I laughed theatrically. It’s alive!

Subsonar, my latest creation, was an evolved bat, capable of being entirely invisible to both sight and sound. I even ensured that it flew silently before sending it out on its recon mission. That one took work, and resulted in him being unable to actually fly, so much as glide with occasional boosts in height when he flapped.

Also importantly, he was smart.

I was beginning to really see the benefit in that as he flew around the area beyond my fortifications.

Open cavern space. His voice came to me like a whisper. He wasn’t actually whispering, I think, he’s just that quiet. Even in his silent thoughts directed at me.

Depths covers a large portion of the ground space, and hugs the wall, climbing up it. The wall itself seems to be pocketed at random points, large enough that several monsters have taken up roosts there. Territorial space of Depths is in the shape of a wedge, leaning against the wall. Correction, there’s two distinct corners on the furthest edges, tapering up to a point.

I reveled in his accurate conveyance of information. This was exactly what I needed him for! Well, it helped that he was designed like this, but still! I felt an abnormal amount of pride in my creation.

Hey Felecia. I got the Baroness’ attention. I’ve seen it a few times now, but the territory of a core is in the same shape as the core itself, right?

Grant answered my question excitedly. “Yeah! Owyn showed us some baby dungeons when we were starting out! Until a core’s territory grows large enough to claim a room, its territory matches the shape of the core!”

Thank you Grant. I tell him politely. Is there a difference between core shapes?

“Yeah!” Grant’s expression quickly soured though. “I don’t know them though.”

Do you know how many shapes there are?

Grant tapped his fingers, counting in his head. “Five. Spheres, pyramids, cubes, uh, those crystal shapes that start with a P? And hexagons.”

“Plumbus.” Felecia supplied. “Each core shape is symbolized in the church's insignia.”

“Really!?” Grant asked.

I briefly turned my attention to the scraps of cloth I’d stripped from the church’s knights. A hexagon, with a square inside it, with a triangle inside that, a circle, and a diamond in the center.

I sneer in disgust. The diamond should be inside the square. The circle should be in the middle. That’s just poor design.

“I’m sure they had their reasons.” Felecia says calmly. She begins to make her way back through my dungeon. “I’m going to take a walk.”

Feel free. I tell my humans. I return my attention to Subsonar.

Depths has a pyramid core. He says at a whisper. Wedged where the floor of the cavern meets the wall. It’s off center to our territory.

Left or right? I ask, giving him a definition as to what left or right meant from my perspective.

Right. Approximately fifty meters to the side, and two hundred down. It’s hidden inside a fortress of artificial making. Manned only by evolved monsters. Mainly bats.

Any weapons?

Rocks. Subsonar says passively. Some meant for melee, others meant for throwing.

What are we looking at for numbers? I was beginning to enjoy this. I felt like a general!

Unknown. There’s some ratkin surrounding the fortress, appearing to harvest from the moss and other plants within its territory. Others are leaving the territory, along with detachments of regular creatures. They seem to be hunting parties.

Hunting for food or weaker dungeons? I needed to know if Depths was growing its army by evolving more of its monsters.

Unknown. Cavern is populated by dozens of other dungeons. Possibly hundreds. It’s huge. Need to return to the wall to gain height.

I could feel his signature dipping a little low. Do that. Avoid Depths if you can.

Affirmative.

One of the benefits of being a dungeon was that I knew about everything in my territory. Especially enemies. Unfortunately, my only entrance to the deep caves was through Depths, meaning it knew about Subsonar when he passed through the airspace necessary to escape its territory. Fortunately, only Depths knew about Subsonar. Its monsters weren’t able to detect him. And with my bats providing a distraction, dispersing in random directions once they entered open airspace, literally nothing short of a dungeon could detect Subsonar.

Well, that was the theory anyway.

So long as Subsonar avoided entering any dungeon's territory, he should theoretically remain invisible.

Observe Depths’ fortress while you climb. Why is it harvesting plants? I mean, I could assume that it was using it for food, but assuming wouldn’t do me any favors.

I didn’t like not being able to see things for myself. As soon as I had enough mana, I should expand my territory further. Or actually, would that be the best use of my resources? Or should I evolve more monsters? Guess I could make that decision after I found out how good my harvest of the rest of the upper caves would go.

What are the quality of Depths’ monsters at least? I ask Subsonar.

Varied-

Ok man, you gotta give me a solid answer sooner or later, like come on.

… The fortress seems to be manned exclusively with hobgoblin level humanoids. A minority of them seem capable of flight. The ratkin harvesting the plants within the territory seem homogenized, all of similar designs. Bipedal, with dexterous hands. Not quite goblin level. The more developed ones lead the armies, again, mostly made up of regular looking creatures. No bats within the armies.

Where are the bats then?

There was a bit of silence as Subsonar looked around.

Unknown. Small amounts of them patrol the skies within and just outside Depths’ territory. Nowhere near the amount that originally harassed us.

Hm. I didn’t like that. Depths’ confidence couldn’t be that unfounded. Or could it? I mean, my previous pet dungeon had a lot of balls, despite being unable to escape my territory. Was this a similar case?

I clicked my tongue, annoyed. Follow some of the hunting parties later. For now, what can you tell me about the ecosystem of the cavern? How big is ‘big’?

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Subsonar reached a suitable height and dropped off the wall. I felt his signature glide out over the cavern as a whole.

It is incomprehensibly large. He says. The ceiling slants away from our dungeon, restricting the airspace further in. Hundreds of dungeons of various sizes compete for space. Approximately eight dungeons match Depths’ size, and none are larger than that.

I imagine my old highschool. Specifically, the size of it. Is the cavern larger than this?

Much.

I felt mildly surprised. When Subsonar mentioned ‘incomprehensibly’ large, I’d assumed that it just meant he didn’t know anything to compare it to. I tried again, this time imagining a city block.

Yes. Subsonar confirmed. The cavern is approximately that size plus a little more, in terms of area. The height is about… three times as tall as that building from before. Slowly decreasing in height the deeper one goes.

I see. An image began to form in my mind. Even with eight dungeons the size of Depths, that still left thousands of square meters free for other dungeons to grow and compete. Anything interesting happening?

Subsonar continued gliding in silence for a while. No.

I blew a raspberry. Well boo.

A new voice joined us. Depths.

Enjoying the view? It chuckled. This is what you could have been, had you not met me.

Before I responded to the dungeon, I asked Subsonar a quick question. How much bigger is Depths than me?

Double our volume. He says calmly.

I snort, unimpressed. Honestly, you can keep your piddly little fort. For now at least. Nothing I have seen so far has impressed me.

Depths soured. Then that is all you’ll see.

I waited for something to happen. Some sort of result to come out of their threat. But I felt nothing. Obviously saw nothing either.

That was, until one of my spy bats life signature vanished.

Subsonar? I inquire.

Depths has released bats. He says. Hundreds slowly turning into thousands. From the pockets in the walls, from the fort, and even from holes in the ground. There’s… they’re obscuring visual. It’s a slaughter.

I frown, commanding him to retreat. Not back home, but at least against the cliff’s wall. If what he said was true, and I had no reason to doubt him, the airspace in the cavern was about to get really congested.

It worried me that Depths did not consider an army consisting of thousands sufficient enough firepower to take me down. Something wasn’t making sense.

Is there anything special about the bats? I thought aloud. The logistics didn’t make sense to me. That was too many bodies for too little food. It was unsustainable. Then, realization dawned upon me.

It was the same thing I was doing in the upper caverns. They were meant to be disposable.

They’re only pups. Subsonar’s voice deepened without raising in volume. They’re starved. Thousands of them.

Pups? I ask. It subjugated the nests?

Subsonar growled, not agreeing with me, but not disagreeing either.

I gave it a little more thought.

Is it breeding them? That was worrying. I didn’t know what the gestation period for bats was like, but surely it was longer than I’d been around, right? That meant there was something larger happening here.

Report. Subsonar declared, having finally taken up position against the cliff walls once again.

What is it?

The attacks are avoiding the largest territories. Depths seems to be claiming the life of every flying creature in the cavern with the exceptions of the other-...

I could tell he had more to say. What man!? Don’t keep me in suspense!

The other territories. They’ve sent out armies of their own. Massive armies. Each of them have… champions. One large monster, far beyond the size of any creature we know of. They’re guarding the territories they belong to.

Champions? I think for a minute. I audibly gasp when I understand what Subsonar was getting at.

Boss monsters! They had boss monsters! Holy shit, this was getting exciting! Did I have a boss monster? Obviously! Rab!

I could feel Subsonar’s disapproval. Rab compares nothing to these behemoths. A single one could tear him limb from limb without effort.

I frowned again. That doesn’t make sense. If they all have something as powerful as that, no other dungeon would stand a chance. Why are they holding them in reserve?

More to the point than that however…

Did Depths have a boss monster?

Want to see? Depths taunted.

I grew a wild grin. Absolutely.

Depths laughed. Despair! You will never see until it is too late! Just like the others!

A hidden boss?

I laughed along with Depths, much to their displeasure.

Fantastic! This is as it should be! Excellent! Entertain me more! I teleport back to my core room. Mimi! I need your help gathering more cores! We’re going to create our own boss monster!

No…

I froze in place. Mimi… refused? This wasn’t the first time, but that was back when they weren’t technically my monster.

Why not?

She sits, nuzzled up next to Rab. But at my question, she raises her back half, out of the water where it was soaking. Curious, I give it a peek.

Hundreds of red and black eggs clutch to her underside. The red eggs wriggle, full of life. The black eggs lay dimly. Devoid of movement.

I beam. You’re pregnant! Or whatever the crab equivalent is! Mimi, this is wonderful! Congratulations!

Mimi bows slightly, returning her back half to the water. It would not be possible without you.

Her tone indicated something to me. She meant what she said quite literally. It would not be possible without me.

Your resurrection? I ask.

Her human shell dips in a nod. My eggs. I cannot feed them. Not as an undead. But because I belong to a dungeon, they will be fed. You will feed them?

I nod eagerly. Yes! Yes, of course! Do you want them to belong to me as well?

I feel her radiate happiness. They will. You are my dungeon. OUR dungeon.

Rab shifts. Protect.

I smile at them. This is wonderful news. How long do you think it’ll take before they’re ready to hatch?

Mimi shook her head. I do not know.

My avatar pats her on the shoulder. Aw, don’t worry! I’ll ask Owyn! Maybe he’ll know! Or actually, Grant? Do you know how long it takes mimic crab eggs to hatch?

“Mimic crabs?” My undead says. He sits guard under Cam, watching the area beyond my fortification. “Dunno! But I know that things grow faster in dungeons, so maybe the time doesn’t matter?”

And what do you mean by that? I ask. Things grow faster in dungeons?

“Yeah! Like moss and stuff? And bugs hatch their eggs sooner too! Owyn says it’s part of the e-co-system!”

Now I really wanted to talk to Owyn! Felecia! Can you go fetch Owyn for me? I have so many questions, and it seems like Owyn’s the one to talk to!

I teleport over to where I feel Felecia’s signature. She stands in the room next to my core room, surrounded by a blanket of moss. Her hands press into the soft walls, sinking in and disturbing the insects burrowing beneath. At the sound of my voice, she looks up.

“Are you sure it’s safe to do so unnoticed?”

Woah. I mutter, looking around at the various mosses. When did I have a moss room?

She tilts her head. “It’s been here all day. Probably more. Have you not noticed it before?”

I’m either in the core room, or the front lines. I went to check on the pet dungeon a while ago, but other than that, I don’t really pay attention to the other rooms. Maybe I should…

“You’re ‘in’ the core room? I thought you could see everywhere in your territory.”

Slip of the tongue. I assured her. I just like focusing my attention where it interests me.

“Hm.” She doesn’t sound convinced. But she lets it go and heads for the exit. “Give my best to Grant. Tell him I’ll take care of his family.”

Will do! I say. Then I remember that I’m supposed to be the one giving orders. I mean, uh… ah, fuck it. Hey Grant, Felecia says bye.

“Who’s Felecia?”