My plan was, of course, not only absolutely brilliant in its simplicity, but it was also working like a charm and without a single hitch.

As the badgers slept, nestled all warm and snug in their little burrow, I let my [Mana Absorption] do its work of passively absorbing the mana right off of them. Given they weren’t exactly creatures that used magic there was nothing for me to worry about. Unlike me they weren’t going to get ridiculously tired and pass out due to being low on mana. They would be just fine!

I absolutely wasn’t just trying to reassure myself of that fact. I wasn’t worried about them. Why would I be worried about a couple of free loading badgers? That would be ridiculous. Who ever heard of a dungeon core worrying about that kind of thing? Not me, that was for sure, and not just because I’d never heard anything about other dungeon cores either.

It was extremely slow going, but as they snored away, paws twitching and noses sniffling, I expanded out the side of the dungeon that held my core.

I started first with the bundle of roots that I had initially lodged myself in to hide from the sun. I widened my tunnel first to roughly the same dimensions as the tunnel that Mama Badger had dug out, but then I started to dig down.

One day, hopefully very soon, I would be summoning a beautiful baby Myconid Sprout into my dungeon, so I needed to make sure there was enough headroom for them. Since I couldn’t exactly expand upwards due to the fact there was a whole ass tree there, it only made sense to dig down.

It used up a ridiculous amount of mana to do that much, especially given the small area I had done it in, but as I dug down I got to eat all sorts of interesting new things that fed back into my mana and points.

Deep in the earth there were a lot of really tasty sorts of bugs and rocks apparently, though there were an equal amount of really gross and slimy sorts of things. I didn’t mind the grubs and such so much since they had a sort of nutty flavour to them, even if they were a bit on the squishy side, but the worms? They never failed to make me shudder at the sudden sensation of cold that ran through me.

There were a lot of good rocks in the immediate area it seemed. While it had been a bit hard at first to get them down, as I had noticed in my first tunneling experience, it seemed I really just had to put my mind to it when it came to eating them up. Once I actually put in the effort I found that they were a lot tastier than the surrounding dirt.

A couple of interesting rocks, something sort of blue and one that was a dull red sort of like myself, had been especially tasty. It was kind of too bad I had been so in the groove of digging and eating that I had just been shoveling things into my gut without checking to see what they actually were. They had actually given me so much mana that it had shot up past the breaking point, which had left me feeling weirdly like I would somehow eat in reverse. It was such an awful feeling I had thrown myself into tunneling as fast as I could so I could get rid of the extra mana.

On the bright side, that had let me power through my digging until my core itself was level with the lowest part of the floor.

Goodbye sweet root hammock, I never even got to enjoy laying in you. Dungeon Core logic dictates that I must wedge myself into the farthest area away from the entrance, and you are soon to be only the midway point of my beautiful project.

There was only a little bit farther to go before I could make the room to summon my kobold into. I needed to hurry! After all, I wasn’t sure how long badgers actually slept, and my core was unfortunately feeling rather exposed due to all the digging. It would be pretty easy for Mama or Papa Badger to turn their head on the way out and see all my efforts. I couldn’t have them decide they wanted to go exploring in my new tunnel system.

As much as I tolerated them, I wouldn’t put it past either of them to make an attempt at biting me, and it looked like they had some really sharp teeth and powerful jaws.

I had a plan on how to solve the issue about being exposed, of course, but it all hinged on getting the kobold as fast I could. Seeing how I had learned the [Room Building] skill thanks to Mama Badger building a room for me, I had an idea on how to cheat the system a bit, so I wouldn’t have to waste any of my precious points on purchasing a new skill. For now I just really needed something that had a pair of hands.

Please, please, please let kobolds have hands!

[Tunneling] is now Level Two.

Oh! This was just perfect! A chance to test out one of my theories! Thanks for the heads up, Inner Voice! Give yourself, or rather me, a pat on the back! Not that I actually have a back. All sides of me are sort of the front. Anyway, enough of tooting my own horn, let's put this leveled up skill to some real use!

All of my tendrils wriggled in happy anticipation before I returned to work with renewed excitement.

I powered along much faster than before, gravel and even larger rocks disappearing into my core at a pretty ridiculous speed compared to my previous slow snacking. It was like I was really gorging myself now. As I ate I kept an eye on my mana to see if there was any effect there as well, and to my surprise it also seemed to have slowed in the rate it was being used up. So leveling an ability made it easier to use and made it cost less mana? That was pretty handy!

Hey, listen up [Appraisal]! Look at how well [Tunneling] is doing! Don’t you wanna be like them? Straighten up and do your best from now on! I’m counting on you and Inner Voice both to help me figure out what to do!

Brilliant red light was shimmering off the walls of my tunnel from my sheer joy by the time I decided to stop and actually begin to plot out the details of the room. I needed it to be at least as tall as the rest of my tunnel of course, but exactly how large should I make it? It felt sort of like a given that a kobold was probably quite a bit bigger than a badger, so I should probably be looking at the badger’s room as an idea of what I needed to do and then go from there.

Maybe twice the size? Was that a safe bet? That was an awful lot of mana consumption, wasn’t it? How much mana would it even cost me to eat up that much dirt? Would it be easier to dig out the room myself, or to use [Room Building] to do so? Any ideas, Inner Voice?

[Room Building] automatically consumes all material in the specified dimensions for a lower mana cost than it would take [Tunneling] to do the same, while also doing so in a shorter amount of time.

Well, that answered that then. It looked like even with [Tunneling] at level two it would be a better idea to just bite the bullet and let my [Room Building] take a crack at it. Maybe I would be lucky and I’d be able to level that up as well?

I focused hard on the area I wanted to consume and on the idea of using [Room Building]. It was a skill I hadn’t really put to the test before, since I had only gained it thanks to Mama Badger’s efforts and it hadn’t done much more than smooth out and shape her room when I had tested it out earlier in the day.

[Room Building].

It felt like all of the tendrils of myself were suddenly being controlled by an outside force, like I was just a puppet being controlled by the hands of some cruel and merciless god who didn’t know how to be gentle with their toys. I felt my entire being snap forward and then stretch around the dimensions I had imagined in my head with a lurch that actually drug my core through the dirt a little.

There was a sickening sort of feeling that raced through me, centering on my core in particular before it radiated out through me in pulsating waves. It felt like I was trying to swallow too much all at once, and then that eating in reverse feeling hit me hard enough that it actually happened.

For a brief moment the room had been formed, and then I just sort of vomited all the dirt right back where it had been before. Disgusting.

Error. Mana is too low for a room of this size.

If I wasn’t already laying on the ground I would say I needed to lay down after an experience like that. Surely being shattered would be more pleasant than that had been. Worst of all, I was still suffering even afterwards. My core was trembling slightly, and all of my tendrils felt cold and hot all at once. I was pretty sure I didn’t have the ability to sweat, but I was also pretty sure I had broken out into cold sweats all the same.

What the hell had just happened to me? No, wait, don’t tell me Inner Voice. I don’t want to know. I just want to lay here and try not to die for a little bit longer. Clearly trying to use up more mana than I actually have is beyond stupid. Lesson learned. Thanks oh so much for the warning.

While I waited for the sickening sensation to stabilize, I decided I might as well give myself a good [Appraise] and see what exactly I was working with. Maybe I could figure out how much mana I’d need to form the room that I wanted for my kobold?

Nameless [Dungeon Core] Lvl. 1

Title: None

HP: 10/10

MP: 12/45

Size: 7.809 M

Points: 32

Mobs:

Kobold 0/5

Skills:

[Appraisal] Lvl. 1 [Tunneling] Lvl. 2 [Room Building] Lvl. 1 [Mana Absorption]

Woah, those rocks had really given me a huge boost of energy earlier! I’d nearly doubled in size again! Alright, so that was the good news. Bad news? I was sort of low on mana, but more good news was that my points had gone up a fair amount at least. It was also pretty cool that I knew what my mobs were and how many I was able to summon, but at the same time that was also pretty annoying.

What’s the big idea?! I can only summon five total kobolds? Why the hell is that, huh? You wanna let the rest of me in on things, Inner Voice?!

A Dungeon Core can only build five basic rooms on their first floor, and therefore can only summon one of each of their mobs on the first floor. This number may change if special rooms are unlocked or discovered.

Thanks, Inner Voice, that was actually surprisingly enlightening. It was at the very least better than all of your previous bits of advice, and it was a great deal better than what [Appraisal] had been up to lately. You’ve been on a roll since I actually started working, so thanks for that!

Still, it was a bit disappointing that I could only summon one kobold per room on my floor. Though it sounded like if I unlocked other mobs I would be able to summon one per room for them as well. Plus bonuses for special rooms! I had to wonder what exactly a special room was, but since Inner Voice didn’t seem to want to pipe back up again to let me in on my own hidden knowledge, it seemed like I would just have to stay in the dark for now.

I huffed, letting my gaze drift through the walls of my dungeon so I was viewing everything all at once.

The badgers were sleeping peacefully enough, piled on top of each other and twitching their paws. Papa Badger seemed to be doing the majority of the ungodly snoring sounds, but Mama Badger didn’t so much as flick an ear toward the awful sound. Actually, given all the silence I had been in today, it was sort of comforting in a weird way? The sounds echoed through my tunnels with the sense of something alive.

It was nice to have food at hand. All I needed to do was be a bit patient and wait for my mana to fill up enough to use.

Actually, that was a thought. Hey, Inner Voice, can you tell me how much mana I need to clear out the room? Or is that the sort of job for [Appraisal]?

12 mana per .45 M gained. For a room of that size, 28 mana will be needed.

Huh. Well then, that answered that. I didn’t have too much longer to wait then! It seemed like I regained mana on my own at about a point every six minutes or so, and with the badgers around that amount went up to four mana every eight minutes or so. Roughly speaking, I had about a half hour to spend just lazing about before I could dig out the room and summon my first monster.

Hopefully I gained some more mana from doing so. It would really suck if I dipped down too low and passed out again. That would really be just the absolute worst. How was I supposed to tell the kobold what I needed done if I went and took an involuntary nap as soon as they appeared?

While I waited for time to pass I counted the roots tracing the ceiling, and then once I realized I could pretty much count them all at once due to being everywhere all at once, I forced myself to narrow my gaze down to the pair of badgers.

I had appraised Mama Badger earlier, but not Papa Badger… Just how different were the stats between two different badgers? There was only one real way to find out.

[Badger] Lvl. 5

HP: 200/200

SP: 230/230

Status: Sleeping

Well, that answered that, and the answer? There really wasn’t that much difference. He had a higher level, which either meant he was older or stronger than she was? How did badgers even gain levels, actually? What a mystery that was! Obviously his HP and SP was higher, thanks to being a higher level, and of course he was currently sleeping. It was pretty boring stuff really, nothing that could keep my interest for long.

Somewhere outside the walls of my dungeon there was a whole world full of delicious things to eat, as well as the sounds of something chirping and singing away. I bet that whatever that was, it would be the most delicious thing of all. Something that was that full of energy? It had to be overflowing with lots of tasty tasty mana!

I wondered what it looked like. It had to have a pretty big mouth to be making that much noise, right? The way it sounded like it was coming from all sorts of places at once led me to believe that either there was a whole bunch of them, or just one big one with lots of heads. If I had to guess? It was more likely that it was the latter.

A big, round, scaly lizard like thing with thick powerful legs for jumping about and a dozen large mouths all singing in different voices. That was exactly what was making that chirping sound.

After spending a bit more time trying to decide if it would be one solid shade of blue or maybe some sort of purple and orange gradient, I appraised myself again to see how my mana was doing. It was sitting at a nice, healthy, twenty nine points. Perfect for carrying out my plan and making sure I didn’t go and pass out in the process.

Alright then, Inner Voice! It’s time we made ourselves a kobold! First step, the room!

[Room Building].

My limbs all jerked at once again to cover the space I wanted to consume, but this time it wasn’t with the same amount of force that I had felt before. It was more as if I had somehow stumbled and fell into the movement, rather than something was yanking at me with all of its might.

One moment the space before me was full of previously regurgitated dirt, and then it was a large room made of hard packed dirt with a domed ceiling, a couple of tree roots hanging freely from it.

Something I had eaten as I cleared out the room spiked my mana back up, not quite all the way to full but to something close to it. Whatever it was, it had been absolutely delicious, but also sort of old and stale. It was a strange sensation, and when I chanced a glance my points had gone up slightly as well.

Man, I really wanted to know what that was! This was the same problem as earlier with those coloured rocks! Me and my stupid appetite, eating everything before I could actually see what it was! How was I supposed to know what my favourite foods were if I ate them before I knew what they were? I can’t ask for seconds if I don’t know what to ask for!

Oh well. Maybe if I was lucky I could get the kobold to bring me something extra tasty from the world outside my dungeon. After I put my plan into action, that is. Alright, Inner Voice! Generate that kobold!

Generating Kobold.

My core lit up brighter than it ever had before, shining so brightly that I couldn’t see anything. The light seemed more white than red, washing over everything in the immediate area. I was suddenly really happy I had decided to move my main body so far in, or else I probably would’ve woken up the badgers with how bright I was.

After a moment the light faded, and standing in my newly built room was something that I really hadn’t been expecting to see when I heard the words “bipedal lizard”.

To begin with, the kobold was only about as tall as two badgers stacked on top of each other, and it was covered in dusty green scales that faded off into a burnt orange toward the ends of its limbs. It had almost comically large eyes and a long but surprisingly blunt looking snout, with sharp little teeth poking out around the edges, as well as rounded ridges that circled the back of its head like a little crown.

It was… Well. It was surprisingly cute.

The kobold stiffened, eyes blinking in a sideways way, before it looked around. “Cute? Hello? Cute?” It asked in a squeaky sort of voice.

That was just criminally cute.

“I’m not cute! I’m descended from a dragon!” The kobold protested, stomping a clawed little foot, and that was when it occurred to me.

Somehow, they could hear me.