I was majorly grateful to Owyn for taking responsibility over the citizens of Setterton. One less thing to worry about! All I had to do was expand my territory, ‘rescue’ the people of the town, and Owyn would take care of the rest! And the best part? These humans just can’t stand still!
For the past two days, the two farmers that I’d rescued made themselves busy collecting edible parts of moss from my territory. The non-edible parts they found were also collected but used for other purposes, like bedding. Or so I’m told at least, they’ve been setting up living quarters in the bat nurseries outside my territory. I’ve graciously given the nursery spaces to the humans with the promise that I wouldn’t expand into them. I maintained the crossroads cave though, since that was the converging point of all the nurseries. My only other condition was that Sneaky was allowed to patrol the nurseries.
Well, Sneakies plural, I guess. There’s two of them after all. With theoretically more to come.
Both Sneakies were also patrolling the cracks and crevices. They weren’t useful in a fight, and I wanted to protect my back line after all.
Regardless, with being able to put that issue entirely out of mind for now, I could focus my efforts on conquering the lower cavern once again! Much more fun! Well, in theory at least. Right now, there wasn’t exactly a whole lot I could do. I found myself in exactly the same situation as the other four dungeons, perhaps less so.
Our stalemate hinged on a few things. One, none of us dungeons were willing to give ground. Each dungeon had territory that benefited their respective monsters, and in my case I had humans I needed to protect. So no mobile dungeon antics like last time. Not unless I wanted to risk Mercy going rogue again, and with Grant's life on the line and by extension the respect of his human father, I wasn’t exactly willing to send Mercy out on any missions yet.
The second part of our stalemate rested on the same factor as before, our boss monsters. Although the giant dragon Mercy controlled was now undead, it was still a giant dragon. Equal in power to at least the boss monsters of the other dungeons. However, unlike those boss monsters, this dragon was undead, and therefore couldn’t heal after battle. We’d lose in a battle of attrition. Even if I utilized Damian for offense again, he was only one unit. Easily circumvented by numbers that I simply didn’t have.
Frustratingly enough, that meant my strategy for now would revert back to what Depths had been doing before. Sitting, growing my own numbers, and waiting.
Stupid.
At the very least the untamed humans in my territory were feeding me mana. So that’s one thing I supposedly had over the other dungeons. Supposedly, because I didn’t want to assume. Not with my life on the line.
A new presence touched my core.
I glance down at the small mimic crab staring at my core with wonder. Small, not miniature any more. Mimi and Rabs' children have grown quite well. I could probably tame this one if I wanted to. If Mimi and Rab would want me to.
Please. Mimi asked. Accept them.
The child touched a second claw to my core. Strong…
I smiled, drifting my avatar to the ground. I passed a hand over the shell of the child mimic crab, pretending to pet it, even if my hand just passed through it. Will you obey? I ask.
Obey… The mimic crab fell under my control with ease. No resistance. No worry about overloading its mind. I couldn’t tell if it was practice, or the fact that it was Mimi’s child that made the transition so seamless, but I also couldn’t care less. They belonged to me now.
Obey? A voice asked.
Another joined it. Obey Lucid?
Mama! Obey!
Dozens upon dozens of baby mimic crabs swarmed Mimi’s hands, all clamoring to touch my core. I laughed, watching as one by one, they accepted my control. They were too young to be useful to me, but numbers were numbers. With time, I’m sure they’ll become wonderful additions to my dungeon!
“They've grown enough I see.” Owyn mentions. He’s sitting against the wall, across from Mimi. A mimic crab he was playing with skitters away, eager to join their brethren.
Damian is outside wrestling with Dweller for fun, and I don’t feel like interrupting their break time. Mimi will have to be my silent interpreter for this conversation. She just nods at Owyn.
Protect! Rab calls from the entrance. His bulky body blocks the whole doorway, and his singular eye stalk watches his children gather around my core with pride. Some of the crabs go over to him, much to his joy.
Owyn opens a palm, and the mimic crab he was playing with before rejoins him, sitting squarely in the center of his palm. Owyn wiggles his fingers before it while it tries and fails to pinch them.
“Hello beautiful…” He coos. “Promise me you’ll evolve into something cool, alright?”
The crab wiggles its dangling legs in Owyn’s hand, happy for the praise.
“Y’actually want that thing to evolve?” A farmer walks into the room. The younger one. I didn’t know their names.
“Regular mimic crabs are cool, but anything evolved is just automatically better, as far as I’m concerned.” Owyn mentions.
“Y’said these little ones belong t’ the bigger ones, yeah? Why don’t they look like ‘em?”
“It’s part of how mimic crabs work.” Owyn says. The farmer takes a seat next to him, eyeing the crab monsters warily. “Without a dungeon's influence, they look just like normal crabs. Well, except for their mimic hatches of course. They’re all born that way, regardless of how evolved their parents are. All mimic crabs give birth to regular mimic crabs, no matter where they are along their evolution. Of course, the parents must be of similar stages of evolution, otherwise it doesn’t work, but still. Mimic crabs are one of the three known dungeon species that can do this.”
“An’ what are the other two?”
“Goblins and Dire wolves. If there are any other dungeon species that are able to reproduce, they’re specific to the dungeon they originate from. Only these three are wide-spread.”
What about thausens? I ask. I still hadn’t seen any more of those guys since Dumb and Dumber, and at this point, I was kind of wondering where I could get more.
“It almost looks like they want to be enthralled.” The young farmer mentions, watching as the last few small crabs touch my core.
“They do. They’re dungeon monsters. Most things, once enthralled, will want to be enthralled again. But only to strong dungeons. They’ll destroy the weak ones they encounter out of spite of losing their original.”
“Even people?” The farmer asks, horrified.
Owyn snorts. “No, not people. We have enough common sense to know where to draw the line.”
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“Mm.” The farmer leans back, eyeing my core. “Shame about the Baroness then. But she can be freed if we just-”
Owyn places a finger to his lips. “I wouldn’t imply anything that could piss off our host if I were you. Just because Lucid seems nice doesn’t mean his monsters are.”
I had a thought, and urged Mimi to present my core to the two humans. The farmer doesn’t move for a second, but seems surprised when Owyn doesn’t hesitate to reach for the core.
“Hey Lucid.” Owyn says, sitting back again.
“Ey! What are you doing!?” The farmer shouts, retreating a few paces.
I ignore the farmer for now. I feel like it’s only fair warning to let someone know. If anyone attempts to destroy my core, I will force them to become enthralled. Of course, you humans are welcome to become my thralls regardless, but I won’t force anyone who isn’t a direct threat to me.
“Good to know.” Owyn hands my core back to Mimi. He relays my message over to the farmer.
“Nuh-uh, no way. I’m good!”
Open offer. I mention with a shrug.
Really, I just wanted to see how a human evolves. That big seven foot giant cardinal fellow looked like a good base, but I wanted to do more.
Speaking of which, I was kind of sitting on a whole bunch of core fragments and I still hadn’t done anything with them! What a waste! And here’s the thing too, it wasn’t exactly like I had many options of where I could use these. I quite liked where my minions were at for the moment, and all of Mercy’s minions were undead. It wasn’t like I had some fresh recruits ready for-
…
God, I’m a fucking idiot.
Alright, I ain’t making no wussy minion. If you’re only the size of a ratkin, you’re just fodder for the next fight, and that’s a waste. So that means that one of you lucky little mimic crabs are going to be my next fighter. Any volunteers?
Every single mimic crab child raised both their claws.
“Ow.” Owyn deadpanned as his friend scrambled out of his hand to join the others.
I feel like my decision was obvious.
You! Owyn’s friend! Since you’ve been so nice to our guests, you’re going to be the one to consume the rest of Depths’ core!
The crab in question did a little dance, very pleased by the unexpected windfall. Mimi got to her feet and got over to Depths’ remains. She picked out the smallest fragment and held it over the winning crab. It opened its hatch and Mimi dropped the fragment inside. A little crown rose around the rim of the crab as it shut its hatch.
Its brothers and sisters watched with obvious disappointment. But they couldn’t go against my wishes, so all they could do was watch.
Well? I asked them. What are you standing around for?
They looked at my core with confusion.
I just said they’re getting rewarded for being friendly towards our guests! You should do the same!
“Hey Owyn!” Called Mr. Vernant from the crossroad cave. “We’re getting a little hungry. Want to go out on a foraging run?”
The crabs immediately burst into action, all of them scurrying out of the core room and into the wider world of my dungeon.
Stay in groups! Mimi called after them.
Protect kids! Rab thundered after them. I smirked, nudging Dweller, Damian, and Silver to do the same.
The other two humans walked into my core room, meeting a confused looking Owyn and young farmer. I had to leave it to Owyn to explain what was going on to the best of his guess. Damn, I really needed another voice.
Hey, do you want a voice? I asked my newest recruit.
Nope! Play! The young mimic crab answered.
I shrugged. Whatever. There would always be other chances. I did wonder how ‘play’ would factor into their evolution idly, but I didn’t really need anything in particular from them right now, so I’d let their evolution go whichever way it went. It’d be a surprise!
I teleported out of the room, joining Subsonar near the top of my territory. He’d made himself a nice little nest out of a crack in the wall.
I have a question. I told him out of the blue.
Yes. He responded quietly.
Where do babies come from? I chuckle at my own joke. No. New dungeons. Where do they come from?
New dungeons… Subsonar repeats.
New dungeons. Surely in order for this ecosystem to be sustainable, there needs to be a source of new dungeons. I have an idea of how I was formed, but I don’t know why. Or where. Or really how. Like, I remember how I was formed, but… you know?
No. Subsonar says. The cavern is empty. We five dungeons are all that remain.
You haven’t seen any new dungeons appear? I found that hard to believe. The hundreds of dungeons that were here when we started had to mean something. Was there a season for dungeons or something? Did I have to wait for a cooldown of some sort before new dungeons would crop?
A few. Subsonar finally says. They form spontaneously. They disappear quickly. Most do not survive. Did not. Now they form. Small reflections of light. They’re immediately swept away. Stolen by the larger dungeons. Nothing can survive here.
A horrifying screech echoes across the cavern.
A scrap. Subsonar says. The lizard dungeon and the Grove are attempting to control the center. Both territories are expanding.
Are we at risk?
No. They are not after us. They are after the empty cavern.
They want to control the dungeon spawning ground?
Perhaps. Subsonar never seemed to give me straight answers. It was rather frustrating at times, but that’s just who he was.
We’re losing this race. I say.
Subsonar says nothing.
How have the other dungeons done in recovery?
The Grove and the lizard dungeon are more powerful than before. They were the ultimate victors that benefited from the fourth dungeon's demise. The lizard dungeon has grown replacements for its lost warriors. Same with Lefty. The insect dungeon is keeping pace, but hasn’t changed much.
We need more. I say. More soldiers, more mana, more territory. We need to have an advantage before we press.
The humans… Subsonar stops himself.
This might be the first time I hear him say his opinion. What?
If we kill them…
We’d gain so much mana. Vast amounts more than anything I could gain by killing the creatures down here. However-
Don’t be so shortsighted. If we do that, we lose an ally. They’re feeding us mana as it is, and the more we have, the more mana we gain.
We do not like the church…
I know bud, I know. But it seems, for now, that we need to play along. Come on. I’ll get Damian, and then we can collect our next batch of humans.
My will lazily pushed against the open air. My territory expanded, growing backwards through the upper cavern to reclaim familiar territory. The bloody corpse room, still empty. A few rooms further, and my mana begins to run dry. The mana I’d generated from the humans in my territory was only just barely enough. I encompassed a group of seven humans.
“Woah…” A knight mutters, blinking.
“You felt that too.” States the second. He raises the torch he’s holding to look down into my dungeon.
“The dungeon…” Says a farmer looking dude.
A poor mother hugs her dirty child tighter, glancing around.
The first knight slaps his knees. “Welp, time to go.”
“Well, no, hold on!” Says the second. “Maybe Lucid will want to talk to us?”
“You think he’d accept us as thralls?”
The second smirks playfully. “Maybe not you, but I’M a perfect specimen.”
I irk, glancing down at the five captive villagers.
Damian, kill this one.
As you command.
Damian shoots into the room, flying low. The citizens scream as a shadow forms from the darkness, crashing into the knight. He grunts in surprise, swinging his torch.
He doesn’t survive long.
The other knight shouts and runs, leaving the villagers behind.
Damian stomps his foot on the skull of the downed knight. “Coward…” His gaze turns to the villagers. “The dungeon will protect you. Come.”