Layla

Book 1 - Into the Wilds / Chapter 1 - Like Nothing on Earth 

It was dark. Darker than usual. He liked the dark, but even the lovely and inviting dark became terrifying after a certain extent. However, he was not terrified here. He would be, typically, that is. Instead, he was just disoriented at first, only for a little while, as the dark felt nice. He liked the darkness-like blanket of the night. He liked it a lot. 

He was feeling different, is all. 

However, he loved this new different. It was novel.

He could sense the earth all around him. And yet it was anything but suffocating. He instead felt safe and secure. The cool and warm embrace of the earth was comforting. 

But where was he? And what was he? He could sense all around him? Or was it all in him? He was more of an all-present floaty viewpoint in this whole domain(?) kind of thing. Was he the domain? He could also zoom in or out of focus of sorts to feel his entire body/ domain? 

He could not see as much as he could behold.

After feeling around for a bit, he caught a glimpse of a tiny black shard on the ground. And observing the beautiful black irregular rock for a bit made the word 'Core' pop above it. If the domain was his body, then this fragile little gem was his heart was the feeling he got. 

And wait, did he see the word core above it?

He thought about his status. And a mental perception of it appeared. 

Dungeon Core Level 0

Durability - 1/1

Mana - 100/100

There were a couple of other things like skills, titles, etcetera, but that was the main of it. There was even the dungeon creature list, dungeon trap list, dungeon climate list, and more which were all empty for now, but he would fill them soon enough. 

And he felt he was not just fragile but notoriously so. True, he was near immortal as he didn't age, but anyone could come and break him. Oh well, balance was the way of the world, and he would get more durable as he grew. He would have to protect himself, though, as he didn't want any random whack sending him on. 

And there was mana! He could have so much fun with it, or at least that was what he thought. He would have to research more about this. For now, he would try to move it to his whims. And he found it relatively more manageable than he thought it would be. Maybe it had to do with dungeons being natural controllers of mana and whatnot? 

He didn't know so he couldn't confirm. He would have to find a covert way to get more knowledge without drawing attention to himself. More knowledge meant he could do more and be prepared. 

At the same time, it was a slow and challenging process when he tried to absorb the ambient mana he could feel. He would have to increase the rate at which he inhaled and retained mana because he couldn't accept this slow pace. Or he would have to find other ways to work around this because he was starting to feel insecure about this snail-speed mana absorption. 

Hopefully, he had time to put his thoughts into action. Unless some human came to control/ steal/ shatter him. 

Stolen novel; please report.

Now that he understood his situation a bit, he had to figure out how to move forward from here on out. He was not a fan of killing and murdering, but he would do what he had to, to protect himself and his dungeon. 

He was hoping and wishing that there was no civilization anywhere near him. He wanted to mingle with people of his own volition and in his own time. He didn't want to be forced into anything. 

Unlike the others in stories he had read, he didn't want to talk to humans or get a human form to live in human civilization. He didn't get why they wanted to. It didn't matter either, as while he didn't like their choices, he understood loneliness and whatnot. But that was that. They were they, and he was him. 

He wanted more to build his place, experiment, marvel at the wonder and mysteries of this world, and enjoy peacefully. 

So he mentally started making a plan. And this time, he would follow it. 

But before starting, he felt a ping from his sphere of influence. Yup, that was what he was calling his domain/ territory now. He had determined it while working with his mana. 

He could increase it in whatsoever direction he willed, but now was not the time he felt. He had to be more clear of his surroundings. 

And the monstrosity moving towards him was precisely why. He couldn't have monsters get the jump on him.

The monster moved towards his core and looked at it inquisitively, or that's what he could make of what the multi-legged, multi-eyed furry creature did. It lifted a leg and touched his core. 

Thinking of an idea, he willed his mana to move into the creature. The spider was abnormally small, but he still felt the beast was not for the faint-hearted. Thankfully, he was a core, or he would have panicked like crazy. 

As more and more time passed, he felt more and more of a connection with the spider until the mana movement stopped. 

Did he convert the spider?

He had converted the spider. It was now his dungeon creature, and he could even understand its physiology. He even felt he could nudge its evolution or mutation direction. 

He could even use his understanding of humans or other physiologies to guide it. The possibilities that opened were infinite—only limited by his imagination. 

The little one's transmission of its feelings and thoughts brought him back to the present. Thinking carefully, he felt the transference was unconscious. 

The spider was bewildered. 

It was only passing by when the black crystal-like rock attracted it, and something changed. It could feel a channel to this strange rock. 

And then came a request—to web the little rock entirely so it couldn't be seen. It felt a little bewildered at first due to getting foreign thoughts in its head, but upon seeing no harm in the request, it fulfilled it. 

Looking at his core being webbed, he felt a little relieved. While the core was sporting an all-black color, its lustrous crystal-like surface and shine were a dead giveaway. The core was still an attraction he could, fortunately, cover now. 

He observed the spider more carefully now. It was also completely black, and if not for his territory ping, he wouldn't have felt its presence. This little spider was a natural assassin.

He got a pop-up status for the spider similar to the one he got for his core. Maybe this was a dungeon thing? He would have to confirm it later. 

Black Umbra Level 0

HP - 3/3

MP - 5/5

The spider was starting to grow on him. He could see how some people found spiders cute. Its three big and innocent-looking eyes were definitely a killer. 

Maybe he should name it. It was his first monster, and it had helped him.

Thinking of names, he should also name himself. 

He sent his thoughts to the little one and asked if he could name it. 

The spider was very simple in its thinking. It mainly thought about foods to eat, which places to rest, and which to avoid. So, upon hearing a foreign term, it was trying hard to think about what a name was. 

Seeing the little one's contemplation and another one of its unconscious thought transmissions, he explained patiently what he could of a name. Simply, it would be what someone was called—elementary identification of sorts. 

The spider was wondering and trying hard to think about why someone would call it. 

The strange rock sent thoughts of hundreds of black umbras trying to identify one from the other and how having different names could help. The spider thought it was a bigger problem remembering the names of hundreds of black umbras. Still, it also got the idea the black rock was trying to convey. 

Again, seeing no harm in it, it acquiesced. 

Seeing the little spider give the go-ahead signal, he thought for some time and named it Kalila. He felt it suited the spider very well. He asked if it liked the name, and even the spider thought it was a good fit for it even when it didn't know what it meant. 

Kalila meant 'heap of love' in Arabic, and the little cutie was utterly one. 

He then asked Kalila to call himself what he had wanted for some time. 

He was bubbling with excitement. And even though they could only send thoughts to each other right now, the little heap of love did it spectacularly. 

Layla.

Kalila called her. And she was absolutely thrilled. Oh, this was so liberating. She never knew how this felt. She felt. So. Free. 

Layla. She would be called Layla. It was so. Relieving.