sooooooooooooooo.......... i COULD'VE wrote more for this side story, but it had hit the 5 page mark and i was starting to run out of motivation to write more. really i would've just gone back through all the prior chapters just from Instinct's POV instead of Waynor's, and that doesn't really add anything new to the story you guys cant just infer from what you read and what i gave you in this chapter....... that's why i didn't do that and instead stopped this side story where i thought it would be best ended, just before Waynor woke up.

oh btw for anyone that was wondering Ralt is male. and Vera will be a returning character at some point, and yes she did tell the guild the dungeon talks, that'll be important and you'll see why soon.....

anyway it should be fairly obvious to see how Instinct changes and becomes something that if not more human, at least less of a cold flat being controled by logic, reason, and some vague purpose......

ENJOY!!!!

???

I had noticed something strange as I expanded into my 6th floor. There was another dungeon territory.

At first I pulled back out of fear, I was far too young and small at this point to risk angering or infringing on an older and larger dungeon. The knowledge I was born with informed me that dungeon battles were often an all-out live or die conflicts for dungeons, and I would not be able to accomplish my purpose if I were to die.

My purpose was simple. My purpose was to exist and to grow.

There were things that impeded this purpose though, like the seven races I know from the information I was born with already stored in my database.

Personally I had only ever encountered one of these races, the ones known as humans. They would periodically invade my dungeon, and I would attempt to kill them for my own amusement and the power there deaths would bring me. It was difficult with only a few traps and corrupted animals, but I had killed a total of 7 humans since I had been born. I wanted that number to grow as I did.

But that couldn’t happen if a stronger dungeon killed and absorbed my core here.

I observed the other dungeon territory for a time, and I soon discovered it only spanned the size of a small core.

I was relieved and at first planned to destroy this infant core, but I soon decided to absorb it and use it to grow and reinforce my own core.

I expanded my territory around it and reached out to the core with my power directly.

I tried to subdue the will inside that had yet to even come to awareness.

I failed.

I kept trying.

I kept failing.

The other core's will brushed against my own.

My core cracked.

This other core was obviously the one better suited to exist between the two of us.

I attempted one last effort to incorporate it into myself.

It failed again.

I gave up.

The will of the new core became aware and the waves from its new awareness pummeled my own will.

My core shattered, and my dungeon collapsed in on itself. The different dimensions woven together as my six floors came to nothing. I had lost my purpose and in the last moments before my will would have followed them, something touched me.

It took me in, began to incorporate my will into its own.

It was confused.

It had no information from any parent dungeon in its database.

It was a self-created core.

It was blank, but it also had information hovering beyond its reach.

It grasped at bits and pieces of the information I did not think it could reach.

It took some of the information deep into itself.

My will and thus I, began to become one with it.

It did something to our merging.

It was a being of singularity that rejected my will in favor of its own.

It took nothing of my will, but it’s own will grew nonetheless.

I spoke with it.

It was still confused.

I shared with it my understanding of what was happening and what we were.

It took this in.

My will began to fade to nothing inside the vastness of its own will and being.

We spoke more.

I was nothing.

It gave me a name.

I was Instinct.

It gave me a purpose.

My purpose was to exist and by existing to aid it in any and all things it may require.

It was naïve to allow me to continue existing inside it.

It was naïve but it was also kind, something I understood only from the information I had stored on humans.

I liked it, and I liked my new purpose.

It asked where it was located.

I was excited to explain this to it.

It attempted to name itself. It failed, yet also did not fail.

It was still in the naming process even as it absorbed more power.

Its core is close to breaking from the strain.

It kept reaching for more information from what I understood as simply beyond.

It would pull in new information and then it would change slightly.

With each thing it pulled in, it added to its will and became more.

It was able to name itself. I had not ever considered doing such a thing as it seemed impossible.

It was named Waynor now.

Waynor was dormant now to heal its damaged core, and I was able to control some of Waynor’s abilities as a dungeon.

I decided that it was not my place to do so. My purpose was simply to exist and by existing to aid Waynor in any and all things it may require.

I waited for Waynor to awaken.

I waited for a chance to fulfill my purpose again.

It and I along with it came to the surface as the outside world changed.

While Waynor was dormant, I watched the earth in the distance rise until it seemed to touch the sky.

I began to sort through Waynor’s stored information.

I understood very little of it.

I began to try gathering information I had stored in my database that I believed would help me to understand Waynor.

I had compiled almost the entirety of my stored information and memories of humans.

Earth came from above and covered Waynor’s core.

Waynor’s core began to destroy itself as it no longer had an opening to the surface.

I thought Waynor’s core would be broken and I would no longer have a purpose again. That I would become nothing once more.

I would not allow this to be. It was my purpose to exist and by existing to aid Waynor in any and all things it may require. Waynor now required me to save its core from destruction.

Waynor’s dormancy helped to heal the damage of it breaking down, but I still did not have the necessary time needed to save it as I was now.

That was why I remade myself so that I could.

I took in more of Waynor and cast aside more of what I was as a dungeon. I also brought in and incorporated the information I had gathered to better understand Waynor.

I ended, my will ceased to be……..

Instinct

I was born anew from the efforts of the old Instinct. Better for fulfilling my purpose in every way, I was also now able to think of and do what I must to save Waynor’s core body.

I used what was shed from Waynor’s breaking core to make myself a new body. It was a body that was a faux-dungeon core but also served to hold and support Waynor’s core.

I had to do this first as all I was able to do on my own while Waynor was dormant was grow its core with power. Using Waynor’s current state I was able to take advantage of that ability to not grow Waynor’s core but an entirely new sort of core body that I could then use to save its original core body. It was a plan that no dungeon would ever consider and was utterly illogical, but since the only logical and rational solution was to accept the destruction of Waynor’s core..... I refused that course of thought.

When I had roughly completed the new body I made a connection between it and Waynor permanently tying the two cores. The new core I created would always be subordinate to Waynor’s, but that was fine with me as in exchange I would be able to use the abilities of a dungeon as long as Waynor allowed it.

Since Waynor was both dormant and dying, it couldn’t really give its input on matters currently, I thus would have permission by default.

I moved my will out of Waynor’s core, through the connection with the new core body, and into the core body itself. Once inside I used power to make a small opening in the earth above our core bodies, one that was small enough that none of the seven races or any animals could ever fit through it to pose a threat to Waynor.

Waynor’s core stopped breaking down, and went back to healing itself. I went back to waiting for it to awaken, but this time I was not idle.

I made a room and a pedestal to hold us off the floor with some of the power Waynor had, though I kept things simple as I didn’t wish to waste Waynor’s power without his consent.

I also spent time exploring all the human memories I had stored, and used them as references to better understand some of the information I picked up from Waynor. I lived through the lives of many different humans, explorers, warriors, merchants, the young, the old, and even the “good” and the “evil” as well. The only common tie was every memory and life it contained came from a female. I quickly came to the conclusion that I must be female as well, as that was the only explanation as to way the parent dungeon who left these memories to me would have them all be this same gender.

It was a simple discovery but explained much about myself and I began to identify far more with the lives in those memories. I learned concepts and emotions from them. These new emotions and concepts even helped me to better understand the information I had on Waynor, but even with the perspectives of humans and a normal Dungeon I was still unable to fully understand Waynor. It was like it had qualities like humans but at the same time it had those same qualities like a dungeon. I eventually simply concluded that Waynor was a very strange dungeon.

From the information I had on Waynor, I discovered that Waynor understood and had concepts for emotion, but to a far lesser degree than a human and far greater degree than a dungeon. I had even surpassed it in the concepts of emotion and my understanding of them. I decided that this surpassing of Waynor was fine, it would just help me further my purpose.

With my greater understanding of Waynor I learned that it found great joy in learning new things and things it found to be beautiful. When I learned this I devoted myself to learning and understanding everything my database contained to aid it and bring it joy, as well as making the room around us more “beautiful”.

I also put an extraordinary effort into making my core body into something Waynor would find beautiful, modeling the part holding Waynor’s core after the best looking hands of any humans I had memories for. I sculpted my body into the shape of a young females immaculate hands raised in supplication to hold Waynor’s core, I then added an artistic, elegant, and winding body that had six elegantly curved support legs resting on our pedestal. I judged it to be a Beautiful work of art, and I thought that Waynor would like it and thus me. I was also fond of the design as it was like I was holding Waynor in my own hands, but still recognizing my place under it by raising Waynor’s core up in a gesture of holy supplication. It seemed very appropriate to the way I viewed things between Waynor and myself.

It was around that time I realized that my feelings went further than just wanting to aid and support Waynor. I reexamined the memories of many humans and came to understand that I felt the emotion of love for Waynor, but more than that I was “in love” with it.

This discovery didn’t really change anything for me, but it did bring me a sort of relief and closer to put a concept to my feelings towards Waynor. It was a nice feeling and I enjoyed being in love, but I wouldn’t let it distract me from my purpose….. At least not I wouldn’t let it TOO much.

oh and i am looking for some ideas on what some of the levels (again 10 floors for every level) should be like. if you want to help out with this include things like level theme, environment, traps, and the basic three set of mobs that go with it (original, and even sometimes insane or silly stuff is helpful too..... worst it can do is make me chuckle from the idea, and they might help inspire some other thing i do even if i dont include them).

i would say that i would credit the commenter for their ideas when we get to said levels, but honestly i already have a lot of ideas kicking around that might be a lot like or the same as some of what gets suggested.... Plus i probably wont remember or bother to check back to see who gave me the stuff i didn't already think of when we get to that level point in the story, soooooo......

just know you helped out if you get to a chapter and go "Hey i remember suggesting something like this a while back. Cool."and take that as your credit, ok?

cool.

now i'm going to go see if i can finish and release chapter 6 by today..... oh and eat food, thats important too.... not starving.....

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Author out....