I had died. I couldn't remember how it happened, when or even much about its life. I only remembered my name, Max and a few other nebulous details that quickly disappeared back into the dense fog that seemed to cover my mind. I didn't know how much time passed while I floated inside this fog, drifting in and out of consciousness. I could sometimes pierce the fog to glimpse at my surroundings. I laid in a dark and damp hole in the ground. I couldn't perceive my body or any light, making me wonder how I was able to see anything at all. Then I sank back into the fog.

Slowly I regained more of my mental faculties and didn't fall asleep for indefinite stretches of time as often. Strangely, I didn't perceive hunger, thirst or any other bodily functions I would assume would plague me after sleeping for however long I was here, wherever here was. That thought occupied me for a while, wondering if this was some kind of afterlife. Maybe Christian Heaven? Maybe Hell instead, with the whole not being able to do anything deal going on? I drifted off again, and soon forgot this train of thought altogether.

After even more time passed and I was aware again, my quiet musings were suddenly interrupted by a blue screen appearing in my perception and nothing I did could make it go away.

Suddenly my consciousness was invaded by a strange power, leaving me unable to even think from the pain of the intrusion. The power disappeared after a short while and left behind a bundle of knowledge that quickly expanded, filling my mind. I now knew clearly what I was, a Dungeon Core. A construct that built elaborate underground complexes filled with monsters and treasures. The exact reason was somewhat unclear to me but my new instincts screamed to get started. Having digested the new information a new screen appeared in my vision.

Had I been here, in this strange world, for a whole year? The screen made it appear that way. But I first had to choose before I could ponder about that fact in peace. My new instincts demanded it. This was clearly a choice between quality and quantity. I was unsure about the strength comparison between the ranks. Could one 'Elite' rank monster contend with 188 commons and two uncommon monsters? Apparently so, and I kind of liked it. Having a super powerful minion able to lay waste to hordes of enemies sounded really cool and badass. So that is what I chose. And a new window appeared shortly afterwards, with even more choices.

My favourite was Lesser Earth Elemental almost immediately. I desired order, and the chaotic societies of the other three choices went against everything I wanted. However, I didn't want any of these races to be my Elite monster. They just felt wrong to me, even if I couldn't define why. I quickly selected the Elementals and felt ten common monster slots open. Apparently this counted as one year having passed already, the second having just begun. I quickly summoned all ten earth golems and watched them appear, standing motionless in the now suddenly very full dirt hole. They were half a metre tall, humanoid piles of earth that very slowly moved around.

I ordered half of them to construct a corridor deeper into the earth, and the other half to begin building an entrance towards the surface. If I wanted to be a dungeon, an entrance was a must after all. And I wanted to find a good candidate to fill my Elite Slot.

It took the elementals quite a long time to begin to move, but after they began the earth quickly began to shift around. They used their innate control over the earth to build pretty quickly. I watched them form a tunnel towards the surface and I soon saw the first rays of light piercing through the wall. I felt a bit odd to see my field of perception growing in real time. I could 'feel' everything in the tunnels and the main cave, and even a bit outside. The cave was located inside a small hill and it opened at its side, opening the dungeon up to the forest on the outside. I could perceive the chirping of birds and the rustling of trees. The familiar sounds filled me with a sense of peace.

I directed my outside team to strengthen the tunnel leading back towards the core. Hardening the earth to stone took quite a bit of effort from the five elementals but they had time. It would take about a week to harden the entire tunnel. Meanwhile the team on deepening duty was busy building a tunnel deeper into the earth, hitting bedrock fifty metres down. Digging really slowed down because of the stone and I ordered one Golem to create a chamber at that level and bring my core there.

Moving the core was an experience I didn't want to repeat very often as it was very disorienting. My whole perspective shifted every step the golem took, making me very nauseous. But having arrived in this deeper chamber I felt much safer.

It took three days for me to realise that I could perceive through the eyes of the golems and that I could send them a few hundred metres outside of the tunnels. I ordered one to go on patrols through the nearby forest and discovered many wild animals I knew. Deer, boars, squirrels and many kinds of birds lived outside of my entrance. But I had yet to see any kind of monster, and I knew that I couldn't make a regular animal its Elite. My pride as an elite dungeon simply wouldn't allow it.

The entrance was finished a week after my full awakening. The tunnel was made of smooth granite formed by the golems. I had also formed a few more chambers in the dirt layer, having decided that tunnelling through the stone took too long. The exploration of the surface had continued unhindered, but slowly. The description was serious when it stated that these golems were slow. But it seemed like something interesting was happening up in the air as many large silhouettes flew over the entrance. One of them seemingly grew curious about the entrance and descended towards it. The eyesight of the golems was not good at long distances and I could only wait until the creature entered my own perception to clearly identify what the flying creature was.

What entered my domain surprised me. It was an ant the size of a shepard dog. My Dungeon Core senses told it that it was a 'Red Soldier Ant Queen' of 'Uncommon' rank. I suddenly remembered biology classes and learning about eusocial insects. That could be it! If the description of my trait was true, and I had no reason to believe otherwise, I could have quality and quantity all in one, ant-queen-shaped package. I quickly tried to offer the Queen the pact of becoming my Elite. I sensed a bout of confusion but quickly picked up a growing desire for Evolution and a safe place to build a nest. After a few seconds I felt a wave of acceptance and suddenly I could see the world from one more pair of eyes. But my field of view was quickly covered by a blue screen.

That wasn't Elite rank. Could there be more evolutions following this one? I grew excited at what could possibly follow in the near future. The choices in front of me were clearly divided into a specialist and generalist path. I wondered how the generalist path would progress even further but couldn't come to a satisfying conclusion. Even more variety in subspecies? Was that what I wanted? Not really. And a species of ants with fire manipulation would certainly be very good in combat. Having decided on the Crimson Ants I confirmed the choice. Another blue box appeared. I had been correct, more evolution choices were in front of me.

How exciting! Fire ants were a straight upgrade to crimson ants while the antoids were intelligent! Oh how I cursed the system for this impossible choice. Both sounded too good! On the one hand a very high fire affinity would most certainly be very powerful, but on the other hand the antoids used magic. I wasn't quite sure about the difference between fire manipulation and fire magic but the latter sounded a lot more sophisticated, as would be expected of a sapient species. One thought coursed through my mind: If I could somehow upgrade the Queen even further would the antoids be available again if I chose fire ants now? And also the other way around, would something like fire antoids be available if I chose the antoids now? But my mind quickly returned towards the immediate choice in front of me. Should I push the ants further along the fire affinity path while staying regular ants? Or pursue sapience and build a new civilisation of antoids? Choices and their consequences.

dragus

Thank you very much for reading. Please share what you would have chosen in Max' place and why. And also include what you would choose in its position right now.

FYI the ranks are: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Elite, Epic, Legendary and Divine

Max's current character sheet:

Spoiler

Elite Slots: 1/1 Crimson Ant Queen (evolving)

Common Slots: 10/10 Lesser Earth Elementals

Year 1 Choice: Elite

Time since birth: 1 year, 2 weeks

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