Peek: A Spark in the Darkness (Patreon)

The first thing the young dungeon feels is terror. It only just came to be, and yet there are so many overwhelming dangers around it! Colossal beings stand around its core, and the smallest of them is the most dangerous: a scion from another dungeon! Its fate seems sealed, as if the furry thing doesn't subsume it, the charging beetle invader will!

The hatred and madness in the beetles eyes are destroyed utterly by one of the colossus, crushed with no apparent effort. Subsumation is probably preferable to being drained by an invader, but the young dungeon wants to live! The rival scion looks to the small chip of a core and speaks, revealing the gulf of power to be ever greater, as it's a Voice!

"Hide inside, little one."

The gentle advice cuts through the panic, and instinct latches on the lifeline. Invaders are still coming, but the giants are defeating them, giving the young dungeon mana. It quickly spends it, earning itself a worm scion, and rushing its first construct spawn. It quickly orders them to retrieve it and settle it in one of the holes, and the denizen and scion rush to obey.

The worm is not cut out for fighting, but it does what it can to protect its master, by curling around the little chip of jet, and then shuffling onto the disk of the construct denizen. It's awkward and the core is frightened the entire time. It feels like an eternity before the construct reaches the nearest hole and tumbles in, worm scion and core coming along for the ride.

The core is safer, but still not truly safe. It spends its mana rushing the spawners, filling the holes with milling constructs and worms. The giants step out of the dungeon's territory, and the nascent dungeon must now fend for itself. Now that it has a safer Sanctum and some spawns, such a task is within its ability, and it gets a few moments to try to think.

It doesn't know much, but its experiences already war with its instincts. Outsiders are dangers! And yet... they clearly protected it. Was it just a fluke? Did they despise the invaders more than the core, or maybe they didn't notice it?

No. They definitely were aware of it. It tries to find some difference, something to explain why the outsiders would help it, especially that Voice. The large fuzzy thing was a scion for certain. The large things were invaders... right? No... no, not right. They were... delvers. Instinct grudgingly admits that delvers and invaders are not the same thing. Delvers are protectors?

Instinct is unhappy about that comparison, and soon leaps on the chance to question it when one of the delvers returns and kills a construct! They are destroyers! Something seems off about that, especially as the delver continues to slowly pick away at the denizens, only killing the ones that wander from the holes. It takes several dead denizens for the dungeon to realize the true difference between invader and delver: it gains mana from them killing its denizens! The invaders either steal it away, or let it dissipate into the surroundings. The delvers do something else, and energize the dungeon from it.

Can it get a lot of mana by making more denizens? It decides to try, and so continues to spend mana actively spawning, building up a large force to send out. After several minutes, over a dozen each of worms and constructs surge from the holes, and the other protectors step into its awareness to quickly dispatch them.

So much mana! It still costs to spawn and to direct the denizens, but it's earning more than it spends! It happily spawns several more waves, earning mana with each cycle, before the protectors step back. The dungeon is sad they seem to be done, then frightened with another scion enters its territory! It's larger than even the protectors, and radiates power. What should it do?!

The large scion lays down, folding its long legs, before speaking. "Hello, little one. I represent the Southwood, a powerful dungeon far from here… or not so far from here, thanks to the shortcuts."

Is... it also a protector? Where did they go? Are they alright? While the dungeon wonders how to respond, its scion ventures forth to confront the large scion. The worm would stand no chance against that, and the dungeon tries to call it back, before the large Voice starts explaining.

The protectors are safe, but they can't always be here to help. The scion's dungeon, however, is willing to help guide it. It is the dungeon's choice: become a protege, or go it alone. It's not difficult to decide. Alone is dangerous! The dungeon needs swarms of denizens to protect itself, but even every denizen at once wouldn't do anything against that Stag. If it's going to offer help instead of destruction, the young dungeon will eagerly accept!

It feels the bond form, its mentor ancient and stable. It feels... safe. It also feels more, weaker bonds, thanks to its mentor's... ally? The ally has a vassal and its own protege, too! That ally feels... odd. Warm. The other protege is curious and bright, while the vassal feels prickly yet somehow soft at the same time?

It leaves the feeling of the bonds for now, as it tries to follow the advice its mentor gave: grow. It wants more denizens, and it wants to get a node. It doesn't quite know what a node is, even after the mentor described it, but it understands that it will make more mana, and will bring more protectors. It will need to have plenty of denizens for them to cull, not to mention to protect the node from invaders!

It focuses on its spawners, wondering if it can enhance the spawn rate significantly. Alone is dangerous. It should make sure its denizens are never alone.