Sending out a couple of ear worms to scout, I learned several facts worthy of notice.

First of all, this time it wasn't just a regular party that came to explore, but a whole expedition. Several parties, all higher than the previous ones as they bragged, along with several support divisions.

It seemed they even brought people to build a wall, to prevent both people accidently wandering into the dungeon but also to prevent my creatures for streaming out.

I wondered how they thought a wall would stop me, most of my creatures weren't even bound to walking on the ground. Only the skeletons and Faa would possibly be stopped by the wall, and that would only be so if it could not be destroyed. After a second, I recalled something one of those tiny fuckers said to me ages ago.

It had to do with that none of them had ever allowed a dungeon to let their creatures roam free. Only those with a core could go outside. Even the dungeons broken free from influence, or gone mad normally adhered to this rule, because it was a lie they had been fed for their whole existence after all, for which I'll pay those abominations back.

I called my ear worms back, deeming I had learned enough for now and not willing to risk a possible discovery. If they were building a wall, they would not likely take half-assed measures in preparing their camp.

I was slightly worried how they would fare against my goblin sharks, since they hadn't seen a battle yet, and being the only frontal attacking creature without experience the invaders could face. all others were either ambush reliant, or had experience coming from their own battles and the earlier attacks.

They weren't at a risk of getting wiped out though, since I would allow them to flee towards the second floor and because of the sheer amount of rooms I had. also because I basically allowed the whole room they roamed through to be a [nest] for them.

It took another day for the adventures to actually gather in front of the entrance, something like a speech was going on before twenty-eight people entered my dungeon. At first they moved in an orderly fashion, organised and holding ranks, but after they passed the second split in roads, they backtracked to the first room, having killed the occasional slime which was sliming around.

They stationed what seemed like a full party, five men, at the pathway towards the right room, the way they had gone so far. It was looking like they would act as a stop hold for possible minions of mine. Not that it would work, but it was the best thing to do.

In the next room they again stationed a party to block the right path and the first party came to the room as well, blocking the way they had come in. It certainly would prevent attacks in the back by regular minions.

The occasional slime still dropped but as I had expected, it was more of a surprise to suddenly get a mass on your head than anything else.

There were things to look forward to though. In the previous 'empty' third room on the same level, one of my goblin sharks now surprised the seventeen people. Her head snapped out at the closest tanker, who was too late to raise his shield, and thus lost an arm. I snickered at his screaming, pleased with the performance of my shark.

It didn't bode well for her though, seeing how she now received full fire from both the mages and the archers. Most arrows, while hitting her, were deflected or just caused minor injuries. The spells however did more damage, devastating amounts truly. It pissed me off, how do they DARE to invade me, act righteous and then GODDAMN CURSES MINE.

Your creature goblin shark gained the title abdomination.

Those metislus rotten healers called my shark an abdomination, her beautiful maw ugly, her pets pests. While a sole remora bat managed to get away, a couple others got burned, frozen, fried, electrified and just outright killed, together with their shark.

Mages, pesky mages, but oh, the juicy mana. I ordered several sharks to hide against the ceiling of upcoming rooms, near the entrance. Hopefully they would be able to take out either a couple mages or the healers of the main body. In the meantime, I had other sharks gather in the pathways not taken by the group, stocking up a force.

I would use them to attack them in the back. Sure they had a party guard them, but they most likely wouldn't stand a chance to a surprise attack of double their own amount. I would lose at least two to the mage of the party, but it should be enough.

However, before I could spring my trap, they started to pull back. Apparently they didn't like the surprise I had for them. I decided to let them, seeing how they weren't that far in. It also gave me more time, which is never a bad thing for a Core.

The obvious weakness of my creatures to magic was known and expected, as I didn't have the mana yet to overcome it. All I could hope for was that they gained some sort of resistance through natural evolution for now.

I used the burst of extra mana from all the spells cast to create a small extra crystal on the ceiling of the second floor. This crystal would give of mana to the air, which it first has absorbed from spells cast, thickening the concentration of mana, which would both increase the rate of growth for my creatures and prove poisonous to creatures not attuned to me through my own mana signature which I used in creating and shaping. This of course includes offspring, since a mana signature is similar to DNA, it's passed over to the next generation.

I kept track of the invaders with my worms, but it was basically just more degrading language about my dungeon. I am definitely going to carve something nice out of their skulls, no doubt about it. They made it to their camp, having faith in non-existing rules and their wall that they would be safe now. You're never safe, nowhere.

The air vibrated from all the creatures moving, in anticipation and reaction to the laughter I emptied, before I called out to the worm queen, hornets and black widows. It was a simple plan, slaughter them all. The worms would take care of the digging, and after that, every one they could find was their prey, in a first come, first served manner. No infighting allowed.

Sure, it will attract more people, a stronger force, but who cares. Free food delivery, the best hotels for my minions, living flesh and mana. My target wasn't humanity at first, they were just fodder, obstacles, but I changed that now. They were just as much to blame as those darn zxenw. Rotten pixies....

As the mutaworms started digging their tunnels, I made a last change in my commands. They were to leave the priest alive. I needed one. a follower, a believer, a priest of my own. Those lowly creatures believed only what they believed in was a god, but they didn't know the truth of it.

Everything can be a god, if one out of two prequistes are fullfilled. after that, all that is needed is a believer. Something needed to either have a sentience or the ability to absorb offered mana. If one was existence, the other could be developed when mana was offered.

There are three forms of offering mana, first is the prayer, a small amount of mana is offered in the form of thoughts, wishes or whatever. The second was sharing your own mana pool to your god, the god would gain access to your pool and regeneration, while your pool could be refilled in the same principle. Most priests were like this. The third, and the what I conveyed, was the gifting of the mana pool. The believer would sacrifice his/her own pool, losing access to it, but the god would gain it all permanently. The believer could still cast spells, if allowed, but that was by borrowing the pool of the god, and not sharing. Only the most zealous did this, since it's lost forever.

To me however, it's pure power. One priest to rule them all, if all lowly forms surrender their pools to me, I grow in power immensely.

While dreaming about my future, it seems the tunnel is almost complete dug out. The air was buzzing with the sound of wings, the earth shaking by the wriggling of the worms. I kept them on hold, using my earworms to check how it was at the camp.

The laughter THEY DARE TO LAUGH IN FRONT OF ME, THEY SHALL BURN ensured me they were still mostly up, urging me to wait a little longer before I would start my assault.