Well, that went about as well as could be expected, Valterra thought. The dungeon core moved his awareness away from the party, his attention fixating on the many creatures that had entered his territory. To be honest, he wasn’t sure his dungeon could handle these shrunken creatures. Many of them stood out like beacons to his Aether sight, obviously higher Rank Ascensions that would tear through his lower floors with ease. Luckily, they wouldn’t be able to stay there.
Due to the nature of his dungeon, the area outside the mansion was practically bereft of Aether compared to outside the dome. It forced them to climb higher if they wanted to find a place that could sustain them. In the meantime, they would be forced to fight ever increasingly more brutal fights as they climbed to the third floor and then deeper. However, that forced Valterra to keep growing. Valterra found himself consumed by a sudden weariness and the feeling that the world was moving too fast. He wanted to slow down, but there just wasn’t enough time. Especially not now that Natalia and her Delving party had arrived.
He hadn’t expected them to turn up like this out of the blue. He hadn’t expected Natalia to show up as she did, having been told by the System that her grandfather had passed. Uncle Kratty would be hearing about that in the future. Any of the taller sapient races he would have expected to meet once he expanded past the barrier. He hadn’t because he didn’t know what would happen to the barrier if he did so. Now that he knew he could let them in, he wasn’t convinced it was needed.
I could always just burrow deeper underground. The thought held merit, but reality wasn’t so kind. All dungeons burrowed, and all dungeons eventually came under attack by Delvers. It was the nature of his existence as a largely stationary Core. At least if I expanded outward, I would be able to see more and learn more about enemies before they arrived.
It would also be much easier to hide if he claimed a large portion of land. Then, with his powers and Aether Pylons, he could set up Detached Floors that would draw attention away from his main Dungeon. After a moment, he sighed and put that hope on a shelf in his mind. That would be next to impossible now that Natalia and her party were here. They probably had superiors to report to, and he didn’t think their pseudo-relationship, as Uncle and Niece, would be of a high enough caliber to prevent that outcome if he asked her to remain silent about his location.
I could ask the uncles and aunts, I suppose, he thought before metaphorically shaking his head. No. They are already far too interested. I can sense them watching the situation. He would have to deal with this on his own, and he refused to sign another bargain so soon after Ne’Am Skota. The main issue with the situation was that while Natalia’s Party had not seemed intent on claiming him, they were easily the most powerful individuals that he had experienced so far.
The Aether within each one sang to their senses, even as its presence warped their perception in subtle ways. Each of them possessed a power similar in level to Geckodo. Considering that it had taken him everything he had and divine help to claim Geckodo and his people? There was nothing he had on the level of the party of Delvers. He wouldn’t for a while if his rate of growth remained the same. Then again, perhaps there was a way to speed up the process. He was already part of the way there.
Hordes of creatures now had access to his dungeon that hadn’t had it before, and some of those would be of a higher Rank. From what he could see, Natalia and her party were all B Rank, and while none of the invading creatures were up to that level, there was the possibility that some of them might come to explore now that the situation had changed. There were other ways to encourage this, too.
More Floors and better Aether flow would mean that his Dungeon would accumulate greater amounts of Aether on the lower Floors. Not to mention that the more Floors he created, the closer he got to Ascension and the various Frameworks that were available to choose afterward. With multiple Sapient races and a few more on the way, his divinity would be boosted as well, and he would gain Divine Potential, potential he could use to create new Frameworks.
After Ascending another time, however, he would be able to create C Rank Frameworks, also known as Steel Ranks, which would boost his available power and thus safety to new heights. What he really needed was time. He had some Steel Ranks on the way. Another week and they would be finished Ascending, and he would be able to create more. Valterra settled his mind and began to plan for the future. His whales were exploring the pond now that it had been claimed, but it would most likely need to be expanded so that they could continue to grow.
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He would probably be keeping the pod there. They would enjoy the larger area, the sunlight, and the increased variety of prey. It was still a small area compared to their Framework’s origin, so the expansion would have to be extensive, at which point it would be more like a lake than a pond.
That would open up the basement to be drained of the majority of its water, with each room being transformed into a Floor of its own instead of a bloated and waterlogged single Floor. Valterra let out a hum that carried through his Dungeon as he thought about his father’s plans. That they most likely included the basement was a given, considering all the circumstances. He figured that his father had prepared around ten or so rooms to serve that function. The rats would have become his minions, and the garden and pond would have provided Frameworks in increasingly higher Ranks to fuel his early growth.
Now, though, the Locations of Power were shaping up to become detached Floors instead, or even hidden ones if he wanted them to be—places where he could experiment without disturbing any theme he desired to have on his subsequent Floors. Or having a Delver party kill my creatures before they can Ascend, he thought, feeling some of his creatures die on the First Floor. Contrary to his expectations, when his presence swept over the area, he found a creature terrorizing a group of Feral Mice.
Despite its obviously miniaturized size, the furry beast was a terror on the lower-ranked mice. Valterra tried to recreate the beast in his mind. A thick muzzle full of sharp teeth stood out on a stocky neck—a thick boned body covered in deep brown fur. The beast itself moved quickly, darting from place to place with a speed and veracity that seemed out of place in a creature so small. Valterra knew that that was a result of the way he went about shrinking his guests. He had allowed them to retain their power using his Authority, a plan to lure Natalia and her party to enter.
No one would enter the den of a predator while weakened, and he figured the same could be said for a Dungeon. The same offer had been given to the creatures outside who were too big to fit through the wards. Practically all had accepted from what Valterra could sense and see. Now, here was one, a beast that would have been around twenty feet tall standing upright outside the wards. It would have been huge, possibly fast, and monstrously strong. Now, all that muscle, Aether, and size had been condensed by a factor of 1/24th.
The result was a masterclass in savagery. It was practically a blur as it broke the mice it fought. At least until she showed up. There was a loud screeching bellow of rage as his Guardian, the Mouse Gorger, entered the fray. She was followed by the rest of her family, practically a clan at this point, and they fell on the beast like a tide. Valterra leaned closer as the mice charged in, watching as the tide broke. Badly.
The beast went straight for his Guardian, fearsome teeth sinking deep despite it taking damage from the surrounding rats. The Mouse Gorger squeaked in surprised pain, obviously not having recognized the true capability of the creature before her. Valterra surmised that she had sensed something wrong or had simply smelled it and had immediately rushed to the site of the battle.
She was not a beast of strategy; her tactics consisted of being larger and stronger than those she fought. Now she found those tactics surprisingly turned around on her. She had the advantage of size, but the true power of the beast before her was shown in how it turned and threw her bodily to the floor. The beast reared up, preparing to slam its paws into her ribcage, and Valterra braced himself for the first death of a Guardian.
The Mouse Gorger wasn’t alone, however, and her kin weren’t going to stand for their matriarch being killed, regardless of her tyrannical ways. Having ignored the surrounding mice in favor of taking out the strongest member, it wasn’t prepared for fifteen mice to dogpile it. It fought savagely, laying about itself with its mighty paws, but numbers were an equalizer all their own. Every time a mouse was knocked away, a fresh member came squeaking in to attack.
The Mouse Gorger looked on through it all, her beady black eyes glittering with newfound caution. She squeaked, and the horde shifted, beginning to target the beast's mighty limbs, nipping until they were bloodied and weak. With another squeak from their matron, mice from either side converged on the limbs, latching on and pulling to either side. The rest dived in, while its limbs were trapped, the beast’s roars of rage turning into howls of pain.
Valterra turned away as the horde descended, only turning back after it was over. He wasn’t squeamish by any means, but some things he didn’t need to see. Feral Mice lay all over the place, their bodies twitching in final death throes. Out of the mighty warband, only a dozen mice had made it through without grievous injury. Still, even they bore bruises and gashes from the fight. Valterra saved the ones he could, patching the worst of the injuries, but many had already passed on.
Their tenacious defense of their home hadn’t been without reward, however. Valterra absorbed the beast, even as the surviving Feral Mice and the Mouse Gorger were washed in the light of Aether from its death. The System lit up, golden words blazing across the Dungeon Core’s inner matrix, as the beast’s Framework settled in among the rest, followed by yet more.
New Framework Acquired!
