The broken dungeon core

The days all seem to start and end with Luna giving me a mana transfer and then she also manages to make time during the day to do one or two more rounds of mana transfer, which has significantly improved my recovery rate.

I could hardly wait to remake the room I was forced to collapse and when I finished it I wanted to do more since they can’t really use it until I can get some glowing plants in there to provide some light.

I have found that although Luna and her siblings can see well enough in low light levels they really do still need some light to see as their night vision isn’t quite as good as “a real raccoon”.

After over hearing the siblings mentioning that they had come across a wild raccoon in the woods around dusk when they were returning from their usual forge and gather trips, I became interested in what exactly was a raccoon.

From what I could gather from their talk about it over their dinner, it has a tail like they do with striped rings around their fluffy tails and a dark fur mask over their eyes, they tend to have fur in various shades of black, brown, and grey whilst they have a size like a large house cat, which I don’t really know what a cat is but apparently it’s small enough to sit on Misty’s lap.

Although Luna tells her siblings how raccoons wash themselves and their food they seem to have a bad reputation and get related with trash and mischief as well as theft and banditry.

Which may be why their parents are trying so hard to be accepted into the village even though they have been living there since before Luna was born.

Apparently because beast-kin often have the same traits that their respective beast have it is common for beast-kin that are similar to nuisance animals to suffer from discrimination while those who have traits of favored animals tend to be not only favored, but they are also respected more highly.

This is also why a lot of the beast-kin that turn to banditry are also beast with bad reputations, like raccoons, snakes, crocodiles, crows, hyenas and various others.

Although the bandits in the village are mostly humans and there aren’t any raccoons, the stereotypes are hard to ignore when society refuses to recognize them as individuals rather than a collective.

Luna reminded Rocky of the time a couple years back when he was accused of stealing from the general goods store when it was actually one of his friends who had stolen the item.

Only to then get accused of being a bad influence and not being allowed to play with his friend anymore.

Their parents had said that they were just looking for someone else to blame and it just happened to be him, but it really was more likely because of him being a raccoon beast-kin.

Their parents had tried to shelter them and always made great efforts to be upstanding citizens of the village but now it feels like it has failed to pay off those efforts.

Luna tidied up after dinner and sent her siblings to wash up before bed, before she came to my core room and noticed the restored room on her way.

The smile on her face fills me with joy that she noticed and is happy with what I have done.

The mana transfer goes smoothly and bumps me up to 23% mana absorption efficiency and a mana storage of 0/86(500).

Luna is a little more talkative today as she strikes up a conversation.

Luna, “I noticed you were able to fix the collapsed room, I take it that’s a good sign that you’re on the mend and trying to fix things up right?”

I respond like I always do with a lump of clay pressing into her hand.

She laughs quietly and asks.

Luna, “Hey, since you are able to create rooms, tunnels and pedestal structures what else do you think you can make? Would you be able to make some shelves for the cookware and food? Because it would be nice to get some things off the floor and organized to save some space.”

I raised a platform and watched her reaction to see if I had done what she wanted.

Luna, “Ah, well that’s not exactly what I meant… umm… maybe hollow out this section from here to here.”

She points out what she wants me to do and I somewhat accomplished the task although since my dungeon flesh runs through it I can’t get the walls of the structure as thin as she wanted so I had to adjust the outer side to be thicker, which seems to have surprised Luna with her wide eyes staring at it and then her running her hands over it.

From my observations of Luna she seems to like inspecting things and using her hands to feel things out most of the time, which obviously makes me quite glad whenever she approves of the job I do when making anything.

Luna, “This is starting to look like a shelf, but I wonder why you expanded it and made the shelf walls so thick? I really wish we could talk like I do with my siblings.”

Her sad sigh frustrates me into doing something stupid and I thin it out letting some of my dungeon flesh be exposed, which makes my dungeon instincts protest, especially when a wide eyed Luna decided to start touching it!

I struggled to stop myself from snatching my dungeon flesh back out of the shelf, but I could only resist for so long and the tremors that went through them seemed to have fascinated Luna as her hands immediately touched, stroked and poked my dungeon flesh until I could handle it no longer!

I pulled my dungeon flesh back out of the shelf and into the safety of the dungeon floor, which caused the shelf to collapse and break apart, caving in on itself very much like how the small dungeon room collapsed when I removed my dungeon flesh from its walls, ceiling and floor.

Luna looks stunned at what happened and yet still manages to somehow sound excited.

Luna, “Oh my goodness! That’s you, like really what makes you up, not just your walls or your core. So that’s what you use to make changes in your dungeon and what’s holding it all together. It also seems like it is sensitive to touch, are you able to feel with them? And how much can you feel with them?”

I feel like I was flustered by her response, her excitement was greater than I thought it would be and I wanted to make her react even more as it seems to excite me as well.

I realize that I was more focused on resisting the urge to retract my dungeon flesh, than feeling the sensations that were going through them from her contact.

So with embarrassment and tentativeness I answered yes, it’s me, and yes, it is what I use to make changes and keep my dungeon up, as I raised a pillar next to her from the rubble and then I exposed a tendril for her to touch.

She looks to also be embarrassed for some reason and the reddish flush that spread from her cheeks to her neck made me think of her as endearing.

Luna reached out and just barely grazed the surface of my dungeon flesh, immediately making it tremble and my desire to retract it strike but I was able to pay more attention, it’s definitely sensitive so I answered with a large lump of clay to emphasize how much I could feel from her touch.

Luna somehow manages to become an even brighter shade of red and before I could properly process the situation she does something that I couldn’t comprehend at first but definitely led me into a strange spiral of thoughts and emotions.

Luna, “So you’re extremely sensitive, I hope that it isn’t in a bad way, I hope that it feels good because if it does then you might appreciate this!”

She leaned towards my exposed dungeon flesh and her lips gently made contact with my dungeon flesh and I felt a strange surge!

The mana laced air in my dungeon suddenly fluctuated from my core to the entrance to my dungeon and back as my emotions felt like they overloaded.

She didn’t bite me and I wasn’t harmed in any way but I feel such a strong mix of excitement, fear, and happiness that I don’t understand how I should respond to her and I feel like I am in a daze.

Luna is the first to react.

Luna, “What was that! Are you okay?!”

She looks over at my core with a bit of concern and she looks like she might cry.

I respond quickly hoping to avoid her becoming upset without reason, the clay I pressed into her hand receives her grasp and almost a gasp followed by a couple of tears and a smile???

It seems that I am not the only one who is having emotional overload….

Luna, “I got concerned that I might have done something wrong when that gust happened so suddenly…..Is it possible that, that was you talking a sharp breath? I know that you don’t normally seem to breathe but I think that definitely felt like you had breathed all of the sudden.”

I don’t know how to answer her accurately, I don’t even know if I could do it again but I wouldn’t mind trying to do it again, it didn’t hurt me to do it and more than anything else I think it was interesting if nothing else, so the best I could come up with was making a small circle of yes and no answers.

Luna stairs at the ring of tiny stalagmites and lumps of clay in bafflement that looks like she could be just as confused as I am currently.

Luna, “Ummmm, could it be that you don’t know or have any idea about it?”

Thats an easy yes, so, clay for my Luna, and an awkward smile for me.

And while I am contemplating the situation I also realize that I for some reason hadn’t already retracted my exposed dungeon flesh nor have I covered it up!

Not only that but Luna seems to have noticed before I realized it!

Luna smiles mischievously at my core and then at my exposed dungeon flesh….

Luna, “Well seeing as you haven’t retreated like earlier, may I assume that you liked what I did?”

I don’t know but I think maybe so I decided to make a ring of yes no’s with the lumps of clay being a bit larger than the stalagmites and a little bit of clay in the center just in case because I wanted it to be clear that although I am uncertain about it I think I am leaning toward liking it.

I think it could be my dungeon instincts that keep nagging me to keep my dungeon flesh covered that might be amplifying the confusion.

Luna smiles and looks like she was possibly going to do it again!

I couldn’t help but get excited thinking about the prospect that I felt tingling even though she hasn’t done anything else yet.

Luna looks back at my core red faced and eyes lowered cutely as she asks me with a gentle and playful voice.

Luna, “I wouldn’t mind doing it again, if you want another kiss~!”

I give a big yes! Even before I realize it myself!

Sadly rather than receiving another kiss, it seems the moment will not be going further as Luna wound up so embarrassed that she ended up running out of my dungeon!

Rocky, “A KISS! What the heck sis!”

Rocky and Misty seem to have been woken up by the gust of wind that I had accidentally made, and they had come over through the tunnel connected to the second dungeon room without my noticing as I was hyper focused on Luna and myself.

I don’t understand why Luna ran off but could it be that she didn’t want her siblings to know what we were doing?

Is a kiss a lot bigger of a deal than I thought it was?

I hope she comes back soon and explains everything, as I don’t think I am capable of explaining anything of what happened to her siblings.

Although Misty just looks curious, Rocky is looking at my core like he’s expecting answers!!!!!!