The dungeon had been quite lively in the week and a half following the invasion. Aby and Sela had been working on training its animals to play to their own strengths, being taught how to attack, defend, support, and harass based on what they were. A few more of Abys creations had evolved, as well as obtaining templates for some of them. Nothing notable, unfortunately, but there were a few that could fill niche roles well enough. It could freely spawn pistol shrimp and greater seahorse now. The latter didn’t help much, so it set about populating the seventh floor with more of them like the first. For some reason, few creatures seemed to live in these dim orange tunnels, just the first greater seahorse that seemed hard to pin down in the coral, and a few clownfish in the anemones. Very orange, something that summed up this floor rather well.

Beyond its various achievements in evolutions, it had worked out a few basic strategies for its different invaders, primarily with Selas help, its contributions tended towards head on confrontations, and the closest idea it had to any other type was, quote “give it to the star.” With a bit of coaching from its Fae, it came up with some more… diverse ideas, including one for the aforementioned shrimp.

It narrowed out a few of its passageways in the caves on various floors, creating holes in the walls at varying heights, and putting the aforementioned crustacean in these holes. While nothing more than an annoyance to most, based on what it knew of its success with the big sapient, as well as a few unfortunate test subjects, it knew that these could be truly rough to the unprepared and unfortunate few.

Other than this, some other ideas included using the silver-streaked barracudas to swim at odd angles in various sized shoals, disorienting the weaker minded and distracting the stronger as they attacked; using the kobold shaman to suddenly create waves of varying strength while over uneven, jagged ground, or even flood and withhold water from entire rooms, as it managed to gain a sizable mana pool of its own; or having a veritable armada of ironback turtles crowding passageways and generally being an obstacle to swift progress.

While none of these could be considered particularly deadly, or even threatening, they weren’t meant to be. What they were meant to do was wear down, tire, frustrate and generally weaken any who invade. This made them vulnerable to the true threats that currently lay in wait of Abys dungeon.

The coastal kobold trio, having worked on both their individual strengths and teamwork immensely, could now be described as an efficient and effective shallow water assault group. While not having the years of training necessary to be truly top-notch, the combination of being uniquely suited to an environment that few others can claim as their home turf, and the instinctual fighting experience that came with being a dungeon born meant that they had the makings of one such unit.

Meanwhile, the aquatic kobold and his partner, the frosted moray, made an excellent pair. They were more amphibious in their nature, they could fight both underwater, and the shallows. The kobold acted as the frontliner, holding the attention of a single foe as its partner made use of its own slippery nature to accost and wear down that foe. In the case of a small or moderately sized group, the eel would instead turn the surrounding waters to a frozen slush, and the kobold would then make use of this for its own attacks.

The wyvern took the hit and run strategy to an extreme. At its highest speed, the beast could cover the kilometer and a half distance of the eighth floor in around twenty seconds, clocking in at a rather impressive two-hundred fifty kilometers per hour. This was a sprint, of course, it couldn’t sustain that speed for terribly long due to the mana expenditure it takes to lessen drag and provide it force, and its muscles weren’t terribly better off from the intense workout. On the bright side, this top speed continued to improve by the day, as it continually practiced both its physical condition and its mana capacity. As such, it could only be expected to become truly ridiculous one day.

This didn’t mean, however, that it could be outmaneuvered. Being able to change its direction swiftly and sharply enough to give observers a sense of whiplash, and the fact that its forward speed remained unchanged even after putting itself through a ninety degree turn appeared simply obscene. Hoping to evade the creature when it started to hound its prey was a fools dream.

The wyrmling was different. Its body had grown slightly, now six meters and change, it was a combination of lightning strikes delivering a potent venom, using its immense frame to crush those unfortunate enough to be trapped within its coils, and even simply consuming prey too small to warrant otherwise. For anything swallowed alive, there was little hope of escape, the fleshy walls of its insides were just as tough as the outside, if not moreso, and the fact that they gave little room to move as they pressed down with a disturbingly strong acid engulfing one’s body meant it was no picnic.

It had nowhere near the movement speed of the wyvern, however, instead being the one on the receiving end of tricky movements. If this was interpreted as an excuse to try and hound a blind spot, however, there would be no room for regret as they realized the mistake. Able to move not only its head and tail at speed, the creature’s entire body could shift in ways making it seem truly elastic. What was an attack aimed at the back of its neck may wind up doing naught but stirring the waters, even as its open maw found its way to the offenders own.

Lastly, the brittle star. Having learned its lesson, it now remains stubbornly on its floor. Using the darkness omnipresent to the fifth floor, it makes its way around the floor swiftly and efficiently, able to unleash a barrage of blows from many bizarre angles. An attack aimed at ones front may actually have originated from behind, and both the top and bottom can receive numerous strikes at once. These simultaneous strikes are designed to further enhance their own force, too. A strike to the back of the head could send one moving face first into a tendril moving in exactly the opposite direction, only to have the resulting change in direction take the expected toll on ones spine.

Of course, they weren’t the only methods at Abys disposal, simply the most straightforwardly vicious. None of the creatures residing in these caves and caverns should be discounted, the only outcome of such underestimation would be an unexpected punishing. For instance, Aby had discovered that while its mustard-scaled snapper was rather lackluster alone, the cloud of scales that an entire shoal could release was downright horrific.

The tiny shards were more than a mere irritant in such quantities, being able to color entire swaths of its floors an opaque yellow. This reduced the visibility to zero, as well as causing anything not covered in thick scales or layered clothes to be rubbed raw, even having lacerations inflicted on the more vulnerable creatures. Should something or someone try to open their eyes in this environment without meaningful protection, or to wind up with the slurry of what is essentially sharp water inside themselves… the outlook was grim.

Aby had even gone so far to order the rest of his creations to give the creatures their due respect, an uppity sea boar had drawn the ire of the creatures once, rendering a sizable portion of the sixth floor uninhabitable for a day. It had little doubt that these creatures alone were enough to combat a vast majority of any would-be invaders, and it metaphorically shuddered to think of what they’d become after evolution. It couldn’t wait.

While almost the entirety of its focus had been on the creatures in its depths, Aby wasn't going to let its floors become a weak point for it. There were sudden changes in elevation as before, but now these also had floor wide changes in depth, two corridors directly next to each other may have two creatly different heights to one another. Combined with weaker walls in the higher elevations, this meant that it could effectively flood key points throughout its caverns, and drain others.

There were more structural changes it had put in place too, but none as large scale. Rather, it focused on making its caves as suited to its creatures as possible, making the opposite true for invaders. Tunnels throughout the floors in strategic locations allowed the smaller creatures greater mobility both around the caves, and a quicker response time. Meanwhile, floors had become more slick or more sharp, jagged rockes or seashells would punish both the barefoot, and the aquatic sapients that Sela had mentioned. The walls were unsafe to lean on, as any manner of creatures could be lying in wait. The ceilings too may have more than just moss and moisture to deal with.

It reviewed its changes. There was always more to be done, but it had undergone a true qualitative change, one that rendered it much, much more prepared for any upcoming invasions. It hoped that the next time it had a sapient come through its caves, it wouldn't feel so... weak.