The broken dungeon core

Plenty of time is left in the day as I plan on how I want to expand as I send my dungeon flesh out into the mountainside and I even had the great idea of expanding up and down as well as continuing to branch out on the same level I have been working on currently.

I have a small room just about double the size of the bedding that Luna shares with her siblings made, having it branched from the second room and connecting it to my core room and then I made another room of the same size next to it again branching out from the second room.

They don’t have a hallway like the one between the first and second rooms as it is more along the lines of smaller circles attached to a bigger one with a good arms length of compressed earth between them as support.

I don’t have the energy to do another one yet but I will do that later, instead I decided that I should continue investing in mana grass in my core room since it is definitely raising the mana levels slowly and helping me absorb more mana over time, so I get just a few to replace the locations that I had salveaid plants growing.

I checked back in on Luna and her siblings to find them finished with their meal and cleaning up.

They are apparently going to have their stew for multiple meals as they have put the lid back on after adding some more water and giving it a little stir and moving it to the side of the fire where it would be kept warm but won’t get hot enough to burn. They take the cutting board, canteens, bowls, spoons and her cooking knife to wash at the river.

I wonder how far away the river is from here, I will probably reach it someday if I keep expanding myself but I can’t help wanting to know.

Luna returned with the others and put everything away before grabbing the empty cloth sack that they usually use for gathering food they forge for as well as a hatchet that was next to the pile of firewood and the three of them headed out again.

They make multiple trips out for firewood and food as they fill the skillet with fruit and nuts, they also have the firewood line up alongside the wall inside the first dungeon room.

About the fifth trip the two younger siblings stayed in my dungeon and while the youngest one was put down for a nap the other one stayed to watch over her.

Luna had gone back out and came back with a bunch of vines no thicker than her little finger she has her brother join her in removing the leaves which I was all too happy to absorb for the biomass.

I had no clue what she was doing at first but by the time the sun was setting she had finished making a basket which she promptly filled with the various nuts that were still in their shells.

The siblings gathered for another round of stew before bed and they used one of the canteens to rinse their bowls pouring back and forth and then drinking the water before putting the dishes together and getting everyone washed up before going to bed in the new room.

Once the younger siblings were asleep, Luna snuck into my core room and noticed that I had made some more changes but she didn’t take the time to explore them.

Luna, “I will be heading to the village for more supplies in the morning and I won’t be back until late evening at best. So let’s do another mana transfer now and then when I get back from the village tomorrow.”

I give her my clay affirmative and indulge in the wonderful feeling of mana flowing into my core followed by the mana condensing process.

My core glows bright turquoise before fading into a normal level of glow, while I receive my update from System.

[Mana condensed, repair moderately successful. Current mana absorption efficiency is at 23%. Mana storage is at 0/204(500). Energy efficiency improvements detected. Dungeon breeder available for purchase… not enough mana available, not enough energy available, not enough biomass available…new data schematics are available for repair.]

I am left feeling great after the mana transfer and the new progress towards repairing my damaged core.

I really feel like I’m starting to get somewhere and I can’t help but look forward to the next time, as I am hoping that it will push it to the final stage of mana crystallization that will finish filling the worst of my cracks then I can focus on filling in the missing chunks that had fallen away when I broke.

I think once I finish the crystallization process I should be able to right myself back onto my pedestal, but I think when I do I will make sure to change the pedestal to be wider at the base and the whole thing will be shorter…. Safety first as I don’t want another mishap.

I prompted Luna to have some mana grass before she headed back to sleep next to her siblings.

The night somehow felt lonely.

Luna and her siblings woke up early and ate more stew and added more water and potatoes to it before Luna headed out with their dirty clothes and the empty backpacks.

She didn’t take a canteen this time, but since both canteens were next to the cookware I assume she left them there for a reason.

I miss her already, I rarely find her siblings as interesting to watch, the youngest in particular is really quiet and doesn’t do much for me to watch.

Although her brother is more active he wonders off and does only a few things primarily talking care of the youngest and refilling the canteens, or gathering nuts to add to the new basket.

It is late in the day around sunset when an emergency occurs.

[Warning! Dungeon manager is in danger! Dungeon manager has taken significant damage outside of dungeon! Would you like to activate the Dungeon recall system?]

[Yes/No]

Yes! For the sake of everything save her!!!

[Error! Insufficient mana resources, target of recall will have to use their mana reserves as well as they will need to approve the transfer]

Hurry up and ask her! I approve on my end!

[Warning! Transfer in progress! Warning damage to core! Warning damage to core! Warning damage to core! Warning damage to core! Warning damage to core! Warning damage to core! Warning damage to core!]

The warnings fill my awareness and pain wracking me everywhere my dungeon flesh bleeds through my walls in a dark brown slime, while my core goes bright and flashes suddenly summoning a sobbing Luna who has her clothes torn and disheveled, she has bruises and a busted lip marring her tear stained face her dark brown eyes look fearful and her wailing is heartbreaking.

My core dims more than ever before and cracks spread until another chunk falls away and breaks! I panic but can’t do anything about either of our current issues.

Without any mana left from the transfer we are both left helpless as we watch my core crumbling apart until it finally stops degrading.

[Warning mana absorption efficiency has dropped to 2%! Warning mana storage is at 0/34(500). Warning dungeon is over extended! Advised action’s available, abandon areas not currently in use. Request immediate mana transfer, error dungeons registered inhabitants are out of mana, searching for additional course of action. Error no additional options available]

Systems warnings blare through my awareness which is reduced to a hazy fog as I try to carry out whatever actions I can to reduce my burden.

I retract my dungeon flesh that I had sent outward and give up the area outside the entrance to my first dungeon room, then I collapsed the second small room that hasn’t been put into use yet before I finally got a notice from System.

[Dungeon size has stabilized, energy recovery restored]

Seeing that I am no longer over extended I calm down slightly and stop myself from collapsing the small room I had made for Luna since I don’t want to have to redo it later like I will for the other room.

I decided to raise some supporting pillars in my first two dungeon rooms since they are a lot larger than my core room and the room I made for Luna.

Finally bringing my awareness back to Luna and her siblings I found that the two younger have evacuated outside and are both scared seeing my blood equivalent seeping through my dungeon surfaces and a room collapsing seems to have been quite a shock especially for the youngest.

Luna on the other hand is still in my core room trying to hold my core together so no more pieces fall off, sadly it seems whatever breaks off starts to disintegrate as if it can’t exists once separated from me.

Luna tries to do mana transfers but can’t because all of both of our mana reserves were used up to save her from whatever was harming her.

Luna keeps sobbing and apologizing for some reason I can’t understand, but now isn’t the time for that we both need mana and healing, so I prompt her to eat the mana grass with a light prod from some soft clay near the base of one of the patches of mana grass.

Luna cautiously removes her hands from my core and starts eating the mana grass raw as her sobbing subsides and reduces to silent tears and a runny nose.

She does a mana transfer immediately after she gets a point of mana to transfer to me, although I received it I am unable to trigger the mana liquifying process to fill in the new cracks. She looks depressed when the usual bright glow failed to occur.

I try to calm her down using some clay to wrap around her hand that she is supporting herself with and I give her a gentle squeeze then I use a little energy to move a salveaid plant next to her and I prompt her to use it on her injuries.

She is very exhausted by the time she finishes and I nudge her towards the exit so she can explain what happened to her siblings, and so I can find out what happened as well.

Luna is very distraught as she passes through my dungeon towards my exit as she sees the collapsed area and the slime coming from the walls and ceiling, I am in the process of reabsorbing the slime from the floor as she passes.

I start repairing my dungeon flesh and the remaining dungeon rooms while I absorb my slime like fluids.

Luna shocked her siblings, who didn’t see her return but now see her coming out of the dungeon, the sounds of their reunion are muffled as I can’t seem to hear what’s going on outside of myself.

They take their time crying and holding onto each other before coming back in and adding some fresh wood to the fire.

They settle down before Luna starts to explain what happened.