I heard it - the scratching, clawing of dirt and rubble. It sounded like the noise of muffled digging in one’s ears.

Louder, the noise became. Louder and louder, until the scratching audibly echoed in Strong Defender’s room.

And then I saw it.

Green Eyes.

Appalled, I was, by the squirming tentacles from Green Eyes’s nose that stuck through the hole in the wall of my belly. Sniff, sniff, went Green Eyes’s nostrils. They perked up in the air, nose holes wiggling and stretching about, catching different smells before jerking in my direction.

Green Eyes detected a waft of an appealing meal.

Even though seemingly far away, Green Eyes sniffed out my core.

A sharp, high-pitched squeal, reminiscent of excitement, erupted from Green Eyes’s throat. Drool slobbered down from its open mouth and panting nose. Green Eyes was high, frenzied.

Lunged, Green Eyes did, straight for the newly built walls that formed the narrow passage. Narrow for my creations, that is. Green Eyes did not look as confined as I thought it’d be. The mole was unperturbed, unbothered by the wall. Green Eyes planned to dig straight through and head directly to my core.

Its curved black claws swiped through the air, cutting into the rock wall.

Typical Green Eyes. I remarked with a smirk.

“Reeeiiiicckk!” Vexed, Green Eyes cried out as its claws clashed with the iron ore I embedded into the wall.

Green Eyes’s claws slashed through the rocks, but they clanked and got stuck in the tough iron ore.

Angry, Green Eyes was. It swiped and swiped, chipping at the wall but never fully digging through. Furious, Green Eyes waddled along the side, continuously slashing as it tried to find a weak spot to tunnel through.

Yet, try as Green Eyes might, knew better, I did. The mixed composite of the wall would not allow Green Eyes what it desired. No alternative paths could be dug by Green Eyes. There was but one path - the path that would lead to Green Eyes’s demise.

Waddle a few more steps, Green Eyes. A few more… Yees!

Too focused on finding a spot to dig through the wall, Green Eyes slipped past Trap Snare.

Wait… The loop was too large! It expanded along the lengths of the passage, and the passage was large enough for my Ogres! Green Eye was not nearly as large! Less than the size of Strong One’s leg! Trap Snare was too big!

Suddenly, Green Eye’s front claws tripped over the bottom portion of Trap Snare’s loop. Already furious, Green Eyes further thrashed about, snarling with snaps of its snout at the thin metal of Trap Snare. Each biting movement slowly tugged on the loop of the trap tighter, wrapping snugly around Green Eye’s head.

Poor thing. Poor but yummy creature. I thought.

Green Eyes started to panic. It now felt the cold wire of Trap Snare tighten around its neck. Squirm more, Green Eyes did. Green Eyes tried to get Trap Snare off. Swished its head back and forth with thrashing and snapping movements, Green Eyes did. But Trap Snare only clung on more firmly, digging into Green Eye’s neck. The mole backpedaled - now screaming, choking, and dying.

Scary, Trap Snare was. Its vice grip did not loosen, only further cutting into the now open red flesh of Green Eyes’s neck. The more Green Eyes struggled, the more Trap Snare ate into Green Eyes. I almost felt bad for Green Eyes.

Almost.

Slowly, Green Eyes’s muffled squeals faded into silence. Its frantic panting ceased escaping from its nose. Trap Snare wrapped too tightly around the mole’s neck, stopping Green Eyes’s breathing. And slowly, the mole squirmed and struggled no more. Strong Defender didn’t even need to take action.

“Effective. Good job, Trap Sn-!”

I spoke too soon. More work would need to be done by Trap Snare. So much work, Trap Snare could not handle them.

Fourteen blinking green lights lurked in the darkness beyond the hole in my wall. I gulped, even though I could not truly do the action. Seven Green Eyes were lured by my mana that dispersed into the surrounding earth.

Can Trap Snare and Strong Defender handle so many Green Eyes? I must help them. I must eat.

Quickly, the ground below the dead Green Eyes trembled as it cracked open. I swallowed Green Eyes, along with the entangled Trap Snare, digesting the deceased mole and thin metal wire as fast as I could.

But I was not fast enough.

The seven Green Eyes raced into my stomach, madly scurrying on their four legs and belly.

“Reeeiiik!” squealed all seven Green Eyes.

Yet strangely, their squeals were not reminiscent of excitement but fear. I knew because I just heard the fearful squeal of the first Green Eyes as it died.

The seven Green Eyes rushed into the narrow passageway in jumbled disarray. The passage was narrow this time, due to the many stampeding Green Eyes. They ran, purposefully knocking into each other, each trying to out run the one beside them. All of the Green Eyes rammed head-first into the walls in all directions before attempting to burrow through. Yet oddly, all of them gave up digging when they could not tunnel through.

All the Green Eyes panicked, shrieking with fear as they ran down the passageway.

The first four were caught in Trap Snare, but the remaining three beelined straight for Strong Defender.

“Brace for battle, Strong Defender! Stop those three Green Eyes!” I bellowed.

“Yes, Master! None shall pass!”

Strong Defender skidded one foot across the dirt floor as he leaned forward. Both of his thick, flabby arms pulled out to his side, ready to strike at the Green Eyes rushing to their doom.

But I looked on in confusion.

The Green Eyes caught by Trap Snare struggled, yet instead of attempting to back out and squirm free, all the captured Green Eyes frantically tried to scurry through and head towards Strong Defender. Even though Trap Snare tightened around the caught Green Eyes’ bodies, they still tried to scurry ahead, as if not captured.

Confused, I was.

All seven Green Eyes were not interested in my heart. The caught Green Eyes did not even care that Trap Snare was slowly killing them. It was as if all seven Green Eyes desperately tried to escape from something outside my belly, ignoring all else.

A growing sense of unease gnawed at me as I looked back at the black gaping hole in the wall of my stomach.

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Something else is out there. Something that scared all seven Green Eyes. Should I close the hole in my belly?

I jinxed it.

There was something else lurking in the earth outside my belly. Something more unnerving than the numerous Green Eyes.

Red eyes.

A single pair of large, bloody red eyes flickered ominously in the darkness outside the open crater in my belly.

Wait. No.

More large red eyes opened alongside the two, all blinking in cohesion.

Two. Four? No, six? Six smaller eyes in addition to the two large red eyes? What is that thing?

A long slender leg, encased in hardy black chitin, slipped into my belly, arching up into the air and bending at seven different joints before its pointed foot touched down onto the floor of my belly. I felt the strength of the creature as its single claw-like foot dug into the ground, gripping my belly as the creature attempted to pull the rest of itself into my stomach.

More slender legs slipped inside, extending quite far into the air before stabbing into the rocky floor and walls.

I groaned. I felt the open crater in the wall of my stomach ripping wider.

The creature was too large and was forcing its way in! It strained, tugging on the surface of my insides before it squeezed and plopped the main part of itself through the hole in the wall - breaking off and crumbling more pieces of rock and dirt.

I grunted from the sharp pain but soon stopped.

Saw the intruding creature in full, I now did. And now I understood why Green Eyes fleed.

Six, seven, eight? Eight Legs?

Yes.

Eight Legs, I shall call it. What a fearsome creature. It stands a little over half as tall as Strong Defender.

Eight Legs was a dangerous creature. More so than Green Eyes. Its body was as black as my darkness. Without Eldor’s Lights reflecting off the smooth chitin surface of its carapace, none would have seen the deadly predator. I shuddered at the thought, had I met Eight Legs first as my first foe instead of Green Eyes.

The long-legged creature was nimble, able to compact or extend its limbs to reach cramped places. And now it crawled and forced itself inside of me. But crawled no more, it did.

Eight Legs stood on its pointy toes, pushing its smaller head and larger body in the air, above the narrow walls I made to trap Green Eyes. But its bulky, ovular abdomen dangled from its heavy weight. Regardless, Eight Legs hovered in the air, ready to bite down with its two fang-like mandibles.

Slender, the legs looked from afar. But Eight Legs suddenly jabbed one of its front limbs and completely stabbed through half of the closest Green Eyes caught in Trap Snare. Skewered, Green Eyes was by Eight Legs. Green Eyes did not even scream before it died.

Eight Legs pulled the Green Eyes, trying to take its kill, but Trap Snare firmly held back the splattered Green Eyes.

Eight Legs, you dare?! Eating? My Green Eyes? My prey caught by my Trap Snare?! Never!

Taking my food would not easily go as Eight Legs planned. However, knew, I did, that Eight Legs was strong. Eight Legs killing Green Eyes in one strike proved so. Eight Legs was possibly as strong as Strong Defender. Maybe stronger. I knew little about Eight Legs.

Worry, I did. Bad things tend to happen when I do not know. I could not allow my strong creations to be injured. Or worse.

I must weaken Eight Legs so my creations can kill the intruder! Only we will eat!

Completely digesting the first dead Green Eyes came at the perfect time.

[Notification]

Creature consumed!

Fragment blueprint for Nether Hound Mole obtained!

Creature memories are ready for extraction!

25 mana has been added to your available mana!

Available Mana:

27/40

Just what I needed! More mana!

Immediately, my available twenty-seven mana plummeted by twelve, and this time, four more looped Trap Snares grew out of the walls of my belly. But this time I formed hands using the skill, Mana Threads and controlled the size of the loops.

“Take this, Eight Legs!” I said, channeling my Internal Awareness skill at the invader while tossing two of the looped Trap Snares at its head.

Oddly, it seemed Eight Legs heard me. The creature momentarily stopped pulling the Green Eyes it killed and focused towards my direction. We didn’t connect mentally like how my creations did, but I felt like Eight Legs sensed my internalized shout.

However, the unintended distraction proved useful. Trap Snare looped around Eight Legs’s head, slipping down, and tightening between the area of its head and abdomen.

Alarmed, Eight Legs screeched, bellowing with a low and deep rumble that shook the walls of my stomach. The creature jerked, causing my walls to rattle, but they held firm and did not allow Eight Legs to escape.

Tightened, Trap Snare did, but Eight Legs’s black carapace did not shred under the metal wire like the flesh of Green Eye’s neck. Eight Leg’s exoskeleton proved to be unexpectedly durable. However, Eight Legs was not pleased. It thrashed its long legs about, stabbing everything around. Even with my fortified belly, I still felt sharp pinches of pain.

But the more Eight Legs flung its lengthy legs around, the more chances I had to catch dinner. Using my Mana Threads, I tossed out the last two loops of Trap Snare at the front limbs on each side of Eight Legs. Eight Legs flailed its limbs wildly about in a rampage to free itself. But only caught and tangled itself more, Eight Legs did.

Legs entwined by Trap Snare, I yanked my threads of mana. Eight Legs almost fell splat on the walls formed to trap Green Eyes, but Eight Legs stabilized itself with its lower limbs.

“Strong Defender! Ignore Green Eyes! Smash Eight Legs in the head! Kill it!” I bellowed out orders.

“Yes, Master!” Stong Defender replied, stomping the floor of my belly as he raced towards Eight Legs.

Pulling back his fist, Strong Defender lunged towards Eight Legs. The intruder’s eight, bloody red eyes stretched wide as Death approached. For a moment, I saw many things flash in Eight Legs’s eyes: surprise, fear, reluctance, but most of all, the will to survive.

A deep gravelly voice hissed inside Strong Defender’s room. “S-s-submits! We submit! Spare us! This is a Dungeon, right?! We pledge allegiance! I, the Silent Creeper, vow it! With mana itself as witness!”

[Notification]

The named Scorpio Spider, Silent Creeper, a normal monster, is willing to become one of your Dungeon Creatures.

Convert the Scorpio Spider into one of your Dungeon Creatures.

Requires 10 mana.

(Yes) (No)

Note: Converting normal creatures of non-Dungeon origin will consume the same amount of mana as creating them. Blueprints will be immediately available for creation if chosen so.

Strong Defender’s fist was nearly upon hammering the blood-red eyes of Eight Legs. My creation grunted with a deep carnal roar, twisting his right foot and channeling the kinetic energy up his body to his descending fist to smash Eight Legs.

Quickly, I called out, “Strong Defender! Wait! Don’t kill Eight Legs!”

“Master?”

Strong Defender groaned, immediately shifting the trajectory of his slamming fist, slightly edging his upper right torso while forcing his punch to crash into the floor of my belly instead of Eight Leg’s head.

I gasped as my belly shook. A deep indentation in the shape of Strong Defender’s massive fist remained on the ground as my creation lifted his hand while sighing in relief.

“Sorry, Master. I almost killed it.”

“No, it was not your fault, Strong Defender. I told you last minute. Thank you, Strong Defender, for stopping yourself. You did well.”

“Of course, Master! But why? Why did you want me to stop? That spider wanted to take away our hard-caught meal.”

“Curious, I am, Strong Defender. It says curious things. Maybe you will get a new friend.”

Stong Defender remained quiet and looked on with uncertainty.

I glanced at Eight Legs with much interest. Its front limbs sprawled out, pulled aside by Trap Snare towards the walls of my belly, forcing its head to almost touch the ground. Surprised, I was by Yellow Screen!

I do not have to make my own creations, but can I add those who are not mine?!

Wondered, I did. But my pondering was cut short.

Strong Helper screamed, “Master! Help! One Fuzzy Thing runs aways! Fuzzy Thing runnings to Strong One’s room!”