"Impossible," Leye thought, perplexed. "How is it possible that humans have managed to infiltrate this remote place so soon?"

The core had been able to observe the three people long before they reached him, through the trees that he controlled in increasing numbers. Still, there was little he could do.

"Two men and a woman. Warriors. Mother, please get me out of this."

The three approached with their swords and bows at the ready, as if someone were going to attack them. Although his energy points had increased, he could barely control a pair of parrots that had perched on his body. He couldn't even control the apes that were nearby. He considered attacking the intruders with the birds, but it was useless. The woman with the bow would kill them long before they reached her, and he would be left without sight of his surroundings.

"Approach cautiously," said one of the men, who seemed to be giving orders to the others. "I can feel immense magical energy emanating from this place."

The three beings approached and surrounded Leye, curiously observing the branches now sprouting from the ground around him.

When they saw there was no danger, they sheathed their weapons and began touching his scaled surface.

"I'm sure more than one lord would be willing to pay a fortune for this... specimen," said one of the men, but the other didn't seem to agree.

"There's no mineral to profit from, except that it's clearly a rarity. Besides, you tell me how we're supposed to get this thing out of the depths of the jungle."

There was no reply. Leye could do nothing but watch. He cursed his luck. If the first explorers had arrived, it was only a matter of time before a larger group of humans came with their wooden machines to extract him.

"I’ll end up in some museum as a trophy. My story ends here." He thought.

However, the woman with them finally spoke after circling the core for a while, studying its rough surface.

"It’s emanating too much magical energy to be a lunar rock. I think it's a power core," the woman said, studying the branches beneath the stone.

"Power core? What the hell are you talking about, Naya?" said the man who had suggested removing Leye from there.

"You know, the source that gives power and resources to the portals we raid. This one seems to be in a gestation state, but the masters speak of cores even in some of the most powerful cities of Ixtul, which could very well be highly powerful dungeons themselves."

"Damn, she knows too much."

"Sounds interesting. I wonder if there's any way to use it to our advantage. I mean, now that no one else has found it, I see no need to sell it to some merchant, only for it to eventually end up in the hands of our enemies," said the man who seemed to be the leader.

"I agree, my lord. It also seems to have adapted very well to the terrain. Do you know if there's any way to communicate with this thing, Naya?"

The woman shrugged as she handed her bow to the man in the green hood.

"I’ll try."

The woman placed a hand on the center of the rock and began to chant magical words in a language Leye didn’t understand. Suddenly, he felt connected to the human, whose eyes began to glow like two torches.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in our lands?"

"What am I? That’s a good question, as I’m not even sure myself. I think I’m the egg of a goddess."

Although the woman continued to speak in a strange language, Leye seemed to understand her... but on another plane.

"How long have you been here? Give us a good reason to consider something like you as an ally... or we’ll deal with you."

"I have no side. I just appeared, that's all. But you can bet that if you help me, I’ll use my abilities to your advantage. At first, I couldn’t control anything, but now some trees and small creatures are at my disposal. I’m sure I can expand, which could benefit you in some way."

The woman removed her hand from the rocky surface of Leye, which remained embedded in the ground like a dragon's egg, with pools of water and large roots surrounding it.

"Now I’m sure this is a dungeon core," she told the others as her eyes returned to normal. "My mana points skyrocketed while I touched it... as did my energy."

The men looked at Leye with keen interest as the woman now examined the terrain, from which the creatures had disappeared due to the humans’ presence, although Leye could sense some apes in the nearby bushes, watching with curiosity.

The leader of the three looked at the woman again, stroking his square jaw.

"If it's a core... it could start creating structures, halls, and traps, like the dungeons we find in the portals, right?"

"I believe so, sir. Although I’m not entirely sure. There are cores that never reach such capacity, just as there are others capable of creating empires if they are not stopped in time."

"Interesting, dear Naya. I think we might get something out of our little incursion, as long as we manage to keep all of this a secret. Communicate with it again. Ask if it’s willing to cooperate, and we'll certainly do what we can to accelerate its growth."

And so she did. Over the next half hour, the woman spoke frankly with Leye. They turned out to be dungeon hunters, whose portals had begun appearing in their country a few years ago, sparking envy and interest from a powerful regional force, which had invaded them because of it.

"I didn't know the human communities I saw from my mother’s womb were so complex, but it seems these budding beings could prove quite useful to me." He thought after the talk.

"He explained that water and the presence of animals seem to increase his energy points," the girl told her companions once she stepped away from Leye. "He asked us to test this by bringing water from a nearby stream, as well as some live creatures we can capture, to see if his power indeed increases."

"Very well, I’ll go," said the man in the cloak. "I’ll fill my canteen. You two wait here." He disappeared into the undergrowth after saying this.

"Don’t you think if he can control the apes and birds... he could control us too, Naya?" The man with the sword seemed worried.

"It’s possible, sir, but not to the same extent that he controls animals. He could influence us to be friendly toward him, but not bend our will to his whims. Or at least, that's how the shamans explain cores work. You know they tend to be secretive about their matters."

After a while, the third man returned with his container full of water.

They poured it into the ground around Leye.

"Your water-energy points have increased by five." The message appeared on Leye’s bluish interface. He felt indescribable pleasure at receiving the liquid, a sense of well-being that he didn’t experience with rainwater.

A cluster of ferns and branches sprouted rapidly around him, an instant germination.

The woman touched the surface again and then urged her companions to do the same. Leye watched with satisfaction as their faces lit up at the mana he provided.

"Seems like I’m not so lost after all."

"This is incredible," said the man in the hood. "I feel like I've had a restful sleep, and all from just touching this thing for a moment. This really is magic."

"I feel the same, Vidul. And you saw how the plants grew around it. I think this is getting interesting."

The man in the hood kept bringing water in quick trips, while the woman and the swordsman cleared the brush around the core. Somehow, Leye knew they were going to need rocks to start preparing for expansion.

"Bring me as many as you can," he told the woman.

They brought wet stones of various sizes and placed them next to the rocky egg that made up the core.

Leye focused intently, and suddenly, a stone pillar emerged from the ground, with a snake-shaped face.

"Did I create that? Or was it you, Mother?"

Fallen core of the goddess Tlaloc.

This type of egg doesn’t give birth, but absorbs nutrients from its surroundings, and can grow indefinitely if it knows how to manage its resources.

Current resources:

Water-energy: 100/200

Controlled creatures: 2 feathered birds.

Structures: 1

Area of influence: 3 leagues.

"So now I have a structure in my favor," Leye thought, feeling slightly tired as he watched the humans stare in astonishment at the structure that had appeared out of nowhere. "Although I still don't control these people."

"By all the heavens," said the leader, still gazing at the pillar. "We created a structure in a matter of minutes. Carving a pillar like this would take months, if not years. This is incredible."

"Indeed. Though I’ve never seen this deity before, my lord."

"It must be its mother," the girl said. "Somehow, it must control the structures born from its core."

"Mother or goddess," said the leader, the burly man with the sword. "We’ll use it to our advantage. I think we're going to have a lot of fun. I hope building dungeons comes as naturally to them as looting them."

The humans smiled at their master's words. Somehow, Leye felt the same. The game had just begun.

"Will these beings end up controlling me? Or will it be the other way around?"

----------------------------------------

Tlaloc moved her graceful body amidst the clouds, as the thunder echoed in the distance and the rain pelted her face.

The serpent-shaped goddess had access to two worlds: Tulta, the world of endless jungles, and Exeral, the world of eternal snows, which the dwarven gods had gradually taken over and barely allowed her to visit anymore.

She returned drenched to her jungles, where, despite her efforts, she had never managed to thrive. Rival gods, like the feathered Merdu, had caused several cities to prosper in the few valleys of that forested world, and now they relegated the other gods to the most hostile territories.

With the energy the game master had granted her, she had managed to leave three eggs hidden in places inaccessible to the other gods. If any of them discovered her precious eggs in their vulnerable state, they would destroy them. Only if their cores reached adulthood could they defend themselves, but even then, with the power the other gods had amassed, they wouldn't stand much of a chance.

One had already been destroyed—the one she had deposited in the caves of Landon, in the far north of the country. Somehow, a god had discovered it and obliterated it with a devastating lightning bolt. Two remained: one she had hidden at the bottom of the mighty Uth River, which was her hope, and the one in the jungle, from which she didn’t expect much, as it was close to a powerful country, full of powerful adventurers on the hunt.

At that moment, she flew near the jungle, so she decided to take a look, moving her colossal green body through the clouds.

"It can't be," she thought, observing the small map in the middle of the jungle with her keen eyes. There were already some stone buildings around the core. "It’s been discovered by humans, but somehow it seems to be thriving."

Excited, she sent Divine Energy points to the area to accelerate its growth. She would be left exhausted, but it was a gamble worth taking.

*******

"I can't believe this is considered a dungeon," Orec said as he sheathed his sword. He had already massacred most of the enemies with his greatsword while riding his jaguar. The men would take care of the rest. "The portals that emerge in this country match their level."

"There are those who say that's exactly how they're designed," Yowo said beside him, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Lately, she'd become more haughty. Orec suspected it was because of her beauty. All the men in his squad drooled over her, but of course, only he could enjoy her curves and ferocity, though he wouldn’t tolerate her turning against him.

"Well, I find it boring. I want to get out of this estate."

Normally, he and his group would have waited for the exhausted Anen hunters to exit the portal, ready to ambush them and steal their loot. But this time, Orec himself had rallied his men to enter early and attack right there.

The timing had been perfect: his fierce warriors fell on the enemy's rear just as they were struggling with the dungeon boss and his entourage—a group of muscular, green-skinned orcs in a sandy valley.

The poor hunters stood no chance, caught between the Eyen squad at their back and the weakened orcs.

Orec himself had charged into the fray with his diamond sword, slaying the dungeon boss, a hulking orc archer, and claiming the monster's experience for himself. He then took out the strongest anaita warriors, tripling his experience in the process.

He needed no more, so he left the remaining monsters and hunters to his men and the beautiful girl at his side. He’d let them divvy up the loot too. He couldn't be too greedy; otherwise, his men might turn on him eventually.

"A few more portals like this and a few more defeated natives, and I'll be the most powerful chief of all the Eyen squads. It won’t be long before I’m named Quartermaster Chief of the Guild, and I can leave this mosquito-infested hellhole," he thought as he watched his men ruthlessly looting the orc corpses, their greenish blood splattered across the canvas tents. "But I’d better keep that to myself. Envy can arise even among my men, especially with this beauty beside me. Her curves and flawless white skin don't fool me—she’s as ambitious, if not more so, than I am. I need to proceed cautiously."

Being the leader of a mercenary squad wasn't easy. In a nest of piranhas, if you wanted to rise, you had to be discreet in how you gained power. That way, by the time others noticed your strength, there’d be nothing they could do about it.

He glanced at the girl beside him, who, from atop her white panther, watched her loyal men gather gold. Her bare legs were incentive enough for the men to strive in battle. Yowo knew this well and kept their relationship hidden from the others. That suited Orec just fine. He enjoyed her ferocity in bed but didn’t see her as a woman to cherish. She was an ally, but he knew that the privileges of her beauty were probably shared with other men as well.

"So be it. I only need her skills with a short sword to gain a bit more experience, and then I can discard her like any other dungeon monster." He thought.

"Hurry up!" he suddenly shouted to his men, as if an urgent inner voice had spurred him on. "The portal will close in a few hours. Take as much gold as you can from these creatures, though it doesn’t look like there’s much. But you'd better be quick if you don’t want to get trapped in this wretched portal."

Once he was sure there was nothing left to oversee, he left the portal, returning to the jungle landscape of Anen, where there were barely any valleys to traverse.

"My feminine intuition was right," Yowo said, riding her panther beside him as they neared the camp. "We should've gone to the northern portal. We didn’t find anything valuable here, except for the meager experience from the creatures. And you took it all."

She was right. However, the other portal was in the dense jungle. Somehow, Orec didn’t feel comfortable in such dense terrain, though his panther could easily navigate it.

"It was an opportunity I couldn't pass up," he said with a shrug. "I promise you'll get all the big monsters in the next portal."

Stolen novel; please report.

By now, the girl was almost as strong in experience and weaponry as Orec himself—a privilege the squad leader had allowed her in exchange for other benefits. But she stood no chance against him in an open fight, so he could let her gather power up to a point.

Then, as they neared the main camp, he felt it. A wave of energy unlike anything he’d felt in this country. Only in the largest portals of Ixtal had he experienced such magical energy.

It came like a breeze of pleasant scents suddenly filling his nose, accompanied by a rush of memories.

"Do you feel that?" he asked the girl, who had undoubtedly felt it too.

"Yes," she replied quietly, as if afraid their flanking men might overhear. "It seems to be coming from deep within the jungle, from where that projectile fell from the sky a few nights ago."

Orec looked in that direction, where a forest as dense as midnight loomed before them.

"Damn, I hate the jungle," he thought, feeling his greed intensify. "But that’s too much magical energy. I can’t pass up this chance."

He chose to stay silent, pretending nothing was amiss.

That night, while his men got drunk in the camp, celebrating the slaughter in the orc portal, he drank just enough. When his desires demanded it, he led Yowo to his tent, and intoxicated by her beauty, he removed the short clothes she wore for battle and took her with the same fervor he had when slaying his enemies earlier that day.

After their passionate encounter, he held her, stroking her shoulder. Outside the tent, he could hear the voices of his drunken men.

"I can still feel the magical energy from where we passed," he told Yowo, who was still catching her breath from their fervent encounter. "We'll definitely have to go, but we should do it alone. I thought about not telling you, but I think I’ll need your help."

She simply sighed.

"Fine, but we’d better do it at dawn, when the men won’t suspect anything. Just be a bit more generous with the experience we find there."

Orec agreed. If it turned out to be a challenging dungeon, they could always retreat. Something told him that the loot they’d find would save them many months of fighting in other dungeons against the local natives.

"I must achieve my goal at the lowest cost, and this seems like the perfect opportunity."

He wasn’t thrilled about having to share the experience with Yowo, but he knew her help would secure their victory. In any case, with the power gained there, he’d still be stronger than her, and he probably wouldn’t see her again after that mission.

Filled with excitement, he turned her around and took her again, sealing their alliance. She seemed more willing than ever.

Nilu felt exhausted, but happy. He had spent most of the day like a farmer, using his combat sword to cut down unnecessary plants and trees around the core.

Whenever he ran out of energy, he placed his hand on the rocky egg, and it would provide him with more. By the time he finished the work, however, he threw himself onto the ground beside the egg and enthusiastically observed the surrounding terrain, ready to place the stones the core had requested.

After a while, his companions, Vidul and Naya, returned. They were carrying several pendants that had undoubtedly given them the energy to return there so quickly. The magical gems embedded in the jewelry gleamed in the depths of the jungle.

"So? How did the mission go?" he asked as they both unloaded their weapons near the small stone house they had created in less than a day.

"Easier than we thought," the man said, sitting next to his leader. Although he didn't seem tired, Nilu noticed his companion's lack of energy only when he got closer. "I never thought that two people could clear a level three portal on their own. This is incredible, though I must admit that most of the dirty work was done by Naya with her magic arrows. The trolls in the dungeon were smarter than we would have liked, but our skilled warrior positioned herself on top of a hill and took them out without much trouble. My job was mining and looting."

Nilu knew his friend was being modest. While everything he said about the archer's skill was true, a level-three dungeon wasn't cleared solely with the abilities of one warrior. No doubt Vidul's magical and slowing attacks had been necessary. That would explain his low mana level, which he was now replenishing rapidly since sitting next to Leye, as the girl had told them the core was named.

"From what I see, you haven't been idle either, my lord," she said after coming out of the small house where she had left the jewelry and mana gems. As the days had passed, her companions had cleared the nearby dungeons, which, thanks to the core's magic, they could track more easily while remaining hidden from the dangerous Eyen squads. "We already have the space we need to get to work."

"That's right," Nilu thought with satisfaction, as he looked at the small space where he had been clearing the undergrowth. Beside the house and other pillars with snake faces that the core had created to honor its goddess, a small wall the size of a bull had risen around the rocky egg, giving it symbolic protection. With the mana gems his companions had obtained, soon that wall would be high enough to fully protect the core.

"Rest as much as you need; you must be exhausted. The jungle has provided us with some rabbits for food. Soon, the real work will begin."

His companions sighed but followed his instructions. They started a fire, and in no time, they were roasting the meat, its aroma piercing Nilu's senses.

"I hadn't realized how old I'm getting until I enjoyed staying here, setting up camp, more than going out to clear portals in the valley with you. Did you notice any significant changes in them?"

"No, sir," said Vidul. "The monsters are just as fierce, and some, the higher-level ones, have complex and difficult terrain to navigate. We need to assess the situation beforehand rather than rush in like wild beasts. Other than that, the monsters fall to our spells and give us as much mana and loot as always."

Nilu nodded, looking around curiously. At that moment, the place they now called camp looked like a pigsty full of puddles and half-finished stones. But the leader of the small anaita squad saw everything with different eyes—the eyes of the future: soon, that place would be a true fortress, a labyrinth that would make reaching the core impossible. They would only need enough mana gems, along with hard work and effort.

"No, this will be much more than a fortress. It will be a city—an imperial city covered and protected by the jungle." He thought, excited.

Once they finished eating, they followed their routine from the past few days. Naya, who was the only one who could communicate with Leye, placed her hand on the rock, and after a moment, she began drawing on a flat stone with charcoal, following the map that the core suggested to start building around it.

"It doesn’t seem very complex, though it will demand more work than we've done so far. We’d better make the most of what’s left of the day. Something tells me we need to have this wall ready as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir. Apparently, Leye has a bad feeling, too. He says he hopes we complete these walls so that by morning, we can start on the second level."

"Alright, let’s get to work."

The rest of the day, they focused on building the walls that the core had demanded. Although it seemed like a simple task, they had to rest every now and then. The three hunters channeled their energy with outstretched hands until, little by little, the small stone blocks started to materialize, stacking themselves as they appeared.

They hadn't even reached the halfway point when night fell.

"We’d better rest a bit. It’s time to regain energy naturally. I’m sure that by now, even the core needs to rest," Nilu told his men. "I'll take the first watch. I'll wake you up in a few hours, Vidul."

And so they did. Night arrived with heavy rains, so the leader also moved away from the core to take shelter in the house they had already built.

Suddenly, the sense of foreboding he had felt manifested as a tangible wave of energy. Something or someone, visibly powerful, was headed their way. He instinctively grabbed his sword. A battle was coming. They would have to step over his and his companions' corpses before they could take the core.

----------------------------------------

Leye was overflowing with happiness. His mana points, or "waterenergy" as they appeared on his interface, kept rising.

Now that he had three humans linked to his center of gravity, his mana was doubling every minute. Moreover, the constant rain continued to grant his good waves of experience, which he channeled to the three hunters.

"I hope they don't betray me and actually build the walls that will save me from other adventurers."

It was the deepest part of the night, and the leader of the human heroes had gone to sleep in the small stone house they had created, which now served as their armory.

In his place, Naya had sat beside Leye's rocky ground to keep watch through the night. Of the three outsiders who now made up his group of warriors, he was the one Leye liked the most. It was obvious, as she was the only one who could communicate with him, indicating how to build the walls around him in a way that would be more effective in an eventual defense.

Leye began to tremble. The girl knew that whenever the core did this, it wanted to communicate with her. So, she placed her hand on it to enter the telepathic plane. Although Leye understood some words of the hunters' language, there were still many gaps, which frustrated him.

"Have you been to other dungeons?" Leye asked the woman as she observed the small half-built stone walls around him. "I understand that you’re hunters. I suppose, even if you're low-level, you must have looted several. And I bet at least one of them impressed you."

The girl seemed amused by Leye's question.

"You can bet we've been through several portals. Lately, our level has gone up a lot, but the ones we've looted so far have been average low-level. They don't go beyond level three. Some are dazzling… and terrifying."

"So, what level am I right now?"

"You haven’t even reached level one, but I think you're just a few hundred experience points away from hitting it."

Leye hadn’t realized how vulnerable he was until that moment. These people could have overpowered him, but for some strange reason, they had left him alone, and now they were helping him grow. Was that kind of luck just random, or was his mother behind it? He wondered how much power a goddess like that wielded.

"I can't help but ask why you helped convince your companions to help me… instead of selling me in some human market."

She sighed before responding.

"You have no idea how cumbersome it can be to move a rock of your size in a place like the jungle. While the people of Anen are known for our ability to travel great distances through the jungle, it's still complicated to move a rock of your size, especially with so many enemy hunter squads around. On the other hand, the prospect of creating a dungeon is never a bad thing. Who knows? We might build a true walled city around you, which could, in turn, control many cities nearby. I think being part of something like that excites my companions as much as it excites me."

"That makes sense. I suppose building cities the traditional way, without the help of a core, isn't as fun."

"You can bet it's not."

"I guess it makes sense to want to create a portal after raiding several. Tell me about one that was difficult to loot with your friends and that also impressed you. I want ideas for the dungeon."

She thought for a moment, her eyes gleaming at the rock.

"Not long ago, we were in a huge portal, an ancient forest where dinosaurs were the main monsters, although there were also some naga and blue dragons, which turned out to be harder to defeat than we expected."

"A forest? It didn’t have any structures to protect the core?"

"No. Just the forest's density. In this case, the core was a creature, a red tyrannosaurus the size of a castle. The bastard almost devoured us. We call that a wild dungeon. This one was low-level since those that have intelligent monsters building structures usually require larger groups of hunters to clear."

"Or more powerful hunters."

"Indeed. Although I see where your question is headed. You want to know what kind of buildings we could create around you. Something striking."

"Striking, but above all, secure. I wouldn't mind if it looked like an old cave or the slums of a human city, as long as it's a nightmare for adventurers to navigate. But if it can kill intruders effectively and look stylish too, all the better."

The girl pondered for a while, staring at the ground.

"We were in a dungeon on a frozen mountain. The building where the boss, a steam technology mage, was located had five levels, with the difficulty increasing as we climbed. As you can imagine, at the top was the mage himself, surrounded by deadly traps. Even so, our previous experience and Vidul's revealing spells allowed us to come out victorious, with a good amount of mana gems."

That seemed like a good idea.

"I think that sounds pretty good. A building with multiple floors, with me at the top."

"That’s going to be a bit tricky since you’re anchored to the ground. But we could build a pyramid, where the higher floors are the easiest levels, and as they descend, they become more complex."

Leye agreed with the idea. After all, she didn't want to lose her connection to the roots that pierced through her, allowing her to control more and more trees. The same trees that, at that very moment, felt a powerful presence approaching.

Naya withdrew her hand from Leye's rocky surface and stood up to look eastward, like a wolf sensing an approaching enemy pack.

"For heaven's sake, it’s a truly powerful force," the core thought, starting to feel fear, a terror she hadn't felt since those hunters who were now her allies had first entered her territory.

"I’d better wake the others," the girl said, and with a bang, she opened the wooden door of the house. "You’d better grab your weapons; we have visitors!"

The three warriors positioned themselves behind the few walls they had built around Leye, waiting for whatever was approaching.

After a few minutes, two intruders emerged from the bushes, riding panthers with orange fur.

"Eyen squads," Nilu whispered in his language. Leye understood from his tone that they were bad news.

A burly man with shoulder-length hair wielding a sword in each hand and a pale, beautiful woman at his side. Her gaze was more ambitious than the beast she rode, and her two short, curved swords seemed to have no intention of being sheathed.

"We know you're there," the man said in a calm voice. "Show yourselves now, and maybe things won’t go too badly for you."

Nilu was the first to step out from behind one of the stone walls. His companions followed, keeping their weapons visible to the intruders.

"Anaita hunters," the woman said, looking at the defenders with curiosity. "Though you don’t really seem to be the source of so much energy."

"We’re more powerful than you might think, Ixtalites," Nilu replied, his voice unfriendly. "You’d better leave. Believe me, you don’t want to fight us. Not in the middle of the jungle."

The woman burst into laughter.

"You’d better watch your words, vermin," she replied, glancing amusedly at the man with two swords. "A hunter as low-level as you wouldn’t last even three minutes in a fight against us."

"Maybe not in common terrain, but in our dungeon, there's not much you can do against our power."

"Dungeon?"

The two intruders laughed in unison at this last remark.

"Are you calling these three crumbling walls a dungeon? You must be more desperate than you look. I'm feeling generous today, so I'll make you an offer I’m sure you won’t refuse: disappear into the underbrush like the forest rats you are. You have one minute if you want to keep your miserable lives for a few more days until we find you again."

For a moment, Leye feared the worst. Despite his limited powers, he could sense that these intruders were much stronger than his allies, who stood their ground with clear trepidation.

As the core analyzed the evident power of the intruders, the minute of mercy the enemy warrior had granted passed quicker than desired.

"Very well, you inspired so much pity that we decided to give you a chance, but since you insist, we’ll take that mysterious rock and the insignificant experience your corpses will give us," said the man as he leaped at Nilu without hesitation.

Leye could see the surprise in the enemy's eyes as he realized the swordsman was defending against his strikes with skill, though with effort.

Suddenly, a voice resonated in Leye's mind as his other allies struggled to survive the onslaught of the reddish-brown-haired female hunter.

"Can you hear me, son? I am Tlaloc, the thunder-flying goddess."

Leye felt an indescribable joy at hearing his mother's voice for the first time, along with a surge of energy flooding into his being.

"Mother? How wonderful to hear from you. Some words of encouragement wouldn't hurt right now. As you can see, I'm in a bit of a tight spot."

"I'm sorry, son, we’re not allowed to speak to our cores until they surpass the initial levels. But I sensed you were in danger, so I used some bonus points I had to reach out to you," the voice sounded distant and deep, with an echo. "Listen, I’ve just transferred a good amount of energy points to you. The adventurers are more powerful than the heroes on your side, but if you transfer the points immediately, your allies might stand a chance. Distribute them wisely, or you may not make it out of this. I don't have any more points to keep communicating, but if you manage to reach level six, we'll meet again. Good luck, son."

His mother's voice faded, but a message immediately appeared on his bluish interface.

Leye looked at the creatures he controlled on the interface. Some represented the parrots and the monkeys he had managed to control with his energy, while others were the faces of the heroes now struggling to survive against the enemies.

Although he knew the burly swordsman was the group leader, something told him he should allocate a greater amount to the archer, who deep down seemed to have more influence over the others.

Using the interface, he allocated seventy points to her and forty to the other warriors.

Instantly, he could perceive a sky-blue aura emanating from his allies, and another message appeared on his personal interface.

Suddenly, the battle began to turn in favor of Leye’s allies, who were now fighting with more skill than the enemies. With a swift slash, Nilu killed the beast the woman was riding by driving his sword into one of its eyes.

The creature died with a heart-wrenching roar, but the adventurer leaped off the animal and continued fighting.

Almost simultaneously, one of Naya’s arrows struck the other panther’s face, killing it instantly. Leye received a surge of mana and experience from the two fallen creatures.

However, the enemies seemed to be fighting even better, now that they were on foot like the defenders. A reddish aura began to surround them, and Leye could feel their energy increasing.

They were regaining the ground they had lost, pushing the three dungeon heroes back toward the core.

“Damn it, the only thing holding them back are Naya's annoying arrows. If they reach her, it’s all over.”

The enemies seemed to sense unconsciously that the archer was the most powerful, and indeed, her arrows were making them fight with less precision. Nilu and Vidul did their best to keep the enemies at bay, but they fought with a fluidity they hadn’t shown before.

The allied mage struggled to use his obstruction spells, summoning plants from the ground to distract the invaders, but their level was too high to even notice them.

Then, without warning, the female enemy adventurer allowed her companion to move ahead, spurred on by the adrenaline of the fight, and drove one of her short swords into his back.

He turned to her, stunned.

“What have you done?! You damn bitch!”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m getting rid of you, idiot.”

The heroes defending Leye didn’t waste the opportunity. They struck the wounded adventurer with empowered attacks simultaneously, and he died with a harrowing scream.

Leye’s mana and experience increased significantly as the enemy’s body evaporated.

The three allied warriors seemed invigorated by the death of one of their opponents, though the core could sense their fatigue. Their energy and mana levels were drained.

The enemy woman appeared ready to keep fighting, but she stood with her swords raised, gazing mockingly at the three warriors, who also had their weapons at the ready but didn't attack.

“Don’t even try it, rookies,” she said, eyeing them all without flinching. “Even though I’m alone now, it wouldn’t take much for me to finish you off. I’d take your experience and that core you’re so fiercely protecting.”

“You don’t stand a chance,” Nilu replied, raising his sword. “We’ll give you one chance to leave. Do it now, or prepare to die in this desolate jungle.”

The girl smirked but sheathed her swords, though she never took her eyes off the allied heroes. Her reddish aura also began to fade little by little.

“You don’t even believe your own words, Anaita. In your current state, you couldn’t repel even a band of monkeys; but it’s your lucky day. Since you helped me get rid of this greedy idiot, I’m willing to negotiate.”

Leye was as perplexed as the heroes. Though he didn’t dare intervene, he focused on his allies’ expressions, who remained with their weapons ready.

“Negotiate? We have nothing to bargain with a filthy Ixtalite. While we speak, the territory is gradually restoring our energy. You have no chance, especially with your watchdog dead.” Vidul tried to sound threatening, but Leye knew he wasn't fooling even himself.

“Oh, I bet you do,” the woman said calmly. “Listen, I’m no fool: I know what’s behind you, and why you’re so keen on defending it with your lives. It’s a core. I could tell the moment I saw its shape. Now, I’m sure that with my experience and yours, we could turn this little rock into a promising dungeon in no time.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” the allied mage responded. “This is just a treasure with some experience. And you can be sure we won’t share it with a mercenary like you. Now, get lost the way you came…”

“Wait,” Nilu interrupted. “You say you can help us expand this core. If it really were such a thing, how exactly would you help us?”

The huntress sighed, though her eyes shone with ambition.

“Are you kidding? I’m a powerful hunter, as I’m sure you’ve already noticed. The idiot I just killed before your eyes wasn’t even up to my ankles, but since he had the support of the other members of my squad, I hadn’t been able to take him out. Now, I can claim he died in an ambush. If you allow me to bind myself to the core, I’ll provide more experience than you novices could ever hope to. Not to mention my knowledge will help you forge more solid defenses. What do you say? It’s that, or I leave and return tomorrow with an army to claim this core as a possession of the Ixtalite Empire. You decide.”

The three heroes kept their eyes on the intruder, who stood calmly with a mocking smile, her hands on her hips.

“What she’s saying is true,” Leye thought with a pang of fear in his core. “Even though my allies have regained some energy, they wouldn’t be able to catch this girl if she decides to leave now. We have no choice, and they know it too.”

“What you’re saying is tempting,” Nilu finally said. He seemed as aware of the situation as Leye. “But what guarantees us that you won’t betray us, like you did with the other Ixtalite? Why are you so interested in expanding this core?”

“I don’t have to guarantee you anything. You know I could kill you right now and claim the core for myself. But it would take time to grow the structure, and I’d have to stay hidden here for a long while, which would eventually prompt my colleagues to investigate.” The woman looked around in every direction as if studying the terrain’s potential. “With your help, I can leave and tend to other matters while you make my empire grow. I’d have to share it, but it would definitely make the pie bigger.” The woman brushed a lock of hair away from her face. Leye thought she was genuinely attractive, even though her gaze brimmed with ambition. “And as for why I want to grow the core, I think it’s obvious. Who the hell doesn’t like playing god?”