The Survivor Becomes a Dungeon

Zasutir POV

His body suddenly relaxed, Vitmori may have been nonchalant, but by accepting his people, Zasutir couldn't help but feel his anxieties washing away.

Though he suddenly felt anxious again as he felt the Core's voice echoing in his mind. 'However, I need something from you. You may stay on my land, but setting up any supply and structures will no doubt take time and resources. If you're anything to go by regarding the state of your people, that'll be hard to get going.'

Zasutir's mind raced, wondering what Vitmori could want with an old man like him. His gaze went over to the Mage and Warrior as they merely shrugged. "If it means my people will be safer sooner, then I'll do anything."

Vitmori was silent for a couple of moments before his voice came through; it almost sounded like he was smiling. 'Good, that's a praiseworthy mindset. I need two things from you. First, hunt a flying bird for me and offer it before me. Your second task will be presented after you're done. You don't need to hunt the bird yourself, but the sooner you present one to me, the sooner we move forward. In the meantime, there are about eight tents in the woods with bare scraps for food; you may use all the supplies from the caravan you came in on to get your people settled in.'

Zasutir was vaguely surprised but nodded as he bowed his head lower, scraping the floor. "A bird, yes I shall bring you the finest bird I can find, oh great Vitmori."

'Oh, and here, I have no real use for these weapons yet, so hopefully, they serve you well.' Vitmori explained as two bows, two quivers with a total of forty arrows, an axe, a shortsword, and a longsword appeared at the bottom of the steps to the pedestal.

Zasutir raised his head in acknowledgment, wondering where it all came from as he stood and began to collect everything. His arms were laden with weapons as Reonim decided to pitch in and at least help carry everything down.

Reyvyre turned to acknowledge Vitmori once more. "We shall take Zasutir back to his people and help them collect themselves; from there, we shall make our way to the Empire to report to his Majesty."

Vitmori was quiet for a bit though he responded. 'Alright then, safe travels.' He sounded relatively cheerful as Reyvyre bowed her head and left with Reonim and the lizard man. The doorway grew once more as they passed before going back to normal.

Vitmori POV

Well, I've somehow got myself tangled in international politics. I was never one for politics myself. I was more suited to sticking a knife between someone's ribs or infiltrating a place to spy while remaining out of sight. Nonetheless, I now have a representative in this new world, which should help me in the long run.

Looking over to Basti, I can't see her changing much physically anymore, though I notice some movement around her mana heart. She's got one of those rings now, which seems fascinating to watch, though I shouldn't let myself get too distracted as I let my right hand enjoy her cat nap.

I dole out some more mana to the cubs, the set of four getting a burst of energy like kids on caffeine as they play around in their parkour nook, the grey-black boy cub even joining in this time for the mewling and roughhousing.

I look around for Oururu for a few moments since he's uncharacteristically not holding his post on my pedestal steps. It doesn't take long to find him since he's currently coiled up in his house rock. It seems the poor fellow is also tired after such a busy day. Upon closer inspection, though, it looks like he's got layers of skin slowly peeling off him. Huh... I wonder if that's how snakes usually shed skin. It's not like I've ever watched the process before.

At this point, I turn my attention to myself, looking over my core after those intense waves of energy I got today. I had three rings earlier, but now after naming Reonim and Reyvyre, as well as finishing up that thing with the diamonds, there are only two rings left. I also grew bigger again, not by much, mind you, but it's noticeable. I'm still essentially grapefruit-sized, but with a couple more inches added to my overall diameter.

In other news, it seems once my mana zombies get killed, I'm unable to bring them back once more. It is a shame, but I'm glad I don't have any useless corpses cluttering my inventory space. On the other hand, the three that survived this last attack seemed to have undergone some more mutations. The green orc seems to have bulked up, her shoulders are now broader, and her fingers and fingernails look denser and sharper. The black-skinned elf looks more slender, yet upon further inspection, I can tell his leg muscles have been defined for more leaping and jumping, increasing his mobility. Finally, the last human zombie, his lower jaw was clubbed off, and his arms were severed. Even with all that, I can see that his throat has already developed specific mutations, along with his stomach and bile. Fascinating…

Outside of those guys, I now have 15 new corpses to experiment with. Aside from most of them being more physically developed, a lot of them also have the makings of magic users, which I'm fascinated to see play out. Not to mention all their weapons and armor I can study and try to reverse engineer. If I can learn more about the armor of this world, I can probably start adapting it with some modern twists, which should only improve things for those in my care.

I have a lot of work and probably enough time to do it. I hope that the lizard guy comes back with a bird soon; those kids weren't in the best of shape. Despite the requirements I set for the guy, I'd rather help them sooner than later.