What lurks on the outside? What watches my creations while remaining hidden? What are their intentions? What do they want to do?
Worry, I did. I just lost Strong Helper. She died because of me. The guilt and shame I felt burdened my heart - my core. Relieved, I was, when Alexandria told me I could revive her. Only when Strong Helper lived again, did my broken heart begin to mend.
What if my strong creations get hurt? What if-
I shuddered at the thought of losing my creations, watching them die but unable to help. But a thought crossed my mind. A horrible thought…
Wait. What if my creations died outside of me - outside of my stomach? I cannot sense what lies in the outside world. Does that mean I cannot revive my creations if they perish outside my belly? Oh, no. No!
Ask, I must! I must ask!
I stripped the threads of mana binding Alexandria’s beak.
“Speak, Alexandria. What happens to my creations if they die outside my belly? How can I revive them?”
“My, my.” The crow said, lifting her head from the dirt while laying on her belly, still bound in my golden threads of mana. “The Dungeon Master needs my help. Again? Oh, but Dungeon Master, I am afraid I cannot fully help. It is difficult for me to speak clearly. I cannot breathe with the threads of mana tightly constricting my lungs.”
This defiant crow, still she tests me. “Then I will find out from you the hard way, Alexandria.”
Alexandria’s eyes widened with fear as she understood my intentions.
The ground beneath Alexandria began to rumble before slowly splitting apart. Alexandria flinched as her frontside partially sunk into the dirt. The length of her neck stretched long as the beak of her head desperately clung to the edge of the widening hole. The depths of my darkness began to open, ready to devour the crow.
“I will find out one way or another, crow.”
Alexandria lifted her head, frantically squawking, “Dear Dungeon Master! I will tell you! I will tell you! But first, please! Please don’t eat me!”
The hole in my belly ceased from continuing to expand.
“Will you now listen, Alexandria? Your lesson, did you learn it?”
“Yes, Dungeon Master! Yes! Spare me!”
“Then tell me. What did you learn?”
“What?”
“What did you learn? What was the lesson I taught you?”
“That… If I don’t obey you, you will eat me?”
I sighed. I closed the hole in my belly, leading into my darkness. Pushed up Alexandria, I did. I gave conflicting looks at Alexandria.
The crow was not as intelligent as she claimed. True, I threatened her as such, but that was not the point. The crow did not understand. Or maybe it was because she was selectively intelligent, only ignoring my teachings? Know, I did not.
“You are a poor listener, Alexandria. I will repeat it one last time. Help can be taken but must also be given. I asked not for you to only obey me, Alexandria. You asked for my help, and I asked for yours. Understand? Now what did you learn?”
“Are you asking for a relationship with mutual benefit? With a Dungeon? The ones who live by ‘eat or be eaten?’ If you wanted mutual benefit, then you should have chosen the option to fully integrate with me.”
I wanted to shake in refusal, but my core was unmoving. “Wrong, crow. Knowing you, Alexandria, you wanted to take over. Let me ask you then, if I chose to fully integrate, would you do as you just said? Would our relationship be of mutual benefit? Or would you, who knows more than I do, take advantage and ignore me while trying to find your other pieces? If danger comes, would you discard me to save yourself?”
Alexandria remained silent. I somewhat knew what the silence implied.
Alexandria looked at me for a long time. Unknown, were the number of thoughts that went through her head, but finally she responded.
“I am bound. I cannot leave. But… I will wait to see if what you say is true. I know Dungeons and their nature. And a Dungeon’s nature is not one of mutual benefit, only taking and consuming.”
This time I remained quiet. I felt Alexandria’s statement rung true. Mother appeared to be as such, but so did the crow. Alexandria did not refute discarding me should danger arise. True, she was bound. But what else does she know? Maybe a way to escape from the binding?
But I could only find out. I needed to become stronger in case the situation arose. But certain, I was, for now. Alexandria had yet to trust me, as I have yet to trust her.
“Maybe most Dungeons are like Mother. But I am not. I do not ask for you to believe my words. See with your own eyes. We will both have to find out, Alexandria. Now tell me, what happens if my creations die outside my stomach?”
Alexandria’s beady red eyes closely examined me. And I returned to stare. But then I saw her looking at me in a different light. Curiosity, I saw, reflected in the beady, red eyes. This time, Alexandria did not refuse me and replied.
“Outside the Dungeon? Well, death is the same regardless of whether it be inside or outside Dungeons. Interestingly, the dead bodies of Dungeon creatures rot faster than naturally born bodies. Born of pure mana, they return to pure essence much quicker. The souls will eventually depart from the deceased body. If both are not returned back into the Dungeon promptly, then all will be forever lost on the outside.”
The pulsing of my mana quickened. My core - my heart rapidly thumped with anxiety. My entire belly felt unwell, plagued with concern. If my creations died and were not retrieved back into my belly in time, then they truly die.
“No. No! None must die! I must become stronger! My creations must become stronger!”
I wanted to stop my creations from going outside. Yet, I could not. To grow, I needed to eat things from the outside. And my creations would have to go outside to bring in my food. But they also enjoyed being outside. They enjoyed the warm kisses from the sun, the cool, soothing breeze gliding against their skin, and the juicy tasty bits they rummaged. None of it, I had inside my empty and dark stomach.
It was my fault.
I could not provide my creations with food. Heck, I could not even provide for myself. Again, reminded, I was, that I was weak. Lacking. Incapable.
Change, I wanted. I wanted to be able to do more for myself and my creations. And to do more, I needed mana.
“Strong One, Strong Defender, Strong Helper - all of you! Go bring in the harvest left by the entrance! Eat, I must!”
“Yes, Master!” My creations replied in unison.
I groaned as my heavy creatures thumped on the floor of my belly as they exited past my chamber to follow my orders. I glanced at Alexandria as I waited for my creatures to return. If the crow unwillingly refused to let go of her pride, then I would be willing to compromise. It was easy to forego the haughty facade in return for the assistance I needed to become strong.
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“I will give you mana, Alexandria. Help me become strong, and when I am, I will help you retrieve your pieces.”
Alexandria stared at me dumbstruck, but she quickly recomposed herself. “My, my. How strange. Maybe you are untypical of the standard Dungeons. Well, dear Dungeon Master. If you put it so nicely that way, what is a spirit assistant to do but comply? Alright. Master, I need a good amount of mana. How much do you have?”
I did not know.
“Yellow Screen! How much mana do I have?”
[Notification]
Request acknowledged.
Displaying results…
3 mana absorbed from Mana Breathing.
Available available mana:
4/40
“Four,” I stated.
“Four? Four?! Master, you only have four mana?! What are you doing, Master?! What happened to all your mana!? Only four in an entire Dungeon?! What did you do, Master?!”
I felt smacked and reprimanded.
“Obviously, I spent it, Alexandria.”
“On what?! You only have three creatures! Nothing else inside you seems added! What is your maximum mana capacity!?”
“Forty. My core can currently hold forty.”
“You have a capacity of forty?! Then where did it all go?!”
Annoyed, I was at Alexandria’s tone but I replied truthfully. “To create strong Ogres, to reinforce the walls of my belly, and to heal myself.”
“Heal? You were attacked?”
“Yes, by four Green Eyes.”
Alexandria softened her beady, red eyes and sighed. “Haaaa… such is the life of Dungeons. Eat or be eaten.” But then the crow clicked her tongue. “Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Dungeon Master. You have been avoiding taking care of yourself. You need to increase your core’s mana capacity. I need one hundred and fifty mana to fully integrate myself. But I suppose ten will have to do for now given your mana limitations. Unfortunately, I will only be able to unlock my first ability: Library of the Bastille.”
“An ability? What does it do?”
“Yes, Master. If you had the mana, we could fully integrate the four rooms associated with my fragmented self. The first ability is obtained when I fuse part of myself with ten mana. The Library of the Bastille will then be integrated into the Dungeon, giving me access to unique creation blueprints and knowledge. Of course, there are material requirements and other restrictions. But all worth the effort when made. Afterwards, the requirements for the next fusing are doubled, requiring twenty mana, and unlocking the Craftsroom of the Bastille. The next room after is again doubled, requiring forty mana. And the last room that my fragment has required eighty mana.”
Mana again. Everything required mana. Mana that I did not have enough of. But interested in Alexandria’s abilities, I was. Blueprints, right? Unique blueprints! Currently, I could only create some plants from the outside with the complete blueprints I had. But many were still missing fragments. But complete and unique blueprints!? I just needed mana!
Ten mana, I could acquire. Ten, no, even twenty, I could quickly accumulate.
“Master! We’s back!” Strong One shouted, dropping off part of their harvest before heading back out. “Okays Master, we’s goings now!”
My creations all left again as soon as they came, dropping off their growing piles of green stuff found from the outside.
Hmmm… I thought. Let me take a little first to get ten mana for Alexandria. The rest will be split amongst the four of us.
I focused at the edge of the towering pile of greens. The ground beneath crumbled and more than I anticipated from the pile collapsed and fell into my darkness.
“Consume, absorb, extract!” I commanded.
[Notification]
Mana absorbed!
Materials absorbed!
Composition fragments of various species extracted!
Complete extractions.
Blueprints available for creation:
Poison Scurry
Belthor’s Bane
Honeybulb Tree
Wheat Grass
Snake Vine
Aldurian Tree
Elder Berries
Livian Glower Lily
Slint Herb
Mana Herb
You may now use your blueprints to create an environment to lure in more creatures!
Incomplete Extractions:
Trap Snare
Nether Hound Mole
Moon Rabbit
Extract more to complete fragmented knowledge. Once the complete essence and composition are known, blueprints can be used for creation.
Quest Completed!
Absorb Other Nutrients - Skill Basics 2
Obtained ten complete materials from the outside world!
Rewards:
A basic blueprint of your choice from Hive Mother!
[Notification]
A new quest has been added!
Absorb Other Nutrients - Skill Basics 3
Use your completed blueprints to lure in more prey to consume!
Understand more about your blueprints and how they interact with each other and the surroundings. Build an ecosystem that will naturally draw in lifeforms.
Rewards:
Treasure Box - LVL 1 Blueprint!
[Notification]
Congratulations!
Dungeon level up!
Skills level up!
[Status Page] [Quest Page] [Extractions Page]
[Dungeon Floor Page]
Name: Atlas (The Atlas Dungeon)
Race: Dungeon
Level: 01 -> 02 (NEW!)
Core Integrity: 17/20
Available Mana: 12/40
Title: A True Predator (Upgradable)
Dungeon Floors: 01
Dungeon Rank: H1
Dungeon Guardians: 0
Skills:
Consume - LVL 3 -> 4 (NEW!)
Absorb - LVL 3 -> 4 (NEW!)
Extract - LVL 3 -> 4 (NEW!)
Mana Manipulation - LVL 4
Create Floor - LVL 1
Create Creature - LVL 1
Create Item - LVL - 1
Mana Breathing - LVL 1
Internal Awareness - LVL 2
Create Dimensional Space - LVL 1 (Locked - Requires skill Create Floor LVL 10, Space and Time Attributes)
Dimensional Portal LVL (Locked, requires Space and Time Attributes)
Mana Threads - LVL 2
Re-Spawn Creature - LVL 1
Ignore Yellow Screen, I did. I focused on my core, looking deeper and deeper, finding the flowing motes of mana I just absorbed. I saw them. I commanded them - willed them out one by one until ten mana was taken from my core. The tiny motes seeped past my walls and into my cavern, clumping together into a ball of golden mana in between me and the crow.
“Alexandria, take it. Take my mana. Show me the Library of Bastille!”