The Andlát Vatn had been running for a long time. Always swimming, always hiding, they fled from the being tracking them. They had been fleeing for years from the creature they had stolen from. Fleeing from the monster that wished for their annihilation. However the beings that referred to themselves as the Andlát Vatn were not only running, but searching. Searching for a legend that had been passed down to them by their mother hive. They searched desperately for the one thing that might bring them salvation as protection. They searched for a dungeon.

They did not search for just any dungeon for that would not have taken them years. They searched for a true dungeon, one capable not only of hunger but also assimilation. It had taken nearly four decades, but finally they felt it. They felt the faint trickle of mana that they had felt countless times before, but this was not the dirty leek of corruption most dungeons released, but a faint whisper of something more. The mana was almost seductive, it called to them promising power and safety. The swarm followed the whispers to a sinkhole in the otherwise barren sea floor. An unnatural looking crater that the swarm had been looking for.

You have entered The Abyssal Sanctum

The Andlát Vatn surged into the dungeon, both excitement and terror filling them. As they flooded in they knew that if they did not convince the dungeon to assimilate them they would surely die. Even if they were able to escape the dungeon they would not be so lucky with the beast that hunted them.

Sanctus watched the writhing mass of leeches as they entered its dungeon. The leeches were the second monster to answer the call Sanctus had begun releasing into the outside world. It was a bit like summoning angels and demons in the sense one world create a small thread of mana and throw it outside. Of course the difference was that a creature would actually have to come to the dungeon and not just pop into existence.

The tactic of calling monsters was suggested by Markus and Cetrial. They had said that true dungeons often made deals with monsters as a quick and easy way to boost their defenses. The only problem with this was that not all monsters were interested or even intelligent enough to make any kind of deal. This was evident with the first monster that had entered the dungeon. The shark had gone on a rampage the second it entered the dungeon, killing nearly a quarter of Sanctus’s aquatic creatures only to finally be killed by Sanctus’s favorit octopus. On the plus side Sanctus had gotten the blueprint for blufined shark. After that incident Sanctus had asked its general’s why it couldn’t just kill all the monsters that entered its dungeon and just take their blueprint instead of having to come to an arrangement with them. In short it had to do with the creature's knowledge and traits. If Sanctus were to kill a level five monster with a regeneration ability Sanctus would not get a blueprint for level five monsters with regeneration. Instead Sanctus would just get the blueprint for the monster without its level or abilities. Of course Sanctus could help a creature level to some extent, but abilities were another story. Abilities were unique to each creature, there were common traits but a creature still had to develop it on its own.

Sanctus was pulled out of its thoughts by flickers of mana coming off the swarm of leeches. Sanctus focused its attention on the mana and a clearer message began to filter through.

“Great one we hear you whispers we serve. You protect?”

Sanctus struggled to understand this being that seemed to want protection. Listening to the mana was different than the telepathy it was used to and the creature’s struggle with speech did not help the language barrier.

Sanctus used a wave of mana to copy the creature’s form of speech, “From what do you require protection?”

“Deep one. Us stole deep one.”

Sanctus reeled from the emotion lacing the mana coming from those creatures. They truly feared the “deep one” they spoke of. This fear they held caused Sanctus to pause. Was it really the right decision to assimilate this creature? Finally curiosity took over and Sanctus offered the creature a thread of mana.

You have assimilate Andlát Vatn Name Andlát Vatn Species deep leech hive Classification swarm Habitat aquatic Satats Str 2X38 Vit 4X38 Dex 5X38 Int 53 Wis 47 Luck 1 Special traits Blood sense Anti coagulation True swarm Abilities Cure Frenzy Title Drake heart

Sanctus was amazed. None of its other creatures had developed any traits or abilities much less a title. Of course this didn’t mean none of Sanctus’s creaturs could use magic or things that could be mistaken as an ability. The thing about traits and abilities was that they were very rare. Something like a mage learning to cast a fireball was not an ability it was simply a use of magic. Or how the warden of the drowned could control the undead bodies of things it had killed. It was something the whole species could do, not something special about the individual. It would be like a bird being given a trait for wings or humans having a walking trait. So the fact that the creature had them was very exciting for Sanctus. Which brought it to the title, Sanctus focused on it and more information popped into Sanctus’s minde.

Drake heart Effects none Description While it may be diluted, dragon blood flows through this creature's veins. Strangely this blood is not native to this species

Things started to click in Sanctus’s mind. When the creature had said that it had stolen the deep one, it had been talking about its blood. A flicker of doubt went through Sanctus. Sanctus was proud of its dungeon, but a dragon was quite a bit more than Sanctus could handle. The only thing that gave Sanctus any hope was that the title said “diluted”.

Sanctus nervously turned its attention to the newest member of the dungeon.

“Please don’t tell me you have a dragon chasing you”

“There is a leviathan that has been chasing us for years.”

Sanctus’s heart sank while not a true dragon leviathans were no laughing matter. Part of Sanctus desperately looked for a positive saying “at least the leeches can communicate now,” but Sanctus was already in too much of a panic to care. Sanctus called its generals and explained the circumstances.

“Best case scenario it doesn’t fit in the dungeon and you lose access to the water exit worst case scenario you lose the entire first floor,” Cetrial said worriedly

“Before we speak any further about this I suggest Sanctus name the warden of the drowned so as to provide it with the benefit of soul prison.” Markus added

Sanctus glowered. Its generals both thought that the leviathan would spell disaster and Sanctus agreed. It quickly took Markus’s advice and located its favorite cephalopod. Looking into it Sanctus called oppon a large chunk of mana instinctively forming patterns and runes.

Ceto blinked as she was given a name. She could feel the name engraving itself into her soul and relished it however she knew that not all was well. She could sense her creators worry and distress, but did not know how to alleviate it. So she sent a feeling of thanks and happiness to her creator hoping it would somehow help. She was the creators first creation if you didn’t count the entirety of the first floor. “First creature” she corrected herself internally. When the creator's attention left her she returned to what she had been doing. Pushing herself out of the water she began the slow and grueling journey to the second floor. She had never been, however she had heard that it was mostly water. So she dragged herself and the best corpses from her collection and set off. It took a couple hours of slow crawling to make it to the first floor boss room. Once she got there however the first floor boss helped drag her across the room saying something about not wanting dead corpses to stink up the room.

Ceto hated stairs, they were the worst. All but one of her corpses had been brutally massacred by the dreadful things, not to mention the cuts and bruises she had sustained during the unfortunate tumble.

She gazed out across the second floor and gasped. The water stretched out for as far as she could see dotted with sandy islands and peninsulas. She quickly dragged herself and the one remaining corpse to the water. Glad that she could finally stretch out in the water. Squishy land octopus was not her favorite state of being.

Sanctus returned its attention to its generals desperately hoping they had come up with a plan. They had no idea when the leviathan would arrive and time was quickly running out. The plan that the generals had come up with was to simply guard the water entrance as best they could and desperately hope the leviathan was not strong enough to destroy the whole dungeon. It was a lackluster plan, but it was their only real choice. There was no way that they could kill the beast with the creatures Sanctus currently had in the dungeon and there wasn’t exactly a way to hide the dungeon so desperately trying to annoy it into leaving was their only option.

On another note Sanctus made a small water tunnel to the second floor and began feeding more and more mana to leeches in an attempt to help them build a nest and create more offspring. When Sanctus formed the tunnel it noticed that Ceto seemed to glare at it for a moment before swimming away. Sanctus wondered how Ceto had gotten to the second floor in the first place while it worked on creating blue finde sharks and eels. These creatures would eventually inhabit this floor, but for the time being they would be a defense against the potential leviathan attack.

Three days had passed and Sanctus had been busy creating an army. The force consisted of the poisonous octopus, blue finned sharks, and eels. They gathered on the second floor awaiting the leviathan to arrive. Markus and Cetrial had spent their time sparring, Ceto had ignored the whole thing and built herself a nest, and the leeches had nearly tripled their population. Their preparations were as complete as they could get and Sanctus was ready.

The army began to move to the upper floor of the dungeon. Encircling the exit and waiting for the inevitable attack. All was still for a moment then the ground exploded