Obu stared at her System as words scrolled their way across her Core.
Obu couldn’t help but be excited. She would be able to make new intelligent creatures to fill her Dungeon with rather than simply strong beasts. They would be able to grow and create, possibly even teach her new things as everything in the Dungeon grew together towards making the best one possible. She was excited to get to work but had to wait as Dug finished speaking to her new “worshippers.”
As he picked her up and they began moving again she spoke up. “So what did you tell them?”
Her father cackled. “Isa told dem dat deys will be all peaceable nows and dat dey will be moving closah to yousa’s Dungeon. Weesa will whip dem intah shape right quick weesa wills.”
Obu just sighed and let it go. Her father would do as he wished, she was just glad he hadn’t confused the poor creatures anymore then they already were. It soon became apparent that they were heading back to the surface so she dismissed her fake Monster Spawner and removed her influence from the area. She had no desire to feel like her body was sliced up and divided anymore than she had to.
The fake monster had been her father’s idea. She had simply made a pit in the ground and then summoned a single and very weak rendition of the Framework she had claimed. It did the trick but it left her exhausted. It also showed her that it was possible to make her own Spawners in the future but she had no idea what that would look like. She just hoped that the System would give her more options until that time came.
It took awhile for Dug to walk back to their home though not as long as she had thought as they got home just as the sun was setting. Some of the Muskeera and Talpi had followed them in order to know where the Dungeon was since the Talpi would begin expanding their tunnels in this direction according to her father. The Muskeera on the other hand were just going to move closer and dig new burrows to live in. It didn’t matter much to Obu. She was just excited to get back to her Dungeon.
After reaching the top of the bluff, Dug gave a look towards where a burned corpse lay next to a crater. He shuffled over to it and sniffed experimentally before reaching somewhere with hands coated in Waag. As he retracted his hands a glimmering shard came into view as though drawn out of the world itself. It radiated power and authority. Dug simply stuck it in his pocket and headed inside before she had a chance to examine what he had taken.
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As they entered the tunnels of Dug’s home, Obu sighed in relief as she entered her own territory. A weight she didn’t know she had been carrying was lifted from her shoulders. Immediately the System began to send her notifications. She had achieved her goal of finding new monsters for her Dungeon but some of them would require work before being suitable.
Before she could look at the notifications, however, there was the matter of her ascension to Rank F(2) to take care of. Dug set her down, leaning her against his overly massive bed before climbing on top of it. He then went straight to sleep, evidently exhausted by the day’s ordeals. Obu watched over him fondly before getting back to her ascension.
She mentally accepted the prompt and was filled with a surge of something that hurtled through her like a comet through the night sky. It seared its way through her Core and by the end she was left gasping. The process had left her bone-dry, devoid of Aether, and she breathed sharply as only someone who has had their breath knocked out of them can understand. Aether flowed down the tunnels like a flood before reaching her Core where she sucked it up greedily.
Only when she was satisfied did she hear the ring of notifications. Words sprawled their way across her Core and excitement replaced her earlier panic.
Obu giggled with glee at all the new options available to her. She was glad she had forgotten to choose a Cornerstone because now she would be able to work on everything equally. She even got the Temperate Biome she wanted. It looked like all the Frameworks she collected had made a difference. It was a shame that she would only get rewards for Ranking up every other time though. She looked at what she was beginning to think of as her System Report.
It revealed what she suspected. The amount of Xp she needed for each level had doubled and if the pattern held true for the levels needed to advance in Rank then she was in for a long grind to get two more Ranks under her belt. She didn’t know what it would take but she knew who to ask.
“System? How do Dungeon Cores gain Experience?”
Obu stared at the response in bewilderment. “And what’s the difference between a challenger and an invader? And what are they anyway?”
Obu took in the information before realizing that this was what The Administrator was talking about in his note. The Muskeera and Talpi could challenge her Dungeon regularly, giving her the Experience she needed to move up in Rank. The more Experience she got, the more she could receive insight from the world and expand her Dungeon. She smiled as only a Dungeon Core could before turning to her Dungeon. She had another room to create and a Floor to finish. Then maybe she could find some Challengers to test them out on.