Obviously, just one- no, make that two, rooms, wasn't enough. He walked through his territory, and looked around. He saw something he didn't want to, and turned away. 'Yeah, that was a mistake. What other room did I need right away? Oh yeah, Research. I should probably call it something else though, in case I need more than one room for that. Eh, might as well start the next room then, eh?'
Deciding to start another room of a size roughly equal size to the Storage room on its other side, there was no reason he could see that he shouldn't start right away. Three rooms in a row? That would be the start of a nice maze.
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"Alright, let's go over reports of observations."
The expedition captain was following procedure, making sure that the party started with all the information so far available.
"Two reports, three witnesses total, claim that there is a giant rock monster that can fly." The younger of the two scouts said, trying to be as professional as possible to make up for his lack of experience.
"That's right", said the captain. "What else?" He already had a lot of information, but he wasn't about to teach everyone what he had heard a second time. He wasn't planning on losing someone just because they didn't remember something.
"One dead giant was seen by the first scouting party, and hasn't been seen since. Another witness said that there were large articles of clothing, so that could mean the dungeon did something with the body but not its equipment", said the older scout.
The captain nodded, and looked at the rogue.
"There was a report about a door that was difficult to open, and a stair that broke in half upon being stepped on. It might not have anything to do with the dungeon, though, if you look around."
He moved his eyes, but not his head, to look at the merchant.
"The dungeon probably doesn't have anything of value. At least, not yet. If it's as young as it seems, then the Core pieces wouldn't be powerful enough to be useful in enchanting yet. We also don't know the dungeon's chest loot and drop rates. Honestly, I'd say my presence is premature."
The captain's face changed. "Then you'll be the runner to make a report. Now, everyone needs to remember that this dungeon has been attacked, and has somehow been able to learn how to run in fear. This proves it is much more intelligent than its age would suggest. Scouts, create a map and identify monsters. Merchant, evaluate cost of valuables if any. Rogue, check for traps."
"What are you doing, captain?", asked the younger scout, already embarrassed.
"As senior, my job is more complicated. There are a few things that is common with all dungeons, and I'm making sure the dungeon follows these rules. Ignoring these rules makes it too much of a wildcard, and destruction is required no matter what else is going on."
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Getting the last of their supplies ready, they set out to where they had been told the dungeon was located.
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'Yaaaaah! How many freakin' people is that?', he asked himself rhetorically while a shiver went down the spine he only had in his imagination. He stopped digging and went to look at the cave mouth.
There was dirt all over the place, with most of the building parts buried in the stuff. 'Okay okay, I'll get the library. Maybe just decide the other room is finished now and figure out how to make it not look like crap later? Better that then... yeah, I'm not gonna wanna dig out the same dirt more than once.'
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The party made their way to the bog's edge at the hill as per their information, and was able to easily tell that the building parts weren't sitting around in a deranged jumble before getting to it. It wasn't as if they had to look around for more than a moment to see where it had gone.
There was the mouth of a cave, though the cave's mouth wasn't very big. If it was supposed to hold so many things, then the dungeon must have either converted it to mana or moved it inside somehow, the captain thought.
Getting inside the cave was easy enough, as long as the party went one-by-one and crouched a little to walk up the pile of dirt and furniture. Standing atop it, their torches burned brightly, illuminating things both broken and buried.
"Spread out, you have your tasks", the expedition captain ordered.
After a few minutes, they returned to the captain.
"Nothing can be moved, it's stuck in place. I tried to kick the dirt to dig out some straw, but I couldn't." The older scout said, looking a little confused.
"What I saw made me sick", the merchant said. "Someone died over there." He made a gesture with his torch.
"I found the rock monster. It looked angry, but it didn't try to attack me", the rogue said.
"I think I found the Core. It's really small, and looks like a ball of mist. But there isn't much mist in it."
"All right. You all stay here, I'm checking your reports. If I'm not back in ten minutes, evacuate, return to camp, and send the report that I was killed." The captain marched himself in the direction the rogue had gone first.
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He watched what the small people were doing, following around one that had split from the group to walk towards the thwomp. 'Checking me out, huh? Well, you make me feel weird. Not like that other guy, but like seriously, just... go.' The small man walked through the dungeon, held his torch up, and saw the glaring eyes and snarling mouth of the thwomp. 'He did look frightened! Good! So, now you can go, right?'
Then, he started walking around towards the direction one of the other small men went. 'That's where... sorry. Yeah, that wasn't my fault. None of it was.'
This small man looked to be of sterner stuff than the guy that just ralphed. Though, he didn't run away like the other one did. Instead, he stood there for a moment, then got closer and held his torch up to see the dead man's irradiated face! 'How strong can your stomach be, my guy?'
He looked at the treasure chest so big that he could easily fit inside it. Of course, if he opened it, he'd die instantly. Evidence showed that. 'Leave that alone! I have enough dead bodies already!' Whether the man heard the dungeon yelling at him or not, the dungeon didn't know, but he didn't open the box and instead moved on. Towards his Core.
The man looked down at the Core in between the triple-stalagmites, and stared at it for a few seconds. The dungeon was absolutely freaking out incoherently. Then, after an excruciating time, he walked back to his group.
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"Reports confirmed. We're going back to the camp. Move out!", the captain ordered.