In the forest…

A few days after Elmis had spotted the first monster, he found another.

This one was much worse.

He was probably 45 miles away from the village when he encountered it.

It was a great spider. It stalked through the undergrowth while he watched, holding his breath from a branch. Its chitin shone like metal armor in the moonlight. Its very presence made every part of his body scream danger.

This wasn’t like the bird monster. This thing was specifically designed to kill. If he tried to hunt it he would die, he was certain of that.

He wasn’t sure if it just hadn’t noticed him or if it had ignored him in favor of easier prey - but he felt he was lucky to get away with his life.

It didn’t look like it could fly, so chances are it wouldn’t be coming closer to the village. He doubted even with everyone working together that they could bring it down.

It had been a bit over 2 weeks since he first saw the spider. Even with the danger at hand, he was still determined to find the dungeon. He was being even more careful though.

Based on the places it went, he had narrowed down the general area where the dungeon could be - but he still wasn’t sure where exactly it was. After all, it was far too dangerous to follow the spider closely.

About 2 days ago, the spider had stopped showing up.

Elmis walked closer to the edge of the river. He could hear the calming sounds of the waterfall upstream. As he knelt to drink from the river, he froze. A shadow passed by overhead.

The bird monster. He whipped his head to see the creature flying up river, towards the waterfall.

Elmis gulped, and slowly stood up.

If the bird was going towards the dungeon, following it might mean encountering the spider again. A battle he wouldn’t be able to win.

He had to trust in his speed to get him out if it came to that.

He began to follow the river upstream.

He walked for a while before coming up to the cliff with the waterfall. He saw the bird emerge from behind the fall, and perch on a tree.

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It was looking at him. Directly at him.

There was a degree of knowing in its eyes. An intelligence not seen among normal monsters.

He had found it. 50 damn miles away from the village, he had found it.

The dungeon must be behind that waterfall. Immediately, he turned and bolted away from it. His body propelling him through the trees at inhuman speed.

This was big.

The dungeon wasn’t close enough to the village to cause direct harm, but it was close enough that it might be possible to capitalize on its existence. He had to tell the elder.

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…In the dungeon…

I got a strange feeling from Scout and shifted to his sight. I saw a human moving extremely fast away from the dungeon. That outfit, and the bow…

Mogala had noticed a human a while ago while she was hunting.

This was too far from the closest village for a random hunting trip. He must have been expressly looking for me.

With my position revealed, who knows how long I had until someone else came trying to either loot or destroy me.

I had to expedite excavation of the second floor.

Luckily for me, my new size found me with plenty of mana to do just that with.

But first, I should give Scout a makeover.

I focus on him, perched in a tree near the waterfall. I wonder if I can change him from there.

No. Doesn’t seem like I can. He is outside of my observation radius after all. I call him into it, and presto.

With him sitting by the waterfall, I begin to work.

I make Scout even bigger. Doubling his size, up to 6 feet long from beak tip to tail feathers, with a wingspan of 14 feet. He has done a lot for me, and I need to make sure nothing bad happens to him.

I make his beak and talons sharper. I improve his eyesight, and further boost his speed. I also increase his physical power a lot.

What I'm left with, is one mean looking bird.

“You have served me well thus far. I have changed you in an effort to ensure nothing happens to you, as humans discover this place.” I pause, “Continue to play your role as my eyes, as my sentinel, and do be safe.” I finish. Scout lets out a mighty caw before taking off with a powerful beat of his new wings.

I feel him rapidly leave my radius, before turning my focus back to the second floor.

I begin to dig downwards around the pillar in the middle of the second chamber. I go down a fair bit, before opening into a 20 by 20 foot room around the pillar. I begin to create airs around it, spiraling up to the chamber above.

At the top of the staircase, I begin to create a retractable number of stones that cover the staircase until the keys are placed in their spots. I also put some mana vents within the stone platform, nicely hidden among the designs.

I take a moment to glance back at Mogala.

I find her surrounded by several small spiders, miniature versions of herself. I would smile if I could.

I have one of them come into the chamber and pick up my core, moving it further down, into the beginning of the second level.

It was time to start planning what I would put here.