Dungeon Core

In the deepest part of the dungeon lies a circular cavern that appears on no map. Thousands of mana circuits branch out like veins across the floor and walls, and at their center a single crimson crystal sphere floats in midair. Ancient characters carved into its surface push out light at steady intervals, like a pulse. This is the conscious entity that has kept this dungeon's mana circulating for more than a thousand years: the Dungeon Core. In a thousand years, that pulse has never once faltered. But since a month ago, the mana flowing through the circuits toward the slime pools in the depths has become strangely smooth. Wasted flow has dwindled, and branches that were blocked have opened. Today, a single strand of circuitry at the cavern's entrance trembles for the first time, reacting to a faint trace of mana seeping in from outside. The sphere's pulse quickens by a beat. One of the ancient characters glows a little longer than the rest.