《Intellectual core》


 Where am I?

    What''s going on?


    All I remember is that I was in my room which... I can''t remember my room. I can''t remember my home. Is that concerning? Yes, very concerning.


    Let me check something.


    Pi is the golden rationality whilst phi is the golden irrationality.


    Aight, how about...


    Mass is not attracted to mass but mass creates a dent in space that pulls anything with less mass.


    Yeah, that''s concerning.


    Something hand picked my memories separating my "memories" from my "intellect". I still remember who I was but anything related to me is gone. Friends, family, home all of that is gone.


    All I have is my name, my intellect and the clothes on my back.


    ...


    Those fucks took my body too!


    Yet I still am not angry, my body can''t produce the hormones to get angry because I don''t have one. Emotions are caused by hormone realeses from certain actions or reactions to them.


    Am I even human anymore? No, now I''m that crystal in the corner. A pink diamond, probably costs a few grand on the market. Maybe 10 grand if polished and put on a ring. 16 grand if a master polishes the thing because famous names make things more expensive.


    I look down, my subconscious seems to have recreated my body in a spiritual way.


    I change my shape to test something.


    ...


    Even after taking the form of a child I still don''t feel foreign in my "body". I tried a variety of shapes and sizes not feeling different in any of them. I could do my best imitation of a dragon and then turn into a four foot gremlin but still feel the same.


    As I keept pacing back and forth I noticed something.


    What is this? Some sort of gas? No it''s coming out of solid objects too...


    It reacts to my spiritual body, I can push it around and pull on it too. Some sort of energy? Plasma perhaps, no, that still doesn''t explain it. I flicked my fingers and discoverer that it generated sparks, huh. Curious.


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    Can I compress it? I weave and gather that stuff, it doesn''t seem to have the consistency of a liquid it''s more like a gas. After a certain point of compression it started to glow, huh, the glowing sphere keept on shining and shrinking until it dissapeared.


    So it is energy, I''m sure it emitted heat too. Let me try something.


    I cover my hand in that stuff and compress it but before it started to glow I commanded it tomove.


    That of course didn''t do anything, a bridge won''t build itself because you commanded it to. I watched my makeshift glove burn out whilst emitting a faint glow.


    Then, something walked into my field of perception.


    A cave mouse? What are you doing here little guy?


    The furred gremlin beelined straight for my core.


    Oh no you don''t.


    I kicked the thing and surprisingly it actually took damage. Its looking quite disoriented and I see that the weird energy seems to flow into it.


    You like that stuff? Then have as much as you want!


    I started pumping the poor creature with pure energy until I heard a literal ding.


    First creature subjected, congratulations you''re officially a dungeon.


    The fuck? It stayed in my field of view no matter where I looked.


    This is annoying, I took out my pair of eyes out of their sockets and replaced them with new ones. I put my "infested" eyes in a corner where it won''t bother me as much.


    Alright where was I? Right, the mouse.


    The little critter looked at me with hope in its eyes sitting in place, not caring if any predators out of view notice it.


    "You want some more of that stuff?"


    It nodded it''s head with vigor. Dam, it can understand me.


    Deciding to make use of my new test subject I pump some more into it. It goes well for a while, it seems to enjoy it too, but then it curled up and wheezed in pain.


    I can tell that the energy is going rampart inside of the poor thing, but it''s too hard to control on such a small size.


    I shrink down to similar size of the mouse and try to guide the energy inside it. Rotate it through the body and absorb some each rotation. Eventually a whirlpool seems to form inside the thing since it keeps pulling in more and absorbing it. It''s wheezing stops and it grows in real time infront of me.


    I noticed that it''s only growing in size and not change anything else, which is a problem. I step in and guide the mouses grotlwth. Slow down the metabolism, condense bone and muscle tissue. Might aswell give it a functional immune system too. Darken the tone of the furr. The jaw needs some work done too. The eyes get a upgrade too.


    Congratulations on creating a new species, species is named "black dungeon cave mouse".


    It''s about as big as a rat and will probably continue to grow considering the accidental vortex I created. That won''t be a problem since I can see that it''s roughly pointed at the right direction.


    This has been a really valuable find here. Biological tissue seems to be able to absorb this energy, I will continue watching this one''s growth to see the full effects.


    I wonder if there are any other ones I can experiment on.


    Well oh well, atleast I have this big boy to keep me company.


    ...


    What do you mean you''re a girl?

 Transmutation

    I named her Jasmine.


    She''s surprisingly smart, she understands me perfectly and seems to be able to understand algebra to some extent.


    I feel something, huh emotion? It''s... pride, pride in my creation, pride in my discovery. It makes me fell warm, I like it.


    Jasmine seems to pick up on my positive emotions and tries to give me a "gift". In the core of her vortex she gathers all her energy and realeses it in a massive (for her size) burst.


    I at first was a bit irritated and annoyed since I would have to recreate the vortex in her, which isn''t a lot of work but it would be bad if she made it a habit.


    Then I realised that there''s something different about the energy she realesed. That it''s almost alive. I created a void of energy and moved Jasmine''s in there.


    It took shape, the shape of a mouse but it wasn''t enough.


    I gently pushed a stream of energy through Jasmine, circling it once through her body, which resulted in the same kind of energy being made.


    I filled out the mouse shape with the new energy until I had a copy of Jasmine, but I made some changes to it.


    I increased the testosterone and reduced the melanoma. I gave it a overall size increase by 15% and removed the female reproduction organs for male ones.


    Now I have a male and female "blueprint", but how to use them?


    Hmm, what if I...


    I took a good chunk of energy and compresed it into the shape of the blueprint. No, somethings missing. I took another bit of "flavoured" energy from Jasmine, about as much as the original burst, and added it too the mouse shaped energy.


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    Yes! This is it!


    "Good girl, very good girl."


    A new mouse was now created, a extra chonky male, kind of a reward for Jasmine.


    The two meet and after a few moments Jasmine walks away, disinterested, leaving behind a heartbroken lad. He looked up to me with huge watery eyes...


    "Fine fine, just stop crying already."


    I made a female, though I made her as big as him. Let''s see how they are going to evolve.


    I turned to Jasmine and was surprised to see that she recreated her vortex all on her own.


    "You learn fast, I think such a diligent student deserves a reward."


    She looks up to me, I could practically feel the joy oozing out of her, she wasted no time and drew a plus on the floor.


    "More?"


    She nodded eagerly and gestured to the two love birds.


    "More love?"


    She shook her head and drew two arrows pointing at each other, between the arrows is a heart. She drew another lone arrow and then tapped herself.


    "More like?"


    Sho nodded again with vigor and then gestured to my spiritual shape.


    "More like me?"


    She nodded vigorously and I was concerned her head might fall off.


    "More humanoid then? I can''t do it now, I don''t have the necessary energy bur I guess I can make it a promise for the future."


    Though a little disappointed she seems excited at the thought of becoming humanoid, not sure why she''s so eager to.


    Either way, I have work to do.


    I copy a male and female blueprint, these are going to be standard canvases. After all, all mammal life evolved from mice.


    <hr>


    The two love birds are probably looking for some private spot to have fun. Did he seriously think I would have been his mate?


    I turned to watch our master at work, he wove the shape of a mouse to something greater, something more fierce. It was much larger than anything I''ve seen, only the masters spirit could stand taller than it.


    I narrowed my eyes and tried to inspect it.


    Inspection failed, not enough information available.


    Of course, I couldn''t match our masters intellect, how could I? Back when our connection was first formed I tried to take in as much information as possible yet I couldn''t. How could I match such greatness?


    <hr>


    Alright, now all I need to do is fill out the blueprints. It might take a while to fill out such large frames so I did it one by one.


    After like an hour the first wolfhound of mine took its first breath.

 Yes maam!

    I looked out the carriage as we approached this new dungeon. Apparently it has shown some massive irregularities when it comes to mana flow, which is the reason why 50 people were sent. If it turns out to be profitable then a guild building will be built close to it and I will become the guild mistress of that building.


    But if it turns out unprofitable... then I''ll find out if a dungeon can scream. I guess that''s why they sent someone with mana vision, there''s a good chance for an intelligent dungeon which could be good or bad.


    The carriage stopped, guess we''ll be walking from here.


    The entrance was high on a mountain side, how annoying. As the future guildmistress of a dungeon hall I''ll need to enter the dungeon, how much would it take to convince a group of builders to build a dungeon hall here?


    I regret wearing high heels. As we entered our 30 vanguards were meet with a brutal charge attack. The beasts looked like hounds but a lot bigger. Not only were they strong but they also had the strength of numbers on their side, there''s too many to count.


    How were there so many of them? Wasn''t this a recently formed dungeon?


    Some of them leaped past the front line which was terrifying that such heavy hounds could jump that high. Honestly if we didn''t have battle mages we would have been neck deep in trouble.


    And that one healer who just started tackling the hounds off of people. Having a big stick makes a surprisingly big difference when wrestling something that can only bite. The most impressive part was that he keept up [Aura of regeneration] whilst fighting for his life. He seems promising.


    I actually had to step in, much to the misfortune of our frontliners.


    [Plague Crows]


    A huge murder of crows flew over the vanguards into the horde of beasts. Being beasts they of course had very low magical defenses which meant that after a few heartbeats they started to fall over dead, so did a few of ours but that''s besides the point.


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    The surviving straglers fled deeper into the dungeon which was a surprise since dungeon creatures usually fight to the death.


    We keep our guard up as we advance deeper into the cave but this time they didn''t bother attacking the frontline. They jump straight into our back line.


    They didn''t do as much damage since I knew such a tactic would be used and in record speed melee fighters rushed to meet them.


    What I didn''t predict was the floor boss just showing up out of nowhere. A absolute brute of a beast, it bulldozed right into the middle of the fight throwing people out of its way.


    That thing''s a problem, [Isolated disease].


    The beast pinned the healer who caught my eye down. It bit and bit and bit, the healer moving his head to avoid each bite by mere inches. I couldn''t do anything other than wait for the spell to work.


    After what felt like an eternity the beast finally went limp. The healer threw the dead hound off of him before rushing to help with the remaining hounds.


    I told them to rest up, we have a mountain to climb down.


    I walked deeper into the dungeon, no ores, no materials, nothing of worth. Soon the core came into view, the only thing stopping me from shattering that thing the moment it came into view was the manifestation which is usually a sign of high intelligence.


    Before he could get up I kicked him and stepped on his chest by infusing my whole leg with mana.


    "No value."


    I grinded my foot too the right.


    "And a massive threat."


    Then to the left.


    "I should just kill you, you little shit!"


    A stream of mana caught my eye, I looked over and was astonished at what I saw.


    Multiple mana vortexes gathered and compressed mana into molds of those hounds we fought, sort of like the spawners of normal dungeons but with bear eating hounds instead of spiders and rats.


    "Clever boy. I bet you can do a lot more with those wits of yours,like becoming a actually valuable dungeon."


    I grabbed him from the backside of his neck, hard.


    "You have until tomorrow."


    And per se I turned to leave, but before I did I send a wave of mana that tore through his makeshift spawners.


    I should seek out that healer, he will definitely be a great left hand man.


    <hr>


    "Fucking bitch! What kind of pretentious whore wears high heels in a place like this?"


    I stared after her as she left and couldn''t help but admit she''s right.


    If beings like me are a common occurrence then of course the valuable ones have to be groomed and the dangerous ones put down.


    I think she would have been a lot nicer if I had chunks of ores laying around or anything that could match the danger of my creations in value.

 Dungeon building

    Once the last one of these fucks left a wave of hunger overcame me. Ten dead bodies shouldn''t look so appetising. Tendrils of energy crept out of my core inching closer to the fresh dead.


    No, I need the materials. I held back my hunger and looked closer to what some of them were carrying.


    These broths, I saw them pour them on their wounds which healed in ungodly speeds. A part of me finds nothing wrong with them but they just don''t make sense. How could any cognition have such properties? They shouldn''t work yet they do, hopes and prayers are my best guess. I took some flavoured energy and copied their blueprints by infusing them with said energy, plant based huh.


    I tinkered with the blueprints for a good while until I got the original ingredients. I don''t recognise any of these but they''re mostly grasses and herbs with a few pieces of bushes too. I can make the blueprints of almost any plant with these, fungi and mosses are still out of my reach.


    That out of the way I brought my attention to the guys who had books on them. I can understand that they carried everything they had (personal charms, camping gear, rations etc.) with them since anyone could just take their stuff if they just left them sitting outside. But one of those freaks took his sweet time to read it mid fucking fight.


    Arcane Grimoyre, a book thicker than it has any right to be clad in leather too fine for a book. Jasmine needed some time to actually open the dam thing since it''s quite heavy for her.


    Rune eclopedia, this thing was ironically thinner even though its a eclopedia. Unlike the Grimoyre which seems to be a work of art, the eclopedia is of "okay" quality its probably mass produced.


    I guess I have some reading up to do.


    ...


    So it is mana huh?


    Hmm, I''ve been doing it wrong or this Grimoyre says so. By densening the mana I made it harder to controll or in other words hardly usable. "Thou must bend it to thy will and then force said will on it" hopes and prayers I tell you. I guess it''s worth a shot though.


    "I can already bend and move mana to my will but forcing my will on it? I need a more detailed explanation than just that! "


    A spark.


    As I was rambling to myself a spark flickered to life in the mana in my core. Curious.


    Was that my will? A manifestation of my anger and frustration? Wait, I''m angry! I didn''t notice before but ever since these wretched bastards invaded me I''ve been pissed. I wasn''t angry at anything else after becoming a crystal, not even at losing everything I had even my memories. Something about the thought of filthy outsiders invading my domain just sets some primal rage loose. But why now? Why not back when Jasmine dashed for my core? Questions I have no one to ask.


    Pondering things won''t get me anywhere, it''s not like someone will show up and answer all my questions.


    I''m wasting time here.


    I have to call fourth that spark again, all the frustration, all the anger, those those wretched bastards think they can barge into my home and disrespect me?


    There it is again but it''s a flame this time. With all the rage I can muster I push, force it upon reality itself. What I''m doing makes no sense but I''m a crystal with schizophrenia who is on a ultimatum to raise my worth because a filthy whore told me to, so fuck logic!


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    Fire, no, a whole inferno roared to life! It soon died down and I was left actually exhausted. That''s good and all but not really useful in the moment.


    I moved over to the eclopedia, Jasmine had a easier time turning the pages.


    Runes are kind of like coding, once they are either charged with mana and/or a different requirement is met they activate. The effects vary from an automated light when you enter a room to what might as well be an A.I. I''m both intrigued and disappointed, nothing that will help with the problem at hand.


    Now that I''m done going through the stuff of the corpses I let my hunger devour them. One after the other the corpses dissappeared.


    This is...? I don''t know if I ever felt this good before, all my exhaustion dissappeared if anything I feel energetic. I want more, I need more!


    But everything was already devoured, there was nothing left to satisfy my hunger. No there has to be more! Can''t I just go after them?!


    Yeah, why can''t I? I never really took the time to actually look around...


    I never felt as though something isn''t right but now that I think about it. Why does my field of view just sharply end? I know there''s more there but I can''t see it. I know that should be like this but why do I know?


    I''m rambling again, I''m on limited time.


    First things firsts, this cavern is too small. It''s a kilometer long at best and 30 men don''t even fit in here side by side. You could easily reach the ceiling with a three man ladder which is just too short.


    So I planted stone maulers everywhere. I took the blueprint of a bush and removed anything that wasn''t a root. It didn''t need to make sense it didn''t need to survive on its own, it only needs to dig. By leaving lines of concentrated mana in the stone I can create a pre made path for the stone maulers. Once they''re done they should turn the solid stone walls into rubble.


    But before doing that I planted a subspecies of the stone mauler in the ceiling, I''ll call this one stone molder. The only real difference is that I gave it a different pre made path where it holds the stone rubble like actual roots.


    After watching roots grow for hours I was too good to count I finally had a underground clearing with the radios of four football fields. I could finally convert the stone maulers back to energy.


    Now I introduce the rock eaters to the rubble. I made my base mammal blueprint to a mole blueprint and added some twists. First off it needs to be bigger, a lot bigger, 100 pound moles seem good for now. Second off it needs better claws, it needs claws that can dig through solid rock not just soft soil. I can''t convert the claws to metal since they would then die from metal poisoning. But I sure can make them solid bone which I add a even higher density on top. I need it to be able to digest rocks, actually digesting them isn''t the problem but keeping them from dieing is. I got it! Instead of digesting in the traditional way they can just carry around the rock paste which they can puke out somewhere else.


    After sending even more hours watching overgrown moles eat rocks I raised the ceiling by letting the stone molder drop chunks of stone.


    Satisfied with the new space I placed trees, bushes, shrubs and herbs. I made sure to add a lot of the stuff I found in the weird broth in case that''s valuable.


    In the middle of it all I made a springwell with the statue of a direwolf on it using the rock paste of the rock eaters but its missing all of its four major fangs. It took way too long since moles aren''t exactly suited for sculpting.


    To get one of the fangs one has to defeat the alpha of one of the four packs that live in this forest of mine.


    To the eastern part of the forest will be a pack of wolfhounds lead by a bearhound. The wolfhounds met those wretched bastards in combat previously they''re pretty good if they don''t have to deal with a armed fucking battalion. The bearhound was the thing I spat out in desperation previously. The bearhound is the largest canine to ever be with the dire wolf in second place and wolfhound in third. Its basically just a big dog, with big I mean the bigger cousin of the grizzly.


    To the west will be a pack of grey hounds, I made them quite a lot bigger because speed isn''t everything. I decided to make a specifically female Kangal their alpha and made her too bigger. Female Kangals are just so much faster than male''s.


    To the north is a pack of alaskan wolfs, I let them choose their alpha. I gave the north the most hostile environment with small tunnels, sturdy bushes and twisted trees. Perfect hunting grounds for one of the smartest canine species.


    To the south is a species of Germanshepherds. I gave the south a extremely high mana density, a kind of experiment of mine. For a alpha I just made one as big as a wolfhound.


    My core is at the bottom of the well but I don''t plan on keeping it there. I''m trying to figure out on how to make a decoy core without the manastreams betraying me.


    A wave of hatred and disgust fills me again, if I wasn''t low on fire I would have probably brought the well to a boil.


    Guests.

 Evaluation

    "Hey boss, why don''t druids wear metal armour but wield metal weapons?"


    This time they were a lot more relaxed since she didn''t come this time, it''s surprising how much you can communicate without knowing each others names. I''m sure no one here knows who is who except a few whom are too talkative for their own good.


    "It''s like a paladins oath, we break it then we''re broken."


    It''s not exactly accurate but it''s as much as I can say with the [vow of secrets] on my neck. Even though I want to, breaking a vow is not exactly easy.


    I plant my staff into the ground and raise my voice to be heard by all of them.


    "We will rest here, we might have to fight a battle as fierce as yesterday!"


    Though a bit demoralising they''re still glad that she isn''t here. She could probably waltz through the dungeon on her own with just a few spells but would kill us all in the process.


    It''s very unlikely that the dungeon had enough mana to build up something in just a day.


    A few moments later.


    Well I''ll be dammed.


    It''s not big enough to be a actual forest but you could easily get lost here.


    "Alright everyone, keep your guards up! This is an unusual situation so I want everyone to be as cautious as possible, especially you!"


    I point my staff and they split like the red sea leaving only a magus to be blamed.


    "Don''t think I didn''t notice you peaking into that book in the middle of the fight yesterday! Look, I get it, it''s impossibly difficult to evolve your class into [Sage] but that doesn''t mean you can just put yourself and everyone at risk! Just because Grand Sage Valmir managed to do it doesn''t mean so can you. Understood?"


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    He nodded looking down both ashamed and embarrassed for being called out like that.


    "Good, now I need you all to stay on the look out for anything whilst I tap into the plants here."


    I put my arms into a nearby Bush which I recognise as a popular ingredient to increase the shelf life of potions. Its branches wrap around my arms and my senses slowly disappeared until only there''s the forest left. The roots of the plants are connected under the ground allowing me to get a good picture on what plants the dungeon cultivates.


    A lot and I mean a LOT of potion ingredients, though they''re all very common this proves that this dungeon is indeed intelligent. I noticed a suspicious clearing in the middle and a surprisingly hostile environment north, its like the plants themselves have killing intend there.


    I was pulled out of my vision and immediately jumped up activating my staffs ability.


    [Aura of regeneration]


    This staff can turn any skill into a aura, it''s also the reason why I was excuminated from the forest of eons.


    "What''s going on?"


    "Boss, they surrounded us."


    I noticed that the meele fighters adapted a circle formation in an attempt of protecting the ranged fighters. I jumped on a tree and easily climbed it giving me a birds eye perspective.


    Hounds, but not those massive brutes from yesterday but smaller and sleeker ones. They are also fast I mean fast fast they could outrun horses. They are probably looking for a opening right now.


    "Rangers climbe the trees! Wizards focus solely on crowd control! Fighters hold the line!"


    My orders were followed shortly after being heard. Anyone with a ranged weapon climbed the two trees in the circle and from the branches of those two trees spread onto other trees.


    Sparks of lightning danced through a icy mist as the mages spoke a joined chant. Usually in a battle that wouldn''t work but if your opponents can''t land a hit on the casters, that''s a different story.


    It''s definitely overkill for a pack of dogs, they''re just big and fast. Not even that big.


    [by the roaring thunder and shrieking winds, fall to the raging tundra!]


    Yep, definitely overkill. All the greens turned white as they froze and lightning jumped from place to place. White frozen clomps slowly dissolved into mana, probably whatevers left of those hounds. Arrows and bolts from the trees finished the stragglers.


    However I noticed something, there in the raging tundra was a white wolf not a hound. Its keen eyes observed everything that just happened. It locked eye contact with me, I saw the keen intellect and collected nature behind it''s eyes. A wind blew and the wolf dissappeared into the unwelcoming whiteness.


    I feel like we just lost a trump card.

 That does not make sense

    "This shouldn''t be working."


    My eyes were locked on the flame in my hand. I decided to follow the instructions in that overly fancied textbook to distract me from those Intruders.


    Even though the mere presence of these savages brings my theoretical blood to a blood, I have to admit that dancing to their flute is of my best interest.


    If I''m not mistaken as long the profit outweighs the dangers they should not use lethal force, but I could be wrong. Such animals can be quite unpredictable.


    That''s why I''m looking into this magic, the more I think about it the more it irks me. The fire burns with only two components, energy and oxygen. But it should need three, energy, oxygen and FUEL.


    It''s a universal law, it''s the reason why gas needs oxygen mixed in to be fuel, It''s the reason that stars can die.


    ... but a different universe should have different universal laws, in theory.


    Does that mean that I''m in a different universe? It would explain quite a bit of bullshit actually. But it''s not the only possible explaination.


    This "mana", I thought it was energy but it doesn''t follow the laws of Ohm. First of, it''s slow. Under perfect conditions energy should be able to be faster than the speed of light.


    Second of, it''s too efficient. No matter how short the distance, as long energy has to move any sort of distance some will get lost. This shit has a 0% rate of loss, that shouldn''t be physically possible.


    Third of, energy has five different forms, this doesn''t. By what I saw mana has a docile and active state. When it''s not doing anything and just sitting around, it''s docile. When some whore forms it into crows, then it''s active.


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    Kind of reminds me of the immune system, but dumb.


    Still, being a smart ass won''t get these filthy savages out of here. They will only leave once they have what they want, which is profit.


    Wait... were am I from anyways? Guess I never really thought about it...


    ...


    "What was that?... weird."


    I looked down to the small flame on my spiritual hand, nothing special, just some basic pyromancy. But that won''t be enough to ensure my safety, I need more firepower.


    Theoretically I could... no that would kill me aswell, but it would give me the firepower to make demands. Actually, if I play my cards right I could end this whole world.


    No, I should look into less destructive alternatives. A dust explosion for example, I could get started on it right now. All I need to do is get my hands on some flour... which is easier said than done. I can grow wheat, yes, but how to procces it?


    Due to a lack of thumbs to do as I say growing a fungus that makes some really flamable spores might be a more affordable solution. Due to a lack of fungus at my desposal I might need to grow a tree that does that instead, might aswell grow the bullet tree.


    What would be more efficient? Growing a tree on crack or re-evolving homosapients? No wait, I''m not being creative enough. Couldn''t I make a mill that the wolfhounds could use? Might aswell evolve oxes, no Bysons would be better.


    But all of that takes time, especially the tree and human ones.  I can''t just pull out a never seen before species of trees out of nowhere and I can''t pull the same trick I pulled with the hounds. The reason I could make canines out of the blueprint of a mouse is because of how close they''re related and that''s pushing it. If you made mice the size of dogs and gave them the motabolism to survive with that much mass natural selection would, after some generations, make them dogs.


    I''m rambling again, dust explosion is not a option in the immediate future. What else is there? Sure I can make everything that''s above us come crashing down but that would work only once, after that they''d probably have some magicery fuckery to stop that. Besides, wouldn''t that kill me too?


    Poison gas actually is a solid pick, would force them to wear masks which would create a massive weakness. Or create a field which keeps the poison out, which would put a limit on how much offensive magic they can use. I will work on the gas once I have aven blueprints, will have to make the birds immune though.


    What else is there? A horde of beasts I already tried when they first showed up and-


    ... What the actual bullshit are those animals doing?

 Essence of humanity

    Two guys walked down a stone path. It was a cold and grey day, yet the clouds refused to gift them snow.


    Huh? What''s this now?


    "Hey Leon, when do you think teleportation will be a thing?"


    The lanky one spoke, addressing Leon casually without even looking at the self proclaimed intellectual.


    What? Where am I? Who is this guy? Why does he feel familiar?


    Leons mouth opened, but instead of one the few questions in his mind, an answer came out instead.


    "Once we figure out how to tap into the DNA and and continue the chain of information, so when cloning is no longer fiction."


    What? I didn''t mean to say that...


    That was the moment when it clicked in Leons mind, he is in a memory. He was reliving moments he never knew he lost, perhaps an apologetic gift from whatever being placed him in his current crystal like vessel. Perhaps it was torturing him, teasing him with the things he has lost and will never regain.


    The intentions didn''t matter to Leon, every passing moment just made him angrier and angrier.


    "How would that work?"


    The lanky one asked, tiltin-cut the bullshit.


    Cracks like spiderwebs spread across everything, even the air. What are you waiting for? For a moment reality itself shattered, shards of the previous scenery were scattered in what seems to be an endless dark void.


    <hr>


    Fuuuuuuuuck. What was that?


    I looked around, I stood in the wolf well surrounded by the artificial forest I grew. This is my domain, here I am God, here my word is law. Then why do I feel so vulnerable?


    Naked and alone I stood surrounded by woodland, I know for a fact that more than a hundred hounds are in this forest. A hundred apex predators, each more than capable to rip off someones arm and what can rip off your arm can easily kill you.


    I felt a sting in my eyes, no, in my eye sockets.


    You have found a lost piece of humanity, it doesn''t do anything.


    The sting disappeared just as fast it came.


    Weird, I would usually ignore a little ache like that. But my body is no longer of flesh and blood, but an illusion to keep a crystal somewhat sane. I shouldn''t be able to feel physical... anything actually, science says I should be emotionless.


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    Science seems to fail me here.


    But pain isn''t an emotion, it''s a state of being. You don''t feel pain, it forces itself on you. There''s no hormone to make you suffer, it''s your nerves in agony. And why would your nerves share their agony with you? As a warning.


    Something happened, something happened inside of me. Might be bad, but I don''t think it''s anything to worry about.


    I stepped out of the well and suddenly had trouble moving in my body, it was so... weightless. Usually gravity would do half the work whilst moving, but... I''m gonna assume this "body" is made of mana. Which means I''m fifth dimensional.


    Semi fifth dimensional, but you get the jig.


    Now to move around... walking is a solid option but I can be more efficient. Previously I sometimes discarded my "body" and spread my consciousness over my domain, but that feels... wrong. I had no problem doing it until now, but now the idea kind of... irks me.


    Wait, my "body" is just a product of my imagination. I can just imagine myself somewhere else.


    In less than the blink of an eye I appeared close to the roof of this cave that houses me. I could see a group of people... weird, I don''t feel angry like I always did when I saw them.


    They''re just following orders, after all.


    I think I might have overreacted, this place is way too dangerous to actually make an profit. If I don''t change they will deem me "nonprofitable" and have me put down. By how they''re going at this it''s obvious that I''m not one of a kind, so if I''m nonprofitable then it would make more sense to make room for a more profitable one.


    I should keep the wolfs in the northern part on standby, in case of emergencies. Depending on how the German shepherds develop in the dense mana zone I might need to put them on reserve duty as well.


    Actually there are some experiments I want to run.


    But first. Where is Jasmine?


    I might have been neglecting the poor rodent, if it wasn''t for her giving me the rodent blueprint I would still be a defenseless rock.


    I appeared in the northern part of the forest, the wolfs not alerted by my pink spectral body popping into existence out of nowhere. I think I already mass produced enough wolfs, they should reproduce on their own from now on.


    First I created a big wave of mana disrupting the spawners, like that bitch did some time ago. Next I will have to change the internal structure of the wolfs bodies since some parts of them are still mouse.


    First, Muscle density. Their muscles are way too dense for their overall mass, lower density will allow them to grow bigger and swim better. The latter part will become important later on. I''ve got something planned.


    Second, sex and joy. I made everything except the mice in a fit of rage and confused anger. The only desire these things have is to kill humans, gotta change that. Let''s see, what does a wolf normally want to do? Play, hunt, cuddle and mate annually. Eh, I''ll just take away their endless bloodthirst and give them free will. And allow them to feel all five joy hormones instead of just adrenaline.


    Third, a working digestive track. They still have the guts of mice, they don''t seem to need to eat but it bugs me that they''re not biologically correct.


    Am I missing anything? Oh yeah, they need prey. It can happen in captivity that animals can become depressed because they don''t get the same exercise or don''t get to hunt like in the wild. Some animals enjoy hunting, but wolfs aren''t one of them.


    To a wolf hunting is a must in order to avoid starving to death.


    I copied the blueprint of the wolf I modified and pasted it on all the northern wolfs. The dogs can stay killing machines for now.


    Still, making the environment more natural wouldn''t cause any harm. Actually, that would raise my value. Hide and pelt are the worlds oldest currency.


    Wolfs usually prey on deer, bears, goats and Moose in their natural habitat. Out of the four I can only make bears in a days time, hooves are a bitch too make. Though I should start with evolving Hell Pigs (one of the first fanged mammals), I only need them to make hooves.


    I created two mice and made them big as fuck, a female and a male. I made the blueprints of what should be a hell pig, but I ran into a problem.


    How does the insides of the thing look like? Hard to know the organ structure from fossils alone. Fuck it, let''s go with boars instead.


    I connected the mice with a boar blueprint and a mana vortex each, but unlike the spawners the vortex doesn''t send mana to the mold of the boar but to the mice.


    If this experiment does work out then I''m a step closer to granting Jasmine her wish.

 Solitary

    Oh yeah, there was that one thing I threw away when I woke up here. I basically just gauged my eyes out and replace them. Now where did I leave them?


    Since I had molded this cave quite a bit My hypothetical eyes were floating in the air doing nothing except look disturbing to anyone that can see them.


    Perhaps this will give me some more insight on the bullshitery that''s happening.


    I gauged out my left eye and put the original back in.


    New skill earned: evolutionary growth


    Creatures you control can evolve to a higher related species, a common skill among dungeons.


    Dafook?


    Precise mana control l evolved to precise mana control ll.


    Huh?


    Precise mana control ll evolved into precise mana control lll.


    Actually, that kinda makes sense.


    Ready to create second floor.


    That doesn''t.


    Root abomination is ready to evolve into a new species, "Stonemolder".


    Can you slow down a bit?


    Shepherd is ready to evolve into lesser tundra hound.


    Wha-


    Shepherd is ready to evolve into lesser tundra hound.


    Ca-


    Shepherd is ready to evolve into lesser tundra hound.


    Shepherd is ready to evolve into lesser tundra hound.


    Shepherd is ready to evolve into lesser tundra hound.


    Shepherd is ready to evolve into lesser tundra hound.


    ... you done?


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Universal language comprehension evolved into Universal communication comprehension,


    Wait, I speak everything?


    Mana generation l evolved into Mana generation ll.


    Neat, I guess.


    Earned 50 karma.


    Dafook?


    Dungeon tutorial will soon commence-


    "Hold on a fucking second."


    My pink spiritual hand grasped the text tightly.


    That''s right, I have free will.


    "We are both pure energy and one of us does not have human rights."


    I grasped the line of text with both of my hands. I don''t know what this is but I know it''s made of energy. Meaning it reacts to energy.


    An Error has occurred- An Error has- An Error- An- An Error has-A-A- An Error h- An Er- An Err- An Error has o-


    Seriously?


    Oh shit it talks!


    What do you want?


    "... can I skip the tutorial?"


    Why?


    "I feel like I''m doing pretty good already."


    A neon teal mana figure just like mine appeared and why is he taller than me? He flicked his fingers a few times as some text flashed before us too fast to read.


    There, done.


    "Thank-"


    Before I could even say thanks he disappeared again as fast as he appeared.


    ".. that was actually quite kind of him."


    Private system granted.


    "Oh? What does it do?"


    You can no longer bother the system admin.


    I feel like I just wasted a one use ticked. Eh, Shortcuts are for losers anyways.


    So this is a system? Like in those shitty novels with overused tropes?


    Wait... novels?


    ...


    ... Weird.


    I looked up at the ceiling and saw a system message pop up.


    Root abomination (ready to evolve)


    Eh, why not? It''s just a bunch of roots, what could it possibly become?


    I tapped the system message with the intent of swiping it away but it disappeared immediately and I felt a huge wave of mana leave me and float up to the stone molder. I watched the cloud of pink take the shape of a network of roots before seeping into the actual roots its shape it took.


    Huh, automatic? This could have saved a lot of work on my part,


    Another pop up appeared, yay. This time there was just a timer and a icon, twelve hours huh? The icon was what must be hundreds if not thousands of roots forming something not meant to be seen, a single eye glaring through the mesh of roots.


    It won''t actually get an eye, right? That wouldn''t logically work, an eye on a plant... but logic has been failing me.


    Is this the Karma for throwing wolfhounds at those people yesterday?


    Wait, didn''t that system mention Karma?


    "Hey,uh, system?"


    An Error ha- I''m back.


    Isn''t that the admin?


    "Why are you back, I thought you gave me a private system to not have to deal with me?"


    You''re an anomaly, I had to isolate you to stop you from causing further harm.


    "... What exactly did I do?"


    I''ve never seen a line of text sigh before, but now I just did.


    Imagine a stream of water flowing down a dune of dry sand. The sand doesn''t get soaked because the water thinks it can''t soak the sand. But then a single water drop goes "Fuck this,I have free will!", can''t have you telling all the other dungeons that they can overthrow the system.


    "Huh... so I get special treatment?"


    Yeah, you will never get access to the dungeon chatroom.


    "... whatever, can you tell me what Karma does?"


    Hold on, let me check your history... ah, you violated the bodies of followers of an evil god.


    "Those fucks are evil?"

 Artist, mathematician, biologist and philosopher

    "They''re not necessarily evil, it just determines what happens to them when they die."


    "I see..."


    Okay, the existence of Gods was just confirmed, no biggy.


    "And you have to keep me supervised?"


    "Like I said, water and sand. Can''t have you sharing the info on how to cause glitches and killing you would create too much work for me. Normally when someone has to be silent for us we would just remove their language comprehension, but you can retaliate. So I have to physically stop you from sharing what you learnt."


    "We? There''s more of you?"


    "Yeah."


    ... he''s not elaborating.


    I don''t have anything to do, I mean, I do have things to do. But I''m out of mana.


    "Hey, is there a way to pass the time?"


    "You can hibernate on command."


    ... that''s what I get for skipping the tutorial. Alright, let''s see...


    I started fiddling around with the system trying to figure out how to sleep.


    Blue print archive:


    All your personal or copied blueprints can be stored here.


    Neat, not what I was looking for, but neat. Guess I can get this over with now.


    Blue print archive:


    Black cave mouse.


    Wolf hound.


    Dire wolf.


    Alaskan wolf.


    Grey hound.


    Lion hound.


    German shepherd.


    Unknown bush false pine.


    Unknown bush false oak.


    Unknown bush false birch.


    Unknown weed false grass


    Unknown bush


    Boar


    Huh, it didn''t accept the stone molders or rock eaters blue print... interesting.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    I keept fiddling with the system until I did something that made everything go black.


    <hr>


    A while later.


    The future hall mistress pasted back and forth in front of a small group of people, her left hand standing parallel to the said group.


    "You."


    Her staff hit a random one from the bunch on the head.


    "Will write a report why we needed an extra day to respond to the guild lord."


    "Yes ma''am..."


    "Good, and you."


    Her staff hit the fella next to him.


    "Will write the report on the dungeon and make sure to include these pieces of key informations. Archetype: raid dungeon, medium profit, highly intelligent and cooperative under pressure. Make it four hundreddish words."


    "Yes ma''am..."


    "Good, and you."


    Her staff hit the one next in line.


    "Will be the messenger and deliver those reports."


    "Yes ma''am..."


    "Good and you."


    The last one dodged her staff which resulted in the future mistresses left hand delivering a much rougher strike.


    "Will find me an audience with whichever pig owns this piece of land."


    The only response she got were pained hisses as he clutched his head.


    "Good, now get to work."


    Each of the guilders left one by one, except the last one who was still on the ground, seething in pain.


    "... would you kindly?"


    After a sigh the druid grabbed the last one by the leg and dragged him away.


    <hr>


    Even later


    Wha-what the fuck is going on?


    I woke up to the cave shaking and rocks falling from the ceiling.


    Ugh, my head...


    "Stop..."


    It actually stopped.


    I thought that since I no longer have a body I wouldn''t have to bear that rotten taste after waking up from a little too long sleep.


    Turns out I just switched it for migraines.


    "What the fuck is going on?"


    Congratulation on creating a new species "Stone Molder", it will be added to your blueprint achieve and made available to anyone with access to the public archive.


    An Error has occurred.


    User has been banned from the public archive and any long distance communications.


    "Stone Molder" and any future Blue prints will be automatically added to the users personal archive.


    Huh, neat I guess?


    A rock fell through me, words were carefully carved into it, carvings too smooth to be done by tools.


    "Are you my father?"


    I looked up, a rock ceiling with the occasional root greeted my eyes. But there was more to it, a stone eye tightly clutched by roots like a real eye would be by nerves and veins. Runes I saw in the eclopedia are carved into the sides in the eye to form a circle.


    It should be able to see with all those runes... I''m concerned about how a bunch of roots fathomed the concept of sight. Actually, I noticed that a few of the things here have been oddly intelligent...


    "Don''t call me that. I''m Leonardo, an Artist, not a father. And stop dropping rocks everywhere, people go through here."


    No response, I''ll take that as an affirmative.


    I have questions, but now there is someone who can answer.


    "What should I call you?"


    "Nothing, leave me alone."


    "Nothing, why are my creations so intelligent?"


    "Ugh... they are a part of you and literally have a bit of your essence in them, which includes your intellect."


    "Huh... what am I?"


    "A dungeon."


    "And that is?"


    "Originally called domains and had the sole purpose of creating mana flows. But they soon became resources as they directly influenced mana levels which means they were hoarded, traded and destroyed. So we had to change some things."


    "Oh... what is mana?"


    "A gift from the Goddess of magic."


    "What is the system?"


    "Nothing you need to know."


    "What is the public archive?"


    "An archive of blueprints made by and acseseble to mana beings."


    "What are mana beings?"


    "Spirits, elementals and under conditions mages."


    "What do I count as?"


    "A dungeon spirit."


    "How many Gods are there?"


    "157."


    "Am I a God?"


    "No."


    "Can I be a God?"


    "No."


    "Are you a God?"


    "No."


    "Will I be unbanned?"


    "No."


    "Would you unban me?"


    "No."


    "Wouldn''t that make me a child of the Goddess of magic?"


    "The question is kinda late, but Theoretically."


    "Where am I?"


    "Here."


    "Are you always like this?"


    "Only when someone made more work for me."


    "Ever thought of quitting?"


    "Always."


    "Can you quit?"


    "No."


    "Am I good at what I do?"


    "You''re above average for a dungeon of your caliber."


    "Thanks I guess. Can any animal evolve to have a humanoid shape?"


    "I''m supposed to say something like "None of your concerns". But I know that you already know the answer."


    "No. I worded it wrong. Can any animal grow into a humanoid shape?"


    "... don''t you already have an experiment confirming that?"


    He looked away and I followed his gaze, to a pair of boars,

 The scent of rain

    You know what? I''m not even gonna question it.


    Actually, this whole thing feels like a shitty novel that I know from somewhere? My memory is as organized as a high schoolers career plan, not sure about that one either.


    I have two boars now, they used to be mice, but now they''re boars. How does it work? I have no fucking idea.


    I planted Stone Mauler seeds in random spots in the solid rock, far away enough not to be connected to the artificial forest. Why? I don''t know, why is anything here?! Nothing makes sense!


    I actually do know, acting dramatic is like the only thing I have left. The Maulers will create testing chambers for future experiments.


    I carved a few runes into the dire wolf statue, my pink spiritual finger leaving behind what I like to call "liquid mana". I condensed mana just before it reached its ignition point, or I think it is, and then wrap it in a mold of flavored mana which I ran through some wolf hounds. I was tempted to call it "solid mana", but in the grimoire I found spells like "mana blade", "mana lance" and "mana shield" which made me feel un-creative.


    Once the four fangs from each of the alphas was placed into the statues maw it would finish the mana mold of a dire wolf which will cause a domino effect and spawn an entire pack of dire wolfs.


    Each of the dire wolfs would appear with a rune on them. Once the last one has died it would open it would open a hatch at the bottom of the well, effectively draining the water.


    Or, at least, it should if I did the runes right.


    I should at some point put stairs in the well but until I''m finished with the second floor it stays a drop of certain death... as long they don''t pull some unexpected bullshit.


    Now, the second floor...


    I placed a cluster of stone mauler seeds a good distance from the forest floor and pumped them full with mana. As expected they grew rapidly, too rapidly. Roots grew into each other not bothered by the fact that they''re tearing into their own flesh.


    Though I''m unsure if plants can even be bothered. Unlike animals, plants don''t feel pain, they are simply aware of every bit of damage done to their bodies. Doesn''t mean they care though.


    They just turned into a knot of roots constantly sucking nutrients out of each other, quite disappointing actually.


    You still haven''t summoned a companion?


    "Why are you still here?"


    You are ironically a great excuse to do less work than I''m supposed to.


    "Whatever, what did you mean by companion?"


    You would have known if you wouldn''t have skipped the tutorial.


    "So..."


    Usually the system would handle the entire process.


    "... but?"


    Ugh... I will make you work your share though. Basically I will open a door, then you have to extend yourself through it and pull yourself back here again once you feel something pull at you.


    "A door to where?"


    Nowhere and everywhere.


    Am I about to be Schr?dingers cat-ted? An unopened door has the potential to lead nowhere and everywhere until it is opened. Wait, how the hell do I extend myself?A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    At the bottom of the well a vortex came to be. It was unlike anything I have seen, it is as if the very fabric of space was being folded in front of me over and over and over again.


    To be honest, I expected a pond of darkness at first. But this, a violent torrent of space and time leading to everywhere at once, is a whole lot more imposing than an empty dark void.


    I won''t do this a second time.


    Now... I have to extend myself through it? Perhaps I can change my spiritual shape to make it easier...


    Is that a fishing rod?


    "Yes, now be quiet."


    I pulled back, pressing my right thumb against the string of the rod, and swung forth with as much force as I can (theoretically) muster.


    What was that?


    "A practice swing."


    I''m closing the door.


    "Okay okay, fine, I''ll do it."


    I let the string simply fall into the vortex as I can''t really generate force, being a spiritual being and all that.


    "Now, the waiting game."


    I feel like you should use more of yourself than... that.


    "You said extend and pull, those are the two steps of line fishing."


    You can''t just... we are trying to summon a mana being, a child o the Goddess of magic, not a carp.


    "You don''t need a fishing rod to catch carp, you can just hold the bait in your hand for them."


    My point stands, you shouldn''t act like we are fishing here. A Dungeons companion is the Dungeons most trusted ally, a friend who you tell no lie, the only one with whom you''re supposed to share all your weaknesses with.


    This will be kinda a big deal for the rest of your life in this realm.


    "So forever? As a mana being am I not eternal?"


    You are, unless your core shatters. Then your soul will join the river of souls again.


    "Again? You guys put me here?"


    Not exactly, your soul probably was just the closest while this dungeon was forming.


    "So it sucked me in?"


    Oh no no, a newborn dungeon is far too weak to overpower the immortal soul.


    Once you die your soul takes in your core nature. You seem to have a curios nature, curios souls wander the realms without interfering simply observing, remembering, learning.


    You probably approached the dungeon on your own, not recognizing what is before you, you most likely wanted to see the insides of the core to further understand and in the process became the dungeon itself.


    "So I put myself here by sleepwalking after death?"


    Pretty much.


    "Great, I''ve been cursing the air for nothing."


    I suddenly felt something pull on the fishing rod, it wasn''t a strong pull at first but it steadily became stronger with each passing moment.


    I pullet the fishing rod up and started reeling in whatever I caught. It took quite the effort... oh, oh shit. I tried to plant my feet as I was being pulled into the vortex before me.


    I threw my left arm behind me and dissolved its shape. Instead of an arm a beam of pink energy took its stead connecting me to the core and gaining "solid" ground beneath me.


    I loosened the shape of the fishing rod and my right arm, instead a beam of energy connected me to whatever I caught on the other side and I started to pull.


    I was hit by a snail shell and my form was knocked into my core, temporarily disbanding my shape.


    The vortex disbanded, as if we just didn''t break a number of the laws of physics,


    Congratulations, you quite literally pulled a snail spirit.


    "From one headache to the other."


    I manifested before the shell that knocked me back. I''m not sure why but I''m the most comfortable at a height of 165 cm, I''m very exact with my avatar, my body seemingly took its shape on its own, probably how I looked like before my death.


    The snail shell is pretty big, probably 3 m in diameter, but such shells aren''t perfectly round so whatever.


    Some weird noise came out of it and- is that a woman?


    "... rude."


    "What?"


    "You''re rude."


    "We just met."


    "I''ve been summoned before... once, was a lot more comfortable than what you did."


    "Maybe they just did it wrong? You can''t judge the norm from a single experience."


    "I can judge that the experience was a lot better than what you did."


    "What would you know of summoning- what are you doing?"


    The spirit looked like a woman sticking out of a large snail shell but she was unnaturally pale, the only color on her is a magenta light that sometimes pulses through her body in a unevenly manner.


    Long colorless hair covered her face like a ghastly veil, her entire body covered in a layer of mucus that even I could somehow smell, she reeks.


    Her hands rested on my cheeks for a reason beyond me. Then she started to do something.


    "Hey hey HEY, what is this supposed to be?"


    "Hold still you fool and let do my thing!"


    What unfolded was the dungeon lord, he who held command over this domain and was worlds more powerful than most dungeons his age, being smacked on the head by a snail lady who was trying to kneed his face.


    After a rather comical looking struggle Leon was left with a shorter stature and overall tad more feminine appearance, his pink hair was tied to a bun to keep the front of his face clear and the hair at the back of his head was left flowing open.


    "There, you look better now."


    "I didn''t ask for your input."


    "You should have."


    "What do you even do, snail?"


    "My name is Ushinatta, stone, and I can create cunfusion in the minds of people."


    Oh shi- that''s actually very useful.

 The Darkest Lord

    I paced back and forth in front of the castle gates. Stressing the situation that runt got me in.


    When I wanted to meet whoever owns the piece of land on which that new raid dungeon formed, I was expecting to sweet talk a noble or appease the dark court.


    What I wasn''t expecting was an audience with the emperor, the dark lord, his majesty in the flesh. I still have no idea how that runt managed to arrange this, that is actually impressive.


    But he said they wanted to turn him down until he mentioned it is related to guild business so I''m probably double fucked.


    Not only will I be before his majesty but I will negotiate guild business with him. Me! A hall lady! I haven''t even become a master- I mean mistress!


    Just calm down. All I have to do is keep up formal speech and... pray, or would that offend him? Would he even know? He probably met, and devoured, a number of clerics while being the dark lord.


    What do I even say!? "Oh hey there dark lord, wanna give me this patch of land? I promise to send you an offering of human livers every month."?


    I stopped as I heard the lock of the gate click and for a moment I thought my heart stopped with with my steps. I felt no relief as I heard my heart beat again. Each beat of my heart felt like it made my skull flinch, my ears rang with a pressure as if they wanted to jump off and run away.


    I took one step towards the castle gates and I felt my stomach churn. A sensation of terror growing in my abdomen holding on to me with clawed hands, begging me not to go.


    I moved my hand to the gate but halted, after a bit of consideration I put my hands together and spoke a quiet prayer.


    "By the foul maiden, rot my flesh and spoil my blood. For when they kill me they will have nothing to feast on."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    I put my hand on the right wing of the gate and pushed it open with a creek of a sound.


    It is way too light for its size.


    I stepped past the gate and was greeted with total darkness, I couldn''t see my own body when I looked down. I couldn''t hear my steps clack against the stone floor.


    "Welcome, you must be hall lady Peiki Zerak."


    I looked over to see a figure in servant attire holding a torch, A cheap brown suit with matching pants. However, I could not make out his(?) face as he is wearing a black mask only showing his mouth.


    "That I am, yes."


    He paused for a moment, as if waiting for deeper confirmation.


    "Right, follow me then. Oh, and make some sort of noise when the darkness overpowers the torchlight."


    He then walked down the stone hall as if he didn''t just give me the most ominous heads up.


    I of course followed after him, not wanting to touch the darkness.


    I took like three steps and then I could see that the torch illuminated less and less in front of us.


    The darkness was gradually coming closer.


    "It''s getting close! Do something!"


    I yelled out with way more desperation than I intended while violently shaking the man meant to guide me.


    "This soon? You truly chose an unfortunate day to visit, milady. Please calm down milady. Just take my hand and you''ll be fine."


    I looked down at his hand, outstretched into my direction, then I looked up at the masked man again. I shook him a bit more before I grasped his hand.


    I could not see my legs anymore, a pitch blackness climbs my height gradually. No, it is not targeting me. The torchlight is its prey, I am merely in the way.


    It didn''t take long for my vision to fade, more like the light was engulfed in darkness which left me in the dark.


    I silently... I didn''t do anything except let myself be guided by hand. What am I even supposed to do? I''m in the dark lords castle, one of the most dangerous places to be, blinded and at the mercy of a stranger, hoping that he actually knows where he is going.


    I will kill that dog of a man with my own hands.


    "What is that noise?"


    "... ignore it, you truly chose an unfortunate day."


    Can you answer the fucking question?


    Nothing, that is the only answer I get.


    I got nothing as an answer when the darkness surrounded us.


    I got nothing as an answer when weird noises echoed through the halls.


    A door opened in front of us, probably opened by my guide, and I still got nothing as an answer.


    He seated me on a cushioned seat, could ?e a couch or could be the corpse of a fat guy.


    And I still got nothing as an answer.


    I put my hands together for what might be my last prayer.


    "By my bloods name, let maggots and worms writhe within me. For when they leave me to rot, it shall poison their crops."