“What do you mean we can’t properly control them?!”
“I mean that the container is constantly under strain, trying to keep that thing in! Why the hell did you think of such a stupid plan-”
“Hey! You were equally involved in this! Don’t try to lump all the blame on me, you lazy asshole!”
“I swear to all that is holy, unholy, and everything in between! If you were any dumber, you wouldn’t be able to distinguish your ass and the BOOT I AM ABOUT TO SHOVE UP IT!”
“You don’t get to do that!”
“Yes I do. I’m the older one.”
“By forty seconds! Plus, I’m the more mature one, Mother said so-”
“Mother said jack shit, you dumbass. Let’s just keep going, and get this soul under control before something like the manaheart incident happens again.”
“...Fine. You win, for now. But watch out. I’ll send my demons to do something again.”
“You’re still in time-out, fuckwad. Do you not know what ‘one thousand years’ means? You have another half-year to go.”
“Why did Uncle Es create humans, again?”
“I don’t know, Linnwood, why the hell do you create those abominations you call trees?”
“Hey, my domain is so much better than yours! Coral is utterly hideous, and barely supports the ecosystem at all!”
“Says Mr. 28% to Mr. 50%. You know for a fact that the Great and Majestic Reeftide is soo much better than you!”
“I can’t stand you sometimes, you know that?”
—————————
Ugh… What the hell just happened? It feels like I have a hangover… let me tell you, being able to see quite literally everything around you is not good for a headache. God, I need water or something… judging by the light level, it’s definitely night. How fucking long was I out? And how far away are the Shatterkin? The butterfly is- Oh shit! They’re pretty much here! I need to run, holy fuck! They were at least a whole day away when I passed out!
I quickly finish the eyes, settling with plain emerald irises and shoving them into the skull. Eyelids formed, and I made them blink a few times. This would have to be good enough for now. I remove the golem body from my inventory and haphazardly create some sturdy paper clothing, before instructing Early to push me out of the nest and into the waiting arms of my golem. If I get my core inside, I should be able to fully control it without expending too much mana.
The thought of it makes my head throb again, and I groan in pain. Just what happened when I passed out? Whatever, I need to get out now. I can figure out that shit later. In the meantime, Early has worriedly done as I asked, and I fall the short distance from nest to arms. I manipulate the clay and stone to shove my core directly into the golem’s chest, where I made the hollow. Perfect.
I don’t think I can outrun them, or even out-force them. These people have years upon years of experience and training, and all I have is a minutes-old body. I’ll need to outwit them. I inhale the mana, physically drawing it in with my faux lungs. I have to be just good enough to escape. No need to kill, or even injure. Just confuse, tire out, and run.
From my butterfly’s perspective, my form emerges from the trees, unnatural purple skin glimmering in the moonlight shining down from the treetops. My head jerked over, and I made unwilling eye contact with the leader of the group, both of our eyes widen. Shit. Best bet now is entering the maze and digging back out.
I bolt, legs thumping heavily against the soft soil and then compacted floor, as I practically throw myself down the stairs. I create simple traps in my wake, trip-wires and pit-falls being the most common. I almost lose track of the number of turns we take, but I am still fully aware of the nimble tigerman dodging the combined effort of the rats and I to thwart his advance.
Finally reaching the last room, I let out an involuntary screech and leap over Julius Cheesar, who had scared the ever living shit out of me, despite me knowing literally everything in my dungeon. My chest heaves, and I do my best to absorb all the mana that enters my lungs.
“Oh, now I’ve got you. I can’t believe a newborn core has such intricate monsters and traps… It’s almost as if there were a host dungeon helping it along. That must be you. Once I shatter your core, I can go for your kid, how ‘bout that?”
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The grin on this man’s face chilled me to the core- no pun intended- with the violence it promised. He was going to slaughter Julius without remorse. And then he was going to kill me. With a passing glance at Julius, the tigerman muttered a few words. The words were magical, I can see it. I can see the lance of fire that formed and then fired, and I was too slow to do anything about it.
The agonized cry of my monster echoed in my ears, magnifying and turning into the thunderous pounding of my core. I was enraged. The earth began to quake, rubble disconnecting from the ceiling and falling to the sand.
“Oh hoho, you’re mad, aren’t you? Mad that your wittle bitty mice were killed? Or are you scared? All dungeons are like that, in the end. And they all end up shattered!”
At the last word the man lunged at me, teeth bared and claws gleaming unnaturally. He was impossibly fast, and I finally noticed the mana coiled in his legs like springs. The outstretched claw went deep into my skull, cutting through the hardened clay and stone like a knife through warm butter. It went straight through my left eye as well, only stopping when he sliced entirely through my cheekbone and upper jaw.
“Ha! You’re at least a little bit smart, since your core isn’t in your head. Now I know it’s in your chest. I would think of sparing you if you weren't a dungeon, but no mercy for the wicked and all that.”
That terrible grin stretched even further, and his eyes were wild. I was pinned to the ground, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I don’t have enough mana to do anything significant. I don’t have the physical strength to push him off. I have nothing.
“I’ll tell you what. You gave me a pretty good chase just now. Why don’t you give me another? I’ll give you a 10 second head start. If you evade me for, say, 10 minutes, I might let your baby core live. What do you think?”
A chance to run. To get further away from this monster of a man. “I- I accept.”
The barest flicker of surprise went across his face before he laughed, and removed his claws from my skull. I scrambled up and back, staring at the disintegrating corpse of my poor bull-rat. I’m weak. Both in comparison to my monsters and especially in comparison to this- this beast. I turn tail and flee. The only prize of bravery is honor, yet survival is the reward of cowardice. I think I wouldn’t mind being called a coward if it meant I got that reward.
I carve out the earth in front of me and close it behind, being as mana-conscious as I could. There isn’t much mana underground to absorb, and moving, carving, and replacing all took what little I could. Finally, I breach the surface. Moonlight filtered through the treetops, giving little light or warmth. I run.
I run, run, run! With all my might and will, I force this body to its very limits and even further. The stone in my feet and shins crack, and I funnel mana in the same spring that the tiger-man did. An arrow lets loose, and I skid around it mid-air. The elf twins were archers! A second arrow nearly splits my shoulder, but I duck out of the way once more. Shit.
A barrage of arrows fly like birds in my direction, dyed feathers making them obvious despite their speed. I can’t dodge them all this time, and three pierce my forearm, hip, and stomach. My legs pump harder, trying to make up for lost momentum. In a heartbeat, a motherfucking javelin cleaves off my left leg at my knee. My form topples over, and I notice the blur coming from my eyes. Are they more damaged than I thought? Is there some unique function they are performing?
I look closer, and I realize that I’m crying. How? I didn’t add any crying function to the eyes, and I don’t think I even added lubricant… Oh. Once a golem is created, organic functions that relate to the creature being mimicked will automatically be added. That’s why, I guess.
I meet the eyes of a giant standing over me and they frown, looking away. They pull the javelin from the ground near me, and I shakily wipe away my tears. Just before they turn away, the giant mouths something to me. ‘I’m sorry’. Moments later, the beastman looms over what I know to soon be a corpse. He laughed, and I tried to pull the arrows from my body. I could not.
“Oh, I forgot to mention,” He leaned in close, “My friends are helping me out, too. Those arrows and my claws are coated in mana destroying material, by the way. You must have noticed how you couldn’t heal it.”
“You-,” I manage to choke out, “You are… more of a monster than those rats.”
That vicious grin quickly turned into a scowl, “You dungeons are all the same. Disgusting, monstrous things that manipulate and kill people. Let’s get this over with quickly. My name is Davis Snowborne. Remember me in hell, you piece of shit!”
Claws deep in my chest. Grasping fingers dug violently through hardened clay, clenching my core as I screamed. The first crack formed, and it felt like I was choking on my own blood. More cracks followed, and I relived every pain that anyone has ever felt. Then I shattered.
---------------------
Davis held the amber gem up to the moon, admiring the glimmer of magic that still remained. The dungeons that held on, trying to reform and steal more mana from the air, were the ones that sold for the most. This core was stubborn, and had displayed some intelligence while still whole. This meant that it would probably have the will to hold on a good few months before fading.
“We’re resting for tonight. We’ll get the baby core in the morning, so it has time to respawn all the fodder and I- we can get more experience.”
A chorus of agreeing mutters could be heard, and Davis nodded.
“Set up the tents and look forward to Nichten, it’ll be my treat!”