I watched the battle outside start and move around. It was an odd thing to see, though it did break up the detail work I was doing for the Dragon's Chamber. It had taken a lot of work to piece together a series of creatures that made me happy to call it a dragon, and for some reason I had an urge to make sure it had six eyes. I was sure it would be a fearsome creature for anyone who actually made it that far into my walls. Though that was something I had been giving a lot of thought too recently. Ever since the "Change" I was wanting people to enter and explore. Maybe even create things they could take away as trophies for their visit. Something that would use and diffuse all this excess mana that I was just using to push my Domain at this point. I decided that it was a part of the "Instincts", and thus shouldn't be trusted fully. I was sure there was something artificial about them, and I had found ways around them. In fact the Dragon was one such work around as it had six different elemental powers to draw on. The basic six since I didn't want to make it something simple like a Fire or Lightning drake. I wanted anyone who got near my core room to have to basically kill themselves so I could finish them off.

Any Dungeon that actually wanted visitors must be crazy, in fact I remember early me being interested in such things too. And, it was odd to remember, like the feelings were too clear and strong, but why should a Dungeon be a place to visit? Why did my "Instincts" drive me to satisfy some odd sense of fulfillment for humans and beastkin? It didn't make sense to me, just like those out there fighting. Two groups who just seemed to be fighting over my Domain and some arbitrary rewards I could grant? Seemed a bit foolish, but they did taste good when they died, and they granted a lot of energy too. It would have made sense if I was some kind of predator like the Sarkax, a big lizard, who created a pit to lay down in a wait for bugs or snakes to crawl into their mouth. Yet, my "Instincts" seemed to push back when I thought about killing anyone who entered. Some kind of rules were trying to be enforced, and that made me want to break things again. Honestly, it made me want to break me.

I was almost certain that the weird patterns on the outside of my core were responsible for the changes to my being and the power that my "Instincts" now had over me. They were some kind of script like the humans used, but far more tiny and woven together. The piece of my mind worrying at the problem had almost gotten all the pieces of it written down in a format that I could start to compare to human script or some of the Life Patterns I have seen. I wouldn't expect that it would actually be that simple, but it was a good place to start. Just like I had my first visitor trying for the castle. It was a beastkin though something felt off about it, like it was operating under some level of powerful mana. Likely an illusion spell or something like that, meaning it was one of the attackers coming to try their luck again. While the castle wasn't part of the actual dungeon, it was filled with the children of the Duskwalker Queen, who herself was now part of the six kingdoms on the fourth level. So it would be interesting to see if they could get past it.

----

Remus twisted in the air right before one of the entrances of the castle to fly through it without touching the floor or walls. He had noted that the ants had a strange ability to make shadows sticky. Which they often employed near all the windows and doors with light coming through them. It couldn't be pure darkness, but had to be an actual cast shadow. Which give it away as some kind of Dark attuned monsters. They weren't all that rare in the center of the Realm near the Kingdom of Masire, but they were often balanced out by Light attuned monsters. So while he had some tricks to getting by these beasts, as a Blood Shaman, it wasn't going to be a cake walk. Which was odd to him in the extreme, since even the Gates of Madness started off really weak. It was supposed to get harder and more complex for each floor it had, and give a challenge for the foolish and prideful. It hadn't always made sense to him why it was so, but once he been granted access to the Faerun and Imperial ruins held by his people it became clear. It was a command by the great Goddess of the Realm to help everyone grow stronger so that they could protect the Realm from those beyond its borders.

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"Like humans..." He grumbled as he released a [Razor Thicket] spell after throwing out some vine seeds. The spell caused the simple seeds to grew into triangle shaped, razor sharp vines that lashed out at his enemies. The bonus from his [Blood Shaman] Advanced class was that killing enemies with blood would empower the vines when attacking enemies with the same blood type. Usually this just meant members of the same beasts or monsters. Though he had a feeling it would be for every ant in this place.

"If there are different kinds of ants, which there almost certainly is." He said to himself as he used [Nature's Tithe] to boost his stats to well above what his body should be able to handle. It was a minor spell of his that cost more the sooner he used it, but also boosted him more. With his new Dexterity, Strength, and Constitution he cut his way through the mass of ant bodies, and to the stairs leading down within minutes. Longer than he would have liked, and it left him panting a bit from the amount of work it took. So many bodies had blocked him that it was more of an ant wall than a horde to fight. Yet, it wouldn't matter much once he had entered the Dungeon proper, and could attempt to communicate with it. Few knew that Dungeons had a level of intelligence, and few still knew that you could talk to one with the right skills or ancient relics of the Faerun. Often, they seemed simple or heavily distracted but were capable of speech never the less.

Placing his ichor soaked palm on the detailed stone gate, he took a moment to marvel at the work. It was simple stone, but hardened with mana in various places to create colors and shades so it almost looked like stained glass. Only showing a vague image of a spiraling line, blue sky, and an orb that was likely the sun. Something a child might make, but with paints suited for a master of the craft. So out of place and odd, just like this Dungeon. With a sigh and a shake of his head, he pushed the door open to head down into the depths.

-----

I was impressed at the speed he cleared a path through the castle, though I held back well over half of the ants to not sacrifice them all needlessly. He was obviously a powerful mage of some kind, and the attacks and defenses of the castle were nothing but a minor trial for him. Now the shifting maze would be more interesting for him to experience, mostly because even Pyra hadn't had the time to explore it, and give me feedback on the ideas and layout. Though my "Instincts" were trying to tell me to scale everything back, and just make more floors that got progressively harder. Which didn't make sense to me if someone was intruding on my home. Which is why I felt happy when I saw the little man's face twist upon seeing the entrance to the maze.

"From brawn to brain, should be fun to watch....maybe I will drop some spikes on his head." I mused.