Qualtys found himself in an odd state of mind. He knew he was in a dungeon and he couldn´t leave anymore. The messages indicating that he was now part of the dungeon´s defenders. While the concept wasn´t too hard to grasp, the meaning of it all proved too much to handle. Plenty of questions plagued his mind

How long will I remain here?

Will I ever be able to leave?

Can I be killed?

What happens if I get killed?

Do I stop existing or will I be reborn again?

The simplest of questions had already been answered. He didn't need to eat or drink anymore. He hadn't felt thirst or hunger himself and neither did Spear and Shield seem to need anything. His fellow defenders just stood there in the middle of the room as two living statues, silent and unmoving, unless they needed to fight. While his body didn't physically need to sleep his mind was a different matter.

The room he was limited to had nothing to occupy his mind, Every waking hour was spend doing nothing but endlessly ponder about the same questions. The scarce moments he used to sleep he had to prop himself up against a wall. His skin allowed for a very minor ability to absorb oxygen from the water. While that enabled him to stay underwater for a longer time, he could still drown when trapped underwater.

He had tried to engage in light sparring with Shield and Spear, but they remained stationary even after he used his title to give them orders. With a heavy mind, he slumped against the wall to try and get some sleep. Slowly he drifted away to the land of dreams.

Qualtys awoke in a familiar surrounding. Startled he looked around the structure. He was lying down on his old bedding inside the hut he shared with his spawn brothers. He was the only one inside the hut and then he noticed something was wrong. It was quiet outside. Not the regular quite when no one´s speaking, but pure silence apart from his breathing.

He grabbed his wooden weapon from the place he always kept it beside his bedding. Then by instinct, he also picked up his wooden shield.

Wait, since when did he own a shield?

He looked from the shield in his hand to the weapon is his other. Instead of the staff, he had always kept by his side, he now held his new weapon, the stone-tipped spear he got from the dungeon. And that's when it all came together. He was in a dream state. His mind had taken his present self into his memories. He took a deep breath and stepped outside the hut.

The sun was bright and hot as it fell onto his scales, but apart from the external warmth he also felt an internal warmth as the light washed over him. He shielded his eyes and looked up into the sky. He found the bright golden sun hanging in the sky. The change occurred slowly but still noticeable. Gradually the golden color of the sun was replaced by equally bright orange. Qualtys looked on in amazement as the orange sun cast the world in an alien color. He stood staring for a few minutes more, but nothing else changed in the world.

He took another deep breath and started exploring his old village. All the huts were in the right place on the shore of the small lake they called home. As he already found out after waking up, the village was void of the other pudlings or any other animals. He rounded the corner to the village center and found something that had never been there before.

In the center of the village stood a pedestal. On top of the pedestal, an orb resided in the same color as the new sun. A very familiar feeling gripped at his inside as he got closer to the orb. He was so close that he could touch it if he tried but he hesitated. The orb hung there, suspended in the air above the pedestal a slow hum vibrating in the air around it.

Qualtys finally reached out for the orb. He still wasn't sure if he should touch it, but he wanted, no he needed to know. And as his scaly fingers touched the orb, a wave of warmth flooded his body and mind. And just like a thunderstrike, a voice boomed through the sky.

"WHO'S THERE!"

Qualtys hastily let go of the orb and scampered back. The orb on the pedestal now glowed a bright orange. The color pulsing like a heartbeat.

"hel ... hello?" Qualtys stammered.

"WHO'S THERE!"

"It's Qualtys."

The booming voice didn't respond again after that. He wondered what could be the cause. The only thing that had changed was that he was no longer touching the orb. Perhaps the orb acted as a medium to talk to the booming voice? He slowly walked back over to the orb and gently placed both of his hands onto off it. The warm feeling flooded into him again as well as the fear when the voice once again boomed across the sky.

"WHO'S THERE!"

This time he held onto the orb and responded with a little more confidence than before.

"It's Qualtys."

An unnerving feeling now flooded from the orb into his body and mind. The orb was clearly feeling his presence but didn't hear his voice. He thought back to how Spear and Shield also didn't respond to his vocal commands. Using the same method he used to communicate he send his thought out towards the orb instead.

"Hello, I'm Qualtys."

"QUALTYS, THE ALPHA OF THE MONSTER DEN?"

"Yes, that's correct. How do you know of me?"

"I'M THE CORE OF THE DUNGEON."

"HOW ARE YOU SPEAKING WITH ME? I TRIED MULTIPLE TIMES TO REACH OUT TO YOU."

"I do not know exactly. I'm inside a dream and you're here with me on a pedestal."

"INTERESTING."

The heavy booming voice was taking a toll on his mind. He didn't want to offend the Core, but he also didn't want it to be so loud.

"Could you lower your voice? It sounds like thunder striking down."

The core beneath his hands hummed heavily a few times and then gradually it became slower.

"IS thiS BETter?"

"Yes, a part of it is better, but it's still loud for the other part."

Again the orb between his hands hummed before it spoke out again.

"Qualtys?"

The thundering voice had subsided. Now instead of the sky talking, he could feel the voice inside his mind.

His body immediately lost a lot of its tension with the warm feeling of the voice washing over his mind.

"Thank you great Core." A warm feeling passed through him filled with pride about being called great.

Now with a link established to the Core, Qualtys finally had someone to ask his burning questions.

"Why am I here?"

"I do not know. A notification told me about a compatible soul and then you were there."

"Can I leave?

"I do not know. You're the first with a soul."

"What happens when I die?"

"I do not know. I can resummon defenders by will, but I don't know how if it will affect your soul."

The more of his questions got answered the weaker he felt in his knees. He hesitated with his next question. The answer he already knew, but he needed to be sure.

"Is my brother also in the dungeon?"

"No, no notification was given for another soul."

Qualtys felt his knees give way. The definitive realization of the loss of his brother finally sinking in. He had already internally mourned at his passing, but now he finally had closure. He took a few heavy breaths to sort his thought before he rose to his feet again. The core had remained silent during all off this.

"If you're the Core of the dungeon, does that mean you can alter the Monster den?" A small spark of hope inside of his hearth.

"YES, I ... can alter the Monster den. What is it that you want me to alter? I can't place traps inside and three is the maximum number of defenders I can assign to the room."

Qualtys had an awkward smile on his face. Of course, the dungeon would think about protecting itself first and foremost. He was also the only defender with a soul, so the Core couldn't know what types of alterations he wanted.

"I understand that great Core, but I'm interested in other alterations. I'd like to have a hut to sleep in and a pool to fish from. My mind wanders when I'm inside of the Monster den and we have no invaders to fight. I need other activities to keep my mind occupied during those times."

The core was silent for a few moments. He still felt the connection via the orb but no response came. So sudden it startled him the Core now asked him a question. A question he'd never expect to receive from anyone let alone a dungeon Core.

"What's a hut?"

"What's a fish?"

"A hut like the wooden buildings that surround us."

"Only the dungeon surrounds me and you're sitting against the wall in the Monster den."

This was becoming a bit awkward. The dungeon was here in his dream, but if he couldn't see they were connected by something else. Could there be a way for him to invite the Core into his dream realm? And just like that the notification popped up.

You're inviting another mind to enter your dream realm.

If a battle of minds ensues your mind and soul could be damaged.

Do you accept the connection? Yes / No.

The line about potential damage was scary, but he had no doubt the Core wouldn't start a fight. After all, he's one of his defenders and not an invader of the dungeon. So he accepted the mind of the Core.

A streak of orange light shot out from the orb through his arm and into his mind. Qualtys reeled back in agony as a burning pain consumed his left eye. Once again he fell to his knees. He clutched the left side of his face as the burning sensation gradually faded out. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyesocket but his vision didn't return.

"ARE YOU THERE!"

The sudden should inside his mind this time wasn't as loud as the thundering voice from before, but it really startled him. He had let go of the orb on the pedestal after he was struck by the light, but somehow he could still hear the voice of the dungeon Core.

"Where are you? I can hear you but you sound a lot closer than before when I was still touching your orb."

"I'm not sure." The voice sounded confused. "I'm looking? At some wooden structures."

Wait a moment. He had lost vision in his left eye, the voice was close by, and it was looking at wooden structures? Could it be that the Core had somehow taken control of his left eye?

He moved his hand towards his face and covered the left eye.

"Can you still see, or is the world dark?"

"The world has turned dark."

He quickly lowered his hand and the Core claimed to see again. HIs theory confirmed that the core had taken over his eye he guided his passager through the village. He showed him the huts his clan had build, the docks of which they dived and fished, as well as the general area around the low village walls.

Core took in all the sights with a hungry eye. He was bound to his dungeon and young. Never would he be able to see the outside in this much detail. After the pudlings initial barrage of questions, it was now Core's turn to ask them. The pudling eagerly answered them all. They had walked around the village for roughly ten minutes before they arrived at the pedestal again.

Qualtys still had more questions for Core, but he felt that part of his dream world was already fading. He would soon wake up and his connection to the core would be lost. He quickly picked two of his biggest question he still wanted to ask Core.

"Can you control Spear and Shield? They only take my orders in battle."

"I thought that you had full control over them as the alpha since I'm unable to command them."

The ground rumbled and next to the pedestal, the ground split open. Out of the dirt, two earthen statues rose resembling Spear and Shield. A translucent line of orange light connecting them to the orb in the middle. Slowly the chain of light started to fade before they completely vanished with a last flicker of light. Around the heads of the statues, a new light was forming this one teal in color. A tendril of light rose up like a worm rising up from the earth. The end of the tendrils seemed to focus on Qualtys for a moment. He wondered about the meaning of the tendrils. Before he could even react they shot out at him and connected to his head. A flash of teal shot through his mind before the notification popped up.

The dungeon core has transferred control of all defenders in the Monster den over to you. You can now directly control their actions if desired.

During combat, they will fight on their own to protect the core without needing a direct command. You can still command them during this time to perform other actions and commands if desired.

Qualtys could only smile at the notification. They probably both still held some form of control which conflicted with each other. The orange sun in the sky was beginning to set and dark shadows were creeping up to the village walls. Their time was almost at an end. He felt a sort of sadness that he would soon lose his connection to the dungeon core.

"Do you think we'll be able to talk again in the future?" He absent-mindedly asked the core. He hoped they would. Having no-one else to talk to was also a part of his weary mind.

"I think we can sort that out." The core replied quickly.

The dungeon core would like to establish a permanent connection to your mind. This will give the dungeon core full control over your mind and actions.

Recalculating ... .

Soul presence has been detected. Updating terms and conditions of the mind connection

The permanent connection will allow both parties to communicate. Each participant can terminate the connection at any time without consequences.

Do you accept the connection? Yes / No.

More and more of the dream world was rapidly turning to darkness and then the darkness was replaced by the soothing water of the Monster den. A soft barely noticeable hum in the back of his mind confirming his connection to Core.