《Dungeon core (idk a good title yet)》 Chapter one The table was a dull grey, round with 10 chairs spaced evenly. Within those chairs were nine individuals, each seemingly confused as to why they were there. The chairs were numbered one through ten, filling these chairs were numbers two through ten. Number five looked around at the group, wondering how number one was able to assemble all of them. She was the only one present who knew what was going on and even she was confused. ¡°I know you are all confused, but please remain in your seats. Number one should be here soon.¡± She exclaimed, hoping to quell the building tension in the air. Five looked to number six with pleading eyes, praying that he would resist his nature to destroy and remain amicable. He could be seen visibly shaking with barely contained hatred. Number six was an anomaly amongst those gathered, being the only one who couldn¡¯t resist his namesake. He stared straight into the eyes of number five, fire burning behind his gaze. ¡°Do not fret my lady, today I will resist the urges. If not only as thanks to you for the help you have given me. But also out of respect for One.¡± He turned his hate filled gaze upon the rest of those gathered, wondering how long he could remain civil. With each passing minute he grows more vengeful. No one has dared to keep him waiting for a few millennia. He would give the room five more minutes of peace, not a second more. However, once those five minutes have expired he would release his flames upon those gathered before him. Number Six would watch the entrance with an intensity unrivaled by any being, counting down the seconds on his self imposed time limit. Number Ten, the messenger and weakest among those gathered, watched with rapt attention. Although he was the weakest among his peers, number Ten took pride in being the fastest. He sat in silence, waiting for the meeting to begin and end. He had deliveries to make, unwilling to be late for a single one. He stood from his seat and approached the entrance. Waiting exactly five seconds before he opened the door to leave. Not willing to wait any longer, he took a step out the door. Only this was when Number One, arguably the oldest being in existence, grabbed his collar. ¡°Please return to your seat.¡± There was worry laced within those words. Shock evident on the face of Ten, he returned to his seat. Pondering the thought of what could make One worried. When he entered the room, One observed his colleagues and their surroundings. Noting that the normally brightly lit area was dimming. With worry etched upon his brow, he began the meeting. ¡°I have gathered you all today for something of both the utmost importance and also the least important aspect of my existence.¡± A low gasp suffused the occupants of the room. Each number looking at the respected leader. Number One had never shown anything other than confidence in his life. However today, today he was worried. They witnessed the furrow of his brow and wondered what could worry such a man. Within the confines of his mind Number One thought, If we are to recover, they must accept my demands. Number One gazed at the group of beings before him, remembering the last time all the numbers were together. ¡°It has been 658 years since we last met. I hope you all will forgive me for pulling you from your duties.¡± Number One addressed the room, not making eye contact with anyone gathered before him. Unbridled regret within his heart, he addressed his peers. ¡°Today marks the beginning of a new era. As you have noticed, I am not myself today.¡± He looked upon the table and apologized, ¡°I am sorry. My powers are fading and I am dying.¡± He held up his hand to placate the group, ¡°I have set into motion plans that will determine our fate. One of you will be taking my place as leader. However, we will also need a new member among us. To choose this new member I have designed a contest of sorts. None among us will be fighting or participating. However, you will each be granted a champion. How you choose your champion is up to you. The goal is a simple one, in a few hundred years there will be an assessment. Whoever¡¯s champion is the best suited to join our ranks will be the new Number Ten. The champions sponsor will be promoted to leader.¡± He watched as everyone gathered before him processed his plan. There isn¡¯t actually a time limit, but I need them to hurry. To long without a leader will be detrimental to our ranks. ¡°Now, go find your champions. I will not be answering any questions. I wish to live my last few days in peace.¡± With that, he vanished, choosing to teleport instead of using the door. Not wishing to delay their start, numbers two through ten left the room. Marking the end of an era of peace. My name is John, I¡¯m nothing special. Grew up in a big city, went unnoticed in a big school. Even at work no one pays me any attention. My family left me to fend for myself as soon as I was of age. I¡¯ve never had a girlfriend or any friends really. The only thing I have is my computer and my job. However, even that is average. My life has been one average day to the next, no real change. But that all changes today, I¡¯m finally getting the promotion I want and my bosses daughter wants to meet for dinner. Today marks the beginning of a new me. I arrived at the office an hour earlier than anyone else. The only person in the building being the security guard. I stepped into the elevator, pressing the number 87. I stood against the back wall watching the numbers tick up as the elevator rose to my floor. I closed my eyes and imagined a better life, one with constant change and improvement. Thinking today would be the start of my new life. My floor was filled to the brim with cubicles, nothing special about any of them. I made my way to the edge of the room and approached my desk, sitting in the center of the massive floor. I sat down and stretched my arms over my head, preparing for a long day of nothing. ¡°Do you want more?¡± ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I casually asked. ¡°Do you want more?¡± ¡°More what? Do you need something?¡± I addressed the room, thinking someone else came in early. ¡°From life, do you want more?¡± What an odd question. I wonder who¡¯s here. I stood from my desk, looking aroun to locate the person talking to me. ¡°Do you want more?¡± Huh, that¡¯s odd. I can¡¯t tell which direction the voice is coming from. Might as well answer. ¡°Of course I want more. My life has been average.¡± ¡°Good, I choose you then.¡± ¡°you choose me for what?¡± That was when I saw it, a lone helicopter. It was a news helicopter, white with a blue streak on the side. ¡°Why¡¯s it flying so low?¡± I wondered. Then I noticed it was heading straight towards my building. Turned around and attempted to run, falling flat on my butt. I scrambled to get my feet beneath me in a vain attempt to save myself. I succeeded in getting to my feet only to hear the sound of glass shattering. Time seemed to slow as I watched the blade coming for my head. I couldn¡¯t move or think in this slowed state, only watch. So that¡¯s what I did, I watched. The blade inched closer, not deviating from its mission to end my existence. I tried and failed to close my eyes as the blade got ever closer. When time resumed it¡¯s normal course for me my last though was, at least I didn¡¯t have an average death. I opened my eyes and gazed upon the blank wall in front of me, confusion displayed across my face. ¡°I know I died, is this purgatory?¡± I wondered aloud. Looking around myself I noticed that I was just standing in the middle of a small, nondescript, gray cube. With my confusion rising I sat down to think over my position. ¡°this is odd, I don¡¯t think I did anything in my life to deserve this. But, then again, I didn¡¯t really deserve anything. I guess this is what happens when you have an average existence.¡± I decided that if I¡¯m going to be stuck here I might as well try to sleep. I chose to lay on my back in the middle of the floor and drifted into unconsciousness. My mind was slowly filled with dreams of all the things I could have done in life, further pointing out to me that maybe I deserve purgatory. An unknown amount of time later I was awoken. I groggily opened my eyes to the sound of my name being called. ¡°Wake up john.¡± I just realized that is the same voice I heard before my death. Curiosity taking over my thought process I addressed the voice. ¡°Who are you, why am I here?¡± ¡°You are here because I chose you.¡± ¡°Okay, but why? I¡¯m nothing special. And who are you?¡± ¡°That is true, you are completely average. I find that amusing and so I chose you.¡± ¡°Well, what have you chosen me for?¡± ¡°I have assigned you someone to help guide you. I don¡¯t really feel the need to tell you. All you have to do is agree.¡± I was wondering if I should agree when I realized two things, the voice doesn¡¯t sound Male or female and it still hasn¡¯t introduced itself. ¡°Before I agree to anything I need to know a few things. Who are you? Why does your voice sound genderless? And what exactly am I agreeing too?¡± ¡°I guess I should tell you. I am called Number Five. As to why my voice is genderless, it is so mortals can¡¯t discern anything about us. Your choice is either the void or rebirth.¡± ¡°You know, you are aggravating. Obviously I would choose rebirth, but that doesn¡¯t tell me anything.¡± ¡°Thank you for choosing rebirth, we won¡¯t speak again for a long time.¡± ¡°What!?¡± I exclaimed, clearly exasperated by this Number Five. ¡°You haven¡¯t answered any¡­.¡± I faded into unconsciousness again. The darkness was all encompassing, I couldn¡¯t see, I couldn¡¯t move and I could barely think. How long I drifted in the abyss I don¡¯t know. All I could do was think about my past experiences and pray that I wake up soon. As the minutes or years, I couldn¡¯t tell which, went by I could feel my mind racing towards insanity. If I don¡¯t wake up soon my mind will break. I kept thinking that¡¯s this was like many books I had read, so I expected to wake up at the last second. So, I maintained my sanity. A while later I started to notice that I couldn¡¯t remember my childhood as easily. I began searching my mind for memories, noting that they were disappearing. I panicked, realizing that this isn¡¯t a fairytale and that I need to hold onto something. So I picked the one thing I couldn¡¯t dare to forget. A single name, Number Five. I felt myself falling, the distant sound of a woman screaming and a group of people chanting in a language I couldn¡¯t understand. I was confused, all I¡¯ve known is silence. I could hear the chanting increase to a fervent pitch, the females screams ending abruptly. The chanting stopped as well, while I felt something dragging my soul into the confines of a small object. ¡°I¡¯ll have to investigate my new home later. I¡¯m tired.¡± I exclaimed to myself. I could feel unconsciousness taking hold of me again. Apparently having your soul played with is exhausting. I awoke to the sounds of hard wooden wheels bouncing along a stone road. The vehicle was bouncing quite a lot. I strained to listen for more but I could only hear within a few feet of myself. Wondering what was going on I tried to look around, noting that I could see everything within a sphere of two inches. All I could see was a cloth bag that I was inside of. I strained myself trying to see more, to no avail. The extraneous effort of just trying to see left me drained. So, not being able to change anything, I decided to sleep. I forced myself awake when I felt a new material near my body. I glanced at it and saw that I was still in the bag. So, I reached out and listened. I could hear the faint sound of chainmail clinking against metal armor, the sound of footsteps crunching in the dirt accompanying it. I wondered what was going on around me, this was a confusing situation. I¡¯ve known darkness in the void for my whole existence, what are all these new sensations? And why do I know what I¡¯m listening to and seeing? Those questions and more filled my mind as I continued to bounce against the metal wearing person. I decided I¡¯d stay awake this time and attempt to gather more information, even though I couldn¡¯t understand the language being spoke around me. What felt like a few hours passed and I heard the sounds of swords clanging against one another. I could hear people screaming and dying. ¡°I want out of this damned bag so I can see what¡¯s happening.¡± I was frustrated. I listened more intently when I heard the man carrying me start to do battle. I knew he was a man based upon his deep gruff voice. I heard several loud clangs followed by the sound of shearing metal and a wet sucking sound that I can only assume was a sword leaving his body. The man carrying me fell to the ground and slowly bleed to death. His blood started soaking my bag and I didn¡¯t want it to touch me. I tried to punch it away, however it kept creeping closer. I got flustered at this fact, I don¡¯t want to be dirty. I pushed all my willpower into making the blood go away. That¡¯s when a small portion of not only the blood but the man¡¯s life energy entered my body. It was intoxicating, so I tried to replicate what happened and ¡®ate'' as much blood a life force as I could. With only a minuscule amount being absorbed I felt stuffed. I passed out from overexertion. Again I awoke to something new. I looked around and realized I was no longer inside my bag. I could actually see around myself. Although, I could only see about a foot in any direction. I could see that I was sitting on the floor of a small enclosed room, one foot in diameter. I couldn¡¯t tell where I was, but it felt as though I was underground. How I knew this I don¡¯t know. I gazed around my room, noticing that all I had as far as a view was just dirt and a few rocks. ¡°how did I get here?¡± I wondered. I looked around my new home, thinking about ways to make it more welcoming. I decided that I didn¡¯t want to be in the middle of the room. So I tried to move to the edge of the small enclosure. I realized that my new body didn¡¯t seem to have a way of moving. I got frustrated and angrily pushed my will at the wall in front of me. A small indentation appeared and I felt something fill me up. Then realizing I was starving I attempted to eat more. I focused on the small hole I made and tried to eat more. I expanded the hole to a centimeter across before I was filled to the brim. Realizing that I couldn¡¯t eat anymore I decided to look at myself. I began inspecting my body for the first time since I started this new existence. It was pitch black in my new home, but I could see as if it were the clearest summer afternoon. My new body was about a centimeter across, perfectly spherical and the color of a lush evergreen forest. I was amazed at how beautiful I was. So I looked closer, inspecting every millimeter of my surface. I noticed several microscopic flaws and one rather large crack along my body. I look like a gemstone, I¡¯ll refer to myself as such. I looked over my body, horrified that I wasn¡¯t perfect. So, I thought of ways to fix it. I exerted my will on the microscopic imperfections and attempted to see how they could be fixed. After an hour of doing nothing I relented and tried something new. I looked within myself and tried to find the source of energy that I used on the wall earlier. After searching my internal structure I found nothing. Confused and frustrated I searched deeper, looking past my physical body. I found the barest traces of something within myself. I pulled upon the mysterious energy I felt and to my surprise it responded to my will. I looked back at my surface and used the energy within myself to begin repairing my gem. I felt my power empty as I fixed myself. I was very proud of the progress I made. I thought I¡¯d be perfect now, so I took a mental step back and looked at myself again. I noticed that I had only fixed a few microscopic impurities. I looked at what was left to fix and tried to start again, only then seeing that I had no more energy to pull upon and realizing that I was starving. I couldn¡¯t focus on anything but my appetite, so I began eating at the wall again. Noting that it tasted bland and earthy, I ate until I was full. I had chosen a new spot to eat from and made another centimeter wide divot in the wall. I started to feel the energy within me fill up again and decided to watch the process. Gazing within myself I looked upon the energy transfer from what I just ate. It was a murky brown color, I didn¡¯t like it. I attempted to remove the gross stuff from it, however I had already eaten it. ¡°I¡¯ll have to try something else when I eat again.¡± Once the energy was filled back up I began repairing myself again. Making more microscopic progress before I was starving again. I looked around my room and picked another wall to eat. This time instead of just devouring it I focused on storing it so I could clean it. I pulled the material into myself and waited to fill up. Once I was full I started to try to separate out the pure energy. I succeeded relatively quickly. I pulled the murky brown residue away from the energy I could see. It turned to a kaleidoscope of beautiful colors once it was cleaned. I hesitantly tasted the pure energy, it still tasted earthy. But I noticed a freshness to it that it didn¡¯t have before. I also noticed that it only filled me a tenth of the way up. Curious, I repeated the process, making several more pockmarks along my walls. Once I was filled with purified energy I attempted to fix myself more. Noting that the fixed section was not only bigger, but more dense as well. I was astonished at this, to think that my gem needed so much more work. I decided that I needed to fix myself from the inside out, I began to purify and replace my gemstones material. After what felt like months I looked at my hard work. I was ecstatic, I looked perfect. I went from a beautiful forest green to perfectly clear. Not only that, but I was also a perfect sphere without a single imperfection. I could feel that my gem was practically unbreakable now. Tearing my eyes away from my gem, for the first time in weeks, I looked around my room and noticed it was significantly larger. Well, compared to before. I turned my room into a cube, each surface being roughly a foot and a half across. I noticed that it seemed brighter inside the room. That¡¯s when I realized that I was emitting a soft glow. I thought it looked neat, but I couldn¡¯t figure out why I was glowing. Shrugging my mental shoulders I looked around my room again. I decided that I would clean the floor up a little, I wanted it to be smooth. I began the process of absorbing material and purifying it, absentmindedly munching on the energy while I did this. My capacity had increased a hundred fold when I finished my body, so the dirt and pebbles I was eating didn¡¯t satisfy my appetite in the slightest. Once I finished cleaning the floor and making it smooth I had only filled my energy by a small amount. I wanted more, I needed more. In my haste to get more sustenance I made a rather rash decision. I abandoned my cube and just started digging straight down.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. As I slowly ate my way down I felt the ground start to harden. It was a wall of rock, so I chewed through it. It tasted the same as the dirt above me, although it was more filling. I kept going for several hours, slowly filling my stomach with energy. When I was about 62% full I had the biggest scare of my life. The floor I was eating through gave out and I plummeted into an underground river. Freaking out, I thought I was going to die. I splashed into the water and began hurtling downstream. The constant fear of death made me feel like I was going to go insane. What felt like years of torment came to an abrupt halt as my gem got stuck in a small crack overlooking a waterfall. I began to relax, until I noticed the debris piling against my gem. The crack was filling with debris and began to block the flow of water. My mind was reeling as I concluded that I was going to be crushed. The crack was finally blocked off and the pressure started to build behind me. I panicked and started fusing the crack shut to protect myself. I didn¡¯t realize until it was too late that I had made a mistake. The sealed water behind my new wall built up pressure exponentially until it obliterated my wall and launched my gem away from it. I flew through the air and screamed within the confines of my gem. I finally landed in a pool of water. I thought I was finally safe, until I felt a current pulling me down. ¡°I miss my cube.¡± I exclaimed as I was sucked down into a new stream. The new stream wasn¡¯t as fast, so I ended up traveling for quite awhile. The stream led down an incline which was rolling my gem around. After an eternity of nauseating tumbling I felt my gem come to a stop. While I wasn¡¯t looking I had arrived inside a small cavern. I only knew it was a cavern because of the echo of my bouncing and stopping. Around myself there wasn¡¯t anything but a small puddle and rock. I used what was remaining of my energy to make a small wedge to roll myself into the puddle. I liked the cool refreshing water, so I chose the puddle to lay my gem. I thought I¡¯d be safe if nothing could see me in my puddle. So, with stealth in mind I made a small indentation for my gem where I would sit still at the bottom of my puddle. I slowly settled into the divot and thought about what I just experienced. ¡°well, I¡¯ll never make that mistake again.¡± With that, I decided to have a small meal and ate some of the pebbles on the floor near me. I wanted my new home to be clean. I could see 3 feet away from my gem now. So, I cleaned everything I could see until the floor was free of debris. Then, feeling satisfied with myself I chose to take a break and drifted into unconsciousness. I awoke to the sound of something tapping on my gem. I lazily expanded my senses and was startled to see a beautiful light next to me. All I¡¯ve known is rocks and water. I looked upon the light, seeing that it was a soft blue. The strange little light emitted a soft glow, not bright enough to light the surrounding area. I gazed upon it, thinking that it reminded me of the sky. The strange little light seemed to be trying to touch me, I could feel something prodding at the place I hold my energy. I looked within myself and saw a line of blue touching my energy. I tried to push it away, I didn¡¯t want my energy to be dirty. However, as soon as I made contact with it I felt a snap and the line solidified. I was stunned by what just happened and lost focus, knocking me out of myself. This frustrated me, ¡°What did you just do to me?¡± ¡°finally! I¡¯ve been trying to talk to you for hours. Why¡¯d it take you so long to form the bond?¡± she had such a beautiful voice, soft yet commanding. ¡°Huh? I don¡¯t even know what just happened. What¡¯s a bond? Who are you? What are you? Where¡¯d you come from?¡± ¡°Whoa, slow down.¡± She giggled at my barrage of questions. ¡°let¡¯s introduce ourselves first. My name is Emily and I am a wisp.¡± ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t know my name or what I am but it¡¯s nice to meet you.¡± ¡°Interesting, well how about I name you?¡± ¡°sure, why not?¡± ¡°Hmm, how about Asher?¡± ¡°I like it, my name is Asher. Now, what am I?¡± ¡°You are a dungeon core.¡± ¡°where did you come from?¡± ¡°I came from outside.¡± ¡°Wow, real specific aren¡¯t we? I¡¯m hungry, give me a few minutes to eat.¡± I stopped listening to her and looked around for something to eat. I couldn¡¯t see anything laying on the ground so I decided to dig a little. I started carving a circle around my puddle until there was an inch deep furrow around it. Feeling satisfied enough to wait for more food, I turned my attention back to Emily. She didn¡¯t seem very happy. ¡°Answer me you glorified piece of jewelry!¡± ¡°Why are you so upset?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been ignoring me for ten minutes, I wasn¡¯t done talking to you!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no need to shout. Besides, I told you to give me a few minutes.¡± ¡°You can talk and eat at the same time. Considering that I¡¯m talking in your mind.¡± Now that she mentioned it, I did notice that I could only hear our voices in my mind and not out loud. ¡°fine, I¡¯ll try to talk at the same time in the future.¡± I noticed that after I said that her light dimmed. ¡°so her light dimmed when she calmed down.¡± Her light flaring back up she started yelling again. ¡°Don¡¯t talk about me like I¡¯m not here!¡± I interrupted her, ¡°Before you start insulting me again, why did you hear that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m in your mind now dummy. I can hear everything going on in there.¡± ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t insult me. You¡¯re the first thing I¡¯ve ever talked to. How am I supposed to know anything?¡± ¡°Oh right, I¡¯m sorry. Well, let¡¯s move on. The reason I¡¯m here is to teach you.¡± ¡°Teach me what? And why?¡± ¡°You are a dungeon core, every one of your kind is assigned a wisp. Our job is to teach you how to use your power and to make sure you don¡¯t go crazy at first.¡± ¡°Okay, well what should I learn first?¡± ¡°Do you know what mana is?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± ¡°Mana is the energy that¡¯s in everything in this world.¡± ¡°You mean the white stuff in the rocks? It was brown at first, but that was gross so I cleaned it.¡± ¡°what do you mean cleaned it?¡± ¡°When I eat the rocks around me I take the brown stuff out of the energy and keep the white stuff. It tastes better that way. And it looks prettier.¡± ¡°Well, what you are doing shouldn¡¯t be possible. All mana has a certain type of color to it based upon its element. No one can separate it, not even other dungeon cores. Tell me something, what¡¯s the first thing you ate?¡± ¡°I think it was blood. Some guy had me in a bag and he got stabbed. The blood came into my bag and when I tried to get away from it I accidentally ate some and then fell asleep.¡± ¡°That explains it. Most living things in this world can access mana. They each have different affinities for it that determines what type of mana they can use. Most creatures are born with a certain affinity. This works little differently with dungeon cores however. A dungeon core has a starting affinity and can earn more later on with experimentation. The starting affinity for a dungeon core is determined by the first thing it eats. It would seem that the first thing you ate was human blood. Humans are filled with every element in existence in varying amounts. So, when you ate his blood you earned a starting affinity with all the elements.¡± ¡°So, since I have all the elements I can make the mana pure? I¡¯m going to call the brown stuff elemental energy. I¡¯ll further classify it when I know what element type it is. What else can I do?¡± ¡°You can absorb everything, and create anything you absorb. However, in order to do this you have to break it down and memorize the pattern. I don¡¯t know the specifics though.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll try it and tell you how it¡¯s done. That way we can learn together. I¡¯m happy you aren¡¯t all knowing. That would be boring. I¡¯m going to try it now.¡± I already knew how to create rock. But, I didn¡¯t understand it. ¡°can you get me a small rock? I don¡¯t want to dig anymore.¡± Emily bobbed up and down in what I took to be a nod and flew off. I focused inward and tried to separate my thoughts from what she could listen to. I concentrated and was able to form a switch along our bond that would make it so that I had to project my thoughts to her to talk. Hey Emily can you hear me? When she didn¡¯t respond I realized it worked. Now I could think to myself again. After that success she reappeared with a rock floating under her. She dropped the rock next to my puddle and I started to concentrate on it. Instead of just eating it like normal I tried to focus on its structure. I broke it down a molecule at a time learning the pattern holding the rock together. I learned a lot more about the rock that way. That particular rock was a piece of limestone. I could see everything about that specific rock now and new that I could re create it now. I looked over and Emily and excitedly described what I did and what I learned. ¡°I just learned how to make limestone! I need more rocks! I wanna learn all the types!¡± She giggled at the obvious joy in my voice. ¡°someone is excited about learning.¡± ¡°I am definitely excited. But there¡¯s more to it. I need more knowledge. I want to know how everything is made.¡± ¡°Well good, because there is a lot you still need to know about yourself. I promise that I will help you become the smartest dungeon.¡± ¡°Yay! What¡¯s my next lesson?¡± ¡°I want to teach you how to suffuse the air with your aura and how to absorb ambient mana. This will be how you expand your influence and territory. For now let¡¯s focus on absorbing the ambient mana. I want you to focus on the air around you and try to feel the mana in the air. Once you do that and start absorbing is we can move on. I expect this to take a while, so I¡¯m going to take a nap.¡± ¡°Goodnight, I¡¯ll work hard.¡± Why do I trust her so much? I watched as she settled onto the ground and her light dimmed dramatically. I watched her sleep for a few minutes. Then I decided to get to work. I concentrated on how my mana felt and tried to sense it in the air around me. I mentally searched for what felt like hours with no success. This is boring. I wanted to give up. But, Emily would get mad if I quit. So I kept searching. I mentally smacked myself, I had been searching for pure mana this whole time. I needed to feel mana with some elemental energy in it. I once again expanded my senses and immediately felt the energy. Feeling like an idiot I decided to go ahead and start absorbing it instead of lamenting over my stupidity. I pulled the mana in and found a new type of elemental energy, air. The element of air was almost clear in color. I began separating the mana out and eating it when Emily woke up. ¡°Good morning! I did it. I¡¯m pulling in air mana right now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m impressed, it only took you a few hours to figure out.¡± ¡°Thank you, now how do I expand my influence?¡± ¡°You use your mana and start pushing it out into the air. Don¡¯t focus on creating anything, just push out your mana. As it leaves your body it will infuse with your aura and expand your territory and your senses. When you gain more territory you will gain more ambient mana to use. I want you to be able to fill this entire cave that we are in.¡± ¡°Okay, I can do that." "I want you to fill the entire cave before we do anything else. While you start that I¡¯m going to go look outside and see what we have close by.¡± ¡°Be careful!¡± I shouted after her. She left without another word. Without waiting a moment more I began trying to push my mana out. I looked within myself and grabbed a tendril of mana. I pushed it out around me and all it did was disappear. I panicked because I didn¡¯t want to waste any mana. She said it¡¯d have my aura in it. But what if I have to combine the two first? I again reached in and grabbed my mana. Then, pushing it outside I imagined my aura expanding with the mana. As I did this I could feel the energy in my core decreasing rapidly. When it was empty I had only expanded my influence be a few inches. I went back to pulling in ambient mana. After I was full I noticed that Emily was back. I decided to try something new, I tried to split my mind. I focused on splitting a portion to expand my influence while I addressed Emily. It worked flawlessly and I told Emily about it. ¡°I figured out how to expand my influence, although you were wrong about how it works. I had to actively combine my aura and mana to get it to expand. Also, I discovered how to separate my concentration so we can talk while I work!¡± ¡°That¡¯s awesome! I¡¯m proud of you. How long will it take?¡± ¡°Its going extremely slow. I need to expand how much energy I can hold.¡± ¡°Well then I guess it¡¯s time for your next lesson. There are several things you can do to get a larger pool. You can build storage devices that will hold any extra that you get, I wouldn¡¯t recommend doing this yet. The next option is to improve your core, starting from the inside you would build a pattern and attempt to condense your mana while it maintains the pattern. This will not only give you more mana but it will also come to you quicker. And the final option won¡¯t be available for a long time. You would need to undergo an evolution.¡± ¡°I want to know more about the storage and the evolution. But I will wait until I need them. For now can you explain how to create the pattern and what pattern to use?¡± ¡°I can not tell you what pattern to use. You have to create that yourself. Just focus on the pattern you want and keep that pattern in your mind while you condense your manna into the pattern. Then you hold it in the pattern while moving it throughout the pattern in a constant cycle. You hold it like this until it stabilizes. Then you¡¯ll have an increased pool. You can even add more to it later. Also, I would recommend having a full pool before you begin.¡± ¡°Thank you. You¡¯re so smart. I¡¯ll do it a little later, I feel like it¡¯ll require all my attention. But, for now, tell me what¡¯s outside our cave.¡± ¡°Okay, but don¡¯t wait too long. I want you to get stronger so we can start hunting. As for what¡¯s outside. The entrance into the cave is at the bottom of a valley. We have a forest above us and grasslands on the other side. There¡¯s a river in the valley and a bunch of bushes. Other than that I don¡¯t know. I only took a quick peek to make sure we weren¡¯t in a desert or some other barren location.¡± ¡°Interesting, tell me more about what I can do as a dungeon while I expand my influence more.¡± ¡°I guess I can do that. As a dungeon you will be making traps, different rooms, new animals and plants. You will make different items and enchantments. You will make loot for adventurers. Your traps and monsters will kill people and animals coming into your dungeon. And in turn you will make items that will bring more people inside. However you have to be careful, if your dungeon is too easy they will try to break your core. But, if it¡¯s too hard they won¡¯t come in.¡± ¡°Why do I want them to come in?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t tell you yet. You need to get stronger before you worry about that.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll trust you.¡± ¡°Good, now fill your pool and start building your pattern.¡± I agreed and let my split concentration join back together while I absorbed more ambient mana. It took an hour to fill back up, but once it was full I dove into my core and tried to come up with a pattern. I thought about using a basic infinity symbol but thought that making something more complex would be better. So, with an infinity symbol as the base I started crafting a new pattern. I made it bigger and more complex until I could feel that it would use all of my mana. The pattern ended up being two parallel lines with the infinity symbol bisected lengthwise. The top half of the infinity symbol connected to the top line on the left and the bottom line on the right. The bottom half mirrored this starting on the bottom line on the left and connecting to the top line on the right. The middle of the symbol crossed over the lines for the top half and under the lines for the bottom half. This pattern was in the center of my core. Only a few inches long. It was wrapped around in a circle with five of the infinity symbols. I was really proud of this pattern so I started moving my mana into the pattern. As it filled I also began trying to compress my manna into as dense of a line as I could get it. I had to compress my mana into the patter millimeter by millimeter, forcing it to be as dense as possible. Once I had my entire pool into the pattern I focused on making it flow throughout it. Speeding the flow up until I was on the cusp of losing control. I held the speed and pattern for hours, waiting for it to stabilize. My mind felt like it was going to fracture under the stress and fatigue this caused. But, after an eternity of pushing through I made it. The pattern stabilized. I pulled out of my core and tested the efficiency of my pattern by pulling on the ambient mana. My pattern latched onto the mana coming in and pulled it in faster by a factor of one hundred. I had to forcibly stop it from pulling on the air so I could attempt to separate the elemental energy out of it. The process was extremely slow. I grew frustrated by this and decided to make a few new pools. I reached into my core and formed four empty pools, I labeled them earth, air, fire and water. I thought that would cover all the elements. I then connected all the pools to my pattern and to an inlet line. I then forced my pattern to pull through the pools and forced the pools to exclusively pull elemental energy. It took a few hours of holding my new design before it started working on it¡¯s own. But, after that I could feel the air and mana filling up. Testing it further I absorbed some stone, watching as the earth was separated from the mana automatically. It was slower than the pattern by itself, but I didn¡¯t have enough of each element to start a new pattern. ¡°Hey Emily, I¡¯m finished.¡± ¡°let me look.¡± She reached out through our bond and inspected my work. I heard her gasp loudly ¡°how in the hell do you have pools of elemental energy?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just forced it to work. It took a while to set though. But its pulling in mana like crazy.¡± ¡°I can see that. Well that¡¯s an incredibly efficient pattern. So, good job. But it took you forever. I have been waiting for the last week for you to finish.¡± ¡°A week!? I thought I was in there for a few hours.¡± She didn¡¯t respond to that. She only floated away and out of the cave. I mentally shrugged and started expanding my influence while my pattern automatically refilled. I was able to expand ten times as fast. But, it would still take about a week to fill the cave. I wonder if I can expand into the rock. I decided to test that. To my surprise I could expand into the rock quite easily. I chose to start expanding in a sphere from my core. It would take longer, but it would be worth it. Chapter two Three weeks passed before I was able to fill my entire cave. In that time I had done nothing but expand, not even talking to Emily. I must have filled and emptied my pattern several hundred times to complete the job. Though I was proud of my progress, I was terrified of how long it would take to advance further. With a soul full of pride at a job well done I decided to look around my cave and inspect my territory. My cave was a little bigger than I expected. The ceiling of my cave was about ten feet high and littered with stalactites, it was smaller in surface area than my floor. The ceiling was around fifteen an a half feet across in both length and width. Many of the stalactites had water dripping from them onto a few of the stalagmites below. The walls of my cave were concave, with the top extending further than the base. They were rough and full of holes, ranging from a few feet in diameter to tiny holes only large enough for a few insects. Near the back of my cave there was a small hole that water was trickling through. The water was flowing down a small mound into a pond below. It flowed just fast enough to keep the pond full but not overflowing. The floor of the cave was twenty feet in length and twenty five feet in width. It was mostly in the shape of a circle, with a few irregularities throughout. The mouth of the cave was mostly free of any debris, having only a few stalagmites. However, from the rear to the halfway point the floor was littered with just enough stalagmites to make it almost impassable. The pond along the back wall was five feet in diameter and roughly half a foot deep. It contained crystal clear water which was stuffed full of minerals. My core was a foot from the pond, just to the side of the mound with the flowing water. After inspecting the layout of my cave I spread my awareness to search for anything new. I was shocked to discover a few bugs and a strange flying creature. There was also a big swath of some green plant along the shore of the pond. I¡¯ll have to absorb that to get its pattern. I pressed my will upon the green plant and attempted to absorb it. To my surprise, I couldn¡¯t eat any of it. Frustration building, I chose to move on and try to eat the bugs and flying creatures in my cave. I figured it would happen, but I couldn¡¯t eat them either. I was flustered, the rocks, air and water were all tasty. But, the creatures within my territory looked delicious. Confusion evident in my voice, I called out to Emily over our bond. ¡°Emily, why can¡¯t I eat any of the living things in my cave? They look yummy.¡± Responding to me with a bemused tone she responded, ¡°All dungeons ask the same thing.¡± She giggled at me and continued. Living beings have an aura just like you do, whether they be plant or animal. In order to eat a plant you must overpower its will, this is simple for small plants. Bigger plants such as trees are harder to overcome and will require you to chop them down. As for the bugs and bats, you will need to kill them to eat them.¡± So those are bats? Interesting. ¡°Okay, I understand. I¡¯ll try the plant first, then we can discuss how to kill the bugs and bats.¡± ¡°Sounds good, but start with a small amount.¡± ¡°Why though?¡± She chuckled and ignored my question. Shrugging my mental shoulders I picked a small section of the plant, a square inch, and began exerting my will over it. I pushed against it slowly at first, getting a feel for the amount of effort it would take to overcome it. I continued increasing my will until I felt the plant crumble under the pressure. Feeling like I achieved a great feet I gave myself a hoorah and tried to eat the plant. With great satisfaction I succeeded. I began receiving mana from the plant, but it wasn¡¯t being absorbed physically. I continued to pull the mana from the plant, watchinto the plant intently. The mana from the plant was the most delicious thing I had ever tasted. I decided that I would only snack on it from now on. My pattern was filling much faster than with the air I was gathering, about ten times as fast. Once my pattern was about half full the mana slowed and the plant began turning a shade of brown. After a few more seconds of draining the plant it finally died. I felt a sudden shock run through my core as a large burst of mana slammed into me. The tiny patch of plant had released a surge of mana upon its death. I was dazed by the influx of power and my reserves were maxed out. I watched as an excess amount of mana floated around my core and was reabsorbed by the surrounding plants. I then noticed that the plants mana had a green tint to it and had been separated from the mana flowing into my core. However, none of my extra pools filled. The elemental energy was lost and expunged from my core. I lamented the loss of something new and the excess mana. However, I recovered my wits after a few seconds and realized that the brown husk of the plant was still there. I began breaking it down and learning its molecular structure as I absorbed it. The plant was called moss, it liked damp environments and could grow anywhere warm and wet. I had learned the properties of the moss, but I didn¡¯t receive any further mana. I intended to ask my wisp about this when I spoke with her. I searched through my memories and found the blueprint for creating moss within my mind. That alone was worth the loss of mana and energy. I pushed a feeling of joy and excitement through my bond. Oh, I can send emotions too. ¡°Emily, I did it. I even learned how to make it. The plant is moss and it was delicious.¡± ¡°I know what the plant is.¡± A feeling of smugness permeated our bond. ¡°You¡¯re a joy killer. I was excited.¡± ¡°Sorry, I forget how exciting it is to discover new things. I¡¯ll be more supportive in the future and try to push you to discover stuff I don¡¯t know so we can be excited together. Is that okay?¡± ¡°I forgive you. But you owe me for hurting my feelings.¡± I sent an image of me sticking my tongue out at her, followed by a feeling of victory. ¡°Ugh, fine. I¡¯ll concede defeat this time.¡± She said with a playful tone. ¡°Anyway, I can now create my own moss. The moss also completely filled my pattern, and there was still mana left over! Also, what element does moss have? I didn¡¯t keep any of the elemental energy, so I didn¡¯t learn about it. Wait, never mind, I¡¯ll just create a new pool and force the new energy into it. Does creating moss work the same as creating rock? How do I make it? Why does it have so much mana? I thought I had a really good pattern? Is moss some type of miracle plant? There¡¯s so much to learn!... why aren¡¯t you responding? And why is your light dimming?¡± She sent a feeling of being overwhelmed through our bond. ¡°Asher, I understand that you are excited but, can you please stop bombarding me with so many questions and emotions?¡± I hadn¡¯t realized that I was sending emotions through our bond when I was speaking. I better apologize. ¡° I am sorry, you know you have the prettiest light?¡± Emily shrieked in embarrassment, completely forgetting how I overwhelmed her. ¡°it¡¯s okay.¡± I¡¯ll have to remember to compliment her to get away with stuff. I snickered to myself at that thought and continued addressing my wisp. ¡°Emily, can you please explain my questions?¡± ¡°Sure thing Asher. Let¡¯s start with your pattern being full. Your pattern is a really good design, but you will need to further condense and expand it to be able to hold more mana. Before you ask, let me answer your other questions. Now that you have the blueprint for moss in your core you can create it. You do this by envisioning the moss and how much of it you want. You then fill it with mana and the required element and it will appear. As you probably guessed from that, it is different than rock because you have to put in several different things to create it. And no, it isn¡¯t a miracle plant. You just need a bigger and more refined pattern to handle more.¡± ¡°Can I create it with a different element? Since I don¡¯t have any of what it came with.¡± ¡°You still need the base element in order to create it, but yes you can. You can add elements to it to create a new effect. For example, adding fire to the plant might make it resistant to flames or make it burn to the touch. This all depends on how much of each element is in it and where you put said element in the blueprint.¡± ¡°We should definitely experiment with this.¡± ¡°I agree, but before you do something so time consuming, let¡¯s talk about killing the creatures within your territory.¡± ¡°Hold off on that, I want to move my core.¡± I looked around my cave for a suitable spot. I don¡¯t know why I wanted to move, but my instincts told me I needed to be in a safer location before I tried to kill anything else. So, with those instincts flaring up I kept searching until I found a spot that would make me happy. I decided on making a small room for myself under the water¡¯s slope. I pressed my will into the rock behind it and began digging. I formed small opening against the wall behind where the mounds bulbous side. The hole would be hidden from view unless you were right on top of it. I pushed that hole to the center of the mound. Once I reached the center I began digging into the wall, forming a small tunnel. The tunnel was two feet long and one foot high, at the end of which I began building my new room. I created a room that was large enough for my wisp and I to live comfortably. It was a a cube, with concave walls and a ceiling that formed a smooth dome. It was five feet on all sides. Once this was completed I moved my awareness to my core. I formed a small amount of rock around myself and asserted my will to move. My small mound and I scraped against the ground, heading for my new hole. The sound was akin to gravel grinding together, not loud but not quiet either. I made my way into my tunnel with no issues and moved my core to the exact center of my new room. I formed more rock beneath my core and pushed up until I was in the center of the room both vertically and horizontally. Once I accomplished that I sculpted a small bowl with which my core was at the bottom of. At the base of the bowl I sculpted an ornate looking stand for the bowl with three legs that curled at the top and smoothly arched down. I finished that and promised myself I¡¯d use better materials at a later date. I then concentrated on letting a small amount of water energy and mana flow into the bowl. The two energies intertwined and formed a perfectly clear and sterile water. As a finishing touch I added a small amount of air energy to the legs, hoping I could draw in more ambient mana. I succeeded a small amount. My intent was clear, but I was clearly missing something. Air did flow in and out of my new room, but at an extremely slow rate. It would work for now. I¡¯ll figure something else out later. ¡°Hey Emily, come look what I made!¡±Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. ¡°Coming, oohh I like the location of the hole. The tunnel is smooth, I like it¡­¡­.¡± Emily then began laughing hysterically. She somehow managed to roll on the ground in laughter. Her light was pulsing brightly, basking my new room with the bright blue of her mirth. She continued laughing until I couldn¡¯t take it anymore. ¡°Why are you laughing so hard!? What did I do?¡± I asked with restrained anger and confusion. She answered me between fits of laughter. ¡°you built¡­. A birdbath¡­. For your core¡­. It¡¯s the funniest thing¡­. I¡¯ve ever seen a dungeon do¡­.¡± This made her laugh even harder. ¡°What¡¯s a birdbath? Why would that be a funny place for me to sit in?¡± My confusion just made her laugh even harder. I realized that I liked her laugh, it was bubbly, high pitched and made me want to laugh with her. After a few more minutes of uncontrollable laughter she finally rose off the ground and addressed me. ¡°A birdbath is something humans build outside their homes, it¡¯s a bowl where birds can take a bath. The humans like to watch them.¡± She continued chuckling after her explanation. ¡°Okay, but what¡¯s a bird? And what¡¯s a bath?¡± ¡°A bird is a flying creature with feathers. A bath is where you soak your body in water and clean your body in the tub.¡± ¡°I want a bird. You owe me from before, and for laughing at me. But I¡¯m not changing my room, I like my birdbath.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t just bring you a bird. I don¡¯t have arms. I can only bring you very small objects.¡± ¡°well then go bring me a pretty rock.¡± ¡°You know what? I will!¡± she happily floated away, humming quietly to herself. I had used up a good portion of mana working on my small room, so I began snacking on moss. I was careful to create a new pool for the elemental energy it contained. The energy separated itself out and I learned that it was called nature. Nature would help plant life grow and heal. There was more to it than that, I could tell. But, I would have to find more sources of nature to better understand it. I continued consuming a minuscule amount of moss until it died and filled my reserves to maximum. I absorbed the body of the moss, noting that I gained a little more nature with that. After filling my reserves I thought it would be wise to improve my pattern. I looked within myself until I found where my pattern was wrapped around my inner core. I visualized adding five more infinity symbols to the configuration. Once I had the image cemented in my mind I began cycling my mana through it. Once it was full I condensed the entire structure, it shrank in size but increased in density ten fold. Increasing the density this much required my entire mana reserve to accomplish. Once that was held firmly in place I made it move throughout the pattern at twice the previous speed. I finally finished up and pulled out of my core to a very angry wisp. ¡°Do you know how long I¡¯ve been waiting to give you your damned rocks? Listen here you overgrown pebble, you can¡¯t just leave for several days without a word.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t know it would take that long. But look what I did!¡± I said this hoping to distract her into calming down. ¡°Let me see.¡± She reached through our link and she looked and my pattern. ¡°wow, I am actually impressed, you did it on your own without any help. How much mana can you hold now?¡± Haha it worked, she¡¯s not angry. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I haven¡¯t tried filling it yet. But it is pulling in ambient mana at a prodigious rate. Which reminds me, how can I get better air flow in my core room?¡± ¡°I can see that you tried infusing the rock with air energy, but in order to really increase airflow you will need runes and enchantments. I can¡¯t teach you any of those, you will have to take it from an adventurer.¡± ¡°Well that¡¯s disappointing. In any case, I will still get more from eating moss. I¡¯m going to see how much it takes to fill my pattern really quick.¡± I turned my focus to my patch of moss and forced my will against it. With me new and improved pattern I was able to absorb about half of the patch I was working on. Leaving me with three more patches around the same size and half of this one. I¡¯m going to need a better source of mana soon. I looked over at Emily and voiced my concerns. ¡°while I am happy about my progress, it now takes a lot of the moss to fill my pattern. I¡¯m going to need a new source of mana plus a better way to get more ambient mana.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy, there are two things we can do now. You can create traps and monsters to kill other creatures for their mana, or you can saturate your territory with more mana to increase the amount of ambient mana it produces. I would recommend using the first option for now, increasing your ambient mana will draw too much attention from animals nearby and you aren¡¯t ready for that.¡± ¡°That makes sense. Well, how do I create monsters and traps?¡± ¡°Traps are simple right now. You can just shape the earth to make holes or even make some of your stalactites fall. Early trap production will be a breeze, but later on when you need to add mana to the traps it¡¯ll get much harder. As for monsters, you will need more blueprints. However, you can use your moss to be a trap monster. Once you edit it¡¯s element it can gain trap like properties. I think we should start with the moss.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to experiment too much yet, so what element should I use?¡± ¡°I would recommend fire, but you don¡¯t have any. Actually, that gives me an idea. I¡¯m going to go gather some wood. Here, look at these while I¡¯m gone.¡± She had dropped the pebbles in my bowl before flying off. There were only three pebbles, but I knew they were special. I began breaking down the first one, it was a light gray with black specks throughout. I learned its blueprint, I now had access to granite. Excitement filling my core I hungrily did the same to the other two pepebbles the second one was a clear rock with a crystalline structure. That one was quartz. The last rock had a gold sheen to it, I got excited thinking Emily had found gold. But I was a fool, it was pyrite, otherwise known as fools gold. I didn¡¯t let my happiness fade though, I knew I could trick adventurers into thinking I had gold. I¡¯d save this for a later date. Emily came zipping into the cave then, followed by a swarm of angry looking insects. ¡°I messed up! Kill them! Asher kill them!¡± ¡°They are so small though. How could they hurt you? And I don¡¯t have a way to kill them dummy.¡± She began screaming in terror and flew into the pond. The angry insects buzzed and zipped around above her. One tried to dive bomb her and ended up getting stuck in the middle of the pond. I began getting excited, thinking it would drown and I¡¯d get a new blueprint. But my luck wasn¡¯t that good, the big jerk just walked on the water. Once it recovered the entire swarm just left the cave. ¡°So, wanna tell me what those were? And did you get the wood?¡± She sent a feeling of rage through out bond, ¡°What!? Not even going to ask if I¡¯m okay? And no I didn¡¯t get your god forsaken wood.¡± ¡°Well go get the wood, I don¡¯t see how you¡¯re afraid of those bugs. They can¡¯t even touch you.¡± ¡°No. I will not. And I don¡¯t care, I hate them.¡± With that she cut off our communications and started flying around the cave, her light flaring with a hint of red to it. Well now what? I guess I¡¯ll just make moss on my own. I looked within my memories for the blueprint of moss. I chose to begin my experiments with a small one square inch patch, this way I could get a good estimate of how much mana I would need. I formed the patch in the blueprint and slowly filled it with mana and nature energy. It took roughly fifty percent more mana to create it than what was released from the natural moss. I watched as the patch of moss seemingly grew out of nothing and sprouted to maturity in a matter of seconds. I wonder if I can create it in its early stages of growth to conserve mana. I pondered this thought while I reabsorbed the moss. I noted that I got around sixty percent of the mana cost back. I then began editing the structure, adding fire mana around the edges of it at a ratio of one to four. Thinking this was a small amount, I was shocked to see the moss burst into flames and die. I tried different variations of the ratio with no success. Pondering it further I concluded that nature and fire just didn¡¯t mix. What if I add another element. I tested my theory by adding equal parts water and fire just on the inside of the moss and quadruple the nature energy, the result was a massive success. The water and fire fused together within the moss and made the entire plant warm up. I theorized that this worked because the plant already had water inside it for its production of food. Then on top of that the mana forced it to form properly. I tested adjusting the elements and found that I could make the moss hot enough to burn something on contact without breaking the bank. I formed a long strip of the moss in a circle around the pond. I didn¡¯t have enough mana to fully grow it, so I attempted to form it in its early stages of growth. The moss formed without issue. I need a name for the burning moss. ¡°Hey Emily, I created the new moss. I could use your help naming it.¡± ¡°Alright, let me look at it.¡± She floated over to my ring of moss and started inspecting it. ¡°this is well designed, but why is it so underdeveloped?¡± ¡°I did that to save mana and complete the project early. It should only take about a week for it to finish anyway.¡± ¡°Well other than that it¡¯s really well done. Let¡¯s see¡­¡± she went silent and bobbed up and down while she thought about names. ¡°How about, sizzling moss?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it that much, but you picked the name so that¡¯s what it¡¯s called now. Now I need to find a way to get something to get stuck in it.¡± ¡°Honestly just add something shiny to it.¡± I thought over her words and decided that she had a good idea, and I had the perfect material to get the job done. I started placing fools gold at evenly spaced intervals, poking up above the sizzling moss just enough to catch the eye. I inspected my now finished project and decided it was time to wait for it to grow.