It was a beautiful, serene place. Well maintained trees and grass covered the land that was enclosed with brick walls.

  It was a sombre, silent place. Headstone were lined up uniformly. The headstone were clean and without blemishes.

  It was a lively place. There were many people. Many wore colourful shawls to deter the cold wind of approaching winter. Here and there, people were walking by, taking pictures or sitting on the benches.

  It was a golden place. The setting sun gave an ethereal, golden light to the place.

  A young man was standing before a stone memorial. There was an epitaph on it.

  "When you go home, tell them of us and say for your tomorrow, we have our today," He read out,"John Maxwell Edmonds is really popular when it comes to war epitaph and this quote ain't even his original."

  He look down. There was another inscription - this time a plaque honoring the ones who died there.

  "In memory of the men of the second division who fell in the battle of Ko....."

  His words were cut out as a woman screamed. He turned around to see what was happening.

  He saw a bright light falling down from the Sky.

  There was no sound. There was no pain. There was no more scream. Everything and everyone melted away including the war cemetery and the young man.

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  Ozymandias woke up. He had a nightmare again. This time he remembered it but don't know what happened in that dream. He was someone in that dream - a young man. He remembered how he died. His skin melted first, then his tissues and organs and lastly his bones. Strangely, he did not feel any pain.

  The interval of his death feel instant and forever at the same time. It was truly strange. Dreams and nightmares were strange.

  The emotions he felt during the nightmare were engraved and fresh in him. It was horror and helplessness and at the same time awe and wonder and the former drafted the latter.

  He felt something brush him. It was warm and snuggy. His vision blared open.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Something was sleeping beside him. He focused.

  It was a furry creature, a blob of black and white, a dozen times larger than him and it was fast asleep.

  It was the mouse and it was sleeping peacefully.

  Ozymandias remembered his last memory. He panic a little remembering that the viper had entered the den.

  His fears were relieved as soon as he saw the rotting corpse of the viper. Maggots and ants were swarming around the corpse. It had became a source of food for the creatures in the dungeon especially for the flies.

  His den had become a lush forest of mushrooms with lots of creatures roaming around. Due to the ambient prana in the air, the mushrooms were growing at a much faster pace. However, the mushrooms didn't clog the dungeon as they were feasted upon by the many maggots and the mealworms that had emerged from the dungs.

  Ozymandias took a measure of his mana. He had only two hundred units of mana. His first ring was at 300 and the second ring was at 600. His next advancement was nearing as well.

  He checked his connections. His link with the his dungeon monsters were like thread connecting him with the creature in question. He was two short. It was the two beetles.

  Ozymandias had guess what killed them. It was either that slinky lizard or the mouse. The spider and scorpions were not likely to prey upon the beetles.

  Yes, a dungeon monster will prey upon another dungeon monster as the dungeon was the harshest environment that embodies the survival of the fittest theme.

  The only time dungeon monsters unite as one was when the core commands them to.

  The spider was up in its web, bigger than before, it's eyes fixed on the sleeping mouse. Ozymandias realised that the spider core was different.

  The core had grown in size and it's color had became darker. The most surprising thing were the mana rings. Instead of the first, second and third mana rings, there was an orb of mana and another ring of mana around it like an orbit.

  Upon inspection, Ozymandias learn that the first three ring had condense into the orb of mana and the orbit was the fourth ring and the begining ring of the next layer of mana ring.

  The orb contained a hundred mana and the ring ten units of mana.

  Ozymandias checked on the scorpions as well. The two scorpions also had the same except that the mana storage capacity was a little higher than the spider's.

  The mana storage was not the only changes in these creatures. Their physicality had been change as well.

  The spider had grown. Its abdomen alone was twice the size of his core and its head had gone sleekier, half the size of the abdomen. Its had reach a legspan of two inches. Its fangs had scaled with her body, and wickedly jutted out from her mandibles.

  As for the scorpion, their body length had increased from 4 inches to about 6 inches from the chelicerae to the tip of the telson. Their pincer had grown more heavier and bulbous with sharp and shiny claws. The carapace on their thicc, long body were harder and had gone completely hairless.

  Both the spider and scorpions were more receptive towards mana as their body ingested mana more efficiently. The quality of mana in their mana core had taken a leap, though still far away from Ozymandias own mana.

  The fourth advancement was no longer a mere advancement. It was an evolution, both externally and internally.

  Ozymandias took some mental note.

  1. First three mana rings converged to form an orb after the fourth advancement and loses twenty percent of their capacity.

  2. A fourth ring appears orbiting the orb, perhaps the begining of another layer.

  3. After the fourth advancement, the creatures increases in size, mana conductivity and intelligence.

  4. Link between the dungeon core and fourth advancement creatures had become better.

  5. Communication is still at the basic level.

  6. This are no longer like their base. They are evolved variants.

  7. I need to dig deeper.

  "Huh."

  The seventh mental note came as a shock. He had made it subconciously. But he understood. It was an innate instinct of a dungeon core.

  "Right, I do need to dig deeper."

  Ozymandias accepted his subconscious instinctual mental note without question.

  In the last fight, if it wasn't for the fact that the mouse had managed to kill the weakened viper, the creature would have thrashed his dungeon.

  He needed to enlarge his dungeon, create more space between him and any invaders that entered his domain. The surface was not a good choice. The surface was not a place that could be defended easily and claiming a spot of land outside cost much mana due to mana loss. The best choice was to dig deeper into the ground.

  "Alright then. Let's dig."

  ...........................................................................