There was an intense pulling sensation from somewhere deep inside of the dungeon core that made up my physical body, likely stemming from the fact that I was using my own mana reserves to bring a new life into the world. I could tell that mana was still being gathered from the soil around my core, but it wasn’t anywhere near as much as when I had summoned Cobble.

If I was paying a mana cost then why was it still coming from the environment too? Was it because the monster needed to be able to adapt to the area? That was the first thought that crossed me, but I wasn't entirely sure. All I knew was that I seemed to be paying the bulk of the cost, with the additional mana needed to round things out was coming from wherever the invisible tendrils that radiated off of my core touched.

When I had made Cobble I had been using only the mana in the world around me, but this time? This time I was using the mana that I stored inside myself as well, which made the process go much faster than before. As an additional bonus there was no longer any risk to the little badger family that was sleeping soundly within my dungeon walls. Despite the fact that my tendrils brushed up against everything in the dungeon it seemed as if only the plants and soil I touched were contributing to my new summon.

There was a pillar of red light that formed in the room, causing Cobble to step away and against a wall, shielding her eyes with one arm as she let out a soft hiss. A brighter shape seemed to be forming in the middle of the pillar, but before I could see it come to fruition, my core flashed a blinding light that obscured everything in the immediate area.

The entire room went almost white for a moment, and then it faded just as quickly as it had begun, leaving behind a new kobold in its wake.

I still hadn't really known what to expect from summoning monsters, it seemed, because I found myself surprised by the new creature. I had thought it would look like Cobble, before her naming, but apparently it was wrong of me to assume that all kobolds would look alike.

Where Cobble had pebbly-looking skin, this new kobold had layers of overlapping scales, and where she was mostly mottled green, this kobold was pale blue. While her variation in colour came from her extremities ending in orange, this one had seemingly random stripes of white across its body. Cobble's stomach was thinner-looking skin in pale yellow, while this kobold had more squared-off scales in the same white as its stripes. Overall the monster reminded me of the ceiling outside during the day.

The biggest difference between the two kobolds, however, came in their faces. While the new kobold had the same cone-like protrusions ringing the back of its head, it also possessed small horns that curved back along the sides of its head, just above its wiggly ears. Its eyes were also different from Cobble's own yellow ones, instead being nearly the same shade of red as my own core, as well as being more narrow. Was this because I had contributed my own mana to the monster's creation? There was really no way of knowing, but it was my best guess at the moment.

Overall, the new kobold was a little shorter than Cobble had been when I first summoned her, though it was also stouter and stronger looking. It almost seemed as if it could tangle with her current form and actually put up a good fight.

Still backed up against the wall, Cobble let out a wheezing little laugh that sounded almost nervous. "I am suddenly very much the aware that perhaps Kor should have been the expanding room before the kobold making," she said, the same trembling that had been in her laugh leaking into her voice.

The newly summoned monster averted its eyes, shuffling to stand as far from Cobble as it could, though with the current room size they could both still easily reach out and touch one another if they tried. "Sorry…" it mumbled, voice slightly rougher than Cobble's own, as well as being a bit nasally. It kept its head down, though its eyes flickered towards her without moving its head, apparently just as nervous as she was to suddenly be shoved into a too-small room with a stranger.

"Right, I'll make this room bigger before I start digging then. Since you'll both be stuck in here for a while until I get a new entrance made, I might as well make sure you're comfortable."

The new kobold's eyes widened at the sound of my voice, eyes darting about the room before finally landing on where my core sat in its little alcove, most of the way up the wall. Its mouth fell open slightly, showing off jagged fangs that seemed far more deadly than Cobble's somewhat smaller ones.

"Core is talking?" the kobold squeaked, looking away from my core to where Cobble stood, head tipped and ears wiggling about. She puffed her chest out, folding her arms as she nodded, looking rather proud of herself for a reason I couldn’t discern. It made little sense to me why she was acting the way she was, it wasn't like she had anything to do with my ability to speak.

The new kobold turned back to my core, mouth still hanging open, vibrant red eyes fixated on me. "Core is so small, though! Core is amazing!" It sounded almost breathless, and I realized the emotion on its face was awe. My new monster was looking at me as if I were a god, much like how Cobble had done when I first summoned her, but without the additional pity.

“You really think so?”

Even I could hear the slightly embarrassed tone that had crept into my projected thoughts, which sent Cobble practically smirking, an expression she tried to cover quickly with a hand. Was she making fun of me? Or was her smug expression closer to an “I told you so”? Short of outright asking there was no telling.

The new creature nodded rapidly, its tail thumping against the wall behind it as the appendage swayed side to side. “Yes! Core is being much much amazing! Core is very very small, but still is talking! That’s absolutely amazing, yes?” It looked towards Cobble, seeking her agreement, and she grinned as she nodded.

In response to Cobble’s confident expression the new kobold averted its eyes quickly, head ducking as if it were feeling embarrassed. If I had summoned this one first, rather than the one I had, I might not have been able to figure out how to even build a door. The new monster seemed shy, though it was also pretty excitable.

“Well… Since both you and Cobble think so, I guess I have to believe you… Now, before I get any more distracted, let me get a good look at you. I want to give you a name.”

It seemed as if the new kobold knew exactly what it meant to be given a name, because its jaw dropped once more, red eyes nearly popping out of its skull as it looked first at my core and then to Cobble. In response to the absolutely dumbfounded look on the other kobold’s face she merely nodded, continuing to look proud of herself.

Or rather… Now that I thought of it more… Maybe it was actually me she was proud of?

That made a kind of weird sense, didn’t it? It certainly made more sense than if she were being proud of herself. Cobble was my first dungeon monster, the first creature I had named, and so every time the new kobold seemed surprised by me she puffed up in response, proud that I was her Dungeon Core. That had to be it, right? It was the only thing that made the slightest bit of sense.

I brushed the thought aside quickly, instead focusing on the newly summoned monster as it twisted and turned, evidently thinking that by looking it over I meant I wanted to actually look at it. In reality, I turned [Appraisal] onto the creature. There was no way I was going to make the same mistake I had with Cobble by waiting until the last minute to look at its stats.

Unnamed [Kobold] Lvl: 1

Male

Title: None

Status: Healthy

HP: 15/15

MP: 15/15

SP: 100/100

Atk: 30

Def: 60

Skills:

[Basic Dungeon Knowledge] [Kobold Knowledge] [Dragon Heritage] [Mining] lvl. 1 [Trap Knowledge] lvl. 1 [Trap Making] lvl. 1

The new kobold was a male, apparently! Was that why his scales looked different from Cobble’s? Or maybe that was why he had horns where she didn’t? Possibly that could also be why he was stronger than she was? Unless I had more kobold’s to use [Appraisal] on I would only have to speculate what was going on.

Then again, maybe all of his physical differences had to do with that [Dragon Heritage] skill? Hadn’t Cobble mentioned something about kobolds being descended from dragons? If that were true, why did he have that skill and she didn’t? Truly there was a mystery here, but I didn’t have enough information to solve it just yet. I needed more kobolds to look at first, then I would be able to draw conclusions.

There was a possibility for a name brewing around inside of me, but I just needed to double-check something first…

“Hey, Cobble? Is there a specific name for the ceiling outside, or is it just the ceiling?”

Both kobolds frowned at me, confusion written on their faces as they visibly tried to puzzle out what exactly I had asked, though the male continued to remain confused long after a look of realization dawned on Cobble’s face.

“Ah, you are the talking about the sky, yes?” she asked, her head straightening back up from the sharp tilt it had fallen into.

“That sounds right, and Sky sounds like it would be a much better name than Ceal. Okay then. From now on, your name will be Sky!”

Two reactions greeted me as I gave Sky his new name. The kobold in question appeared overjoyed, a wide smile breaking out across his face as his tail began to wag even faster than before, actually causing his body to sway slightly from side to side.

Cobble, meanwhile, lifted one of the ridges over her eyes as she looked over at him. She squinted, giving him a thorough once over before letting out a soft snort. “Really? Kor is the naming him after his looks? Isn’t that being the lazy?” she asked.

“Hey! I’d like to see you do better! You named me Kor! That’s basically the same as what I am!”

“And Cobble is the sounding like kobold!” she argued back right away, putting her hands on her hips as she lifted herself up onto the tips of her toes, looking almost ready to fight. If it wasn’t for the grin on her face and the playful tone to her squeaking voice I might have actually thought she was upset. “I was the giving Kor the good, strong, kobold name! Kor was just being the lazy!”

While we were having our little argument, something very strange was happening to Sky, something that I initially didn’t notice. It was subtle at first, just the slightest tinge of reddish light that glittered across his scales as the MP drained from my core, but just as I was about to argue that I was, in fact, a very hard working Dungeon Core he suddenly flashed a brighter red. All thoughts of bantering back with Cobble left me as I simply watched.

The biggest change that was happening to Sky was that he was growing taller, limbs rounding out with even more muscle, causing him to look rather wide. I would need to widen the tunnels for sure moving forward, otherwise he would have to walk sideways down all of them. His scales also seemed to be thickening, turning into jagged spikes along the bottom curve of his jaw as it met his head. Sky’s horns were also changing, elongating, giving him an even tougher appearance. His tail flattened out a bit as well, but vertically, the opposite of the way Cobble’s tail was naturally flatter in a more horizontal sort of way.

The biggest change, however, was the pair of tiny wings that sprouted from his shoulder blades. They looked almost like an extra pair of hands had appeared on his back, blue skin a similar texture to Cobble’s belly stretching between the fingers.

The changes all happened in a matter of seconds, but they left Sky swaying on his feet, as if his improved form had left his balance off. He stumbled slightly, bumping up against the wall, before he fell onto his rump with a confused little laugh. His brilliantly red eyes swept over what little of his body he could see before he put one hand over his eyes, continuing to laugh quietly. “Sky is looking much weird, yes?” he asked, peeking out from between his fingers in the direction of my core.

“Not at all. I think you look pretty powerful. You’re a strong-looking kobold, that’s for sure.”

A rumbling response vibrated in Cobble’s throat as she nodded her head in agreement. “You are the handsome kobold, do not be the worrying. Feeling awkward is much the normal after the naming,” she chirped, her usual open-mouthed grin in place on her friendly face.

Sky’s eyes darted towards her, but the moment they landed on her face he brought his other hand up, almost as if he were trying to hide from her. Was he just as embarrassed to be called handsome as Cobble had been to be called cute? Judging from the way his tail was clearly swishing in happiness it couldn’t possibly be that he was upset, so I could only assume that he was just a naturally shy kobold.

Even after his transformation he was still a little bit shorter than Cobble was, but looking at them both I had a better idea of what to expect from summoning kobolds. I would definitely need to lower the floors even further, and the tunnels would need to be twice as wide as they currently were. The room they were both in, however, was the biggest problem. At the moment they were practically forced together. What would be a good size to dig it to? I needed to make sure they had room enough that they wouldn’t constantly be within arms reach, but I needed to make sure the room didn’t run into the badger’s room when I did it.

I looked over the current layout of the dungeon and compared it to where the badgers were. I needed to dig towards that old ruin anyway, so expanding the room in that direction could work for me. I didn’t want to dig towards the current tunnel either, since that would just shorten it and cause the room to take on an awkward shape, so I would have to move where my core was. I decided to use [Appraisal] on myself, just to make sure I knew exactly what I was looking at.

Kor [Dungeon Core] Lvl: 1

Title: None

Size: 362.80522

Points: 20

HP: 10/10

MP: 241/447

Mobs:

Kobolds: 2/2

Skills:

[Mana Absorption] [Devour] [Tunneling] lvl.1 [Appraisal] lvl.2 [Room Building] lvl.1 [Item Making] lvl. 1 [Wall Building] lvl. 1 [Door Building] lvl. 1 [Floor Art Making] lvl. 1

According to [Appraisal] it looked like I had enough MP to do what I was thinking of doing, which made me feel much more at ease with moving forward with my plan. I would even have enough mana left after to start working towards [Tunneling] to the ruin to build my new entrance, and with my current mana regeneration rate of sixteen an hour I would be able to keep digging at a slow but steady pace.

“Sky, Cobble, could you do me a favour? Could one of you get my core? And then I’ll need you to both step out of the room. I’m going to be expanding things.”

Sky stood up, his otherwise narrow eyes rounded out as he made his way towards the wall where my core sat in an alcove. “Is it really okay if Sky touches the core?” he asked, gaze flickering between myself and Cobble as if asking one of us for permission.

“Kor, my name’s Kor, and yes. I’m okay if you hold me for a bit. Just hold your hands up near the wall? I need to roll myself out.”

He nodded, cupping his clawed hands together as he lifted them up towards the wall. It bunched up the aura of tendrils that came off of my core, using them to push myself out of the alcove, the Dungeon Core plummeting downward toward his outstretched hands.

Despite the fact that I was both the dungeon itself as well as the little red gem, I still felt an awful sensation vibrate out through my entire body, the walls almost seeming to shiver as I fell. It was only a second and yet it felt as if it were an eternity, my survival hanging on the ability of a single kobold to stop my core from shattering against the floor.

As soon as I hit Sky’s palms I found myself connected to him the same way I had previously been connected to Cobble, his emotions and thoughts vibrating through me. I could sense the moment that he realized I could feel what he was feeling, and then the shock as he also realized that he could feel me feeling him. It was a feedback loop of confusion on his end, terminating in embarrassed horror as he looked towards Cobble.

There was an emotion in his chest that I didn’t understand, but it felt almost the same way I had felt when my Dungeon Core had been in free fall. The emotion was centered around Cobble, but it was so beyond me that I couldn’t even begin to name it. It was an awful tangle of happiness, fear, nervousness, and anxiety.

Before I could even ask him if he was alright Sky leaned in, whispering directly to my core, “Please don’t say anything, Kor… Sky doesn’t want Cobble to know…”

I couldn’t reply back to him, not without Cobble overhearing, so I just remained silent in hopes that he would understand. Since we were connected I could only assume that he could feel my agreement the same why I felt his emotions. I didn’t know why he was wanting to keep it a secret that Cobble made him feel like a knot of squirming worms, but I wasn’t about to give away a secret that wasn’t mine to share. If he wanted to say something then he would, and until then I wouldn’t say a thing.

Still holding me gently in his grip, Sky followed after Cobble as she left the tiny room and moved into the hall, crouching down slightly so they wouldn’t be pressing their heads against the ceiling.

I focused on the room before me and activated [Room Building], first lowering the overall depth of the floor, and then using it again the expand backward and to the side. If my mental calculations had been correct based on how I normally grew in size, then doing just this much to make the room bigger should have been enough to double the size of the dungeon again.

I waited, hoping that perhaps I would get another message from Inner Voice telling me that I had reached a threshold of some sort and would regain mana at an even faster rate, but the not-me voice within remained completely silent. Maybe that had just been a one-time thing?

There didn’t seem to be anything particularly tasty in the room when I had expanded, just dirt, a few roots, and plenty of clay. The floor of the room was now dirt once more, indicating that I must have eaten through the entire deposit of clay.

Slowly, their eyes wide the whole time, both of my kobolds moved back into the room. “Wow… This is much the nice. Much more room, yes?” Cobble asked, turning her head to look at Sky. His fingers tightened slightly around my core, and I could feel a trembling sensation vibrate through him. Just hearing her voice apparently left Sky as a nervous wreck.

“Is very nice, yes,” he agreed, his slightly rough voice squeaking upwards through several octaves. It was kind of cute, and to be fair he didn’t feel upset about how anxious being around Cobble made him. It seemed almost like Sky found it to be nice. Kobolds were weird.

Cobble made her way back to the center of the wall, reaching up to dig out another alcove for my core to rest in with her clawed hands. Sky followed shortly after, hefting me up delicately to place the Dungeon Core into the wall. I felt safe again, safe enough that I could relax. As interesting as it was to be connected to my kobolds, I was also relieved to not have all that extra emotion bouncing around inside of me.

“Okay then, you two. Make yourselves as comfortable as possible. I have no idea how long this is going to take.”