on non-dungeon creatures.

No time like the present.

First I needed to figure out how the mana was behaving when being used by a sentient. I already heard him chant, so that was out of the way. But the canals it was using? The point of focus? These were still a secret. Not for long, though.

I attached the wire to his left and right hand. Delicately, delicately. Right, just like that.

Then with a flick of my non-existent finger, I gathered the electrical mana in my core and sent it towards the copper wire network. Precisely just above the Fake Core Room. Then with a great grace... I flushed it down his system.

The patient screamed.

I disregarded that.

What were the patterns? Unlike real electricity, it seemed like mana was circling around his body in a specific way. And disappearing in the middle of his chest, under the cartilage bones.

Once more!

*scream*

The reaction was the same - every bit of energy was being sucked towards the earlier designated point.

I detached the left arm cable. Attached it back to the right leg.

Power on!

He screamed again. This time for longer. Were his pain centers still intact? No matter. Mana corrosion also speeded up. Which was not good. Maybe one or two tries before he expires.

Damn.

It was time to go with a bang.

I detached all cables and decided to use a wire with a spike on the end. A perfect conductor.

I stabbed it into his chest. Not deep, five centimeters at most. The patient only grunted, numbed from earlier pain.

Gathering mana I looked him over one last time.

How was it that I didn’t feel anything?

…

[Fire.] I spoke in my mind.

The mage body convulsed on the stone slab, kept in place only by the chains.

Then, with a gasp he half-sat on it, eyes piercing the ceiling, looking somewhere outside. Somewhere far away.

And then he crumbled back, life leaving his small body.

It was a short, but sweet experiment. Scientific parts had ended. Now it was time for butchery... At least I knew where to begin.