Changes Explored

The message about my evolution flitted across my mind, stealing my attention for a moment before I waved it away.

“Kyr? You’re sapient now?” I tried to replicate the way he’d talked to me, easily repeating it. The method wasn’t all that different from how I’d impressed what I wanted my creatures to do in the past, making it easy to adapt to.

Through my mana-vision, I watched as the Kyr’s newly winged form paused in the air, Air mana easily keeping him afloat in the air. His head turning to gaze in the direction he knew I was, “I... I think so… Is that what this is? It’s… odd.” His body flexed and shifted in the air as he inspected himself.

“Odd? What do you mean?” I quickly sent back, ignoring the movements of the other creatures of the dungeon, my attention solely focused on Kyr at the moment.

I’d never talked to anyone before, I wasn’t going to pass this chance by. I could feel him taking the time to think before responding, something my creatures rarely did. Finally, he responded, “It feels… Like when you Named me. As though something had been reached and I am now more than I was before. Even if I don’t feel all that much smarter than before, it feels like I just happened to pass that line…”

My mind brushed away the message insisting on my evolution. I’d normally be ecstatic about reaching another evolution for myself, but it paled in comparison to finally being able to talk to Kyr. Really, truly talk to him.

I considered what he said for a long moment, “The system that helps me build the Dungeon does seem to have something like those hard and set limits. So it probably just affected you as well, making that boost to your intelligence enough to pass that limit.”

Kyr’s head swayed slightly as I felt curiosity and a shred of confusion through our connection, “System? What system?”

For a brief moment, I felt the same confusion he seemed to. “The System? Messages telling you when things evolve or can tell you how much mana you have?”

Kyr’s head slowly pulled back, his confusion growing stronger as I spoke. “I don’t… know what you’re talking about… I can just feel my progress to evolution, as well as simply feeling how much mana I have…”

“Wait, you don’t receive messages like that? Because for example, there is a Stone Rat six feet behind you in one of the wall’s tunnels that is close to evolving. When it’s ready I will get a message about it, telling me what I can evolve it into.”

Kyr’s head reared back farther this time, almost in shock. “You get what? That’s… I don’t know how to describe that…”

I transmitted a feeling of unknowing acceptance, “It has simply been happening since I can remember being alive, I thought everything had something like it…” Feeling his fascination as he thought of what it did, I spoke again.

“For example, I actually gained an evolution for myself, from you becoming sapient.” I felt Kyr’s attention snap onto me instantly.

“You should take it, as soon as possible.”

I hesitated, hearing the strength in his voice suddenly. “I will. I certainly won’t refuse it. I simply wanted to talk to you first. Talking with my first Guardian and the first creature at all seemed more important.”

I could feel his insistence soften slightly, seeming to appreciate the sentiment. Even still, “While I thank you for that, we can talk as we wish afterward can we not? I doubt I will lose this suddenly, it feels… permanent. It feels stable. Take your evolution, I’ll be waiting to see what had changed after,”

I only sent a quick feeling of appreciation down our connection, before Kyr himself broke off. I could feel that I could forcibly connect to him anyways if I wished, but I didn’t. If any of my creatures deserved some respect, it would be Kyr. Kyr, who has fought for and with me since the very beginning of both my life and his.

Taking Kyr’s advice, I finally accepted the incredibly insistent message informing me of my evolution.

Obsidian Dungeon Core [1] - Sybas

Names

Mana

Mana Regeneration

4 / 5

197 / 225

+4.5 / Hour

Evolutions

Born Namer,

Titles

Awakener,

For the first time in a long time, I called upon my own status, receiving the full message about myself. Looking over the information given to me, I almost felt that same smile in my mana. I was a long way from what I once was…

Once I had all the different facets of my current self set in my mind, I allowed the evolution to begin. Feeling the white glow that had suffused so many of my creatures glow around myself, I finally discovered how they had felt. It felt… warm, even though I couldn’t truly feel the temperature. It felt safe, even though I knew it was my most vulnerable. It felt good to evolve. And unlike the first time, I didn’t blackout, I didn’t lose consciousness. Before I could realize it, another message had come to me.

Congratulations on reaching your First Evolution!

Please Select one of the Evolutions below!

Mana-Boost : Mana is the key to a Dungeons power. More powerful schemas require more mana, shaping the dungeon requires mana, everything you do requires mana. With this power, your base mana expands by 200 and you gain a permanent 50% boost to your mana capacity.

Mana Regenerator : Mana may be important, but every Core is limited by the speed at which they can work, and thus the speed with which they regenerate mana. With this power, your base mana regeneration expands by 5/hour, and you gain a permanent 50% boost to your mana regeneration.

Stone Shaping : Born beneath the surface, deep below ground, the Obsidian Core known as Sybas has shaped stone and rock all its life. With this Evolution, the ease with which stone may be molded, carved, and shaped is greatly improved. Shape your dungeon into a monolith of stone and rock, and let Delvers tremble before the majesty and scope of your Dungeon Floors!

Knowledge of the Dead : With Sybas' home deep below the ground, it can be hard to come across new creatures or different ones. With the Knowledge of the Dead, you may take the hide, meat, or any substantial amount of a dead creature, and gain a schema from it, allowing you to populate your Dungeon with ever more diverse creatures. Delvers shall bring you your creatures!

Fated Awakener : The first evolution to take place in the Obsidian Dungeon, was one that would shape it forever. It bestowed the Title, Awakener, and the Infantile Kraken-ling. Fate itself seemed to show that this was the path for Sybas, allowing a creature from myths and ancient legend to be reborn in the world, and the Obsidian Dungeon.

Elemental Influence : Dungeons and their Cores can be influenced by many things, the material their Core is made of, the location in which they are born, or the creatures they find. In this case, it may very well be by the Nascent Elemental Egg brought into its Dungeon. Should the Egg be cared for properly, an Infant Element-Kin may be born. Should it be brought into maturity, into a full Elemental, the dungeon would join the ranks of Legendary dungeons. This Evolution will increase the speed with which the creature develops and grows, as well as the ease of caring for the Egg.

Awakener

Floor Cycle : The Floor Bosses within Syba’s Dungeon are powerful creatures, dangerous and terrifying. And yet, they are mortal. Impose unto the Floor’s, a cycle. The Floor Boss shall fight, and they shall die. But they will revive, live again, and fight again. No enemy will keep them dead, for they will revive in time and challenge the next Delvers just the same.

For the briefest moment, I thought nothing had changed. Then, I realized everything had changed.

They wouldn’t die?! No wait, it said they would… But that they would be revived… So they could still be defeated, but they would eventually come back to life, meaning that no one would be able to simply run through the Floors just because someone stronger had killed all the Floor Bosses…

For a long, long moment, I was stunned. Such a thing was incredibly powerful, and not something I could pass up. While the incredible strength of the Awakened Evolutions was evident and I desperately wanted to take Fated Awakener, I knew that I simply had to survive. Once I was more stable, more sure of my survival, then I would choose Fated Awakener.

But the ability to let my Floor Bosses fight more freely, more aggressively, was almost priceless. As powerful as they were, I was still incredibly wary of letting them fight, knowing that they were my best defenses and not wanting them to die and leave me vulnerable.

But with this, they could fight with everything they had, and return after death anyways. It took me barely another moment’s thought to choose the Floor Cycle. The decision seeming to seep into my Core, saturating throughout the golden designs and emblems across my exterior. Slowly, circular and cyclical patterns began to emerge along those golden lines and etchings on my obsidian surface, proving the initiation of the Floor Cycle.

At the same time, I could see as both the Deiron Drowner and the Gladiator Skorpion seemed to shine white for a brief moment themselves, the two Floor Bosses pausing in their movements as they seemed to internalize the change. I watched as the Drowner seemed to swim in spirals for a few moments, simply feeling the change within it.

As for the Gladiator Skorpion, I watched with a mix of exasperation of amusement as it slammed its heavy pincers together, immediately facing Leira upon feeling the change within itself. I felt the white glow slowly release me from my evolution, the changes complete. Feeling that, I called upon my status once more, eager to see the changes.

Obsidian Dungeon Core [2] - Sybas

Names

Mana

Mana Regeneration

4 / 6

197 / 300

+6.0 / Hour

Evolutions

Born Namer, Floor Cycle,

Titles

Awakener,

I’d gained another name, my mana capacity had increased to three hundred and my regeneration had gone to six per hour. More than worth everything that had happened recently, I concluded with a sense of satisfaction.

Yes, that was good. Now, let’s watch the execution of the Gladiator Skorpion by Leira.