“The Morning Madman?”

“That’s what they’re calling him.” Said the old baker’s wife “Haven’t heard anything about his new accomplices though. If nothing else he makes waking up easy, what with all the clanking.”

Covering my mouth in mock surprise I asked, “You mean there’s more of them now!?”

Playfully swatting my arm the gossiper continued “Oh yes Ula dear! Another young man and a female mage of all things! Rumor is the captain of the royal knights is directly involved.”

“No! Captain Eli?”

“I know it sounds crazy but that’s what Flora, Michael’s wife, heard. The first lad burst into the captain’s office asking for personal training and the next morning he’s running around the entire town for hours. Few days later the other pair joined him. Weird people been coming here since the dungeon showed up I swear.”

“I hope that doesn’t include me Mrs. Riza.”

“Of course not dear! You’re always free to come and chat with an old bat like me! Hohoho.”

Bidding farewell to the old woman I compared the story to my other sources. Apparently this “Morning Madman” was some new adventurer receiving training directly from the royal knight captain. He’s gained a reputation for running nonstop around the town in iron armor, waking residents up every morning. The story likely isn’t anything important but I’ll report it to the Master regardless.

Since my last evolution I have been regularly sneaking into Brooksdam under the guise of dead adventurers. Particularly of use have been the “Serpent Slayers”. The only person who knew they had died was their killer. Even if Bit was still in town he’d never report me, fearing the repercussions. But just in case I regularly swap disguises during my outings. Having multiple personas also let’s me get involved in different circles. Ula the healer is who I use to hear what the housewives are saying, Jerome is for listening in on conversations at the tavern, and Michelle is for dealing with less savory individuals. I’ve been doing this for about a week and a half and begun cementing some reliable contacts around town.

My new [Creature Core] can sustain my existence for just over 2 days but the Master, doting as he is, has ordered me to not push myself and return every 30 hours. It’s a slight inconvenience to be sure but using my cover as an adventurer, returning to the dungeon almost every day is easy to explain. Pushing the ruse further I bring back common dungeon monster corpses and loot to sell that I steal from the adventurers I kill. I even have a rented room at the “Cheetah’s Paw”, a common inn for adventurers, the Master foots the bill for.

Taking my groceries of animal parts and crops for the Master up the stairs I locked my door dropped my Ula disguise. The [Mimicry] skill is easy as breathing to maintain but I’m much more comfortable in my real form. How humans can relax in such rigid shapes all the time I’ll never understand.

Lying atop my blankets I went over my report to make sure I had time to slack off.

“So topics of interest this time are the Morning Madman, magic stone shortage from Chlorostail continuing for its 6th month, and the kings continuous ban on capturing Master. Still haven’t found a good map like Master wants but I’ll keep looking. Haven’t found a great opportunity to ask about other dungeons without looking suspicious but I’ve confirmed there are 8 in Illia other than us. I’ve also seen some of the new inventions coming from our resources. That should all be good enough.”

Falling into my shadow I slipped under the blankets ready to sleep the day away.

---

My experiments with the Clay/Terracotta Golems have gone better than expected! I’ve evolved from making lump men and can now produce intricately carved warriors with a variety of weapons. Slightly biased by my old world I’d styled the Terracotta Golems after Japanese warriors. My artistic talents can’t make every face different like the originals but I have designed several different templates for [Population Control] to place in the Kilns. Height, gender, and weapon are all randomly selected from my base designs and combined. I’ve also begun creating weapons not attached to the golem’s bodies. This way new golems can simply pick up those dropped by previous generations saving mana.

To keep the supply self-regulating and cheaper I created a second Kiln and changed [Population Control] to create Clay Golems inside the Kilns only. Once evolved I tasked [Micromanaging] to evolving any golems with only Terracotta as an evolution option. As of yet none have had any variations and I have a feeling they won’t evolve further on this floor given how strongly they differ from my other monsters.

During combat testing I realized my Terracotta Golems were using formations and skills just like the adventurers. That alone wasn’t anything bizarre. All my creatures use skills and combat techniques while fighting, it’s just less obvious since they don’t speak or chant. But my Golems seem to be choosing “classes” for lack of a better word. Some would find an aptitude with their given bows while others would trade them with another for a spear and find success. They even started dividing up into well balanced parties without any input from me.

All that is to say my Terracotta Golems may fall under categories such as Terracotta Swordsman, Archer, or Brawler but still be named Terracotta Golems. The golem species likely only evolves as their base material is augmented. Regardless, out of everything I’ve made so far they still have the most diversity. And it was this diversity I was tasked with using to the fullest.

Drawing inspiration from the Ronin Hawk name and Earth’s Terracotta Army I decided to implement some Japanese style elements in the forest. Particularly from the red gateways leading up to shrines. I can’t for the life of me recall what they are named but I could remember the design well enough.

Only a few hundred feet past the stream of Red Torpedo Fish I constructed 3 large stairways of reflective black marble facing each other in a triangle. Along the sides of each I attached long beams of Infernal Redwood logs cut by my Honed Hawks and carried by my golems. Every 100 feet I would place an eastern red gateway of the same Infernal Redwood logs. Each of the 3 staircase pathways takes a different path around the second half of the Smoldering Sequoia. By forcing the invaders down the winding trails I have artificially extended the length of the second half from 2.5 miles to about 4 for each staircase.

Underneath these gated stairways I created hundreds of black marble support pillars that stood just as tall as the Infernal Redwoods. After this initial construction is completed I’ll place some chests and physical loot with [Treasure] underneath the stairs. This way the forest itself is still worth exploring.

Eventually the 3 staircases converge onto the top of an especially thick pillar. The top of this pillar is covered in Igniting Ivy and my Ethereal Elk have quickly claimed the space as their own. From such a high vantage point the Elk can snipe adventurers progressing up the stairs, sending them falling over 300 feet to their deaths in some areas.

As for the Terracotta Golems, I gave them the new order of patrolling the stairs before the Elk’s platform. They interpreted my directions and divided themselves up into squads of 4-6. Over 100 golems patrol each staircase and I’m hoping the stairs will make combat encounters more interesting/difficult. When combined with the sniping Elk, gliding Peryton jumping across the staircases, Coal Cats lying in branches above, Honed Hawks performing aerial feats through the fiery gateways, and Serrated Hawks ready to challenge any they come across, my Smoldering Sequoia is looking stronger than ever.

But what do the stairs lead to?

On the opposite side of the Elk’s Igniting Ivy covered pillar is one last climb. This one is rather short at only 50 steps but it leads to the grand finale. To create a sense of anticipation during the climb I placed one of the red gateways across every single step. After passing through the religious imagery and passing only their heads through the layer of black and white clouds the invaders will find themselves staring down a giant golden perch. While fighting the boss adventurers must also watch their footing. Without any guards or rails the arena is just as much about fighting the boss as not getting distracted and falling off. Speaking of the boss...

“Mulan, could you fly up to the core room for a second?” I said through my link with the [Named].

For right now the core room is seated directly behind the boss platform. Eventually this will lead to the second floor safe zone but right now it’s the end of the dungeon.

Bursting from the smoke below with her wings spread Mulan cut quite the elegant figure. Completely silent despite her size and weight she flew into the core room, dropping onto her knee in one smooth motion.

“Yes Milord?”

Excited to hear her reaction I posed “How would you feel about being the boss of this floor?”

Not missing a beat she answered, “It would be an honor.”

“Great! Then let’s- “

“But! I am not worthy of such a position. I have yet to face a single invader in real combat. Naming me the boss and your direct defender would be hasty. I appreciate Milord’s trust in me but this is too soon.”

Taken slightly aback I began “What are you talking about? You are the strongest creature on this floor. Choosing someone else would be ridiculous.”

Blushing as best a bird could Mulan stammered “B-be that as it may Milord I’m sure someone else will reveal themselves more qualified- “

“Mulan.”

“Y-yes Milord?”

“If you ever became qualified would you accept the position?”

Replying in an instant she answered “Absolutely.”

“Then get ready because I’ve deemed you qualified.”

Of course if Mulan hadn’t actually wanted to be the boss I wouldn’t have forced her. My [Named] are fully capable of thought and emotion. Forcing them to act as my slaves wouldn’t make any of us happy.

Finishing the boss arena off I created a golden perch large enough for Mulan to rest on. Fighting a bird with obscured vision and limiting footing should give any adventuring party a hard time.

“Just tell me when your ready.” I said pulling up the [Bosses] skill.

Taking a moment to steady her breathing Mulan got in a meditative sitting posture and a minute or so later said “Please begin Milord.”

Being the first boss of the floor granting Mulan the position came at no cost. Similar to the Naming process her form began to shift without the usual glow of evolution. And what a form it was.

Growing from 5 to 7 feet tall with a wingspan of 14 feet she was massive. The metallic red and black feathers making up her cuirass shifted into a much more uniform armor piece along her chest and shoulder. Her legs were now guarded by small gatherings of heavy feathers in the form of a plated skirt. While her feet were left unguarded her 2 foot retractable talons should prove a solid defense.

Below her shoulder guards Mulan’s wings were completely unguarded. On the end of each wingtip were katana shaped feathers she could extend at will. When discharged the blades appear as if held in a grip. She doesn’t have hands of course but that didn’t make her any less a swordswoman. Any feather on her body could be used as a blade but her pair of katana blades were much thicker on one side as opposed to uniform and had a bright orange stripe running down the edged side. Obviously these were designed to be her main weapons along with her tail.

Bases hidden underneath her plated skirt, Mulan now has 4 thin, red, streaming tails. Each was over 8 feet in length and could be moved independently of her main body. In combination with her wing blades she could effectively swing at one opponent from 6 different directions simultaneously. Just watching the 4 bendable tail blades curve around her main body as she practiced moving was incredible. It’s my honest belief only Mulan could keep track of so many moving limbs at once.

With a beaming smile on her beak and in her eyes she began an avalanche of praise and thanks.

“You look great Mulan!” I responded in equal enthusiasm.

Running a wing over her discharged right katana she said “Milord... I am conflicted. It would be best if no one ever reached me but at the same time I wish to try out my new abilities against some worthy opponents.”

“I understand completely. After spending so much time on this forest a part of me wants to show it off.”

Grinning in my direction Mulan said, “Then I hope you don’t mind if I leave you wanting Milord.”

“I leave my safety to you.”