Uno

What the hell was that announcement?!

A Hidden Boss? Secret Council? Why wasn’t I informed?

I mean, I was, but the contents - the contents were lacking!

Why these things happen in my dungeon?! It’s not all bad, I know, but hell - there was now another power on my turf and I couldn’t even tell who’s behind it.

Well, not like I can’t use logic to uncover the truth, after all, there aren’t that many types of monsters in my domain.

Lebirs are out, considering their stupidity. Maybe if one or two were to evolve or change in some way then I would consider it. For now, my expectations were low.

Drones? Nope. They weren’t even intelligent in the first place. Just machines created with one purpose in mind.

Ratlings? Get real! They’re rats! Small, weak and breeding quickly - the perfect cannon fodder. On the other hand, I saw a few of them doing weird things before - like one who tried to wrestle with a Lebir. Or that second one who “rode” on Decapitation Engine. It was more of a rodeo than real riding skill though.

So yeah, no.

Jonathan? While he has power (and Hidden Boss should just ooze power in my opinion) the Hidden part was bugging me. He was my “normal” Boss. Why add something on top of that? Also however I look at it - a gigantic Dark Knight just didn’t fit the bill.

There weren’t many creatures besides them. Yeah, I guess there was the Decapitator and some plants I created, but still - it was simply not enough, especially because the announcement said something about a Council - which suggests plural. So more than one being...

Bah.

Fuck it.

In the end I gained power. Because of that, I won’t fuss over the details. Only the result matters.

So, back to the problem at hand.

Two points were left - how to make sure that my onyx core was safe and how to make sure that Daniel was either used or disposed of.

Both of them are connected and I think I just may have a solution.

Now, for the theory of mine. In games, there was a distinct, but unwritten rule - that core room of the dungeon had to be connected to the entrance. There had to be a chance for adventurers to reach me after all. Yet it was not a game, but a reality so I wondered if the Gods who created this system were as insufferable as I thought. Since the whole idea somehow felt abhorrent to me I was pretty sure that it was, indeed, a forbidden move.

And yet I had an ace in my pocket. It was simple, really - my copper network was spread throughout the whole place. It was - for all intended purposes - part of me. Destroying the cable and cameras would even inflict some minor damage…

So when the Drones cut off my room from the rest of the dungeon I felt nothing.

Good!

So this theory checks out.

After confirming it, I ordered them to block the rest of a tunnel leading towards my room and dug out a new one, just north from the Ratling Warrens. It had to be a little bit bigger than normal though. Of course, Daniel was moved during that time. I had plans for him, after all.

Now for the decoy. It was obvious that if the adventurers from hundred years ago knew that the dungeon has to have a core then their descendants would obviously search for it. And not finding one some unsavory methods could be employed. Which would be bad.

So, after waiting for Drones to finish, I created a wall out of iron, rusting it a bit, which turned the whole north side of the room red and flaky. And then, in the middle of it, I added a square copper “gem” which changed color to green as soon as I forced some patina on it. If one peered deep enough there was a hint of a smiling face that could be seen.

Just an inside joke.

Then I poured not only Anima but my electrical mana inside while attaching it with a single copper wire to the rest of my network. The final effect was… interesting.

Mechanical Core Gem

This mechanical creation is indistinguishable from the real dungeon core for the sapient races. It has the ability to give orders to dungeon creations and even to attack and defend on its own. The communication ability is restricted to at least part-mechanical creations.

It can be subordinated to the dungeon core or left to its own devices after giving orders. As such it allows growing the dungeon influence even outside its normal borders. The additional effect is cleansing the surrounding mana while converting most biological and mechanical lifeforms to dungeon-created ones.

The ability to attack and shield with electricity allows for a modicum of self-defense, but the real strength of the Mechanical Core is its ability to direct and create new beings. Due to its nature the amount of subordinate cores you can possess is directly linked to Dungeon Core Level {sO oRdErs ThE goDdeSS oF nAtuRe, GANGRIA.}

Threat level: D--

Now that was just mean! I was working hard to create it! Why are you stopping me, Gangria? From what I remembered she was the only God left on this planet who I hadn’t yet met. And since she was so stuck up when I created my substitute core I wonder what her reaction would be when I finish using Daniel…

Heh.

Limits, you say? I don’t really have a choice here. Stuck between the rock and a hard place I’ll use what I can.

So don’t hate me.

The false core room was already done. The only thing I needed to do was to create a guardian for it. Since it would be odd for a core to be defenseless. At least so my gaming instincts were telling me.

And in real life it too - making sure your base was safe is part of the basics!

The basics!

Telling so myself I moved towards the copper core and Daniel, still strapped on the hospital chair. His mind somehow stabilized. Well... If a stable state was twenty-or-so pieces of his mind in a constant war over who was the “real Daniel” and trying to wrest the control of his body from others, of course. Luckily I had an idea where each part was located due to my extensive “probing” before and decided to use that knowledge.

It was a child’s play to connect a wire to each part of the brain housing an ego. Then I connect said wire towards the mechanical body I created for him. I said “mechanical body”, but it was just an enormous armor with few spear throwers here and there, an ax for a weapon and the square shield as a defense.

It was quite big, of course - two meters high, just enough to not scrape the ceiling, but high enough to be intimidating. I decided to forgo any extravagant parts - it was a simple, yet practical piece of defensive equipment with strange, mechanical eyes looming from the helmet. There is no place for mouth in the headpiece since Daniel could only spew some nonsense right now. While it could be an interesting psychological effect the chance of his speaking about something important was not zero. So nope. Silent giant it was.

My mana and Anima drained as I connected each wire to a different part, the image solidifying. Some were attached to legs, other to arms, others yet directly put into weapons. Inside the armor, Daniel's body was lying, relaxed and still with a thick cluster of cables exiting from the base of his skull and leading up, towards the ceiling. There it melded seamlessly with the stone.

The last part was beyond my control - it somehow happened. And now I had a guardian, or should I have said the Guardian, as the System suggested? It was pretty much stuck in this room, but powerful nonetheless…

The Soul-hive Guardian

This being encroaches on the domain of the Gods, combining the dungeon core expertise with the broken soul of a sentient. Such experiments were not unheard of, but none succeeded before.

As a result of this strange being was born - losing its status as one of the sentient races, but in the process becoming something more and more importantly - stronger. Broken pieces of Daniel Waltzer's soul were not mended but turned into a hive-like choir focused on serving his dungeon core master.

Not only the Guardian can attack with the weapons he was provided with, but its latent psionic ability has been awakened. It allows for communication and also creates another avenue of attack - the mental scream of anguish will hurt all, but the strongest beings.

Threat level: D++

{wE hAVe tO tALk soON wAndEreR. A DEal. soON.}

Hoh. It seems like I thought - another God was paying me attention. This one seemed a bit strange. But on the other hand, it was nearly a month since both Brighton or Mirabelle had spoken to me.

It’s not like I feel lonely, but I was thinking that they would give me some tips, or something at all. And now it looks like I’ve been left for the wolves.

Which is not a nice feeling at all.

***

Charles Blueflame, High Paladin of Order of Fates Untold

close to the Lost Territories

It was so unbearable. He thought while looking out from his carriage window. If this continues we will be late. A month already passed and the expedition is ready and at the move. We only had to take a few stragglers from the Kingdom. He sighed, remembering the dirty and weathered commoners he had to contend with. No matter. In the end, I will be the one to uncover the new dungeon. Now… where was I? He took another sip of expensive tea. The conditions were bad, but he would persevere. No freshly brewed beverages? No cakes and comfortable beds? No matter!

His thoughts were stopped by a small knock on the carriage door.

“Enter!” He ordered while looking at entering butler in an unfriendly fashion. “What news do you bring, Adam?”

“Master Charles.” The old man bowed while keeping up the appearances. “There are two things I must inform you of.”

“Bad or good?”

“One piece of news is good, others can be considered bad.” Butler lowered his eyes and waited for paladin response. Charles sighed.

“Good ones.”

“We had twenty Order knights, each with a squadron of five pages joining us today. Because of that our forces are up to 140 men, additionally, three of the mage-servants from your household joined us.”

“Bah! They’re just here for the glory!” Shouted young man, while throwing away his precious tea set. “To show the world that the Blueflames were the ones to tame this dungeon!” He shouted in frustration.

“There is no way to turn them back, master.”

“I know!” Gods dammit! All these vultures, coming for my dungeon! “If this were good news, then what do you consider bad?” He turned while wincing.

“We have a delegation from the rangers of Luna Kingdom.”

“Ugh.” Not the tree huggers. What do they want?! “Let them in.” He said helplessly, sitting down in the carriage, trying to look serious.

The door to carriage opened and a large man wearing animal skins entered. His eyes wandered for the moment and Charles Blueflame was sure that a spark of disdain appeared and immediately disappeared from his eyes. Yeah, fuck you too, barbarian.

“I’m called Binno, and I’m an 8th level druid in the service of the Scouting Legion.” He said, with a deep voice. The butler standing in the back looked shocked. 8th was nothing to scoff at, after all.

“Charles Blueflame, High Paladin of Order of Fates Untold and noble of Geinard Kingdom. I assume that you appeared at our camp to exchange pleasantries?” He knew it was rude, yet somehow this barbarian was easily getting on his nerves.

“No.” That was a rhetorical question, you idiot! Internally screamed Charles. Then the bigger man started to recite something from memory. “In accordance with the North Kingdom Alliance, I beseech you to help us with the extermination of a Death General which had been spotted by the Waltzer Castle ruins. Do you accept?” Young noble could’ve sworn that there was a hint of amusement in the druid's eyes.

“I accept.” He sighed.

Well fuck. A detour then.