"Well shit" I cursed aloud, words echoing through the room. I needed mana, monsters, equipment...

"Damn, you can talk?" Interjected the imp.

"Yeah I can. Haven't done so since... a while ago" I admitted

"Thought you could only so from dark dealin'. too much of that melts the mind."

Not hesitating to ask whose mind it melted, I pressed with my main issue. "We've got an actual enemy on our hands, and we're barely strong enough to deal with one mole on our own, let alone-"

"We've got these." The imp interrupted, waving the thirsting spear. "More than enough to kill with a good stab, i'll get a decent meal and you'll get more power."

I had seen how this imp fought, and it was definitely tactical. Cunning, even. But one being could only do so much alone "Do you have any allies?"

"I've got a squad all right. Irnuuth, Thoguzod, Rorthrezol, and Zylthor, all imps. Our boss is a demon named zirzemoth, and he reports to a big toothy bastard named rargrareg."

I paused, feeling my head smoke at the information. I was already bad with names, and these sounded like they'd tie my old tongue in knots just trying to say. But this imp continued

"Julgas and Jorzmor run the place, but i know there's someone above them. Probably not one of the big seven yet, and I can't tell which it would even be. And i'm Mazrar. Feel like I should tell all of that, since you actually seem to care about your subjects."

"So many names... Mazrar was it?" I commented, giving my voice a dizzy spin.

"That's me! You said you were scarlet, right? If we're callin' eachother by names, not numbers." he said with disdain.

"Thanks for the info, Maz. Is there someone you want brought here first?"

"Let me back home. I'll tell my squad, and we'll get reaaal close together. In an hour or so, summon me back and i'll bring'em along. Just make sure you've got the mana for all of us!"

I pulsed in acceptance, releasing my mental grip on Mazrar. He seemed to rapidly sink into the earth, last sight of the imp being the curved fang of a spearhead. It lingered in my perception, and my mind snapped to lock onto it. My mind pulsed, dozen strands of mana lashing out to stabilize a connection, and...

Skill: Observation has risen to level 5. Learned: Split sight.

It somehow locked. External to my perception field I saw a small sphere centered around the head of the infused polearm, hazy image of Mazrar flying between crimson-brick buildings. I left it in the back pocket of my perception, and focused around with marvel at how much I could now see.

Jumps in level were incremental, but the fifth level specifically was a huge jump over 4. Where I could fit my walls and some of the tunnel around comfortably in my sight before, now I felt small in comparison to just how far I could zoom out.

And if I had this perception earlier, I would have seen how screwed I was. The tunnels branching out from the main cave weren't random dead-ends, they lead to somewhere larger. stronger. deeper. And obviously, angrier at having someone on it's doorstep. This wasn't a decoration of war, it was an announcement of pest control.

Unfortunately for you, I knew how to be the biggest pest there was. I sent another Dark Deal towards the obvious Dungeon.

Trade offer I receive You receive Attack moles at my doorstep? A wound for every block of ground you take. (this is a threat)

Where Rose and Mazrar would simply accept or decline these deals, The message I recieved from Ferrous Hill was long, angry, and familiar. A roar resounded through my walls, unrefined mass of sonic energy captured within my realm of three-dimensional space.

Response

What the dirt did you just mudding say about me you little worm? I'll have you know i graduated top of my class in the navy moles, and have been involved in numerous...

...Why was this mole-themed dungeon performing a riff of the fucking navy seals copypasta? Why did this mole-themed dungeon even know the navy seals copypasta? Was it of all things the universal constant rather than literally anything-

"Wait a second..." I said to no one. I couldn't understand Rose's language, but she could definitely understood my deals. The armwave at the end even confirmed it. This world had some level of translation going on, and chose a large, angry, and most importantly stupid way to express it. Qualities that seemed to match the mole dungeon to a T.

I finished consuming the mole's mad message, and looked on it in amazement.

A hundred and seventy five mana. This Dungeon was either too dumb to hold onto it's mana, or too busy flexing on me to care. If it could throw almost as much at me in one message as I could conjure with my entire core, it had mana to spare.

But I was going to make that mistake it's last. Another moleclaw spear Mazrar made floated under the power of my mana. I let it trickle in slowly rather than quickly, careful not to spill any, and etched a range rune into the flattest point of the blade I could find.

Draining ghost javelin Attack damage 1d8 Durability 150/150 Attack speed 11 Runes Range Special: Increased range, Phantom throw, +d4 life on hit

Generic infusion bled into the weapon, mixing and binding to the rune's written magic. The spear thinned, shortened, but condensed, slashing head reformed into a sharp point. The back sported small flight fins, throwing purpose clear.

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Having some inscription practice, I carved runes on my slate base. Memories of drawing on myself with marker took place, but my hand was guided by intention. guided by will.

Range rune carved. Free spaces: 6/8

Thirst rune carved. Free spaces: 5/8

Range rune carved. Free spaces: 4/8

Skill: Inscription has risen to level 3. Learned rune: Efficiency. Learned: Rune analysis.

The cost flattened me. 100 mana just to analyze a rune? The system must be joking.

I stopped, lining up another thirst rune for carving. This could mean anything, but almost always meant something useful- from decreased cost to increased speed to a flat-out boost at whatever the thing was already good at. I took a gamble and tried it on another moleclaw spear, inscribing and infusing in the same stroke of my mana brush

Skill: Enchantment has risen to level 2.

One more level and I'd have a new passive skill.

Moleclaw glaive Attack damage 2d6 Durability 175/175 Attack speed 18 Runes Efficiency Special: Greatly Increased range

While not as flashy as the other polearms, this one was clearly a good deal in all respects. Efficiency powered it up across the board, and between a near-doubling in damage and speed I doubted this specimen even needed any side effects.

I could feel myself try to breathe heavily, substituting it with pushing mana in and out of my walls. The moles were still coming, but now I was armed to deal with it. I told gave my duo of dark slimes a command.

"Dark slimes, take an infused spear and stab any mole who gets close." I ordered, following it up with telling the purple to simply poison spray things. "And all of you, bring any kills to the basin"

All three of my slimes jumped up and down, armed better than they should have any right to be. They absorbed their spears off to the side, holding them like a human soldier would hold a weapon under their arm, and waited for a tense few minutes

But none of us had to wait long.

My status window

Scarlet Brimstone, Blood altar. Core Attributes Skills Actions Life force 60 / 60 Observation 5/10 Rune analysis 100 mana Infuse equipment 50 mana Mana 17 / 200 Command 4/10 Spawn Monster 20 mana Conjure block 5-10 mana Mana gain 55 / Hour Inscription 3/10 Break block 1-5 mana Corrosive shot 3 mana EXP 5 / 55 Patience 3/10 Cantrips (1 mana) Runes 1/8 Level 1 / 9 Selection 3/10 Place block Drain blood Efficiency rune x0 40 mana Level 1 / 9 Enchantment 2/10 Poison Spray Tremor Stomp Thirst rune x2 20 mana Perk Points 0 Patronage 2/10 Dark deal Range rune x2 10 mana Summon Monsters Conjure Blocks Spawn: Imp (30), Zombie (20), Dark slime (10) Stone brick (2), Cobweb (5), mossy cobblestone (10) Monsters: Dark slime x3, purple slime Inventory: empty Perks: Well-armed (monster), Blackening magic (zombie), Arcane tutor (magic) Expand Status Window by trial and error Enemies: Ferrous Hill