The Core observed the group of over two hundred sapients as they made their camp. It was quite thrilled with how many came, knowing it would get to kill more of them, but it still didn't know much about them and started to appraise the ones that seemed to be the leaders of the group.
Curnniliert's Status Location: Cloud-Burst Mountain Name: Curnniliert Rugmont Age: 29 Years Old Race: Human Level: 143 Class: Iron-Heart Warrior Health: 2688/2688 Mana: 263/263 Error! Unable to display further information!
Erulien's Status Location: Cloud-Burst Mountain Name: Erulien Trystan Age: 20 Years Old Race: Human Level: 125 Class: Conflagration Bladedancer Health: 627/627 Mana: 1571/1571 Error! Unable to display further information!
Mesquet's Status Location: Cloud-Burst Mountain Name: Mesquet Gyll Age: 134 Years Old Race: Elf Level: 137 Class: Restoration Mage Health: 593/593 Mana: 2142/2142 Error! Unable to display further information!
Pert's Status Location: Cloud-Burst Mountain Name: Pert Hollmunt Age: 46 Years Old Race: Human Level: 123 Class: Translocation Enchanter Health: 256/256 Mana: 3980/3980 Error! Unable to display further information!
Thail's Status Location: Cloud-Burst Mountain Name: Thail Lovso Age: 33 Years Old Race: Human Level: 188 Class: Stalwart Guardian Health: 5694/5694 Mana: 611/611 Error! Unable to display further information!
Vuveai's Status Location: Cloud-Burst Mountain Name: Vuveai Silc Age: 49 Years Old Race: Fox-Kin Level: 139 Class: Earthen Mage Health: 711/711 Mana: 2399/2399 Error! Unable to display further information!
Examining their statuses, it was startled to see most of them were double the level of those who'd entered before, and it was especially apprehensive towards the one named Thail Lovso as his level surpassed those around him by quite a lot. Other than the leaders, the rest of the group sat at around level 90-100 making the Core somewhat cautious, but Cie assured it, they were just going to be assessing it and not exterminating it.
The Core watched as a small army of tents cropped up, and the sky darkened. Giving one last look towards the gathering of tents, the Core returned within the Dungeon to prepare the floors more adequately for these sapients.
First, it told the Leech-kin to stay cautious and keep itself alive as it stayed on the Swamp floor which the sapients would be entering first. Next, it increased the number of Bats by a thousand and made a second den within another giant lyn tree. It had no idea how well the sapients would fare as the last ones didn't fight back at all and didn't give it any hint as to their fighting capabilities, so it didn't want to accidentally make the floor too hard and cause the sapients to give up on it.
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Leaving the Lyn Shade Parasitic Swamp, it entered the Weaving Caves of the Lost and increased the number of Grobs by two thousand, Bats by a thousand, and created six new Black Cave Bear dwellings for an extra three hundred Bears. It didn't create anymore Storm Hide Bears until it knows how strong they are compared to the sapients outside.
Lastly, it told the Progenitor to hide along with the Titan core; this was for its safety as it didn't want to lose the Progenitor under any circumstances, and also because it had no understanding of the Progenitor's true strength. Conceivably the Progenitor might easily be killed, but there was also an equal chance that it was much more powerful than the Core thought and it might accidentally kill all the sapients. Leaving the Core in a terrible position, so it took no chances and just had it hide. As for Cie? Apparently, Cie could hide itself with illusions, so it'll be able to watch the sapients along with the Core.
"Cie, should I seal the path to the Wyrm?" Cie thought over the question for a brief moment before deciding, "No Master, you shouldn't seal the path, for the sole reason that it'll make the stronger sapients cautious about coming here." The Core could understand that even strong sapients wouldn't just go waking up creatures like the Wyrm for no reason.
Looking around the Mana Spring room one last time before returning to resting its mind, a strange idea popped into the Core's thoughts, "Cie, what would happen if I placed a Blood-root inside the Mana Spring?" Cie was taken aback by the bizarre question, "Master, I've no idea what would happen, but the Blood-root would unquestionably undergo a change due to its oversaturation of Mana." The Core's curiosity led it to place a single Blood-root into the Mana Spring, and immediately something happened. The Blood-root began glowing sky blue and a web of midnight blue veins spread across its darkening red stem as it grew.
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Thail was stirred awake by a sudden low rumbling that grew every passing moment. Rushing out of his tent, Thail could feel the rumbling growing stronger and the sound of rocks splitting reached his ear. His attention snapped onto the entrance of the Dungeon where the quake and noise seemed to be coming from, but before he could do anything else, he spotted something shining blue pierce through the slope far above the Dungeon's entrance. A dark red spike with glowing midnight blue veins rose out of the mountain slope, and its size kept increasing as it grew taller, resembling a spire. The dark red spire continued rising for another thousand meters before jolting to a stop and sending one last mighty tremor along the mountain. Thail's shock towards the sudden event couldn't be underestimated. The entire camp was now awake; questions flew about the suddenly emerging spire around the camp, yet none had any answers.
"Thail!" Hearing his name called out by a young sounding voice, Thail spun around and spotted Erulien jogging towards him, "Thail! What in Aruba's name do you think the Spire is?" Thail sent an inspecting stare towards the spire, "I don't know, but the Dungeon's definitely getting more unusual the more we stay here." Erulien nodded at Thail's words. First, the Dungeon had thin Mana surrounding it which was already unheard of, and now there was this strange dark red spire that towered over their camp. "Thail, answer me honestly, do you think Elune could still be alive?" Worry filled Erulien's face as he asked his question, and Thail turned his gaze away from the spire, onto Erulien, "Again Erulien, I don't know, but we'll find out tomorrow, until then get some rest and hopefully the Dungeon won't do any more crazy shit." Erulien was downcast at Thail's answer; he felt Thail didn't want to dishonestly assure him and wanted him to prepare himself for the high chance that his sister was dead.
Thail sighed as he watched the dejected Erulien leaving to rest for the night. Thail sent one last look at the spire before shaking his head as he returned to his tent, hoping this bizarre Dungeon won't get stranger inside.
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The Core could only watch as the Blood-root continued to grow and eventually pierced into the ceiling of the cave, causing everything to start trembling as the Blood-root carved its way out. It only took about thirty seconds for the Blood-root to stop growing, and the Core got to see the aftermath.
The Blood-root's expansion had caused the Mana Spring to flood, and the Core quickly worked to expand the Mana Spring so that it wouldn't dissipate due to its insufficient size. Completing the expansion, the Core looked over the Blood-root whose stem at its base was now fifteen meters in radius. The stem grew much thinner the higher you looked. Unfortunately, the Core couldn't see how high the Blood-root had truly reached, but it could easily imagine that it likely exited outside above its Dungeon. "Master, would this even be considered a Blood-root anymore?" The Core was just as curious as Cie and appraised the Blood-root for changes.
Spine-Roots Spine-roots are found in areas with abnormally high Mana levels, and can most often be seen rising from the land within the Otherworld of Demons. Spine-roots are incredibly hard and resilient, making any fragments from them exceptional armor and weapons material. Additionally, their heightened constitution over Blood-roots makes Spine-roots even greater enchantment material. Few sapients have ever laid eyes upon this plant, and even less have ever damaged one. Rating: Exceptional Rare.
The Core and Cie were surprised to see the Blood-root had evolved into this Spine-root, and the Core decided to not assimilate it for now, as it would cost a lot to recreate it if its rating had any indication. "Master! This Spine-root isn't something the Nifilim have ever seen before, and now I'm the first of my kind to see it!" The Core turned its sight onto Cie who'd inflated in happiness. The Core didn't really understand why Cie was so happy about being the first of its kind to see the Spine-root. After all, everything about the Core was a first for the Nifilim and Cie didn't get happy towards that. "Master! You're unique but definitely not the first Dungeon we Nifilim have seen, but this plant, I'm the only one of my kind who knows of it!" Cie's inflation didn't falter at the Core's thoughts, and the Core learned why Cie was so happy.
The Core left the inflated Cie- who was feeling and inspecting the Spine-root closely -and headed to the entrance hoping it hadn't scared off the sapients with the creation of the Spine-root. Reaching the entrance, the Core was glad to see its worries were unfounded as it looked down onto the sapients' camp. The Core expanded its influence marginally outwards, just so that it could see how tall the Spine-root truly was, and it was quite astonished to turn around and see the Spine-root towering a little bit over a thousand meters tall. Its astonishment rapidly wore off, and the Core left the entrance and headed back to the Mana Spring room.
The Core was shining in excitement towards the Progenitor's evolution as it had laid within the Mana Spring for quite some time, and if a few seconds of being submerged in the Mana Spring was enough for the Blood-root to evolve so drastically, then the Core couldn't imagine the Progenitor's own evolutions.
Entering the Mana Spring cave, the Core didn't stop to look at the Spine-root or Cie and quietly returned to rest in its Core, so that it would be ready for any situations during the sapients' assessment of itself.