[color=firebrick][center][img]https://i.imgur.com/liks82d.png[/img]
[h3][color=firebrick]Darc Matter[/color][/h3][/center][/color]
[hr][center]3 / 6 [color=firebrick] Stress [/color][color=darkgray]||[/color] 0 / 9  [color=firebrick]  Wicked XP [/color] [color=darkgray]||[/color] 0 / 3 [color=firebrick] Reckless XP [/color][color=darkgray]||[/color] 0 / 2 [color=firebrick] Dark Hearts [/color][/center]

And so the battle was won. There wasn't much fanfare, not like the clouds parted ways to shine a light upon their victory. That was something that happens to heroic adventurers after purging the forces of darkness. For those like Darc, it was appropriate that their victory was somber and anticlimactic. There was only one survivor that Phardax has captured, probably to do unspeakable drow things with. Darc never had much a taste for torture despite his tendency to spew vitriol at his enemies. He simply lacked the charisma to make his insults and barbs do any meaningful harm to others and mostly to serve his own hubris. So Darc ignored the woman, and instead gouged himself on the fresh meat that laid blood-soaked on the ground. Plenty of delicious biomass to add to his own, enough to notably increase his own size. 

The others gathered after the battle. Seemed like the kobold stumbled upon the mortal's wagon, and with it a variable amount of treasure. Supplies and equipment that they'd otherwise have no means to obtain. Darc knew the value of these things: his claws were meant to rend flesh from bones, not dig up stone from dirt. Despite what his creator had intended for him. The crew divvied up their loot and went about figuring out what to do with this newfound dungeon of theirs. There was much work that would need to be done, rocks to clear, rooms to be made. Darc has no intentions of doing such menial work himself. He didn't come all this way just to grub in the dirt like some common slave.

Fortunately there were some minions nearby to subjugate. A large variety of mooks to fill a menage, but the one that interested Darc the most was the slimes that crept out from the cracks of the walls and floor, sometimes mindlessly harming a minion. Lesser Slimes as Darc has come to known them as; barely qualifying as living creatures any more than a single germ would be (things so insignificant that most educated people don't even know what a germ is). Ordinarily they would need to be eliminated less they eat at the weaker minions, but Darc knew a trick to make them more useful. And that was by eating them. Or rather, assimilating their biomass into his own. It was natural for slimes to be able to do this, as this was how slimes would normally breed if they individually lacked (Or in Darc's case, had no desire) the excess mass to create their own copies. By assimilating the biomass of an existing slime, Darc is able to share some of his own intelligence and traits to them, which made them slightly more useful servants.

Emphasis on slightly. They were still about as mindless as before but now they could follow Darc's orders with a varying level of competency, thanks to sharing his intelligence with them. They would basically understand how to do certain works as Darc understood them, such as digging holes, eating waste, and waiting until someone gave them more orders to do. They'd also learn not to eat things that Darc doesn't give them permission to eat, such as the other minions. They also share his black coloration, even though originally these slimes came in a multitude of colors. It was something like a uniform. Darc even made them little bone masks to symbolize that they work for him, though these masks only had two holes in them so they're less than his three. Once the minions were settled Darc had them go clear out the caves so the rest would have more space to work with and even their own sanctum to live in.

[hr]

Time would pass after the monsters defeated those mortals and settled into their new dungeon. When the minions discovered an old dwarven mineshaft, Darc decided to oversee some of the work himself. That is to say, he stood around yelling at the minions to work faster. Though there was one thing that did require his attention. The minions had discovered something moving in the mines and were afraid to confront it, and suspecting it might be some monster that was sealed away here, Darc went to investigate. Of course he would be disappointing where it turns out the monster was an ancient dwarven corpse, currently being puppeteer by an equally ancient but lesser slime. Darc easily absorbed it into his mass. 

While he was in the process of overwriting the slime Darc found something interesting in the corpse's possession. Pretty much everything on the dwarf's person was reduced to ash and bones, except a single small pickaxe. It was still in great condition, albeit tarnished, but nothing that Darc couldn't clean. Initially he was going to write it off as simply another tool to give to the minions when he casually swung it at a nearby wall. Despite being so tiny and barely putting any effort into it, the pick was able to clear away a large section of stone and dirt. [color=firebrick]"Oho. A [i]magic[/i] pickaxe. I could certainly use this."[/color] Tossing the pickaxe into the air, Darc caught it inside of his mass and began to clean it for his own use. He could imagine the possibilities of this pickaxe.

[hr]

Not long after obtaining his pickaxe, which Darc has come to call the Earthbreaker, he decided to do a bit of light scouting. He was getting bored basically doing nothing in the dungeon so Darc decided to investigate the local area. But in a twist of fate, it was him who was scouted first. Darc was climbing a tall tree when he sensed a creature near him. A creature exerting an incredible amount of pressure, almost as is his mind itself was being weighed down by thousands of pounds. It was enough to force Darc back to the ground and try to find a hiding spot when he was discovered. But to his surprise it was not some monster hunter radiating an aura of righteousness. But a familiar face. For the given value of face at least. 

[color=firebrick]"Cthylla?"[/color]

[b]"Darc... It has been some time."[/b]

Standing before him was a humanoid abomination. She looked like a voluptuous woman, wearing maidly attire that emphasized her bust and thighs. For mortals she would be considered very sexually attractive. But shortly after showing her human form, her true form was revealed. Her face was absorbed into many pores going from her head to her shoulders, removing her eyes, nose, mouth, and even ears. Only her hair remained. Mouths opened up in different places around her body except her head, revealing sharp teeth with twisting tongue-like tendrils that wrapped around her fingers like a playful snake. And from her lower body where a woman's orifices would be, large black tentacles adorn with many blinking eyes appeared, moist with a mysterious slime as they stared at Darc.

[color=firebrick]"You look well. Very well in fact. I haven't felt that sort of pressure since our youth, when we were visited by the Demon Lord."[/color]

[b]"Thank you for your kind words. I have been blessed with much power since I joined Master Rais. I've heard news of your lord. You have my sympathies."[/b]

[color=firebrick]"I respect you Cthylla, but I would ask you not to patronize me. I have no love for my former lord and his death proved he was unworthy to lead any of us."[/color]

Cthylla bowed her head slightly. [b]"I meant no disrespect of course. And I can tell that despite his death, you have prospered. I take it that the dungeon high in the mountains near Camp Cragrock belongs to you, yes?"[/b]

Darc shifted uncomfortably. He felt a sudden surge in pressure from Cthylla. She wasn't in the mood for evasiveness from Darc, so he spoke honestly. [color=firebrick]"Of a sort. I don't rule it alone. There were other survivors from my previous lord, and we've decided to collectively become dungeon lords. We're still working on it."[/color]

Cthylla put a tentacle to her chin in contemplation. She and Darc spoke for a while longer, about his future, her past, and what they should be doing presently. She told Darc about how she managed to obtain such great power in a (relatively) short amount of time, about how she leads her own forces of darkness in a dungeon located at the Cradled Abyss. Darc mentioned how he wished he could've obtained power like her, and Cthylla encouraged him to pursue it. Compared to her, Darc was one of the more advanced slimes. She was simply fortunate enough to have had a better master who could grant her this power, as oppose to Darc's previous lord who merely used him for menial work. She recommended that he keep in touch with her: it would benefit her master if Darc were to grow stronger and spread his influence around this area. Darc didn't question why, knowing that her master was a Dark Lord and tend to have these sort of enigmatic plans for everyone.

[b]"As for the now... Seek out the Feast of Birds. No matter how advance we become, at our very essence our strength lies in the consumption of biomass. The Feast of Birds could prove a valuable ally. Embrace your nature, so you can master it. Control it. Just as I have."[/b]

The two parted ways. It gave Darc a lot to think about. He found it strange that despite having power that likely surpassed the old lord, Cthylla still continued to act so humble, so servile. She never spoke as if she had her own aspirations and merely served her master. Darc knew that even if he could convince the others to do so, Cythlla was more than powerful enough to destroy him, and his allies together. So it boggled his mind how she became so strong. And it was all the more reason he needed to mull upon her words and figure out what he truly needs to do to become stronger. Ordinarily he thought to be cunning and clever, like a mortal. Perhaps he could learn the mortal tongue, learn a mortal trade, and use words as his weapon and earn alliances that way. But as Cythlla said if he desired true mastery of self he needed to embrace his nature as a beast. And it was certainly tempting. So often he hesitated trying to think of a smart idea as oppose to just acting on his instincts to the point it's dulled. And when the going gets rough, he ought to just rely on what he knows he can do well, rather than try to do something different.

[hr]

Though empty handed Darc returns to the dungeon with more knowledge, arguably better than any prey or fortune he could've gotten anywhere else. He quietly retires to the sanctum to consider his next course of action. [color=firebrick]"I should learn more about the Feast of Birds. Perhaps even contact Cythlla for minions. I could expand the mines too, gather up useful materials to create better equipment for future raids. Or gifts for potential allies. I shouldn't be idle, follow my gut. Not like the others in this place are using their heads for anything anyways."[/color] Darc snark as he got himself comfortable in his hole. Tomorrow he'll begin setting his plans into motion. Perhaps he'll consult with the others to make his plans go more smoothly. Surely they could see the wisdom of his actions as long as he had the patience to explain it to them.