Uno

The human mage was laying down on the stone bed I prepared earlier. My copper arms worked in unison cutting the flesh, taking out the bones and dissecting the organs.

And under their tireless work, a clear picture appeared.

Firstly - the mages were human. It was an answer that might be taken for granted, but in a fantasy world, it wasn’t so easy to tell. There were races which parasitized the population, adopting similar looks and lifestyle. The vampire I fought before was a perfect example. Thankfully the mage wasn’t one of these beings. And yet there was something completely different when comparing him to the other adventurers that died in my dungeon.

He had a crystal core, not unlike mine.

It was smaller, more delicate. The color was also different - not black, but red. And yet it seemed oddly familiar. Like a cousin met at a family reunion.

The gem was hidden away under his cartilage, in the place where all magical energy converged before. And promptly disappeared of course. One question out of the way.

Now. What was its purpose?

The Analyze uselessly showed only question marks.

I promptly sent a shock of mana through it and the little thing devoured it all.

No reaction. A miss, then.

Maybe it would work when joined with a living flesh? I didn’t have many choices, but a Ratling should suffice.

With a small expenditure of mana, I summoned a new one into the Fake Core Room. It appeared out of thin air, standing on two feet and sniffing at my conjured copper arms in curiosity. Not wasting any time my artificial appendages moved, keeping it in place. The Ratling squealed again, clearly panicked, while the blades created an appropriate incision on its chest. No blood since I heated them up before. Then, with a precise movement, the arms stuffed the gem inside it. A small amount of duct tape mana was spent, keeping the thing in place.

For a moment nothing happened. The creature quietened down while checking the fresh scar.

I sighed tiredly.

It seemed like this time was also a failure.

Just as I prepared myself to extract the gem my experimental Ratling suddenly began to squeal in pain, clawing at its chest.

A moment later it exploded, showering the room in blood and guts.

The red crystal remained, strangely clean and gleaming smugly. A few wisps of steam surrounded it. Was it taunting me?

In retaliation I immediately attacked with lightning, sending the jolt through the copper and forcing it to burn the little thing.

The red gem sucked it all up.

A stalemate.

Few more bolts do nothing so I decided to continue my work. Another Ratling was summoned - only to share the fate of its predecessor.

Only after the third one I understood the difference.

The gem could be safely transplanted as long as I didn’t feed it mana beforehand. When “running on empty” it somehow accepted its new host. Yes, the creature still squirmed in pain. I somehow managed to keep it alive due to a generous shower of mana and plugging any leaking parts with the duct tape.

In the end, the beast looked totally different from its ancestors. This feeling was only reinforced when I used Analyze on it.

Lesser Demonic Ironflame Rat

Beast-like dungeon creature created from basic Iron Ratling. From outside it looks just like its less powerful cousin, with an iron-like skin and similar physique. It is, however, faster and stronger than Iron Ratlings, but not necessarily smarter. While on the outside defenseless it can breathe fire and shoot Firebolts out of its mouth. The integrated mana crystal in its body also allows for Fire Claws spell to be cast on it and its allies. Has pack mentality, tendency to form tribal societies and will help any dungeon creatures in the vicinity defend their home.

Will not breed naturally due to demonic heritage, but a conversion of normal Ratlings is possible. Natural evolutions are available.

Has built-in mana conversion gland which allows it to roam corrupted wastelands without trouble.

Threat level: D

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

I didn’t know where this “demonic” thing came from, but the purpose of the crystal seemed clearer now.

It allowed the mage to gather and use mana. Or maybe even did it for him?

But what was weird… if he had such trump a card hidden, or should I say - such a cheat - why wasn’t he any stronger? And how did it end up inside him? Was he born like that? Or was it implanted? Maybe it was a genetic trait?

If yes, then nobles being particular about their partner really made sense. And yet...

Something didn’t add up. These chants too. But to research them I would have to hear much, much more. Which meant the investigation had to wait until more adventurers came.

At least I kinda now understood how to “make” my own special monsters. The main problem was the fact, that even after absorbing the Ironflame Rat I only learned how to make the creature, not the gem.

It was something inherently similar to me and because of that hard to replicate.

Just like the creation of another core wasn’t a walk in the park. The real one, I mean. Not my substitute.

But I had an inkling. Considering that the guy had a fire mage class and his gem was red in color… Yup - maybe just condensing mana hard enough would create something similar? But then it wasn’t going to work with just bits of thin air. I had to have some kind of material - a condenser - maybe some kind of metal would work? The harder the better - it had to survive exposure to my mana, after all.

Which meant that I had to check the remains of adventurers.

At least I could use the material menu for once. What did they bring?

Current resource availability:

* common hardwood

* common softwood

* common iron (wrought, cast)

* uncommon meteoric iron

* uncommon black iron

* common silver

* common gold

* common copper

* common tin

* common nickel

* common zinc

* uncommon meteoric nickel

* dirt

* limestone

* sandstone

* flint

* meat (Grey Rat, cow, human, half-elf)

* leather (Grey Rat, cow, boar)

* cotton

* bone (Grey Rat, human, half-elf)

* common feathers

* plant matter (grass, grains, mushrooms)

* common tobacco leaves

I hated this shit.

I knew I was talking about "I will it and it happens" before, but to tell the truth, the migraine also happened. It wasn’t like using a calculator. My own brain, or whatever I was using to think, was being worked to the bone instead.

The result was a huge headache and a semi-workable list of resources.

Well. Less complaining more experimenting.

Two of these were looking quite good - black iron and meteoric iron. Not to mention their uncommon quality.

Instead of choosing one I decided to experiment on both, spawning pieces of already processed metal in the Fake Core Room.

Meteoric iron looked just like its simpler cousin - with gray wisps of some weird energy floating above it. Otherwise unremarkable.

Black iron was - like its name suggested - black. It was also a bit more malleable than its meteoric counterpart. At least the mana conductivity seemed to be a little higher.

Both pieces were left on the bloody altar - the only furniture in the room. The mage body had been already absorbed, yet the stone slab remained bloodied. Shouldn’t it disappear? Curious I used Analyze on it… And whistled in wonder.

Bloody Sacrificial Altar

This rock slab is a spontaneous creation of a dungeon core. Because of the abhorrent sacrifice that it was used in, the remaining mana, pain, and pieces of emotions transformed the chunk of stone into a magical tool.

While not condoned by the modern mages, the creation of tools in this way is often referred to as black magic. The creators of these items are unanimously pursued in the civilized nations and frowned upon among the fallen tribes.

Effects:

Once blood is spilled in the room all living creatures gain “bloodlust” and lose control unless they resist the effect.

Spilled blood can be used to enhance or heal The Guardian if it's of good enough quality.

Reading the description I didn’t know - should I be happy or horrified by my accidental creation.

At least the part about being pursued hasn’t applied to me. Still, it had a bit of synergy with The Guardian and the Mechanical Core being in the same room. The only beings in my dungeon that could be afflicted by this bloodlust were Ratlings.

What was bloodlust specifically?

I would check it later.

Now was not the time - I needed all my focus to condense the mana.

At least I think that was how it worked.

Since mana was something like a gas, then condensation should force it into a liquid state… in which the metal should absorb it all?

That was a lot of “should” piled one on another.

Oh well. That's what experimenting was for.

[Fire away!] I shouted while seeing a small little Ratling in goggles intruding on my experiment and getting promptly electrocuted.

What the hell?!