It was just like any other day. I dug. My creatures ate, bred and slept. My Hunting Lizard was sleeping after having eaten his filled.

  Then the alarm blared, my danger sense. Something had entered my dungeon that was dangerous.

  I investigated with my awareness, that is, my wisps of mana. It was creatures that we could handle. It was a lone snake, five feet of coiling muscles and sleek black scale. It was a rat snake, one of the common snakes found in caves.

  Wake. I shouted at the lizard. Intruder. Kill it.

  It will be his first challenge. Uptil now, it had not killed any predator yet, only prey. It doesn't matter whether he win or lose. He must prove himself.

  As for me, I called up the nearest rat, the biggest of all of them. It was a female, the only female rat that was not pregnant as she had chased every male rat who approached her. Currently, there was twenty female rats, nineteen of them pregnant but only five males. I had created more females to boost the population.

  As the lizard head out to meet the intruder, the female rat picked me up with her paws. I show her where to take me.

  In the tunnel, the two contenders meet. The Rat Snake raised its head upon encountering the hunting lizard, hissing.

  On the other hand, the hunting lizard lowered his head, his eyes fixed on the snake head.

  Both contenders were more brawn than venom, unlike most of their kind. The fight could end in favour of either of them.

  Yet I won't butt in. I could direct the spiders and rats to chipped away the rat snake strength while my first dungeonborn dealt the heavy blow. Several Spiders had taken residence in the original tunnel and they could help. But for now, I won't. He must get stronger.

  Then both of them lunged forward. It was in a flash. The lizard was gnawing at the snake, half a foot from its head. He had missed and that was a mistake.

  The snake on the other hand had landed its fang on the lizard forehead, right between his horns. The snake had the upper hand as it coiled its body around the lizard's body.

  Though both of them were equal in power, the rat snake won because of its experience. The hunting lizard was only ten days old and a juvenile at that.

  I sent reinforcement. There was six Orbweavers in the room. All of them landed on the body of the snake. They stung.

  From the tunnel, five rat crawled out. They jumped on the snake, each of them biting and gnawing at different part of the body. The snake twitch and then sudden, it lash out. It stop biting the lizard and jabbed at the rats, who were quick to dodge.

  In a matter of seconds, it was twelve against one. The snake stood no chance. The Orbweavers venom began to take effect. Cave Orbweaver were more venomous than others yet still their venom were mild. However, the rat snake had a high dose of it that it was beginning to lose control of its body.

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  As the grip loosen, the lizard, a little tipsy got out of the coil and as originally intended went for the head.

  After a while, I sense the rat snake's death as fresh mana came to me. I absorbed some of its parts as well.

  New Schema Unlocked

  Cave Rat Snake(Common)

  Mildly venomous, this snake can reach lengths of 5 to 8 feet and are found in caves, often scaling walls to catch bats, using their heat-sensitive receptors to locate them. They are semi-arboreal and excellent climbers.

  The rest of the body was food for the rats and lizard. Their booty of war. As for the spiders......

  One of your creature, a Cave Orbweaver is about to undergo evolution. Select the desired path.

  Communal weaver(Uncommon): Learning from its fights, this spider had realised the strength that lies in group, letting go of its territorial tendency and weaving a trap with dozens of spider, coordinated by pheromones.

  Ground-weaver(Uncommon): This spider had let go of creating arboreal webs as trap. Instead, it makes its trap underground - a hole made of web and covered with a lid, where it hides. Quick, large and venomous, it is the perfect ambush creatures.

  All of the spider were evolving. Everyone had the same option except for one. Instead of Burrowing spider, he had:-

  Reaving Hunter(Uncommon): Spiders are ambush creatures but this is not. Venom potent enough to take out most prey in mere seconds, a dozen times larger than its previous self, this creature roams from one place to another, in search of preys to hunt.

  None of the rat nor the lizard show any sign of evolution. Well, it was to be expected. Afterall, the spiders contributed the most in the fight although it was the lizard that ended it.

  I didn't knew how to choose. I reached out to the creatures. Five of them did not have any will. They were just mindless beast, without a speck of intelligence. The last though, the one with the Hunting Rover option was very much so. It like hunting more so than waiting.

  Thus, I choose. Three Communal weavers and two Ground-weavers. As for the last, I choose the

  Reaving Hunter.

  The spiders began to glow went back to their web, hid in the corner and quickly cocooned their body with their silk. The cocoon glow with a pale light.

  I let themselves be. My eyes went upon the other creatures in the room. The five rats were tearing at the snake flesh but the lizard was not.

  He was wounded. The snake had bit its head, injecting what mild poisons it had but that was not the problem. The problem was his torso. The snake had crush several bones in his body and limbs.

  No problem. I drove my mana inside his body, mending his body. Out of all my creatures, he was the most intelligent. I sense his shame. He knew if it wasn't for the help, he could have died.

  I did not console him. I was not angry. Just a little disappointed.

  Learn from this. I said. Grow from this.

  After his body mended, he didn't eat. Instead he went out. I did not stop him. I saw from his mind where he was going. He was going to the underground pond in the cavern. He was going to hunt.

  The rats, after having their fill scamper back to the new tunnel, back to their home. I absorbed the rest of the corpse.

  As for me, I was in a nice snug cave, up above one of the pillar in the unfinished floor, brought by the female rat, who had scampered back to her hole now.

  With the threat gone and with enough mana to spare, I started digging again.

  -

  He was the first. He should have been the strongest. Yet he could not fight off the strong invader that entered the domain of his creator.

  He knew there were stronger creatures out there. He remembered those four legged furry giants who chased him and his creator in the forest. He remembered the fear he felt. He remembered the fear of his creator. The anxiety.

  Yet in his new home, he had forgotten. Comfort and safety had made him soft. In here, he was strong, the undisputed champion of his creator.

  The hissing legless scales that intruded his home was not much stronger than him. Still, he nearly lost his live if it wasn't for those delicious looking furred ones and the eight legged ones.

  He felt no pride in the kill that came afterward. Instead, he felt bitter. Disappointment. His creator was also disappointed with him.

  Learn from this. Grow from this.

  He will.

  Another one of those hissing legless scales was in front of him. This one was bigger, longer and stronger than the previous one.

  However, this time he will win.

  The scales lunged at him. It was fast. He was faster.

  He landed his mark. He caught the scale head from behind with his jaws.

  His paws clutch its bodies, claws digging into its flesh.

  He bit hard, crushing the scales' skull.

  It thrash. It tried to coil its legless scaly body around him, to crush him but he didn't let it.

  Claws dug at its scaly body.

  This time he will not lose. He will win. He will prove himself. He is the first. He should be the strongest.

  -