A long sigh escaped my lips as I watched the four Ratkin rush through the tunnel connecting my dungeon to the outside world. The group was in a hurry, far too much so to avoid stumbling over every other stone. The men and sole woman seemed eager to leave this place behind forever. But they had no such luck, I had made sure of that.
I remembered the exact moment when they stood before me. Their faces reflected confusion, fear, and distrust, even though I hadn't made any move to harm even a single hair on their bodies.
When they surrendered to me, an incredible burden seemed to lift from the Ratkin. They simply collapsed to the warm water like a wet sack of sand and embraced each other, fresh tears in their eyes. Their exhausted faces, tired gazes marked by long battles and deep disappointment, and fresh wounds on their bodies all told a story - a story of a failed adventure, not an attempt to harm me.
Of course, I could never bring myself to sacrifice the men and women for a few measly points of mana, and that didn't change even when they confessed to being responsible for the temporary death of my loyal gatherer. Yet, I couldn't simply let them go.
On a whim, I ordered them to finish the gatherer’s job of bringing me special fruits that I could cultivate in my dungeon. I left it up to the Ratkin to decide which plants would qualify for this. One of them also had to stay with me to ensure they wouldn’t just run away never to be seen again. The group's selection finally fell on the water mage, who apparently had a deep-rooted interest in the inner workings of my dungeon - not that I minded it.
The Ratkin had looked more than just a little concerned when faced with the harsh truth that they wouldn’t all leave today, but after a few moments, they all nodded vigorously, agreeing to the task I had placed upon them. It was a good way for them to make amends, and they could hardly complain about trading a single, albeit special, fruit for their very own lives.
After the group of adventurers - minus their healer - had left my dungeon, a green board appeared, showing me my loot. The number was far smaller than I had hoped, but I still didn't regret letting the Ratkin go. If there was one thing I had now, it was time. I could afford to wait a few days, especially now that I had several two-tailed foxes to help protect me.
Eight hundred and twenty mana richer and with gold, silver, and copper as new materials, it became a bit easier to forget the temporary loss of my monsters. That was especially true since the group had brought me my very first fruits to plant: sweet cherries.
Naturally, I wanted to quickly start working on my dungeon again, so as to not waste a single point of mana. But first I had to get my foxes used to their new cohabitant, the ratkin named Fren. To do so, I simply had her accompany me and my core to the volcano room, where most of the foxes had already gathered. Even the few that had lost their fight had long since found their way back to life and were now eagerly watching my every step. It was only when I knelt down in the high grass to pet my precious monsters that they realized I hadn’t brought the ratkin here for them to fight against her. Soon enough excited yelps filled the room as my foxes stormed at me and the overwhelmed ratkin to receive their much-deserved rewards.
Fren was more than just dazzled by the attention the foxes were now giving her. She hesitatingly reached out for the earth and water foxes, before giving them a few pets and scratches herself. It was only when the fire and lava foxes came down the slope for their share that she shied away, not wanting to deal with these types of foxes just yet.
For all I knew, she was unable to touch those monsters at all without risking injury or worse, quite contrary to me, who only felt a soothing warmth even when petting and scratching the lava foxes. So when I gave my more fiery monsters their much-deserved attention, Fren’s blue eyes could only stare at me in awe at my hands gently resting on the usually blazing hot bodies without me reacting to it other than with a soft smile.
Before long, the lava and fire foxes returned to the volcano, having had enough of staying out in the relative cold of the meadow surrounding their slopes. It was only now that the ratkin finally relaxed and reached out for the water foxes to greet them in her own way - by summoning small balls of water for them to sniff at and play with. Before long, she even shot the magic into the distance for the monsters to chase, which they did with excited yelps and wagging tails.
We played with the foxes for about half an hour before I realized I was wasting my precious mana by staying here all day. With a sigh I raised to my feet, dragging my core with me.
“Where are you going?” Fren asked while already summoning the next ball to shoot away. “Wait for me!”
“I have to use my mana before it is gone,” I explained before already walking off.
Fren hurried after me, not wanting to be alone with the foxes just yet. I couldn’t help but laugh at her reaction as I made my way toward the volcano’s slope, where I, right in front of it, planted the very first of the precious cherry trees. It started out as a tiny, four-leafed sapling that was rapidly sprouting from the ground. Its delicate, green trunk soon thickened and grew bark as it shot into the air and more and more branches grew from it. Before I knew it, a dense canopy had formed, and the first fruits appeared hidden among the branches. They were snow-white and almost twice as large as usual. Once again, Cilia's blessing had worked its magic.
I nodded in satisfaction before plucking some of the fruits from one of the low-hanging branches and feeding them to the earth and water foxes that were still following after us. The monsters were more than happy to be the test object, swallowing the fruits after chewing them with vigor. Even the ratkin joined in on the fun, her hunger more than big enough to trust the weird-looking fruits to be safe. Maybe this was just her relying on her healing magic, though.
With a smile I made my way around the volcano, planting more cherry trees along the way. Only when I had returned to the bridge and planted the last of ten trees did I make my way deeper into the dungeon, always followed by the slightly anxious-looking ratkin.
“What will you do?” She asked after we had reached the tunnel towards the geyser room.
“I have to get my core away from the entrance,” I explained to her, “It is safer that way.”
The ratkin fell silent for a few long moments, before finally opening her mouth again. “What- what are you?”
I thought for a moment what to answer her. But in the end, I found no reason why I should lie to the ratkin, given that she would have all the more reason to listen to me once she found out who exactly was backing me up. Who would willingly choose to anger a goddess? Other than my father, that was.
“Cilia has chosen me as the avatar of this dungeon,” I finally said.
“Cilia? But she never dealt with dungeons!” The ratkin protested. “Everyone knows that!”
I couldn’t help but shrug, as I had barely ever heard of Cilia’s name before meeting her in person. I did know she existed, but I didn’t know of any myths surrounding her and her past, so I had no answer to give to the ratkin.
“She is my mother,” I avoided the topic.
“You- your mother…”
Fren almost immediately went silent. Her blue eyes stared at me intensely, searching for obvious or hidden signs of a lie, but there were no such things to be found. It was only when her gaze fell on my waving red tail and especially its white tip that it clicked for her.
“You- you are a foxkin! No, they are all foxes!”
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“We are.”
“But foxkin are…”
The ratkin went silent again, seemingly not daring to say a single more word. I could only shrug at her reaction, before making my way to the geyser room, where I quickly set the weather to foggy before continuing on. It was only when I had already reached the ramp towards the new core room that she finally chased after me, not wanting to be left behind in this seemingly hostile hellscape.
Once I had reached my target location, I dug a steep slope down, using a total of four hundred mana to do so. Under the watchful eyes of the ratkin I created deep pools of lava for my future monsters to live in, before digging about a dozen much smaller ones into the slope itself for future invaders to fall into should they lose their footing. Naturally, I also added a few rocks to hide behind, knowing that the room still had to be at least somewhat traversable at least.
Fren couldn’t help but stick to my side like glue as I made my way through the room to dig foxholes all over the room, always close to the pools of lava and making sure my trusty employees had plenty of choice.
My idea was that my future foxes would toss balls of fire or molten rock down the slope after adventurers, with maybe other foxes ready to challenge them while they were in the middle of the slope itself. How good would that work? Only the future will tell. Maybe I would have the ratkins help me with testing it out, should I find a way to ensure their safety.
After having finished their homes, I summoned a total of ten lava foxes for the room, much to the horror of the ratkin. Not minding her hiding behind my back, I made sure to tell every one of the foxes of my plans and ideas. Luckily enough, they once again seemed to understand my words and barked excitedly before trotting off to seek shelter in one of the many holes I had provided them with.
With this taken care of, I took a glance at my remaining mana, which sat at a meager one hundred and seventeen now. With a sigh I set to work, digging another five mana worth deep into the mountain before using another twenty to create a small, dome-shaped room.
I quickly set the new room to match the usual day-night-circle and hot temperatures my whole dungeon had going on before placing the core down in the middle of the room. About an hour later and with the help of the ratkin I had already built a new nest at my new home, making sure everything was ready to take a quick nap later on. Afterward, I randomly selected one of the opal orbs to carry over to the vulpine circle. It was finally time to use it!
On my way back to the volcano room, I spent a few minutes taking care of the lava foxes who by now had settled into their chosen dens, eagerly awaiting their role in the upcoming challenges. The pools of lava shimmered with an ominous glow, casting a warm ambiance over the entire room. Fren watched me from a distance, her gaze darting around the room, always wary of some hidden danger or pits of lava she might stumble into. But in the end, nothing happened to her, and my foxes didn’t even pay her any attention.
As I welcomed my new additions, I couldn’t help but imagine what future challengers might think about this room should they stumble upon it. The steep slope with its pools of molten lava and hidden fox dens promised a tough obstacle for any intruders. Then there was the extra layer of danger in the shape of surviving foxes unleashing fiery balls of molten rock to roll down the slope, turning this whole room into a giant trap they would surely have trouble dealing with. Luckily enough Cilia deemed this room to be all according to the rules, as she would surely have warned me in some way or another should I have gone overboard with my design. So I could guess it was okay for now.
After checking in with the foxes we once again used the ramp leading down to the geyser room’s floor, while I silently swore to myself that I would soon find a better solution for my personal travel, one that didn’t require me to remove a part of my dungeon whenever someone invaded it.
When I finally reached the volcano room, my mana had almost ticked back to full again. I still had to wait for a few more minutes, which I spent on feeding my waiting foxes with sweet treats, Fren eagerly doing the same. Not only the earth foxes, but even the water foxes seemed to love both the cherries and the groups of berry bushes, as latter of which were almost constantly besieged by at least one fox each. I could barely wait to provide them with something to hunt as well.
When I was finally ready, I had Fren wait next to the magic circle while I called one of the lava foxes down the volcano. Soon enough, an especially eager monster had found its way onto one of the nine pedestals, where it was waiting for its participation in the ritual.
Once I was sure the lava fox had made itself comfortable, I placed the shiny opal orb on its own place, before making my way to a third pedestal.
A wave of freezing cold air hit me before I got into position. Pale blue mist was now spreading, surrounding me to all sides; and when I turned on my heels to look for the source of mana loss, said mana was already being sucked towards the fox only to change its color into a deep red and brown once it had reached it.
Soon later, the mist had condensed into a ball in the middle of the vulpine circle, spinning around itself as it hovered in place.
Now it was the opal’s orb to shine. It, too, released a thick mist, but one deep blue in color, only to send it towards the center of the spell circle soon later. Both the ratkin and I immediately realized it must be water-based mana, meaning the magic was combining the three elements of fire, earth, and water into… rock? I had no idea what else it could be.
Luckily, I did not have to wait for long to find out. As soon as the three colors of mist had combined, they turned into a swirling ball of black and white, only to then separate into two soon after, one pure white, the other one a deep black. Before I realized it, both of the new balls of mana grew four legs and a head each, with three tails spreading out behind their backs. Once they dropped to the ground and the mana mist disappeared into their bodies, two foxes instead of just one greeted me.
One seemed exactly like the steam fox I had already waiting in the geyser room, albeit much bigger and stronger looking, and three-tailed, of course, the other one was much, much more solid looking. It was a fox made of shiny, blackish stones that seemed to hold together by pure magic alone, only the tips of all three of its tails and the ears being tipped in white. Two marmor-like eyes gently stared at me. They were displaying a strength I didn't know from any of my foxes.
Both of the foxes had grown up to my shoulders in height, meaning they looked like a real challenge for any adventurer to deal with. I almost felt safer just looking at them!
「You have created a Steam Fox!」
「You have created an Obsidian Fox!」
「Unlocked: Obsidian」
Before I knew it, I had already walked up to the two of them, greeting them with a few pets each. Both of them were warm to the touch, the steam fox slightly more so than its black twin, and were happily receiving their attention. Somehow, just looking at them told me that these unequal twins were female and male, with the steam fox seeming a lot prouder and manlier than the rather elegant and meek-looking obsidian fox.
Despite their obvious differences, I made sure to treat both of them equally, spending some quality time petting them both. Within minutes of doing so, even the ratkin seemed to have lost her fear. She was slowly walking up to us, only to give the obsidian fox a few scratches of her own. The steam fox, albeit eagerly waiting for her attention as well, would likely never receive it, with him being simply too hot for the ratkin to handle. I couldn’t help but laugh as I made sure to pet him even more in exchange.
Soon enough, I led our uneven group deeper into the dungeon and all the way toward my new core room, knowing that placing them in any earlier room would turn those into too hard of a challenge for adventurers to suddenly deal with.
Both of the foxes would receive their own room and shelter sooner or later. For now, they had to stay with me or rather us instead, which they clearly didn’t seem to mind.
Happy with my work for the day, and with the sun already close to setting, I laid down in my nest and hugged my core to sleep, the two foxes looking at me for a mere moment before searching for good spots at my side. Soon enough even the ratkin joined in, albeit her choice fell onto the side of the nest opposite from where the steam fox was resting.
The stranger didn’t ask a single more question, before closing her eyes to rest, having had more than enough adventure for the day. It was clear she was exhausted, and soon she even had fallen asleep, not once making sure she was really safe. It seemed she was trusting me at least this much - not that I would betray her.
The two foxes didn’t seem to mind Fren’s soon arising snores. Instead, they joined in with their own lovely song as soft purrs could now be heard from both of them as they slowly fell asleep. One was like a barely audible breath of air, the other one like tiny stones being ground. I couldn’t help but join the three of them...
- - -
Map as of Chapter 12:
image [https://i.imgur.com/ivAAOYh.jpeg]
Poorly Drawn Obsidian Fox vs Poorly edited, way too smooth but cute KI-Generated Obsidian Fox
image [https://i.imgur.com/YoC7U3M.png]image [https://i.imgur.com/AZzEFBI.png]