"Master..." Cie's voice slowly awoke the Core who felt strangely lethargic. "Master, you need to slow-down your use of Mana. You're already feeling the beginning signs of Mana Overburdening, and if you continue to regenerate and use your Mana at such a rate, then you'll burn yourself out." The Core didn't know what Mana Overburden was, only that it didn't sound like something pleasant.

"Master, Mana Overburdening occurs to those who use large quantities of Mana too often. But, Master the fault lies with me for not warning you. In fact, Master, I wasn't even sure if Mana Overburdening could happen to Dungeons considering how much Mana they commonly use, but I'd assume this only happened because of your abnormal Mana regeneration rate, caused by the Leechlings draining the Titan core." Feeling its mind clearing up as it listened to Cie. The Core was displeased that it would need to limit its daily Mana usage to avoid overburdening itself, but it buried its displeasure knowing there wasn't anything it could currently do about this matter.

Instead, it drew its attention onto the two things Cie held. In Cie's left hand was an orange rock; the Core didn't know what the stone was, just that Cie wouldn't pick it up for no reason. In Cie's right hand was a large woolly-white six-legged creature with two golden curly horns rising from the side of its head. Curiously it appraised them, starting with the stone.

Phynxinite Phynxinite found only in high-altitudes, this ore's possibilities remain primarily unexplored by sapients, with the only exception being Gnomes who've long used the metal refined from this ore to insulate their sky-high homes from the high-altitude cold air. Phynx refined from this ore strangely resists both heat and cold, and can only be forged by imbuing Wind Element Mana into it, causing the metal to become soft and malleable. Rating: Exceptional Uncommon.

The Phynxinite interested it, but it had no idea where it would even use this. Nonetheless, it was still pleased with acquiring more materials and appraised the creature next.

Cloud Stepping Rams Cloud Stepping Rams are renowned in the Kalnor Empire for their unique use of Wind Element Magic to create clouds beneath their feet as they prance through the skies unrestrained by physical terrain. Hunting these rams proves an arduous affair due to the clouds they tread upon being excessively large and surprisingly dense, giving them plenty of protection from sapients firing arrows or spells at them from the ground. Rating: Lesser Uncommon.

"Master, I'm sorry, these were the only things which I could acquire, anything else is in areas too dangerous for me to enter." Cie seemed disappointed in what it could acquire, but the Core wasn't really upset because anything new for it, is satisfying in its mind. More than disappointed the Core was curious as to what else was beyond its Dungeon.

"Cie, what else is o---" the Core's question was interrupted by a presence brushing against its influence. Whatever it was felt depthless, and the Core's mind was temporarily overwhelmed, before the presence withdrew back to wherever it had come from.

The Core's mind was left throbbing in pain from the brief contact with whatever had touched its influence; its mind instantly turned to the Wyrm as it was the only creature nearby powerful enough to induce such a sensation. Cie had also felt the presence due to it continuously scanning the Core's mind and had fared better than the Core due to its long practice in Mind Magic.

The Core and Cie moved to the chasm, questioning if that had truly been the Wyrm or something else from beyond the caves. Gazing down upon the Wyrm they could see everything looked the same, and if such a creature had awoken even for just a moment, it would've likely moved. Something the size of the Wyrm moving slightly would disturb its surroundings significantly, and from what they could see, it was unlikely the presence they felt had been the Wyrm.

Not knowing what had actually brushed against its influence troubled the Core more than if it would've been the Wyrm. Returning to the Mana Spring area, the Core placed its useless worries about this situation in the back of its mind and assimilated the Phynxinite and Cloud Stepping Ram.

Assimilation complete! Phynxinite may now be created at the cost of 527 Mana points per meter. Assimilation complete! Assimilated Cloud Stepping Ram contained elevated quantities of Mana which has been absorbed [+79 Mana points]. Cloud Stepping Rams have been added as an available monster and may now be created at the cost of 199 Mana points per Cloud Stepping Ram.

"Master, I don't know what that presence was, but it didn't seem hostile, and the human outside's left, so focusing on recovering from your Mana overburdening may be the best course of action." The Core was glad to hear that human had left to report to their 'guild' as it severely needed a way to evolve some of its monsters beyond their first evolution and others past their second evolution.

The Core decided to hold off on making any further changes to its Dungeon until after the sapients come to investigate it so that it wouldn't frighten them off before it can even draw them in.

Thail stopped before the entrance to their task. The small amount of information acquired from D+ rank adventurer Leonis, running through his thoughts and disappointment towards the D rank group- Ale's Gump -for entering the Dungeon against their orders. He wished more adventurers would understand how difficult it truly is to assess a Dungeon, and for them to stop using Faith-Guard to guide their way through Dungeons, but nearly every-time he told low-level groups not to use it, they usually laughed him off, unaware of how much they limit their futures by using Faith-Guard.

"Thail, the Mana's thinner, seems the Leonis chap wasn't lying." Thail looked over Curnniliert, "I see that Curn, thanks, now get the others to set up camp, I'll soon be taking Pert inside the Dungeon so he can make the translocation rune." The man called Curn nodded and turned around towards the large group behind Thail while shouting instructions.

Meanwhile, Thail went to the right of the Dungeon where a wizened mid-aged man could be seen carving onto a stone slab large enough for ten people to stand on with room to spare. "Pert, how's the translocation rune coming along?" Pert looked up briefly before continuing his work, "The thin Mana's making it hard, and there's a high possibility we'll need to use Mana crystals to replenish the rune regularly." Those weren't news Thail wanted to hear, and the Guild certainly won't like them either.

"Can you move the rune down to where the Mana's thicker?" Pert wiped the sweat off of his forehead as he continued engraving on the slab while speaking with Thail, "Yeah, I can do that. Problem is, the rune will take longer to charge, and those wishing to leave the Dungeon by the rune will need to wait a moment, and it'll also depend on the Mana levels within the Dungeon itself." Thail wasn't pleased to hear that as the Mana levels dropped the closer to the Dungeon, they were. It was highly possible there won't be much Mana within the Dungeon either.

"Damn, alright then, Pert we'll scrap the idea of just me and you, going in there to set up the rune until we know more about the conditions inside of the Dungeon." Pert gave a simple nod and kept engraving on the slab.

Thail wasn't jovial at all, mainly because he knew people would die during the assessment unless they get fortunate and the Dungeon's similar to an already know one, but that possibility was abysmal. Thail moved before the large group bustling around setting up tents and campfires, "Everyone, listen up! Pert says the thin Mana will slow down the operation of the translocation runes, so we'll only be using orbs this time around. Tomorrow five groups of ten will enter the Dungeon, and I want the healers outside ready for anything!" Thail's voice spread across the entire group, and their expressions visibly worsened when they heard they'll only be using translocation orbs. Some of the group was annoyed about this piece of news due to the high cost of translocation orbs, and although assessing Dungeons usually yielded high rewards, their use of translocation orbs would severely cut into their profits. The rest of the group didn't care about how much possible profit they lost, so long as they kept their lives.

"Furthermore there's a high chance that our Mana replenishment rate will be heavily impacted within the Dungeon. So, tomorrow's groups will only consist of melee combatants and healers. Mages might not even get a chance to enter depending on the conditions inside." The more Thail announced, the more displeased the group got. "Now, everyone please finish setting up camp and get some rest because I doubt the low Mana within the Dungeon will be pleasing." Quickly, the group returned to setting up their tents and campfires. The group was obviously vexed at the fact they'll be relying mostly on the translocation orbs, but there wasn't anything they could do other than grumble their displeasure and continue working.

Thail wandered off to set up his own tent, hoping to catch some rest before the assessment tomorrow.