Arthur rant through the trees while keeping an eye on Sandy. He felt her emotions change while away from him. She had stopped feeling much fear but still felt an extreme amount of unease and caution. Arthur slowed as he approached the scene. He sent out [Detect Life Aura] but did not feel anyone except for Sandy.

He saw her through the trees. She was snarling at something and making sparks surround herself. As he approached she turned to face him. She looked unsure of what to do. The sparks jumped around erratically, and she had activated her ice aura as well causing frost to form on her scales.

“What is it?” Arthur asked not seeing what was wrong. There was no beast nearby, so it had to be something else. Or maybe something now dead.

Sandy turned back and Arthur followed her gaze. Where there was once nothing a creature grew from the ground. The dirt and rock shifted and rose into the shape of a blocky version of Arthur. Arthur stared at the dirt mound unsure of what to do or what it was. It spoke first.

“Hello, Arthur. I’m sorry I dragged you away from your beach like this, but I was hoping to speak to you,” said the unfamiliar voice. “You are a very interesting dungeon and I felt what happened to the other dungeon. Are you willing to follow me back to my home? This form is straining.”

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” Arthur asked.

“I can answer the second question when you follow me. As for who I am. I am an ancient being like Sylvia and others.”

“Can you make some promises? Promise that you don’t wish either of us harm or won’t do so while we are in your home?”

“Yes, I can promise you that. I already had no interest in harming you. You are far too unique to harm in any way. Besides, you have already completed one of my life’s goals by destroying that hateful dungeon. She was far too interested in expanding and killing for her own good. She was upsetting the balance of things within her territory, and you set it right. For that I thank you.”

Then we will follow you, for now, to speak more. I still have many more questions,” said Arthur.

“Of course, I will try to answer them all.”

“Come on Sandy,” said Arthur to Sandy who was cautiously watching.

She followed him at his insistence, and they began following the dirt golem through the forest. The two of them followed the stranger through the forest away from their normal paths until they had gone over an hour away towards another beach cove. They walked across the sands and rock until they saw a cave. Arthur felt its presence immediately. It was not as aggressive as the last, but he now knew for sure that the stranger he was speaking to was another dungeon.

“Here we are. My home and residence for the past few thousand years. Now you know why destroying that dungeon was so important to me. She was trying to encroach on my territory, and I was trying to do the same. Now I am free to expand to her old area. I have already gone about as far vertically as possible so now I need to make floors wider and in new areas.”

“Then what do you want from me? The dungeon’s death benefits you far more than me.”

“I wish to help you in a trade. And don’t forget that the absorption of the dungeon’s power has helped you grow in power and accelerate the hatching of your friend. And with more power to boot. Without your assistance, the dragon behind you may have taken between five and ten years more to hatch at least. Now before we go further I would like you to make a promise to me. If you aren’t interested in pursuing this relationship further you may leave now without gaining the knowledge I wish to share with you.”

“What is this deal?” Arthur asked.

“I wish for you to promise me that you won’t expand your area of influence throughout this large island for 1000 years. You don’t seem very interested in making a home here else you would have taken hers. In return for this promise I will help you learn more about what it means to be a dungeon and how to grow the power of yourself and your first dungeon monster.”

“Sandy is not my dungeon monster.”

“But she is tied to you as a part of your dungeon self. It is true that she wasn’t given the spark of life within your dungeon, but she hatched in your aura after a large amount of mana nourishment. She is like a few of my monsters. They have been absorbed into my own system and in return, they are directed by my power to grow and evolve while still retaining the power to leave my dungeon area if they need to. It is why I did not send a physical being to bring you. If I sent a normal dungeon monster to you it would not have survived long and would have been killed long before I could contact you through it.”

“What does she as my dungeon monster mean? What other benefits does it bring?”

“I can share more if you make this promise. I already have agreed to not harm you.”

“Fine. I am interested in what you have to offer me. I agree to your terms.”

“Then let's go inside and discuss more. It is nice to meet you, Arthur. You can call me Ankor.”

Ankor brought Arthur and Sandy inside the dungeon entrance. When Arthur entered the cave he did not feel the oppressive aura of a dungeon, but it instead felt natural and comforting. Ankor’s creation proceeded to take them down a series of passageways that opened up allowing them to bypass the main dungeon and go directly down to the lowest floor.

On the lowest floor stood Ankor’s guardian creature a nine-tailed fox. It curled itself up against the pillar where Ankor’s core rested.

“Now that you are here I would ask that you don’t cast any magic outside of yourself without letting me know. My guardian is a bit antsy about you being here and I would rather not deal with restraining either of you.”

“Of course.”

“You may ask your questions and I will do my best to answer them.”

“I want to know more about what Sandy may become.”

“The paths that a dungeon creature may take are numerous, but you can guide it using specific mana infusions and growing various creatures and plants for it to feed on and live near. A moon dragon is an interesting choice for her subspecies. She will be strongest on a full moon of course and will sleep for the entire time during a new moon. Also, as you have seen she prefers to be nocturnal. I can’t give much direction for how to help her because I don’t know much about dragons in general. What I can suggest is that you make her your guardian dungeon monster. She fits all of the qualifications and with your unorthodox path as a dungeon it should be best.”

“What does it mean for her to be my guardian and how does that happen?”

“Right now she is only a dungeon monster. You can feel where she is and check in on her, direct growth, but not much more. As your guardian, there are a few immediate changes. First is a boost to growth. She will grow more powerful than any other moon dragon. The second benefit would be a better understanding of her growth potential. It may not be clear now so I shall give you an example. Rene my guardian fox was only two-tailed when I created her but over time she has grown to her full potential as a nine-tailed fox. With my assistance in her growth came a share of knowledge. As I learned to manipulate wind and fire she followed in step. The same will be true for Sandy’s elemental affinities. The final benefit to you that is worth mentioning is the deepening of your connection. This will allow her to communicate with her telepathically across vast distances and can only be affected by the strongest of spells or another dungeon’s power. Is this something you would like?”

“You haven’t talked about the downsides.”

“That is because I don’t know all of them and I think you have made up your mind already. The most obvious downside is that you can’t pick again unless certain circumstances are met such as what has happened to you that caused you to lead a new path as a dungeon. The other downside is that you will be severely weakened if your guardian dies. Until you can recover enough mana to bring them back you will be crippled. Beyond those two downsides, the rest is unknown in your case.”

“I think I know my answer as well. Sandy needs to grow, and she is already tied to me. We will stick together. Tell me how I can seal this bond.”

“To bond her as your guardian you must break off a piece of your core and meld it to hers. The process will be painful for you, and you must finish or else lose a piece of your power permanently and your growth will stagnate. First, search your core and break off a piece with your mana. I will leave you to complete the process. It will come naturally to you from there.”

Arthur followed Ankor’s instructions. He brought his view inside his metal body and looked at his core. He called on his mana and created a scalpel next to his core. With a quick downward motion, he sheared off a sliver of his core. Arthur felt like he was on fire and wanted to rest as though he had no mana within himself. Arthur fell to the ground unable to support himself. Sandy moved over to him with a worried expression. Ankor held her back.

Arthur focused his mind and took hold of the sliver which had fallen off the rest of the core and cradled it in a bubble of mana. Arthur lifted it up carefully worried that it may break. With some additional mana, he opened up his defensive metal core and his exterior body so that he could move the sliver out. Part of the metal melted away and a hole was made that allowed him to move the sliver outward.

Arthur stumbled back up to his knees as he focused on Sandy. As if sensing his intension, she approached him and put her head near. Arthur lowed the sliver and let it fall onto Sandy’s head. In a flash of light, the sliver melted away and dissolved into her head and then body before resting by her core. Sandy felt a burst of warmth as the sliver’s power activated. She accepted it wholeheartedly.

A minute later the process was complete. Arthur still felt a little uneasy, but Sandy was exuberant. In the past minute, Arthur’s aura had enveloped them both. Sandy’s scales had molted, and she grew a little larger. She felt her internals were strengthened as well.

“It is done,” said Ankor.

“Thank you for this blessing,” said Sandy. Her voice sounded raspy and unnatural from the changes and non-use.

The nine-tailed fox looked at Sandy with interest. The tails all swayed rhythmically.

“I thank you as well. You have helped us both greatly. If you were to only share with me this then I would still be forever grateful,” said Arthur.

“Then be glad that I am willing to share more. You do not fully understand the bounty of land you have secured me and all that it means. I still have a few more things I can share with you. Are you willing to learn?”