A few days later and although my dungeon hasn’t grown too much, the spiral tunnel system and slits expanding away from the tree allowed me to ignore the main dungeon between the dead trees roots, in favor of exploring the outside. However, when I notice the inhabitants of my dungeon acting agitated I stop looking through the mouses' eyes and return to my other creation. Everyone but the monsters are running around, hiding and even rushing deeper into the tunnels. Worried, I search for a reason but can’t find one.

Then, suddenly, a tremor. Growing in strength quickly.

The same tremor as the one that killed Wormy. The one I thought were footsteps. But this one is more constant, like a bunch of people running. I send some of the mice outside to look around for what is making them. Soon, mice stand on the edge of my territory, looking around for a possible cause while bugs fly around over them.

A boy wearing a white shirt catches my eye as he runs through the curtain of green. Following him is a group of three boys. They are yelling and throwing things at the one with the white shirt.

All four run by my tree without entering the territory. I notice the boy in front, exhausted and out of breath, is smaller than his pursuers who look no older than twelve.

“Humans,” I realize excitedly, “There are humans on this planet, and they even look the same as I remember.”

The group of three boys is wearing sports jackets and jeans. They could have overrun the boy a long time ago if they weren't worried about ruining their clothes.

The boy in the white shirt and dirty pants, even though he was smaller and less athletic was running away without any care for his well being. Jumping over roots and pushing through bushes. They were gone as suddenly as they came and I was just about to continue with my day when the small boy entered my territory on all fours.

He was sneaking forward, seeking to hide next to the dead tree. His pursuers were shouting at each other, searching for their lost target. He now had his back against the tree's bark, resting and catching his breath. His hands were busy searching for something inside his backpack and soon came up with an inhaler he greedily put in his mouth.

With a deep inhale he rested his head back and exhaled slowly. I could see his eyes jumping around as he searched for any movement or sound that will give the pursuers location away. Their voices were slowly getting weaker as they kept on moving forward, not knowing that their target turned around.

When the boy was sure that they were gone he got up, brushing the dirt off his clothes and taking another dose from his inhaler. He grabbed his backpack with one hand and stepped to leave.

His leg punched through the tunnel-riddled ground around the tree and broke through some of the empty spaces. He lost his footing and fell forward. The section of the dungeon he dropped on collapsed underneath his weight, crushing hundreds of my inhabitants. And if the mana influx from their death wasn’t enough, the sudden exposure of my dungeon to the outside sealed the deal, knocking me unconscious at the worst possible moment.

_______________

Pov change

The ground beneath his leg gave way, making him fall and somehow create a crater on the ground. He was holding his backpack in one hand and an inhaler in the other, so when he lost his balance he had no way to correct himself or at least break the fall with his hands.

His face hit the ground hard, leaving him slightly disoriented and covered in dirt and dead leaves. He hurt but he kept silent. He didn’t scream as he fell either, afraid Tim and his lackeys would hear him and come back. Slowly he pushed himself up with his hands and looked around to see what happened. The afternoon sun was high in the sky, illuminating each and every wiggling worm and scurrying beetle underneath him.

“Ahhh” Jason yelled from disgust as he saw the mass of worms and bugs that was rising from the crater.

He regretted doing it immediately but he was too freaked out, yelling and jumping back before he could think. He felt something move on his hand and started waving both arms around wildly while kicking with his legs. Various critters fell off him and scurried back underground.

He didn’t finish cleaning himself up when he felt his chest start to tighten. It was coming, an attack. He reached for his inhaler but couldn’t find it. He remembered using it before his fall, so he searched for it, finding it next to the crater.

He felt something crawl over his skin but ignored it. He would take care of it later. Now he had more important things to worry about. Like air. Jason loved air, probably more than most who just took it for granted. Never experiencing the panic that came over you once air was no longer available.

But Jason knew the feeling, the tightness in his chest that grew in strength, constricting his bronchi and leaving him breathless. He had to inhale now, before it got worse and he wouldn’t be able to breathe at all.

But the inhaler was covered by bugs, disgusting and slimy, can he retrieve it without touching them? Maybe the attack will pass away on its own. That happened on rare occasions. Sometimes it would begin but disappear without turning into a real episode, only a warning that it was ever present, waiting to ruin his life.

-But not today,- Jason thought, -I exerted myself too much today. The inhaler is my only choice.-

Steeling his trembling hands he bolts to the inhaler, grabbing and brushing away the dirt and critters off of it in a rush and inhaling deeply. Immediately his chest relaxed and he gulped down air greedily, not caring that bugs were crawling up his legs.

Shaking himself off he decided it was time to leave this weird place, so he reached down to get his bag. But from underneath it something jumped at him, making him fall back.

The rodent bit him on his hand before Jason could throw it off of him. He jumped to his feet right as the thing was getting ready to rush him again. It was black and had red eyes, together with a pair of long and sharp incisors, looking more like a monster than an animal.

He wanted to run but the thing was already moving towards him so he did the only thing he could think off. The only thing he actually managed to do well in today's team tryouts. He kept his eyes on the ball and kicked it as hard as he could.The rodent tried to jump away but the foot connected and launched it off the ground.

The black creature sailed through the air but before it could drop back down it started to break apart, turning into dust that was scattered by the breeze. Leaving Jason staring, confused and afraid at the spot the monster was supposed to fall in. His body started moving on its own then, deciding for him that it was time to run.

He remembered his backpack just in time and grabbed it before sprinting the hell away.

___________

When I returned to awareness it was already night time. I don’t know how much time passed but my mana pool was full and I could level up if I wanted. Deciding not to rush I first check on the aftermath of the event that knocked me out in the first place.

It wasn’t good. Not only did I lose a large chunk of my territory, I also somehow lost a monster mouse. Which made no sense as the tunnels that collapsed weren't big enough for the monster to be in in the first place.

Sending a few mice outside to look around I notice the boys inhaler and realize that he must've killed my creation somehow. Or maybe he ran away and it followed him and went out of my connections range, disappearing into nothingness.

“It’ll explain why there’s no corpse. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if something ate it, this is a forest after all.” A forest I can use to my advantage and instead of fixing the crater I think it’s better to go forward instead. “To start the dungeon for real. The first floor of many.”

Grabbing the system of tunnels between the roots, I pull them down, an easy thing to do with only my diminishing mana pool as a limiting factor. An Inverted pyramid 2m tall and 3x2m^2 for a base. The pyramids area full of tunnels and the rooms they connect, holding all manner of animals, slides through the earth until its 10m deep. Where it once used to be is somehow replaced with earth, making the dead roots under the tree, the ones around which my old dungeon tunnels looped around, now look as good as new.

“A new start, both for me and the tree,” I say when I see the small new roots that are already growing from the old. Inching deeper and wider, trying to reach more mana. And as the mana permeates inside the tree a connection starts to form. Too weak right now for me to focus on but enough to let me know that the tree is alive. It is part of my dungeon now, growing as I grow. Using the ambient mana to thrive.

“I know now, what I’ll create.”

The boy could be dangerous. Whether knowingly or not he is the catalyst to my discovery. He might not know yet what I am but he knows where I am and that I am something, something he doesn’t understand and children are curious in nature. If the forgotten inhaler is not enough to bring him back, his curiosity is.

He may be too afraid to return alone, or at all, but he will talk about what happened here and this will spark their curiosity as well. Eventually, someone will come to satisfy it and locate my dungeon core. My choices are, defending the dungeon from an ever-escalating level of threat, running away and starting in a new place hoping that I’ll never be found out, or hiding deep underground and making a place that will never link to the outside.

All options sounded boring to me, so I thought up another.

I don’t need to be afraid of their curious nature. Let them discover me. If there’s one thing I understand in this world is the need for entertainment and instead of fighting against them I’ll satisfy their itch. Going above and beyond their wildest dreams. And when they discover my entrance and what I am, their curiosity will grow and as long as I keep making new things to explore their curiosity will make them come back. Leading to a never-ending amount of interesting things that are sure to satisfy my boredom.

“And what do boys want? Adventure!”

The sense of adventure and the thrill of discovery when they are young. The chance of love and the fear of death when they are older. I can supply two of them and help them achieve the third.

Watching them grow stronger as they explore my creation is not enough, I want to help them grow. Because the stronger they will grow the more things I can throw at them.

“There will be four levels of difficulty. Bronze-rank for children, challenging but not dangerous. Silver-rank for the teenagers, dangerous but not deadly. Gold-rank for adults, dangerous and deadly. With the last but not least being the Named threats, people or groups that will be aiming at my core.

“Those I’ll destroy in such a horrible way that it will make sure none will ever think of trying it again.”

Spending the dungeon points I got with my last achievement I purchase a perk called {Appraisal} for my [Mana Vision] skill. It allows me to see a similar status screen like my own, giving me information about the general strength, age, and a short description of whatever I use it on. There are similar perks that give even more additional information but those are too expensive. Especially the one that can show an object or individuals true name, that one is almost as bad as the {Reality Dungeon} perk.

This way I can change the threat level of the dungeon individually. Ordering some monsters not to attack certain people. Death would still be a possibility, but anyone 16 and younger will never be killed by one of my monsters or traps.

With my plan finalized I start working on what would be the first adventure I throw at them. My mind shaped the first floor around what I think a child would enjoy. A secret passage, a cave to explore and monsters to fight.

The floor should train him physically, in preparation for future challenges. The boy was small and scrawny and before I can challenge him I need to challenge his body. An obstacle course that will force his body to grow and adapt to meet the physical demand my future challenges will require of him.

Traps that will train his awareness and monsters to increase his reaction speed. An obstacle he will not be able to face alone and in the end, a final test to warn him of the dangers to come. But a second floor will have to wait. One floor at a time.

My mana pool is almost empty already but there’s still so much to do. With my last points of mana I follow the newly expanded spiral the monster worm created and make slit like openings to the outside along its path. I then create mushrooms on the forest floor next to the slits. They can only grow where there is access to my mana, so they’ll be an effective way to mark the borders of my territory.

“And at night they’ll glow bright, telling everyone that the area is special, that my territory is magical, all while lighting up the path to my entrance. Welcoming all those who wish to come and sate their curiosity through my help.

________________

Jason ran home as fast as his body allowed him. He forgot about the inhaler because of the monster that attacked him. His spare inhaler was back in his room so there he rushed.

-Dad will be pissed,- he thought as he entered their wooden cabin, taking of his shoes and hurrying to his bedroom where he found the inhaler on his nightstand, -Can’t believe I lost another inhaler…-

Throwing his dirty clothes in the laundry bin and putting on his home shorts. They had an easily accessible thigh pocket for his inhaler to slide into. He then washed his arms with soap and went into the kitchen to get the first aid kit.

“Oww ow owww,” he whined the whole time as he disinfected the shallow bite wound and bandaged it. Although his father refused to take him on his hunting trips like he did with his older brother, Jason was still taught basic survival skills and using the first aid kit was one of those.

While waiting for the grilled cheese sandwich to toast, he called his father telling him he isn’t feeling well and that he won’t come to the shop today. Dad didn’t press for details, he just asked him how the tryouts went in a disappointed tone.

He knew it was foolish of him, he knew his dad thought he had no chance. -I know that as well, so why can’t he at least try to believe in me.-

“I didn’t get to finish today, but I have another chance tomorrow,” Jason tells him. He doesn’t need to know he didn’t finish because of an asthma attack.

His father didn’t ask anything else. Just sighed and hung up, making Jason feel tired. Nothing was ever good enough for him. He would never be good enough for him. Unlike his star athlete brother, Jason could never make his hunter father feel anything but disappointment. He tried getting the highest grades in his class but when his achievements were always overshadowed by his brother scoring a touchdown he gave up. He still got good grades, he just never worked hard to get any better. Being smart wasn’t going to earn him his family's respect.

Both his father and brother were the stereotypical men. Strong, dependent and silent. Never asking for help and never talking about their feelings. They despised weakness and never complained. Jason’s asthma was like a death sentence to him. His only family, pitying him and wanting nothing from him but to blend in and not cause trouble.

Jason lay down in his bed, munching on his grilled cheese sandwich and remembering what it was like before his mother died. He was tired. More tired than he has ever been.

Joining his middle schools football tryouts was not the worst snap decision he made, deciding to sneak after his father on one of his hunting trips and getting lost in the forest still held the top position, but the humiliation he experienced today certainly came close. He somehow managed to go through it without an asthma attack up until the very end, saving him a little face, but it didn’t erase the fact that he was the physically weakest of all the 6th years. He was even weaker than most of the girls.

“Which the coach said was ok. Girls matured earlier he said. Something to do with hormones making them grow up faster than boys.”

But that didn’t matter to Jason. He was the only one of the boys who did worse than the girls. When his brother hears about it, he’ll tell dad who will take me to the doctor again. And since there’s little chance of him not hearing about it, with him being the star quarterback of the little hunting town we lived in, doing better in the second half of the tryouts tomorrow is a must.

“But can I do it? Especially after what happened in the forest,” Jason thinks as he looks at his bandaged hand.

He closes his eyes and sighs. He’s so tired. Almost exhausted from fighting for his family's approval. And he was angry. Angry because he knew he could do it. He could prove to them that he had more than just smarts, that he could outplay his brother and outhunt his father. He could prove to them he was the best at everything if he didn’t have this stupid disease holding him back.

It was frustrating, a word he googled when he was trying to understand why he was so angry all the time. He was frustrated and tired. Or tired of being frustrated. It was confusing sometimes, trying to figure out what he was feeling.

“So, so tired…” he closed his eyes as his tired body told him it was time to sleep.

Only to be rudely interrupted by a voice in his mind, telling him he leveled up.

[Fighter Class Obtained!]

[Fighter Level 1!]

[Skill – Basic Constitution obtained!]

[Skill – Power Kick obtained!]

“What was that?”