Chapter 4

Well this is a familiar sight. Here I am floating in a vast ocean of emptiness again. This must be what happens when dungeon cores have no mana. If I'm destroyed will I remain in this void for eternity? I've seen a small slice of a whole new world and it's already so interesting, I must make sure I never return to this void again. The void is mostly the same as before but there is one minor— no, it's a huge difference.

"I still have access to my menus." I say aloud. The first thing I do is check on what the House of Horrors title does.

“Congratulations on becoming a House of Horrors. You have done what should be impossible and fused two materials together. Disables normal monster creation and research. Unlocks monster fusion research. Unlocks abomination spawning.” Maybe this title is why I was no longer able to spawn inferior rats? But if fusion is impossible, why was I able to do it? I will have to ask Steve once I'm conscious again. Well, I have nothing better to do while floating around in here I might as well look into all my menus. I have no way of keeping track of time in the void but it feels like years have passed as I finish sorting through the different menus. Maybe time flows differently here? Many of these menus are the same as before, but one new one in particular caught my attention.

Dungeon Themes

Theme

Bonus Provided

Prerequisite

Small Cavern

Spawns inferior beasts automatically for rooms. (Inferior rats, inferior bats, cave bear boss.)

Unlocked from having at least one beast type minion.

Small

Mine

Dungeon spawns ore automatically. Ore type and rarity based on floor level. Grants the skill basic mining to all intelligent minions.

Unlocked from existing abandoned mine.

Small Labyrinth

Your rooms and hallways generate in a maze like way. All intruders will be afflicted with the lesser topographical disorientation debuff while in the dungeon.

Unlocked from creating a room manually.

Warning! House of Horrors title may affect dungeon themes in an unknown way.

Well, automatic monster spawning does sound nice but I'm not sure if it would be disabled by House of Horrors. Let's not take the risk on that one. Small Labyrinth seems like it will confuse intruders however that doesn't actually aid in defeating them. Also I know I definitely need all the resources I can get. So let's be honest, there is only one real option here. I focus on my choice and I'm notified of the change.

"Congratulations! You are now a Small Mine dungeon! Your rooms will automatically update to match your chosen theme. Have an excellent day!" As I close the menu, a familiar voice rings in my ears,

"Mana detected. Resuming dungeon core operations." Color washes over me once again; however, I am more prepared this time. I start assessing my surroundings as my vision clears. Something is wrong here. Very, very, wrong. Fanned out around my core are twenty goblins. They are on their knees, with heads pressed down, bowing to the ground.

"Master you have awoken?" I glance over to see my firstmost minion, still firmly attached to his goblin puppet. He is staring at me with a grin stretched across his face.

"Uhhh.. hey there Sluggo. What the hell is going on right now? Why are there so many goblins here? Are we under attack?" The frantic state of my mind does not allow me to fully comprehend the stupidity of the question I just asked. I doubt groveling is some sort of secret combat stance. Besides, Steve did alert me last time I was in danger.

"Master, these inferior ones have recognized your excellence and will be serving your greatness from now on. They will make great materials!" Sluggo’s grin continues to stretch even wider. He must be very proud of himself. I suddenly feel a tension which I was unaware of, slowly release from inside me.

"Well I did ask for materials. Though I was expecting items more along the lines of rocks, or maybe even sticks on a good day, but this works too. Good job." I didn't know living things were materials.

Now calm, I start to take stock of my surroundings again. My core room is very different from before. Two sets of usable cart rails now run from the edge of the room down to the connecting tunnel. A somewhat rusty but serviceable minecart sits on one of the rails. A matching pair of worn shovels and mining picks rest against the old cart. The wooden support beams holding up the ceiling are now in much better repair. The room itself now much less likely to collapse than previously. I wonder if I am able to upgrade these to stone the same way I did in the previous core room? Lanterns now line the ceiling, providing much needed light to the otherwise dark room. I find myself impressed with all the improvements provided by my theme. A lot of work has been done here in my absence. Sluggo is surely a minion to rely on. One of the goblins rises and starts to speak.

"We bring many shinies for Shiny God." The goblin smiles at me, it would be almost cute if it wasn’t for its crooked nature. Filled with rickety teeth, waiting for the right moment to pop.

"Dimwit you are not to speak to the master unless spoken to!" Sluggo reprimands.

"Hey Sluggo it's fine we are all friends here right? Also who is Shiny God?" I inquire.

"Master, that is how the inferior ones refer to you. It's a fitting name even if it's a bit too simple to describe your majesty." So I have a name? Awesome, I’ve never had a name before. What a great start to a day. Though I have only had two of those, so there is not much to compare to but still this is a great day! Names give us meaning, everyone should have one I think. I notice the goblin named Dimwit motioning to a pile. He begins to speak in his broken language.

"Okay to speak, yes? We bring these shinies and also not so shinies. Boss say you want not so shinies too. We offer all to you shiny god. Also me get demon hat now?" He seems almost shy at voicing his request. Sluggo voices his agitation once more.

“You will be granted ascendance if the master sees fit to do so Dimwit." Wow all these goblins brought me materials? Steve wanted me to kill them all. Maybe we shouldn't trust Steve that much. He also didn't tell me what would happen if I used all my mana. Yeah, now that I think about it, Steve can actually go fuck himself. Note to self, Dimwit deserves that demon hat. Further note to self, figure out what a demon hat is. I take hold of my mana, pulling it out of the core and begin to absorb the offered pile of items.

Rotshroom absorbed

Blood Moss absorbed

3x Gold Coins absorbed

24x Silver Coins Absorbed

102x Iron Coins Absorbed

1x Golden Plated Goblet Absorbed

1x Copper Greatsword Absorbed

3x Lesser Horned Rabbit Carcass Absorbed

7x Lightning Roach Carcass Absorbed

Mana is now fully restored.

Mana capacity exceeded. Excess Mana lost.

Damn it. I'll have to be more careful with absorption in the future so I don't waste potential mana. While I begin to look over the new materials I absorbed I become confused.

"What are coins for? I ask.

"Dunno. Very shiny so we take." Dimwit answers. Suddenly Steve’s familiar voice sounds out, in a droning fashion.

"Coins are now part of your dungeon’s available treasure. Treasure can drop from monsters in your dungeon when defeated. Monsters may also drop equipped items."

"Why would I want to have my monsters drop treasure?" I ask.

"Treasure will attract adventurers and monsters alike. The deeper into your dungeon they perish the more mana you will gain." At the mention of this, Sluggo becomes visibly excited.

"This will help master grow stronger!" The puppetted goblin nods in agreement, Sluggo holds fast.

So I lure in monsters and adventurers with treasure to gain mana and make my dungeon better. Seems simple enough. I still don't trust Steve entirely anymore but Sluggo seems to agree, so I suppose it must be true. Sluggo speaks up interrupting me from my thoughts.

"Master do you have any orders?" The goblins around him are still bowing, but are clearly beginning to get uncomfortable from being in the same position too long.

"Oh right… Orders… Why don't you help the goblins get settled in for the time being. I'm going to do some experimentation with construction and research." I say non committedly, I have far too much in the way of new tools to explore with to worry about the goblins myself right now.

"Understood. I will teach them how to behave under your rule master. Would it be acceptable for this one to start making a living area?” Sluggo’s growing excitement is reaching obviously uncontainable levels at this point. The puppets life-less smile grows ever wider as the body shakes in an attempt to control the feelings of its denizen.

"That's fine with me." I’m barely able to get the words out through laughter, enamored with Sluggo.

"Enough resting slaves! It is time to get to work!" he shouts at the goblins. They all stand and stumble around before giving a cute salute. They are adorable. I hope Sluggo has a lot of fun with his new friends!

Time to research! I have a lot of materials to experiment with now. I have already made a monster, so let's try researching a new room. I'm fairly certain goblins need to eat, so I assign a research point to develop a food production room.

'Research Point assigned. Subterranean Farm room now available.' Well that was practically instantaneous, so why did my rat evolution take so long to research? Maybe it was because of the House of Horrors title? I guess it's not important right now so let's make this new room! I move my consciousness down the tunnel and pass the goblins who are currently receiving direction from Sluggo and move into the main chamber. I dig out a connecting tunnel, using around 2 mana in total and then select the new room from my menu.

I feel my mana stretch out further and further from me and begin to carve out a new room from the wall. Wooden supports and hanging lanterns appear as a large empty chamber is created. A wooden plank pathway forms on the floor circling the room and back to the tunnel. Hanging pots from around the room are suspended from the ceiling. A few small holes and cracks open in the ceiling allowing a small amount of natural light to reach into the room. Right when I think the room is finished rotshrooms begin popping up randomly from the dirt of the floor of the room. Blood moss spreads rapidly across the room’s walls and ceiling. Once the room finally seems finished I check the room menu.

Subterranean Farm

An underground farm with harsh conditions. Ambient mana will cause plants to grow at an accelerated rate. Monsters assigned to this room have an increased chance to gain the basic farming skills while working.

Cost

Upgrades

5 mana

New!!! Add an area for water collection. Water increases growth rate of crops.

8 mana

New!!! Add a farming shack complete with a set of rusty tools. 0/1

1 DP

New!!! Allow House of Horrors title to influence the farm and its crops. This will have an unknown effect.

These all seem very useful right now, so I decide to purchase all three upgrades. The quite familiar feeling of my mana pours into the room and begins construction the new objects. Large roots erupt from the ceiling, causing some water to trickle slowly onto parts of the farm. The room expands slightly and a trench forms along the wall opposite of the entrance to the room. Water bursts from some rocks along the wall into the trench forming a small stream. The water seems to empty into a newly formed hole in the opposing wall.

The room expands further allowing room for a hut to be created. It is much larger and sturdier than the simple goblin shack I created before. The hut itself seems to be about an appropriate enough size for two goblins to live in. It comes complete with two simple sleeping mats inside made of blood moss. A door made of sturdy wooden planks provides an entrance into the new housing and the building itself is fairly tall, allowing a second floor to be built if needed. A small extension forms, attached to the shack with its own rickety door. Inside hangs some basic farmhand equipment and a rotting wooden bucket. As I am admiring the farm the blood moss in the room suddenly begins glowing and twitching.

'Due to the influence of the House of Horrors, blood moss has evolved into Flesh Moss.' Parts of the moss tremble and begin to grow fruit shaped, fluid filled sacs of meat. 'Due to the influence of the House of Horrors, rotshrooms have evolved into Observer Rotshrooms.' The text flashes out of my view as I watch in amazement, the rotshrooms in the room change to a dark shade of crimson. Each one of the shrooms then sprouts a single goblin eye complete with eyelid. The eyes dart around as if searching for something before stopping and staring at the area my consciousness is floating in.

"I wonder if they are staring at me?" I ask out loud. Suddenly, something dashes into the room. It leaps across the wall in a blur as it plucks a sac of meat hanging off the Flesh Moss and lands on the ground. Now on the ground I can make out the creature. "Oh a palmtail, I forgot about you guys. Silly me." The palmtail looks in my direction for a moment and then curls back and begins eating the flesh pod. "Looks like we have food covered for now. I hope the goblins enjoy these as well!" I return to the main chamber and notice them goblins standing guard at the wooden spikes I had built yesterday. I move over to them and speak. "Hello!" They become startled and look around in confusion. Can they not see me?

"Shiny god! We no sleeping we swear!" Says one of the goblins, a little cowardly. The other goblin joins in.

"We are good guards. No sleeping. Please no kill us."

"I'm not going to kill you guys! Just intruders. Is there anything I can do to help you two settle in?" I ask the pair of goblins. The two goblins salute in the general direction of my voice.

"We happy. Shiny God kind. We kill many for Shiny God." They say in unison. These guys are adorable I love their little salutes. I'm going to make sure they can be proper guards!

"I'm over here anyways so I am going to upgrade the entrance!" I announce my intent to them. I purchase the upgrades for the entrance that I avoided yesterday, leaving me at 1 mana. Just enough to keep me from returning to the void. The entirety of the entrance tunnel and main chamber glow as my mana spreads out as the rooms begin to change drastically. The entrance tunnel itself has grown much longer then before. Although it remains fairly cramped for the first half of its length, it opens up into a funnel shape in the second half, fanning outward to connect to the edges of the main chamber. The chamber itself now has expanded greatly as well. The ceiling has been raised to a much higher height, giving us just enough allowance for watch towers. A whole goblin village could now fit snugly in this room. The chamber remains lined with wooden wall supports and arches spanning across the ceiling where lanterns hang. Cart rails now run from the entrance to each of the connecting rooms. A large totem resides in the center of the main chamber. Wooden goblins appear to be fighting and climbing over one another to form the base of the totem leading up to a wooden copy of Sluggo whose hands reach out above him to hold a replica of my dungeon core made of gold and silver at the top.

"Oh look it's the goblins and I! How adorable!" I turn to see the newly formed watch towers that now reach 10 feet off the ground. A simple ladder made with wooden pieces leads to an elevated position where goblins can rain down rocks on their enemies. The spiked logs now form a wooden wall running the length of the room. A wooden gate blocks the only way of entering the fortified area. "So I can't wall off the core but gates and doors are okay. Good to know." The wooden shack I had constructed yesterday has now become massive in size.

The barracks comes complete with blood moss woven mattresses layed on top of two bunk beds. A set of wooden tables and chairs rest up against the wall in the corner of the room. Further inside the barracks sits two cramped cells with stone bars and wooden doors. Most likely they will be used to hold misbehaving goblins or possibly the occasional intruder. A half dozen wooden clubs now rest on some crooked wooden racks in the room ready to be used for combat. I look over to the two Goblins I spoke to earlier and they look very surprised… and slightly terrified?

"This should make guard duty a little easier." I say to them. They both drop to their hands and knees to bow towards my voice. They must be very happy with all this! I can't do much more while I'm out of my mana so I return to the core room to watch the other goblins.

"Shiny God is gone." says Dak in relief as he peeks up from the floor.

"Shiny God make whole fort. Shiny God Powerful." Says Gork.

"Maybe Shiny God make me into Boss Monster? Finally evolve and grow stronger?” Dak asks no one in particular.

"Maybe. But we need guard gate before Boss cut me again.” Answers Gork, while rubbing the wound on his face. The two goblins walk over and take up their posts on each side of the gate. Gork, expectedly, falls asleep immediately upon taking his post.

Over at the farm a goblin walks into the room, looking around in confusion. "Shiny God make this?" He mutters to himself. He glances down and sees an Observer Rotshroom staring back at him. "Why mushroom have eye?" He reaches down and plucks the mushroom. "Maybe gift from Shiny God? Eyeballs be pretty tastiest." He mutters as he tosses the mushroom into his mouth. As he chews and swallows his body quivers an eyeball bursts out of the skin of his forehead and settles into a newly created eye socket.

'Congratulations! Due to your unique choices and choice of cuisine you have evolved into Goblin Cultist.' Text Flashes in his vision but he cannot read it. He swats at the floating text until it goes away. He pauses for a moment as his new eye searches the room. It eventually settles at a spot of the wall as if looking beyond it.

"Me understand now. Me see everything…" He mutters to himself again. A palmtail watches as the goblin leaves the room before scurrying away, in search of its next meal.