Veraform was cornered. This man, Kedipaxi, made a compelling argument though.

“What do I lose in this deal? And what do I gain?”

Kedipaxi’s hand rested on Veraform as he shifted, likely from the bloodloss. “There’s lots of things, but I’ll give you the basics. It’s a very physical deal. Both of us will be bound to it’s terms. Neither can hurt the other, though there are ways around that. You could make a deal with someone else to have them hurt me and I could tell others your secrets. Additionally we will be mentally linked so I can communicate with you more easily, at least while I’m in here.”

“Tell me the costs. I want to know what I'm really losing here” Veraform was impatient.

“I’m getting there. There will be the initial cost. You’ll lose some amount of souls and mana, more depending on how powerful I am. Expect a big loss.” Veraform opened his menu to take an inventory of his souls.

He was baffled at what he saw. So many people had died within his walls, and he had the KP to show for it, 194, but he was lacking the souls. He only had 4. One of which was bound to Mechamputax, or at least would be once he resummoned him. He assumed he lost one when Richter pulled the blade from within him. That had felt like vomiting.

“Wait. Where are my souls? Eight or nine people died but I only gained 3 souls.” Veraform was enraged. Kedipaxi could feel the emerald heating up under his touch.

“A temporary setback. You’ll regain what was lost seven fold once I can get to work. Accept the deal Veraform.”

A notification.

Wow!

Looks like someone wants you to be their patron!

Do You ACCEPT

⌖꧂▋

Why were there more symbols?

It didn’t matter. This was the deal. Was it really a deal if he had no choice?

Yes.

That feeling came back. The feeling he had when Richter pulled the sword from him, but this time it was worse. He felt his hunger growing as every drop of mana was removed from him. Then came the souls. Beautiful orbs of lavender and crimson flowing out of him and into Kedipaxi.

9 lesser souls.

1 slighter soul.

2 minor souls. Sett and Zamp were gone, no longer in Veraform’s grasp.

Veraform had not known loss like this yet. He was losing something that didn’t replenish. Yet it didn’t stop. A common soul, the one from the mage girl who dropped the Iceborn heart, and then another, one of the men who formed the flesh slug.

“NO! THEY ARE MINE!” Veraform projected his voice at Kedipaxi who had stepped away.

“Enough. This cost is trivial. You’ll see in time that it was worth it.” His wounds had healed, even the ones that hadn’t come from fighting within the dungeon. He turned to leave. “I’m going to go find powerful creatures to give you. Expand as best you can. When you get a third floor you will be given a choice. Do not make the decision until I return for you to consult me.”

Veraform was silent. He felt as if he had just become an underling. He was stripped of his resources with only a vague promise of power.

He needed to resummon his minions. He needed mana. That took time.

As time passed he resummoned his cheapest minions first.

7 rats for free, a giant rat for 4 mana, then Leo for 4 mana.

When the small creature emerged from the portal of one of the sigil rooms he had wings again. Only a weak “thank you” escaped his lips. Veraform knew the imp was scared. Veraform could have died and what would have happened to Leo then? And what has happened to Sett?

Veraform pushed the thoughts away. There was so much to lose. He would not allow anyone to delve so deep again.

Next was Zelphy, for 4 mana.

She dropped from the fairy tree and dove for the sap that fairies tended to gorge themselves on.

“Oh what a marvelous day! Master has a new friend! And they promise even more friends! Oh to live in such a world!” As happy and naive as ever. After having her fill of nectar, Zelphy fluttered about attempting to lose herself in the woods as she talked to imaginary friends.

All that was left was Mechamputax, with a cost of 120 mana. It was going to be a while. He waited and planned.

*

Mechamputax emerged from the portal with little fanfare, though he did emerge twice to account for his second body. Afterwards Veraform waited for his mana to fill. During that time he could occasionally hear voices and a ruckus coming from outside his entrance. It sounded like they were building something. Occasionally there would be someone who would enter the dungeon. Veraform noted that the INTRUDER notification returned, and so, most likely, would the shimmering wall if ever there were enough people.

The people who entered were the short armored girl who retreated during the last invasion, and a hearty bearded man with a pot belly. The man wouldn’t fight but the girl, who Veraform learned was named Marissa, would defend him. She was fast despite her armor, bouncing from wall to wall.

Anytime Mechamputax revealed himself they would retreat. They seemed to have something that gave them resistance to Mechamputax’s paralysis as well. Veraform simply had Leo and the rats engage her. The fights sped up his mana gains even when leo or the giant rat was slain, so he decided it best to not force them to retreat.

Once at full mana Veraform engaged them with Mechamputax. No reason fighting unless to kill or gain mana, though she escaped quickly and efficiently every time.

Veraform added three loot containers to the second floor, dropping his mana regen to six as well as meeting the requirements for a third floor.

Next he purchased the new floor. The now familiar flares burst from his entrance and with a fwoosh they were gone. The staircase was in his core room. This time instead of rotted wood the stairs were inside of a living tree that extended into the ground 30 or so feet. This dropped his mana regen to four. At this rate a fourth floor would put his regen in the negatives. How was he supposed to get bigger after these next few moves?

Quickly, he purchased four rooms on the third floor. Upon reaching the last one he got the notification Kedipaxi had talked about.

Wow!

You’re getting big! Expanding into the magical realm of dungeon space gives you the chance to find cool new things!

You found a connection to [mana wellspring] and [﷼✡웃]!

Be careful, you can only choose one though!

These messages were bizarre. They kept adding new things and systems, only to discard or change them later. Veraform couldn’t complain too much though. He was getting rewarded for doing things he already intended to do. It seemed obvious that Veraform should choose mana wellspring but Kedipaxi said to wait. Perhaps the no-longer-a-leper knew something Veraform didn’t. Veraform decided to wait, not because he was told to, but because he thought it was right.

At least that’s what he told himself.

Now, for the main event. Veraform opened his menu.

________________________

Veraform

Lesser souls(unused/total): 0/8

Slighter Soul: 0/1

Minor souls: 0/2

Common soul: 1/2

Mana:252/255

Passive mana regen: 4

Abilities: Consume, Materialize, Expand, Possess, Create loot, create boss

Materials: Packed dirt, stone

materials(minions):rat, giant rat, rabbit, imp, winged imp, pixie, salamander, Star mites, fairy dragon, rabbit

Contracts: 1

Special minions:

Bonework Demon: Requires the fresh corpse of a ward who went unprotected.

Flesh mound: puddled corpses

KP: 194

Reagents

Iceborn heart LVL 2

Room types: Summoning sigil, Rotten pantry, stairs, Fairy tree, lost woods

Floor specializations:

Rat: 40 KP

Demon: 100 KP

Kobold: 50 KP

Fairy: obtained, 50 mana

Research options:

Giant rat:obtained

Spined rat: 5 kp

Displaced rat: 5 KP

Rotten pantry: 5 kp

Plague rat 5 kp

Dire rat: 10 kp

Winged rat: 5 kp

Will o’wisp: 5 kp

Glamour Pixie 5 KP

Winged imp: obtained

Clawed imp: 5 kp

Summoning sigil: obtained

Sacrificial altar:20 kp

________________________

The menu was a mess. Sometimes KP was capitalized and other times it wasn’t. Sometimes there were colons and other times there weren’t. Some abilities simply weren’t listed despite Veraform being able to do them. The internal logic of the system seemed broken.

That was irrelevant to his current goal.

For 100 KP Veraform could get the Demon floor specialization, and with it hopefully unlock a new creature to invest common souls into.

Veraform made the purchase.

His mind rang with the notifications and the floor burst into a misty purple glow..

Unlocked: Sacrificial altar

Unlocked: Dark Pixie

Unlocked: Whispering Shadow

Unlocked: Tainted church

Unlocked: Cultist

Available for research: greater imp 15 KP

Available for research: Bonework Devil 50 KP

As the messages appeared the rooms began to shift and change. The one outside the stairs room became a grand cathedral with pews and candles and great stained glass windows with gentle lights leaking through. Another room’s walls solidified into stone blocks with a table and various tools and chains. Yet another became a sigil room full of bowls and runes and candles.

Veraform was filled with that familiar excitement. There was much to test and explore. He reopened his menu and found several things of note. The cultist was a special minion that required a “willing non contracted worshipper with a common soul”. Additionally the greater imp cost 20 KP instead of 15.

Finally there was a new regent. Vile blood LVL 1.

Veraform thought on what this meant. This would be the power spike he needed to slaughter those arrogant adventurers when they returned.

He materialized the reagent in Mechamputax’s chamber. It was a small vial filled with a red liquid so dark it might as well be black.

“For you,” he told the monstrosity.

Mechamputax shuddered over to the vial and upon touching it, the vial shattered and Mechamputax started oozing Blood from cracks in his bones. When the blood would drip off and hit the ground it fizzled. Mechamputax experimentally jumped to his other body, and the blood on him hardened and the flecks floated away like dust in the wind, while the now inhabited body began leaking.

The corrosiveness of the liquid appeared to be the only quality gained by Mechamputax.

Veraform noticed Leo fly over and land beside some of the blood that landed on the ground. He experimentally poked it with a bare finger before flinching away and putting the finger in his mouth, which only made his tongue burn. The poor creature licked the ground to escape the pain before flying off to a sigil room to drink whatever vile fluid was in the bowls.

The vile blood was gone from Veraform’s menu. Disappointing, but expected.

Veraform then manifested the Iceborn heart for Mechamputax. As the skeleton approached the heart, it floated up and towards the creature's chest. Once inside it embedded itself in the bones.

Mechamputax raised its arms as ice and snow began manifesting and swirling around the creature. A layer of frost quickly began growing on the walls and the candles were blown out. Mechamputax swapped to its decoy body and the blizzard remained with its other body. Now there was a difference between the original and decoy body. Mechamputax swapped again and lowered it’s arms, halting the storm.

Veraform still had more things to test. There were new things to research and rooms to use. Before he could begin however, he was met with the familiar yet startling sense that someone had intruded into his dungeon.

INTRUDER

There were four of them. Marissa, the pot bellied man who didn’t fight, Thant, and the archer from when Veraform killed that girl, Sam. Strange that he wasn’t in the large raiding party.

The barrier formed to cover the entrance.

This would be as good a time as any to let Mechaputax test his newfound power.