It would be an exaggeration to claim that the Core had completely claimed the mouse that had carried it down to its nest. It would also be an exaggeration to claim that the territory it had claimed was a large one.
In truth, the mouse’s nest was located where the walls of the cabin met the foundations and right where the foundations separated the sprawling basement of the cabin from the outside world. The territory it claimed was the wood of the inner walls, the stone of the foundation that it sat on, as well as the stone of the outer wall.
The other “treasures” of the mouse were claimed as well. The mouse itself sat looking at the Core quizzically, mostly uninterested but it could not deny the tentative bond that now bound them together as master and servant.
Once more moving by instinct, powered by its half-sentience, the core began to create its first room. It found that it could manipulate anything its breath touched and so began to excavate. First, it moved to dig deeper into the stone of the foundation, shaping a rectangle roughly the size of the foundation block which was twenty inches by forty.
The mouse stood stunned as its nest transformed from a simple collection of mothballs and grasses stuffed in a corner, into a large hole in the rock. It hurried to protect its different treasures, scurrying back and forth carrying them to higher ground.
The Core hollowed out the large foundation rock, forming a tiny cavern. It took time as it required the tiny core to exert itself to both move the rock and reinforce the walls so that the foundation stone didn’t just collapse. It also took time for the Core to inhale Aether before using it to claim more stone. The stone it moved was used to block off the area behind the foundation stone, forming a rough cul-de-sac in between the inner and outer walls.
It then followed its instincts and moved its body into the back of the cavern and raised the rock to form a pedestal to rest its crystalline core. It sat content but knew it wasn’t yet complete. It reached out through the bond it shared with the mouse and coaxed it inside, soothing its anxiety with its Aether.
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The mouse, calmer now that the stone had stopped moving, made its way down the narrow tunnel and into the cavern. Seeing the pedestal and the Core, the mouse moved closer until it was standing right in front of the tiny glowing gem. The Core, acting quickly, drew in more Aether and then blew out, fully claiming the mouse by flooding its Sparkways with its Aether.
It heard a phantom chime on the wind as the mouse, its eyes glittering, turned and began to move its treasures and nest down into the cavern, creating a new nest around the pedestal. The Core knew it had achieved a milestone somehow and was also aware on a fundamental level that it could influence the mouse and order it to obey. It also knew that it could create more.
End of Chapter System Notifications:
Floor 1 Created!
First Dungeon Monster Claimed!
New Schema Acquired!
House Mouse (No Rarity)
The common house mouse would normally never be considered worthy of a Schema of its own as it is a humble creature, rarely magical, and is often prey for larger more worthy creatures. Usually relegated to being at the bottom of a Dungeon’s ecosystem, most Dungeons eschew such basic non-magical creatures for their more magical and larger cousin rodents. However, basic as they are, they are highly territorial and will fight to protect their space making them a loyal, if weak and tiny, Dungeon Monster.
As the first Dungeon to use such a creature as a Dungeon Monster, you will be able to freely create and modify its Evolutionary Paths.
Warning! May have unforeseen consequences.
The Core has created its first floor and claimed its first Dungeon Monster.
The Core has acquired its first Schema.
Progress to Core Evolution
33.3%