The bones of the deear crunched as Fanv bit down. Sweet red blood dripped from her jaws as she tore large chunks out of the carcass. It was a fresh kill that she'd brought down herself. She purred in delight as she ate. Almost 2 weeks had passed since the bee-incident and things were looking good so far. The villagers had grown used to the concept of a Forest Guardian and its pack residing in the forest by now and the visvarg children were growing at a fast pace.

The skinny little children now looked to be in their teens at least, something that baffled Fanv. She was still not completely over the fact that they were her children. Being a mother to visvarg pups was nothing like she'd imagined being a human mother would be like. For one, the children didn't need to be constantly watched over, fed, or taken care of in any expected way. They hunted their own food. They were frighteningly good at hunting. They would form groups and split up to find suitable prey, then the group that found something would chase it into the waiting jaws of the other group.

The children had started transforming about a week ago. Most of them then stayed in their wolf form while some preferred their human form. Overall their human forms looked mostly androgynous, with a few exceptions. Some children looked more female than others while some looked more male. These exceptions were few though.

Getting the kids to wear clothes had been a chore. Most didn't like the silks getting in the way of their movements while hunting. Fanv suspected that they got their clothes torn and bloody intentionally just to make a point.

Snap.

The deear's rib cage gave way to Fanv's strong jaws. Crushing the bones to lap at the marrow was messy work and Fanv's favorite part of eating. There was something very satisfying about the way bones sounded as they broke and snapped. Her children seemed to share that opinion too as the remains of their prey often littered the tunnels in for of piles of bone shards.

The bloodclovers bloomed all around the carcass. They squirmed happily when blood and gore dripped down on them. Fanv watched them move in the non-existent breeze. Were they conscious? She bent her head down and sniffed at the plants. The black stalks and leaves brushed past her nose and caressed her snout. She felt the blood on her face dry as the blood got smeared on the plants. It was almost like being cleaned by an animal, except it was creepy and not an animal. Fanv shuddered.

A movement in the tunnel caught her eye just when she was about to take another bite of the deear. Some dryads were cautiously edging closer to her. They stopped when they noticed her stare. They watched each other for awhile without saying a word. The dryads rarely talked, unlike their leader, Dessi. Fanv snorted and turned back to her meal. She felt the dryads move behind her back.

The dryads sat down at a respectful distance from the feeding visvarg. Fanv didn't pay them any attention as they started picking and eating the blooming bloodclovers. They ate in complete silence, unlike Fanv who smacked and chewed loudly. Every time a bone snapped or sinew tore the dryads would throw her a glance as if to check if she was still ok with their presence. Being the apex predator of the dungeon was pretty nice. Dessi wasn't too happy about it. The Bansheep used to be the top dogs after all. Now the visvargs called the shots thanks to their superior speed and strength.

Dessi wouldn't have to worry about the pups for long though. Maker and Fanv had discussed it for some time now, the dungeon couldn't claim the children because of their high intelligence. Their instincts would make them resist even if they wanted to be claimed so there was only one thing to do. Once the children were grown up enough they would leave the dungeon to settle somewhere else. Feytail forest would eventually be completely claimed by the dungeon and unclaimed creatures residing in it always caused some discomfort. It hurt a bit to admit but having the children in the dungeon made Fanv feel uneasy. That went for Mikvel, Johna, Noah, and Krystal too. Every creature in the dungeon was constantly aware that they were in their territory and it made the back of their minds itch. It had been worse when the hostile adventurers invaded though since every creature saw them as an enemy and the still growing Maker practically screamed into their minds to get rid of them.

The children had to go. The uneasy feeling was better when there were fewer 'intruders' and they didn't want to stay anyway. The kids were just as eager to leave the dungeon and go make their mark on the world somewhere. Where would they go? Fanv racked her mind to remember the maps she'd studied during her time as a human. There was The Edge, the deadly forest north of Klepper and Lantop. No... To dangerous. There were many good reasons that forest had remained unclaimed territory for hundreds of years. Not even the elves dared live there! So what other places then? The continent was not a big one but crossing the sea was out of the question.

Whiskerwisp Forest to the northwest? But to get there they would have to cross many human cities. They would need to get past Fanfoss or somehow get into the Elven Kingdom Jovolon. But Jovolon is surrounded by their huge lake and the ancient wall. They'd have better luck getting through Fanfoss.

"Hmmm..."

The dryads glanced at Fanv but made no comment. Whatever the visvarg was doing, she could keep doing without them.

"Would they like living in the Rusten Plains? That's north of The Edge though and they say it's a nasty place with tons of monsters and barren lands..."

The dryads considered asking if Fanv was talking to them but quickly decided that it was not worth the effort. Likewise, Fanv didn't pay their silent, judging glares any attention. She was too busy deciding if she'd heard mostly horror stories about the Rusted Plains or not. She then spent more time trying to remember if Demon Pass was north of Jovolon, part of Yaikan Heights, or near the mountains to the east.

"I need a map..." was the conclusion she got to. Fanv stood up and stretched. She marveled at the strength of her body and thought back to how weak she'd been when she first turned and hadn't yet gotten used to her wolf form. Now she knew exactly how to use it and what it could do. She shook herself, grinning as she imagined the looks of envy the dryads must be giving her. Her pelt was so soft and fluffy now! So much better than the dull, moldy fur of the dryads.

She trotted off down the tunnel to find something to do. The sound of hooves stomping down on bones and gore echoed after her as the dryads fed the rest of her meal to the bloodclovers. Such a waste! And messy too!

Fanv coughed and spat out some fur that had gotten stuck between her teeth. Dryads are gross.

Maker was floating about in the dungeon. Despite her lazy appearance floating around in the air, she was actually hard at work. In her mind interfaces flashed around, telling her about the status of each and every creature in her domain. Pohc was close to evolving. 3 rodents had evolved into imps. A frightcrow had gained a new Skill, [Stealth]. The eels of the lake cave were growing and the latest batch of their eggs hatched 17 hours ago. The bumbleants found a vein of iron and a gas-filled cave that had previously been blocked.

Keeping track of the dungeon was fun. Maker let a part of her mind go on autopilot while it counted the amount of surviving eel spawn and calculated if the fish preying on the eels were too many or too few to maintain a steady ecosystem in the lake.

The free part of her mind drifted back to her talk with Mikvel some hours ago. She couldn't check his status since he was not claimed by the dungeon, but at this point, she counted him as one of her own. He lived in the dungeon after all and he seemed happy and in no need of leaving. He had told her about his progress

He had told her about his progress in learning magic. Shaping things into other things seemed to be the easiest function of his Affinity. Manipulating things to move was harder according to his experiences. Making a non-moving thing into something that moves was a challenge that required constant focus after all.

Then there was the new Skill he'd learned, most likely due to that one time he made the bumbleant corpse move and seem alive.

[Necromancy]

It was not an Affinity, like [Art] was. While [Art] was the element he was most suited to wield, [Necromany] was an element branching off of [Art]. To mold and move the dead could be seen as sort of art so it sort of made sense. Maker had little knowledge of magic other than what her instincts as a magical creature told her.

She gathered the info she had and tried to work it into a simple flow of words. Putting her feelings, instincts, and memories into words was probably the hardest thing she'd learned after becoming fully sentient and she needed the words to explain what her subconscious knew to her conscious.

So... If [Art] is an Affinity, and [Necromancy] is a Skill... What separates them? The definition of an Affinity? An element that the creature has a natural talent for understanding and using. A natural power. All actions using said element comes naturally and with ease.

A creature with [Storm] Affinity may control the weather. [Water] is an element branching off of [Storm]. A creature with the [Storm] Affinity may learn [Water] magic as Skill but not as an Affinity. Why? Because using water in the form of rain and clouds is related to the [Storm] Affinity. Water and blood is related so using [Water] magic to affect blood should be doable. But [Blood] magic is not related to [Storm]. Would one unlock the [Hydromancer] Skill then? Or [Hemomancy]??

No. If the [Storm] user doesn't have [Hydromancer] then they can't make the connection of [Water] and [Blood]... So use [Water] magic until [Hydromancy] is unlocked then go for [Hemomancy]? That sounds more right. Maybe create some typhoons and tsunamis until a greater understanding of [Water] is achieved, then deviate from [Storm] as much as possible while using [Water] magic to unlock [Hydromancy] as a Skill separate from the Affinity. The use of an element must be different enough from the intended use of the element related to the Affinity to create the need for a Skill for the related element. So use the element related to the Affinity incorrectly until the System corrects the problem by giving you a Skill to justify your knowledge of how to incorrectly use an element-

'Maker, please stop talking...'

'I can't keep up with what you're saying and it hurts my head...'

"Maaaaker...."

Maker looked down at Fanv and some rodents clutching their heads with pained expressions. It would seem she accidentally let her thoughts leak into her creatures' minds.

I am sorry. I did not realize I was talking aloud.

The rodents and visvarg still clutched their heads but nodded.

What brings you here? Do you need my help?

"Yes.... It's been some time now. Isn't it a good time to finally go meet the villagers? Reveal Mageon to them?"

Maker put her hand to her chin and thought. She spun a bit while sitting in the air to emphasize how deep in thought she was and how none of her thoughts were leaking into her creatures' minds this time. Her creatures looked only remotely impressed.

The caravan has left with Geffery as their temporary leader. Krystal will support us and Mikvel should be able to gain us the Mayor's favor...

Fanv looked at her expectantly.

...Yes, let us go meet them!