***Anther’s POV***

There was a brief moment of silence just after Anther spoke, and then the room erupted into chaos.

“A dungeon?!”

“A new dungeon appeared?!”

“It wouldn’t be one of those blacklisted dungeons, would it?”

“How deep is it? Does anybody know?”

“W-we’d better have a specialist come and look at it quickly.”

“Everybody, please quiet down!” The sun priest raised his hands and smiled nervously. Although the noise lowered considerably, people were still whispering to each other. The moon priestess raised one hand, revealing a small silver bell. She shook it twice to release a chiming noise, and the room finally got quiet. The sun priest shot her an appreciative smile; his sister blinked slowly and nodded at him.

“The boy who just spoke, could you come up here please?” She called softly.

The people around all looked at Anther and made a path for him. He was still slightly stunned that his little announcement had drawn such an intense reaction. He walked up to the edge of the platform and made to pull himself up. The sun priest crouched down and lent him a hand, smiling brightly. Anther took it and let himself be pulled up. He looked around curiously, and the moon priestess gave him some direction.

“Can you tell us about the circumstances when you found the dungeon?”

“Ah, o-okay.” He raised his voice just a little so everyone could hear. “I was hunting in the woods because mother needed ingredients to make pies for the Yadh festival. I saw a silver horned rabbit and chased it up the mountain, and that’s where I found the dungeon.”

“And why do you think what you found is a dungeon?”

“Well, it was emitting a lot of mana.” Anther remembered the feeling and rubbed his right ear between his two fingers to disperse the tingling, “I mean a lot of mana. Also, when I went there, there was a sign outside the door that said it was a dungeon.”

The head scholar stepped forward. He had reached his position at a mere two-hundred years of age, which should speak volumes for his talent.

“There was a door and a sign, you said? What did the sign say?”

Anther put his hand on his chin. “Umm, I think it was “Brutes and fools beware. This dungeon calls for a sage”.”

The head scholar widened his bespectacled eyes and blinked, “And what about the door?”

“It was locked. There’s a puzzle you have to solve to open it.”

“What?!” The head scholar wasn’t hiding his shock anymore, and his mood was making the less informed even more worried than before.

“Virgil, could you explain things to the rest of us?” The head archer interjected.

The head scholar looked startled, but he quickly pulled himself together, straightening out his hair and glasses. “Yes, my apologies. There are two points that bother me about this dungeon. First, dungeons that can write signs and make puzzles are all very old and deep. Second, a dungeon that would bar people from coming inside is abnormal. I think it’s necessary to have a specialist examine it as quickly as possible. Because, if a dungeon like that turns out to be a blacklisted type, we’ll have to have it professionally removed.”

“In that case, we should send a request to the Explorer’s Guild,” an elder spoke. “It’s good we didn’t send out all our courier birds before learning about this.”

“Speaking of that,” another elder interjected, stroking his smooth chin, “child, you seem to have known about this dungeon since before the Yadh festival. Why didn’t you say anything until now?”

Anther’s face turned red all the way to the tips of his ears, and he clenched his fists, finally shouting indignantly, “I’ve been trying to tell about it for days! Every! Single! Time! Something interrupted, and I couldn’t say it!”

The elder who accused him looked shocked then wore an apologetic smile. He reached out to pat the child’s head, silently asking him to stop puffing his cheeks. “It seems there were some circumstances. Forgive me.”

Anther crossed his arms rebelliously and turned his head away, but his earlier anger had mostly gone away. After a moment, he peeked at the head scholar and muttered curiously, “But, what is a blacklisted dungeon?”

Virgil saw the poorly hidden curiosity in the child’s eyes and saw several others with similar expressions in the crowd. This little village hadn’t had any dungeons nearby for hundreds of years, so there were even adults who hadn’t yet heard about blacklisted dungeons.

The head scholar adjusted his round glasses and locked eyes with Anther. “Blacklisted dungeons are those which are too dangerous to be left alone. They produce things like diseases, poisons, monster swarms, and spatial-temporal warping that leak out of the main dungeon and affect its surroundings. When the Explorer’s Guild finds one, it has to be uprooted and taken away.” Virgil let out a breath. “It’s good that this dungeon you found locked its entrance. It’s very important not to go into a new dungeon until it’s been evaluated by experts. From now until then, nobody should go near it.”

The others on the platform nodded, and Anther widened his eyes. “Eh? But—”

“No buts,” the head scholar glared.

Anther pouted, vindictively deciding to withhold what he knew about the inside of the dungeon and the first puzzle.

Nobody else had news big enough to concern the entire village, so the meeting ended. All the villagers left to continue their usual routines, while the twelve elders wrote and sent the news that needed sending. The messenger birds could only be seen leaving by those with good eyesight; the feathers on their bellies were blue, and they blended in with the clear sky; on top of that, they moved quite fast.

The village was cheerful for the next few days. People were happy that they wouldn’t have to face dragon attacks, and they were excited about what the new dungeon would bring. If it didn’t have to be removed, then the Explorer’s Guild would surely build an outpost in the village. Many people from different walks of life would come to the village and make things more lively.

Anther was about the only person who was upset with the current situation. He had been banned from visiting the dungeon, the most beautiful place he’d ever seen! Not to mention, he wanted to take a closer look at the second door and start thinking about how to solve whatever puzzle it contained. That place had already become something like his secret playground. He wouldn’t have mentioned it if he knew it would be taken away!

For about three days, the boy obediently kept away from the west side of the woods. He even did a little fishing by the river to distract himself, and Anniil praised him for bringing home a sizeable catch. She baked a chowder out of it and had Anther take away half to share with Yinether. The fact that he seemed to be the only person who was discontent only aggravated him more.

The boy got sick of waiting for the letter to reach the Explorer’s Guild and for an expert to come and investigate the dungeon. It took a few more days to coordinate their schedules, but he managed to meet up with Kasser and Myla. So that the adults wouldn’t be suspicious, he brought them to the river before saying anything.

“Anther, is this about the dungeon?” Myla asked, putting her hands on her hips. She was the first person he told about the dungeon, and it was easy for her to see how antsy he’d been after being banned from going there.

Unlike her, Kasser was lost. “The dungeon? Why did that come up?”

“Yeah, it is.” Anther didn’t look worried at all. Instead, his eyes held a determined light. “I want to show it to you guys--but only to you.”

Kasser furrowed his brow. “But, didn’t Mr. Virgil say it might be dangerous? That’s why the elders asked for a specialist to come and look at it first.”

Anther looked around to make sure nobody was listening in on them, then he leaned forward and spoke softly. “This is a secret, okay?”

The two kids nodded, and Anther folded his arms confidently. “Before it was banned, I’d already solved the door puzzle and gone inside. So I already know that it isn’t dangerous.”

Myla frowned. “It’s a secret, meaning, you didn’t say so at the meeting?” She and Kasser had both been out playing during the meeting, so they’d only heard about what was said after the fact.

“I tried to, but I got cut off! As usual,” Anther pouted briefly, then put on a more energetic look. “Since they didn’t want to know about it, then we can be the only people to enjoy it. It’s really amazing inside.”

“Amazing how?” the girl’s eyes glinted.

Anther grinned, “You’ll know when you see it.”

“Guys, I don’t know about this,” Kasser wrung his hands. “I’m worried I’ll get in trouble.”

Myla punched him lightly in the arm. “I know I’ll keep it a secret, and Anther’s luck is so bad that he can’t tell even if he wants to. If nobody else finds out, then you can’t get in trouble, right?”

The boy sighed and smiled timidly. “Okay. I wanted to see it anyway. I’ll keep it a secret.”

The heat of friendship bloomed in Anther’s chest. He grinned and led his two friends toward the cave in the mountainside, detouring around the village and making sure nobody else who was out hunting noticed them. Before they could see the door through the foliage, they could feel the mana that had suddenly gotten much thicker.

“S-so this is dungeon mana? It’s so strong.” Myla blushed and pinched the tips of her ears to keep them from twitching. She rubbed them between her fingers in an effort to disperse the tingling.

“That’s too much! Uuu, it feels weird!” Kasser pulled the tips of his ears down and shook his head enough to make his brain jostle inside.

“Just stay still for a minute. You’ll get used to it.” Anther had experienced the feeling a few times already. He just let his ears twitch once or twice and the discomfort passed. He grinned, “You won’t even believe how great the atmosphere on the inside is.”

Kasser moaned. “I want to go in, but at the same time, I don’t!”

Anther just laughed and waited a while for the two to adjust.

***Red Bat’s POV***

The first Dungeon Bat had been reborn. There was dazzling light; hot and cold pain; agony and energy. In the end, his fur turned bright red, and his head became even more clear and focused. A new power had been planted in him, which he understood effortlessly. With his cry, he could stir people’s hearts, drive them into a frenzy, and force them to attack their allies.

Master… the dungeon wouldn’t let him use that power: he knew it instinctually. The things his master wanted, the things he hated, to a certain extent, the Red Bat knew what Archimedes was thinking.

Ever since the intruder left, the dungeon walls had been trembling impatiently and the air had steadily gotten colder. Except to the dungeon creatures, the changes were likely imperceptible, but the Red Bat knew: master was anxious; master was upset. Master slaughtered the little animals for energy and expanded furiously because he was expecting something to come, but nothing came, and the dungeon was unhappy.

Even though the Red Bat wasn’t supposed to use his power on the intruders, his master understood its value. Master was wary against powerful fools, and the Red Bat’s voice could disrupt those people marvelously. He had surpassed his canine sister in honor and was awarded the job of protecting the dungeon core in the fifth room. The Red Bat enjoyed being close to the core. He alone had the privilege of watching master create. The earth gave way when he willed it. Plants and animals were born when he wished it. His master, his creator, was god: the Red Bat was as sure of this as he was sure that he himself was alive.

I can use my own life as proof that master is god. He was convinced, but there was something itching in his mind. The feeling didn’t go away after one or two days, either.

Is there something wrong with me? I really feel like there’s a thought just out of reach--something important.

Then, it struck him. He was thinking. He was even thinking more and more complicated things. The root of his concerns could be traced back to that one word he’d been using so often in his head: “I”.

The Red Bat knew what he was: he was a Red Bat, the creation of his master. But master could make as many Red Bats as he wanted to, so just “Red Bat” was not enough to describe himself. He needed something to describe only him.

I need… something to call myself by.

But there was no way a dungeon monster who didn’t even know the word “name” could come up with a suitable one. He couldn’t bear to interrupt the dungeon’s focus to ask for help, since he was working so hard to grow, so the problem continued to plague him.

***Archimedes’ POV***

In preparation for an army of long ears, many improvements had been made to the dungeon. The fourth hall had been dug and a new room had been placed at the end of it. A new door puzzle and trap had been built at the fourth room’s entrance. Archimedes had force-fed his first Dungeon Bat mana until it became a D ranked Red Bat, causing Archimedes’ rank to raise as well. Thanks to his rank increase, Archimedes no longer felt like his mind was caked with mud. Running his calculations now only gave as much resistance as wading through water. He was already at the level where no single human could compete with the speed at which his head turned, no matter how much mana they gathered or how many gods blessed them.

Archimedes promptly scolded himself for being satisfied by a lowly D rank.

The fifth room was almost complete. Once it was finished, puzzled, and trapped, it would be time to focus on creating his second floor. He had been putting all of his efforts into preparing for invasion, never resting for even a moment. Now, almost ten days had passed, so where was the long ear boy? The world outside had not even twitched lately.

Archimedes thought that the more time passed, the larger the invading force would be when it arrived. This filled him with irritation and nervousness. At the same time, the more time passed, the more worried and lonely he became, and he didn’t understand why.

“You’re really, really beautiful.” Archimedes shook his head to drive the naïve voice away.

It, it’s taking up space. I should delete that memory.

Archimedes gathered up the data referencing that event and compressed it into a neat little cluster. With just the snap of his fingers, it would be gone forever, freeing up valuable data space and relieving him of distractions.

He hesitated. Each time he wanted to reach out and crush the little lump of memory, his spirit trembled, and he couldn’t move. Archimedes finally yelled in frustration and ultimately just shoved the compressed memory into a corner where he wouldn’t see it often.

He would just keep preparing. People would surely come, and if he was killed because he slacked off too much, Archimedes would hate himself to death. Not even a bizarre child like that long ear boy would forget about a perfectly good dungeon, right?

__________________

Costs (Compressed):

Spoiler: Spoiler

Monsters (per 1)

Dungeon Bat: 130 / 7 min | Dungeon Wolf: 150/ 8 min | Red Bat: 230 / 9 min | Wolfbat: 30 / 5 min

Materials (per 10cm x 1meter x 1meter / real-time)

Fresh Air: 23 | Live-Giving Water: 41 | Vivacious Soil: 34 | (Lesser Materials Omitted)

Biomes

Fertile Cave

Additional Categories Omitted:

Animals, Plants, Fungi, Constructs, Traps, Puzzles