------------- Bogsreach Outskirts -------------

Breathing was difficult, but she could still smell something enticing. What was it? It was that way. She could smell but not identify whatever it was. But what WAS it? She had to know.

She hadn't eaten in a long time, and the light in the sky kept turning to dark when she closed her eyes just a little. Then when she opened them again, it was light again. Then dark.

So she didn't close her eyes very often. She didn't even close her eyes when her feet got stuck in the dry grass sticking out of the wet mud. Swimming was very difficult, since she could barely move. She used to be able to, but that was before her fur got so long. And so hard. And so rigid.

The smell wasn't so complicated now, so she could tell it was very close. Some things left that were there, and now she could smell the other smell much stronger now. Whatever it was, it was inviting! She picked up the pace and moved faster, panting hard. She tried to let her tongue out, but one of her fangs was in the way, so she let her tongue out the side of her mouth instead.

The source of the scent was too close now. She could barely see her surroundings due to her height and fur in the way, so she followed her nose. After a couple minutes, she could taste it. The scent, whatever it was, was here. It was all around her now.

But, somehow, it was even thicker, denser, richer over... that way? She followed the trail despite the difficulty.

------------- Dungeon Cave Mouth -------------

It didn't make a sound. However, it felt like when you're waiting for a friend to come over, and they open the front door when you're in the kitchen. Like you just heard the front door begin to crack, and you already knew who it was, without looking or even being nearby.

Whatever this new feeling was, the dungeon's self-image walked to the cave mouth, but stayed in the doorway. The thwomp stayed out of the way of the doorless frame.

The dungeon saw a yellowish-whitish mangled-looking thing he couldn't identify. 'I'm glad I can't smell, since I can tell you reek. I don't wanna touch you, since you're super gross and dirty. Why are you in my dungeon?'

The creature's fur was matted beyond belief, but also somehow didn't look attached properly. How did it have that much fur, and also no fur? Its tongue rolled out of the side of its mouth, and one of the fangs from its underbite poked upward near its nose. It almost looked like a dog-nose or cat-nose, since it had tiny little scales, all wet-looking.

The animal... right? Was it a monster? Whatever it was, it went into the dungeon's Storage Room, passing by the dungeon's imaginary human form that only he could see. It continued across the room, and paused near the other thwomp that blocked the Research Room.

'What, are you trying to get researched? What are you doing? What are you? I'm not going to touch you to claim you.'

The creature stayed where it was.

The dungeon followed the creature, causing the thwomp to move out of the way. The two nearby beings that could go through the doorway did so.

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With no hesitation besides difficulty moving, the critter walked over to the shelving that blocked the low and narrow tunnel that led to the Secret Research Room. The dungeon didn't stop the creature, not that it could, and instead followed it. It didn't feel like it was a threat, after all.

The small bugger got up to the Dungeon Core, faintly glowing its gray light. It then laid down on all fours, and shortly began to quietly snore.

'Okay, well whatever you are, um, I guess you're a dog. Even if you're not, you are now.'

He watched it snore for a little bit more, though he hated how it looked. He had a weird thought. Even if it wasn't a weird thought to someone else, it was to him. Where'd that thought come from?

'Something should guard you. And my Core from you, in case you're stupid.'

The dungeon breathed out, spawning another gelfling zombie. He looked at it. 'You. You stay here in this room, all the time. If something tries to take or break my Core, hurt them as much as you can as fast as you can.' The dungeon thought to himself. How would a guard guard if it didn't have a weapon? That wooden sword didn't seem like it would be good enough for a job like the one he just made, either.

As he looked through his Research Queue, he picked a few things to expedite. 'Hopefully this works. I kind of doubt it, though.' Wandering off to oversee the zombie wall construction progress, he saw what used to be his pair of pants sitting on the ground in the Research Room, sitting in a clump against the small stone pillar he made to contain the stinky water he had dumped out from the dented mug that had so far been very useful. More useful than most things, at least.

'What did I even have in my pockets, anyway? Hey, zombie I left holding that book! Come over here!'

He didn't create noise, though he imagined doing so, and the zombie came through the doorway to the Storage Room once the thwomp got out of the way.

'Put the book down for now, and dig around in my pockets. Whatever is in there, take it out.'

His ring of keys and wallet were removed first, followed by a small pile of stuff the zombie kept in its hand.

The dungeon poked each of the things in the monster's hand, adding them each to the Research Queue. 'Open my wallet. Whatever's in there, just pull it out and put it on the floor.'

The zombie did so.

One thing, the dungeon just laughed at. 'That's too old to be useful at all, so Convert to Mana.' Everything else, he added to his quickly expanding list of incomplete research, each thing a separate item, broken down as far as he could. He tagged a few other things that caught his eye as he started to leave the room as well.

'Zombie, you're going to need something to write with. It's not like I could just write everything on this-' The dungeon meant to keep talking, but the messages it got interrupted his thought process as he tapped the dirt wall.

[Upgrade Discovered: Wall of Text]

[Error! Inscription object has insufficient space.]

'I didn't even pick anything to write on anything yet! What are you talking about, System?'

There was no response.

'Oh, what? If I can upgrade the wall with crap, why shouldn't I just do it with the Shitty Wooden Wall?'

It didn't take as much of the air the lungs he didn't have were filled with, or mana that his dungeon was interacting with, as a mana stone or zombie did, but he felt the decrease. As the mana was pulled out, the dirt the wall was made of looked like wooden boards, incorrectly spaced as they were and with dry and cracked white paint chipping off them, were pushing themselves out of the hardened earth.

'... alright then.'

------------- Plainsheart Ministry of Truth Cloister -------------

The priest put the glass bottle back on the shelf next to the bright red cloth he planned to use it with. He had prepared his ritualistic tools too early, and they would need to be replaced. If he knew when the inspectors would arrive, he would have timed things better, but there was really no way to know if the message would have arrived, or if anyone would have been sent.

There was a reason settlements were where they were. There were enough monsters, raiders, and other dangerous things out in the wilds that there was never a guarantee on communication. It happened often enough for most people to speak the same language, but sometimes there was too much deviation and reconnecting was strained. The priest shook his head, clearing his thoughts and getting back to work.