Chapter 2: Inhabitant(1)●

Dungeons are a special species known to roam the universe. They wonder from one world to another as though butterflies flying from one flower to the next.

But why?

Most mortals spend the rest of their lives without ever knowing why. This is because most mortals have tunneled vision. Meaning they only know or see what is within their world. When a dungeon is connected to their world, it only ever appears as some sort of portal that lets out monsters that crave their lives. These monsters would either pillage, hunt, or destroy all life nearby. Because of this, dungeons mostly had a bad reputation in low-level worlds.

To them, these foreign intruders suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked them without warning. These creatures make them feel nothing but fear and hate. Of course, there are some who see dungeons as an opportunity to grow higher, but they are in the minority when compared to all living mortals in the universe.

So among this uncountable number of mortals, there were a few that once asked themselves, "Why do dungeons attack us so? Do they require us to take our lives? Are we food for them?" The answer is of course...

No.

Dungeons, unlike what is perceived, do not need to kill mortals. In fact, dungeons don't even need mortals at all. What dungeons require instead is energy.

But not just any type of energy; what they needed was called third-order energy.

In the universe, energy is classified into classes. First, second, and third-order energy

First-order energy is the most basic form of energy. This energy is mostly used by lesser mortals, and the best example would be kinetic energy and all related forms.

Second-order energy is usually used by greater mortals. Its most common form is ether, which some call mana or mystic force in some worlds. Second-order energy usually bends or overrides the basic rules of first-order energy. This energy is usually sourced from either worlds, gods, or dungeons.

Third-order energy is the most superior form of energy, and there is none above it. It is usually used by either worlds, gods, or dungeons. The energy comes from many different sources, but it is mostly associated with divinity.

Although worlds are able to use third-order energy, they normally do not lack it. As worlds have natural divinity, they can create it almost as easily as dungeons can make ether. So the energy usually overflows and covers the world.

Dungeons, on the other hand, require this energy to grow stronger, so they flock to the only place that has as much as they could eat.

Worlds.

They open portals and suck up all the idle third-order energy in the world. Mortals are unable to see this energy, so they are clueless about what is going on.

In their fear, they attack the dungeon that only comes to suck out the left-over power the world exudes. So really, dungeons do not care to attack mortals. But of course, the same could not be said for the dungeon inhabitants. As most of them are ready to attack and plunder as they wish.

Of course, these inhabitants aren't made to attack the world's inhabitants but to instead protect the dungeons from world inhabitants. And although dungeons create these inhabitants, they have little control over them. Each one has individual thoughts and their own ideas. That is why there are a lot of cases of dungeon inhabitants running from their dungeons. Although dungeons have a natural connection to their inhabitants, if the inhabitants have too strong a will to do something, dungeons will not be able to stop them from doing otherwise.

But even if these inhabitants are sometimes rebellious and are basically the reason why dungeons have such a bad reputation, they are still necessary to protect the precious dungeon core. So no single dungeon ever existed without them. Some dungeons even take the initiative to bond with some beings and give control to them; these rulers are then called dungeon lords. They are like the guards and captains of these dungeons.

But unlike these said dungeons, the child was not at all interested in having someone control him. Still though, he did see the merit in having a few inhabitants protect him.

After all, although it is usually dungeons who take the initiative to connect to worlds, there are instances where worlds or mortals forcibly pull dungeons and connect to them instead. So there was no way the child could just sit and clean his hands off this dungeon business. Plus, remaining weak in such a universe was far from desirable. As the strong will likely not spare something that is not even of the same race.

As such, it is imperative that the child create his own inhabitants. Luckily, dungeons all have the inherent ability to create inhabitants.

Just like humans have genes inherited from their parents that map out how they will grow and look in the future, dungeons also have an inheritance mechanism. Only much more complex than usual human inheritance.

This mechanism comes in two forms. The first is inherent knowledge. Upon birth, the newborn dungeon would instantly know what it was and how to live. Everything it needs to know about survival is also inherent knowledge. That was why, upon waking, the child was able to understand who and what he was.

The last one is the core inheritance. This inheritance is a bit different, as instead of inheriting knowledge, the younglings inherit blueprints. or, if one prefers, gene maps of certain creatures. Only these creatures don't function through genetics but instead through ether crystal cores.

The knowledge and ability to create these creatures are locked deep within the very cores of the dungeons. There is an assortment of creatures, from mortals to gods. As these dungeons grow, they unlock this knowledge within themselves.

As a newborn, the child has also unlocked the ability to create his first inhabitant. And in the future, more of such creatures will be unlocked. That is, if he survives to grow that far.

"Let's get making, then."

The child then focused on his core. Although it is the first time he has used such an organ, it was very easy to do so. As it was similar to how he was able to use his limbs when he was human. Nobody taught him how, but he learned it all by himself the more he tried to control it. Like a precocial deer, able to run on its first day of birth.

Within the core, the nebula of cluttering stars and what seemed like luminous dust began forming a swirl. First began the stars as they rotated in the core. Soon, the dust-like particles also turned into motion. They swirled and twirled till they formed what seemed to be a spherical tornado. But within this tornado was not nothing. Small bits of the spinning particles escaped from the crowd and went to the center. They fused and converged to form a small ball-like object. The object was callous and had bumps here and there. But as the particles continued spinning and spinning, the object grew closer and closer to a perfect sphere.

After what seemed like an hour, the sphere was complete. The swirl stopped, and the sphere was left to float among the glittering stars and nebulous particles.

But that was not the end of it all, as soon as the white growth that seemed like a growth of microorganisms left for too long started forming around it. The growth covered the sphere as it continued to grow further and further. Soon, it grew to a size that was more than ten times the size of the sphere. He then started growing in six different directions, forming what looked like a starfish, only with six points. Although the bottom point was a bit shorter than the rest,

The growth then stopped growing. It then started to seemingly get refined. The top point formed into a ball; the upper two got slimmer and formed five smaller points at the tip; the lower two also grew slimmer, but they started bending in half. As for the bottom point, it grew smaller and smaller, and beside it, two smaller balls formed. A hole formed just behind the two new and unknown balls and connected itself to another hole at the larger ball at the top.

The growth—no, the creature grew more and more refined as time went on. And in the end, its full form was fully revealed.

It was green-skinned with long and pointy ears. It was very short, at a length of likely one meter. It had crooked teeth and a large, pointy nose. Although the creature was short, it was very endowed when it came to its sixth 'limb,' which hung freely in the watery interior.

Inside his core, it stood curled up like an unborn baby. It was a creature the child could have believed to be nothing but fiction if he were still human.

Goblin.

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