It was time to calm down. Vorinus was getting ahead of itself, expanding at a ridiculous pace, without any serious adventurers. It was content, for now. Content to watch the bloodshed.

Sure enough, a party descended the stairs, weapons held at the ready. A armor-clad warrior with an enormous sword. A ‘mage’, charged with mana. A robed figure with long, thin blades. Vorinus was eager to see what would become of these fellows. Previously advised by the past delvers-Vorinus could only assume-the mage boiled the pool, incinerating the axolotls. He didn’t even seem tired!

Vorinus looked at the Assimilator cave again. Oops. It really needed to remember to change that…wait, couldn’t it just do it now?

Extending mana, it suddenly encountered a series of error messages.

{ERROR-FORIEGN MANA SIGNATURE INTERFERENCE}

{ERROR-COMMAND UNABLE TO BE EXECUTED}

{ERROR-MANA STRING TERMINATED}

{ERROR-MANA INSTABILITY INCREASING}

{ERROR-DAMAGE TO CORE ASPECT}

Vorinus hissed in pain, as a sharp lance of mana lanced from its center, scorching the fleshy substance all around it. It grew back quickly, however.

Vorinus now knew better.

Returning its gaze to the adventurers, it watched the robed figure dart ahead at a nearly inhuman speed, crushing crayfish under foot, and stabbed their blades into the Queen. By the time her brood came to defend her, she was already dead. Vorinus would have to waste mana on bringing her back.

As the Queen’s shell decayed, Vorinus noticed a magnificent dagger made completely from crayfish chitin form in the middle of the corpse. The robed figure seemed excited, casting its old ones aside, and grabbing the new one. Designs of eldritch tentacles covered its surface, and Vorinus could detect a slumbering power focused on the tip.

Who knew Bosses dropped such things? Vorinus was annoyed the Hivemind hadn’t said anything, though. In fact, the Hivemind had seemed…preoccupied, recently. After the error messages, it hadn’t noticed any system input.

Looking idly around its domain for a second, it spotted a small object at the base of its core. A charred blob of neural tissue with swollen, melted nerves, which once…interfaced with Vorinus’ core!

It had severed its connection to the Hivemind through the mana surge! Excited, it returned to the adventurers. They were handily beating the Assimilators, the mage showering them with flame, and the warriors crushing and slashing with their sharp weapons. The robed figure was handling the Assimilator Brute, dashing around the dangerous thrashes of its tentacles, preventing it from doing anything to resist as they were cut off one by one. With a flourish, it’s head hit the ground hard, and yet another piece of gear formed on the ground. Maybe it was random chance? If so, the robed figure was rather lucky…

This time, it was a pair of gloves composed of the Assimilator’s signature carapace, and able to shoot out muscular tendrils to grip objects from afar, or strangle an opponent. The robed figure was swiftly becoming its favorite adventurer, and it couldn’t wait to add it to its blueprint list.

When the last Assimilator was slain, the group turned around, and began to cross the chasm. They were strong, but not so strong as to resist the hypnotic mushrooms. So many at once naturally dragged their gaze downward, and their feet were drawn forward inches at a time.

Then the bats broke their trance. One tried to knock a armored warrior, but he simply smiled, and crushed it with his bare hands. Oof. Vorinus wasn’t happy, but at least no more equipment dropped for the robed figure. Instead, the armored warrior got a even larger shield, covered in the same hypnotic mushrooms. It seemed rather heavy, but he swung it around easily. After a while, he strapped it to his back, and returned to traversing the chasm. How such an item had fit in the bat, Vorinus didn’t know.

In the Kelp Prisoner’s domain, the adventurers faced their first real challenge. The kelp-people hid among the many forests of their lesser kin, standing motionless and hidden. The warrior and mage stood back warily, as the robed figure shot ahead, unable to see anything.

Out of nowhere, one of the Kelp Idols-one based on Vorinus-groaned to life, trapping the figure in a tangle of dried kelp, and the Prisoners moved in, piercing the poor adventurer with their many spears.

The warrior and mage rushed forward when they heard the figure’s screams, and the warrior immediately went about cutting the Prisoners in half, while the mage conjured a rain of fire to burn away the kelp thickets in the region. The mobs shrieked in pain as their flesh burned away, but they managed to continue their brutal assault of the figure.

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When the last one fell, the warrior freed the figure from its captor, and the mage frowned, hands glowing with a soft warm light. The wounds sealed, though the recipient flinched a bit. The mage must be a fire-caster. Certainly painful.

With that, the adventurers turned back, though the mage now held a kelp-staff that pulsed with mana, and even regenerated its supply! Vorinus thought it was being rather generous.

Overall, not a bad showing!

Now, while it could remember, Vorinus added an entrance off to the side of the Assimilator cavern, leading to the chasm. If people wanted to skip straight to it, they could do that too, like normal.

Then, it analyzed the rest of the Dungeon. The bats were basically useless. They weren’t as close to an evolution as Vorinus had first thought, and the Stunted Jeweled Naga would probably do better there, able to ambush from the many crevices in the chasm walls. It conjured three, and dug a few tunnels for them, allowing them to travel between ambush points.

Next, it began to explore its development of the items its creations dropped. Perhaps…it could try to reconnect to the Hivemind? Vorinus discarded the idea, as it considered the vestiges of the Hivemind’s presence on its consciousness. Really, it had all the information, and none of the strings attached. Thrilled, and relieved, Vorinus called forth the information on these items.

Loot is a vital component in attracting adventurers. Created using the mana invested in a mob’s creation, the stronger the creature, the better the loot. Loot can take a variety of forms, and what it is depends on the {Class} of the adventurer(s) that killed the mob. Multiple loot items can drop for mobs taken down near equally by multiple individuals. This is especially common for Bosses. Loot can be customized in the blueprint menu.

Vorinus was mostly satisfied with its loot, but it did glance at each one to see if any were unsatisfactory. Of course, Vorinus could only change so much for such a customizable value. There were the base materials that loot could be made of, the loose effect of the loot, and the chance for it to appear.

It only modified the pressingly bad ones.

{LOOT-KELP SHAMAN}

{VALUE/BASE_MATERIAL: DRIED ARCANE KELP >>> COSMIC KELP}

{VALUE/EFFECT_LOOT: ARCANE ENHANCEMENT >>> STAR-BRIGHT}

{VALUE/CHANCE_ACQUIRE: 30%/kill >>> 5%/kill}

Now, staffs that conjured orbs of blazing starlight that could obliterate weaker adventurers, swords that pulsed with astral energy, and boots that warped light around them were possible.

Hopefully, someone would find it.

Only one more to go. A serious one.

{LOOT-WARDEN OF THE COSMOS BELOW}

{VALUE/BASE_MATERIAL: DIVINE EYES >>> ELDRITCH CARDIAC TUMOR}

{VALUE/EFFECT_LOOT: DIVINE CURSE >>> GATEWAY_ACCESS/VAMPIRISM}

{VALUE/CHANCE_ACQUIRE: 30%/kill

It was already awkward enough to have a random heart to open the gateway to the next area. Now, it was actual loot, with an actual ability besides its function as a key. Perhaps it would be useful to some adventurers who delved far enough.

With that, Vorinus began to mess around with the Rakahn Prophets. They seemed imposing, but…so much more was possible. Once modified, they would be far too strong for this area, but it would be useful for the future.

First, mana was pumped into the tendrils, and they swelled, splitting into hundreds of different strands. Each flickered in and out of this reality, and Vorinus could tell that a touch would delete a mortal’s soul with the slightest touch. Dangerous things. The next goal was to infuse the Prophet’s own soul with even more mana. Perhaps its ‘dark sorceries’, and vision to other planes could be bolstered.

Seconds later, the Prophet glowed brightly in Vorinus’ sight, mana almost bursting from the seams of its soul. It eyes shined even more brightly, influenced by intent, and Vorinus knew that it could see through walls…detect souls…and perhaps even pierce invisibility and disguises. Nothing would get past it, now.

In addition, its sorceries had advanced greatly. Now, it could conjure Star-Bright of its own accord, raining death and chaos upon foes. It could even contract extra-dimensional beings, from beyond the universe! Who knew what else it could do! Excited, Vorinus looked everything over once more.

{RAKAHN PROPHET BLUEPRINT MODIFIED: TWISTED CHILD}

Huh. Unexpected for a race below human to have such a powerful mob.

And then…Dungeon Ambassador Yelzor strutted in, eyes furious.

“You are a very lucky little core. My superiors have deemed you ‘safe’. I KNOW THE TRUTH! WHO SENT YOU?” He began quietly, his voice sharply turning to spiteful roar.

“I…um…am a Dungeon Core? I don’t know who created me?” Vorinus said waveringly, not really knowing how real Dungeon Cores worked, but also not knowing who its real creator was.

“Hah. We both know you are different. You don’t have any kind of Faerie, or Daemon. Highest fatality rate of any newborn Dungeon-EVER. Plus, your monsters resemble Abominations from the Cosmic War. Don’t lie.”

“Yeah…sorry, Yelzor. If you don’t have permission from your masters, go, and don’t come back until you do,” Vorinus felt an immense sense of pride. Yelzor couldn’t do a thing.

“YOU! ARGGGGGHHHH. I WILL BACK, AND YOU WILL DIE!” With that, the Guild official stormed out, mana swirling around him like a vortex.