When next Mary snuck into town she reported that Everest had really been okay after killing himself and left the following day. Somehow he’d been good as new when he got back to Brooksdam much to our relief. Although maybe I shouldn’t say good as new...

My Stalker barely even approached her informants before they began telling her all about Everest’s new scar. Researchers and adventurers alike are now convinced our dungeon is much deeper than it really is. According to the logic of this world an S class couldn’t even take damage until the 20th floor of most dungeons so I couldn’t blame them.

I for one took pride in the high praise but the rumor also caused some discord amongst my defender.

“You stupid fucking Pigeon! My lance obviously punctured his skin!”

“No, it did not. My beak was thrust upwards when he grabbed onto us before using [Meteor]. You were aiming for his heart, so you’d have struck the wrong side of his face!”

“And I overcorrected!”

With their familiar bickering falling into the background I finally absorbed the S class corpse. Now that I’d confirmed Everest was okay there was no reason not to.

*DUNGEON HAS REACHED MANA REQUIREMENTS FOR LEVEL 21!

*ACCESS TO SKILL “AURA’S” IMPROVED

*ACCESS TO “TRAINING” AURA GRANTED

*MAXIMUM NUMBER OF NAMES ABLE TO BE GIVEN HAS INCREASED TO 7

*DUNGEON HAS REACHED MANA REQUIREMENTS FOR LEVEL 22!

*MAXIMUM NUMBER OF FLOORS HAS INCREASED TO 5

*DUNGEON HAS REACHED MANA REQUIREMENTS FOR LEVEL 23!

*ERROR!

*SKILL “PROJECTION” ALREADY IN CORE’S STATUS! IMPOSSIBLE TO IMPLEMENT!

*SUBSIDIZING LOSS OF SKILL FOR “UNNAMED DUNGEON”

*SKILL “PROJECTION” ENHANCED TO WORK OUTSIDE OF “UNNAMED DUNGEON

Holy shit! Everest is worth over 1,500,000 mana!? That wasn’t even his real body... Just how strong is that guy?

Unnamed Dungeon Level 23

Mana Capacity: 23,900/750,000

Mana Bank: 200,000/200,000

Passive Regen Rate 1000/day

Floors: 3/5

Named Creatures: 3/7

Skills: Remote Absorption, Create Creature, Create Flora, Dungeon Status, Naming, Expansion, Terraforming, Marking, Mana Bank, Loot Control, Creature Core, Treasure, Banners, Population Control, Bosses, Auras, Micromanager, Note Keeping, Construction, Projection

Traits: Fast Paced, Purposeful, Perfectionist

Notes:

Create subordinates for Mary so she’ll stop asking about it Create larger spawning pools in Burza’s reservoir for stingrays and sea snakes Choose someone as the 3rd floor boss When making the 4th floor look into having creatures run Production type [Constructs] Lamia’s or Golems may work? Test Glowworms with elemental affinities. Unsure if only color is affected by tinkering.

‘Well... that was 2 months of progress in 1 minute.’

Reading over the prompt for [Projection] I was even more pleased. Technically I could now leave the dungeon! Although the voice informed me that if I “died” outside I would lose levels and possibly more as collateral. I took the explanation to mean I would lose everything I built with the skills gained with the lost levels, potentially along with entire floors or [Named]. So, while I wouldn’t technically pass on, the losses would be so great I will absolutely require bodyguards whenever I operate outside and as a result am in no hurry to go exploring.

Looking over the newly unlocked [Training] aura I decided to come back at a later date for more in depth testing. Put simply the aura would enhance the rate at which my creatures, and potentially those not born in the dungeon, can use their skills. According to Mulan most skills take a certain amount of mana as cost and repeated use can lead to intense migraines or even physical injury if pushed far enough. This effect is colloquially known as “skill strain” and makes practical application of skills in battle a discipline all must learn. It’s through reducing the effect of skill strain that my [Training] aura can help my monsters practice. Since some higher tier skills require a certain level of mastery, as judged by the voice I assume, the aura should prove a big boon in the future.

With the new skills out of the way though... It’s time I evolve everything on the 3rd floor!

Now that I’ve restored Mulan’s platform and the staircases crushed as it fell my mana is aching to be spent. Adventurers still haven’t reached Camp Core but it would be better for the 3rd floor to already be up and running by the time they reach it. The 3rd floor is designed to take multiple days per party anyway so I should have some wiggle room once it’s completed. As long as nothing crazy or unexpected happens.

To begin I flew my glowing [Projection] back into my core. Something I’d learned yesterday while testing the limits of the skill was still possible. My light body still functioned like my old body, albeit with power of flight, the ability to pass through dungeon walls, and the additional feature of selective invisibility. Pretty cool for recreational purposes but in consciousness mode zipping around the several miles long 3rd floor will be much faster. In core form moving from species to species is as easy as clicking on a different computer tab while [Projection] requires physical movement.

‘...’

‘I’m not just lazy!’

Sitting comfortably in dungeoneer mode I stopped overtop the mudslide opening up the 3rd floor. [Micromanaging] no longer had to manually shift the mud back up top since I’d discovered a [Construct] called a Pipeline that served much the same purpose in the Utility tab. Basically it would catch the mud as it reached the bottom and pump it back to the top. It required more mud to be present on the floor at once but it was relatively cheap given my budget and the return potential of making every adventurer traverse the raging slide.

More interesting than the mud are the Mountain Goats I provided a strong Earth affinity. They’d originally stuck towards the bottom of the mudslide since they weren’t capable of climbing at the time, they now populate the entire hillside. Sufficient experiments with the Earth magic manifesting as glowing yellow and orange lights around their curled horns had taught the goats to make large scale walking stilts of rock. Using these long limb extensions the goats would walk along the stone underneath the mud, grazing completely undisturbed on the grass outcroppings I provided across the hill. All that was before their evolution even appeared!

*YOUR MOUNTAIN GOAT HAS REACHED THE EVOLUTION THRESHOLD! 1 OPTION AVAILABLE WOULD YOU LIKE TO EVOLVE YOUR MOUNTAIN GOAT INTO A BOUNCING BILLY?

Yes/No

I’d been hoping for Satyrs but I ended up more than satisfied with my new Bouncing Billie’s.

Remaining the size of a normal Mountain Goat the new species grew long spring like legs from their knees down to their hooves. Combining their new jumping power with their ability to create platforms to leap between gave the evolution incredible combat potential in their hazardous home. When knocking an invader into the mudslide was likely enough to kill, maneuverability on the Billie’s level should prove essential. It was impossible to get an accurate measurement but I’d clock the evolved goats at over 40 mph

Leaving the newly evolved Billie’s to breed and race up and down the half mile long mudslide visions of adventurers fleeing down the hazard from a herd of magic goats put a smile on my face. Potent as they are I’ll be leaving the Bouncing Billie’s as the only creatures guarding the entrance. The mudslide only exists to block access to Camp Core once adventurers enter. When added with the banner puzzle and tides I’m hoping adventurers will need to spend the night out on the plain with my monsters. If enough people can reach the 3rd floor though I’ll consider adding a ski lift of some sort. That would go a long way with maintaining goodwill.

Right now thanks to the safe zones, quests, and teleporters I have quite a strong public perception. Making use of my intelligence I can make resource gathering or training much more efficient and convenient than any other dungeon Providing these luxuries encourages adventurers to come spend mana within my walls but also adds a small layer of protection from those without my best interest in mind. If I keep the outsiders happy and stop myself from becoming a liability I have more time to expand and more resources to do so with. If I were to stop providing luxuries conquering me becomes a much higher priority.

Until that escape method is built though my monsters walking the plains won’t make that easy. Some of them live in other areas so I’ll go into them later but I should start with the only plains exclusive, the Kirin. After weeks of waiting Mary finally had the golden opportunity to steal a horse and let me absorb it.

A few nights ago when the guards were swapping for the night shift a new recruit forgot to tie the horses up. Soon enough the not yet trained horses got spooked and started running around, causing chaos as they knocked equipment over. Several horses ran into the woods during that time and more than one was unrecovered so it’s unlikely the knights will assume I abducted one. While I don’t know much about other dungeons not disclosing that my monsters can leave for periods of time seems a good idea.

So with the help of a young knight and foal I gained access to horses! After enough time in the lightning rich environment of Burza they had evolved into a monster I’d never heard of called a Kirin.

The Kirin kept the same body shape as that of a normal horse, 4 hooves with a long neck, mane, and tail, but gained large bluish white horns, scales across its body that changed from the greens and blues of a peacock depending on the lighting, and finally 2 long trailing whiskers similar to that of an eastern dragon from their nostrils. With their bluish white backward curling horns my Kirin could call down lightning from the supercharged sky above and redirect it through their enemies’ body. Other than lightning my Kirin also gained the ability to generate small floating clouds underneath their hooves. While not strong enough to allow flight, the clouds ensured my Kirin would never slip on the smooth and slippery rocks that made up my plain.

Not as fast as my Perytons but with twice the fire power my incredible deep green and blue scaled Kirin soon became one of my favorite creatures up till this point. A strange blend between horse and reptile stalking the ruins of an ancient city and the stony plains surrounding it. While watching the hoofed monsters roam I couldn’t help but notice the hint of draconian blood when I first saw their vertically slit eyes. Summoning dragons is a long way away though...

Pulling my attention away form the Kirin I looked out into the haunted spider forest. Within the adventurers will need to procure the special loot item “Storm Silk”. In reality it was just the mini boss’s drop item with some flair but the conductive threads should still make for a good prize.

During their time in the forest my wolf and common spiders had adapted well amidst the chromatic Crystal Trees and wrapped the entirety of the forest in thread. Even before their evolutions the giant spiders had made the forest an absolute chore to slog through.

*YOUR WOLF SPIDER HAS REACHED THEIR EVOLUTION THRESHOLD! 2 OPTIONS AVAILABLE. PLEASE SELECT AN EVOLUTION OPTION.

LUPIN SPIDER: Gaining the paws and jaws of their namesake the Lupin Spiders do not create webs but instead use their canine like body to hunt down and force prey into those of other spider’s. While not fighting these spiders can masquerade as a normal canine breed of the dungeon’s choice. LEVIN LEAPER: Keeping the appearance of a more traditional spider the Levin Leaper is prone to sneak attacks, helped along the way by its necrotic venom. This species also has the ability to hide inside electrical charged webs after reverting into a form that is fully composed of lightning magic. After a successful attack the Levin Leaper will inject their necrotic venom directly into the victim causing cells to die out rapidly.

*YOUR COMMON SPIDER HAS REACHED THEIR EVOLUTION THRESHOLD! 3 OPTIONS AVAILABLE. PLEASE SELECT AN EVOLUTION OPTION.

DIRE SPIDER: A Dire Spider is an improvement on every aspect of a normal common spider especially size. BRIGHT BULB SPIDER: The Bright Bulb Spider spends the majority of its time breeding with other spider species. Unable to reproduce amongst their own kind as they are entirely female, the Bright Bulbs have adapted to be capable of cross breeding. Said spider eggs will rest inside the mother’s back, bulb shaped abdomen floating in a bioluminescent liquid that frightens off predators. STORM SPINNER: Choosing a more traditionally arachnid style of hunting the Storm Spinner is incredibly small (around 1-2 inches in size) but can produce hundreds of times its body weight in thread every day. Since these threads are electrified whenever a Storm Spinner is touching them, entire colonies will work together to weave forests of silk.

Since I’d placed so many of the 2 spider species inside the forest I was capable of gaining plenty of evolutions. The majority of Common Spiders became Storm Spinners while around 20% became Bright Bulb Spiders. I created so many of the former since they would help keep the population of such a heavily hunted area above the [Population Control] mana limit. Saving me a good amount of resources.

Just in case I ever feel like using spiders on later floors I did evolve a few Dire Spiders to add them to my creature encyclopedia. With over 115+ useful species amidst 300 useless templates said index was quickly becoming harder and harder to remember of the top of my head. Good thing I created a catalogue back when designing the Smoldering Sequoia! The Dire Spiders were quickly hunted by the Wolf Spider evolutions, and I absorbed them as usual.

For those Wolf Spider evolutions I opted to make a seventy thirty split with Lupin Spiders being in the higher margin. This was because the Lupin Spiders would be the main threat throughout the forest while the others all worked together to add support and lay traps. Since I could choose the breed of wolf or dog when evolving them I shaped my Lupin Spiders with a German shepherd template. Only after creating them did I realize how horrifying they looked...

Just as the evolution description stated the Lupin Spiders could perfectly mimic the appearance of a normal dog. They even had vocal cords capable of barking! But this cute dog form was only when they weren’t fighting... Soon as they began chasing down prey the dog’s forehead would open up to reveal 6 smaller hidden red eyes, their tail would spring up and become rigid to act as stingers, and worst of all their legs would stretch out their false fur unveiling the long black spider legs beneath, still ending in disjointed paws. Seeing the other 4 white fur covered legs unfurl from the dog’s stomach as their jaw disconnected is something I’ll see in my nightmares.

The reason I’d chosen a German Shepherd is because I used to have one back on Earth, but now I don’t think I could ever pet a dog again without suspecting it was a giant spider...

The Lupin Spiders would be in charge of chasing and engaging with their prey directly while their siblings, the Levin Leapers, would likely be responsible for actually killing the opponent. While smaller than the Lupins, my Leapers were still an impressive 3 feet tall and weighed about 45 pounds. Making them more than capable of landing heavy blows on invaders given they had the surprise advantage.

When not hiding inside the electric webs in lightning form my Leapers are a subdued yellow in color with cobalt blue tipped legs. I’d added the bright colors since the reminded me of a certain monster back home, albeit horrifically realistic instead of cute.

Because the Leapers could hide inside of web only when it was electrified they had something of a symbiotic relationship with the small Storm Spinners. Bright green and only 1-2 inches they were incapable of hunting on their own relying on swarms to eat whatever landed in their ludicrously intricate webs. Acting like living batteries the Spinners will create telephone line like highways exclusively for the Leapers, and in return the Leapers share part of their meal with the Spinners when the Lupins that chased the prey towards them.

Finally there were the Bright Bulb spiders that lay protected inside giant web cocoons. The female only species varied in size greatly so that they could breed with all 3 other spiders. Once the mating was done the multicolored eggs would pop out into bioluminescent liquid filled, light bulb shaped abdomen. If startled, the Bright Bulb would rustle the eggs around and create a flash of light similar to my Luminary Shrooms to escape and call for help. Inside their bulbs I altered the incubation liquid to match a variety of colors. From within the forest of pulsing cocoons I’d made something of a morbid Christmas light showcase.

By the end of my meddling the Bright Bulbs moved into the more heavily defended regions of the forest. I doubt they’ll see much action but their offspring will more than make up for it.

I will be waiting with great anticipation for what the adventurers create using these spider’s drops. Might just be the twenty first century part of me talking, but those electric wires plus the luminous liquid filled jars dropped by the Bright Bulbs scream interior lighting to me. Add in some of the electricity producing horns of the Kirin or Tempest hares and they could be on the way to generating power for machines.

Before I left the spiders to continue growing and expanding the intricate labyrinth of webs taking shape I did select a particularly large Levin Leaper as the mini boss. Not meant to be a challenging fight, the spider’s main purpose was to drop the creatively named “Storm Silk”. Just like the torn flag and knitting needles of the other trials it would be needed to complete the puzzle to gain access into the triangle.

Although I should clarify that as “safe” access. Neither me nor [Micromanaging] would ever stop someone from diving straight into the pillar of water instead of taking the hidden stairs. It was practically a death sentence given what was lurking in there, but it was an option nonetheless.

Unlike my other mini boss the large Levin Leaper didn’t grow larger or in intelligence. Instead he gained a unique luring ability. Unlike Mary and the Aural Owls this ability manifested as a flashing red light while in his lightning form with a charm effect. This light would not only act as perfect ambush material for my spiders, but also as a way to locate and distinguish the mini boss from the normal spiders inside the forest. Without this added skill the voice deemed my puzzle “incompletable”, which given how unlikely tracking down a single spider in a forest of thousands was seemed fair enough to me.

Second on my upgrade list of the trials was the previously empty watering hole. Just before Mary informed me that Everest was coming to the dungeon a single adventurer had fulfilled one of my gathering quests. Specifically the one for hippos. I’d really been hoping for cheetahs to fight on the plain with my Kirin’s, but I’d take them.

Drawing on my vast catalogue of nature documentaries I remembered seeing clusters of thousands of hippos all in a single river. Hippos were already some of the strongest animals on Earth, seriously the stories of native fishermen are terrifying, but grouped together they were basically apex predators. So I figured they would be the absolutely perfect guards of the various dyes and knitting needles present in the middle of the watering hole.

Of course just fighting through a bunch of hippos wouldn’t be much of a puzzle. So I drew upon another muse for inspiration. Specifically a children’s toy that had taught hundreds of children how to button mash.

It had taken around a week of experimentation, but I’d eventually gotten my hippos to evolve how I wanted. By infusing them with an affinity for both air and space I’d created two brand new species that made my deadly game achievable. Those being the Vacuum Hippo and the Inflatable Hippo. To make such a strange and obviously unnatural species exist I had to push [Perfectionist], [Evolution Influence], and [Purposeful] to their limits. I believe their creature encyclopedia entries are worth a read through for all my hard work.

VACUUM HIPPO: Infused with a great affinity for both Space and Air the Vacuum Hippo is capable of creating great suctions of air that pull prey into their gaping maws. The majority of prey that is caught by the powerful suction will fall directly into the pocket dimension that is the Vacuum Hippos stomach. This pocket dimension will reject any non-organic substances and spit them out through a hatch on their backside. While most prey will simply be sucked into the great beasts gaping maw anything too big will be completely severed by their incredibly strong teeth and tusks that, thanks to their Space affinity, will pierce most armors and hides.

INFLATABLE HIPPO: A strange creature meticulously bred by the “Unnamed Dungeon” the Inflatable Hippos are usually in a small sponge like form only about an inch in size except when 4 separate parties attempt one of “The Land of Burza’s” trials. Once the trial begins all Inflatable Hippos will expand into a fully sized normal hippo except for their strange color pallet. These hippos will keep a spongy texture on their skin and appear as blue, green, orange, and yellow. Once defeated these hippos have the strange property of condensing into a small ball of sponge that matches their previous color.

For some reason I detected a hint of snark from the voice description of these wonderful creations. Considering it didn’t object to Blast Corn I don’t think this world has any right to judge me on what can and can’t exist.

I only created 4 of the Vacuum hippos and placed them at each corner of the now square shaped water hole. They were more than happy with staying stationary since they would submerge their bodies into a small wormhole that mimicked the feeling of cool mud. Of course these hippos also corresponded to one of the 4 different Inflatable Hippo colors.

When 4 different groups, single adventurers or parties, it doesn’t really matter, stand next to a single Vacuum Hippo the trial will begin. The chest containing the needles and dyes will rise while still anchored and buoyant in the center of the watering hole while the Inflatable Hippos currently swimming in the pool will expand. Several small tunnels in the bottom of the hole lead to an underground spring where the hippos can breed and rest. These holes will open and close to make sure that the appropriate number of hippos for each color are in the watering hole above at once.

The rules of the game are fairly simple. Every teams Vacuum Hippo would begin indiscriminately sucking in air until the game ended. It was every teams goal to kill the Inflatable Hippos of their team’s color and get the balls of sponge into their Vacuum Hippos mouth. If an enemy teams’ ball was absorbed, the team matching that color would have a sponge ball negated. Whoever had the most corresponding balls by the end of 3 minutes won the chest and whatever loot the Inflatable Hippos dropped.

Normally all non-organic matter consumed by the Vacuum Hippos would be spat out, but I’d taught them how to destroy items as well. So any tusks, sponge, or Rhilos a losing team had earned would be absorbed by me. This way even if no one died I could still profit quite handsomely with the little mob grinder.

To make the game fair for all adventurers several wooden bumper boats equipped with Air crystals would also expand and could be ridden into the game field. Perhaps not the safest option but if a team was confident they could certainly earn some points. Otherwise the game could only be enjoyed by mages and other ranged type builds.

Before heading off to the battlefield I set up one last thing with Micromanaging. From now on every time a game finished there would be a 1/1,000 chance that the Inflatable Hippos would not be shrunken back down. Instead they would be permitted to leave the watering hole and attack. This way the hippos could keep people on their toes and grab some more kills. So far adding small chances or hidden aspects to the floors have kept excitement around the dungeon up and inspired a sense of community amongst adventurers. A community that just so happens to bring in more mana the more I encourage its growth.

Only downside to the current way I had everything organized was the Inflatable Hippos combat strength. In comparison to the Vacuum Hippos and Kirin around the watering hole they were easily the weakest monster. That does make some sense because they’ll be killed a lot, but I think they are only as strong as a normal hippo. Not weak by any means but in comparison to the other creatures on the floor they may seem a little bit lacking.

This world really does have such a strange power scaling in comparison to Earth. Everest being a perfect example. Obviously not ever human is as strong as him but he does represent a level of strength achievable for humanity. Even if less than 1% of all people had the talent and determination to reach his level, all humans can learn lower tier skills related to some form of combat. The existence of these skills alone explains to me how they can survive in a world of monsters and magic. Lucky for me the monsters and terrain of the world itself seem to have scaled in accordance with humanity. All that is to say that a hippo could easily pose a threat to a human on Earth, but in a world where magicians and dragons exist, a hippo would seem less imposing to someone properly trained. Everyone else in this world has adapted to that logic and I need to do so as well.

Last but not least of the trials was the clay skeleton battlefield with the fictional flag of Burza set to appear at noon. I’d been slowly changing the weapon variety overtime to include some of the better gear coming from my second floor while keeping the majority of the weapons rusty but serviceable. My Clay Golem skeletons still needed to use them after all.

During my time changing the battlefield I came to understand some of the mechanics of my Clay Golems that separated them from my more organic species better than I did before.

First lesson in golemancy, golems only evolve when the material encompassing their bodies is altered. I had already confirmed that this was one method of evolution with the Terracotta Golems but even after having them hunt and adapt to a new environment not a single evolution message has come across. In the future I will look further into changing the properties of clay or installing golem cores but for now the malleable bodies are good enough.

Second lesson in golemancy, Clay Golems are incapable of dying as long as their core remains intact. The material being used by the golem, in this case clay, can be destroyed and looted, but the golem core itself will always stay functional unless completely shattered, as is the case with my fragile Terracotta Golems. Meaning that as long as I don’t set the core under the random loot table in [Loot Control] the actual cores won’t be stolen. An inactive core will be dropped to give the illusion they died but in reality the core simply sinks beneath the ground and begins reforming. This unique trait actually does wonders for my skeletal army theming but likely has other future applications.

Third Lesson in golemancy, genetic variance is replaced with aptitude. I’d already seen certain weapons being preferred over others by the Terracotta Golems but my Clay Golems have shown even greater distinctions. Mainly in leaders emerging to better follow my orders. These leaders I dubbed “Generals” soon gained skills related to leadership positions much like those used by the knights and their subordinates. Unfortunately I can’t view the skills of my monsters directly but I assume many ordinary Clay Golems now hold the [Soldier] skill and receive buffs from nearby Generals.

Final lesson in golemancy, if the material of several golems matches and is malleable they can combine. This surprise cemented a great idea for a mini boss in my plans and soon the golems understood to form the “Clay Berserker” when the flag was close to being taken. Incorporating the giant soldier into the loose lore of the floor I created a giant labrys that lay stuck into the hill next to the flagpole. This axe would be respawned every time the flag appeared at noon and was a special drop item from the Berserker. At 15 feet tall and much more compact than its brethren, the giant skeleton should prove a great defender of Burza’s honor.

Shifting over to the pillar the Caiman have evolved wonderfully. Previously I’d made sure they could breathe in salt water and provided a strong affinity to ice. As expected they’d soon evolved into Saltwater Crocodiles but they managed to go even further.

*YOUR SALTWATER CROCODILE HAS REACHED THE EVOLUTION THRESHOLD! 1 OPTION AVAILABLE WOULD YOU LIKE TO EVOLVE YOUR SALTWATER CROCODILE INTO A SHIVERING SOBEK?

YES/NO

I always get a little disappointed when there is only one option since I don’t get descriptions but since they’d evolved twice in such a short period of time I couldn’t be too mad. Especially after seeing the incredible specimens before me.

The new Sobeks were over 25 feet long on average and still shaped like normal crocodiles. Most of this large girth was their muscular paddle shaped tails improving swim and lunging speed. Other than size the Sobeks gained a beautiful bright neon blue on their stomachs. Said color would occasionally change in shade, sending a small flashing light down their top scales from snout to tail in a manner convincing me they could shoot gamma rays.

While no radiation blasts would be coming out of my monsters they definitely gained some new tricks. For instance they could now create tunnels of water that flew in and out of the pillar. This meant they could still maintain swimming speed when jumping out to fight on the stairs. It also granted them a strong exit strategy since very few adventurers would ever plan on jumping into the pillar after them.

Another increase in mobility would come from their larger and more jagged ice elemental claws they use to cling onto the walls of the sinkhole. Since the tops of their bodies are still very dark in color adventurers will need to be wary not only of the pillar but also the stairs above and the walls they would have their backs against.

The final new ability the Sobeks seemed to have was their teeth. Specifically their teeth now possessed the same ice crystal properties of their claws. Whenever prey would enter their incredibly powerful jaws a thin layer of ice would begin climbing across whatever was being held. If they could not escape in time they could freeze completely solid, a fact the Sobeks didn’t seem to mind when feeding.

My new Sobeks alone were incredibly powerful but swimming alongside them in the pillar were my former Sea Snakes turned Leviathan Whelps. The jump from a Sea Snake to a Leviathan seemed really big with my Earth brain but apparently Leviathans aren’t world ending Cthulhu esk monsters in this world. Just a name belonging to a standard serpentine sea monster. Of course an actual mature and fully evolved Leviathan is still something to be feared and a monster I’ll be aiming for as they possess power at the level of dragons. But only a handful of absolutely ancient specimens seem to have ever reached maturity. The idea of summoning an adult Leviathan may be possible one day though if my little sea snakes continue to evolve.

Keeping snake like bodies and their sea snake blue and black rings my new Leviathan Whelps had their bodies protected by several layers of metallic armor. The armor pieces were layered over each other as they get closer to the tail while the front piece ends in a sharp arrow point. In addition to their added defense the Leviathan Whelps also gained two large wing shaped fins just behind their heads, with bright pink webbing stretched between the bat like cartilage beneath to create much more movement options underwater. Stretching out to an impressive 16-18 feet long these draconic creatures make quite the impression.

The majority of my Leviathan Whelps live and hunt down in the reservoir but during the times when adventurers are travelling down I’ve ordered them to swim around the pillar in schools. So far this has led to both competition and cooperation with the Shivering Sobeks. Since the pillar was mostly the Sobek’s territory some hunting disputes occurred early on. After some skirmishes and a newfound respect for each other’s strength the Sobeks began creating tunnels of water for the Leviathan Whelps to swim through as well. Both of these aquatic apex predators working together would no doubt make traversing to the reservoir a living nightmare for my invaders.

Besides the brightly colored schools of prey fish swimming around the inside of the pillar there was one more species that adventurers needed to look out for. Those being my newest Phantom Eels.

The original template had been provided by the same adventurer who donated the sea snakes weeks ago. As thanks for his contributions I granted him a custom quest that basically gave him a free 5,000 Rhilos. That one incident had caused a rumor to circulate about good things happening to particularly good donators. A rumor I would be more than happy to promote! Money is a lot less valuable than more creature templates after all.

Originally belonging to a species called Ribbon Eels my Phantom Eels had grown to a size of about 10 feet with heads about 3 feet in diameter. What made these fish unique was their ability to pass through anything like a ghost. I haven’t been able to pinpoint why yet but they do need to return to water about once every 30 minutes to breathe. When they aren’t taking in more water they like to “swim” inside the walls that line the stairs going down to the reservoir. Meaning anyone walking down was always at risk of being shoved into the pillar or bitten into by a spectral eel. Definitely not the strongest monsters of the floor but definitely some of the trickiest to deal with.

Inside the reservoir lived the final 3 species that posed a serious threat. I’ll start with my free creature selection of Stingrays which had evolved into 2 separate species. My Mesmerizing Manta’s and the Glimmering Spotted Eagle Rays, or just Glimmer Rays for short.

Living inside the reservoir were my Mesmerizing Mantas. Beginning as normal stingrays granted an affinity to darkness that had previously evolved into Manta Rays, they’d stayed the same size as a normal Manta Ray at 23 feet in wingspan (finspan?) and kept their black coloring. The only real difference was their new ability to create patterns on their stomachs that held possessed hypnotic effect.

Usually a bright pink that clashed quite well with the darkness of the wet cavern the patterns would constantly shift in a seemingly random pattern that prey would find very difficult to look away from. During this time the rays would activate skills that created a variety of effects on their victims. From confusion, drunkenness, and paralysis to limited mind control that force the victim to drown themselves. Once something entered the water my Mesmerizing Mantas could also attack with their barbed tails and large bodies in an attempt to drown the unlucky victim. I couldn’t wait to see these guys in action.

My Glimmer Rays were the monsters I alluded to earlier when discussing the other plains monster. In fact, they were what I’d envisioned when I selected stingrays during my last free selection. Stingrays that could fly in the air! And what a wonderful species they were.

Completely black except for their white spots my Glimmer Rays would light up the skies. The bioluminescent organs I’d put on their wingtips now would light up their white spots whenever they were in flight. Best part was that their lights could come in any color! From a distance they could look like living fireworks against the dark sky of Burza.

While they technically lived inside the reservoir I’d installed several waterways that connected all the way up to the plains. These waterways were only one way though thanks to the strong current, meaning adventurers couldn’t use them to cheat my trials. Sadly this also meant my Glimmer Rays would need to fly back through the pillar to return home. Although the sight of hundreds of glowing and flying stingrays all converging on one point was quite beautiful.

In terms of combat strength my rays of course had their stingers. Inside of which a strong paralytic agent was housed. This combos quite well with their second ability, a literal tractor beam. Only strong when multiple rays used it on the same target these beams of light could pull targets up towards their fanged mouths. A process made much easier when paralyzed.

Finally was the ability to fire a glowing liquid from the ends of their tails. At first I thought this was useless since it wasn’t corrosive but then I saw a ray use it near a Crystal Tree. When the tree next overcharged and released a burst of electricity almost all of it flew towards the liquid, revealing it to be highly conductive! Since the Kirin are also found throughout the plains I was excited to see some strong teamwork emerge.

Last but not least of the reservoir monsters were my Banner Eels. Like the Phantom Eels they had evolved from the Ribbon Eel provided by that one adventurer I’d rewarded. Banner Eels were basically a bigger version of Ribbon Eels that I could customize. So along their sides I added the flag of Burza. I thought they could be like mounts for this fictional civilization.

In terms of combat strength they aren’t actually very strong. Sure they can drag enemies that the Manta’s subdue further underwater and drown them but other that they are mostly support and aesthetic. They have a small ability that lets them buff nearby creatures, but the effect is only by about 15%. From our testing they can change the boost from speed, attack, defense, or magical attack and defense. While good enough on their own this buff actually stacks if enough eels are around. Meaning just 8 eels will double any other creatures’ abilities in full.

These creatures were so fun to watch swimming around in the pulsing waters of the reservoir I made an executive decision. I would turn one of these eels into my boss! Certainly an odd choice given their weak combat strength but maybe the boost they’ll give out can make this a swarm type boss. One that buffs minions instead of fighting themselves.

Sadly I’ll need to wait a little bit until I have enough mana to make them after all my augmentations to help my newly evolved creatures unleash their potential...