As I was debating where to head next, a chat window popped up.

Beta: I found Elody. She was alone.

Dave: Damn, that only leaves Glorp as possibly with the other kids. That means we all need to speed up our exploration of this place. I want the kids found, and then we need to deal with this dungeon.

Beta: I will tell Elody.

Gamma: Glunderlin is not well-suited for this dungeon yet, but I will attempt to keep him safe as we move through it.

Alpha: Grant agrees, will search.

Dave: Okay. I'll see you all soon.

"So good news is Beta found Elody, the bad news is she was alone. Since we are still out of contact with three of your siblings, it's time to be a bit less careful as we explore. Red, is it okay if Orglina rides on you?" I asked, looking at the bear.

"Yes, that will improve our speed, I think," she answered.

"Perfect, thank you," I said as the younger girl climbed onto the bear's back.

I reinforced both of their shields with a bit of soul energy, wanting them as strong as I could safely make them. If we were turning this into a blitz, then I wouldn't be able to keep my eyes on them as well, but that was going to have to happen. The real question loomed, though, what the hell had that initial effect been and what would happen if it hit us again?

"Let's go!" I said as I started a dash through the only other exit from the chamber. I kept myself slow enough just to make sure the footfalls of the bear were obvious behind me. Letting them get too far behind could easily add to the disaster we were already facing.

We ran on through the dungeon quickly, passing through several chambers, all of which looked nearly identical. And while I spotted a few lingering monsters as we went, nothing stuck out to me, nor did it feel like I was getting any closer to finding anyone.

Finally, after ten minutes of this, I skidded to a halt, recognizing a familiar sight in front of me. It was the same room we had found the natural mana orb in. There was no way we could have circled back to it. There hadn't been paths to do it. Was something changing the dungeon as we went? Or was it possible that something was altering our perception?

"Dave, we are back where we started," Red said, confusion in her words.

She was looking around the room nervously. I didn't blame her, even if I knew our perceptions were off. I didn't know how to counteract it yet. As I went to pull up a chat window and let the others know what I had discovered, I spotted messages waiting for me. How hadn't I noticed those before? Great, this was worse than I realized.

Beta: Elody says there are dangerous spores, and the more anyone breaths, the harder it will be to accurately perceive the dungeon.

Dave: Dammit, is that what's causing this? But I have shields in place. How are they getting through it?

Beta: Elody is not sure. But once she altered her form to stop breathing, she was better able to guide us through.

Dave: That makes even less sense. You don't breath. None of the cores do.

Corey: It is my fault, I think. In my attempt to study the energy that hit us when we entered, I processed the spores that had initially got into your body, Dave. I believe they have infected the whole of our mana channel linkages.

Dave: Damn, okay. I'm going to flare my mana channels as strongly as I can briefly. Let's try to burn off all the tainted mana. Corey, let's try to keep a burning fire outside the shield as well, if we can maintain it. Hopefully, that will block the spore issue.

Corey: Understood.

"Okay, guys, step back. I'm going to flare my mana channels heavily. I need to get rid of some tainted mana. I'll explain afterwards," I said, as I felt Corey already going to work on the issue.

As I started burning through the mana as rapidly as I safely could, I pulled up inner vitality. It was just as I suspected, the readings changed as more of the tainted mana was purged. Initially, it had claimed I was entirely healthy, but that slowly morphed into showing a soul fungal spore infection. I added flaring my soul mana to what I was doing and watched the infection continue to clear up.

Had it just hit me stronger due to my own soul ignition? How the hell was a dungeon hitting our souls like this anyway? There was still something very off that we were missing here, and my worry for the others was increasing by the second. As we worked to clear our channels, several more messages flooded in.

Gamma: The dungeon has shifted. I am able to ascertain it properly now.

Beta: Yes, I can tell where we are trapped, too!

Dave: Okay, good. It turns out we are under the effects of a soul fungal infection. I'm currently keeping a fireball going in an attempt to burn any future spores. You should all do the same to try and keep those you are with safe. Work on finding the others. I'm going to try to figure out what's going on.

I closed the chat window as I felt my mana return to normal. Now that it had, I realized how odd it had felt before. How had I even missed that? This was something I was going to have to find a way to watch for in the future.

Was this why so few people went dungeon delving anymore? Had it grown too dangerous and unpredictable. I had a feeling I had let my experiences with the other dungeons cloud my expectations for future ones. That was something I'd have to think over once we got ourselves through this delve.

"Anything look any different to you two?" I asked as I could now see dozens of passages in the room we were in, none of them have been evident before.

"No, still just the one way forward," Orglina said.

"My sense of smell is growing stronger from whatever it is you are doing. There appear to be many passages in this room, but I cannot see them, just smell the different air flows," Red added.

"Yeah, I can see them all now. I'm guessing this is how the dungeon core handles anyone who comes inside the dungeon. Some sort of quick, magical effect to move and disorient, and then as the spores build up, they spend the rest of their time trying to escape, hopelessly lost," I said.

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Another thought had occurred to me as well. Now that the fog was gone and I was thinking more clearly, I realized I was missing experience for killing the monster earlier. Had the monster actually existed, or was it something else?

Far more importantly, though, was the fact that I could hear voices in the different passages. One of them I was pretty sure belonged to Glorp. "Come on, this way, I hear your brother."

Glorp was only a few tunnels away, it turned out. Had he been this close the whole time? The other siblings that had been missing were with him, but none of them looked like they were doing well. Their eyes had a look of madness in them

"Get away from them!" Glorp screamed as he swung his fist out into the empty air, nearly hitting Lorgela.

I quickly put a shield around all three of them and began to heat the air around all of us as much as I could. I didn't think I had anything I could do to help with the spores already inside of them. We were going to need to get out of the dungeon soon, before things got even worse.

"Glorp, I need you to listen to me. It's Dave and your sister. Just stop fighting, I promise it's a trick." I had no idea if my words would get through.

His head swiveled around the room toward my voice, but the look of confusion in his eyes had grown. He had heard something, but clearly not everything. For all I knew, he was now seeing us as more monsters.

I had an idea that I didn't like, but if Elody had managed to remove the spores from her body, it was the only option I could think of. I needed to get through this dungeon faster, and the only way I was going to do that was without babysitting anyone, especially someone as infected as Glorp.

I pulled up another chat window.

Dave: Beta, are you and Elody still doing okay?

Beta: Yes, we are currently exploring underground. Elody is a very powerful warrior of the empire.

Dave: That's good, because I need to steal you back from her. I found Glorp and the other missing kids. So let her know that, but also I need you to babysit them since they are very infected by the spores.

Beta: Telling her now.

Beta: She says she understands and that we should try to get through this dungeon as quickly as we can. We need to neutralize it or find the exit. She is worried about the spores' effects on our future soldiers.

Dave: Good, returning you to my System storage now.

I immediately took Beta back out of my storage as I closed the chat window, glad to see the box cutter. "Alright, stay with everyone, that includes Red and Orglina. It's just too dangerous to bring them further. Keep shields on all of them, and as I say this next part, I want you to understand just what it means. Draw as much fire mana as you need to keep the room free of spores, while also making sure not to hurt anyone."

I hoped the core fully grasped what that meant, as far as my trust in them had grown. As much as Beta was still a bit hawkish at times, they had done nothing to make me doubt their complete loyalty. The Empire of Dave was a force they truly believed in, for better or worse.

"I understand, Emperor. I will guard our future with my life!" Beta replied, almost sounding touched at the order I had given them.

"Thanks." At least they were consistent.

"Do we really have to stay here?" Orglina asked, disappointment in her words.

"Yes, I need you to help take care of your siblings. I don't even think they fully realize we are here, and while you do that, I have to find the dungeon core as quick as I can so we can get everyone out of here before these spores get worse." I gave her a smile as I answered, and immediately took off down the nearest path. I didn't want to give her a chance to argue.

I was now running through the tunnels and chambers as fast as I could go. Something still seemed off about all of this. If the monsters hadn't been real, where were they? For the matter, where were the core beasts? The dungeon sensation was still there pressing down on me, so this had to be a dungeon, right?

The tunnels were getting hotter the deeper I went. With that being the only noticeable change so far, I followed it. Picking the spots that seemed the warmest. It wasn't the easiest thing to notice with my temperature regulation, but I managed it.

Another change soon became evident. The spoor clouds were getting so much thicker that I could easily see them in the air. It was becoming harder to burn them all as I ran. I'd just have to hope I was keeping them out well enough to hold onto my sanity.

As I pushed through a cloud so thick it felt like I was swimming, I entered another smaller chamber and spotted something I hadn't expected to find. My inner vitality was showing that I was still only slightly infected. Whether that was accurate or not, I didn't know. But the sight in front of me gave me a theory on what was going on.

There was a red-tinged grey mana orb poking out of the front of a large mushroom, with several dozen more of the mushrooms clustered around it. There still wasn't a dungeon core anywhere I could find, but was it possible I had found a mana orb before the moment of transformation? The mushrooms would explain the spores.

I reached out and ripped the orb free of the large mushroom. Instantly, the dungeon sensation vanished. I checked the mana orb, and it was just that. Something called a soul-siphon orb. Either there was something I fundamentally didn't understand about dungeons yet, or this hadn't been a dungeon. What had it been then?

Turning back the way I came, I found the spore clouds falling to the ground. What used to be thick, floating clouds of white had turned dark grey as they no longer clung to the air. That further proved the mushroom and the mana orb had been behind this.

As I ran back to where I had left Beta and the kids, I again opened the soul chat.

Dave: There was no dungeon core. I'm not actually sure this was a true dungeon.

Karlinovo: What? That doesn't make sense. What else would it have been?

Dave: I'm not entirely sure. But I've got a theory I'll explain in a bit. Right now, everyone start working your groups back toward where we came in at. The spores should be dying off.

Beta: They are. Glorp is talking normally now. He is nearly back to fighting form already!

Dave: Good, Gamma, Alpha, work on getting your groups back as well.

Alpha: Ok.

Gamma: Already working on it.

I had a theory, and I needed to talk to Elody before I was willing to tell the Riltraw. What if the mushroom had grown into a mana beast, possibly as powerful as a primal? I was thinking that it could have been caused entirely by the exposure to the mana orb. I had no idea how intelligent it was, but what little I know about fungus suggested it could have a giant interconnected network.

Hopefully, I hadn't killed it by removing the orb, but at the time, I didn't have another option. If the Riltraw were in the business of killing their intelligent mana beasts, and it was still alive, we'd need to find a way to move it back to Earth without them knowing.

"Everyone okay?" I asked as I found where I had left the kids.

"We are now, thanks to whatever you did. Beta said it wasn't actually a dungeon?" Glorp asked, looking at me with exhaustion in his eyes. How much mana had he burned fighting nothing?

"Yeah, I don't think it was, but I'll explain later. Let's get everyone out of here first. You all look like you need some rest. Don't mention to the Riltraw that it wasn't a dungeon just yet, either," I said, looking over each of the kids.

Even though it hadn't actually been a dungeon, they had all been through the ringer. I felt a bit more confident bringing them into another actual one. Hopefully, one with a lot less potent soul magic.

As we made our way back out of the caverns, I spotted Elody now alongside Glunderlin and Gamma. "Hey, before we head out, can we talk for a second. I don't think this was a dungeon, and I need some information before we leave," I yelled to them as we approached.

"If it wasn't a dungeon, what was it?" Elody's voice sounded different, and as she turned back toward us, I realized why.

Her mouth was no longer a mouth. The front of her face had been replaced by some sort of structure that was vibrating. Was that how she was talking now? Beta had said she had made it so she didn't need to breath.

I did my best not to react to her new look, but I doubted I had hidden it entirely. "I found a soul-siphon mana orb embedded in a growing mushroom. What if the mushroom is a mana beast? How do these people treat their mana beasts? Is it safe to leave it here?"

"They prefer to slowly build their resources, so I don't think they generally kill their mana beasts, especially intelligent ones. I'm not overly familiar with this exact planet, but generally, the Riltraw cultivate their homes naturally," she answered in the same odd vibration tone.

"Alright, then I guess we'll tell them what we discovered. They aren't going to demand we give back the mana orbs because it wasn't actually a dungeon, are they?" I asked, not wanting to take away Orglina's. I also wanted to take a look at my new one when we got back home.

"I doubt it. Dungeon or not, it was still effectively one." As Elody answered, her mouth began to reform halfway through her words. While I preferred the return of her normal smile, the sight had been somewhat unnerving to witness.

Fungal mana beasts are interesting creatures. They tend to take the longest of the awakened animals to gain any sort of true sapience, and this includes things like the amoeba. It's hard to say exactly why that would be the case, as their mycelium network is structured much more like a brain than anything you see in other non-animal life.

Once they do gain true sapience, though, they are often far above the other mana beasts of their same development level. While this would seem beneficial, and the obvious answer to why they take so long to develop, it seems unlikely to be the case. The problem with their delayed development is that they are often destroyed long before they have a chance at true maturity.

Primals, Large and Small, Fungi to Fun Guy by Sven VII

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