The core continued toiling away, expanding its domain. It dug away from the cave in room, this time turning to the left, rather than continuing directly away from the entrance. It was delighted as it expanded, watching the stone disolve and reform into stone bricks. The new room, it decided, should have a central pillar. That way, it could put stuff on the pillar, and use it to decorate and differentiate the new room, which a voice had suggested using as a crossroads. Just when the new room was nearly entirely dug out, the dungeon's musings were interupted by an unfamiliar feeling, as if something were crawling upon it, an itching, uncomfortable feeling that filled it with excitement.

Something had entered the dungeon.

The core turned its attention from the crossroads room, which it didn't even have the mp to carve, and focused on the intruder. It was surprised, having expected some kind of animal, but instead it found a gnome, small of stature with pointed ears, and a physique nearly as hardy as any dwarf. She stood half as tall as a human woman would, but was stockier, with corded muscles and thin, dextrous fingers, and wore simple leathers, but with numerous pockets and strange devices strapped to it, and a small backback. At her hip, she carried a thin dagger and a stout shortbow. As she entered the darkness of the tunnels, her eyes seemed to gleam and burn with a hidden fire.

In short, a thief, and perhaps a mechanic besides.

While the core was taking in the gnome, however, the gnome was also taking in the dungeon. With almost reverent motions, she knelt, and touched the floor, focusing. Eventually, she opened her eyes, with a sparkle of joy, and whispered, "a fresh dungeon..." before she began to creep forward, confident yet careful. Before she even rounded the first bend, however, she stopped, and approached the wall, tapping it lightly before closing her eyes and feeling allong the wall. Eventually, she found what she was looking for, her pinky having slipped into the arrow slit carefully hidden by the stonework. Turning away, she followed the arrow's path forward, and quickly discovered the pressure plate. Stepping lightly past the trigger, she repeated her previous performance on the far wall, and once again discovered the hidden trap.

The core fumed, having its first two traps mocked like this, but it remained confident! After all, its first combination trap was ahead, followed by the cave in room! One of those would deal with this intruder, it was sure of it. Despite its attempt to reassure itself, a thrill of fear went through it at the thought she might not be so easily deterred, as it wondered what horrible fate she would inflict on it if she made it through.

Despite the core's concerns, and in absolute desiregard for its confidence, the gnome entered the first room, and poorly stiffled a laugh as she saw the meagre pile of fruit, place just far enough back to not be in the center of the room. The gnome crept forward, drawing a small, iron malet from one of her breast pockets, before knealing down and carefully tapped away at the stonework in the centre of the room. Eventually, she nodded, drew the malet back, and struck the ground in front of her, hard. Instantly, the thin stone over the spike pit gave way, dropping into the pit. With a whistle, she stopped and pulled out a sheet of paper, starting to jot down notes.

If the core could scream in frustration, it would have. This woman had made a mockery of its first three traps, and seemed to take joy in tearing down its hard work! Before, it had wanted her to fall into its traps for DP, so it could grow, but now the core was really starting to hate her, and was discovering a new reason it might want someone to fall into its traps.

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Finally, she finished her work, and continued onwards, and quickly reached the cave in room, the core internally jeering her as she approached the chest. Kneeling in front of the chest, the gnome pulled out a small device, and set it against the back of the lid, before twisting the edge. The device made several ticking, mechanical sounds, before outputting a reading, which again caused her to smile. Putting down the device, she once again reached into her many pockets, retrieving a pair of thin-tipped pliers, and a pair of long, thin scissors. After setting the sword aside, she used the pliers to carefully lift the lid the absolute minimum possible, before slipping the scissors into the gap, and prodding the inside. Finding what she was looking for, she made a careful cut while eyeing the ceiling. When nothing happened, she threw the lid of the chest open, and the core cheered in excitement, waiting for the cave in to start.

And it kept waiting.

The core wondered how long this trap could possibly take to trigger, but it was sure it would. The itching feeling hadn't lied to it yet.

It kept waiting.

The thief pocketed the coins, before carefully lifting the engraved shell, and cooing softly.

The core was getting frustrated. That was its treasure! Why hadn't its trap activated? What was wrong with the trapped chest?

Trapped Chest A small trapped chest, tugging a string attached to the lid will cause the linked traps to trigger. Can be disarmed easily due to its simplicity.

Oh.

Suddenly, the core realized there was nothing between it and the intruder.

It wasn't defended.

It didn't have monsters yet, and she'd made it past all its traps!

The core didn't know what to do. Did it have any mana?

Unnamed Dungeon MP:1/10 defeated invaders: 1 Untyped Dungeon MP Regen: 4/day DP: 3

No, nothing!

The core refocused on the gnome, overcome with fear.

The gnome, finished packing away the treasures, suddenly looked around, as if she could feel that something had changed. Spotting the red gem on the wall, she gasped, before rushing back to the first room. Standing before the stared at the core, before speaking. "I'm sorry little core, I didn't realize how close I'd gotten. I think your shell was beautiful, thank you for letting me take it!"

Then, she turned and exited the dungeon, leaving the core deeply confused and shaken.

Material Absorbed DP Gained Needle-Nose Pliers X1 1DP Thieve's Scissors X1 2DP Mana Meter X1 3DP

New Monster Unlocked! Thanks to absorbing new materials, you have unlocked Clockwork Spyder, a basic mechanical type minion!

... What?