Vitmori POV

So they're going to meet us on my turf... I didn't think it would be that easy, but it is vaguely unnerving how simple things turned out. I didn't think the buyers would bite at the bait so quickly; it was almost as if they were impatient to get the exchange done. I can't help but wonder what they intend to use the slaves for. There have been three other deals before, with twenty to thirty people on average being sent over, ranging from children to elders. I can't help but hope against hope that nothing like the nightmare that was the 'Casino Royale' had been created in this world. But up until now, I have had no actual frame of reference for the rest of the world, save for the memories of the worst kinds of people so far. Though I suppose I'll get my answers soon enough.

While I don't plan on killing these people to get them to talk, I could try perhaps looking at their memories directly. How hard could that be? Otherwise, I'll have to use the sinners to interrogate them, and maybe I could get them to think that church betrayed them and reveal what they may know on the Theocracy side of things. Beyond that, I'm still ultimately considering the endgame... Even though I'm putting a considerable amount of effort into actually keeping these slavers alive, I don't think I have any hard feelings toward actually killing these people. If anything, the only reason I wouldn't want to kill them is so I don't have to deal with whatever memories are in their heads. In reality, I'll have to deal with them for quite some time if I keep them alive, and I definitely don't have the infrastructure for an actual prison... Or do I? There is an entire complex of ancient, sealed rooms in the lower half of my mountain that I still need to examine, and I have a good feeling that this other dungeon was playing with more things than dirt and stone down there.

Starting from the bottom, I check out that ooze that seemed to be content with its imitation of an underground spring, studying it and looking it over closely now that I've got some time. From what I could tell, it seems to be some kind of very acidic jello, though ooze is still a rather appropriate description. I tried looking through its eyes and sharing its senses, but I got nothing, no thoughts, and nothing to react to, almost as if its head was just empty. Well, it's not like it even had a head. Though my eyes fell down to the concentration of mana within this blob, descending into its jelly with my perspective was a rather odd experience; every single moment, I expected just to feel wet or rather just glazed in the goo, but it was more like watching a surgery camera pushing into someone except you're the camera. Eventually, I came across a dense piece of mana, but as I focused on it more, it appeared to be some kind of gem. Looking it over, it seems to have a mess of writing and intent within it. I can tell it did serve some sort of function, but it now appears only to be some kind of battery or source of energy for the ooze. Now I don't exactly know what this gem used to do, but I have a sinking feeling that I might have ruined whatever delicate writings were on this thing when I dumped a burst of mana on it to keep it from attacking Grimm and my beasts. Whelp... I'll see about fixing it later.

After leaving the confines of the ooze behind, I looked around this ooze spring room before making my way over to what looked like a room that was sealed away behind a wall of stone; in fact, it was along the wall behind the ooze spring, making it near impossible to access or even look for. Well... That is, if I was an intruder. For me, it's just as easy as bringing my perspective up to the wall before pushing forward as if the wall was just a thin curtain.

Upon passing through the wall, I come across what appears to be a room, a woman's room at that. It was an ornate place with a number of creature comforts that were remarkably well preserved; between being completely sealed off from the outside and the magic in the air. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by the state of things. There was a rather cozy-looking bed with a mattress and pillows stuffed with what appeared to be wool, sheets of cotton laid neatly over them as if the bed was made one last time before being preserved. Looking about the rest of the room, there were bookshelves filled with dusty tomes, a desk with all sorts of notes, and sketches of humanoid figures with precise numbers for joints and other measurements. Though the more things I look over, the more quickly I come to realize that I can't actually read anything. In fact, I'm almost certain that the language I'm seeing here is written entirely in German. While I don't directly know the language, I know just enough thanks to a certain chemist I used to know.

This is... Rather annoying if, I'm being honest, I don't think I'll ever get to know what any of this says, and I highly doubt I'll find a German-to-English dictionary in this world either. Damn... I mean, I'm having a hard enough time with this world's alphabet, so I would most likely do the same and write all my own notes in English. At the very least, I can study the numbers and dimensions of these statues she drew up. Though the more I look at them, the more they remind me of some kind of modeling figurine scaled up with many more joints and features. There was even some kind of slot in the chest for a shaped gem or crystal. Maybe it was some kind of living puppet, considering I saw a similar-looking gem within the ooze in the other room. Pulling away from this desk or possible workstation, I happen to spot what looks like a polaroid camera on a dresser, but also not a polaroid camera. It had a slot that took another kind of carved gem, as well as an opening below the lens that should be where it dispensed the pictures. I can't help but smile at seeing the familiar object; something about seeing it really solidifies that the person who used to live here came from a world similar to mine. Of course, her world was only similar, not the same.

I'm about to move on before I spot a small picture tucked away on the desk; coming over to the small frame, I take it into my storage space and cleared it of the dust that had settled over it. It was of a small group of people; there was a black-furred dogkin man in some ornate robes with a skull pattern embroidered along the edges of the hood, a birdkin woman with brilliant red feathers wearing some kind of leather armor, and what looked like a lizardkin at first. Still, the neck was too long, and the shape of her head looked more like a snake, so it was probably a snakekin woman with pure white scales, wearing what appeared to be a lab coat of some kind. In the middle of them was a woman with sunkissed white skin, curly, shoulder-length brown hair, and vibrant purple eyes, wearing a simple grey tunic top and a familiar-looking amulet with a purple gem in the middle. So, that must be the last candidate that voice was talking about... Judging by the fact that there is a core in the other room, it means that she somehow managed to make a body for herself somehow. The method might be in her notes, though if that's the case, then I suppose I'll never learn that particular secret. I carefully set the photo back where I found it, not wanting to disturb this room outright more than I need to right now, especially since I can't make use of anything in particular just yet. I do take the camera, though; that's something I can probably find a use for already, if not having it for the mere novelty of the device.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Upon leaving the room through the wall again, I start making my way back up toward the surface while looking for more rooms. It's an odd sensation, detecting the barest, faintest wisps of magical influence within the stone that wasn't mine. I could tell that there were, in fact, many, many rooms that were carved out of the lower half of the mountain, but at some point, they were totally filled in, not just sealed up, but filled to the brim with stone that was then blended by some magic to appear seamless and natural. I think I vastly overestimated just how many rooms that were still rooms... Eventually, I made my way back up to the room where Oururu found Frisby. From here, I could detect two more rooms, each on opposite sides of the room.

After taking a moment to look between them, I chose one and crossed the stone wall into the room on the other side; what I was greeted with appeared to be a workshop. It's not just any kind of simple workshop, but I could say that this was a workshop of innovators, where at least a couple dozen people could work out of it comfortably while maintaining a steady production line. Workstations here and there with woodworking tools, leatherworking tools, stoneworking tools, and masonry tools, a rather intricate-looking loom and machines for processing and winding spools of thread and perhaps even metal. There were other kinds of finer equipment, likely for cutting gems and shaping jewelry. There was even a disassembled watch on a workstation, the design seemed rather old-fashioned, but the make was extraordinarily fine even to my untrained eye. Looking back around for a second pass, I even noticed what appeared to be old-style machining equipment and power tools. Things like belt sanders, table saws, drill presses, and a number of other machines.

With all this, I could jumpstart production in any safe haven back in my old world, turning it into a viable manufacturing hub with a little effort. It is a real shame that I don't currently have the means to put all of this into use, but maybe I could pass over some of these things to the folks in the longhouse so they can be better equipped to prepare for the upcoming winter. As I start to make my way out of the room, I spot one of the wooden figurines from the diagrams in the other core's bedroom. I must have seriously misunderstood their scale since the one I'm looking at is practically the size of the person. There were gems embedded in the wood where the eyes would be, and looking within it, there was another gem within its head. Finally, towards its chest was a slot for a cut gem of some kind, the gem in question lying nearby, but the work was interrupted and never resumed since the workshop was sealed at some point before the craftsman working on it could finish. In fact, there were a lot of unfinished projects, as if everybody rushed out of this place at once and just never returned...

Finally making my way out of the workshop, I look towards the other sealed room and go to cross the stone threshold once more. Suffice it to say I'm both impressed at what I find and utterly annoyed with myself. Inside was another type of workshop; indeed, it was a forge to make other forges jealous. The facilities easily accommodated at least a dozen different craftsmen and whatever assistants they had. It makes the forge I spent my time building feel like a child's discount play place on how to pretend to be a blacksmith. I could make out facilities for glass blowing, smelting, smithing for armor, and smithing for weapons, and even more modern-looking equipment for machining parts and pieces for any number of weapons or tools. Quite frankly, I'd rather show this place to my blacksmith than even dare to let her look at what I attempted to cobble together with my complete lack of experience and knowledge. There was an impressive array of weaponry and armor here, quite a few completed pieces and a lot more unfinished ones. What's more interesting is that some of this equipment had some etchings on them; they reminded me of runes or lettering of some kind. Not to mention there are slots to fit gems or crystals into a few different sets of armor and quite a few sword guards.

There's some sort of pattern here with putting crystals or gems into equipment and items, and considering what I found in that ooze and the polaroid camera; I bet these gems and crystals aren't just a power source or battery but some sort of command key with instructions for specific functions or effects to occur. Now how it's actually done or implemented, I still don't know. But now I can't wait for Reyvyre to return since it was apparent she was knowledgeable about magic, and she should surely know a thing or two about all this.

I was about to check what seemed to be the final hidden room in what is now the snake wolf's den, but I suddenly became very aware of someone entering my core chamber. Bringing my focus straight up, I happen to notice that the sun has long since set. Damn, I must have completely lost track of time while I was looking things over. Going back into my chamber, I spot Grimm sitting cheerfully beside Basti on my steps as he talks to her about various things he's experienced today. He looked happy, which is a good sign, and he even seemed to be sporting a new pair of canvas pants, surprisingly enough. 'Hello Grimm, did you have a good afternoon?' I called out to him, I couldn't help but metaphorically smile as I watch his ears perk when he heard my voice.

"Yes, I did! I was just telling Basti all about it." He gushed to me cheerfully as he got up from the step before turning around to address my core.

'That sounds great, say, before we go any further, we should form a bond. Your friend said she wanted you to listen to me, right?' I mention, deciding I should at least connect myself to him now that he's had some time to settle in.

Grimm tilted his head a bit, before having some kind of realization as he smiled and nodded. "Okay! I'm ready!" He exclaimed, seeming somewhat aware of what was about to happen.

'O-oh? Well alright then... Grimm, I welcome you into my service, from now on you shall continue to be known as Grimm.' With that, even though I didn't give him a new name, it seemed to be enough to form a bond as a measure of mana flowed from my core and into the young dogkin. However as the mana flowed through him, his manaheart which was barely noticeable before, suddenly flashed and glowed as it pulsed brightly, a ring quickly spiraling around it despite the small amount of mana I gave him. One of his eyes shifted from purple to emerald green and a ring formed in the fur around his shoulder. 'Well there we go, we're connected now Grimm, your first duty is to tell me about your day.'

Grimm yawns noticeably but smiles brightly as he nods before going to sit on the steps again. "So I met some very nice people, and they helped me get these things called pants and-"