As the adventurers finished for the day, I was thinking over several possible rat designs. The miners were long gone, and I might do a few…

Raid Alert!

Your Dungeon is being raided!

A Void Corrupted creature is attacking your Dungeon. Kill it before it destroys you!

Rally your minions!

Defend your Core and Dungeon!

…………..

Minion room/floor restrictions have been lifted until the raid has been completed or defeated!

"Shit!"

I moved my attention to the entry room, fearing what I would find there. What sort of new abomination was going to be sprung on me? In the room, I found a…. rather unhealthy-looking man running to the stairs.

"Eh?"

Was this right?

"Mana Sight. Activate."

My vision changed as I followed him down the stairs. He slowed down a bit, winded from the run. Seeing him now revealed the corruption in his body. It was spread throughout his body and interacted with the essence in the Dungeon, corrupting it as he walked.

I had never had the opportunity to observe a corrupted… well, anything for long yet. Typically, I panicked, thinking about defending my Core and wondering if my layer defence was the best approach. Wearing down the intruder by wading through each floor's minions was my tactic that was working so far, but it might be time to look at that, thinking back over the monsters that have attacked the Dungeon.

Anyway, back to the man walking down the stairs.

It seems he is in no rush. I reach out and keep my minions in place. I am going to allow him to descend to the seventh unmolested. I had an opportunity to do some experimentation here and quickly devise a possible plan. I contacted Krag as I needed him to do a few things.

"Krag, we have a man coming down the stairs."

"More to kill!" He was happy.

"No! I want you to leave your room when I tell you and capture him."

"We… eating him?" Krag was confused now.

"No! I want to study him a bit."

"No kill, no eat but hurt?"

"No! Hold only next to the Core."

His reply was a lot of grumbling, but I think he would obey.

Back to the intruder. The corruption was spread deep throughout his body, but it seemed to be moving as he walked towards his skin as he descended. I could see the growing number of corrupted essence "feelers" reaching out around him. I found it weird but interesting at the same time.

These feelers were catching more of the essence in the air than his body was processing normally. The corruption was moving into a growing core in his body just above the heart. I sensed that he was moving to a new stage of corrupt existence when this Core reached a critical mass, a sort of evolution.

"That will not be good."

Watching the feelers as he passed the third, I wondered if I could interact with them. Essence is condensed into mana, and the corrupt essence takes on a similar look in my view.

"Now that's an interesting idea?"

He had slowed and was using crystals to scan the area. Watching them, I know that he is studying the essence flows in the Dungeon. Over the last few months, I had added extra ventilation to confuse these more, making it harder to find me.

"So, you are looking for me."

The monsters that attacked had hunted me on instinct, which this man lacks and is relying on magic to find me. Interesting.

He moves further down the stairs, and I hear him increasingly muttering to himself, but I ignore it to watch the corrupt essence moving in his body. This is now the longest I have ever been able to study a corrupted creature or person.

"I think I might be able to use Mana Manipulation on this stuff."

He eventually gets to the seventh floor and stands in the Core room, scanning the essence around him again.

"Now, Krag!"

The two large doors suddenly open as Krag stomps out. The man screamed in shock but could not flee as Krag crossed the small room and grabbed him. He picked him up, holding him firm, and looked him over. They were face-to-face. Then, he sniffed him and finally licked him. The man was now babbling in fear and pissed himself. I hope he has not done anything more.

"Stop that! Bring him around to my Core. Remember, hold him until I say otherwise. But DO NOT kill him!"

It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but Krag managed it. He had pinned the man down on his knees as I opened my alcove. His face was a mixture of fear, confusion and wonder. Krag was grumbling about what I was getting him to do.

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"Right, let's try this."

Mana Sight was still active, and I triggered Mana Manipulation. I reached out and linked with the feelers coming out of his body. I was using Shadow Mana as it was the fastest to regenerate. They thought I was another source of mana and gripped onto the energy I was using. They started to pull it into his body as the feelers gripped tighter.

"Just a little more."

There!

When I was sure of the connection, I began pulling the energy back into my Core. The void corruption was caught, and I started to drag it into my Core. It was like pulling in a rope or landing a large fish on a fishing line. The central node that was taking on characteristics of a Core tried to resist.

I moved slowly and did not rush, which could break the connection. Slow and sure wins this race.

I had to ignore the effects on the man as he started shaking and screaming. I trusted Krag would control him. I narrowed my focus on pulling the void of corruption into myself. I started feeling the effects of this action, but I pushed it aside as it was not the intense hit I had experienced before.

I focused on the task to the detriment of everything else.

I lost track of time as I worked as the man collapsed into unconsciousness. I slowly pulled out the corruption from his body, millimetre by millimetre. The feeling of corruption continued to build.

Then, the last part came free and was pulled into me.

"Activate. Core Refinement."

My vision twisted and changed. This was the next part of my plan, as I had never seen what happens when I absorb large amounts of corruption. Looking into my crystal structure, I could see the void corruption slowly moving into my centre.

The energy was flowing along natural channels within my makeup. These channels were narrow, which caused a massive delay in the passing of corruption. This is what causes me to have to spend so much time processing it!

It was a revelation that was possibly vital to my future. I would never have seen the channels unless the void corruption were flowing. Now, I knew what I was looking for. With my memory now as it was as a Core, I would remember all of the channel locations.

I reached out and focused on one channel. I tried to enlarge it, but I failed to do anything about it. Frustrated, I changed tactics and sought to smooth the route to the centre. I had more success here, significantly when I refined my Core's crystal.

I had a goal!

My vision twisted again as I left my inner view.

Krag was sitting, digging around in his nose again. The man was sprawled out on the floor with one of his legs pinning him down. He was still unconscious. I checked, and he was still breathing. Dried blood trails were seen coming from his eyes, nose and ears. His breathing was shallow, and he was deathly pale.

"Shit! I think I went a bit overboard."

"Good, you back. Krag bored."

I reached out and checked the Dungeon. No issues. Good.

"Take him upstairs and put him into the entrance room."

Krag grumbled more but went to work obeying my instruction. I felt like shit, but I opened my notifications. I felt an insistent buzzing in my Core, which I ignored right then.

Raid Alert!

Your Dungeon is being raided!

The raid has ended!

Result – VICTORY!

You defeated no Corrupted Monsters!

Design gained: None!

Your Dungeon has not been damaged in the raid. As you are VICTORIOUS, no damage will be repaired.

Void corruption gained!

………….

Minion room/floor restrictions have been restored, and your Dungeon has been reset!

"Er. Krag, no, go up the stairs." He stood scratching his head.

"FUCK!"

That made things difficult—time to adapt.

"Right, leave him at the bottom of the stairs."

Krag just dumped the man on the floor, and I winced at the impact. He then turned and went back into his room, closing the doors. There were other notifications, but the buzzing was getting annoying. I turned my attention and realised that the Goldwind fella was trying to contact me. I closed up my alcove, hiding my Core again.

"What!"

I snapped, as dealing with the corruption was not putting me in a good mood.

"Thank the Gods! I have been trying to contact you for the last few hours!" Came the stressed voice of Goldwind. I heard a muffled conversation in the background. It seemed he was not alone.

"Well, I have answered, so what do you want?"

"Comus of the Alchemists Guild entered your Dungeon. Is he still alive?" Goldwind asked, fear in his voice.

"Who?"

"Er… Comus, he entered the Dungeon a few hours ago. Is he still alive?" There was a clear note of desperation now.

The corruption always messed with my thought processes, and I realised that the man was named Comus. Alchemist Guild?

"Heavy set fella, average height with a long coat on?"

"Yes…. Is he still alive?" I was asked again.

"I think he is… not sure, to be honest, but he is breathing."

"Oh, thank the Gods!.... Hold on, what do you mean by that?" He was on one hell of an emotional rollercoaster, going from elation back to fear.

"Exactly what I said. He is at the bottom of the stairs on the seventh; get someone to come and get him. The ogre down here is eyeing him up as his next meal."

"He is… Someone is coming right now." I heard more voices and the sounds of movement. I knew that would get them moving.

"I have things to do, so… bye."

"Wait, we ne…" I cut the connection. After looking over the man, I decided on a course of action.

"Looting time! But I might need some help with this one."

## ## ## ## ##

"Elian, with me, we will go get him!" Albrot ordered. He strode with a purpose to the doors that marked the Dungeon's surface building entrance. Elian was hot on his heels.

He did not hesitate, as he was once an adventurer and a highly regarded one at that. They moved into the building and went straight for the stairs. Albrot bound down them, and Elian ran to keep up.

The floors passed quickly; before she knew it, they had reached the seventh. Comus lay at the base of the stairs, not moving.

"Check on him while I cover you." Albrot attention was on the large double doors as he stepped over Comus's body. Elian went and knelt next to him, assessing his condition.

It did not take long. "I have never seen injuries like this."

“Use a potion to stabilise him.” Elain searched his body but found that all his bottles were gone.

She pulled out one of her own. "I am using a mild one to stabilise him now."

"Good, as soon as you have administered it, we are going."

It was only a few minutes, but they soon headed back up the stairs, with Albrot carrying the unconscious Comus. As soon as they were clear, the healers of Ilinia fell on them. They rushed Comus to their temple as his condition was severe just after the first look.

Albrot and Elian entered the church-constructed building to monitor the Dungeon. Outside, three paladins stood guard. Arbiter Nextom, other church leaders, and Ranus Goldwind were inside.

"He is alive, but we do not know his condition," Albrot informed the group. Ranus let out a loud sigh to relieve some of the stress.

"Do we know anything more?" Arbiter Nextom asked.

"No. Comus came to the Dungeon and was challenged by a paladin. He used an alchemic concoction to distract him and entered the Dungeon." Albrot went back over what they knew.

"Did you identify the nature of his injuries?" Arbiter Nextom continued.

"No, I used a tonic to stabilise, and we got him out. Whatever happened to him had the healers of Ilinia concerned enough to rush him to the temple." Elian added.

"So much we do not know," Nextom mused. The other church leaders nodded. We should withdraw for now and allow the day to continue as normal as it is about to begin. Rest, contemplate, and pray. Then, if we are lucky, we shall meet again at midday in Lord Goldwind's office with more clarity."

They agreed to this and set off.

They did not even try to keep this quiet; too many were aware of it and had begun drawing conclusions.

Another day in Shadow Vale.