Darkness... Everything was black... I am large, but small—a core, a cave. My senses expanded, and I could feel the walls surrounding me—the cracks in them and the vibrations.
Where am I?
What is this?
An orange glow ignited within the darkness; it pulsed... I pulsed. My senses felt the glow; it was a small sphere, lying on the cold, hard floor. It was me...
What am I?
My senses vibrated; a blue screen popped up.
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Name: —
Race: Dungeon Core
Tier: 1 — Nascent Core
Level: 1
Available Essence: 10
Total Essence Absorbed: 0 / 100
Core Integrity: 100%
Floors: 1
Controlled Territory: 18 m
Upkeep: None
Core Skills — Tier 1
Dungeon Sense Lv1
Essence Absorption Lv1
Dungeon Shaping Lv1
Template Creation Lv1
Known Monster Templates:
None
Known Materials:
Stone
Dirt
Water
Structures:
Basic Chamber
Tunnel
Core Pedestal
Entrance
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What are these words?
What do they mean?
Dungeon? Is that what I am?
...
...
What is a dungeon?
What does that mean?
I pondered the question, but had no answer. Time passed; I don't know how much. It was very boring, very quiet. My walls cracked more, with even more holes forming within them. The only thing that kept me entertained was watching as water dripped from the roof, falling onto the stone floor below.
What is time?
Why do I know time?
How long has passed?
Is this my purpose?
The water dripped, and then stopped for a long time... and then dripped again. It was a loop, the only thing that I could understand. Time passed, my walls buckled more, and eventually one fell. I felt it open into something, but my senses couldn't reach it; if I tried to push my senses out, all I could see were dark blurs. Pulling my senses back in, I waited, watching the water fall.
My senses vibrated... small vibrations scurried across the hard floor. I focused my senses, narrowing them to the thing moving. A picture formed in my sights: a small, ugly creature with a fat, furry body, small whiskers, and a long, fleshy tail.
What are you?
A blue screen popped up again.
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Race: Cave rat
Level: 1
Template: 0%
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Cave Rat?
Fascinating...
The creature looked around, walking around within me. It smelt the walls, scratching them slightly. It stopped at the small puddle that formed from where the water dripped. It licked the water and seemed to hum. I pulsed, the orange illuminating the cave for a moment. The rat looked up at me and hissed before scurrying back into the space that I could not observe. I could no longer feel it. It was gone.
Why did it leave?
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Cave rat Template: 0% → 1%
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I don't care... I want it to come back.
The water dripped slowly. Methodically. It was now boring.
Please come back...
Time passed, but it did not return. Each moment without it made my core pulse, longing for the creature's return.
A small vibration appeared. I focused.
Your back!
I don't want you to leave again...
I focused on the hole in my wall. It can't leave if the hole is gone. I looked at it, thinking about closing the hole. Something told me that I could, so I listened. My core pulsed, and the wall closed; I felt myself close. Focusing on the rat, I was happy.
You can't leave anymore.
It squeaked and began to urgently scratch at where the hole used to be. It whined for a long time, its face drooping.
You're still here.
Good.
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Cave rat Template: 1% → 4%
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After a long time, it began to search the room, scratching every wall. It would never approach my core, though; it seemed cautious. Time passed, and the creature began to slow down. It got boring.
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Cave rat Template: 4% → 9%
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It spent most of the time standing where the hole used to be. After I watched it a little longer, it lay down and whined. It stopped moving.
Are you tired?
No... this is different; you still moved when you lay down before.
After a while, it began to glow.
Interesting...
Its furry body turned into light, fading into the ground, into me. It felt good, but it was gone. Is it a part of me?
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Cave Rat Template: 9% → 87%
Essence Absorbed: +1
Available Essence: 10 → 11
Total Essence Absorbed: 0 → 1 / 100
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The number went up a lot... What if it gets to 100%?
I want to know.
I need another one.
I focused on where the hole was and broke down the wall again. But nothing came... The water dripped, but even when it stopped, nothing came. My cave was dry... it was quiet. I remembered the first rat... it felt so long ago already. I remember what it did within me, how it always wanted water; it spent all its time near that wall... or drinking out of my puddle.
I looked at the entrance, water... I focused on the ground; it began to shift and dissolve, and water formed from it.
Yes...
After some time, a vibration appeared again. It entered me, moving slowly. Another rat... it walked up to the water and began to drink.
I won't be able to let you leave either.
I closed the wall. Trapping it within me. It cried for a long time, moving from the water to the wall. It acted like the last one, but the anticipation made me happier than before. It lay down and stopped moving.
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Cave Rat Template: 87% → 100%
Essence Absorbed: +1
Available Essence: 11 → 12
Total Essence Absorbed: 1 → 2/ 100
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The screen faded, and then a new one popped up
Yes.
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New template acquired: Cave Rat
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I looked at the words; they floated in my vision for quite a while. It took me a long time to process it.
Template?
Acquired? Is it mine? Is the rat mine?
What is a template?
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Monster Templates:
Cave Rat - 2 Essence
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I looked at the screen and focused. I felt as if something was taken from me; it swirled where I focused, and a Cave Rat appeared. I watched it; the creature looked the same, but it was mine. It was connected to me. I could see normally, but I could see through its eyes. It sniffed around and then approached my core; my sphere pulsed, but instead of running, it got closer. It nuzzled against me and purred.
Available Essence: 12 → 10
Intriguing...
You are me... but also you...
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Dungeon Monster
Race: Cave Rat
Level: 1
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The rat moved around but didn't cry like the others; it didn't screech or try to get out. Time passed as before, but it didn't slow down.
Why aren't you falling over?
The others had already turned into the good light by now...
I could feel it feeding on me. It didn't touch the water once. The creature was like the others, but not the same. It took, but I didn't lose anything because I was feeding too, off of the world around me.
I could sense some of its feelings.
You want to keep me safe.
It purred.
After a while, the rat became boring. There was only so much it could do in a small cave. I looked over the other screen. Templates, materials, and structures. What could I do with all of this? I thought about the structures.
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Structures:
Tunnel - 1 Essence Per Meter
Basic Chamber - 8 Essence
Entrance - 5 Essence
Core Pedestal - 20 Essence
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Looking at the words, I wondered. I could feel what each one would do. But they had a set cost...
What if?
I looked at the corner of the room and focused; the ground dissolved and the rocks crumbled. I dug away, feeling the hole become a part of me. My essence drained slowly, and when I reached a meter deep, I stopped. The hole was dark, and the rat walked over and peeked inside.
I did it.
Available Essence: 10 → 9
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Acquired structure: Basic Pit
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This was my own creation, a part of me, designed by me. The rat scurried over and looked into the hole. It cried softly, peering into the darkness I could not see.
What is in there?
Looking at the structures, I decided to gamble. Diving into the darkness, I built a basic chamber. The essence drained from me quickly, but my senses expanded drastically. Stone walls formed, with small pillars supporting the roof. The ground became a paved floor, with small cracks running along it. On each of the four walls, torches with an orange glow shone. They flickered, lighting up the cave where my core was. The rat scurried back as the room formed, but once it was complete, it hurried in.
I felt the new chamber, and inside, many things moved. My core pulsed, vibrating the floor. I could feel them slightly. They had hard shells with smooth bodies; they buzzed and slowly made their way towards the arched opening leading to my original cave. I ripped them from their old home, transforming it into a chamber, and they did not seem happy.
They wanted to hurt me.
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Race: Blind Cave Beetle
Level: 1
Template 0%
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They moved towards my core, making their way slowly through the newly formed chamber. My rat hissed; these bugs were maybe a quarter of its size, and it stood in the doorway. As a beetle approached, the rat chomped, killing it instantly. It dissolved and became my nourishment.
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Blind Cave Beetle Template: 0% → 89%
Essence Absorbed: +0.5
Available Essence: 1 → 1.5
Total Essence Absorbed: 2 → 2.5/ 100
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Another tried to make it past, but the rat pinned it down with its paw, biting its fragile body.
Essence Absorbed: +0.5
Another fell. And then another. My rat panted, but in the end it slaughtered a dozen of those bugs.
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New template acquired: Blind Cave Beetle.
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After the fight, my rat came over to my core and rubbed against it. I could feel its touch, so warm. After the fight and buying the chamber, I now had a total of seven essence. My core still lay on the hard floor in the original room. My senses examined the new chamber's floor; it seemed smoother... better.
I wanna be there...
I tried to move, but my core couldn't; it was simply a sphere that pulsed orange. My rat walked over.
Can you move me?
The rat tilted its head before walking behind my core; it pushed, and I rolled. After a while, I was there within the lit room. Making my way to the center, the rat stopped before continuing its patrol.
I examined the room. It was much smaller than the cave I'd started in, but it was nicer. Safer.
I like it here better.
My new favourite pastime was watching the rat jump at the torches lining the wall. It tried to reach the flames, but it never jumped high enough. Time passed; the flames danced for a long while, and everything became very boring. The most fun I had was watching my rat fight, but after that nothing happened. In the original cave, the dripping water had increased, soaking the entire floor. I dug the ground slightly so the water wouldn't make it into my chamber.
Observing the rat for a while, I felt something break; the roof in the cave where the water dripped had collapsed. Water fell like a waterfall; it kept rising. I watched where it fell and formed a basin; the stone melted and descended a meter. The water filled it quickly, but I noticed that it had slowed. After doubling the pit, the water finally stopped, filling it nearly to the top.
Available Essence: 7 → 5
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Acquired structure: Water Pit
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My senses tried to peer through the hole in the roof, but, as before, I could not see through the darkness. Water stirred in the pit, the dark hole looming above it. I felt a rock slip and fall, hitting the water's surface. My senses exploded upwards; something was coming...