Lan was surprised quite a bit by the fact that the Huntress was able to form complete thoughts, and was quite near the ability to form words. He could hear something like a 'voice' already forming, and this signified just how high her intelligence was.
'Well, it is not that surprising considering the intelligence she showed back when she first got here. Still, that makes me excited to see just how smart she will get.'
Lan then thought about all the other Guardians who he named. They were far above the simple label of a 'Beast' already, and their intelligence continued to improve as they grew stronger. Lan guessed that all Named would eventually be as intelligent, if not more so, than a human.
...But the enhancement of intelligence did not change the basic nature of an animal. In other words, The Huntress, a cougar, which was basically a big cat, behaved like a big cat. So the first thing that came to her mind after a near-death experience was to take a nap.
'Sigh... Cats. It almost makes me sleepy myself. It's a pity my mind doesn't seem to tire at all. So, no sleep for me, my work never ends.'
Sighing, Lan turned his gaze away from the sleeping Huntress, checking in with the channels of thought on other floors. Nothing much was going on the finished floors, same battles for mana, survival, and power, nothing new.
And if all the floors that he had dug out were finished and stable, then it meant one thing. It was time to go deeper, to carve the next floor.
'Alright, but the most asked question by all Dungeon-making Cores: How the fuck do I do this shit.'
As always, every step forward needed experimentation and research. Although Lan was accustomed to it by now, he couldn't help but feel annoyed. So the Project "We Need To Go Deeper" began.
Lan already had a suspicion about what might be the solution as always, but he still tried the other options to know what would happen if he tried to use them, that being mana other than Mental.
The most obvious choice for going deeper would be to use Earth mana to dig a hole leading further underground, causing the Core to slowly descend as it was being dug. Lan tried to do so.
As the ground shifted and parted like water, the Core, refusing to abide by non-supernatural laws of physics, remained in place. Currents of ambient mana simply held it in place, like strings would hold a puppet, except the Core was the puppeteer.
So, even though the Core wouldn't just fall and shatter on the ground, which was a good thing, this plan was a fail.
After that Lan tried to use his wonder weapon - Mental mana. Think hard and true, and your wish will come true, that was the extent to which he could describe this enigmatic type of mana. And following the description, Lan thought, he pulled away all the thinking channels from observation duty, and put them together, like weaving strings into a rope.
And through this rope, mental mana flowed out of the Core and unto itself, just like a fountain.
Obeying the command given, led by Mental mana, the Core slowly began descending into the previously made hole leading downwards. The ambient mana radiating from it smoothed out and pushed away walls in the same radius as before, leaving a perfect tunnel in the wake of its descent.
However, as Lan was on the verge of success of his descent, he felt his senses strain and slowly begin to... Fade away.
Startled, he stopped the process, trying to find out what happened to him. Gradually, things returned to normal, but Lan, after a brief scan of his whole domain, understood what just transpired. And what he found out alarmed him greatly.
When he overlooked his domain, at first everything seemed normal, nothing out of the ordinary, but when he focused on the mana, the problem revealed itself. Normally, the Core was well... The CORE of his whole domain, everything depended on it and mana it supplied and cycled, whether it be ambient mana, mental mana, or whatever else mana there was.
As long as something used mana while being in Lan's domain, it depended on the Core. And suddenly changing the location of the Core was rather disastrous to this whole intricate network. Delicate strings of mana grew taut and snapped, mana supply wavering, and though they regrew once the Core stabilized, the impact was still there.
This went to show just how gravely important the Core was, and it became apparent that a more... Delicate touch was needed.
Luckily Lan got pretty good at multitasking lately, so lowering his Core while keeping track of what went on with the mana was pretty easy for him. So, while three of his thought channels worked on lowering the Core with the use of Mental mana, the two remaining ones kept track of mana activity.
As the Core descended meter by meter, Lan noticed once the connections of mana grew taut, halting his descent. Once they recovered he resumed the process. And so, cycle after cycle, Lan slowly descended down into the Earth.
Somewhere along the way, Lan discovered the fact that actively cycling mana helped in the recovery of mana connections, speeding up the descent slightly. Even sped up though, he descended slower than an old elevator in a third-world country.
Cycles of descent and recovery eventually merged together, and Lan's mind got used to the repetition. As the mental strain receded, Lan felt the descent rather physically. The Core housed his soul, he was pretty sure, so it was his heart, brain, balls, and whatever other important parts a man could have at the same time.
And now imagine that feeling when you're on a rollercoaster and it reaches the top right before the way down. Yeah, now amplify that about ten times, that was how Lan was feeling at the moment.
'Holy shit- Ugh! If I had a mouth I would have puked...'
And the biggest problem was the slowness of the process. Lan checked just to be sure and discovered that he had descended only thirty meters downward, and this discovery almost snuffed out his motivation to drill down, but he held on... and drilled down.
Lan didn't know how long he was 'falling'. It could have been hours, days, or maybe even weeks. He didn't really keep track while occupied with the task.
He endured and drilled, that was his motto. Even so, his mind contained within the very Core he was dragging down, eventually got mildly exhausted, so he stopped the process, instead checking just how deep he was.
Though with how long he presumed to have drilled he expected good results, he still surprised himself.
'Holy moly, at this rate it will not take long to drill to the other side of the planet!'
That rather exaggerated statement was a response to him finding out that he was currently nearly five hundred meters below ground, two hundred meters away from where he previously was.
So, Lan decided to stop at this much, deciding that two hundred meters would be plenty enough for the floor he was planning to make. However, a tiny problem appeared. In the form of a two-hundred-meter deep, 50x50 crater leading downwards from what was previously his Core Room.
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And he couldn't just 'stitch it back up', as contact with the surface must not be interrupted lest he returns to his semi-blind state.
'I'll solve it later...'
At the moment Lan finished getting to the depth he wanted, but he would also prefer to move away horizontally as well so that the fourth floor wouldn't be completely vertical. But that meant even more moving, which was rather unpleasant. But if Lan wanted to pursue his dreams, he would have to suck it up.
Once again Lan the Driller took the reins, and cycles of digging and recovery began yet again.
This went on for quite some time, quite a bit longer than when he was going downward. Thankfully, moving horizontally was easier than vertically, so a greater distance could be conquered in a lesser amount of time.
Although Lan didn't know, the amount of time it took for him to reach his desired distance, which was about a kilometer from his previous location, two days had passed on the surface, 48 hours spent only on drilling. While it was a lot of time, to Lan in his trance-like state it didn't seem that way. So, when he arrived at his destination, he merely mentally wiped his forehead.
'Phew! Now that mining is done, crafting is up next!'
In the monotony of drilling away for hours and hours on end, Lan had plenty of time to think over the theme he wanted for this floor. The first three floors were all about forests and jungles, and that was getting old. Lan liked to keep his dungeons fun when he was a DM, and he would keep up the tradition.
So, this time the theme would be completely different, but still familiar.
'The Winding Caverns! That's what I'll call this floor!'
Yes, caves underground, are very original. One might think that a forest underground was way cooler, but it all depended on what caves one talked about. One could call some big tunnels underground 'caves', but they could also captivate one's breath.
Because what Lan had in mind was no natural and boring cave system, but full-on Fantasy Caverns, with glowing mushrooms, giant insects skittering in the dark, lurking predators, and winds howling from below, cold air sending chills down the delvers' spine.
Lan was feeling giddy just thinking about it, but first, he wanted to remove the tunnels he left behind. If he was building some kind of mineshaft, then a central enormous shaft leading below would look quite good, but this was not the case, so he had to replace it. Before sealing the tunnels, however, he had to carve out new ones to not impede mana.
And just like that, earth buckled under his will and command, a diagonal tunnel connecting his past and present Core Rooms was quickly carved out. It was unimaginably fast compared to the process of moving his Core and was satisfying to no end.
Following the formation of the new tunnel, Lan commanded the Earth mana, and the tunnels left behind by his descent were rapidly buried in the ground as if filled with cement... Except with no cement being present.
And so, with the 'tracks covered', a 'clean sheet' was before Lan, he was free to form the fourth floor as he wished, the diagonal tunnel could molded if needed, and all that remained was to pour out his fantasy to make it a reality.
----------------------------------------------------
While a certain Core toiled endlessly deep below the surface of the ground, life never stopped, and things continued on even if Lan wasn't aware of them. Humans setting up camp near the entrance to his Dungeon was one of such things.
Leading the effort was the first group who ever ventured into the dungeon: Anna, Stacy, Johann, and Ian.
Even the near-crippling injuries couldn't hold back their adventurous spirit, much to the discontent of some, even among the wounded themselves.
"I don't know how many times I've said this, but Ian, why the hell are you here and not in bed back in Cypress? Seriously, I don't want to sound like a jerk, but you don't have much combat capability at the moment."
Anna, who was back in the field once again, complained about the same thing yet again. This wasn't the first time she said this, but she was rightfully worried about a teammate who, upon waking up from a mini coma, decided to hop back into the danger zone instead of recuperating.
"And I will answer just as much as you ask, Anna. I belong out here and not behind the walls. If I cower like a helpless child for the rest of my life, is such a life worth living?
You know how much I loved being outside, and even without my magic I am still fully capable of supporting myself."
The mage, who looked much less vibrant compared to when he led the first exploration into the Dungeon, responded in a tired voice, a bitter note being audible. He turned away from her and walked towards the giant tree being visible past the treeline.
"Ian, you-"
As the ranger seemed to begin her words yet again, Ian snapped at her suddenly, his calm demeanor shattering.
"Anna, stop it! Did you already forget how much I loved exploring the wonders of nature? How do you expect me to react when you tell me of all the wondrous things you've seen, with me knowing I'll probably never see them again with my own eyes?! Don't you know, Anna?!"
At his sudden shout, the other explorers and hunters turned to them, some pointing at the pair, exchanging whispers among themselves. The camp itself was placed at the edge of the clearing under the Giant Tree, as making it directly under it was impossible, with various plants and greenery rapidly overgrowing whatever was built.
The ranger herself, who now had an eyepatch made of leather cover her blinded eye, flinched and drew back her hand with which she tried to hold Ian's shoulder. The anger and sadness in his eyes made her pity her friend and teammate. She wondered, how would she feel if she lost her leg, never to run in the wilds ever again?
Suddenly, rustling could be heard not far away, causing Anna to unholster her crossbow from her back, and turn towards the bushes not far away from the direction in which the sound came. The forest was almost completely recovered in comparison to when the fire swept past it, maybe being even more vibrant than it was before.
As such, whatever lurked in the undergrowth had plenty of space to hide within.
As Anna cautiously monitored her surroundings, Ian withdrew to the center camp, bitterly acknowledging the fact that he wouldn't be of much use on the front lines as he was right now, manaless.
Suddenly the ranger jerked her head towards a sound coming from far behind her, from the other side of the camp. It was a shout from one of her new team members.
"Wolves!"
Although it wasn't a scream of agony, just the mention of a 'wolf', caused a series of images to flash within her mind.
'Black and White... Death and Blood...'
As she remembered the last wolves she had seen, her body began to tremble involuntarily, and her blind eye began to tingle. Her breath quickened, and her heartbeat increased. She herself didn't realize how much the word 'wolf' now had on her.
She slowly turned around, seeing how from that side of the camp, a wolf emerged from the darkness. It was black and white, most of it being black, the neck and chest of it being white. But it wasn't the only one.
She could see more wolves emerging around the camp, not attacking but watching, observing them. Hearing sound once again, she witnessed yet another wolf watching her eerily closely, being no more than 10 meters away. She froze as she witnessed its eyes staring into hers crimson and gold intertwined, becoming a color of bloody gold.
The fur was white, and black markings accentuated the Beast all over its body.
It was as if two of her nightmares became one.
She was nearly shaking at this point, unable to keep her crossbow steady, nor could she hear the warning shouts of her teammates behind her, she could only see the combination of Black and White, Crimson and Gold.
"Get the fuck back!"
She was snapped out of it by Ian practically dragging her back by the shoulders, or at least trying to. She followed his lead and retreated closer to the center of the camp. At this point she could clearly count the number of wolves, there were eight in total. Four of them were black and white.
However they only surrounded the camp, but did not attack it. But if she was being honest, she doubted the camp could hold their own against such a pack. Although they weren't as big as the pair below, the one with bloody-golden eyes was coming close to that size.
Abruptly the wolf in question raised its head and howled. Just as every human tensed up, Anna held her breath... And the wolves retreated.
She stared in caution as the wolves ran past the perimeter of the human camp with a brisk walk, making their way past them. As she wondered why would they do so, an answer became apparent.
"Of fucking course."
The only thing of interest in that direction was the Giant Tree. And the dungeon full of mana under it. Sure enough, the wolfpack made their way to the base of the trunk, before disappearing from the human's view. But not before the blood-golden-eyed one cast one last gaze onto Anna.
As her adrenaline evaporated from her system, the ranger fell heavily on her rear, sighing out while muttering nonsense.
"...Although I liked dogs from the pictures I have seen, from now on I'm a cat person..."
Ian looked at her with a complicated gaze, as the way she behaved during the whole encounter was far from how he remembered her. Ian wondered what the hell happened when he was absent for something to leave such a lasting impression on her. But before that, he had something else to do.
"Pack up people! This spot is no good! We can't have camp so close to the place where every damn Beast for kilometers wants to be. Unless you want to be eaten in your sleep, get your things and prepare to resettle at the edge of the forest!"
As grumbles of annoyance erupted all over, no one really argued, as this was not the first time where some wild Beast approached the camp they set up, or even attacked it. It became increasingly obvious that this wasn't a good spot for long-term settlement.
Meanwhile, Ian cast his gaze at the towering Tree, feeling mana flowing around him. though he was unable to draw it inside himself like before.
"This is either going to be the place of my dreams or the place of my early grave."