{Vito POV}

 

Amore was fast, but not fast enough to dodge two beetles coming at her at the same time, I determined while rushing towards her retreating figure. In the surprise of the moment, she went above and beyond our expectations and even managed to incapacitate one of the creatures, it now lay weakly while flailing on the floor in a growing pool of blood. I had to praise her situational awareness, however, because she didn’t dwell upon the results of her attack for a second longer than necessary before sprinting towards me, the two remaining beetles behind her.

It wasn’t long before she reached me and quickly performing a well-executed turn midair she landed on the side of me, and we stood next to each other facing the incoming enemies. Without speaking, I quickly dashed to the beetle on the right and following my lead she went for the one on the left. The two things although intelligent didn’t appear to understand how to fight as a group against another group. Upon noticing this, we split up. And while approaching them in a curving path, they split as well.

Such an action lowered the danger of fighting the beetles to a very manageable level, and I concluded it was only a matter of time before we finished the creatures. Quickly approaching each other, my mind went back to the memory of my first encounter with the beetle’s charge attack. And taking a page from Crete’s book, I attempted something slightly foolish. I was intent on seeing how much I had progressed from then to now. I didn’t use the textbook sidestep. No! I wasn’t going to dodge this time, I would face it head-on, and face it head-on I did.

The force of our acceleration funneled to and was focused at a small area on my head, a majority of the damage was canceled out because of the exchange. I felt the force rock my head and spread through the entirety of my body. The pain of the collision was eclipsed by the utter feeling of satisfaction that came from the results of my action. I would no longer be tossed away by a simple charge like this one, for now, I had the power to face it head-on. And judging by the wobbling and stunned behavior of my opponent, I concluded that I had even come out on top of this confrontation.

I wasn’t allowed time to enjoy the feeling, however, as almost immediately after the collision a SCREE like I’ve never heard before almost caused me to fall over in shock. The sound from it is what caught me off guard because, unlike all the ones I experienced before, this one felt like it had some form of weight behind it. My attention was pulled to the ongoing battle between my brother and the source of the sound, seeing part of his carapace fractured and blood pooling out from it and his eventual faceplant into the floor, I became worried for him.

The worry made the remaining discomfort from the attack disappear and focusing my eyes back onto my opponent, I resolved to finish this battle as quickly as possible. Advancing with my mandibles outstretched, I hooked the forelegs of the beetle and pulled my head back ripping them off in the process and causing the creature to stumble backward. It didn’t allow my attack to go unpunished though as the other of its legs left a gash on the top of my head. The power behind the hit stunned me for long enough for it to recover and do something that I had forgotten the beetles were capable of.

Opening its wings before me, the creature quickly began to vibrate them, and it was lifted off the ground shortly after, a bad move. One I concluded the creature hadn’t thoroughly thought through, because while it was ascending it quickly hit the ceiling and in an anticlimactic manner it fell back to the floor, near the two bundles of grubs. The beetle was trying to stand back up but failing, the fall obviously injured it, and judging by the abnormal angle that its wing was bent in, I concluded it wouldn’t be flying anymore either.

With victory all but guaranteed, I took the time to observe the state of my brother and sister. Amore appeared to be holding up quite well against the beetle and was quite literally running circles around it. In addition, observing the numerous gashes along its carapace and its missing hindlegs I deduced it would not last much longer under the onslaught of my sister. Looking over at the battle between Crete and the Alpha beetle, however, I was a little more worried to see that he was almost as injured as his opponent.

He lay on the ground for longer than I thought he would, most likely still stunned because of that sonic attack, his adversary wouldn’t give him the time to recover, however, as I watched it charge at him while he was down. I had to do everything in my power to withhold the urge to rush forward and try to help him out because I knew that although he tried to pass the battle off as just him taking on the most dangerous enemy, I could feel it was more personal than anything. Seeing him get thrown away by the beetle’s charge once more almost made me say to hell with that though, but he recovered immediately after falling and I could see the determination oozing from him; that was a fight no one else was allowed to interrupt for him, and we were the ones that had to make sure that-

The thought cut right down the middle by the loud squealing and new set of SCREEs. Turning my head to the disruption, I witnessed two beetles emerging from the bundles of grubs that the 3 of us had unconsciously disregarded due to the need for covertness. The two new beetles took a while to analyze the battles taking place in the room eyes wandering all over, and recognizing two of their kind on the floor disabled, as well as looking at Amore and me before finally letting their eyes settle on Crete and the alpha beetle. I felt their intentions even before they began to move and sprinted into action, I wouldn’t allow my brother to be robbed of the chance to wash away the humiliation he felt.

My preemptive move clearly caught them off guard as I noticed their raised legs twitched and froze while their eyes processed my incoming charge. Taking the one closest to Crete out first was my top priority and bracing myself I intended to hit it with a tackle into the ground before they could group up and overpower me.

 

{Crete POV}

 

The adversary in front of me motioned to use another of its sonic attacks, but I didn’t freeze up this time, immediately bursting into action to interrupt the skill. I could see that me rushing it was the best move; because the shock due to the unexpected response made the skill draw in energy in a violent and disorderly way, and with a dull CRACK, I saw its throat swell before fracturing slightly.

Not one to let such a great opportunity pass me by, I redirected the movement of my mandibles towards its now exposed and quite tender-looking throat and they expanded like they have only 2 times before. It was still reeling in pain, unable to register the incoming danger, and I wouldn’t let it get the chance either. The internal damage had drastically weakened the defenses of the beetle, for upon contact with its throat I felt my mandibles pierce and glide through its flesh. Right before I tugged my head back to rip away the beetle’s throat, however, the pain of my attack caused it to leap forward, throwing its body onto me.

With the weight of its body coming down on me in full, I heard some more dull cracking from my already battered carapace as I was being crushed underneath the creature. To make matters worse, I could feel it still thrashing around on top of me, although with decreasing intensity due to the fatal injury I had just inflicted. I felt it make a few more exaggerated jerks and then it stopped completely, and a moment later the notification confirmed the humiliation I experienced was avenged.

 

*DING*

*Gained 839 experience points*

**Congratulations you have leveled up**

 

*Status*

 

I wasn’t able to relish in the sweet taste of revenge just yet, because I could still hear the hurried sounds of fighting going on. Building up all the strength that I could muster into my legs, I heaved the beetle on me to the side, exposing my body to fresh air once more. I took one quick glance at the dead alpha beetle before rushing off to where I could see my brother being ganged up on by two beetles.

My legs although worn out carried me quickly over to the battle, and in a quick movement to separate my brother from the beetles that now had him pinned to the floor, I ran straight into them. With another unsettling crack, I felt my carapace fracture even further, but the result of the action outweighed the cost. The beetle I had directly hit, flew quite a distance away, and without the extra pairs of legs restraining him, my brother quickly escaped the other's grasp. His counterattack was swift and precise, taking full advantage of the stun caused by my charge and with a swipe of his mandibles, he caused the beetle to stumble forward, its two front legs removed.

Not stopping there I saw him quickly pounce on the floored creature and in a barbaric move that definitely harbored animosity, he bit into its face. The wet sound of flesh and mandibles meeting guaranteed that the beetle was no longer among the living, the danger averted I was now able to look around, and I observed my sister rushing over to us, her opponent lay dead with none of its 6 legs still attached.

Realizing the situation was now in control, I turned my eyes to the floating orb in the center of the room. The object was the source of my original intent in the first place, the satisfaction of ripping apart the armored creatures coming second only to finally being able to sate my curiosity. Approaching the object, I once more got lost in the abundance of energy swirling around it, it was practically a lake compared to the droplets of energy I’d encountered before. Using <Inspect> on it once more, the familiar table appeared before my eyes, but with it some minor changes and an unusual option.

 

*Status*

 

The option caused me to pause for a moment and focus on the different words, in a weird way I noted I could feel their "intent". The word destroy was pretty self-explanatory, but I understood that there would be some sort of reward based on the intent I could perceive. Subjugate on the other hand was confusing, from the intent I could discern that it would mean that I could somehow become the Owner of the dungeon core, though I had no idea what benefits or disadvantages making such a decision would entail.

It didn’t take much thought before I had an idea of which option to choose, however, because as a result of the intent I could vaguely deduce the purpose of the core. It was the thing responsible for creating the grubs we have been using as food and fuel for evolution, so Destroy was a no-go. Focusing on the Subjugate option, however, I felt the energy around me pulse with a new ferocity as it flooded into the dungeon core. The movement of it was similar to when a creature was undergoing evolution, the last thought I was able to have before I felt something reach out from it and tether itself to my mind, my eyes drowning in a sea of notifications.

 

*DING*

The Subjugation of dungeon core “6535219” by Tier 2 lifeform “Crete” has been recorded

* Criteria met*

Title <Dungeon Master> has been awarded. Grants passive bonus of 100% to recovery when inside any owned dungeons. Dungeon Master interface has been unlocked

-Error-

The evolutionary grade of lifeform “Crete” is too low to access the Dungeon master interface.

Subjugation failed

Title <Dungeon Master> has become Inactive

*Skill Roll has been permitted as compensation (One-tier higher than current evolutionary grade)* [Results Depend on Luck]

Would you like to roll now?

Yes/No

Quite frankly I was obfuscated, following the connection being tethered to me, the notifications had continued normally until the “-Error- “portion of it, that’s when things got schwifty. The connection that had just formed was abruptly cut off, leaving me with a massive headache and a sense of incompletion that faded away shortly after, as my eyes fell on the words that indicated my virgin title had become “Inactive”. The weirdness didn’t end there, however, as I was given an option to participate in some weird thing called a “Skill Roll”

“Is everything okay brother?” Amore’s voice brought me out of the trance, I looked over to her and Vito, the latter slightly more wounded than the former. “Yeah, I’m fine I just had something weird happen to me, come over here and use <Inspect> on this dungeon core, and tell me if it happens to you too” I gestured, intent on finding out whether or not this was an isolated event.

I watched as Amore and Vito both came closer to the still floating orb and used the skill on it, waiting for confirmation as to what the hell exactly was going on. “What do you mean something weird is happening?” my sister responded first “Yeah what do you mean brother? I just see the basic information table, what’s weird?” Vito followed up. “So, you’re telling me neither of you saw an option to Subjugate or Destroy the core?” the two shook their heads at my question and I tried my best to make heads or tails of the situation.

The option to do that wasn’t there when I inspected it last time and it wasn’t there now, so I thought long and hard about what changed. The presence of the beetles, the answer came to me shortly after. The presence of the creatures was the only thing that changed, and judging by their inability to see the options I assumed that the option was a one-time thing. Informing my siblings of the abnormality, I could feel the apprehension and nervousness-at something they couldn’t understand radiating off them, it radiated off me as well if I was being honest, my most recent experience fresh in my mind. It was never a good idea to make hasty decisions, so I decided to deal with the issue only after I sorted out everything else. I proceeded to distribute my unassigned stat points.

 

*Status*

 

Focusing only on secondary stats, the lion’s share of the points I assigned to Intelligence because I figured increasing the stat was to my immediate benefit. Perception I increased for sensing the energy and Luck I did for good measure. The moment I allotted points to perception, however, I felt a change in how I could perceive the energy, but it still felt like a thin film was separating my understanding of it. The film was short-lived, however, as the moment I put a point into intelligence and it reached 15, I felt the mountain separating me from tracing the energy any further than 11 and a half inches shrink until it was no more than a pebble.

Eager to see what life was like on the other side of the rock, I took that final leap and the world changed around me, no longer was it just an assortment of colors. No, the colors felt as they had a new dimension to them, one that was present in more areas than others in this room, I could feel. The greatest concentration of the substance was immediately around the orb, and observing the phenomenon I realized it was moving…

Then it clicked in my head, this new substance, this new dimension I was able to observe to reality was the thing I was searching for since I witnessed my first evolution, it was the mysterious energy. However, it didn’t have an appearance as I realized it was not physically present, almost as if bleeding into reality from another plane before returning and coming back to reality once again. I wasn’t allowed the opportunity of ruminating on this energy for long though, as for the second time today a series of unexpected notifications graced my eyes.

*DING*

Skill <<Mana Sense>> has been created