“Protect the slave from harm.”

Zelhaut walked past the threshold of the dungeon. Behind him, his golems surrounded the slave, protecting it from harm, and followed after him. Staying behind were Krindle and Raldo, the two of them ascended the rope to keep a lookout for any intruders above ground.

This dungeon was different than Krindle. Instead of dirt walls at the beginning, the walls were encrusted with jagged crystals, sharp and pointy enough to impale someone if they fell over.

The first monster came into view. It was a scorpion, the same kind as he encountered above ground. Zelhaut mercilessly stomped on them, grounding the scorpions into mush, their venom useless against him.

Then the first real monster appeared. It seemed to be badger-like, at least in terms of size. But the monster had a long tail and its back and tail were covered in sharp crystals. The monster could also climb walls like nobody's business.

//

Juvenile crystal monkey badger

//

The monkey badger climbed the wall until it was parallel with Zelhauts face. Then the monster shot off the wall like a cannonball, headed straight for his face, crystal-encrusted back first.

Zelhaut lowered his head. The monster hit his hat and then ricocheted to the side. It landed on the ground, belly up, exposed.

Zelhaut brought his foot down and pinned the monster. His claws slid out of his shoes and pierced the badger's stomach. The monster screamed in agony as Zelhaut dragged his claws down its belly, effectively opening it up.

The monster kicked his foot to the side and righted itself. The belly wound now faced down, the monster's guts spilled out, staining the ground with its green blood. It took one step and then collapsed into a growing pool of its own blood, dead.

“Great start!”

Zelhaut continued down the tunnel, testing his body's limits. He utilized his strength and natural weapons to tear the monsters apart. His claws rent flesh, his hands squeezed necks, and his legs broke bones. Even his teeth found their way to a few necks, tearing out a couple of windpipes.

The golems behind him focused on protecting the slave. The slave himself was wide-eyed and looking around him with disbelief and fear.

The tunnel was not too long, and Zelhaut soon arrived at a boss door. He sat down, breathing heavily. He rummaged in his bag for some water. Taking a long drink, he raised the bottle and poured the remaining liquid onto his face. The water splashed across his face, causing rivers of green blood to wash away in green streams down his neck.

“That was pretty easy. But the blood, ugh, it just gets everywhere. It is almost as bad as sand with its invasiveness. Well, time to do this!”

Zelhaut stood up and pushed the heavy boss doors open. The doors slowly opened, emitting no noise whatsoever, silent. He walked in with twenty of his golems while the other thirty stayed outside with the slave.

The doors slammed shut behind him and the crystal walls lit up with white light. It was an arena. The floor was made up of crystalline sand and the circular arena walls had giant crystals growing out of them.

On the far side of the arena stood a crystalline mass. It currently looked like a ball of pointy crystals, but that soon changed. The ball split, the crystals cracking. Four legs and two scythe-like arms appeared.

//

Crystal Mantis

//

The mantis regarded Zelhaut coldly with its bug eyes.

“You’re not what I was expecting. I thought you would be a bigger badger.”

The mantis ignored his words and swiped at him, its arm straightening to reveal its surprising length. Zelhaut dodged and the arm caught one of his golems instead, cleaving it in half.

“Unholy shit!”

The boss monster then ran up the wall as if it was walking on flat ground, speeding until it was directly overhead high up in the ceiling. The mantis dropped, curling up into its ball form again as it fell.

Zelhaut dove to the side and rolled across the ground. The spiked ball hit the ground, spearing through two more of his golems.

His golems piled onto the ball as Zelhaut brought out his glaive and rushed forwards.

The mantis uncurled again, but this time slower. His golems were hanging off the monster's limbs, weighing it down. The mantis violently shook itself, trying to dislodge the golems, but only partially succeeding.

Now in front of the monster, Zelhaut stabbed forwards with his glaive, trying to pierce the monster's chest. Unfortunately, the glaive simply bounced off of the crystals on the monster's body, instead stabbing one of his own golems.

“Damn it!”

The mantis swiped with its scythe. The scythe made a diagonal cut across his chest, thankfully just a flesh wound. His black blood spilled, some splashing onto the mantis.

The mantis shrieked, leaping backward, throwing off all the golems.

Zelhaut raised an eyebrow and looked closely at what had just happened. The crystals on its body where his blood had splashed were cracking, breaking apart.

“Oh. Those crystals must be mana-based. Haha! You're screwed!”

Zelhaut took his glaive and made cuts all over his body, allowing the blood to flow out of him. Then, he charged at the mantis that was continuously backing away.

The mantis shrieked and ran up the wall, away from Zelhaut.

“Get down here! Now!”

Despite his insistence, the mantis refused to drop down onto him, instead, heading for the rest of his golems. The monster curled into its ball form and dropped onto his golems again, catching three of them this time. Then the mantis scuttled back up the wall before Zelhaut could catch him.

“RRR! FINE!”

Zelhaut headed towards a door opposite the one he entered. That action certainly grabbed the mantises attention. The boss scurried across the roof, down the wall, and then cautiously approached Zelhaut.

Instead of going for the mantis, Zelhaut made a break for the door, pumping his legs to speed up. The boss quickly made to block his way, but Zelhaut continued to charge. He hit the mantis, one of its spiky crystals going through his stomach. He wrapped his arms around one of its legs and held on for dear life as the mantis swung its leg back and forth, trying to throw him off.

The rest of the golems mobbed the mantis and Zelhaut crawled his way towards the head, making sure not to let go.

A scythe swiped at his back and his back skin split in two, causing even more blood to gush out. The crystals on the mantis slowly cracked, falling apart.

When Zelhaut finally reached the mantises head, his thoughts were already slowing, the blood loss making him feel weak. The mantis opened its mouth, moving to bite him. Zelhaut welcomed this with a knife shoved into the back of the monster's throat, into the brain.

The mantis stilled and then collapsed.

Zelhaut laid out on the ground, waiting for his wounds to heal. His head felt woozy with blood loss and the room seemed to be spinning.

“That. Sucked.”

A while later he sat up, dried blood falling away like a wave of black dust.

Running a hand through his feathers, he nodded.

“Let's go.”

He stood up and headed for the door.

Zelhaut pushed the door open and entered a room. Inside he found the dungeon core. Unlike Krindle's, it was on a crystalline pedestal instead of between stalactites. The core itself was crystal clear and round, but round in the sense of many small flat surfaces, similar to a buckyball.

“Now then. Speak. I already know you can understand me and communicate, so do it, now.”

Zelhaut stood there, tapping his foot and waiting. Nothing happened.

“Well, I didn't want to get rough. That's a lie, I do. Now wake the FUCK UP AND ANSWER ME!”

Zelhaut punched the wall close by, shredding his hand against the crystals, but also knocking a lot of them lose to crash against the floor.

“Still nothing? Do you know what Blight is? No? Allow me to enlighten you. Blight is an affinity, surprisingly. An affinity that consumes mana, suppresses it in every way. Blight strangles the mana until it is nothing. Now, what do you think will happen if I drip a drop of my Blighted blood onto you?”

He brought his bleeding hand up to the core, slowly bringing it closer and closer until finally.

Stop. I will speak.

The words of mana appeared in the air.

“Good.”

Zelhaut dropped his hand, wiping the blood off onto his clothes.

“Only one floor. Krindle was right, you are young. How old are you?”

I do not know. What do you want?

“I want you to pick a side. Divine or Demonic. I recommend Demonic. After all, why only have a slice when the whole pie is available?”

The gods.

Zelhaut frowned. His voice gained a tinge of murderous intent.

“What about those stinking, flea-ridden beggars you call GODS!”

… They are still gods.

“Well, let's just see. Just know, that if you do choose Demonic, you will have a place with me, in your own body. You will be able to kill and consume, hunting your prey instead of waiting for them to step into your dungeon.”

The slave was yanked forwards by Zelhauts golems to stand before the dungeon core. The man looked at the core with obvious greed.

“Do you see this man? Look at that greed in his eyes. Do you think a person like this deserves to reincarnate? People are horrible, gods are horrible. Would it not be great if everything could just disappear? Hm, got a little off track there. Well, here you go.”

Zelhaut brought his glaive up in the air, then harshly brought it down on the slave's head. The blade continued to travel through the slave's body until it hit the ground.

The two sides of the slave slumped to the ground, guts and blood spilled out with a satisfying squelch as it hit the sandy floor.

“Do you taste that soul? I’ve been told it is quite satisfying to consume a soul. Why hold back? It's all there for the taking, so take it. Consume it all! Scum does not deserve to continue existing! You are a dungeon core, you eat souls. The gods think they can control you, make you something you’re not. What are you if not a predator?”

As Zelhaut watched, the core began to change color. Slightly at first, but with increasing speed. The once clear core slowly changed color to white. Not a pure snow-white color, but a white that reminded people of bone.

When the core finished its color changed, a new aura descended onto the core. Not sensing any traces of divinity in the aura, Zelhaut smiled.

“Good choice. Now, let’s make a deal.”

What are the terms?

“One. You will be under my command and obey every order. Two. You will not harm me or my allies. Three. You have priority over any souls from your own kills. Four. I will provide all the mana you could ever want. Five. I will provide you with a body, obviously. Six. After I die you are free to do whatever you want. Seven. You must create an engraving pen for me before you inhabit your new body. Also, if you want a body of the best materials, I recommend you make it yourself. Deal?”

Sounds unfair but…

“It's this or death, decide.”

Deal.

“Alright! Tell me your name, then repeat after me using my own name, Zelhaut.”

Tessera

“I, Zelhaut, hereby agree to this deal in the presence of the system, with Tessera.”

Zelhaut waited. Soon the system acknowledged the deal.

//

You have entered a deal with the dungeon core known as (Tessera)

//

Zelhaut clapped his hands together.

“Great! I will wait here while you make the items.”

—

Tessera began to make the item requested by the dangerous man. She also began to design her golem body alongside the pen.

Tessera was not happy about being pressured into taking on a Demonic nature. But, she had to admit that the man had made many good points. Why should she have to listen to some gods a million miles away? In her mind, the gods could shove it.

She had sensed it. The change. When she chose to consume that slave's soul in its entirety, it was like her eyes had been opened for the first time. And with that feeling came an unintentional change of mentality. She never used to be quite so bloodthirsty, but remembering the feeling of consuming that soul, knowing that she had snuffed out any chance for that man to exist once more.

Tessera was also skeptical if this, Zelhaut, would even be able to make her a body. But, if that dungeon core she sensed earlier was not just a disembodied core without a will, but a dungeon core walking around in a body? That gave her a small modicum of hope.

She never used to feel stale and imprisoned. She used to feel safe and secure. But the man's words combined with her new nature made the dungeon now seem like a prison. Tessera wanted to be free, to stalk her prey, to be actively killing, not just waiting for some random passerby.

Tessera’s aura changed again. The Demonic presence grew, sinking herself further into the depths of unforgiveness in the god's eyes.

—

Zelhaut opened an eye, noting the further encroachment of the Demonic aura around the core.

I am done.

“Great!”

Zelhaut opened the doors into the boss room once again. On the floor was a slim crystalline body, about one hundred ninety centimeters tall. The crystals on the body were cloudy and the same color as the core, bone white. The sharp crystals poked out at random intervals along the body. The head was unlike Krindle's smooth sphere but was similar to a badger. The body also had a scorpion tail rising from the back, complete with a deadly-looking stinger.

“Well, this is certainly different than Krindle. By the way, Krindle will be your superior. He is second in command after me, you will follow his orders whenever I am Indisposed.”

Zelhaut walked over to the body and retrieved the pen laying atop it. The pen was also crystalline, but without any of the sharp points, except for the tip which looked deadly. But this pen would hopefully never see combat.

He channeled his mana into the pen and it lit up with a golden light. The tip of the pen extended in a sharp golden point.

“Good thing you forgot to open a slit for the circle and your core, now I can test this pen.”

Zelhaut brought the pen down to the back of the crystalline golem. Using the pen, he sliced through the crystals like butter, opening up a V-shaped groove.

He ignored the words forming in the air behind him and began to create the necessary circles. Soon, he was done. Zelhaut looked at the pen in admiration.

“This is great! Went so much faster. This will definitely work on the diamonds. Ok, now to move your core.”

Zelhaut dragged the body next to the core.

“On three. One. Two.”

He picked up the core and placed it onto the adjusted mana inlet circle he was now calling the core circle.

The core dimmed, then flared back to life as it absorbed the mana from the circle. The crystals around the slit liquified and then flowed over to cover up the core from view. Bone white lines began to cover the golem's body, but unlike the vein-like lines on Krindle, these lines appeared more jagged with sharp angles. The lines were also barely visible since they were the same color as the cloudy crystalline body.

The golem began to move and stood up. Her badger face looked down at him and gave a wicked toothy grin.

“It worked. Hehe!”