"Shut up Carl, just watch the fight!" Bloodfang hopped from one foot to another, eager to see some action. Except he and I were highly disappointed.

Instead of them battling to the death, which I was highly eager to see by the way, the lizard thing approached Edge slowly, snarling the whole time before lowering his head and bent the knees. Of which cracked and popped from new movement.

"I ssssseak passssage," the thing hissed.

"It talks!" I yelped.

With a hurtful look, the lizard looked up, "Of coursssse Father." Okay now I feel like an asshole. I mean, for some reason I thought he was just a monster, but I forgot he's my child as well. I better make sure it gets situated with the basics real quick so we can get back to important matters, like watching them kick each others ass.

"I'm assuming you don't have a name?" I asked knowingly.

"You are correctttt, Father."

"Well for now own, you shall be called," I make Fang lower his head so that we can whisper back and forth my idea real quick, which he says no to of course and responds with another, much better name. Fine, I named the first one anyways. "Azure." Raising his head, I swear I saw his plated quills pulse with a quick blue light.

"A wonderful name, Father. Thank you," it said happily.

"Now I want you two to duke it out with everything you've got..WAIT!" I yelled as they were preparing to pounce on each other, Edge's sharp fists raised in a boxing stance while Azure coiled up, ready to jump. "What happens if one of you die? I mean, you'll be okay right?" I asked hopefully to which Edge helpfully responds by ripping open his hardened chest to show a small orb of liquid fire pulsing inside of him with lots of thick tissue surrounding it.

"This is my core, Father. It is what defines me as a boss, and if I were to die it would leave this body and Spawn once more in the Blood of Fire in which I would be reborn, stronger than before." Huh, kinda sounds like a phoenix to me, that seems to OP to me.

"The sssssame for me, Father. I might not come back a Cobalt Drake, but a form of sssssimilar or ssssstronger nature will work. Asssss long assss the sssshell isss powerful enough to hold my ssssoul," the Drake finished.

Awesome. So reviving bosses that are immortal and continue to grow stronger? I feel like this is too good to be true. Which of course it is.

"But, the only reason why they can do so is because they're named bosses. Most Dungeons can only name bosses that have earned it, like struggling against a group much stronger than itself or being unique in some fashion. I suppose that you're going to put a Heart of Stone somewhere in here and that boss... what's wrong with you guys? Fang asked.

At the mention of Heart of Stone, both Azure and Edge went on high alert, scanning the room frantically.

"The beassssts of rock and metal are to be feared," Azure hisses.

"They are incredibly deadly, Lords of War that are not be trifled with," Edge adds. Well now I gotta have it. But with my energy level now close to being empty again, I guess all I can do is wait. And watch these two fight!

"Relax, you two still got quite some time before they make an appearance. So, what do you say? Ready to put on a show?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I built a couple of raised seats on the offhand side of the no man's land between the two territories for me and Fang. Not the most comfortable seat for my loving familiar but it's all I know how to mess with for now on so he can suck it.

"I really need to tell you how to make some more comfortable chairs, my ass is getting sore," Fang complained for what I knew was the hundredth time.

"Will you shut up about the damn seat? We can experiment later but for right just be quiet, it's about to start!" That seemed to shut him up because now he was leaning forward, his tail swinging back and forth like a dog. Of course he'd kill me if I told him that, but it was kinda cute.

Sudden movement caught my eye and I was in the zone. From above, we watched Edge who's dark body did a good job at blending in with the Ember Grass that was several feet taller than the outer grass, approach and stop at the last bit of tall grass. Looking over at the other side, we saw the slow moving body of Azure stalking closer to the edge, its clear blue quills blending in with the ground and fauna growing. Sometimes he would move behind a mount and it would magnify on his quills, to which would further disorient you because those would be glassy too. All in all, you had an idea where he was, but not quite sure exactly.

When Azure stopped and it seemed that was the furthest he would go, only the sound of bubbling liquid and the cracking of ice could be heard from either side. Apparently patience wasn't one of Edge's strong suits and he bolted towards the other side with loud angry stomps that did more to announce his approach than any roar. But he wasn't alone. A flood of large glass traced Fire Ants followed in his wake and several new Frawks dive bombed from above, leaving ash trails behind their smoldering feathers.

In response to this wave of burning rage, Azure blazed forward from his side, frozen impressions of his claws in the ground wherever he landed. Behind him, several pale skinned toads leaped into no man's land from behind the mounds, leap frogging towards the other side in quick bursts. Small monkeys with frozen clubs that were hanging from Icicles above, threw themselves towards the other side with their clubs raised high, ready to smash them down when they landed.

Like titans, the two bosses collided and the area around them began to turn into a dead zone. Because anyone who got in their way ended up dead. Edge was tackled by the faster Azure who's pale claws pierced Edge's hardened sides. Before Azure could angle his head to bite a chunk out of Edge, he grabbed Azure by the plates on each side of his chest and brought him closer while swinging his head forward with as much force as he could muster. Howling, Azure struggled to gain any leverage while his claws remained deep in his opponent who, instead of trying to free himself, returned the favor by using his newly forged crown of obsidian to pierce him in the chest with multiple black spikes. Yanking his claws out that were now covered in thick, orange liquid that gave off steam, Azure swiped Edge away, snapping the spikes off and leaving them embedded in Azure's chest. More Akin to bouncing than rolling away, Edge flattened several Fire Ants that were overwhelming a Froad that had used it's ice tipped tongue to pierce a Frawk and bring it crashing down, where a snow monkey used its club to bash it's skull in. Standing up, the leaking holes in Edge's side slowed down and cooled, only a dark red before turning back to a glossy black.

Snarling, Edge sprinted back towards Azure who was trying to pull the spikes out of his chest and lowered himself for a brutal uppercut in the stomach, cracked plates falling as he brought his fist back to guard to face an angry Azure who swirled around. Pouncing left and right, Edge used his strong lupine legs to pop from one spot to the next, counter attacking with a snap kick on Azure's legs or a riposte swipe towards his soft face that now supported several wounds that bled a clear blue liquid. As the liquid hardened to form more Ice, Azure decided to go even more offensive. As Azure leaped closer towards Edge's right side, he landed and swung with his spiky clubbed tail at the dodgin bastard and sent Edge careening off into the fodder.

Struggling to stand, Edge's whole left side was completely cracked. Orange blood dripped from many places that had yet to start cooling. Noticing his weakness, Azure sprinted forward, crushing Fire Ants and squishing Froads both alive and dead alike. Leaping forward with claws stretched outward, Azure looked more like a vicious lion than some kind of Drake. With what seemed like all the energy he had left, Edge kicked off the ground to meet Azure with both legs tucked close to his chest that exploded outward right before they collided. With a crunching that was audible throughout the room, Edge's taloned feet smashed and crumpled Azure's skull inwards. Crashing towards the ground, both figures lay still. The fighting in the room stopped, leaving several Frawks flying gently above and snow monkeys preparing to either flee or charge with their frozen clubs. Bloody, beaten and slightly dismembered, Edge clawed up over on Azure's defeated body with his one good, though cracked hand. His stumps where legs should've been leaked a constant trail of thick boiling lava as he made his way to the top. Flopping onto his back, Edge raised his one good arm towards the ceiling and bellowed a deep, heartfelt roar that spoke one word.

"Victoryyyyyy!" He cried.

Invigorated, the red side dug into the blue with pincers, talons and beaks. Their morale broken, the proud frost monsters scrambled back to their side, leaving wounded comrades to their fate as Frawks pinned them to the ground and ripped out jugulars with their razor sharp glass beaks and made strafing runs, belching liquid flame in long trails beneath them. As the Fire Ants and Frawks pushed and harased the retreating forces, several slower but larger worker ants approached and carried Edge's body back towards their side where they placed his wounded body back in the Blood of Fire.

Staring at the battlefield, Fang and I could only communicate basic ideas to each other.

"Holy shit," I said.

"Yeah, you can say that again."

"I mean, that was so..."

"Brutal?" he offered

"Yeah. Brutal. This wasn't just a skirmish," I said.

"No, this was a full on battle," Fang said.

We sat there for a few moments, watching as the Fire Ants kept on patrol while the large worker ants began hauling corpses back towards the Black Throne.

"What do you think they're going to do with all of those bodies?" I asked.

"Who knows? My guess is that they'll recycle their own and use the fresh corpses of the others to try and instill new mutations into the next generation," he said.

"So...that was fucking awesome! I can't wait for round two! Or better yet *gasp* wait till we bring in the Heart of Stone! This is so cool!" I said, my first shock of seeing battle making way for excitement.

Laughing, Fang's cursed wisdom reminds me, "Well it'll be some time before that happens, you still have to recover from bringing in the Frozen Souls."

"Hey! My energy is at 1,230 points," I said excitedly, "another good fight like that and I'll be ready in no time!"

"I don't know about that, Azure's new body will need some time to reforge and and Edge's own body has to recover from that too. The poor guy was practically dead when those ants threw him in. My guess is that it'll take a few days before either boss is ready to go again. The common monsters will probably be back to normal numbers tonight and will most likely fight around the same time tomorrow without the bosses," he said.

"Wait, why would the small fries try and go at it? Shouldn't they wait for their boss? I asked.

"Well, the thing is that if they don't then the their numbers would start to pile up and spill over onto the other side. This way they get combat experience and strive to evolve, control the monster population and give you a lump sum of life force when they die. It's a truly viscious cycle and the only other Dungeon that I've seen with this kind of style are the Nature Dungeons. I wouldn't be surprised if we had some real heavy hitters to bring to that annual Dungeon battle coming up," he said.

"Wait I totally forgot about that! Daniel mentioned something about that but I don't remember any details, what's the deal about that?" I asked.

"Well every year, the local Dungeons on a world will gather on sides based on their alignment and the side that wins gets a huge reward. No one knows what the reward is except for those who win for the first time: the choice for an extra realm," he stated.

With no eyes to bulge but the thought that counts, I asked, "A new realm? Let's fucking win this thing! How much time do we have before it's here?!" Looking at me, he pointed to his head and tilted it towards me. Getting the obvious clue, I cleared my mind.

Annual Dungeon Battle begins in 666 days.

"Really now. How long is a year on this planet?" I asked.

"I believe I read it was around 999 days total. Each day is only 9 hours long, so it just seems like a lot more. There's three months of 333 days each and each month has three weeks of 111 days if I remember. Turoid has a thing for three's I guess." He shrugged, apparently finished.

At first I thought that those were huge numbers, but then I did the math and I found that a Turion year is only about ten twenty-four hour Terran days longer than a Catholic year. Huh, I guess it's not so bad after all then!

"So we got, two month to prep for it huh? Remind me again why I shouldn't just keep letting my monsters fight it out instead of trying to lure people in to fight? This seems just fine to me to be honest."

"A Dungeon will only grow as much as the amount of foreign traffic it gets. So yes, you're monsters might grow and become powerful, but they will reach a limit and they won't be able to push past that until you get stronger."

"And how do I do that?" I ask.

"I just.... okay. Deep breaths... ohmmmmmmmm." Fang can be really funny sometimes, what a weird guy. "Okay, your energy pool is still too small, by growing the max size of that, then the potential of all monsters that are local to your Dungeon will be greater. I don't know why the rule exists it just does, " he said with pleading hands as he rightly guessed my next question.

"Tch, fine. Well help me navigate this stupid room carving thing because I found the surface before I took a break last time, I just forgot to mention it." Glaring at me, he didn't believe me for one second. But thankfully he decided not to give me too hard of a time and helped walk me through the process, which I already had a pretty good idea for after moving around and building a couple of things in my Core room.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Phew, I'm out Fang! That's the final room, now we just gotta break that wall there at the end of the hallway and we're open for business," I said tiredly. And why wouldn't I? Five full sized rooms, with the ones closest to the Core room being the largest and the one's near the entrance the smallest.

After I got the hang out of room carving, I had an easier time but the first couple tries didn't go so well. Noticing that most of my monsters belonged to the extra durable and sharp family, I broke my vow of silence and asked for Fang's thoughts.

"I need your help Fang," I said reluctantly.

"What? Can't hear you, can you speak a little?" he said while remaining in his seat. Right next to me. Bullshit he couldn't hear me, but I needed his help. Wait why am I the one groveling? It's his fault I wasn't going to talk to him anymore!

"You heard me asshole, I need your help! But first I want an apology!" I cried.

"I told you I was sorry! I tried getting your attention but you wouldn't respond, how many times do I have to tell you?" He complained.

"Oh, yeah. Fine, I'm sorry I got mad at you Fang, I just can't believe I missed out on Azure's comeback. It was going to be epic and I missed the whole fucking thing! All I caught was Edge's limping body before Azure grabbed him with his troll hands and split him in half like a cracker!" Thinking about the missed fight, I shed silent tears for my non-existent memories of what could've been something wonderful.

"Shhh, it's okay! There will be plenty of fights, you'll see! You know what I think will cheer you up?" He said reassuringly.

Sniffing, "What?" I asked.

"I think it's time. Both bosses are almost done recovering and you expanded the core room on that one side in preparation. What do you say, think it's time for the Heart of Stone?" The bastard said, teasingly.

"FUCK YEAH!" I screamed. "But after the next brawl you've gotta help me with bringing in some soft and squishy monsters for my first few rooms, okay?"

"Deal! Now hurry up and lets do this!" Already familiar with the drill, I had one of my evolved snow monkeys pick me up and bring me over to the cleared area.

"Thank you! Now go join your family and get ready for the next slaughter, be careful!" I yelled at it's quickly fading scaled back.

"Real encouraging words there chief," Fang mocked.

"Zip it, I don't want no lip! Well, I guess the middle there will do, right? Here goes nothing!"

Focusing, I concentrated on bringing forth the Heart of Stone into this world and it took every drop of energy I had. Luckily the life-force is strong enough in here to give me a few points so I didn't pass out, but I could see spots. That was a close one, I'd hate myself if I missed this.

Congratulations! By creating your first monster spawn of this type, the monsters and fauna that naturally develop from it will be stronger than its other counterparts! Boss Spawn By creating a spawn pool in your core room, it's been upgraded to a boss spawner!

Yes! Now show daddy the goodies!

From the center of the cleared area an explosion sent earth and rocks through the air to which it fell back down, sinking deeper and deeper, pulling at the edges of the bowl until we stood right at the lip. Staring down into the bowl we watched as layer after layer of rock snapped away, forming giant circular petals. In in this giant flower, the Heart of Stone sat in a protective stone cage where multi-colored veins pulsed and sank into its walls and began to spread outward. Lines of bright gold, almost white on one side and pitch black roots on the other.

Fascinated by the colors, we only looked away when we noticed movement. Small, adorable looking hedgehogs with steel colored quills was leaping up and down from some of the petals on the lower floor where metallic looking moss began to grow in sparkling waves. Centipedes with a plated black shell clacked it's many claws, diving between the cracks of the petals. Worms undulated in the rich, glitterring soil that existed in between the gaps of each layer of petals. As each minute passed and we continued to watch, new tiny creatures and plants sprouted. From the Night colored mushrooms that began to spring in between the larger cracks on the dark side to the small golden and white plants that supported wide leaves to catch the light from the Heart.

On the far side, a series of different shades of red roots began to dig their way into the petals and the petals collapsed on that side, forming gullies and trenches that ran upwards. In that section we could see small insects flying up and down the gullies, digging into the walls to form tunnels and nests. A large grey ant eater dug it's claws into the wall, climbing and poking its head a long tentacle like snout down into the bug invested gullies, licking them up and the sound of it crunching like nails on a chalkboard. Blood red chunks of cinnabar began curling up the rust colored walls like warts.

Over by the dark side, grasshoppers made out of diamonds crawled out from the shadows and began spreading their crystalline wings, moving from place to place. On our side of the wall, gems containing individual colors of the rainbow spread out in a tsunami of light. Emeralds, rubies, amethysts, cobalt, quartz and more emerged from the barren stone of the rocks, turning into a jeweled jungle in which which golden spiders spun webs of thin silver in between, catching flies made out of dull fragile jet.

"It's so beautiful," I say in response to all this majesty.

Suddenly, the Heart begins to shine brighter than the sun and all Fang can do is close is eyes. But I can watch, after all I technically don't have eyes. All the multi-colored roots near the Heart had begun to fuse and swallow it, growing outward into a mighty tree trunk that kept slowly growing until it towered over us. It then grew branches of individual colors that reflected the dynamic contrast below us. Each leaf was a different color and was thin enough to see through, giving off a fragile appearance. Butterflies hatched from jeweled cocoons below and fluttered upwards to circle around the tree.

As the light died down to a more bearable radiance, the growth slowed as well, but not gone completely. And finally the boss reveal. Cracking open facing our direction, the core of the tree resembled the forest of some alien planet that we saw in our wildest dreams. everything was glowing a bright neon color to offset the shadows. But what really grabbed our attention was the four slender legs that slipped through the crack.

As these hairless, muscular legs planted themselves on the tips like a mix between a centipede and the color of a human recluse, liquid copper flowed upwards from the branches. They formed intricate swirls and lines that caught the eye and ended a third of the way each leg. Next came the slender abdomen of ribbed emerald that span outwards as more of the upper torso emerged. Fading from the dark green to a deep red cinnabar, the almost raw flesh colored body remained so for just a moment before smooth white and cold material began to pour outwards from the rainbow colored core buried deep within it's chest. The soft gold cooled to form a supple like appearance before another layer of hard titanium covered that as if like armor.

It's four arms the same pale color as its legs but ending with five human like digits at the end of each one. Human until the same copper material began to ooze out of it's pours, forming clawed gauntlets with similar designs to it's metallic boots. It's praying mantis shaped head but instead of large disturbing orbs, two very normal sized eyes made out of cobalt were symmetrical across is face, sunken deep and surrounded by the same gold and gray layers of protection. It kind of reminded me of the metal buckets knights used to wear on their heads. Finishing its emergence, it's two larger upper arms reached out for balance while a shell of coal lined with veins of diamonds formed on its back.

With it's body formed, my new boss turned in our direction before springing over with it's four pincer like legs and it's crystalline wings fluttered to ease it's decent. Landing softly, with it's four legs bringing it close to the ground and one side of arms close to it's gilded chest, the jeweled mantis bowed down and it's rust colored mandibles spoke in an elegant voice.

"Hello Father, it is my pleasure to serve." A woman. How does a bug sound so feminine?

"How does Krystal with a K sound?" I asked without consulting Fang, knowing that my first choice was good enough this time.

"I like that, it sounds wonderful!" her soft excited laughter tingles like bells. Standing tall and proud, Krystal spoke, "I, Krystal, will do to my best abilities to shame all those who would see him harm and bring low his enemies, no matter how far out of reach." After finishing her oath, she crossed her two upper arms to form a large X while her two much smaller arms snapped to her sides pointing straight down.

"She's glorious Carl, you should be proud," Fang said reverently.

"I am, Fang. I am."