A Demon's Core

Expansion is going much faster now with mana crystals augmenting my mana regeneration. While I keep some crystals in reserve for summoning and others just to serve as an emergency supply, the rest of them are all contributing towards expanding my domain. All my mana crystals together now exceed my core’s mana regeneration and I am still making more each day. Or rather I am just making one at the moment. The decoy core.

I can only increase the size of a mana crystal when it is already full so I can not actually use the mana in the decoy core. So it makes up the majority of what I designated as the emergency reserve. As the decoy’s size and capacity grows I take other crystals from that reserve and consider them part of my normal supply.

It is almost as big as my actual core now. It looks quite impressive. It does not have the same iridescence, but it is not monochrome. When looking closely I can see varying shades of pink across its surface, but unlike my core, its colouring is static. It is still a glowing pink orb though so hopefully that will be enough to fool the humans. It all comes down to how much the humans know about dungeon cores. I do not actually know all that much about dungeon cores myself. I only know what I have observed of my own core. Unfortunately, I do not think there is a way to test its effectiveness before it is actually needed.

For now, the decoy is sitting on the chair next to the real core. I never ended up taking my core back to its hiding place. That is not as important now. I have plenty of warning of humans approaching so I can have one of my imps hide the core again when necessary, but it does not need to stay hidden all the time. I should have my bones brought back out. They are still in the hiding place and I kind of miss having them around. Seeing my core on the chair just does not feel the same without it being surrounded by a pile of bones.

It should also help sell the illusion of the fake core when I do hide the real one. I ask Violet and Rose to handle it. Violet squeals and dives through the hole into Room 7. I guess she misses the bone pile too. Seeing them coming back through the door with their arms full of bones reminds me of when they first collected them. Back when it was just the two of them. We have come a long way since then.

Some of the bones have mana crystals attached to them. I consider asking the imps to detach the crystals and take them back to the cabinet in Room 7, but I decide against it. I actually like the look of it as is.

The appearance of the bones does not go unnoticed by the others and Calla insists on helping, though there is not much more to help with at that point. When Rose brings the final few bones, Calla is still slowly making her way back down the hallway. She is dragging a human skull with Violet walking by her side. When she reaches the door her mother offers to help but Calla adamantly refuses. She wants to do it herself. It is too big for her to just pick it up and carry it, but she eventually manages to drag it over to the pile.

The hellhounds were particularly interested in the bones, but Rose told them quite firmly that were not to touch them. Noctis and Fire accepted that but Spiky still tried to sneak away with one when he thought no one was looking. But Violet noticed and rushed over to him. She grabbed for the bone and tried to wrest it from his jaws.

“No. You can’t have that. Let go!” She demands. Spiky growls in response. Violet hisses back, baring her shark-like teeth. Having seen what she can do with those teeth, I would actually consider the display a little intimidating. I am thinking of intervening but Noctis steps in first. She growls at Spiky and her eyes flare. He lets go of the bone and lowers his head. Violet smiles and returns it to the pile. I may have to keep a close eye on Spiky when he is around my bone pile from now on.

In total, it only takes a little under two weeks to claim the entirety of Room 1. I found that I can spread my mana filaments out thinner allowing me to claim a greater area for the same amount of mana. I can not sense things as clearly in that area as a result, but I am sure I can strengthen them later if I need to. Though I know that the filaments will spread out naturally over things already within my domain, so maybe that problem will resolve itself if I just wait long enough. That, combined with my augmented mana regeneration, greatly improved the rate of expansion.

I think I will start taking the hallway next. Not just to watch Calla and the hellhounds, though I can not deny that is a big part of my motivation. Doing so will also give me more space to participate in defense if any enemies actually do manage to make it past me on the stairs. I can give them hell in the hallway as well.

In that time, the crystals reserved for summoning also reached capacity. Though I did not do so immediately, I think it is now time to summon the final hellhound to round out the pack. I may summon more in the future when I have more space, but I would really like to get back to summoning imps. Besides, when I have two males and two females, I may end up getting more hellhounds the natural way before then.

I wonder what hellhound pups would look like. Is ‘pup’ even the right word for them? ‘Cubs’ maybe? I will stick with ‘pups’. It sounds better. I doubt they would have the spines on their back when they are born. That would surely be quite unpleasant for the mother if they did. Or maybe the spines are just soft and pliable at birth and become solid and spiky later on. And what of their eyes. Are they born with the fire or does that get ignited later? I am actually getting a little excited to see them now.

Well, first things first. I need to actually summon the second female. When it appears, it is smaller than I expected. Only about two thirds the size of the males. Her fur looks a lot fluffier than the others and her spines are much shorter as well, barely noticeable through the poofiness of her fur. Is this one a juvenile? Did my desire to see hellhound pups influence the summoning or is it just a coincidence?

She did not growl or show any hostility as the males had. Instead she looks a little frightened. I can see her trembling a little as she looks around the room, until she spots Noctis. She approaches the larger hellhound quickly and presses herself against her. Noctis bends down and sniffs at her then licks her a few times.

I can see Violet bouncing up and down on the spot until she can not contain herself anymore. She launches herself at the little hellhound and hugs her, rubbing her face against the fur.

The hellhound lets out a startled whimper and tries to back away, but Violet already has her arms around her and is not letting go. She looks up to Noctis for help, but Noctis just huffs in response. I get a feeling of amusement from her. Rose puts a hand on Violet’s shoulder.

“You’re scaring the poor thing. Give her some space.” She says. Violet immediately lets go and takes a few steps back.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. You are just so fuzzy.” Violet says to the hellhound. She holds out a hand, palm up, towards her but does not move any closer. Calla is standing next to Noctis now. She is not approaching yet, but I can tell she wants to.

The little hellhound casts an apprehensive look towards Noctis, who nods, then slowly draws closer to Violet. She sniffs at Violet’s outstretched hand for a few seconds. Deciding that it is safe, she moves forward to lick Violet, prompting another hug from the imp. She does not back away this time.

“We should call her Fuzzy.” Violet declares.

“Fuzzy!” Calla repeats. Rushing forwards to also hug the hellhound. I guess her name is Fuzzy now. Though it may not be as fitting when she is older if her fur smooths out like the other three.

Fuzzy becomes Violet’s favorite hellhound. The imp hugging her whenever she gets the chance. Once she gets over her initial apprehension, Fuzzy also gets quite attached to Violet. Unlike Rose, Violet is delighted to have a hellhound following her around, especially a fluffy one. Initially Rose does not want any hellhounds in their bedroom at all, but after much begging and pleading from Violet, she eventually capitulates and agrees to let Fuzzy in. But only Fuzzy.

It takes around a week for my summoning crystals to regenerate mana back to full capacity. But those crystals were selected based on the mana requirement for hellhounds. Imps require much less. Based on the difference and how fast they regenerate, I estimate I should be able to summon another imp every two and a half days using those mana crystals alone. I have four empty bedrooms available now and a lot of empty space besides.

I am excited when it is finally time to summon another imp. The first imp to be summoned since the attack. Between the stairwell, the hellhounds and my ability to produce concussive shock waves, I am feeling much more confident in our defenses now. I am glad I can finally get back to my original objective.

The others are excited too. Anticipation hangs heavy in the air as I reach out to the rift. When the new imp appears, he looks around, confused, as is expected. Rose is about to offer him some clothes when he spots the hellhounds. He screeches and vaults backwards, dashing for the nearest open door. Which happens to be the bathroom with the hole leading to Room 3. As he scrambles through the hole I send Violet after him. I expected Noctis to be amused after how she reacted when Fuzzy arrived, but instead I sense that she is actually concerned.

Violet catches up with him just as he finds the hole to Room 1. She manages to calm him down and is leading him back Room 5. I send Noctis and the two males out into the hallway. He is going to have to get used to the hellhounds, but perhaps it would be best to start with Fuzzy. She is the smallest, fluffiest and cutest of the hellhounds. Not that the others are not also cute, but it is hard to compete with her fluffiness.

Violet reenters the room with the nervous male trailing tentatively behind her. When he sees Fuzzy his eyes go wide and he freezes. Violet reaches for his hand and drags him forwards.

“It’s fine. Trust me. She’s friendly and so fuzzy.” She says. Fuzzy is just sitting calmly and waiting.

When she gets close enough Violet lets go of the other imp’s hand and hugs Fuzzy. The male just stands there in shocked silence. Since he is not moving any closer, Violet leads Fuzzy to him. He scrunches his eyes shut as she gets close, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. After sniffing him, she licks his face. He opens his eyes and just stares. He is still frozen in place, but he has lost that look of terror he had before. He is just staring up at her now, wide eyed and open mouthed. Rose brings over the clothes she tried to give him before.

“Please put these on. It’s not appropriate to walk around here naked.” She instructs, handing him a shirt and some pants.

We still have all the clothes from the deceased imps so we will be able to provide properly fitting clothes to new arrivals for a while.

That snaps him out of his stupor. He accepts the clothes and puts them on. Rose leads him to where the rest of the clothes are to choose a few more. He is then offered a weapon. Either a wooden spear, of which we still have one left, or a knife, we have quite a few of those. He chooses the spear.

“Do you have a name?” Rose inquires. He shakes his head.

“No name.” He says

“Lord Magentam, who is the master of this domain, wishes for all of us to have names. You can think of one for yourself or Lord Magentam can think of one for you if you would prefer.”

“Not know. I think.”

“It’s not something you need to think of immediately. You can take you time with it.”

“What you name?” He asks.

“My name is Rose. The tall purple one over there is Violet. The other two who already went back to their room are Lily and Calla. Even the hellhounds have names.” She explains. His brow furrows.

“What ‘hellhounds’?”

“Those are hellhounds.” She says, pointing at Fuzzy. “The one you can see Violet currently attached to is named ‘Fuzzy’. The biggest one is Noctis, she leads their pack. You can ask Calla about the other two. I’m sure she would be happy tell you all about them.”

“Not scared?”

“Of the hellhounds? No. They do look intimidating, but they’re actually quite friendly once you get to know them.”

After that Rose and Violet give him a tour of the place, with Fuzzy following behind, pointing out each of the bedrooms that are free. Seeing the three larger Hellhounds lounging in Room 3, he does not want to stay in there long. I hope he can get past his fear of them soon. They really are lovely creatures.

He chooses the empty bedroom in Room 5 as his. It stings a little seeing him getting settled in there, remembering that that was Third and Fourth’s room. But I can not just keep it empty. It is important to move forward.

They then take him outside to show him around the area. When they get back I make another small mana crystal and ask Rose to give it to him and teach him about mana control when she can.

Two days later I am looking forward to summoning my next imp soon when I feel mana start pouring in. More humans have come. But they are just walking right over the first step of my domain. One even walks over the second before they all stop. Did these humans not get information about this place from the previous humans before coming here? They did not even have a mana sensitive person up front to lead the way. How foolish of them.

I can already tell this is going to be fun...For me. Less so for them.