Seras little snippet thread

Eventually the Goblins started relaxing which was fine, I made sure they stayed near the entrance and all of them were fully engaged when I offered to make another Ikara Beetle spawner.

That had done the trick.

For the humans, they had retreated to the farm, and were sitting mostly in the dark. Their torch kept going, by burning some of the plants in the farm room, and even the wood bits I had used for the Lina Herb plot.

It was fine.

As their fire continued to slowly burn out, their desperation grew, and it only made it more likely we'd get them.

I considered how I felt about killing these two…

I was surprisingly okay with it? Like I knew I should feel bad about it, but at the same time, they were sticking their filthy boots in my caves!

"Wazzit!?" Uge shouted out and I noticed why.

The entrance. Shit. The light was cut off, back lit by a large form.

"MALCOLM? FLORENCE?" Ser Combry had arrived looking around as he stalked in. And instantly noticed the Goblins.

"SER! WE ARE TRAPPED IN HERE!" Malcolm shouted back down the hall.

Ooooh. Fudge. They were going to get away.

"Uuuuge!" Uge shouted and charged. No way I could stop her. It was already happening, and the other Goblins charged as well. I slumped as Ser Combry almost casually parried their sticks and stabbed and slashed.

Fission Mailed.

But I checked my stuff. They had been in there for more than two hours. I was actually completely full of Mana for the first time… Ever? Once I learned I could dig with it, I spent it pretty constantly.

"Alright! The Goblins are gone. Did you see any more than four?" Ser Combry shouted hunkering down by the tunnel shouting down it.

"No! Just the four. And the odd noise!"

"Odd noise?" Ser Combry asked and tilted his head.

Shit! The rain! I still couldn't turn it off! Stupid Humans!

He thankfully shook it off. "C'mon out then!" He demanded and I watched as the two scrambled back through the tunnel, looking a little rumpled.

"What happened?" He demanded still standing inside me… Can you take this outside? I'd like to get some work done.

"We just thought we could handle it! Didn't expect them to pin us down like that!" Malcolm spoke, but even I could tell he was a lying little shit.

CHEATER!

To my shock, Combry instantly backhanded him. Slapping the shit out of the teenager.

Malcolm cursed as he landed on the ground hissing as he clutched his face…

Oooh. Combry was wearing gauntlets. Ouch!

"You, Florence? Will you lie to me as well?"

"No, Ser Combry. We came to gather Lina Herb." The girl replied instantly, head bowed and looking like a kid being chastised.

"Stupid! Both of you! Utter fools! Did my words not reach through your thick skulls? The dangers of a dungeon did not register?" He shouted at them both getting flinches. "We are leaving. Now." He turned and started marching and the two hurried to follow and I glared at them the whole time. But then he stopped at the entrance.

He slowly turned to the teens and glared at them without a word.

I was curious what was going on too, but then both teenagers just looked between each other as if they didn't know what to do.

"Well?" He demanded harshly, only to more confused looks. "Fools! You've taken from the Dungeon! Where is your offering?"
The two looked like kids caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

"Nothing then." He confirmed with a glare and they both flinched. He reached into his pocket and pulled out!

Oh!

"Dungeon, thank you for your challenge. An offering as thanks for the experience." The old man spoke and put down two Mana Crystals!

Nice!

Then he grabbed Malcolms scruff and tossed him out the entrance Florence rushing to follow under the man's glare.

But just as he was about to leave he looked around. "What is that sound?"

Shoot! Bubblegum! I cursed. He was definitely going to try and find out what was making that sound!

But to my relief he turned his back and headed out into the sunlight. My arms once more returned to me.

Whew.

What a relief. I snatched up the crystals, enjoying the expansion to my mana pool.

I resurrected my Goblins and cheered alongside them as they celebrated their actions. Sure they hadn't won, but the Goblins seemed delighted in how terrified the humans had been.

Eventually though Uge stopped and pointed…

Okay! I know I know! I'll keep my promise! I agreed and hurried over to the Jungle. The Goblins cheered as they raced after me, but as I arrived I gasped.

Uh oh.

Mistakes might have been made.

I had left the rain on, and there wasn't anywhere for it to go!

A river had started forming, flowing down from near the entrance where it had puddled, and then pouring down the hill like Jungle towards the far end where it had sloped down…

The entire bottom half of the Jungle was under water now.

"Ugeee!" Uge exclaimed as she entered the Jungle and took in what had happened.

I needed to fix this… Too much water, could I make a water controller? If I could make rain clouds I could suck water out of here too right?

I thought real hard and it appeared.

[Water Drain: 5 Mana]

Good enough! I rushed over to the lake that was forming and created it, thankfully it wasn't something that needed to be built. It looked… Well it was sort of a weird rock. But instantly I could see leaves and other detritus flow around me, as the drain seemed to suck up the water.

I popped back out of the lake and was relieved to see it was draining pretty fast.

I floated over to the Goblins who were watching everything in delight, just enjoying all the water flowing around and settled in with them…

Until I was poked by a glaring Uge…

Okay! I didn't forget! Hold on!

I still had enough mana for another insect generator. I grumbled as I floated into the Jungle to find a place for it, and placed it down

That was three now.

Goblins better be happy… And they had better get to eating! I'm not going to be known as the Beetle Dungeon!

—--

An hour later everything had settled. There was still a river of water flowing through the room, but that was… Actually kinda cool? It looped through the center of the room, and wasn't very deep… But I could change that!

But it gave a nice bit of life to the room.

I was already considering how to expand the river when I remembered that I was trying to do more for this room.

Sighing I pulled up the Insect Generators again and this time selected Ants.

Placing it in a hidden spot, I watched for a while as the little bugs crept out and started exploring.

Was there a Queen inside? A small nest? Did it get bigger? Did it just spawn out single ants?

I had so many questions, but no answer without just waiting to see what happened.

Cause it's not like I could touch them.

I tried. Ants were cute and I wanted to pick them up!

I grumbled as I floated around. This was fun, there were neat things to do, but I wish I had hands again.

I almost flinched as I sort of expected something to happen, but it didn't. I was stuck as an eyeball and an immobile Crystal…

Should I move myself? Could I move myself? I realized my Core was right at the entrance, which was useful in some ways. I wanted monsters to show up after all, but it also let the humans get away with whatever they wanted…

Not that they hadn't still gone through and killed my Goblins each time anyways. But should I make it harder for them? Would it be safer? I hadn't run into anything so far that had any interest in damaging the Core, but that wasn't a guarantee.

Should I move it into the Jungle? Hmmm.

No. Not yet. I didn't want the humans to go hunting for it until the Jungle was really ready for them.

For now, they just continued treating me like something they could use, but eventually I was going to be something they struggled to overcome!

—--

That… It was that simple all along!?

It seemed wild to me, but… Yeah. Okay. It made sense. With my Jungle plants all continuing their growth, and my bugs starting to spread out, I had gotten a tingly feeling. When I checked my menu I found what was causing it.

[Unnamed Dungeon]
[Mana 6/24]
[Size 1]

[Rooms]
[Farm Room]
[Goblin Nest]
[Jungle Room: Produces 1 Mana]

That was it, but it hadn't taken me long to figure out the mechanics. Every ten minutes I was making… Two mana!

TWO MANA!

WOOOO!

My Jungle room produced mana now? How? Why? I had gone out in search and actually had figured it out with a bit of experimenting!

I had always been able to breathe, it was weird because I wasn't doing it with lungs, but I had breathed even so.

And in the Jungle I could feel it as I breathed.

Mana. The plants, and insects, and everything living there gave off mana.

Which because it was inside me, enhanced my mana regeneration!

So the more life I had inside me, the more Mana regeneration I would get!

I had rushed to my farm only to realize that the mana in the air that I was breathing was there, it was only light wisps…

I needed to expand the farm!

Goblins digging crew! Activate!

My minions rushed in and started expanding the farm room without any hesitation. I marked areas and they dug, and when I ran out of mana, I started a dance celebration for our new discovery and we all danced among the empty farm space we had dug eating carrots and Quirrel until we were sick.

This was amazing!

The biggest weakness of my dungeon had been lack of mana! But not anymore! Expand the rooms! Fill them with plants and insects! All the mana!

Mwahahaha! I cackled and Uge hurried over to my side and joined me, hands on her hips as she cackled alongside me.

This is why Uge was best minion!

With double the mana regen, expansion went much faster, but even with two mana to dig with, it still took forever. Leaving my Goblins mostly just waiting around. Some of them went off to nap in the nest, or play in the jungle to hunt down the much larger Ikara Beetle Population.

—--

Time passed, and the humans didn't come back. Before I had seen stupid ugly Knight Ser Combry at a pretty routine pace, but I took a break and checked the entrance and noticed it was night time.

I guess he was asleep? That meant that he would probably come in the morning though wouldn't he?

Grumbling at the idea, I looked over my forces and wanted to weep.

They were cute, but as Ser Combry had proven, they just weren't at that level. And to get them even stronger I would need more mana.

Mana was the source and answer to all of life's problems!

That probably didn't work for anyone else, but it made sense to me.

"Ugge?" I glanced down. I had been floating around near the roof float-pacing back and forth as I considered what to do.

Nothing Uge. Just considering what to do.

"Uuugee!" She called up, seemingly assured that I had things under control and then she walked over and climbed up on top of the crystal flopping over it and just starting to snore.

That's not a bed Uge! I made you a room! Stop sleeping on me!

She did not listen and I floated away pouting so I wouldn't see her face mushed against the crystal and drooling.

I could totally still feel it though.

Gross.

Suddenly a tingling spread across my nonexistent toes!

Was she chewing on me? Scratching?.... Peeing? I zoomed back into the room to check and my glare was thunderous, but the feeling wasn't coming from my Core.

Instead… Oh! I rushed into the Farm and looked it over. The size expansion had been completed with the increased Mana regen, and already the floor was spreading wild with crops.

But more importantly,

[Farm Room: Produces 1 Mana]

It had enough life in it, I got a second Mana regen!

Mwahahaha! I had become three times as powerful!

UNLIMITED POWER!

I zoomed around the Farm delighting in my newfound growth, growing comfortable with the new feeling of Mana flowing through me.

Okay stop.

Full stop. I had three mana every ten minutes, that was great, but I still needed a lot of work. Mini-Vietnam needed to be filled with traps. And I should probably try making another room to get my Mana regen even higher. I did have more plants and things… Maybe an Orchard room? I did have Acer fruit. Should I make a room full of them just to make more mana…

No wait, my menu says the rooms produce 1 mana, so can they produce 2?

Experiments!

Everyone! To the Jungle room! We need to expand more!

My call earned me a collective grumbling from my lazy goblins until I reminded them of the beetles.

Then I had a mad rush besides the still napping Uge.

Excellent! Rewarding minions earns proper responses!

—--

Expansion was good, but it was time to get the Jungle room properly ready.

First thing I did was turn off the water. With the rain only heavy clouds above the stream cleared up, the and Goblins got to digging.

Water was a hazard. And I was going to make sure everyone knew it! Moats were effective because swimming was hard especially when you were trying to carry something or plainly impossible when you had heavy armor.

Like a certain stupid knight.

They dug through the area the river passed through much faster than ever before with my new Mana Regen.

And slowly a deep enough groove was dug out that could definitely drown a grown Goblin!

Wait what? I looked at the section they had dug and measured it out….

IT NEEDS TO BE DEEPER! I yelled at myself! I had been measuring from the Goblins height, without thinking about what that would mean…

I looked down at the long trench and realized it was only like a foot and a half across…

The stupid knight could just step across that…

I flopped into the soft loam of the Jungle and whined as I knew this was going to take forever to finish!

—--

I watched as Uge tried to finish the task I had given her. She had pulled down some of the vines that the Jungle had started creating and was trying to basically braid them together like I told her, but she was struggling and growing a bit irate.

"Guuuu!" She shouted, raising the messily braided vines in the air and slamming them onto the ground.

Aww, it's okay Uge! You've been learning it well! Want some beetles?

"Ugu, Uuggu." She hissed and stomped on the vines a bit which… I still needed those you know? I asked her and she turned on me with a glare.

Okay I get it. Ropes are hard. She slumped a little and made a plaintive whine at me.

I wish I could help. I mean, I knew how to do it. I just don't have hands!

I just need hands! If I could just do it, then it would be fine! I wished I could just show her what to do!

Then with a bloop I felt it.

[Possess Willing Minion: 10 Mana]

What? I stared at the update in my menu, this time under the spell list.

[Unnamed Dungeon]
[Mana 0/24]
[Size 1]

[Rooms]
[Farm Room: Produces 1 Mana]
[Goblin Nest]
[Jungle Room: Produces 1 Mana]

[Spells]
[Possess Willing Minion: 10 Mana]

That… That was something amazing!

Uge! I can show you! I have a spell that lets me possess you!

Uge blinked and just scratched at her head. She didn't know what that meant.

It means I can control you? I think? I'll show you how to braid vines into rope!

"Uuu?" She offered not liking the sound of it.

Just a test? It's 10 Mana so it's kinda a lot, but if it works… Please?

"Uge." She agreed then hands on her hips and then pointed at me.

I sighed. Okay I'll lead you to some Ikara Beetles since we need to take a break from this anyways.

"Uuuugeeee!" She cheered and ran off into the Jungle… I can't show you if you are ahead of me!

—--

I activated the spell, and a moment later Uge standing in front of me sort of switched places, and then my [Dungeon Eye] disappeared.

I was staring out of actual eyes.

I breathed in and out. I looked down at my hands… Claws. I was alive.

Uuuuuuge!

"Uuuuge!" I cheered alongside. It wasn't control. It was mixing. I was in charge, but Uge was still there, we danced around waving our Sharp stick in delight above our heads.

Then I stopped and I could feel Uge's confusion, but for just a moment… I almost felt like crying. I was alive again. Alive in a real sense… I wanted to drink water, and eat something.

BEETLE.

Yeah that sounds good Uge. I looked around, and my sense of the Dungeon was still there, I could feel it, the beetles, the ants, the mana flowing through, and suddenly I shouted in excitement arms raised as I cheered my heart out.

"UGE IS BOSS!" Escaped my throat and I realized what had sent Uge off. We were one.

For all intents and purposes to Uge's mind she was now in charge of the whole dungeon…

"WE'RE THE BOSS!" I shouted and Uge delighted in it as we danced around.

Then I stilled once again. It was really easy to get distracted with Uge there with me, Goblin brain was pretty excitable. That was definitely because of the Goblin brain and nothing else…

But I felt it. My lips stretched, my teeth sharp and jagged tasted the air and I felt my cheeks almost hurt.

I looked at my hands and then looked back toward the entrance of the Jungle. To where the entrance of the Dungeon was.

The humans were expecting normal Goblins. Normal Dungeon…

I was going to show them true evil!

"MWAHAHAHAHA!" I laughed and Uge joined me, loving the feeling of predatory delight I was sharing with her.

Yes! Together! Together we will beat the humans and make them give us stuff!

Yes!

—--

Of course I ended up a little distracted.

"So weird." I muttered my voice high pitched yet husky and scratchy, staring at myself in the puddle. Uge's eyes now glowed the same color as the [Dungeon Eye] and it was obvious something was different with her, I just didn't move quite the same as she did. I had a control of my movements that a wild feral Goblin didn't…

Mostly.

It was weird walking around. Goblins had cute little clawed feet and it made me sort of lope as I walked. Their claws were sharp but had feeling through most of even the claw parts.

And more importantly. I could breathe and eat and drink.

Uge and I had stuffed ourselves and I had learned why Goblins loved Ikara Beetles. THEY WERE SO FUCKING TASTY!

They tasted like meaty cheese, and it was so fucking good. I wiped my jaw, yep. Drooling again.

Luckily I could keep myself from getting distracted. I shook off the distraction of my appearance and kept making my way towards the vines. First rope. Then killing stupid humans that keep putting their feet inside me!

I stopped. My arms felt pinned behind my back.

Shoot, speak of the devil. I sighed, slumping. It had cost so much mana for this possession… I closed my eyes and tried to cancel the spell…

"Uge?" My lips asked curiously and I slumped even more. I was locked out.

Which meant I was trapped as Uge while the stupid humans entered me. Which meant… I would have to fight.