Even though I was falling in my avatar, when I passed into my dungeon's field of influence I was instantly transmuted into my consciousness and winked into existence at my sanctum, right where I had left to go look for more attributes, I can’t explain the elation I felt to be on, or rather floating just above, solid ground. Seriously I was falling for like ten minutes, just how high up was I? I am however still somewhat disturbed from my meeting with what I’m assuming was a god or deity of some kind. If he wasn’t a god then I haven’t got the slightest idea what he was. Shaking off my thoughts I decided to check in on how my statistics were doing in an attempt to distract myself from the last while of mind shattering conversation I just had.
Level 12 Unnamed Rare Dungeon Core — Aspects: Terra II, Ignis II, Vitas III, Mors II, — Mana Volume: 100 of 100 Mana Density: 150 of 150 — Attribute Aether: 0 Attributes: Avatar Form III, Mana II, Metalworking II, Metallurgy I, Gem Crafting I, Alchemy I.— Mastery: Ignis, Vitas, Mors.— Bonded Creatures: 86, Named Creatures 2. 22:37
Just like last time, everything I had spent my well earned points on was present so I decided to start with the basics of feeling them out. My mana pool was obviously bigger, now at a whopping 100 it is twice my original reservoir size and my mana density is up higher, although I somewhat wish my mana pool would increase by fifty each time I increased it. If what Cardinal has told me about it over our many small conversations is correct, mana density defines overall how strong your mana is, essentially translating to global efficiency. It isn’t quite as potent as, say, gaining a point in an aspect, but it determines efficiency over everything, not just one specific type of material. Speaking of aspects, it appears taking mastery has increased my Ignis, Vitas, and Mors each by one, and something else. When I focus on my aspects, it's like I was shopping without a basket and I had to hold everything in my hands, and now I'm holding less stuff. Hmm, no, it's more like my hands are bigger and I am able to hold more things.
Next, I decide to enter my crafting space, and everything is there, although that odd tinged yellow quartz I absorbed after the weird crystal had gone inert wasn’t on my shelves anywhere. Pulling some of the low quality brass off the shelves, I gave it a look over and I could feel inside of it, the impurities and its base components, I guess This was Metallurgy at work. I focus mana into the bar and strip out the impurities, it was a little expensive, ten points of mana, but the overall outcome was worth it, I had drawn out a small amount of silicon and Iron and the brass’s sheen was a little better, I threw away the iron, the stuff I had was better even though it as low quality, and I stored the silicon on my shelves in the metals section. I'm not actually sure it's a metal but it's the best fitting place for it at the moment. Now with average quality brass, I wasn’t able to invest any more mana into it to purify it further, I probably needed the next level of Metallurgy to do so, and unfortunately, I’m fresh out of points.
Moving onto the copper which was already average quality I was not able to refine it further so I put it back. That left me with the low quality Iron so I took a bar and it cost thirty points to refine it into average quality iron, I had been expecting ten points or maybe fifteen, but what’s done is done. I had removed a decent amount of silicon and a small amount of manganese, along with a bit of cobalt about the size of a grain of rice. I put the new additions on my shelf of metals and dumped the silicon since I already had it. I suppose I was lucky that ragtag band of fools had low quality gear, I’m making a lot of profit from refining it. Of course, there was the one who got away and I’m pretty sure that he’s told all the rest of his little pals about me, if only I had my shotgun sooner, speaking of which, I need to make ammo for it, or at least I think I do.
It didn’t look like I had any shells in the ammo carrier, and it wouldn’t make sense for the mag in the shotgun to be loaded if the spares weren’t. I can use brass shells, although I won't be able to crimp the ends like a plastic shell which means I will be limited to slugs unless I can get ahold of some paper. Or at least something similar so I can make a wadding to keep the shot from tumbling down the barrel As for the slugs and shot themselves, I suppose I could use copper, but I would prefer lead, shame I didn't get any from refining the metals but I shouldn't complain about what I got since I’m pretty sure I can use manganese to make a pretty good tool steel down the road, and that will make for some hardcore AP sabot slugs. I don’t have a clue what I can use for a propellant, I could try and make my own gunpowder but I don’t think I have everything for that, I can use the charcoal from my cooking area, and then I need sulfur and something else, it was the stuff in stump remover, potassium I think, or something like that, I'm not actually sure.
Hmm, I wonder if I could substitute Mote of Ignis powder for gunpowder or use it as an additive. I decide to tackle the ammunition problem later and head out of my sanctum. I still have a long wait before I get to see my boomstick again and I need a way to kill some time, a lot of time actually if the little numbers at the end of my status is a timer. I head down to the nursery to check up on the little demon daycare and the last of the grubs was halfway through enclosing its cell with a silk cap. Now much quieter, the nursery was almost peaceful aside from the occasional shuffling of one of the pupae adjusting itself in its cocoon. Cardinal was there, checking each of the silk caps meticulously for tears or defects, and was quietly chittering at her children. Its rhythm was almost like a lullaby, and sent shivers down my spine, or at least that's what it felt like. I use Discern on the nearest cocoon.
“Male Dire Ant Pupa level (sterile) 1 .
This is the cocoon of a growing Dire ant in its adolescent stage, or pupa. in this stage, the Dire Ant is completely helpless, even more so than its larval form. If its cocoon is punctured or damaged in any way It can cause defects in the adult form of the ant, or outright kill it before it can reach adulthood, all sub-adult Dire Ant rate of growth is determined by ambient mana density and purity.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
Note: this subspecies was born bound to a dungeon core, and as such all negative traits are removed, all positive traits are kept, all neutral traits will be mixed.”
Shortly after finishing my reading and watching Cardinal tend to her young, one of the cocoons closest to the door began to shuffle and thrash somewhat violently, small tears beginning to form in the silk. Cardinal rushed over to the cocoon, her legs expertly navigating the wall of small domes not so much as grazing a single one. Once arriving she began tapping furiously on the cocoon with her antenna and using her little graspers to lengthen the tears in the silk and Onyx came running into the room. There seemed to be a fair bit of excitement in the air between the two and I could piece together what was happening, the first worker was fully grown and now leaving its cocoon. This was much faster than I had anticipated, It had only been in its cocoon for what, a day or two? Making your colony inside a dungeon where the mana is completely pure has its benefits it seems. In less than two minutes after the commotion had begun the new worker was on the floor and finding its bearings, wobbling slightly and occasionally stumbling as if drunk.
It finally steadied itself but not before two more of the cocoons had begun to hatch. I floated over to the new worker as Cardinal and Onyx started helping the newcomers and took a good look. It was indeed missing the massive Trap jaw mandibles as I had theorized and came up to just below my knee, Massive for an ant but still a lot smaller than the king and queen. Its carapace was a crisp white much the same as Cardinal’s, but contained small black swirls and whisps. Between the joints where small bits of soft tissue was visible the skin, for lack of a better word, was black. The Bonding sigil was now on the back of its abdomen like with the royals and its wings and eyes were a swirling mix of amber and silver.
It tapped around curiously with its antenna and I manifested a fist sized chunk of meat in my invisible hands and floated down to feed to the ant. It looked at me as if it could see me and remember me from its days as a larva. It took the meat with a bow of its head before eating and scurrying off into the rest of the dungeon to explore its new home. I had considered naming it since it was the first of the ants to hatch but names seem to be a commodity with an upper limit tied to my level, and I don't know if I am able to remove a name after giving it so I decided to hold off for now. I floated over to the two freshly hatched ants and did much the same as with the first except I decided to use discern. May as well get the full index of info on my ants while they are present.
“Male Dire Ant Worker (Sterile) Level 1
This is a fully grown drone, or worker, Dire Ant. This caste makes up the main population of ants within a colony or hive. While smaller in size they make up for their lack of brute strength and mass by being very quick and more venomous than the majors and even the royals of their colony. These masters of labor are very industrious and can hollow out great swaths of rock and dirt forming massive cavities within the ground in a matter of days and will create very effective work and rest shifts with fellow ants to keep a constant stream of progress flowing into the depths allowing the constant growth of the colony. Ants will very early on in their adulthood assign themselves a job or role in the colony ranging from farming, foraging, mining, nursery care, courier running, and more creating a diverse economy and community between themselves centered around the queen. Dire ants do not partake in trophallaxis, Regurgitatory feeding, as most all mundane ants do instead opting to create large granaries to store their fungi and protein rations for the entire population to come and get their own food or to have couriers bring food to currently working ants.
Note: this subspecies was born bound to a dungeon core, and as such all negative traits are removed, all positive traits are kept, all neutral traits will be mixed. The dungeon will expand with Hive, and-or, colony expansion.
Other than the fact that the ants will, on their own, probably form a better functioning society than the one I came from, the biggest tidbit of knowledge that caught my eye was the very last sentence. “Dungeon will expand with Hive, and-or colony expansion.” This is a wonderful bit of news seeing how I have been falling behind a little with the whole ‘building a dungeon’ aspect of being a dungeon core. If this means that I can have the ants dig out the entire underground space for me, then I can go and add my own little bits -n’-bobs here and there and I can focus my attention, and more importantly my mana, on other projects. Like finding a way to make gunpowder, or at least a suitable facsimile for gunpowder.
One of the two remaining ants scuttles away and the other begins tending to the cocoons lining the walls, looking for defects much the same way Cardinal had been so I focus my attention out into the dungeon as I float into the queen's chambers.
The one that had just left was wandering around the hallways and checking out the empty rooms while the first to hatch was in the massive room I had dug out and I feel it had got my notion for that to be the first fungal garden because It had moved a number of the budding fungal seeds into the room. It was repeatedly climbing up to the ceiling and then repelling down on a strand of silk like a spider until it had a nice sized bundle and then it repeated once more except this time it kicked off into a spiral around the already present silk fibers effectively making them into one thick strand of silk. Watching this made me dizzy and I wasn't even the one spinning rapidly towards the floor.
After landing on the ground, more like crashing really, the ant was apparently also dizzy because it wobbled back and forth for a moment before shaking it off and carefully climbed the budding pillar of silk that was now the thickness of a household extension cord, dragging a silk line behind itself and attaching it to the ceiling. I watched this for what I assume was an hour or so before heading to the courtyard where the third ant was on its way back with a fresh kill, another rabbit. I stepped out of the way and let it pass before heading up the stairs into the outside, but there wasn’t anything to do for now, and was immediately bored. I went back down the stairs and began working on furniture and chests and other furnishings to make the rooms less empty. This was going to be a long twenty four hours.