Yellow Screen ordered many things, things I needed to do to gain Mother’s approval. Did Yellow Screen know Mother? Yellow Screen tasked me with one thing after another. Rewarded me afterwards too, from Mother, of course. I wonder if Yellow Screen can ask Mother my questions. Many, I had. All of them, unanswered.

“Yellow Screen, where is Mother? Why won’t Mother meet me now?”

No response. Maybe the question was too difficult, even for Yellow Screen. Maybe something easier, easier questions.

“Yellow Screen, why do I feel broken? Missing? Incomplete?”

Again, no response. Yellow Screen only showed me new tasks.

Hmpf. Fine. Of course. What did I expect? Yellow Screen only tells me what to do. Only I can help myself. Must become strong. Strong required to meet Mother.

First thing Yellow Screen stated was to find and open a door, a door to the outside world. But what is an ‘outside world?’ Is it different from my darkness?

“Master? Who Yellow Screen?”

“Don’t you see it, Strong One? The floating yellow box with words inside? That is Yellow Screen.”

Strong one scratched his head. “Maybe Strong One’s eyes too small. Cannot see Yellow Screen. Strong One wants to meet Yellow Screen.”

Strong One cannot see Yellow Screen? Because eyes too small? That could not be the case. Yes, Yellow Screen was small indeed when compared to Strong One. But not tiny. Not invisible, Yellow Screen was. Or maybe only invisible to Strong One.

“Maybe later, Strong One. Show you, later. When you evolve.”

Strong One nodded. “OK. What Strong One do now?”

“Huh? Oh, right.” Strong One sat eagerly on the stone ground like a puppy wagging its tail. Puppy? Yes, whatever a puppy was. But Strong One brought me out of my pondering. “Strong One, do you know what is an ‘outside world’ or how to find it?”

Strong One lifted his massive, stubby hand above his head, scratching his bald head in confusion.

“Outside world? Can Strong One eats it?”

I sighed internally. Strong One was worse off than I was. He definitely had no clue.

“No. We eat what is in the outside world.”

“Oh! Soft, squishy insides! Me knows! Wait. How me knows?”

Hmm?

Curious, I was. Strong One knows things but doesn’t know how he knew? Sounded similar to my problem, Strong One’s problem. “Yes, how do you know, Strong One? You know insides are soft, how?”

Strong One vigorously rubbed his temples in circles with his clenched fists, struggling to remember. Strong One scrunched his round flabby face while trying to recall.

“Uh, Strong One not sure. Head is hot and hurts. Too much rubbing. Too much thinking. But Strong One just knows. That is all. Strong One just knows.”

I understood the part of just knowing. Like Strong One, no matter how hard I thought, answers to my question never came. But I knew, like I knew things before. The question is, how? Mother will know.

“OK, let me ponder a bit about what to do, Strong One. I need to find an outside world.”

“Yes, Master.”

I don’t know how, but I will do as Yellow Screen asked. Yellow Screen said Mother will reward me. Mother would be most happy, right? So I need to find and make an exit to the outside.

“…” I wanted to move, to search. However, move, I could not. Immobile, I was. Stuck. What to do?

Hmmm… Ah! Skills! Internal Awareness. Yellow Screen said it would help me!

I focused, sensing my surroundings. Internal Awareness skill showed my insides, but all was mostly dark. Rocky, my insides were. Only Strong One was visible, highlighted in shades of white and gray.

Not helpful. Yellow Screen lied. Said to use skill to help find entry/exit. Cannot see anything but darkness and Strong One.

Well, I did sense roughly where I was inside my stomach and its size. Where my stomach extended, I knew.

The opposite end of my stomach stretched far, slightly meandering up and down, side to side. But still, all I could see was darkness.

Where do I find the outside? Where is the outside?

Even Green Eyes’s memories were mainly filled with darkness as well. The only time Green Eyes saw differently were from the glowing stones, mana stones. Or Dungeon cores.

Oh! Right! Green Eyes came from outside then to inside me! Green Eyes is the answer! Rewards from eating Green Eyes!

“Yellow Screen! I want to receive Green Eye’s presents.”

[Notification]

Choose one of the three following options to extract:

Useful metals and minerals consumed by Nether Moles.

Fragmented local geological information.

Fragmented memories of other nearby creatures.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Note: More information can be extracted and obtained as skill levels up.

Three options, I wanted them all. I wanted to have them all - all of them, as a part of me. I must level up the Extract skill. Must eat. But for now, the best option was geographical information.

“I want the geographical info! Show me the outside!”

[Notification]

Choice acknowledged.

Extracting now.

Yellow Screen flashed, acknowledging my decision before disappearing. Memories flooded my mind, mainly just digging through dirt with curved claws. But now there was a sense of…direction. Green Eyes knew where I was, and Green Eyes traveled far — sometimes going deep into the earth, and other times to a bright, open place above.

Place above… What is, place above? What are these memories?! What is that place!? A new world!? The outside world?!

I experienced Green Eyes’s memory in awe, as if my own. Green Eyes broke through the surface. Cool, fresh air tickled his tentacled nose. Green Eyes saw the outside. I now saw, too, the outside. Colors I’ve never seen before. Yet, familiar, they were. As if seen before, but different. Not here, but before here. Before becoming Atlas, the Dungeon. Curious. Must ask Mother later.

I focused on Green Eyes’s memories.

Untouched beauty, majestic shades of green fluttering in the wind, expansive cerulean blue skies, snow-white clouds, and the most warm touch from the sun — all of it, I wanted to experience myself. Not through Green Eyes’s memories.

“Strong One. I know what an outside world is. It is bright. Lush. Colorful. I want to see it, but I cannot not move. Go for me. I will guide you. We will eat the outside world. Take it. Make it mine.”

“Eats! Yes, Master! Strong One eats lots. Eats soft insides of outside world! Bring back insides of outside for Master!”

Before I could correct Strong One, Strong One jumped up. Bald head smashed into the ceiling. Sharp pain. Top of my belly hurt. Landed with a thud, Strong One did, shaking my darkness. Bottom of my stomach rumbled. I gasped, felt like the wind got knocked out of me.

Need to make body stronger - stronger so hurt no more. Eat to become strong.

“Strong One…” I wheezed. “Careful. Do not hit rocks around too hard. Hurts me.”

“Strong One hurts Master!? Forgive Strong One,” My Ogre said, sad with his bald head bowing down. Sad puppy.

“It’s ok. You did not know. But that is a weakness of mine I must fix. Fighting happens. Attacked, I was before. Almost eaten. Must make stomach stronger.”

“Master attacked!?” Strong One jerked his round head from one side to another. “Who?! Where?! Strong One smash! Strong One kill!”

“Not to worry, Strong One. I killed Green Eyes. Ate him. No longer a threat, Green Eyes be. Focus. Find outside, we must.”

“OK…” Strong One was reluctant. His eyes still darted around and on guard. Appreciative, was I.

“You will go into the darkness, Strong One. My darkness. Place your hand on the rocks, on the side of my stomach.”

“Like this, Master?” Strong One asked, lifting his hulking arm and touching my stomach with his hand.

“Yes. Now continue forward. Continue until you can go no further.”

“OK, Master.”

Strong One did as told, keeping one hand on the rocky wall while walking forward. Strong One disappeared from sight. But Internal Awareness allowed me to sense Strong One’s presence. Walked, he did. Thumping the ground with each step. Walked until the end of my stomach.

“OK, Master. What next?”

Yes, what indeed?

“Wait, there Strong One. Let me think.”

“Master? What you want me to do. Cannot hear you.”

A dilemma. My Ogre was too far to hear me speak. But I felt him. I heard him. Sensed him. I focused on my skill, trying to connect to Strong One with the same sensation. I used my consciousness, using the skill Internal Awareness, and delved into Strong One. Connected.

“Hear me now, Strong One?”

“Master! Yes! Master was so quiet. Master sounds…different now.”

“Yes. Speaking in Strong One’s mind. Wait for me. I need to figure out how to open a door.”

According to Green Eyes, he traveled up far from the depths of the earth, searching for me — for those like me. I was a young Dungeon, and Green Eyes knew young ones always started near the surface. In Green Eyes’s experience, he knew my heart was furthest away from the surface. Thus, he dug closest to my core for his favorite food. Green Eyes ended up being my food. And now I know where the exit to the outside world is: where Strong One stood, on the opposite end of my stomach, farthest from my core.

I focused on my stomach near Strong One. Focus. Sensing the rocky walls: rough, pointy, and protruding randomly. But deeper, past the walls, past the linings of my stomach, I felt my mana coursing like blood. My mana flowed around my stomach. Mother said Dungeon were master manipulators of mana.

Mana. My mana.

My mana flowed like a misty stream from my heart, my core, and into the deep layer between the rocks.

Closer. Look closer.

I did. Small particles. Mote-like. Shiny. Yellow. Gold-like. Shimmering. Flowing. Focus. Manipulate. Control the mana.

Stopped one. Stopped two. Stopped an area of mana. Mana froze, waiting for orders. Do my bidding, mana. Moved the area of stopped mana. Pulled away mana, pulled to make a gap. Larger. Larger. Large enough for Strong One to move through.

Crumbling, I heard. Wall shifting, moving. Opening, forming a hole. Darkness ran away. Light pierced through, illuminated my stomach, and stretched all the way to my heart. Warm, I finally felt. I finally felt warm.

Giddy, Strong One was. “Master! Master! What’s this?! Warm?! Bright?! Can I eats it?!”

Chuckle, I did. “Hehe, you can try Strong One.”

Chomp, Strong One tried. Chomp, chomp. Groaned and snorted, the frustrated Strong One. “Bright and warm, feisty. Not easy to eats.”

I laughed. “Yes, light is not easily eaten. Maybe if you were a plant. Plant? Anyway, let’s find us something we can both eat, Strong One. Go to the outside world, but be careful. Don’t go too far and bring me back as much as you can.”

“Yes, Master! Strong One will bring lots for Master to eats!”

Happy thomping of Strong One’s stubby feet echoed from the distance. Strong One left, and I was once again alone. Light from the outside touched my heart. I missed being warm. I wanted to go where Strong One went, where I could no longer sense. Glancing from afar, the outside looked so welcoming. But I could not go. I could not enjoy. I hated that. It was right before me, but I could not touch. Tempted me, taunting me because I could not move.

I will have it. I will eat it. Make it my own. My own? Yes!

So what if I could not leave. I can make my own! My own outside world but inside me! Like how I made the stalagmites! Like how I made Strong One! I will make my stomach like the outside world! Vast! Green! Beautiful! Bright! And warm!

“Mash-ter!” Strong One said with a mouthful of maybe not-so-edible greens while holding a pile of plants within his arms. He spat out the greens from within his mouth. “Pu-tu-y. Strong One brings soft insides of outside! But green insides not tastes good.”

“Good job, Strong One! Leave them there on the ground. Go back and find more. Find something you like. But don’t go to far and come back quickly.”

“Yes, Master!”

Strong One left with a skip in his step. Glad Strong One enjoyed himself. But I should have told him to be more careful. Strong One likely just bear-hugged a mass of plants and yanked them back here. However, no complaints from me. Food, now, I have.

Time to eat!

“Consume! Absorb! Extract!”

The stone floor beneath the pile of plants quaked, stretching apart as the greens fell within. Crunchy and soft, I swallowed the vegetation into my depths. The plants were broken down, separating, dissolving, and revealing its essence. Sensations of the plants, I felt. Memories. Not memories, but sensations of the wind against their leaves, eating the rays of the sun, and growing more to eat more of the sun.

Wait. Some were different. Slightly different.

Absorbed the sun, the plants did. But some had much more mana inside. What plants are these?

[Notification]

New materials absorbed!

Composition fragments of various species extracted!

Fragment of Wheat Grass

Fragment of Snake Vine

Fragment of Aldurian Tree

Fragment of Elder Berries

Fragment of Livian Glower Lily

Fragment of Slint Herb

Fragment of Mana Herb

Extract more to complete fragmented knowledge. Once complete essence and composition is known, blue prints can be used for creation.

Use your creations to draw in more prey!