Seven days later...

Great news! We reached fifty thousand creatures! However, that’s not the best part, we also found a new creature. A badger!

“Hey, is that the dangerous being you talked about before?” It’s big enough to kill and eat me.

The imp looked at the new creature that just dug out from the wall. “No, that’s just a badger.” Yes, I can see that.

“But you said before, that we only had twenty-four hours until a monster would arrive and eat us all.” I clearly remember it. I have racked my brain for a solution all this time for nothing, it seems. Not that I have a brain, but you know what I mean.

“I said 'maybe'.” The imp shrugged. “We are lucky, stop complaining about the fact you aren’t dead yet. Maybe there is no one around. Maybe it’s drawn towards something else?”

“Like what?” Maybe the monster that preyed on new Hearts got scared off by an even larger monster. Now, the big monster simply waits for us to grow up a bit before swallowing us? ...I need to stop scaring myself like this.

“Another... Dungeoooon.” The imp waved his hands in front of him, like a wave, while moving his fingers separately. Is he trying to be spooky? Well, stop it, it’s working.

“Is that such a bad thing?” Maybe they are friendly. Would I be friendly if I ran into a weaker dungeon? Uh, of course, I would. I would not exploit the weak! Unless it’s for the greater good, of course. I only want to liberate the monsters inside from their terrible Heart dictator. It has nothing to do with me wanting their oil, I mean, their... not sure what I would want. Mana maybe? Creatures? Buildings? Ah screw it, I will just take all of it.

“Depends on if we expand in the same direction. If not, we might never run into them, even if we only live a hundred meters apart. Unless we strengthen our walls, they could break in and attack, but as the defender you can use your spells in your own territory. But if they send in their imps, they can quickly capture territory from you and expand their own domain.” The imp smiled to himself, probably feeling smug about the usefulness of the imps.

He continued: “They can also send in their mana to do the same, but that will be expensive and take longer since they literally needs to grind down our mana, which we can reinforce. However, that can be useful if you fight an enemy that have strong and terrifying spells. We grind down each other’s mana reserves, and when he can no longer afford his dangerous spells, you attack with your minions.”

“Spells? Imps?” I don’t have any spells? And only got one imp!

“Eh, don’t worry about it. You only got me, and I’m your Prime. I won’t enter enemy territory, I would stay by your side, in here, at the deepest and safest part of the dungeon. Also, you have no spells, except maybe mana drain and some vision modes, which are not really spells, since they are part of your ‘body’. Besides, you are screwed, no matter what we do, if the enemy is more advanced than us. Don’t think too much on it. For now, let’s study our new badger.” Not sure if I’m happy he would stay by my side til the end, or angry he is hiding in the safest place with me, instead of fighting.

“Yeah, seems it eats everything we have, but mainly snakes.”

The badger in question had two snakes hanging from the mouth, taking them to a more quiet place to eat. It was grumpy over the fact it did not have a nest yet. It ate in a random corner my chamber, glaring at my crystal. Even though its mind was fully dominated, it still had some free will. Looks like it gets harder to maintain the creatures under my control as they grow in intelligence.

The badger was just over one and a half meter long, weighing about thirty-five kilograms. Its shoulder height was around thirty-five centimeters. The small head was black with white stripes, the underside black and the back grey, the whole body covered in fur. The four legs were short and stocky, with bigger claws on the front paws.

Overall, it was a sturdy creature that would not tolerate being pushed around. It was currently, by far, the most powerful being in the dungeon, and did as it wanted with the other creatures. I even had to step in when it chased the imp around. Well, that incident was more the imp's fault. The imp pulled the badger's tail when the badger slept peacefully. From that point on, the badger would growl at the imp whenever they saw each other. Considering the size of our dungeon, that was very often.

“How are we going to design its home?” The imp asked.

I had already prepared myself for this, so I quickly answered. “Like this: A square, with three layers.

First layer: The outer layer, and where the badgers live. They can design their own nest. Bug nests on the four corners.

Second layer: The middle layer, and where the snakes live. Snake nests on the four directions and bug nests on the inner corners.

Third layer: The inner layer, and we will plant a mushroom farm here. Bug nests on the corners.

This way, we can prevent it from eating the more valuable moles. The badger can build its own home, it should be smart enough to do that. I'm guessing a hole and maybe some tunnel system.”

“Genius idea, as always.” The imp said. I detected a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. He returned to his normal voice. “I will get right on it!”

The imp quickly dug out the design and started to transfer over the resources needed. By now, we had plenty of mature mushrooms and the bug flooded the dungeon. The farms could not longer contain the bugs, so they crawled around in all the hallways, even my own chamber had 'moving walls'. Luckily, they had enough respect for me to not climb on my crystal.

The mushrooms used to attack the imp when he transported them, but they became peaceful after I dominated every single mushroom in the dungeon. Their spores were just as harmless now, as my will got passed down to the next generation of mushrooms. The imp could breathe them in all day, they did not drain his mana. Instead they moved towards his nose, coming out with the snot.

I must personally take control over all the things in the dungeon, even seemingly mindless plants, otherwise they will start doing odd stuff. It turned out I was not imagining things earlier. Those mushroom tried to strangle the imp, as well as trying to insert their roots into all his orifices, entering his body to drain him faster. Horrifying plants. Maybe I should plant them on the roof to greet visitors?

By digging out such a large area, many new lifeforms fell into the dungeon and got dominated by me, most even before they hit the ground. Sadly, still only got one badger.

“Hmph, we got so many homeless bugs. Let’s make another farm area with only mushrooms and bugs. With over a hundred nests!” Should be noted we didn’t even have a hundred nests in total, so far.

“Eh, wait a minute now… I’m still working on this one. You are overworking me here. I have my rights too.” The imp complained, as he carried dozens of bugs in his arms to the new badger area. Bugs crawled all over him, even nibbling his mushroom. Remember, just like his regular body, he got one hundred percent pain sensitivity on it.

Hm, there must be a better way to transport the bugs. If only I had some kind of cloth or large sheet he could wrap them in. Oh, right, my silk sheet. However, I’m not letting him fill it with bugs, no way. Could make him something else, buuuut, this is quite funny. Ah, he fell down, and now the bugs swarm his mushroom. Yeah, no way I’m letting this view go.

The imp screamed in pain, being eaten alive and all. He had to resort to violence to save his mushroom, crushing the bugs into the ground or against his body with slaps.

“Damn, couldn’t you have helped me out there?” The imp brushed off the dirt from his body and peeled off the smashed bugs that stuck to his body. Most bugs swarmed his head, so he had lots of them to remove. Their sticky entrails left disgusting marks on his face. Since we had no water, he could only scrub his face with some dirt. If he got cleaner or not after washing is up for debate.

He surveyed the damage done by the bugs with his hands. About one-third of the mushroom got eaten, and its formerly majestic look got replaced by a gloomy mushroom that looked like it had given up on life. The cap was pretty badly damaged, but the most important piece was the stem. If it broke, everything above the breaking point would be lost. This specific breed of mushrooms had strong vitality, hard to kill and fast to heal, but this one healed extra quickly. Mainly because of the higher than normal amount of mana it got from the imp, and it would soon be restored to its former glory.

I waited in silence for him finish with his work. The fun factor died down by a lot, because he was more careful now, taking less bugs in each trip.

“Phew, finally done. Ah, so tired, going to bed…” The imp wiped his brow and was about to head to my crystal to take a nap.

“Not so fast, dig out this first.” I sent him the design for the new mushroom farm. It was nothing special. Similar to the old version but much bigger and no snakes.

“Uh, no, no way. I just finished my shift. I’m going to bed.” He shook his head waved off my order.

“Do it!” I roared out in his mind. We only have one shift, and it never ends!

“Y-yes!” The imp flinched in fear and ran over to the new area. He took out his pick and quickly mined several blocks, in a new record setting pace, before slowing down, to a pace that was slower than normal. He panted heavily, and wiped his brow several times.

“What’s wrong? You are actually tired? Hmph, you just need some proper training. No sleep until you have mined out a hundred square kilometers area!” The imp dropped his pick and stared at the ceiling with a gaping mouth. “Too much? Oh well, make it a hundred meters then.”

“Such a difference!” The imp said in shock. However, he picked up his pick again and continued with the mining.

*Ding! A loud metallic sound came from the mining tunnel.

What did he do now?

“Ah, Master! Boss! Err... Heart! I found something! Ore! Iron ore!” He held up a fist sized piece of iron ore and raised it up towards the ceiling, giving me a better view of it.

I have a zoom function, so, not that helpful, but I appreciate the gesture. I can also rotate and move to any block I want, however, for the imp, that might be difficult to understand. Easier to pretend I live in the ceiling. To be fair, I spend ninety-nine percent of my time in the ceiling.

“Oh, our first ore! Any more?” Finally something besides dirt. Kinda odd it showed up in the dirt, but not going to complain.

“Yeah, it’s a whole vein. A few hundred kilo, I’m guessing.” The imp smiled widely, as he held up the piece of ore close to his eye, to take every last detail in. His former tiredness, completely forgotten.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that is a pretty small vein, right? Like, very small. Actually, if it weren't iron ore, but say gold, or some gems, a few hundred kilograms would be pretty nice. Then again, I don't know much about geology. Not even sure why I know that word, but I digress. How can he tell how large the vein is? Oh, the mysteries of the imp race are too profound.

“What are we going to do with that?” Sounded great at first, but when you think about it, the ore is pretty useless.

“Well, we got no blacksmith or smithy, so we can’t use it. Keep for trade or you can absorb it? The ore should have a lot of mana inside.” The imp looked a bit sad as he said that. He just found something exciting, and now I'm going to turn it into mana. Kinda a waste of good material, but oh well.

“Can we afford the portal if I absorb all of it?”

“If not, we can at least summon another imp. Getting tired of doing all the work around here, you know. I’m the Prime, not some low-class imp. Ah, I’m supposed to sip on the finest drinks while having my feet massaged. Servants coming over with the juiciest bugs on a golden plate. My own personal fanning imp, a flying imp that uses a large leaf to cool me. Not just any leaf, but one from the rare ‘Palmus Manais’ tree, whose leaves have the special effect of releasing the mana it stored inside to deal with draughts, when you wave it around. All while seated on my throne, made of rare bones, and holding my scepter, with a head sized mana crystal on it. My crown would be the legendary self-adjusted kind, and it would be covered in smaller mana crystals. As they run dry from my absorption they would instantly be replaced.” The imp stared into nothingness, facing the wall, daydreaming about his future.

“How does that work?” More imps? What can go wrong? Yeah, I ignored his ramblings.

The imp woke up from his dreams and returned to reality. “Don’t worry, that is my job as the Prime. I already got contracts with ten imps. My friends from school.” Just his friends? No one that got hired for their actual skills?

“Are they any good? I mean, honestly?”

“Yeah, they work hard.” The imp averted his eyes. Kinda less effective, since I’m everywhere and nowhere at the same time. “Now, start absorbing the ore! We have no time to waste!” He changed the subject! I have a bad feeling about this.

I did as told, but the mana inside a kilogram sized piece of ore was less than I thought. However, the sheer amount more than made up for it. About five hundred kilograms of iron ore. It was not in a straight line, so the imp had to dig, both up and down to get it all. Afterwards, to keep our dungeon even and smooth, he filled up all the holes again with dirt.

While I was busy with absorbing the ore, the imp prepared the new farm. We had an excessive amount of mushrooms compared to our current population, but the imp assured me there were many uses for it, besides feeding the bugs.

“Hey, why do we actually need all the mushrooms? We are not using them, and the bugs can no longer keep up.” It was no longer just the actual farm ground that had filled up with mushrooms, no, no. Now, both the walls and ceilings in Farm One and Farm Two were completely covered with mushrooms. In short, it was a mess.

“Yeah, but don’t worry, there are plenty of uses for them. Like in the future, we can brew them into drinks. Or cook with them. Or maybe sell them. But that is for when we got more sentient beings and a proper kitchen area. Unlike normal mushrooms, these also help with purifying the air, which is why they got chosen for the starter pack sent with the first imp, in this case, me. While you may not notice it, since you don’t breathe, I definitely do. The air here was pretty bad at the start, but it recently got better. While the mana you release prevents us from being sick from the bad air, it’s still hard to breathe it, and perhaps more importantly, this way you use less mana to clean the air.” The imp sat on the ground, resting from exhaustion. However, he always had energy to talk.

I never considered the air quality. I thought about fire and smoke, but not, uh, the thing he talked about. Not sure how the mushrooms improved the air, but then again, I don’t breathe, so it’s probably for the best to trust the one that does.

“All done, should we get you an underling, my Prime?”

“Yes!” The imp raised his arms up in celebration. “Now, don’t resist, because this will use your mana.”

The imp pulled out a piece of paper from his bag on the back. On the paper was the design for the magic circle, and he carefully copied it over directly into the dirt with his finger. He double, no, triple checked at every step.

The design was… a shitty drawing of an imp? A round figure with two thin legs and large feet, wielding a pickaxe in his hands, a bag on his back, large eyes and pointy ears. Around it was a single thin line, a circle. Surprisingly crude.

There must be more than meets the eye, yes, that's it. I am merely so ignorant about imp magic that I cannot recognize the magnificent work of art in front of me.

The imp got down on his knees, placing his hands on the thin line. Suddenly, an enormous suction force drained my mana reserves. The imp’s own mana reserve remained untouched.

The imp lowered his head towards the ground, his arms extended forward, before he raised his torso and arms up, and then lowered it once again. In short, a kneeling bow. He repeated this for a total of ten times. All while chanting something to himself. I surprisingly could not understand the words.

The lines in the dirt started to slowly glow. The glow increased in intensity, until even I, a being with no eyes, could not withstand the bright light. The magic circle turned into a beam of light, and the light spread out, covering the entire dungeon with its shine. Even places that should logically be dark, thanks to the walls blocking the light, lit up for some reason. Every shadow disappeared for just an instant. Finally, the light beam faded and I returned my view to the magic circle...