I watched as a group of villagers collected some things in a basket. One of many they brought along. The women picked berries, dried twigs, and whatever else interested them at the moment. One woman stood vigilant in the center of it all, holding Mr. Vernant’s light baton for all to see. The men stood cautiously around them, holding stone baseball bats at the ready. Well, I say baseball bats, but they really just looked like smooth caveman clubs, since the base of most of them had snapped off.

I tried making stone swords, but I didn’t like the end result too much. They didn’t hold an edge worth shit, and because they had to be made thin to account for the weight, they shattered way too easily. Even if I increased their thickness to account for it, the thing would only last a swing or two before the handle snapped off. I mentally tracked some design iterations to see where the evolution of design would lead me, and eventually I ended up at baseball bats.

Sure, they’d still break after a big hit or two, but they were balanced well and were easy to handle. Some of the villagers even opted to dual wield, though I had yet to make claims to their effectiveness since we had yet to see combat with them.

Sometimes, the villagers would even leave my dungeon for a time to collect things outside it, like more glowing moss, or some different berries. The lizard dungeon offered some much needed variety for the humans.

A mouse scampered up onto one woman’s shoe. She startled, but held herself back from scaring it off. I gave her close attention, not so slyly using my height advantage to look down her shirt.

Hey, just because I was a dungeon, didn’t mean I wasn’t also human. I could have used my omnipotence to peep on the Vernant’s, considering they were going at it like rabbits every night, but I just wasn’t attracted to taken women.

What can I say, I’m a gentleman.

“Oh! Hello? Are you coming to help?” She asked nervously.

The mouse jumped into her basket, shoved some berries in its mouth, and ran off.

“Oh…” The woman deflated a little. Relieved or disappointed, I couldn’t tell.

It’s not my mouse anyway… I comment to myself.

I decided to follow the mouse as it went about its little journey, bored out of my skull and with nothing better to do.

Mana generation was constant, which was nice, but it was still slow. And I liked to spend it in bursts, so while I always had enough to do something, I didn’t really have to. I akined my current situation to one of those management simulator games, like a city builder, where you had to manage your resources and stuff. I was always one to just go all in on resource generation before actually focusing on making anything better. Better to have too much rather than not enough and all that.

To that end, I was almost finished with collecting the villagers. According to Felecia, I had about 25 more villagers to go. Assuming they were all still there of course, but I couldn’t worry about that. Probably didn’t have to. I mean, so far the church has given everyone else to us alive, so there’s no reason the rest won’t be either.

Maybe I should see if Felecia could leverage her position as Baroness to take a lap through the remaining villagers to reassure them. I passed the idea on to her. Hopefully she’ll get back to me with good news.

The mouse has found its home. A crack in the wall. It squeezes through without issue, leaving my dungeon behind.

Boring.

Subsonar and Damian are flying about the cavern, killing other flying creatures before the other dungeons can get to them. I feel like asking Damian to collect a few of the buggers alive for me to subjugate, but for some reason, I also don’t feel like it. It’s weird. Like somehow I’m content with the amount of minions that I’ve got.

I float through my dungeon on my back, thinking.

Maybe this is what the other dungeons felt? As in, maybe this is why they never exceeded a certain number of minions at any given time. Well, the exception being the lizard dungeon, who recruited more minions to aid its defense in the battle. So if my assumption was correct, then I technically could subjugate more minions, but my instincts as a dungeon told me I didn’t have to.

The decision felt similar to whether or not I should have dessert after supper.

Well maybe I wanted dessert! You know what, it’s been too long since I’ve done a proper experiment! Damian? Bring some bats home! I want some more minions!

At your command. Damian responded.

I flew back to my growing fortress. My castle! No, MY castle! How cool was that!? This thing wasn’t just a bunch of twigs piled against a tree, or some dinky little pillow fort, this thing was an actual castle!

In the making, of course.

That was one drain I did allow on my mana. My human minions, as well as some of the villagers that just wanted to help, were piling the rocks pretty high by now. Unlike what Depths had, where they were just building a series of rooms, my castle was open to the sky. Just a large wall with three entrances and a bunch of window slits. That was partially the reason I wanted air superiority. Also unlike the barrier I put up in the core room to defend the humans, this one didn’t have any cracks for small creatures to crawl through. We got lucky that Lefty didn’t send any small creatures to attack, and only used the medium sized ‘heavy hitters’.

I had plans for this place to become a long standing bastion! Maybe I’d turn this whole cavern into a village! Yeah, that sounded very fun!

As I waited for Damian to collect some new subjects for my kingdom, I watched the workers chat a bit. Owyn was among them, hauling in stone from outside to pass on to the people who would decide where it would belong. Most of the unenthralled workers followed him, since although the glowing moss was a nice backup, he had the headlamp, and that was much easier on their human eyes.

Suddenly, all the human workers stopped, giving out cries of surprise and frustration.

Owyn put down his rock, muttering half-curses under his breath. He took off his helmet and stared at approximately where the magic core would be.

I looked at the magic core too. Actually looked at it, too. Normally, magic cores were this black void that I wasn’t allowed to see as a dungeon, but this core was just black. A dead core.

Wait, what happened? Did you break it?

I sent over the enthralled workers to investigate. Mycroft remained stationed at the rock pile to ward off thoughts of invasion.

“It died.” Owyn said simply. He pried the core out from the metal disk where it had been stuck on. “They do that, eventually. Glad it just happened now, rather than when we were doing something important.”

I almost felt offended at his insinuation that my castle wasn’t important. Almost, because Owyn was right, and this was far more interesting anyway.

Well can you bring it back? Do you need to charge it? Like a battery? I didn’t say that last part though.

“No, a dead core is a dead core. I don’t suppose you have a use for it?”

Well I can’t absorb it, and it has no mana for me, so no. I’ve got no use for it.

Owyn sighed. “Well then it’s about as useful as glass.”

Maybe you could turn it into an arrowhead. I suggested.

Owyn smirked, giving a half shrug. “Maybe. I don’t know how to make arrows though. I always bought mine.”

Does someone in the village know how to make arrows?

“Maybe. I’ll ask around I guess.”

“Done for the day?” One of the workers asked.

“I guess so.” Another one said. “I don’t feel like working in the dark.”

Fair enough. I had the thralls escort them back to the core room. The humans were familiar enough with the cave system in the back that they didn’t really need the light any more. Well, that, and there was a lot of glowing moss in there.

The humans adjusted to the darkness eventually, walking themselves back through the core room alone. Damian arrived not much later. The four bats he held screamed in protest, but it wasn’t like there was a lot they could do. He walked into the core room, nodding to Grant and Mimi. Grant nodded back, shifting in his seat. He was arguably more bored than I was, since being delegated to ‘decoration’ duty. Grant had tried helping with the construction outside, but with only his left arm and leg, he wasn’t much help.

Maybe I could evolve one of these bats to work with him in some kind of symbiotic relationship.

Oh hey, that’d be cool! Grant could have wings, and the bat could maybe grow a little lopsided to balance Grant out, and they could work together and then Grant could walk and do stuff again-

Oh yeah… This was happening.

I must have gotten too excited, because I accidentally killed one of the bats Damian brought to me for subjugation. Whoops, at least the other three worked well enough.

Experiment complete. I felt… I don’t know, a little more full? It didn’t really feel all that different from before. Maybe I’d need to subjugate more minions to see any appreciable result.

Owyn walked into the core room, observing the process with mild interest. “Well, since I’ve got nothing better to do, do you want to bring down the next batch of people?”

Sure. I said, letting Damian talk for me. Subsonar’s not going to help with the ferrying of people though. I want him to remain as the eye in the sky for a while longer.

Owyn shrugged and said it was fine. He walked mostly blindly with Damian out of the core room, following the trail of moss that led out the side door to where the upper caves started.

“Owyn, wait!” One of my thralls called out. He hastily set down the rock he was carrying and jogged over to Owyn. “I heard my kid was going to be in the next batch. Think I can come with?”

Owyn took a second to decide. Probably trying to figure out if it was me asking, or the thrall. “Sure.” He said plainly.

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The man grinned. “Thanks!”

They walked in relative silence to the base of the cave. Knowing the routine, Damian just picked Owyn up under the shoulders and took off, carrying him up to the top. Owyn waited for his guide while Damian went to pick up the thrall. Once back, Owyn asked someone to guide him, so I had Damian offer him a shoulder to hold on to while he guided the newly blind archer.

My thrall tried making conversation, saying that even with his dark vision, it was dimmer up here than down below. The only reason he could see at all anymore was because he was still in my domain, but maybe we could bring up some of the glowing moss up here to light the way.

Not a bad idea really. Growing plants was kind of a ‘set and forget’ deal with me. Moss especially. Hell, the moss room next to my old core room was spreading out quite a bit, even going so far as to dipping into the pond with the guppies. The guppies ate it fervently, so it never really made it far. Briefly, I wondered how my guppies had survived without me, but then I counted them. Yeah, best not to think about it.

Hopefully they were dead when the guppies attempted cannibalism.

The trio walked unobstructed through my dungeon. However, Owyn stopped at one point, glancing down a pathway I hadn’t claimed. It was one of the dead ends that didn’t hold any villagers. Because although having five villagers every five rooms was nice, there were only so many rooms in the cave system. Originally, the church had only planted the villagers along the shortest path leading to the exit, but some of them had to be down some of the dead ends. They did inform me which ways I had to go in order to not trap any of the villagers, but I already knew that much from what I was able to remember from Abby’s map thing.

Still, the fact that he stopped at one of the dead ends that wasn’t occupied interested me.

“Ratkin.” Owyn informed me, as if he read my mind.

Ah, is that what’s over there?

There’s a dungeon Master. Damian informed me. He sneered a little. A weak one.

“Excuse me.” Damian told Owyn politely. He took his knives out of his belt with a grin.

He’ll be fine. I said. You two can probably keep going.

The thrall passed on the message to Owyn. Owyn, maybe a little hesitantly, agreed, placing his hand on the thrall's shoulder for him to lead Owyn onwards.

Two knights awaited them, sitting on stools halfway inside my dungeon. At the sound of people approaching, they wisely stood and departed, as had been the routine up until now.

“Daddy!” A little girl shouted. I could hear the knights freeze in place as they turned around.

Owyn let go of the thrall's shoulder, apparently able to see now. I took that as my cue to expand my domain into the next room, where I could see the knights looking back. With my domain expanding, they seemed to take the hint and hurried on.

I expanded my domain one room ahead of Owyn and the thrall, picking up speed as the thrall began jogging forward expectantly.

“Daddy! That’s my daddy! Daaa-ddyyyyy!!” The little girl sounded on the verge of tears.

My thrall seemed to share the sentiment. “Hey baby girl! Have you been a good girl for Mrs. Trundle?”

My domain finally expanded over the villagers. And the good contained in the room with them. Wood, for fire, like we’d requested, and of course the now regular shipments of food, but also something extra. Pacified dungeon cores.

A fat older lady, probably Mrs. Trundle, held onto the screaming little girl, holding her back. “No! Dear, look at his eyes! They’re like the big scary mans! He’s been enthralled!”

My thrall crouched, almost kneeling, while holding his hands up in surrender. “I know! I am. But look-”

I stopped paying attention to the conversation, fully invested in the pacified dungeon cores also within the room. So many! Ten! I could give some to the bat that’s going to help Grant! Maybe I could finally give one to Sneaky the second, so her face doesn’t look like a butthole! No, I needed to save them. Sneaky wasn’t an emergency. She could still eat just fine, and both Sneakies were growing to the length of the original over time. Maybe I didn’t need to-

“NOOOOOO!” The little girl shrieked. “That’s my daddy!”

Her screaming was annoying.

Shut up. I commanded. I didn’t like loud noises in my dreams. Well, not the non-exciting kind anyway.

Anyways, where was I? Right! Planning on where the cores would go! Well I’d need at least three for Grant, so that left me with seven left. Maybe six, we’d have to see. Owyn needed a new light, apparently, so maybe I should give him one? In fact, maybe I should give the humans a few, just so they can… have…

The room was quiet. Too quiet.

I turned back around, to see the little girl silently crying, hugging her father. He too was crying. The other humans in the room? They were all looking around, gaping their mouths like they were trying to shout.

Whoops.

Sound returned to the room in a flash. Several screaming adults, Owyn attempting to shout my name, and a little girl shrieking like a siren. I had to cup my ears, though that didn’t really help. Omnipotent and all.

Alright, alright already! Come on, calm down!

I also heard some murmuring from the exit. Knight gauntlets briefly phased through into my domain as they gestured to each other in hushed conversation. I teleported myself over to get a better ear on it.

“Get the priests! Any of them! Go!”

The sound of fading footprints.

Damn, guess I was a little too late. Whatever. I instructed my thrall to nudge Owyn. To have him begin his little introduction speech.

Owyn rounded on the dude, something blazing in his eyes. “Contact Lucid! NOW!”

The thrall was taken aback. “He can hear you. What do you want?”

“THAT!” Owyn gestured wildly to the room as a whole. “How’d he do that!!”

Do what? The silence thing?

“YES!!!” Owyn exasperated.

I enforced my will, silencing the room once more. Just for a few seconds, but I let it return to normal afterwards. Like that?

Owyn swung his hands in wild gestures, unable to form coherent thoughts. He spun in place, turning his bacon everything so he could come to council with himself. I smirked a little at the display, but we had places to be, and things to do. I had the thrall give Owyns speech that I’d heard so many times by now.

“Look, everyone, like it or not, there’s no going back out the other way. Right now, the church is giving you to Lucid, the dungeon, and he’s going to take care of you all. Even you little one.” He pinched his daughter's nose, which set her into a short fit of sniffly giggles. “We need to get you out of here though, it’s a lot safer for you down deeper in the dungeon. Lucid has a place for everyone to sleep, and some food, although it’s not as good as what’s up here.”

The villagers seemed hesitant to follow him when he stood up with his daughter cradled in one arm.

“You’re a thrall.”

“Yes, and?” My thrall challenged the old fat lady. “I’m still me. I still love my daughter, and I’m not going to let her come to harm. Now are you coming or not?”

Owyn turned back to my thrall with a deep breath. “How did you do that?” He asked.

“You know, you don’t have to talk to me.” The thrall said. “Lucid can hear you no matter where you are.”

“Yes, but he can’t talk back unless it’s through you.”

Fair point. I offered. And I just used my will. Same as I do anything else. Why?

“Because you can’t do magic!” Owyn said.

Oh.

OH!

Oh…

I thought for a while.

A second later, a blue screen popped up in front of Owyn. I couldn’t see it, but I could tell by how his eyes moved that he saw it.

His hand violently cut through it. “I thought you- that was…”

What? I asked. Articulate your thoughts man, out with it.

My thrall didn’t say that, and just raised an eyebrow. Which was close enough to the sentiment I wanted to convey.

“Dungeons use their monsters to do things.” Owyn said. “Some excrete flammable gas. Some create poison. Some seem like they’re able to go completely invisible. But it’s not magic. I thought that maybe you had… I don’t know, some sort of hallucinogen or something? Making me see stuff that wasn’t there!”

Now it was my turn to raise the eyebrow. So you’re saying I was doing the impossible from the beginning?

“I thought your fish-things did something to the air!” Owyn half shouted.

The guppies? They’re just fish. My thrall told Owyn as much.

Owyn looked like he was on the verge of strangling the poor man.

I smirked a little, greatly amused. Wait, so does that mean I can do magic?

I immediately tried the first thing that came to mind, to increase the gravity in the room. Nothing happened.

Boo. I pouted.

“You shouldn’t be able to do that!!” Owyn half shouted. “I know every monster you have! I know exactly what your limits are! How-”

Owyn tottered a little, lightheaded from shouting too much. Damian walked up behind him, holding a bloody dungeon core, still fully intact. It was screaming obscenities at my demon, so I just let him eat it to shut it up.

I chuckled. Well it seems like I have some more experimenting to do.

Magic! Could you believe it! I was elated! I wondered what the difference was between silencing the room and increasing gravity? Was it scale? Some difficulty thing I didn’t understand? Could I summon fire? I really wanted to summon fire.

I snapped my fingers, trying to summon a giant fireball. Maybe a little cocky. Nothing happened.

I irked, trying again. Big fire! Come on!

Nothing.

I pushed, deciding that I must be able to summon fire. In my domain, I was GOD! I’d done this before in my dreams damnit! This should be easy! FIRE!

Mana drained from me rapidly, and a little candlelight spawned at the tip of my finger. In less than a second, I ran myself dry of mana.

Huh. I grinned wildly. Also somehow out of breath. And my chest hurt?

Interesting…

“Dungeon Lucid!” Came a new voice. One I actually recognized. The high priest fellow. What was his name again? Eh, it didn’t matter.

DIE! I commanded him.

Damian and my human thrall lurched to obey my order, but I stopped them before they got too far. The command wasn’t for them, I just wanted to see if I could drop someone with magic alone. Maybe I could, but I was out of mana, so not now.

Maybe next time. I thought with a grin.

The high priest bowed low, presenting a small bundle. I could sense nearly a hundred broken cores within. “We have heard of your newest ability to silence us mortals! Please, accept this as a token of our admiration!”

I nodded, jutting my head for Damian to go collect our prize. He obeyed silently, walking straight through the four villagers still huddled in the middle of the room. They parted ways for him, watching as Damian picked up the pouch without a fuss.

The high priest straightened up with a smile. “Excellent! If you ever-”

Domain’s knife flashed, and a fountain of blood spurted out from the man's throat. His mana collected within me, much to my pleasure.

But still. I had to chastise Damian.

Now now, we need to keep a reputation here Damian. Can’t have the good people afraid of me, now can we?

Let them fear me. Damian huffed. A small amount of fire left his mouth with the expression. He turned his back on the two knights at the entrance who had drawn their swords. I am a being created to be feared.

Yes you are. I mused, floating alongside him. Did I just see some fire? Do that again!

For maybe the first time since I’d claimed him as my own, Damian smirked, clearly proud of himself. He opened his maw wide, emitting a hissing sound. I could see two slit holes on the inside of his cheek breathing out. When he shut his mouth, his teeth ground on each other, creating a spark.

The fireball that burst to life in front of his face wasn’t big. Hell, it was hardly larger than half a hand, but it wasn’t nothing. We’d have to work on that. We’d have to work on a lot of things! What else could I do with my newfound power? What else had I done before that Owyn might call bullshit on?

Wait a minute. When I first came into this world, wasn’t I able to spawn a grain of sand from nothing? I distinctly remember…

Oh… oh, now that’s an idea!

I rubbed my grubby little paws together giggling like a madman. I had so many things to do!