During the past week, work has been busy with both companions

Xanthe seemed to have taken a liking to this frenzy of creation that took hold of him when he devoted himself to the task.

The heady music that exhaled from the Core troubled the senses, to the point of sometimes losing the notion of time

The Gem had, after all, the primary purpose of creating, and by merging with it Xanthe had taken over this wild obsession. His security could not be assured if he had no power, so he worked every day to build it

Life abounded under the satisfied gaze of the two friends, Xanthe also deepens every day the mental link he shared with the gem

The spiral and its secondary ramifications that make up the labyrinth were promptly edified, but they were far too empty to draw any satisfaction from it.

Due to the fact that most of the labyrinth consisted exclusively of corridors, the length of the labyrinth was much larger than its surface could suggest.

In fact, if one had to add the total length of all the paths in the labyrinth, the length would be much greater than the diameter of a place of this first stage.

At first, he had access only to a limited selection of creatures that existed in the world where he traveled. This selection extended step by step as the regeneration of Mana increased.

Nevertheless, the continuous increase in the size of his domain allowed him to constantly accelerate his speed of collecting mana.

He managed to get deeper into the psyche of the gem to find new species to ward off. These runes that the core contained were somehow imprint that needed only Mana to give life.

Xanthe mentally shuddered at the things that would be within his reach when his growth was more advanced

Until such time as that comes to pass, he had to do with the means at his disposal.

First, he selected various insects and worms that would be at the bottom of the food chain of his dungeon.

He then spread them evenly throughout the rooms and added basics mana plants such as moss, mushrooms, and grass for feeding.

Xanthe was indeed seen that the monsters he had summoned were feeding on the mana environment to live and therefore did not need food properly so called

However, classical animals and wild beasts claim living needs, which must be ensured.

He started adding rats, mice, bats, lizards, and snakes.

They ate the smaller creatures or plants and fed the larger animals.

They posed a rather insignificant threat, to be honest, but the ambient mana could give rise to interesting variants in the future. Their potential was not to be neglected.

The polished stone tunnels greened gradually, under the multiplication of vegetation.

However, the ambient mana was such that the mana moss and other enchanted herbs exhaled in unison the dungeon core, a soft bluish light

The plants in this world were unfamiliar to him, so Xanthe had no idea what effects they might have. So he decided to cultivate a lot of different varieties and see what the intruders avoided or did not.

What excited him the most was the proper monsters, the animals were friendly, but the real mark of the dungeons were the monsters and their Mana core.

The various creatures have invested in all the rooms of the first stage, allying sometimes to keep a corridor or a room.

However, the rivalry between species made certain rooms only guarded by a particular race.

Groups organized themselves spontaneously to organize patrols along the maze.

It seemed that his henchmen had an instinctive knowledge of the maze and circulated quite freely in it.

Xanthe was surprised at first but decided not to dwell on it, his situation and new abilities still seemed unfathomable.

Despite his undeniable results, Xanthe was not satisfied with the power of his creature.

The bad impression he had of their bodies could not go off so easily.

He had, of course, thought to equip them properly.

Until now the equipment of his monsters was most basic, the Goblins were equipped with the simplest blades, while the Kobolds preferred the spear.

The armor did not really fit his little frail creatures, it was more of a hindrance than anything else.

He had tried to cover a Goblin with a simple armor of iron, and the result was that the poor being could only advance at a slower pace.

It's just not his day, it would seem

He had attempted to directly alter the runes of his creatures, his plan was to gain access to new designs of more powerful creatures.

Or at least, an access to a sufficiently solid body and an intellect able to practice meditation.

But it was a waste of time, the runes still seemed too complex for him at this time.

He circled around and let his mind wander in his domain when he felt a familiar sensation. Curious he leaned over the source, and swore deeply!

In the center of the Dungeon Nucleus, which floated in the central hall of his domain.

He could recognize the Jade Orb he had wanted to take with him when he fled

"What happened to me, to lose it so easily ..." Xanthe plunged into deep thought.

His flight and the bizarre nature of his life had made him forget the preparations he had made upstream.

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Thinking about the Jade sphere that had merged with his new body, Xanthe smiled.

He had brought enough knowledge to shake this world!

But he was still too weak for that. For now, his priority would be to strengthen his dungeon.

For lack of ideas, he leaned toward his partner and told him of his distress.

The gem appeared and he felt it now familiar presence creep into his thoughts, not speaking, but trying to convey information.

One contact is enough for vast knowledge to be engraved in his mind.

The benefits of the Dungeon arrive faster than expected, smiles.

The Core suddenly brightened and this glow penetrated the spirit of Xanthe

The gem seemed to mention the link that united them to the creatures they had created.

The animals had a distant link with them, then come to the monsters directly under their orders from the core of mana that serves them as a heart.

Then came a third category, monsters so powerfully bound to them, that a fragment of their soul, is lodged in the dungeon core.

This third category of monsters are dungeon Boss and have qualities far superior to basic monsters.

This is the solution that Xanthe was desperate for. In a fight, quality is infinitely greater in importance than numbers.

If he could train the Boss thus formed, he would have one more assurance, and would not be afraid to open his den on the outside.

After all, to access more advanced options, it would need more mana amount. Its growth, which was initially exponential, was gradually being reduced.

To gain strength he would need an outside input, to rely on autarky growth could no longer work now.

Preparing to summon his last guardian, he decided that he would reside closer to his heart.

He thus separated the central hall into two circular halls of equal size. The first would be the residence of his Champion and located at the end of the labyrinth.

The room was large and oval, the bluish glow was here stronger than elsewhere and was reflected on the Runes carved into the rock.

He had decided to accompany his final creature by engraving some runes that would be useful in battle. The brute force was not the only way to victory, the traps would surprise many of his invaders. The scholar amused himself by anticipation

Behind the wall of this room, was the last room of the dungeon, which was where Xanthe's current body was resting. He fervently hoped that no one would ever enter here.

Feeling finally ready to endow his dungeon with his ultimate guardian, he asked the strongest of his ashenwolf to come into the champion's room.

He weighed the pros and cons and chose to make him his guardian.

He had seen great potential among the Kobolds, who appeared to have remnants of a powerful lineage.

But it was far too small to bet on it.

When the ashenwolf arrived in his future home, Xanthe prepared to bind it more to him.

Filled with the knowledge of the dungeon core, and driven by the force of habit Xanthe traced the proper rune with more attention than before.

When the symbol was about to be completed he kept his attention, and the supplied again and again with the ambient Mana.

The process seemed endless and took a significant amount of Xanthe's Mana reserves.

A glow burst, however, announcing the end of the maneuver

The Symbol fused with a loud whistle and hit the fur of the ashenwolf in which it melted.

The gem that forms the core of the monster turned from blue to black, a sign of its success, and the body of the Ashenwolf thickens and grows significantly.

Xanthe was fascinated by the transformations that affected his creature, it fleshes swelling and swelling under the effect of the mana increase it had received.

Soon, an impressive specimen stood before him.

The animal had turned white, and its size had grown considerably, to measure about a meter in the box.

The wolf was now the size of a pony and had to weigh a lot.

Its broad legs have long thin claws and retractable, effective to hunt, but also to move in silence and surprise his opponents.

His pointed ears up give him an attentive and intelligent look.

A change took place in the Dungeon Heart, which already housed the soul of Xanthe, and that of the dungeon now hosted the third soul.

Xanthe could feel the spirit of the ashenwolf searching for him, and He could feel the joy that the creature was taken from his new status.

Feeling bad to let a creature so special, anonymous and nameless. Xanthe spoke to him and said, "I call you Skhöl, show yourself worthy of your task"

However, this act, which he thought to be harmless, had real repercussions.

As if Xanthe had hit some invisible limit, a wave of pure power emanated from his heart and crossed Skhöl, which experimented, a new series of metamorphosis.

This wave continued along the labyrinth of Xanthe's domain until it reached its exit.

The rock did not resist this accumulation of mana for long and yielded without a sound.

And the sunlight infiltrated into the newly created opening.

The Dungeon Mana slowly escaped to the outside, warning the surrounding area of Xanthe's presence.