The scent is still strong even after a few hours.

It surprises me a small amount that there is no scent I could detect of the lizard. Harijia and the other reptilian demons smell of something, but maybe that is more due to their differences as demons and not part of being a reptile. No matter, the scent of bug guts it was collecting is clear enough.

If Mari's reaction and the fact that nothing else ever bothered me is an indication, the stuff really stinks. This makes it more interesting to find out why the lizard-thing wants my food. From what I recall from my encounters with them last time their senses are sharp and their reactions quick. The lizards walk on two hind limbs and use their front limbs to grasp and manipulate, much like humans, but the forelimbs are shorter in comparison and it didn't look like they'd be able to go on all four. Like this one they use stone tools, mostly, but considering the stone here that doesn't mean much. The dungeon rock is much stronger than any kind I've tasted before.

They're not completely hostile to me. The ones who spotted me never attacked at least. Neither did they run away, which was understandable as I was no threat back then. This one did run away, which gives me some confidence. It will be interesting to see if there is a nest somewhere. The trail leads off into a smaller tunnel and I can't help but grin. It's time to hunt.

At this I hesitate. A little doubt grows in my thoughts. I haven't actually ever hunted anything. Not really. There was the time after hatching, but that was mostly foraging and some easily bait-able creatures. The occasional rodent, though they got away as often as not. We were only hatchlings after all. Since then I have only been fed. Going after the bugs is the closest I came to hunting. Maybe the second time I fought Mari? The kills at the building thing where the devil summoned me didn't count. As annoying as it is, when I was trying to avoid and set an ambush for Mari was probably my only experience with hunting and being hunted.

Taking that as my guideline means I don't want to be seen or heard, I want to notice them before they notice me. Approaching from the ceiling is a good idea. It worked this time, but it gets more tiring as I get heavier. I guess I have to learn how to sneak properly. The biggest problem will be my claws. Unless I'm very careful they make a clearly audible clicking noise on the rocks. I wish I could make them not hit things like Ara can do to me. Is that possible? I close my eyes and try to remember that feeling of something flowing through me when Ara did magic through me.

Some time later I have to admit my failure. I could feel nothing. Maybe it would take more time, maybe I was doing it wrong, but there was nothing. I'll have to ask the elf later, see what he knows. For now, I have to start moving or the scent, however strong it still is, will fade.

The clicking of my nails on the ground accompanies me down a natural stone cave corridor. It must have been with me always, but now I became aware of it I can't un-hear it any more. Four quick clicks from the front followed by four clicks in the rear, a pause, then repeat for the other claws. The sound echoes down to any creature that might be listening, or maybe that is just my imagination. Trying to reduce the noise I slow down, trying to lessen the impact my claws make. Here and there are scatterings of loose stone I have to avoid and my pace becomes slower and slower.

It is frustrating. I have waited too long and the scent is fading by now. Picking up the pace again I can once again hear the clicking of my claws echo ahead of me. Speeding up more, I try a different approach. If I can't silence it, can I run fast enough that it doesn't matter? The faster I run, the louder it gets and I can't outrun the noise. Failure, again.

I pause to inspect my one of my clawed paws. Three long sharp claws, a third as long as the whole digit, extend forward with a slight curve. A fourth and fifth claw sit on either side, somewhat shorter and I can move them to oppose the others to get a better hold while climbing. With some effort I pull my digits back so my claws bend back too. Carefully I start to walk. Maintaining this while walking is extremely taxing on muscles I never knew I had and I don't last long.

The scent of the lizard-thing is almost gone by now and I decide to leave it. Next time, perhaps. Sniffing the air again and stopping to listen and feel I become aware of two things. The first is that the flow of the dungeon has almost stopped here. Closer to what I assume is the heart of the dungeon I could feel it, but it got less and less as I moved away. here it is as strong as it was in the centre on my first visit.

The second thing is a musky smell. A kind of smell I experienced two times from very close range. Cat. If I'm here anyway, I might as well check. Tarvinder said he wasn't really part of the dungeon, so he isn't actually Mari's pet as I first thought. Moving as silently as I can I follow faint whiffs of air until the scent gets stronger and stronger. When I suspect I'm getting close I crawl up the wall. Some of the stone crumbles, not nearly as strong as closer to the heart, and I decide against moving along the ceiling.

It is a miscalculation on my part. Seo is nowhere near as close as I thought he was. On my way I find markings deliberately left by the cat to spread his scent, warning everything that this is his lair. My limbs are already starting to tire when I find him. He is lying on a ledge halfway up the cave wall in a wide passage. Not big enough to call a room or chamber, just a very wide corridor. It gives a great vantage point to leap onto anything stupid enough to approach, while being fairly hard to spot from below. That's what I think at least, since I have a good view thanks to my position higher up the wall.

Seo appears to be sleeping. Hanging is less tiring than moving, so I take the time to observe the sleeping form. Greys and browns make the base colors with black stripes providing accentuation. Even with my perfect sight in the dark he would be hard to see if I hadn't known he was nearby. A quick estimate makes him four times my height and roughly six times my length, but far bulkier. His tail seems useless, without any kind of stinger or sharp bit or heavy club anywhere. I stalk closer, looking at his rhythmically moving chest.

Suddenly there is a slight stutter in the breathing and I freeze. Was I seen or sensed in some way? Shortly after the breathing is back to its normal pace. In, out, in, out, in... out. It's only a few meters to the ledge now, I could make it in one jump. Do I dare? I'm still trying to reach a decision when Seo's eyes snap open, staring straight at me. He raises his body slightly for a better position, stares and blinks once. It's not a total surprise but I'm still startled badly and almost lose my grip as I try to scoot back. Seo opens his jaws wide and yawns, licks his face and rolls back.

It's slightly annoying he dismisses me so casually, but I don't think I'm a threat to him either. Neither am I food, my body or parts of it dissolving into nothing instead of providing sustenance. I take a gamble and jump, landing on the ledge, next to Seo. This time he is the one who is startled and as he scrambles slightly upright he fixes me with a baleful glare and a snort. The only thing I can think of is to crouch down and wait. The worst that can happen is Seo killing me. With a rumble of annoyance Seo falls back again, keeping one eye open and trained on me.

I release a breath I'd been unconsciously holding. For a moment I rearrange my scrambled thoughts. The gamble paid off. That summon where I fought the big cat, I still remember the sound of it running. Despite the claws, it didn't sound like I do when I run. Perhaps Seo can show me the difference. Slowly I move to the paw that shows me its underside, with Seo eyeing me all the way. The paw has no claws I can see, which puzzles me. I've seen the scratch marks in the stone on the way here, Seo absolutely has claws. As I reach out to touch his paw I feel Seo's attention sharpen and amazingly enough claws appear!

Hidden inside his skin are his claws! In my enthusiasm I scramble to look at them up close. The other paw pushes me on the ground to stop me from moving, but I'm close enough. Sheaths of some kind to hold the claw and a muscle to make it slide in and out. With one claw I prod the paw and manage to make the claws come out again. The claws on his other paw are pricking my skin, but the fact that I'm not dead yet is encouraging.

With some effort I manage to squirm out from under his claw. The gaze of Seo seems to be filled with curiosity, or maybe that is my own. Before I'm completely free, Seo traps my tail. I give it a few pulls, but it doesn't budge. No matter, there is enough space for me to check the body of Seo. He seems more alert when I move to his belly, but still doesn't kill me. Putting one clawed hand on his flank, I push lightly and am slightly disappointed when my claws fail to penetrate through the fur and the skin. It's not as hard as the stone, but I just can't find purchase on the skin through the smooth fur. I try again, adjusting the angle, but stop as Seo growls in warning. Instead I resume studying his claws, with the big cat studying me in return.

It's in a pensive mood that I return in the direction of the main cavern. Cats are strange creatures. Seo was doing absolutely nothing there on his ledge and seemed to be unwilling to budge. After studying his claws I tried the same tactics I had used on the older swarmlings to get them to play, but he just knocked me off the ledge. Having nothing else to do, I considered my options. I could tour the tunnels, looking for something else to eat. I could look for Mari and see if I could hurt her more without killing her. I could go and find Tarvinder and ask him questions. Or I could copy Seo and find a place to just do nothing. All have their own attractions.

What I want now is to bother Tarvinder. I don't like how he casually speaks about using me. Being used is almost normal now. The devils use me, Mari uses me, the others who summon me use me, Ara probably will use me for whatever she wants me to do too. None of them were so blunt about it. I don't know why it matters to me, but it does. If I find something to eat or Mari on my way there, that would be a bonus. First things first.

And the first thing is how to get there. With how much this place has grown and changed, navigation is more difficult than before. I settle on following what I can feel of the flow of the dungeon back upstream. In the beginning it's hard to feel where it is stronger and where the flow comes from, but as I progress the difference becomes noticeable. A few times I take a detour as one of the rocky creatures sits motionlessly in the centre of a tunnel. They used to wander around and I wonder what changed.

The first thing I find is the room I was summoned in this time. The door is still open and I step through out of curiosity. There is a prickling sensation again, but most importantly my thoughts become clearer, more open to me. It's not like I feel like I was stupid before, but the thinking feels lighter and doesn't drain my attention and energy as much. The flow and feel of the dungeon are almost completely absent here. I shake my whole body to loosen up. Even my muscles are more tense than normal. I guess that is the influence of an elemental creature?

I won't get any answers sitting here, though it would be nice to relax for a while. Giving myself a mental poke I step through the door again. Aware of it now, I can feel not only the flow, but also the pressure on my thinking and my body. As if a giant creature is looming over me, pressuring me with its mere existence. Since I'm inside such a creature, that may not be a wrong feeling.

It's a quick jog to Tarvinder's chamber. There I feel the prickling sensation once again and a different feeling comes over me. The sense of the dungeon is stronger here, but somehow stagnant or maybe dormant. It's not comfortable, but at least not as bad as the corridors here.

Tarvinder is rubbing a crystal something with a small metal tool over some a bowl. When I walk through the door opening he glances up before focusing on his activity again.

"I'll be right with you," he mumbles without looking.

It sounds strange to me, he is already here with me, but I think I understand what he means. Jumping on his desk I make myself comfortable in the middle of it. Some kind of animal skin was put there, making it nicer than the rest of the wood. It's a good place to observe Tarvinder from as he works. A little of this, some of that, some little rocks and some dust, finally a tantalizing smell as acid is added and the whole thing begins to smoke. The smoke drifts off to a grate above it without any noticeable airflow, so I suspect magic. When it has stopped smoking, Tarvinder picks it up and brings it with him to put on the desk. Dragging a chair over he sits dangerously close to me, but I don't feel like correcting him now.

"This isn't for you, if that is what you were thinking." He starts.

It is what I had been thinking and I narrow my eyes. Being too predictable is becoming a problem.

Staring at the bowl Tarvinder continues. "This little something is a magically active poison that will search for and destroy the magical reserves in the body of a mage. Probably. It only works on humanoids and then not all of them. In theory." Focusing his attention on me he leans forward. "What is it I can do for you, Krak."

I hiss softly at him for using the name Mari gave me. I do like the sound of it, but can't accept it because of how I got to it. Tarvinder just smiles, certain in his superiority which I'm not ready to challenge yet. A question. I haven't really thought of a question. The first thing that comes to mind is the big cat. "Seo, what is with him, why is he there?"

Tarvinder raises his eyebrows. "You met him somewhere? Well, you must have noticed the pressure of the dungeon by now. The poor fellow may be strong, but he is mentally behind even you. He goes there to relief the stress on his mind. It's an interesting process really, let me explain."

"No." I interrupt Tarvinder. He does not look happy for a second before his face turns back to neutral.

I am not that interested in Seo, or in how the dungeon works. The next bit is important. "Harijia told me, things here don't work on me. Why does elixir work?"

Tarvinder waves a hand in the air as if dispersing some gas cloud. "Well, the Hirija person does not know all there is to know, obviously."

I can't help but nod, that is something I already know.

"Further on, I bet no-one ever had access to dungeon core dust from a living dungeon core in its own domain! In theory, because a dungeon can become a multi-dimensional entity with it's own reality field enforcing dimensional structures, I hypothesized that in combination with a summon's own mana signature in the form of the aptly named monster cores, I could bypass the existing fundamental existential barrier principle of Gustav's third law and affect a reality different than my own!"

While speaking, Tarvinder becomes more and more enthusiastic. While I didn't understand most of what he said, I do have another question.

"Theory?" I ask while staring at his throat.

He holds up both hands to ward off my gaze while speaking. "Now hold on. The theory is extremely solid and while there is no guarantee of success since no-one has tried this before, it also means no-one has failed this before." He looks troubled for a moment before mumbling softly. "As far as I know."