To avoid slavery, I need to get my level as high as possible and fast. Shane’s appearance means two things. One, there is probably a small town or a similar settlement outside the cave, meaning more humans are nearby. Secondly, at least a few people other than the old man are aware of this place and would be back to investigate with more people.

From an outside perspective “Uncle Ford” hasn’t been seen in a while so they got worried. Fearing the worst, they sent Shane to this cave for a wellness check. After Shane doesn’t come back, they’ll contact whatever this place has for law enforcement. Which means a better trained group of people will be in my dungeon in conservatively 3-4 days. That number assumes Ford wasn’t named missing the day I absorbed him and it took Shane some time to make his way here.

Before I begin preparations for the coming raid I should take stock of what I have to work with.

Unnamed Dungeon Level 3

Mana Capacity 543/750

Passive Regen Rate 24/day

Floors: 1

Named Creatures: 0/1

Skills: Remote Absorption, Create Creature, Create Flora, Dungeon Status, Naming, Expansion, Terraforming

Traits: Fast Paced, Purposeful

Absorbing Shane filled my mana tank nearly enough to reach level 4 with some extra effort from the fish farm. But there were some things to do before all my mana was taken away. Given that my Shiner’s various evolutions generate more mana when eaten by my Sun Salamanders and Lunar Axolotl, I need to breed and evolve them as much as possible before trading in all my mana to earn some back quickly.

Spending about 200 mana I increased my population of evolutions to 12 Silver Darters, 16 Fanged Shiners, and 10 Long Tailed Shiners. Spending wisely I created breeding partners for my already existing evolutions and created some extra females to really encourage spawning. I had to justify such hefty spending for myself by remembering that my Common Shiners net me 2-3 mana when killed while my evolutions, on average, earn me 5-7 mana per fish after accounting for the initial mana costs.

While letting them breed for tomorrows population thinning, I decided to finally name one of my creatures. Even if the skill saps away all my remaining mana the fish should earn it back by tomorrows harvest. When deciding which creature to hand my single name slot to the choice was obvious.

I summoned my Apparition to the core in order to bestow her a name. According to the voice an organism needed to bow towards the core and then I would give them their new name in a ceremony of sorts. Repeating this to the Apparition she immediately bowed down as best she could without legs. The [Naming] skill hungrily ate up around 200 mana, leaving me with just 148 and a worried hope the steep price would be worth it. Activating the skill I bestowed my intended name unto the Apparition. Henceforth she would be named, Mary.

As the mana slowly flowed into Mary her form began to change. Different than an evolution, her body wasn’t enveloped in orange light. Instead her body simply morphed before my eyes letting me watch the entire process. Also unlike an evolution Mary didn’t change species. This process seems more of an enhancement to the Apparition species than a transformation. Her shadowy figure became more solid and 3d, her figure now a full torso like that of a human woman, and the new muscles on her arms made up for her lack of legs. The biggest change though was to her face.

From the sides a pair of ears slowly emerged from the shadows before being blanketed by the blood red pigment on the tips of her hair. On her face a nose slowly began to form in between her bright red eyes, and lipless smile that simply stretched open as if they’d always been there. Behind her cruel grin lay a jaw of pointed white teeth, leading down into a bottomless pit of darkness. Perhaps the biggest change of her transformation though, was her voice.

“Thank you Master for gifting me this name.” she said with a slightly haughty inflection.

‘Wait you can talk!? Oh, wait you can’t hear me...’ I thought excitement dashed.

Crossing her arms and tilting her head to the right she stared directly at my consciousness and said “Of course I can hear you. How else could I follow orders?”

Completely caught off guard I asked “Then why didn’t you say anything when I made you? That would have been better than an entire week in solitude.”

She paused a moment before answering “I... I’m not sure. I’ve always been alive and you’ve always been my Master but why didn’t I ever speak? If I had to describe them my younger thoughts were... chaotic. I of course served the dungeon as that is my purpose but compared to before I knew my name I was more... wild. Only when you gave me orders did my mind gain clarity and reason I could act on.”

“So you were basically a wild animal before now that protected the dungeon? Could the Name have elevated your mental and learning capacity? Not that it matters. Honestly just having someone to speak with is incredible!”

Mary still wore a troubled expression but sensed my mood and quickly let the quandary of her greater sentience alone. The dungeon had more pressing matters than the philosophy of what constituted a monster’s soul at present.

“Mary do you understand the danger we could be in if more people come?”

Nodding confidently she answered “Leave defending the dungeon to me Master. None shall capture you with me here. Humans are pretty weak after all.”

“Uh... thanks. I meant in a more strategical sense but that’s okay. You are newly sentient after all. How about you go train up a bit in your new form while I work on our defenses. Sound good?”

Waving behind her back as she slid out from the shack’s interior she called “On it Master.”

Once she left I realized the planning would mostly fall to me. Mary seems a bit more of a fighter than a thinker. Good thing she still listens to me though! Not sure I could earn loyalty with what little I have to offer in return. Maybe as she matures Mary could become a general of some sort? At the very least a physical body to interact with the dungeon through and a voice to bounce ideas off of will be useful moving forward.

With my spending done it was time to focus on grinding up to level 4 and with some luck potentially level 5. While waiting for tomorrow I got to work planning traps that would specifically target people. At first it was morbid planning other people’s deaths but eventually my survival instincts were able to override my humanity. Despite my commitment to survival I still endeavored to create traps and plans that would kill as quickly and painlessly as possible.

---

When the anticipated level up chime reached my ears I had been watching the Lunar Axolotl practice his water magic. Mary was playing the part of an invader while he attempted to drown her. It wasn’t a perfect system given that Mary was only a torso and could hold her breath for over 10 minutes but the practice did seem to be paying off. Anyone swimming through the pond would definitely be unprepared to escape from a whirlpool and thus easier to drown. If the Axolotl does capture anyone I’ll have Mary put them out of their misery before their lungs fill with water though. I’m a benevolent killer after all.

*DUNGEON HAS REACHED MANA REQUIREMENTS FOR LEVEL 4

*ACCESS TO SKILL “MARKING” GRANTED

*ACCESS TO SKILL “MANA BANK” GRANTED

Alright let’s take a look at what these do, [Marking].

Experimenting I learned that [Marking] was used for both managing the dungeon and defending it. By using it on a creature, I could track their location mentally as long as it was in the dungeon. Not terribly useful right now as my dungeon was too small for it to matter but if I survived long enough to have multiple floors it would be nice.

[Mana Bank] on the other hand would be immensely useful. The skill creates a separate mana capacity from the one my core uses to level up. Although smaller than my cores new storage of 1,000 it still held a reasonable 500 mana. This meant that if I filled it up before a level up, I could still keep 500 mana to use afterwards. Half power still isn’t perfect but it’s better than starting with nothing.

Next up is the usual check on Dungeon Status.

Unnamed Dungeon Level 4

Mana Capacity 0/1,000

Passive Regen Rate 40/day

Floors: 1

Named Creatures: 1/1

Skills: Remote Absorption, Create Creature, Create Flora, Dungeon Status, Naming, Expansion, Terraforming, Marking, Mana Bank.

Traits: Fast Paced, Purposeful

Other than my level up and new skills there are a few other things to check. Several of my Sun Salamanders had reached their evolution thresholds during the intensive hunting season. My plan to control evolution instead of purchasing evolved forms had worked. All of my salamanders were capable of evolving into Lunar Axolotls by staying near the water as ordered. This test even cemented itself with a new skill.

*DUNGEON HAS REACHED A HIDDEN REQUIREMENT!: DIRECTLY TRY TO INFLUENCE A CREATURES EVOLUTION.

*ACCESS TO SKILL “EVOLUTION INFLUENCE” GRANTED

Testing out this skill I evolved all 4 of my Sun Salamanders. Two of them into Lunar Axolotls and the other pair into the new Solar Salamanders. Using the skill I chose to grant the female higher fire affinity as she evolved with hopes she could learn magic of some kind. In contrast I gave the male a much stronger physical body reaching up to a foot in length compared to the 8 inch female. Increasing the females affinity for fire was done by simply increasing her own mana capacity and internal temperature. By the end of the original salamander evolution spree I now have 3 Lunar Axolotls and a breeding pair of Solar Salamanders.

The Solar Salamanders have bright red backs and orange bellies with black spots similar to burn marks all over. These Solar Salamanders no longer enter the water and spending their time chasing each other around the mushroom grove that covers the shore. When they weren’t doing that… Well let’s just say I can’t wait to see what a baby Solar Salamander looks like. Given that the new species could already light mushrooms on fire with their searing tongues and the fact their backs were hot as coals I was looking forwards to their evolutions.

Speaking of those mushrooms. My experiment to create aquatic plants had not worked out as hoped. Instead the entire shore of my pond had become a tangible forest of Red Mushrooms thanks to the abundant water, nutrients, and [Fast Paced] trait. Seeing potential for a trap I have introduced Vampiric Mushrooms and Slime Shrooms into the forest but kept them small. So, unless an intruder was looking down, they would quickly find their blood being sucked away by a mystery attacker.

Learning from my experience with Shane I used [Evolution Influence] to change several normal Red Mushrooms into a special Vampiric Shroom variant. By having Mary spill Shiner blood on some of the normal toadstools I could influence their evolution when they became Vampiric Shrooms instead of purchasing more. Specifically I changed them to be shorter than the original mushrooms, shielding them from view, and added some rose like thorns atop their caps. Now when they come in contact with leather or armored shoes they should pierce through and hold on while doing damage.

Repeating the same process by sacrificing a Small Cave Slime on top of some red mushrooms the Slime Shrooms were also changed. Enhancing the Shrooms mucus like covering made even Mary careful when wading through the grove over fear of getting stuck. My second change was too their mycelium. Making them much stronger and deeper than the other mushrooms to such an extent that even if a human tried to pull away, they shouldn’t be uprooted. The final change was that the Slime Shrooms could now release the mucus from their caps letting whatever they trapped free. Just in case there was danger of being pulled out of the grove completely.

Interestingly my [Create Flora] list was updated to include my new changes. This meant that whenever I made more Vampiric Shrooms or Slime Shrooms I could include these changes for free. Perhaps I could influence the status screen and skills further as my understanding of them grows? With this new information I tried to change my Luminous Shrooms. Opting to create some new ones along the shoreline and on the walls underneath the dropdown.

Using the concept of a camera flash for inspiration, I gave the mushrooms a much stronger bioluminescent effect and allowed them to create something similar to a bright green flashbang. This was accomplished by molding a small layer of chemical liquid similar to the Dibutyl Phthalate found in glowsticks secreted inside of the bulbs. Whenever the bulb was damaged, the mushroom sensed danger, or on my command they would release a small electric signal into the bulb sac, causing the chemical reaction. Naturally the snapping effect was made much more explosive than a simple children’s toy. The resulting flash was so bright in fact that my Shiners and Axolotls would often swim away in fear during detonation tests. After the boom however the mushrooms would go into something like a cooldown and stop glowing completely for a few minutes while they replenished the chemicals.

Perhaps due to the effects of the [Purposeful] trait my instincts seemed to guide my mind as I constructed the new Luminous Shrooms. I certainly wouldn’t have been capable of creating an entirely new living organism on my own much less make significant alterations. Even with the original version of the mushrooms as reference a complex biological process that doesn’t naturally exist is more than even the most capable scientist could replicate, much less a public high school senior. Despite the welcome aid I did sense a limit to the trait and skills assistance. If I strayed too far from the intended evolution or creature template the corrections would become far less exact, eventually fading entirely.

As of now it’s been approximately 2 days since Shane entered my dungeon. Meaning at most I have 1 more day of preparation and at worst they’ll be here tomorrow morning given my estimate. My mana is sitting at 400/1,000 with zero in my mana bank. If I really thinned out my population to its limits I could level but that would leave me largely undefended. Making an executive decisions I decided we would just need to wait and see how we fared.

“Hey, Mary?” I asked her from the mushroom shore.

“Yes, Master?” she answered coming out of the water and wringing her red hair out behind her.

“Think this is good enough? Couple of mushrooms, some big salamanders, a gray slime, and you should be capable of dealing with an entire raid party right?”

“How would I know?” she shrugged.

Rolling my eyes mentally I answered, “All I wanted was some words of encouragement thank you very much.”

Picking up on what she considered an overly serious mood she smiled in my general direction and answered “Well if we die we die fighting! For what it’s worth I don’t plan on dying so early after being created.”

Despite not getting the answer I wanted her nonchalant attitude did calm me down somewhat. Looking at the big picture we did have the advantage given they have no idea what waits inside the dungeon itself. Hopefully that will be enough to pull out a win.

“Get ready to work overtime then Mary. You’ll be the main combatant in this battle.”

“Gladly.” She said licking her claws with a solid black tongue.