A [Dungeon-Boss] did seem like quite the thing to be, though the Core wasn't sure if it could work with it. The strong favouring of more power did strongly hint at there being some equally strong limits to how the title would work. Was it restrained to creatures already powerful? Could the Entity have several of these bosses instead of the [Dungeon-Born]? Questions like those popped up in its head, and it had no real way to get them answered.

‘Are you done staring blankly at my insides?’ Mother Carapace questioned, sounding a bit impatient as she walked inside the Core’s fortifications. The holes in the walls and the bridge over the floor of spikes remained, allowing for easy access. Inside, the creatures in hiding had been allowed out yet again, though the Entity was still wary about them attacking the new [Dungeon-Boss]. Luckily, no such thing happened, the creatures even seeming a bit excited about the addition. How peculiar.

‘I have barely begun, actually,’ the Core answered, not liking the attitude towards time. It was patient with its movements, making sure that everything was reasoned with and contemplated. And that took time to do, leaving no opportunity for the former Queen to complain about it. ‘I am still in the phases of figuring out the mechanics of your new title.’

‘Oh, my title changed? I should have guessed,’ the Queen answered, not seeming entirely about it but also knowing that it would have happened anyway. And while she wasn't truly a Queen anymore, the ants around her seemed to treat her a such. Even when created by the Core, there was some amount of favour. Not that the Entity was truly jealous or anything, not truly caring as long as they followed orders like before. ‘I can’t seem to open it myself, so why don’t you just tell me what has changed? Since I know what I’m talking about, I might be able to provide additional information about the changes.’

… That was quite the gift to have. The Core had not previously considered just what a treasure trove the Queen could be. WIth how many years she had been alive, it wasn't surprising to hear that she was able to know more about the [System] than the Core. Though, just what else did she know as well? That was one thing the Entity most certainly wanted to quiz her about. The first part of the ordeal, however, was to get more information about the current events, that being the new title.

‘You are hereby a Dungeon Boss if you have heard of it before,’ the Core stated to which it received a small laugh in response. That was certainly not what had been expected from the statement but it took it as a positive thing overall.

‘I suppose it could have been worse,’ the Queen muttered, before getting into another mood. This one seemed to be more organized around lecturing than casual conversation. The Entity didn’t mind that at all, happy to have the information, to begin with. ‘Dungeon bosses are a step above the normal Dungeon Born. Here, there are the benefits of my actual soul not being in my current vessel but instead being stored you, allowing me to retain information through my body dying, which is quite the positive since my connection to the Darkness seems to have disappeared entirely.’

A moment was spent in quiet contemplation as the information settled in nicely. The Core was both happy and saddened by the fact that the Queen had lost her connection to the Black Mana. While she could undoubtedly still use it to full effect, the available power was likely diminished to a pitiful state when compared to the previous one. There was likely no direct funnelling of Mana inside, the Queen instead forced to use her reserves. While the Entity would most definitely help her along with a Mana-Tendril fueling her, it would likely still not be enough to fully encompass the previous expenditures of Energy.

Not that the Core truly wanted Black Mana in such large amounts anyway. With the mixing of the Core’s own Mana, the Queen had been made to focus on a Colour that was closer to grey than anything. The idea of constantly having the Darkness inside its domain was… not something that it wanted to happen. Its ability to consume to an extreme degree did not work well inside areas with a high Mana-Density, the Darkness more than just able to take it out of the very air at that point. One flaw in the machinations could cause the entire Domain to be lost to the Darkness, the Core included in that observation. So having the Queen be forced to use a lesser variant of it, one with less and efficiency than before, was not the greatest loss in the world. While not pure, it still held power to it. And the security of not having to fear the void at every moment was quite the benefit as well.

‘There are, of course, more stages to this entire Dungeon Hierarchy,’ the Queen began again, seemingly satisfied with the larger pause. Or it could have been due to the ant being able to sense the moment that the Core’s gaze came upon it again. There were still a few parts that the Core was unsure about in that regard, the other creatures it had been able to test on most certainly not in the right level of intelligence to assist with answers of any kind. ‘On the very bottom of the hierarchy, we have the Dungeon-Born. They are the ones you should expect to have the most of. They rank among the average, below average, and above average. They can be weaker than an attacker but also twice as strong. It is the most varied designation for a Dungeon-Creature but also the most plentiful. When we go one step above we have the Dungeon-Bosses. As said before, these are the more powerful creatures that you currently need to think about. They are also quite limited in their count since you aren’t able to keep up many creatures with the actual power required for a Dungeon-Boss. This will change with time but you likely can’t have more than one for the time being. Above the tile of Dungeon-Boss, we have Dungeon-Lords, Dungeon-Overlords, Dungeon-Kings, and so on. There are multiple steps for some of these when you reach the more extreme powers, such as Dungeon-Baron and Dungeon-Knights, but you won’t have to think about those for a long time if ever. Do you have any questions?’

The Core had many but first needed to regather itself. It seemed that it was barely breaking the iceberg at that point, the Dungeon-Born just the beginning of what was possible. Even the Dungeon-Bosses were apparently only the second-weakest creatures possible to have. And they were level nine and above. Just what would it take for a Dungeon-King to come around? Level fifty? Maybe even a hundred? The Core had trouble even imagining the power of such a creature, already knowing what a mere level ten could do in comparison. Its entire domain could be shattered in one fell swoop at that point. The sheer potential was immeasurable at the current moment.

Being told directly that it likely wouldn’t have more than one Dungeon-Boss at the current time was saddening to hear, but it also knew that there was no point in being angry about it. Limitations were to be had at some point and meeting them with nothing but anger would prove to be unfruitful. Instead, it had to look at what was within those limits and try to work based on that.

‘Nothing more about the title,’ the Core said, knowing all it needed know for the current time. While there were still some parts it wondered about, it knew that there was no reason to go too in-depth into it since there were many more parts about the Status Screen that needed to be discussed. Having it entirely derailed by a more elongated conversation about the hierarchy of Dungeons was not efficient in any way shape or form. ‘However, I do want to question you about your new class.’

‘Of course, that changed as well, no matter how much time I put into it,’ the Queen commented, yet again agitated by the change. Though, that comment itself did lead the Core to believe that there truly was some secrets in attaining classes. And that those secrets were close to consistent, if the Queen knew what she needed to do to have gained the previous one. ‘What is it now? [Dreadlord]? [Manipulator of Darkness]? I suppose I could accept being a [Thaumaturgist].’

‘While I do want you to explain every single name you just mentioned, I will save that for later,’ The Core stated, before getting right back to the point it was trying to make. ‘But, no, none of those are the right answer. According to your [Status-Screen], you have become a [Necromancer]. I believe a congratulation is in order.’

The Core felt a strong urge to clap but wondered how it was even meant to do such a thing. The lack of appendages had once again stopped it from fulfilling its desires. Yet it was perhaps for the greater good, any hints of anger previously now overshadowed by the rant that came from the Queen at that moment.

‘What? Do not tell me that I sacrificed thousands of my children, sacrificing them to god-knows-what, bathed in their blood, all the while making sure that I could articulate the literal eldritch language that only didn't break my mind because I spent my entire fortune of hiring a person with a Mastery of Mental Defences for nothing! Years were wasted to make sure it all worked and now the [System] just takes it all away. And for what? To allow me the gracious honour of becoming a mere [Necromancer]? Anybody worth anything can get that at a moment's notice yet I have to fight my way through countless tunnels all for the attainment of a worthless class. If I had gotten my way, I wouldn’t have had to-’

And so on the Queen continued, It seemed that, above all, the ant was angered by wasted resources. Which the Core could understand, to some level. It certainly seemed like the ant had spent a lot of time and effort into attaining its previous set of skills and Classes. And while [Necromancer] had sounded powerful to the Entity, it seemed like it wasn't to the same level as what it had thought it was.

‘Is it truly that bad an overhaul? You are still level nine, after all, so shouldn't you have retained some amount of your previous gains?’ the Core interrupted, feeling as if the intelligent ant would likely continue on in its ranting for a long while more. Not feeling like it was gaining anything from all the information told out of context, it instead just decided to get it over with. It wasn't like the Queen could truly do anything if the anger was redirected at the Entity instead.

‘If you think that mere levels are enough to justify one's power, you are sorely mistaken,’ the Queen said, doing her best approximation of a scoff. ‘You are supposedly so old, yet you don’t even know these things.’

Well, that wasn't a good- Wait. What?

‘How do you know I’m old?’ the Core had to ask, unsure where that particular comment came from. ‘I am pretty sure you’ve never seen my Status Screen and I certainly haven't eluded to me being more than a month or two old.’

‘Of course, I know of your true age, little rock. After all, I was told that…’ the Queen began before stopping, going into a long and drawn silence. The Entity waited for a minute or two before it finally decided to break the silence again.

‘What exactly were you told? And also, who told you?’ the Core asked, needing to know more. Thinking back to the [Battle of Wills], there had been a greater allusion to the defender having a longer time inside the fight when compared to the attacker. That should have been plenty of time to give out a little information if the Entity had been able to do such a thing. But, since it hadn't, that could only mean… ‘Did you talk to Sarah?’

‘Yes! Sarah. Not a little girl,’ the Queen instantly answered, though she did quiet down a bit again after that. Not that she made much sense anyway, the Core most certainly remembering the person by that name as both a girl and a little one at that. ‘I believe I must have talked to her since I so very clearly remember that detail. Yet… my mind seems blank when trying to think about anything else related to it. It’s as if my memories are outright missing.’

That didn't sound good at all, the loss of Mental Capacity was something that the Entity personally dreaded as well. The fact that it could happen, and that the Queen as proof of that, was not something it had wanted to know. Only, what reasons could there have been for it?

‘Is there a chance that the clashing of White and Black could have caused this effect?’ the Core questioned, hoping for such a thing to be the case. With how rare such an event was, there was a chance that it could strategically be avoided.

‘That could have been the case, I suppose. Opposites have been known to create more-than-random offshoots. Yet for it to be such a scale…’ the Queen questioned. ‘We have no way to truly know. Let’s return to the topic at hand. You wanted to know about the importance of Classes if I remember right?’

‘You do,’ the Entity confirmed, happy to have the Queen make sure it was correct and even happier to see her guess being right on the first try.

‘Well, then It's not as complicated as you might think.’