That was a lot. Obu looked at the screen pensively, making sure to read it multiple times to glean its meaning. In truth, it only communicated what she had known for some time: She would have to grow, delving deeper and deeper into the earth to create environments and ecosystems necessary for her creatures to grow.

  This was something she had already wanted to do, mainly because it was a part of her nature but also because of the goblinoid spawner she already possessed. They were just now coming into sapience, the Gits too stupid to really be called such, and she suspected that the System had determined that true sapience for goblin kind would be reached at Rank E.

  That being said, she was well on her way to reaching Rank E, and her new children would help with that. She turned her attention outward only for the System to bring up older unread notifications. The first was simply the confirmation of the challenge that Cheep-Cheep’s friends had accepted. They had already left and had only delved into her first two rooms as they had the last time. Without Cheep-Cheep with them, she figured that was a wise decision.

  They had triggered the traps as well, which meant that they had achieved the full Experience, and the System had given out the rewards in her place when she had been in the midst of her ritual. She had received a further 1360 Experience for their efforts, which, combined with Razum’s Ascendancy Challenge, brought her current Experience total to 2020 Experience. Before checking the next notification, she decided to spend that Experience on United and Rooted, respectively.

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  As the rush from those Experiences faded, she turned to the next message in line and found her gaze frozen on the message.

  Obu quickly closed the notification after accepting the quest and moved her awareness to her father and Razum, who were still in the garden. “Dad, Razum! Did you guys get the quest about the Corrupted Invasion?!”

  Her dad looked a little irritated at the news but not surprised while Razum dipped the stalk of his body, causing the cap to bob in the approximation of a nod. “I did,” he said, his gaze locking on where her Awareness floated. “I have been discussing the situation with father and showing him my recently crafted children.”

  Obu let herself be distracted by those words, taking in the three mushrooms that stood behind Razum’s fruiting body, though calling them mushrooms was a stretch. The first was a short, cruel figure with a red cap and pale stalk that ended in two thick legs. Brutish arms ending in dagger-like fingers draped low to the ground. It drooled hungrily and looked around like an attack dog on a leash.

  The second figure pulsed with bioluminescence, the light glimmering along the edge of its hood. While the light was pretty, what it revealed was less so. A gaping maw of jagged teeth set in a thick short stalk so that it appeared more mouth than body, long arms and legs to propel itself forward, and thick mycelial tendrils that dragged behind its body like the train of a robe.

  The third figure was massive. Taller than her father and Razum by almost three, the mushroom towered over the assembled company. Its bell-shaped cap hung partially over its face. Two large eyes flitted from figure to figure, and a mouth of sharp teeth spread in a perpetual smile. Its limbs were thick, with huge and stubby legs and long arms, one ending in jagged claws and the other slightly longer yet club-like in appearance.

  Her gaze sharpened as she activated the System. In order, the monsters’ names, Ranks, and levels, appeared over their heads: Sangori, The Firstborn [Rank F(1) - Level 1], Glimbi, The Secondborn [Rank F(1) - Level 1], and Gol, The Thirdborn [Rank F(1) - Level 1]. If she could have blinked, she would have.

  “Your children, huh? That’s…that’s…that’s awesome!” Obu was elated, of course. How could she be anything else? Her brother’s children were horrifying, of course, but one must remember that Obu was the daughter of a goblin. Ugly was par for the course, and since her children could be considered monsters as well, even that part didn’t bother her.

  “I made children, too!” She gushed, manifesting a rough image out of Aether of what her children would look like. “Maybe we can have them get together later.”

  Razum’s nod was quick and sure, a sign of his approval and excitement for the plan. Their father, however, got them back on track.

  “Whiles Ima pleased dat youz are creatin an’ growin, der beez corruptions a’comin. Weesa gotta take care of dat first.”

  “Right, yes, of course.” Obu couldn’t blush, and she was grateful for it as she realized she had gotten distracted from the danger at hand. She had a quest, and the rewards depended on her participation in the emergency. “Hey, Dad? Since you probably didn’t get the quest, the administrator said that we won’t get any help with it since all of its agents are elsewhere.

  Her father scoffed even as he turned and began stomping back towards the entrance that led out into the world. “Dis beez someting ize suspected. Would notta relied on dat one anyways.”

  Obu just sighed in exasperation as she followed her father with her awareness. His character was well known to her, and thus, his penchant for not relying on random strangers was no surprise. As they exited, she found the preserved corpse of some kind of hyena creature. She absorbed it immediately, knowing that her father had probably meant it for her. His accompanying smirk confirmed the fact.

  The Dungeon Core ignored the System notification that came afterward. She would look at the Framework when their home wasn’t under attack. She followed her father with her gaze as he made his way to a figure kneeling beside the corpse of the adventurer who had tried to kill him when he had first arrived. As they began talking, she focused on the distant feeling of her Hidden Floor and felt the connection.

  She breathed deeply and sent the Aether flooding through the connection, along with a piece of her Awareness. In doing so, she was able to replace one of the Pure-Touched Slimeling Spawners with a Puron Spawner. As she let the connection fade and retracted her Awareness, she heard the man speak up, his voice tinged with disbelief.

  “What do you mean that Dungeon Core is your daughter?!”