Vorinus languidly roused itself from sleep, analyzing its Dungeon again.

The axolotls continued to swim around, feasting on the plentiful Deep Stonefish that spawned there.

The Assimilators were continuing to watch their lair, and seemed to show little interest in the other mobs. They were, however, cultivating some kind of pod in the very back of their chamber. Vorinus was interested, but the feelings sent to it by the Assimilators discouraged it. It was their way to surprise their master. Vorinus was honored.

The crayfish were swarming about their entire complex, already turning it into a nearly doubled space of twisting maze. The Queen was in the very back, in another ‘fortress’, her guard of Sentinels and Wardens furiously scuttling about the whole region. Droves of the original crayfish species served as foot soldiers of the Hive warmachine, and their vigilance was unwavering. While they weren’t quite hostile to their creator, they seemed to be irritated. Vorinus left.

The Kelp Prisoners were the most intelligent. They had begun crafting primitive structures on the few raised islands, constructing dried kelp idols of both Vorinus, and the Wurm. Vorinus was so moved by these idols, that it began to craft additional ones, in a humanoid form.

WIth an infusion of mana, they were granted life, although it wasn’t obvious at first. Vorinus knew that they would jump into action the second a chance presented itself.

{ARTIFICIAL MOB CRAFTED: KELP IDOL}

Kelp Idols are the animated idols of the Kelp Prisoners, created by them to venerate their Dungeon Core, and the powerful Argent Wurm mob. As the Kelp Prisoner’s intellect improves, additional modifications to these living icons of worship may appear.

Interested, Vorinus continued its exploration of its domain.

Backtracking, the bats appeared to be growing the same spores they were paired with, spiraling, prismatic patterns beginning to take root on their fur. Vorinus suspected an evolution.

Just as it was about to look at its Argentdrake and Wurm, voices came from the stairs, once more.

“Aldrid, look at this!” a musical voice called, closer than the others.

“What now, Elara?” a gruff voice grumbled, seemingly distracted.

“I think I found the Dungeon those servants were rambling about in the bar.”

“You did what? How?” the gruff voice sounded shocked.

“Umm, it’s kinda obvious Geram.” ‘Elara’ sounded confused ‘Geram’ didn’t understand.

“Marriage…” Geram muttered, but Vorinus’s enhanced hearing picked it up.

It appeared that Vorinus had its first adventurers. Soon, the group came down the staircase, revealing two additional members. A lightly armored human female with long daggers-Elara, likely-raced ahead, watching carefully for movement. The axolotls stayed out of sight. A more heavily armored human male with a large morningstar-Geram-followed closely behind. Mana pulsed in both of them, and Vorinus really wanted that mana.

The other two were equally interesting. A short male creature, certainly not human, held a glowing crystal staff. Vorinus’s implanted knowledge named him a ‘Mage’. The other adventurer was a thin, graceful female creature, with pointed ears. Vorinus couldn’t see any weapons or armor, but the mana in them was utterly blinding.

They skirted the pool, moving into the crayfish room. Instantly, they were swarmed by the ‘infantry’, numerous pincers biting deeply into the skin. Geram quickly slipped ahead, and stopped Elara from taking any more damage. The mage raised his hands, and bolts of mana, a waste in Vorinus’s opinion, arced into the approaching Wardens and Sentinels. Combined with Geram’s morningstar, the crayfish didn’t stand a chance. Only delicious cooked and crushed seafood-cavefood-remained. Vorinus was a bit disappointed, but he wasn’t angry.

As the party entered the Assimilator room, they were overwhelmed, the tendrils throwing the damage sponges against the wall, leaving the weaker ones to die. Elara was nearly choked by one, but managed to stab it to pieces. The mage likewise conjured a protective shield, and fired off more mana bolts. The weaponless humanoid, however, was promptly outmatched. Even as their fists began to blur, and they punched the poor mobs at an inhuman speed, the rest wrapped around every exposed point, burning holes in the skin, and slipping their invertebrate bodies into the flesh of the poor adventurer, and they were quickly converted.

{ASSIMILATED ELVEN MALE MONK ADDED TO MOB POOL}

{BLUEPRINT ACQUIRED: ELVEN MONK}

{TITLE GRANTED: IT’S CROWDED IN HERE{CORE SPECIFIC}

Have more than 5 Assimilators inhabit a single body.

Cackling in laughter, Vorinus ordered the ‘Elven Monk’ to attack his former teammates, the flurry of blows now proving to be an advantage. Both the mage and Elara were shocked, allowing the Monk to break several of their bones. After that, Geram was able to free himself, and obliterate the Assimilated mob. The mana addition was welcome, though.

After slaughtering the few Assimilators left, the reduced party stumbled out of the room, furious that their friend had died, but also that the Assimilator room was a dead end. Oops. Vorinus should probably change that.

“I wish I had known Aefiri better,” the mage sighed, tears leaking down his solemn face.

“I did know him better, and I wish I had known him even more. He was nice,” Elara sobbed.

That elicited a jealous glare from Geram, but he was upset too.

The adventurers arrived at the ravine, and immediately noped out.

“No way am I doing that. This Dungeon is crap.” the mage hissed, running back towards the entrance.

“WAIT! ROBERT!” Elara screamed, her face horrified,”WAIT FOR US!”

But it was too late, and the axolotls leapt out of the pool, and dragged poor Robert into the abyss. He drowned..or was torn apart? It didn’t matter-the rush of mana was even better than the Monk’s.

{NEW BLUEPRINT ACQUIRED: DWARVEN MAGE}

{NEW TITLE GRANTED: MURDERER}

Kill more than 7 adventurers in the span of a week’s Dungeon delves.

Even as Vorinus’s maniacal laughter caused its mobs to look up in concern, the remaining pair fled weeping, and screeching incoherently. Vorinus would have liked to kill them too, but it did want word to spread of its activities.

{NOTE: A HIGHER FATALITY RATE IS CORRELATED WITH EXTERMINATION BY THE ‘DUNGEON GUILD’. FEWER FATALITIES ARE ADVISED AT CURRENT STRENGTH}

Crap. Vorinus was pissed off at the Hivemind now. It would have been nice to know this hours earlier. Regardless, it was done. Hopefully, nothing too bad happened.

Vorinus drifted off for a bit, staring at the crayfish and Assimilators struggling to recuperate their numbers. Idly, it helped out by summoning each by the half-dozens every second or so. It had the mana for it, after all.

That was when the sounds of loud hammering echoed down to it, and forced Vorinus to send a crayfish up to peek. A large group of tents and ramshackle huts were being built around Vorinus’s entrance. Mana-rich adventurers were the main crowd, with regular individuals occasionally seen, mostly having books, potions, merchandise, or smith's tools. Most interesting, was a sign being hammered almost right next to the crayfish spy.

WELCOME TO DUNGEON 1-X9

Temporary Designation: Flesh Dungeon

PROPERTY OF THE DUNGEON GUILD

Now, Vorinus was angry.

Very angry.

The Hivemind was bad enough, but it’s warning was actually accurate? It couldn’t just kill every adventurer it saw? All because it was the property of some powerless camp of humanoids?

But Vorinus knew better than to retaliate…yet. It would bide it’s time, and when the time came, the Guild would fear the ‘Flesh Dungeon’. Oh yessssssssssss.

That was when the shining figure of gold shot down the stairs, vaporized the axolotls and their pool, and raced over the ravine. They briefly paused to kill every creature in the area with a glance, and teleported through the rest of the Dungeon? Why not start with that?

Was it a show of force?

The figure reappeared behind the Wurm, and with a flick of the finger, Vorinus’s champion fell. Irritation replaced anger, and fear replaced irritation. Whatever was coming for it, it could kill the Core.

“Little Core. Don’t pretend you can’t speak. I’m Dungeon Ambassador Yelzor, of the Dungeon Guild. I will give you a list of regulations. I will then warn you. After that, I will inspect your Dungeon.”

Vorinus sat in silence, confused.

“Speak. Talk. I have little time for you. You will have time for questions later.”

Haltingly, Vorinus tried to “speak”, as if ordering the ‘Ambassador’.

“Why are you he-” it began.

“QUESTIONS LATER! Listen to these regulations, now.”

“Umm…ok?”

“You will accept only 30 parties a day. You must have under 15 fatalities every week. You must not attack or irritate Guild officials overseeing you…” the list continued on for an unknown length of time, as if time was blending together. Yet, Vorinus knew that it wouldn’t be able to break these rules without the Guild attacking, so it memorized every one.

Then came the warning.

“You have killed half of the scouting party sent to survey you. This is unheard of. Whatever you are, you are dangerous. I will watch you closely, Core.”

With that, the Ambassador slipped away, carefully examining every mob and room. Vorinus was careful to order its mobs to stand down. It remembered that rule clearly. Apparently satisfied, although disgusted by the Assimilators, he returned to Vorinus’s Core.

“You remind me disturbingly of the Abominations during the war. I cannot be sure…but…hmm. I must discuss this with my superiors.”

And then, Yelzor was gone, vanished. And Vorinus was shaken, staring at its Dungeon in mounting terror.

What was next? Would it ever really end?

Vorinus turned its focus toward something new. Something that had the potential to destroy that Ambassador. A Mana Nullifier.

And it had never gotten to ask any questions, either!