Days began to blend together. Between the stalemate I had with Depths, and the fact that the church was still on their way and wouldn’t be here for a while, I found myself lulled into a routine of sorts. Not to say that nothing of note happened, but just that nothing exciting happened. Prep work was essential, but it was boring nevertheless.
Abby and Owyn, now joined by Barry and Isabelle, came by to talk with Grant every day. I paid them for their time, even if I didn’t interact with them directly. According to Felecia, the town was comforted by the fact that Abby and Owyn brought back a certain amount of cores every day. Along with the daily visits to the cave system, it made them believe that everything was more or less normal, even if they knew of my presence.
In fact, it was the very fact that I was still here, still a real threat, that prevented Mr. Vernant, Grant’s father, from coming into the caves to retrieve his son's body. We eventually had to convince him that there simply was no body to retrieve in the first place. While he was apparently saddened, he no longer insisted on trying at the least.
Unfortunately, the rumor of my danger which kept me safe with Grant’s secret resurrection also prevented Felecia from coming up with a viable excuse to initiate trade. The adventurer kids were able to bring some things, but if they started losing noticeable items, like weapons, people would start getting suspicious. Thankfully, of the items that they were able to bring, many of them were craftable type things. Bits of wood, branches from the forest, stones, etc. Thanks to their efforts, I was able to grow a proficient army.
In fact, the army that they helped arm was the entire reason I was able to pay the adventurers in the first place. The first few days were the most lucrative, as my detachments of critters led by a single evolved monster were able to essentially clear out the entirety of the upper cave system. After that, the caves produced an average of twenty cores each day. By paying Abby and Owyn ten to fifteen cores a day to pacify them, I was able to horde the rest and continue evolving my army.
For my own sake, I categorized my minions according to how many cores they’d eaten. And since I’m such a huge fucking nerd, obviously I assigned them levels. So a level 0 monster was just a creature. A regular bat, snake, mouse, etcetera. Level 1’s were those that had consumed a whole core, and evolved accordingly. Level 2’s had eaten 2 whole cores, or the equivalent of from core fragments, and so on.
It wasn’t a perfect system. Consuming a whole, unbroken core was far more effective than consuming two halves after all. So I kind-of-sort-of had to guess as to how far along each monster was. Well, assuming I didn’t just ask directly. Aside from the level 0’s, each of my minions had some level of intelligence.
All told, I had ten groups of ten critters, led by an evolved monster that wasn’t quite level 1 evolved. I’d peg them around level 0.5 on average? These groups were the ones that explored the upper cave systems to conquer other dungeons daily. Between two shifts of five, I could clear the whole upper dungeon in about twelve hours, no problem. And since I collected the cores right out of the gate, they only ever had the monsters that brought them up here in the first place. IE, a single mouse or like three at most. Hardly a fight against my squads of ten.
Aside from the adventuring squads, I also had the five monsters I’d stolen from Depths, Mimi and Rab, two trout, Sneaky, Subsonar, and of course my guppy army. The scout bats I’d sent with Subsonar were all wiped out, leaving him as my owly eyes and ears for happenings in the lower cavern, but I was getting ahead of myself there.
During my boredom, I’d managed to accurately count my fishes. Obviously there was the level 0 trout, not much had changed with them, and my level 0.75 ish barracuda. I could and probably should count it as a level 0 barracuda at this point, but meh. Besides them, I also had 123 level 0 guppies, 56 between levels 0 and 1, 22 at level 1, and 2 at level 2. My two level 2’s, my tiny silver dragon and short merfolk, were still competitive with each other. They would join the adventurer squads to retrieve dungeon cores alone, keeping track of their spoils in two separate piles. So far, they were tied at 6 cores each.
Before I decided to attack Depths, I was going to reward their hard work by letting them each consume half of their piles, but they didn’t know that yet. I just enjoyed watching their friendly competition.
Speaking of preparations, I convinced Rab to begin construction, or technically deconstruction, of the tunnels and doorways between my core room and the depths of my dungeon. Rab was going to join the fight after all. He and Mimi were my strongest monsters at level 4, and I wasn’t going to let their abilities waste away parked in my core room.
They weren’t even my highest level monsters, however level had nothing to do with combat ability. Level just dictated how complicated they were, or how diverged they were from their base forms. Obviously the level 0 human adventurers that visited Grant daily could easily wipe out all of my level 1’s and 2’s all at once, even if they all worked together. Subsonar was level 5, and he was fragile as heck! His evolution was entirely dedicated to stealth and information gathering and nothing else!
Technically Sneaky was my highest level monster at level 7, but she was not combat oriented. My little danger noodle’s evolution was directly tied to her survivability, and her intelligence. The whole time I’d been growing my forces within my dungeon, she was out exploring the cracks and crevices, mentally mapping out the whole tiny cave system my other monsters weren’t able to explore.
It was early on day 8 of the lull that something interesting finally happened.
Grant was holding Mercy, as usual, and he commanded her two level 2 ratkin to follow his motions, parading them around the room in a military march. The human adventurers watched with vague relaxed amusement as Grant and Mercy worked together to perform a little act that Grant had thought up. As I was considering changing my original idea of making Grant into a vampire and instead turning him into a lich with the help of Mercy, Sneaky reported from far below.
I’ve found an open space. She said. Interestingly, her voice somehow vibrated with excitement. There’s a lot of bats in here.
I thought for a second. Baby bats?
It’s a nursery. She confirmed. Some ratkin and batkin are coming in now with food I think.
Jackpot.
Judging by your signature, you’re only just outside Depths’ area of influence. It MUST be one of theirs! Can you see their dungeon?
No. She stated. Just little bats. Lots of them. They’re flying in and out of the exit though. Can I eat some?
I nearly said yes before I considered the possible consequences. Any act of aggression would make Depths think I was ready to go on the full offensive. I wasn’t. Not quite yet.
No. I told her. Retreat for now, but remember how to get back. You’re going to get the first kill of the assault, I promise you that.
You better keep that promise. Sneaky hissed. Her signature shifted slightly, shuffling back and up.
A lazy smile grew on my face as I turned my attention to my dungeon as a whole. My voice projected over to all of my subjects.
It’s time. All forces, begin final preparations.
“Really? Now?” Grant asked me. “Can I finish the play at least?”
I rolled my eyes, mostly ignoring him. I gave him and the humans enough attention that they weren’t entirely in the dark.
Subsonar, what’s the situation over there?
The war between all the cores seems to be either coming to a climax, or to a lull. Subsonar said in his soft voice. Tensions are still high between all six remaining large dungeons. The middle ground seems to be nearly barren. Each dungeon’s forces are tired. It’s a situation where none of them are willing to be the first to disengage with the others, even if they’re all going on the defensive.
I whistle. The war waged down there had taken many twists and turns. Unfortunately, since I got the story in the form of Subsonar’s reports, it wasn’t as interesting to listen to as I wanted it to be.
So we’re down to Depths plus five equally powerful dungeons, is that it? I presume they’ve all grown in power since we first found them?
Yes. Subsonar confirmed. Each of the surviving dungeons has their own strategy, but half of them seem to be dividing their spoils of war among their chosen elite, while two of the others seem to be building up new champions. Depths has chosen to secure their fort even further, granting its conquered cores to its builders and miners.
I frowned, deeply worried. Have we still not seen its boss monster?
No. Subsonar said. None of the other dungeons have attempted direct conflict with Depths’ territory. Its boss monster hasn’t had a need to show its face.
That worried me. The first thought that came to mind was that Depths didn’t have a boss monster, and was in fact bluffing. However, during the war between the dungeons in the cavern, smaller dungeons would attack the larger ones in desperate attempts to save themselves. They’d throw every monster they had against the larger one, hoping that one would destroy the enemy core by some miracle that never made it past the boss monsters.
Depths’ only exception was that they never brought forth their boss monster when the little cores attacked. It just rebuffed them with numbers and superior defenses. It sustained far greater losses than any of the other greater dungeons. And yet, none of them took advantage of Depths’ weakness.
The dungeons were greedy. Power hungry. They, like me, desired conquest at almost any cost, only ever keeping just enough in reserve to fend off the worst assaults on their own cores. Without fail, that meant keeping their boss monsters close.
“What’s going on?” Owyn called to the air. He, along with the other human adventurers had brought themselves to my deepest room.
“War.” Grant said simply.
With little exception, all of my monsters made their way to the room. My merfolk carried a large sack, filled with pouches and jars, used to keep the frustrated intact cores I’d claimed from coming into contact with each other and killing each other. My little silver dragon carried my one remaining trout gently in its jaws. The fish, while panicking from lack of water, did not struggle.
The merfolk set down the sack and picked out the first whole core.
Submit! It cried to my minion.
Die. I said, with just a small amount of satisfaction.
The merfolk jammed the core into the trout's mouth. Its transformation began immediately. Four piddly legs sprouted from where fins used to be, and lungs bloomed within the creature's belly.
Mine? Mercy asked, watching the transformation through one of her ratkins eyes.
Soon. I soothed. You’re not strong enough to fight the other cores. I’ll do that for you, and then she’ll be my gift to you.
Powerful. She requested.
That’s the plan.
My armies of critters and their evolved leaders marched in. Another core went down the trout's throat. It grew longer, growing a third pair of legs while the others grew stronger. My land worthy guppies entered. More cores went down the trout's throat. It grew larger. Rab, having bid his goodbyes to Mimi, entered last. Behind his giant claw clattered the church knight’s armor and weapons, all tied together in one mismatched bundle. Core after core was fed to my growing monstrosity. Fifteen in total, out of my twenty one whole cores.
That’s enough. I tell my merfolk. He looks up in confusion. Divide the last six between you and your little rival.
The merfolk grinned toothly. He did as I said, taking three for himself and fishing out the last three for my silver dragon. While my dragon ate them one by one, my short merfolk swallowed them all at once.
The humans watched as in real time the merfolk swelled in size. His muscles pulsed with every heartbeat, and steam rose off him as the rapid expansion caused massive strain on his body. His fingers grew more dexterous, the webbing retreating far back. I didn’t allow them to vanish, just for the aesthetic. Her roared with pleasure, flexing every muscle across his chest in the strain to grow even larger. But I didn’t allow him to. His muscles grew denser and denser, weighing him down and strengthening him all the same. He would no longer be able to swim ever again.
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I named him Bottom Dweller.
The humans watched as my dragon grew in the same fashion. His features were complete, all he was missing was the appropriate size befitting a dragon. And yet, I didn’t allow him to grow all that much. Having confirmed my experiments with Dweller, I packed his muscles in deep. His size grew in spurts, once I’d reached a maximum density. His bones packed in dense, his teeth grew sharp as daggers, and his claws became sharper than swords. Silver, as was his color, may only be the size of a young foal, but he was a thousand times as deadly.
The humans swallowed past lumps in their throats. Each of them had their weapons cautiously raised, ready to defend themselves. Even Grant didn’t seem comfortable.
I gave him a message to pass along.
Grant stood up a little straighter. He visibly vibrated with nerves. “Um, Lucid says this is no place for you? He wants you to… go home. Warn everyone in Setterton about what’s happening. He says to… keep an eye on the Baroness. Says that if she breaks free from his control, to evacuate the town immediately. That he would rather die than retreat, and so there’s only going to be… one outcome.”
“Wait, but what about you!?” Barry shouts.
“Yeah!” Isabelle joins him, shoving an accusing finger into Grant’s chest. “You need to say goodbye to your parents if this is going to happen! And I’m not leaving if you’re not!”
Abby and Owyn shared a look. One of worry, of understanding, and of responsibility. Owyn nodded first, packing away his bow and arrow. He gripped Isabelle with his powerful arms, preventing her from accessing her wand.
“I’m sorry my Lady.”
“Hey! Are you enthralled!? Let me go! We don’t have to listen to this stupid dungeon!”
Abby placed a hand on Barry’s shoulder, encouraging him forward. “We’d be stupid not to. This isn’t about being enthralled, this is about survival. Isn’t that right?”
I smirked, perhaps a little grimly. Grant translated my words.
“Survival means protecting the things you value. Don’t worry, he says. He’ll keep me safe.”
It might be a white lie. I did intend to protect those that I valued the most, namely my named monsters and Grant, but I couldn’t guarantee anyone’s safety. Not by a long shot.
Abby and Owyn escorted the younger adventurers out of the room. Mimi passed them, soon after. She carried my baseball sized core reverently into the final room of my dungeon. They all hesitated as they passed by each other. Isabelle, who had been struggling the whole time, calmed down a touch. She looked down at the ground.
“I’m sorry I killed you.” She muttered.
A small breath of a laugh escaped my lips.
Grant shouted from his position. “He says if you’re really sorry, you’ll stay in his territory until he’s ready to go!”
Mimi continued her journey, leaving the humans alone. They watch her go for only a second before resuming their exit. I watched them go for a while. At least until they left what vision my avatar could see. I sniffed, returning my attention to the matters at hand.
I had three sets of knight armor, along with a crossbow, a bow without arrows, and a mace. Dweller was granted the mace and one set of armor. Mimi used her human hands to help dress him. Although the armor had a hole in the stomach, Dweller didn’t seem to mind.
Valiant knight. She told him. Fight well.
Dweller growled deeply. Pleased.
The hobgoblin, with his echolocation and excellent night vision got the second set of armor, and the crossbow. The armor had a pouch filled with about fifty bolts. He didn’t fill the armor like Dweller did, so after her put it on, I did him a favor. He got two halves of some of my dungeon core fragments. I had slightly more than forty cores worth of fragments, and now was the time to hand them out. The fragmented cores would evolve my minions over the course of a few hours, so for now, he just stood with the metal armor swimming on him. After his transformation, I’d call him Hob, I think.
Our protector. Mimi told him. Watch their backs.
Hob nodded, loading the crossbow to get used to it.
The final set of armor went to Grant.
“Me?” Grant asked, pointing at himself. “But it won’t fit!”
Which is why you’ll be getting some core fragments. I told him. Use them well.
Mimi picked three large core fragments for Grant. He not only needed size, but the ability to see in the dark. I was hoping this would be enough. No, that was the wrong way to think. This would be enough. I would will it so.
He swallowed nervously first, before accepting the cores. They were smooth, easy to swallow, especially at their size. He held them up to his mouth. Hesitated. He shook his head and laughed.
“You know, if normal humans eat cores, they die?” He threw his head back and swallowed all three at once.
Brave knight. Mimi told him. She rested a hand on his shoulder. Live.
Grant pointed at Mimi. “Thanks! I wish I knew what you were saying!”
I cocked my head. You can’t understand each other?
“I can only understand you.” Grant said. “Is that an undead thing?”
All of my other monsters could understand Mimi. I clicked my tongue. Must be a human thing. We’ll deal with that if we need to later.
Mimi held up my core in offering. Grant stared at it, still hesitating.
You know the plan. I tell him patiently. Hesitation leads to death. Let’s do this.
“Right.” He mutters, taking my core from Mimi. “Thanks.”
She nods, and then turns to the final knight in the room. Rab.
She approaches him, raising a hand to touch his cheek right below where a sword mark scarred where his eye used to be. He leans into the touch, rumbling low. Mimi takes a second to step away, grabbing a large fistful of core fragments. Rab opens his hatch mouth and leans down low enough for Mimi to reach. With slow, gentle movements, she pours the fragments into his mouth. Rab’s hatch clunks shut, and his crown raises.
Protector knight. She whispers to him. I love you.
Although her human half does not have a mouth, she leans in regardless, pressing her face to his chest.
Protect our family. Rab rumbles.
And that is all that is said. Mimi’s job is done. She takes her leave, to head back to the core room to wet her eggs. The remaining hundred or so regular guppies would keep her company, and the small handful of lesser evolved guppies that couldn’t leave the water for long would protect her as much as they could manage. At the very least, they remained guard at the drain for the moat.
I gave my attention to the trout, standing on six legs, looking like a very odd cross between a lizard, a fish, and a dog.
The rest of the core fragments are yours. Consume and grow.
It buried its face in the bag, greedily consuming the remaining cores. Mercy, with her core being carried by one of her two ratkin, approached the creature. Not to do anything, I knew, but at least to watch.
Soon. I soothed her again. Soon.
Sneaky, my tunnel exploring snake, was the last to arrive. I noticed her presence appear within my domain out of a crack in the final room. I gestured to my critter army.
Those of you that can fit, follow Sneaky. She will lead the first assault. You will provide as much backup as you can. Destroy as much as you please. Your task will be remembered as the event that brought us on our first step to victory. Do your jobs well. Kill, and survive to kill some more.
A horde of snakes, mice, and the smaller rats charged after Sneaky, who immediately retreated back into the crevices. Only a handful remained behind, those that were too large to follow her. Good.
These are your brethren! I cried. Remember their faces! Remember their contributions, and in the event of their deaths, respect their very souls! For they will have brought us one step closer to victory! In just a few hours, we will march to war! We will kill Depths and claim their fortress for our own! We will stage a revolution and slaughter all those who dare oppose us! We will become the strongest dungeon to ever rule these lands!
My army cried back at me. Bloodthirsty. Ready for a fight, just as I was.
We have one last job to fulfill! I shout. One last warrior to hold in reverence! And so we feast! I don’t want to see a single corpse remaining in that damn dirty corpse room! Feast! Consume beyond the point where you can’t any more, and fill my mana! This may very well be our last feast, and so we dine together!
Although I had gained a lot of mana from the humans hanging out with Grant every day, I wanted just a little bit more. Just to do one last thing…
----------------------------------------
Abby and Owyn slowed to a stop, hearing the clicking of crab feet on stone approaching. Together with Barry and Lady Bellamy, they waited for Mimi to approach. She seemed surprised once she spotted them, but nonetheless graciously accepted their company. Although Mimi couldn’t speak to them, everyone had grown rather close to her over the past week. She even taught them a new game, called ‘checkers’. Everyone silently decided that if they were going to stay in Lucid’s territory while he finished up his preparations, they may as well hang out with her.
“How will we know Lucid’s ready to go?” Abby asked her.
Mimi just nodded in such a way that they could only interpret as ‘you’ll know’.
Isabelle blushed as they walked. She had gotten particularly close to Mimi, and Abby suspected it was her way of apologizing for killing her. Especially now knowing that she was carrying eggs around. And now that she outright apologized, feelings were bound to feel out of place.
“Sorry.” Isabelle muttered again.
Mimi just patted her on the head.
They entered the old core room. Mimi took up her seat at the back of the room, dipping her rear end in the water. Everyone else took up their usual spots around a checkers grid carved in the ground between them. Owyn and Barry silently set up the board for them to play.
Isabelle curled into a ball, watching the boys play. Not a word was said for a long while, to the point where if any word was going to be said, it would feel out of place in the silence.
Isabelle huffed out a laugh. “If Grant was here, he’d say ‘This is weird. It’s weird, right?’”
“Are we supposed to be rooting for Lucid?” Barry asked.
“Do we have a choice?” Owyn pointed out.
“We could hope they just kill each other.” Barry said.
“If Lucid loses, that means Grant dies too.” Isabelle points out.
“We’ve said our goodbyes.” Abby assured her. “Nothing will change. In fact, I think life will go back to normal if…” She couldn’t bring herself to finish the lie.
“Grant’s still alive.” Isabelle insisted. “Well, not… you get what I’m trying to say. It feels like he should be here. Not risking his life. Not- oh forget it.”
“We get it.” Abby assured her. “We want Grant back too. But also like Owyn said, we don’t really have a choice. Lucid’s powerful, and that makes him dangerous. We need to be grateful that he hasn’t done anything directly malevolent.”
“Big word,” Owyn muttered. “Doesn’t make you sound any smarter.”
Abby socked his shoulder teasingly.
“The church is going to get here any day now. We already know they’re strong enough to deal with dungeons far stronger than Lucid is, so they’ll be able to deal with not just him, but with Depths and the other dungeons in the lower cavern as well. They’ll keep us safe.”
“Will they?” Barry asked. His hand absently went up to his shoulder, still bandaged from when the arrow had struck him. It was healing well, but the fact that it needed healing still frightened him. Perhaps calling the church and their army wasn’t the best thing.
The ground shuddered. Everyone felt Lucid’s presence in the flow of mana within the room. As one, they turned around to face where it gathered in one of the large piles of rocks. The stone flowed like liquid, melding together. Air bubbled out of it as the stone took shape. Over the course of an hour, they saw a pair of legs form, wide apart. They flowed slowly upwards to a young body, with a fist resting against a belt. More time passed, and further and further up the details formed, settling into the unmistakable goofy grin of Grant.
He stood proudly, holding a giant stone sword out in front of him, like he was getting ready to set out on the next journey. Every detail matched the real Grant perfectly. Only this version was whole, without a hole through his neck. And then with one large, final release of mana…
The dungeon vanished.
Everyone flinched, surprised by the sudden departure. Owyn, realizing faster than the others, whipped around with his bow at the ready, aiming directly for Mimi. The monster regarded him coolly. She gave him a gentle wave. If she had a mouth, she would probably be smiling politely. Owyn sighed a breath of relief, relaxing.
“That’s it then?” Isabelle asked Mimi. “Lucid’s starting?”
Mimi nodded.
Owyn got to his feet. “Right. Good for him then. Uh, no offense Mimi, but we’re going to check on the Baroness if that’s alright.”
Mimi nodded again, giving everyone a goodbye wave.
The group of four adventurers collected their things, making sure they hadn’t left anything behind. With the safety of an empty cave ahead of them, idle conversation started right away.
“Do you think the carpenter has finished making a checkers board by now?” Barry asked. It was a pain coming to the dungeon every time they wanted to play. He wanted to play with his parents.
“Maybe.” Isabelle said. “Mom ordered a whole bunch of them though, so maybe he’s doing them in steps? Like maybe he’s doing all the pieces first, and then he’ll do the boards next.”
“Or the other way around.” Abby said. “Either way, I don’t think it’ll be done for another day or two.”
“Or longer. It’s not like he’s only making the boards. He’s still got to make furniture and stuff.” Owyn pointed out.
“Wait, shh. Do you hear that?” Abby stopped the group.
In the silence that followed, everyone did indeed hear an echo of metal. Lots of it.
“What do you think that is?” Barry asked.
“The church, obviously.” Owyn clicked his tongue. “How much do you want to bet they didn’t inform the Baroness of their arrival again?”
Nobody mentioned it, but they all thought the same question.
‘Can we trust them?’
Weapons were silently readied. If nothing else, they could use the excuse that they were adventuring.
“Hm?” A distant voice came quietly. Franz. “The dungeon used to extend out to here.”
“What happened?” A new voice followed.
“I suppose we’ll find out, won’t we brother?”
“Do we hide and hope they just walk past us?” Isabelle asked Abby and Owyn in a whisper.
Owyn shook his head. “If they do find us, they’ll be suspicious.”
“That’s a lot of people.” Barry observed, listening to the sounds of armor grow louder.
“Retreat?” Abby suggested.
Owyn didn’t say anything. Retreat to where? There was nothing behind them. Certainly not anything that would protect them.
So without better options, they stood their ground, weapons ready but not raised. Just in case.
Light grew steadily at the exit, silently announcing the church’s approach. The first three bodies appeared at the tunnel leading out, followed by a mass of knights. Franz, the high priest, led the march shoulder to shoulder with another important looking priest. Well, shoulder to elbow. This second man stood at least seven feet tall, with muscles that strained against the sleeves of his robes. He held a staff that would feel like a log to most people in one hand, emitting light from the largest core fragment embedded in the end, creating an almost spear-like point. The normally swimming robes of the priests hung around his knees. They simply weren’t large enough to accommodate such an inhuman man. But it was his eyes that gave him away. A little glint where the pupil should be, indicating his ability to see in the dark like a cat.
Owyn had heard of people like him before, but only in legends and theories. An evolved human. They should have been entirely theoretical, people like him that were once enthralled by dungeons that had since been destroyed. If their evolutions weren’t too far along, they could still return to normal life, with the ability to use magic as well as whatever mutations the dungeon had given them.
And this one wore the Cardinal’s robes.
Finally, the third, familiar face peered out from between the shoulders of the two priests.
“Mr. Vernant?”