It took a bit more time than that before the Acolytes went into Zaria’s home. They had to get ready, and Vysala and the mayor had to calm down the town. In hindsight, standing up might not have been the best idea, but Zaria had been getting really tired of being ignored. Although slamming her doors and rattling her windows probably would have been more subtle in hindsight. Lesson learned for later.

Meanwhile, Zaria took the time to listen in to the acolyte’s discussion. In addition to Tymoa being an Acolyte in his role in his organization, he was also of the Acolyte class. All members of the groups had herocores, cores they had absorbed into their body to empower themselves with the abilities of adventurers. This party was five people for that exact reason. As an Acolyte, Tymoa filled the role of primary spell caster for his group. The woman was a Knight, the primary tank of the group. The other three men - none of them used their names, so Zaria just sorted them by height, calling them Small, Medium, and Tall - were of the other classes. Small was a rogue, Medium was an archer, and Tall was a Saint, the group’s primary healer.

Given they had annoyed her, and Zaria wanted to level up anyway, she ignored the Dungeon Instructions and just moved Maw up with the four crate mimics to greet the group when they entered. Since Maw was a challenge for a full party on his own, it should be pretty easy to kill all five with the group clustered together like that. She set Rav and another of the crates right next to the door, on either side. The other two she had under the table, and she left Maw directly on the far side of the kitchen. She created a crude placard near him and carved text onto it.

For Salvation

That made her grin to herself. If she was right…this was going to be a fairly easy time.

Once the group had equipped themselves with their adventuring gear, they headed inside, the Knight leading the way. Zaria commanded the mimics to stay still and await her signal.

“Clear!” the Knight shouted over her shoulder after a moment, lowering her shield. “Looks like this one’s willing to cooperate.”

“How so?” Tymoa asked, pushing forward and into Zaria’s house. He glanced around the kitchen, momentarily scowling in confusion. “It just looks like any other peasant home.”

The knight pointed with her sword towards Maw. “It left us a gift.”

Tymoa looked at the chest and nodded. “So it would seem. Yet still…it could be a trapped item.”

“A trapped chest?” Tall said. “At this level?” Slowly the group was filling into the room, unknowingly surrounding themselves with mimics. “That’s Copper at least.”

“We don’t know what Tier this dungeon is,” Small said. “It walked here, remember? Could have been levelling up for two years on the other side of the world before it wandered this way. Could be as far up as Bronze or Silver or Gold.”

“Maybe even platinum,” Medium muttered darkly.

Tymoa shook his head. “Look at how…simple this room is. Unadorned. Meaning no offense to you, Dungeon. I’m sure if you had time, you would have made it far more acceptable. But you are newborn, aren't you? Just haven’t had time to…neaten things up.”

They weren’t in range of Maw yet. Zaria had to keep them interested. So, per the code Vysala had set earlier, she slammed the door once. It had the dual effect of answering the question - and making all five jump forward, startled by the sound.

Tymoa ground his teeth. “We’re right here, Dungeon. You need not make such a…ruckus to answer our questions. Perhaps that chest can be opened so we may see what it contains? To help…alleviate our fears.”

To her shock, Maw did. His lid flopped open. His lips came down over his teeth, hiding them from view, and his tongue was laid flat, covering up everything else inside. The coloration of his tongue made it look exactly like silver and gold coins. The illusion was so convincing, even Zaria wondered for a moment if he’d somehow filled himself with coinage.

“Oh my,” Tymoa said, his eyes widening.

Tall stepped forward, a greedy hunger filling his eyes. “We can live like kings as we travel back,” he said to his companions. “And still have the vast majority to tithe when we return.”

“We’ll need to hire some of the villagers to serve as added protection,” Medium said. “Then we can-”

Zaria commanded.

Whatever Medium was about to say was cut off when Tall screamed. Zaria had been hoping for the Knight, to take out their tank, but she’d settle for their healer. Maw’s jaw snapped shut on Tall’s wrist, severing the hand in a single snap. Tall stepped back, but Maw’s distended arms launched out, grabbing the man by the waist, and lifting him up.

As the group watched in frozen horror, Maw stood up and hurled the healer into his mouth. His jaws snapped shut again, this time catching Tall at the waist.

The Saint’s severed legs fell to the floor with wet thumps. That sound seemed to break the spell over the group.

Small grabbed his daggers and lunged forward, screaming in fury. He got two steps before he tripped, his face hitting the floor so hard it snapped his nose. The two mimics under the table had gotten their tongues around his ankle and were reeling him back in. Small tried to slash at the tongues, and actually severed one of them, but the other pulled the Rogue back into its mouth before biting down hard on his knee.

Medium whirled, his hands trembling, and he tried to reach for his quiver. Sheer panic made him knock arrows over, sending them clattering all over the floor. He didn’t scream when Rav’s tongue wrapped around his neck. The man was too terrified to do more than whimper as Rav drew him back in and gently bit off his head.

Seconds had passed, and already the Knight and Tymoa were the only two left. Tymoa looked over his shoulder to the door. “Have to escape,” he said.

The Knight pivoted to do the same, but Tymoa grabbed her by the shoulders. “I have to escape,” he said, staring at her with wild eyes.

Then he shoved her straight at Maw. The monopodal mimic grabbed her. Zaria shot to him. Maw cackled darkly and twisted his hands, turning the Knight’s head fully around with a single snap.

Tymoa ran out the door. “Run!” he shouted to the terrified villagers that were still outside. “Run for your life!”

Then a tongue wrapped around his waist, another around his ankle, and yet a third around his neck. Tymoa had time for one last scream of pure, unmitigated horror as he was yanked back into Zaria’s kitchen.

Zaria slammed her door shut so the people of the town wouldn’t have to watch as Tymoa was messily devoured.

Then, for her personal amusement, Zaria swung her door open and had Maw burp loudly, before slamming it shut again.

Congratulations! You have reached Tin 2!

Upgrades Unlocked!

New Feature Unlocked: Expansion!

The words flashed before her vision as most of the people of the town fled in panic, and Vysala raised her spork and took on a fighting stance in front of Zaria’s door. The Ogre from earlier joined her, clenching his massive hands into fists. An Aelif man drew a battered, rusty sword and held it at the ready. And one of the Hublins reached into his pouch, pulling out an improvised weapon that looked like he’d attached the head of a pitchfork to a chain.

“I can try to smash it,” the Ogre said.

“You’ll die,” Vysala answered, her eyes narrow. “We all will.”

Zaria said, even though she knew Vysala couldn’t hear her.

The four looked like they were just going to stand there, ready for an attack that wasn’t coming, so Zaria pulled up her menus as the mimics finished cleaning up the blood with their tongues. At her instruction, they spared the items. Instead, Maw gathered them up and took them into the closet for Zaria to try to toy with later - once the mimics had licked them clean.

She started by checking the Dungeon Instructions about ranking up.

Each Rank brings with it exciting new rewards! New mobs will unlock at most levels [note: this may not apply to mutant cores who are not using the containment system], as well as new Rooms and Features. A new ability has been granted due to the possible absence of Wisps - each feature will now include a Details section to provide more information.

Zaria focused on the word “Expansion” and said

[ERROR: This section refers to a Yagacore specific Feature. The system is still generating text. To ensure you are not given incorrect information, anything that is not known for certain will be omitted.]

The Expansion feature can be used to build new rooms for yourself. You do not need materials. It is possible to unbalance yourself if not added properly. Suggested course of action is to make first expansion a second floor. Will be stable. This section will later contain more information on how to improve leg stability once discovered.

She couldn’t help but note the difference between this and the other sections of the Dungeon Instructions. Short sentences, like they were written by someone in a hurry. Still, it was useful. she said. It felt a bit silly to speak directly to a message, but there was enough to suggest someone was out there and listening - and actively working to help her gain information.

The least she could do is be polite.

Zaria decided to hold off on building the second floor. Right now, the group that was waiting for her to unleash monsters or whatever they thought they were doing was slowly relaxing, although they weren’t letting their guard fully down. Zaria could only wait right now. She needed some way to communicate with them.

she said.

A list of possibilities exploded in her vision, hundreds of items long. It was overwhelming at first, to the point of being painful. Zaria dismissed it, shaking herself off. she said, drawing out the word in uncertainty.

A much shorter list appeared, but it was still extensive. This time, though, it wasn’t painful. Progress. She glanced at the list, trying to figure out why there was so much information. Then she noticed the problem, and dismissed it once more.

This time the list, with all those qualifiers, was much more manageable.

Luring Cry: Your mobs can imitate the call of a person in danger. It can sound like a specific person who has been within your dungeon in the last 24 hours. If used by a boss, it will always sound like the person that the listener loves most dearly, unless another option is chosen. Prerequisites: Haunt, Mimic, Undead, or Nightmare theme. 1 Upgrade Point. Core Speech: You are able to communicate with other cores and beings spawned by cores within your area of influence. You do not need to share a language to communicate. 1 Upgrade point. Special: Due to ongoing Crises, this has been automatically unlocked for all High Cores. Do not waste Upgrade Points on it. Core Transmission: You can communicate with other cores and beings spawned by cores outside your area of influence, up to ten times the distance of your area of influence’s longest point. 1 Upgrade point. Prerequisite: Core Speech. Special: Due to ongoing Crises, this has been automatically unlocked for all High Cores. Do not waste Upgrade Points on it. The Moon Hag: You can create a stable body for yourself out of a human corpse. This body must be attached to some part of your dungeon and must be fully absorbed and reformed to be relocated. 1 Upgrade Point. Prerequisite: Special: This feature may be subject to rebalancing as needed. Whispers in the Mist: You can send whispers out to any person within your area of influence or within the radius of your vision on the Region Map. These whispers can carry a message of up to (25 x Tier) words, and will sound exactly how you wish them to sound. They do not influence the listener more than normal words. One message can be sent per person per day. If they are within your area of influence, frequency increases to once per minute. Prerequisite: Special: This feature may be subject to rebalancing as needed.

Zaria discounted Core Speech and Core Transmission immediately, although it was good to know they were features she did possess. Assuming she qualified as a high core. A quick perusal of the Instruction told her High Cores were Dungeon Cores, Tower Cores, Citadel Cores, and their mutant forms. So she was a High Core, and should have those for free.

Not that it would help her talk to them until she found one. Maybe she could wander into the Woods of Feasting Branches and find out what was going on there. Once she was strong enough to make that not a terrible idea, that is.

It left her with The Moon Hag, Luring Cry, and Whispers in the Mist. As much fun as Luring Cry sounded, it would be useless to Zaria right now. Screaming at the group with the voices of the last group would probably put their nerves on edge. Whispers in the Mist would let her get a message to Vysala right now, but she’d have to wait a full day for a response if Vysala didn’t come inside. On the other hand, the Moon Hag would let Zaria make a body using her old corpse - but it had to be inside her area of influence. Still, she could probably form it on her porch and speak directly. They both had marks for and against them.

she asked Rav.

The mimic made some sleepy bubbling sounds.

Rav yawned, his lid fluttering up and down.

Decision made, Zaria selected the option.

One (1) corpse is available within your dungeon. Utilize to form the Moon Hag? Y/N.

Zaria said, and a moment later she felt her old body flowing into her. She focused on her front porch. Outside, the group seemed to have calmed down, and was discussing what to do next.

Zaria centered the Moon Hag on her staircase and formed it. The formation drew another panicked cry from the group, causing them to spring into defensive positions again. Zaria barely paid them any notice, instead focusing on the body she was forming.

It was an emphatically feminine torso, one Zaria remembered from when it had been hers, with the strong arms of hard labor. There, remnants of Zaria’s clothing hung on her form, providing her with some semblance of modesty. However, in place of legs, it had a single trunk that stuck to the floor. The hag’s skin was also unlike Zaria’s had been before, now the purple of twilight and spotted with stars. In place of her former face, the Moon Hag wore a white mask that was utterly featureless, save for two holes for eyes. Not that there were eyes there. Instead, the image of the two moons hung in the center of those holes.

“Well,” Zaria said, glad to finally speak. “I imagine we have a lot to talk about.” Vysala stalked forward. She really was beautiful. Zaria was glad to finally get to speak to the tempestuous witch. “My name is Zaria.”

“Vysala,” she said, then pointed the tines of her spork directly at Zaria’s chest. “Be you friend, or be you foe?”

Zaria chuckled. “To you, my dear witch? Friend. Lower that rather distinctive tool and let’s talk, shall we?”