Chapter 3: 3 – Signs of People

[POV Change, Jack]

A day soon passed as the Widow Ant brought back several different Stags it managed to catch from the same watering hole it caught the first.

Each stag was of varying levels between 10 and 25, with the largest and oldest stag being level 25.

The first stag slain yesterday was Level 18, giving the unnamed Widow Ant 13 EXP and me 14 EXP.

The second was level 14, giving a total of 21 EXP, which was split between my two widow ants, and me giving each of us 7 EXP each.

The third was level 25, which proved to be the oldest and largest stag, giving my unnamed widow ant the most trouble due to its strength and tenacity.

There were two more stags caught and a few smaller critters such as Mice, squirrels, and even a rabbit that the Widow Ant managed to somehow catch with its pitiful speed.

All in all, I earned about 63 EXP, while my Unnamed Widow Ant gained 58 EXP.

I noted that the System always gave me the large exp amount when it was split between my Ant and me, but when it was an even number of EXP, it was split half and half, with me getting the higher exp amount whenever it was an odd number.

I'd also discovered a couple more exciting things about the surface with my Ant doing so much hunting.

Turns out that even though the Inbetween seems to lack a sun or anything equivalent, the Inbetween still had a day and night cycle. Of course, with no sun or moon, it was hard to keep track of time, but for some reason unknown to me, I knew the exact time at any given moment like I had a clock in my mind.

Other than that, I have had my Progenitor Monsters keep expanding my first floor, and now my Mana Regeneration was at 31.2 per day, meaning the Dungeon now sat at the size of 112o meters(3,674.541 Feet), including the tunnel that led far down into my previous dungeon room.

Meanwhile, my first floor was 820 meters in size, with the floor's height being 50 meters.

Besides that, the Oak Tree has grown from a Sapling to a 6ft tall tree and has slowly grown in size every hour.

Even though there was no light in the Dungeon, its leaves were green, giving off a healthy, vibrant color.

I even grew some grass around it to make the first floor more lively until the Oak tree has grown enough to produce seeds.

Of course, it's not just regular grass. It's Dungeon Grass.

That's right. A completely new screen introduced Alchemical Effects and a Tier system for materials.

And unlike where the Statuses use EXP to level up, if I pump 100 exp into this grass, it would instead evolve?

What kind of evolution would grass possibly get?

Would it even be worth it?

I honestly highly doubt it would.

If anything, I guess that it would become a better alchemy ingredient.

Breaking me from my thoughts, I found that the Widow Ant returned with another animal, this time with a strange animal I hadn't seen yet, a Rabbit with two horns on its head, like a deer.

I also noticed several minor injuries on the carapace of the Widow Ant, signifying that the Rabbit fought back against the Ant.

I checked the Ant's health and found it took 45 points of damage, a decent chunk of the Ant's available health outside the Dungeon.

But now that it was back inside the Dungeon, its strength was restored, including its HP regeneration which was much stronger in the Dungeon than out, with there being a difference of 40 HP points compared to when the Ant was outside the Dungeon.

I interfered just as the Ant was about to kill the Horned Rabbit.

"Stop, let it go, and slowly back away," I commanded the Ant and watched the Rabbit as it got into a defensive position and hissed.

Finally finding a good target to test one of my Skills, I instinctively activated the skill [Monster Domination]

From what I knew about the skill, it would set a connection between the Dungeon and a Monster from outside the Dungeon. It doesn't work on other Dungeon Monsters but does work on Wild Monsters, and it places a kind of brand on the Monster's Soul.

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And since it's not a construct of the Dungeon, it would be more limited in Evolutions and growth.

Of course, it also means that anytime it wishes, it can try to break free from its brand and can do so easily with some help of another Dungeon, making Dungeon created monsters the best operatives of a Dungeon since they couldn't be taken control of or freed by another Dungeon.

So the most prominent reason Dungeons would brand a wild Monster's soul is the cheapness of the process.

Just branding this Horned Rabbit only cost me a measly five mana.

And in return, I got this.

Seeing the free stats the Branded Horned Rabbit had, I instantly distributed the stats, with three going into Intelligence and the remaining two stat points going into Vitality.

The choice for Intelligence was obvious. While the Vitality would make it beefier, its small size made it relatively weak to all kinds of damage.

I did not doubt that it could easily die from simple injuries.

After reading through the rest of its status, I paused upon reading one of its traits.

"What's a Mana Core?"

[Mana Cores are condensed orbs of mana that can form within Wild Monsters and Dungeon Monsters due to Evolutions or natural formation. Mana Cores are a highly coveted item and resource for the inhabitants of the Inbetween since the Cores can be used to craft Magical Staffs, Armors, Weapons, Artifacts, and more. For Monsters, a core will increase the Monster's Mana Capacity and Regeneration, which can be considered yet another way to Cultivate a Monster's Strength]

"That's...interesting, and it's possible that I can create a Monter with a Mana Core?"

[Inquriy Declined]

"I thought the System is supposed to answer the questions I have? Why do you keep declining some of my questions?"

[The System feels the Dungeons shouldn't become overly reliant on System Spirit Companions or the Info Packet, so it blocks or forbids the answering of specific questions that will affect the Dungeon]

"So the System wants me to discover the answers to the questions myself?"

[Correct]

"You sure the System isn't just lazy?"

[Inquiry Denied]

'...'

Not wanting to deal with the headache known as the System, I gave the Horned Rabbit its first task, scouting the area around the Dungeon.

Sure, I had the second Widow Ant scout around the Dungeon entrance, but I never had it go far and instead had it focus on hunting Animals.

Besides, while I could have both the Horned Rabbit and the Ant scout around at the same time, the speed of the Rabbit would allow it to cover much more ground, and at a much greater speed, so while it may be much weaker, it would serve as a better scout.

Plus, I also wanted to test and see if the Rabbit would have its stats decreased when it leaves the Dungeon due to the branding.

Watching the weird monster duo climb up the slope and out of the Dungeon, I switched my vision to outside and opened the Rabbit's status to find no change in its status.

"I guess that's another reason Dungeons would brand and dominate Wild Monsters. They are not affected by the strength decrease of leaving the Dungeon, most likely because they were not created by a Dungeon in the first place."

Watching the Rabbit dash off into the Concrete Jungle at fast speeds, I shifted my focus back to the Ant, which, as before, left to hunt down more animals for me.

Shifting my vision back into the Dungeon, I cast my gaze over the growing Oak Tree before growing irritated by the sudden Mental Ping I got from the Branded Rabbit.

Focusing my vision on the brand, I was surprised by what I saw.

A wall made from scrap metal, cars, busses, and signs was constructed between two still standing and fortified sky scrappers with what looked to be Humanoids walking along the top of the wall keeping watch.

"Fuck... it's a City...and it's only a mile or two away from me..."

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