I felt something cross into my domain, or rather some things, there were four sets of two feet and instantly could tell it was not just some random animals, there was intent in how they walked. I pushed my gaze up to my courtyard and then, much to my discomfort, flew twenty or so yards into the air to get a good look. There were three humans and what looked like a tall stocky halfling, a dwarf maybe? I hadn’t heard anything about dwarves yet but given what I've seen so far it's well within the reason of this place that there would be dwarves.

The possible dwarf was wearing a long leather jacket with brass or maybe finely polished bronze buttons, and a skull cap that looked like it might be some kind of cotton material, on one arm was a square shield with faded chipping swirling patterns in red and black paint and on his hip was a short bearded ax, a metal ax. I almost hope they want to start something just for the materials in the buttons and weapons. Looking closer at the humans, one of them seemed oddly different, for one they were easily the best dressed of the four, wearing a black woolen coat with white trim, a gray vest underneath, and gray cuffed slacks paired with a nice pair of boots, a dagger in a blue sheath sat on their right leg as well. He was skinnier and taller but didn't look gangly or lanky, his (her?) features were sharper and more defined than the two scraggly looking humans and there was a very stark contrast between what I would bet money on is an elf and the very possibly, maybe a dwarf, the latter having much more rounded, and to a point, bulbous features and proportions. I pushed my incorporeal form closer until I could make out what they were saying.

“ -was a strange tree ere that popped up out uh nowhere over the las’ couple days.” said the dwarf, I had missed the first bit of what he was saying but I could piece it together, I guess a giant stone tree wasn’t the most subtle way of conforming to my surroundings and with it, I was announcing my presence to the world.

“Jek says ee' sawr a man in strange cloves ere, bout’ free days ago, tried gettin' a shot in on em but ee was too quick.” Said the human in between the dwarf and the elf, he has scruffy blonde hair and a chin of stubble, his clothes are ragged and have patches of different fabrics and furs throughout, but what really caught my eye was the copper chain necklace he had hanging outside his tunic more-so than the rough looking short sword on his hip, no sheath or scabbard, it was just simply held in place by his belt which tells me it must not be very sharp unless he replaces that ragged strip of leather every time he draws his weapon, more for stabbing I guess.

“Well then Jack is an idiot for missing them, I’ve told him almost thirty times that he needs a new bow, he never unstrings it and it’s ruined the limbs.” said the elf who I still couldn't tell if they were male or female, not even the voice pointed in either direction. The other human just grunted at what the elf said and they all kept walking closer, now about a meter from the lip of the bowl where they stop and turn to each other.

“You fink it’ll be a dungeon Garrm?” the blonde human asks.

“Yeh, I’m not too sure it can be anything else at’ made the tree. Ain’t been a dungeon n’ ese parts for nay twelve years now I think, bout the right timeframe fer another un’ to pop up. Maybe I can find a replacement fer’ this ol’ shield inside.” Said Garmm, the dwarf, wistfully picking at the peeling paint and gouges in the wooden boards of his shield.

“Well, what’s we waitin on? Let's go get our ands on some loot.” After hearing this I sent a part of my consciousness down to the first trap and began repairing it while also telling Cardinal and Onyx to stay near the nursery for now and to protect the larva. Thankfully Onyx had just returned inside to grab an uncocooned larva and start construction when the intruders came, he was less than happy to be interrupted by people keeping him from starting his hive structure.

“Don't be an idiot, Franky, we need to shackle it beforehand. And to do that we need to find the entrance.” This time it was the other human, he had short black hair and was wearing a dark green hooded cloak with tattered edges, but other than that his clothes looked fairly decent minus a patch on his right knee and the buttons on his vest looked like they were starting to chip. I couldn't see any weapons or gear otherwise, maybe a mage?

“Uh, I fink I see it actually,” said the blonde, Franky, if I heard right. The other human just lets out a huff and pulls a satchel around from his back where it was hidden by his cloak, reaching inside and pulling out a black candle along with a small pouch after a moment.

“Only one I got, you all sure you're ready?” There were nods all around and they began walking down the shallow slope into my courtyard and I was beginning to get nervous. I had no idea what “shackling” was but I knew I didn't like the sound of it. I had just finished resetting the mace trap when the party melted the bottom of the candle to a flat rock and planted it a few feet from the stairwell, the black haired human began whispering something and I couldn't catch it before he lit the candle and I felt a searing pain shoot through me, and then he sprinkled a pinch of black-purple powder from the pouch onto the flame, the moment the first grain touched the fire I was launched into my sanctum and was now in my avatar, the pain was still present but it was just a dull headache that made it hard to think, everything was agitating and there was a cool red rage boiling in my chest, a feeling like I needed to kill something. The hunger that was constantly at the back of my mind was brought forward with full force and I decided to forgo the pacifist experience, albeit I would have my fun with them first. Being a human I could probably get the jump on them if what the hobbit had said about other dungeons was true. I also couldn't perceive them anywhere, but I did feel the trap going off.

Unsheathing my knife I started to walk out my sanctum, but then turned and grabbed the infused smithy hammer, maybe not so useless right now. Making my way out into the dark I couldn't see anything but I could sense everything. One of the ants was on the wall, waiting above the door with mandibles fully open, and the other was next to me, matching my pace as I slowly walked. I stopped and knelt down and I could feel its antenna tapping my face, it was Cardinal. She poked the bond with worry and I poked her back with reassurance, not needing words she quietly walked off towards the nursery. Standing back up I created a very small lumen crystal, about the size of my thumb and encased it in ant carapace with a small slit in the front creating a small horizontal bar of light, enough to see about a foot and a half in front of myself. I make my way towards the door to the main hallway and I can hear voices. It sounded like Garmm had taken the cudgel to the face and was still cursing profusely at Franky about not shoving people downstairs, I should have added a spike. I stop at the door and look up, I could only barely see the slightest of outlines where Onyx was lying in wait. I raised my hand and gave him a gentle pat on the top of his head, his antenna dropped down and did the same to me.

“Stay ready, I'll try and draw them to you if I can't get rid of them outright.” I whispered. I poked my head out the doorway, there was a cutting white light that slightly hurt my eyes and a trio of shadows milling idly on the floor coming from the second room in the hallway, on the ground I could see a small trail of blood droplets, most likely from the dwarf.

"why is this place so empty? there's no chests or boxes anywhere, not even furniture to take." I heard one of them say, based on the grammar it was either the elf or the green cloaked human but the harsh whisper kept me from telling which. I hadn't really considered making furniture or storage outside my sanctum let alone generating loot for people to take, I just wanted to be left to my own devices creating my new home, not draw people in. But perhaps I should make loot things for people to take, it would slow down any future trespassers as they searched. They still had three more rooms before they made it here, one was empty and massive but the two closest to them contained the silk fungal mulch sacks and a pile of wood and leaves. As much as I wanted to hear their confusion at the weird stockpiles of silk and wood I needed to stop them from getting too deep. I slinked into shadows out of Cardinals chambers heading down the hallway to the room next to theirs where I decided to start fucking with their heads. Pocketing my crude flashlight I took my knife and rasped the metal pommel against the hallway wall before quietly ducking into the room.

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To my great satisfaction, I got a pair of spooked gasps and an audible whimper, I'm not sure by whom but if I had to guess it was Frankie by the sound of the voice. All movement in the room stopped and the light dimmed, but nobody came out, I rasped the pommel again, louder this time, getting a slight echo out of it, there was another jostle from the room before total silence. This time to really spook them I sheathed my knife and took the hammer in my dominant hand forcing mana into it, it pulled five points before it was glowing silvery red and I slinked up to the side door to the room they were standing in, the silence was palpable so I slammed the hammer on the ground in the doorway as hard as I could, shattering it in the process, but angling it so the face of the hammer was slightly open towards the inside of the room, sending a familiar shower of red sparks and some burning rock debris directed mostly into the room eliciting curses and screams as their light went out for a few moments before the elf was able to stutter out “L-L-LUMEN.” the room was bathed in an intense light before he could dim it to a usable level.

“ALRIGHT ENOUGH OF THIS!” shouted the dwarf who was catching onto my games, and came charging out of the room shouting the entire way. “WHO THE FUCK IS FUCKING… With.. us.” he quieted his shouting as he rounded the corner having to physically look up to see the hulking mass of myself standing there with arms crossed and wearing the best scowl I could muster. Before he could say anything else or raise his shield I planted my food square into his chest sending him bounding off of the doorframe and back into the room he came out of causing the light to go off once more as he must have fallen into the elf. While the lights were out I leaped across the inky darkness to the other side of the doorframe and drew my knife again sitting in a low crouch.

“MAN. THERE'S A BIG, BIG MAN.” Garmm yelled between deep breaths and making a ruckus getting to his feet

“LUMEN.” I heard the elf yell again, this time seemingly more put together, not blinding everyone in the room in the process of reigniting their light.

"Where is the dungeon avatar?" Did he kill it? asked the green cloaked human slightly panicked.

"I think he is the avatar." said the dwarf after finally catching his breath and spitting. "I saw the mana vapor plane as day, one of the orange attunements."

"That's impossible, dungeons can't have sentients as avatars. It's a fundamental law of dungeons." This time it was the elf, sounding incredulous.

"Fine, you go take a look and get a boot t'uh the chest." said Garmm, obviously annoyed; there was a pause but no reply.

After some more shuffling the dwarf came out of the room again facing where I was standing previously, this time with his shield raised and ax in hand, but seeing I was nowhere to be found he dropped his shoulders slightly in confusion, as soon as he did this I swapped my knife to my left hand then plunged it into the side of his head, grabbing him by the back of his collar and yanking him out of the doorway. At this point all hell broke loose and the three remaining intruders burst out of the room “IMPRESSIO” the androgynous elf shouts as it rounds the corner while holding their free hand up at me, sending me flying across the room and smacking into the wall, the elf and the human in the green cloak slip past the now inert cudgel and flee up the stairs, the blonde human, however, runs down the hallway and before the light from his companions fades I see him turn into the queen's chambers were there is a bone-crunching snap and the sound of a thick liquid hitting the floor followed by a thud. Standing to my feet and unable to find my knife I walk over to the nearest weapon, the large cudgel hanging from the ceiling. I lift it from its open top hinge and let it hit the floor with a solid thud.

Beginning the walk up the stairs, I let the cudgel drag behind me, thumping each time I pull it up another step. The look of terror on the now out-of-breath intruders' faces was positively delicious as they had thought they were safe, from what the hobbit told me I shouldn't be able to leave the dungeon and yet here I was knowing they could see the mana vapor wicking away from my body like ghostly orange wisps of steam or mist. They were frozen like deer in headlights as if not believing what they were seeing as I swing the cudgel overhead, using the dowels on the end to get extra leverage and bring it down on top of the elf, splitting their head open and crumpling their spine as their torso is compressed to half its original height, a stray spray of blood hits the human across the face breaking him out of his stupor as he staggers backward losing his balance and falling before immediately scrambling to his feet and sprinting off towards the woods. I walk over to the half burned candle and promptly flatten it under my right foot, the headache I was feeling disappears all at once and I feel a sense of calm wash over me, all feelings of anger and annoyance I felt towards them vanish and now I'm just left with the three bodies of people I had never met. I absorb them and their gear, doing my best to ignore the taste but it still bleeds through as a fatty pork flavor with sour undertones.

I drift into my ethereal form and send the all clear through the bond, Onyx comes into the sanctum, small droplets of blood still present on his mandibles. He thanked me for sending one his way, allowing him to "exact punishment on the trespassing outsiders" before bowing his head and leaving. I’m left floating there wondering what compelled me to want to kill them, to NEED to kill them, and enjoy doing it in the process. The head games I could understand me doing completely fine, I was never above a good horror inducing practical joke. But I never used to enjoy killing in my old life, it was just part of the job. What was different here? My first suspicion is the black candle and powder,

I decided to enter my crafting mindspace and take a look at my gains from the fight. First and foremost was the metal. The sword was low-quality iron The dwarf's ax and the elf's dagger were of average quality, no surprises there but I finally had metal, and a few different kinds to boot. The buttons on the dwarf's jacket were of low-quality brass, probably a poor ratio between the copper and whatever the other metal in brass is, tin I think? or was it zinc, I'll figure it out later. The blonde human’s copper necklace was surprisingly good quality, unlike his patchwork clothes and sword, I get the feeling he probably stole it seeing how he didn't seem the sort to buy nice jewelry. Between the three of them, there were a few low-quality copper and iron coins, and a single silver coin that was in the elf's possession. all of which was gratefully accepted by me. Next were the clothes and shield, low-quality Elmwood, not particularly useful since I had better quality oak which, in my opinion, is a better hardwood but the more the merrier. the clothes were mostly hemp, is cotton not a thing here? Or possibly it's just more expensive and they couldn't afford it. the patchwork tunic and slacks from the blonde guy returned a few different kinds of fur, I already had rabbit, but I also got fox and cat out of it, and the dwarves jacket was average quality horse leather, an odd choice in leather but whatever works I suppose, The elf's coat was average quality alpaca wool. Finally, and frankly, I'm just going to throw all of this away; human, dwarf, and elf skin, bones, hair, and meat. Gross. I hope I don't have to manually get rid of it every time.

there was also the candle but it was just ordinary dyed tallow with hemp twine, so whatever made it a binding candle must have been the spell the human used as he lit it, and that powder. I wasn't able to absorb any from the ground around the candle and the bag of it I assume was placed back in the survivor's satchel after he was done with it. I need to develop a ranged weapon to deal with people from a distance, I've never practiced archery before so maybe a crossbow. I leave the mindspace for now and I'll experiment with the materials later. Maybe I should go visit the little demon larva before they all finally cocoon themselves. I'm starting to actually find them cute in a twisted way, and I need to relax for a bit after all this commotion.